Kaught up in Korea

Teacher

Teacher

            It’s been nearly six months since I have moved to Korea. It’s been…an experience so far. This country has a numerous amount of things to see: towers, skylines, beaches, kimchi, boys holding boy’s hands, girls holding girl’s hands, children under the age of 12 walking on the streets alone, cars parked on the sidewalk, bike’s crashing into older people who don’t move for shit (even when bike courtesy is heard *bell ringing*), and lastly (something I saw today) is kid’s crying in the classroom. I only saw one kid crying, but still. I won’t say why she was crying, either (I promise I did not do anything to hurt her or touch her in any inappropriate way ha-ha).

            Six months in, Korea has allowed me to do the one thing I hate most: to confront myself. Like my mother, I hate confrontation; whether it be confronting someone else with a problem I have with them (or them with me), or confronting myself about any issue that comes around, which seems to be happening more and more these days because of this new “self-evaluating” internal, emotion-thing I have going on now.  However, the point is that when I saw this girl crying in my classroom today I was suddenly brought back into reality-a sphere that I look at as mostly a joke because I have had things easy all of my life. Today, I had to look at the definition of teacher again. I had to look into the one thing I hate most: myself. As a teacher, we are everything: moms, dads, role-models, ambassadors, celebrities (especially in Korea), we are life instructors to everyone. Me as a teacher: slacking in my ability to role-model, slacking in the ability to help people learn from me (not just students), and taking advantage of my time in Korea and treating it as a vacation (that’s only when mom comes soon). And maybe Halloween.

            Before Korea, I had plans; I was on a fast-track to success (in my mind) and Korea came as an opening for that. Today, as a teacher, and after my “self-evaluation”, I made a vow to myself: no kid will ever cry in my classroom, and that I will continue on this track to success by pushing myself in the classroom everyday with my students, and eventually pushing myself through graduate school when I begin in October.

 

So now I ask this… What is your vow as a teacher? How do you plan to be a “life- instructor”?

Hard not to be happy here

I am in my second week of being here in Jinju, and i’m already finding it hard not to be happy here. After a long talk with my co-teacher today after lunch, while sipping some green tea, he informed me that here in Korea they have a philosophy- ‘US’. He told me that their way of living involves everyone, not just themselves (not like in the U.S.A), and they have a sense of sharing everything with everybody. It makes the atmosphere of Korea so inviting and generous, but confusing to people who are new. He helped further my understanding of this philosophy by giving me an example: when he invites me to come to his house and meet is wife, he will introduce her by saying “this is our wife.” This does not mean that we are going to share her, haha, but meaning that in a way ‘our family is your family too.’ Since that first day, my co-teacher and I have had more conversations and more time to chill out in each other’s company, making it easier on me now that I have someone to translate the Korean for me.

(Two awesome ladies took me to eat sue-gal-mea-sal (beef) at an authentic Korean bar-b-q place and it was amazing).

The Westerners I have met here have also been so generous and inviting that it’s hard for me to get homesick already (don’t worry, I still think of you guys). They have warned me about specific things and what I should do when I run into them. <—- like this guy here which is right outside my gym just in case I need to go. Haha. It’s called a “squatter toilet” and I think you can figure it out on your own.

The kids at my school are outrageously hilarious, and can actually speak English very well. At ‘OUR’ school, I go by ‘Dallas-teacher’ or ‘handsome’teacher’. Korean kids are actually very cute too, so it’s hard not to say ‘hi’ when they say ‘hi’ to you, or laugh when they smack each other in the back of the head. Haha.

With a mix between the Westerners, inviting atmosphere, and KPop, the energy here is very high! The food, people, and activities here are great and I am going to take on South Korea one step at a time. I was talking to a girl at dinner who asked me how long I was going to be here. I responded with “one year”, and she said “that’s what everyone says. We will see how you feel when your year is up.” Hmmm, maybe she’s right. Going at this pace and with all this great stuff going on, I might just want to be here longer, but we will see. :)

DALLAS! MY LOVE!

Hey Dallas it’s Charlynn. For some reason you have your submissions on but not your ask box, so I’m writing this here. Follow me back you stupid bitch! Anyway, I love you and I hope you’re having fun!

Blog of the past week or so..

“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” – Rosalia de Castro

I really am caught up in Korea (and no he title is not Kardashian reference), I just needed an exciting title; one that is different and fun. Anyway, starting off: the plane ride was fine-I met a girl who was going into her 2nd year here in Korea and said for sure that I would love it, so that calmed my nerves over the “blacklisting” sight I came across before coming to Korea (in case you didn’t know, blacklisted schools are not good and I was scared of being put into one). When I got to Korea, I was greeted graciously off the airport, then put into a scare when they told me I was supposed to come a day early..Some confusion there with the recruiter and all. Being tired, they paid for me a bus to travel 3 hours to Jeonju, South Korea and there I would get my dorm information, orientation booklet and anything else I would need for the next week (it went pretty smooth). The beginning of the orientation was the worst; I missed the opening ceremony and the “friend gatherings,” not to mention I felt alone already because noone I knew was here with me, but I made some good friends from all around the world including one from Austin and Houston. They are all a blessing, and we have all agreed to stay in touch being an hour or so away from each other. After the orientation we all said our goodbyes and took a bus/private car ride with our co-teacher to our destinations.

The car-ride to my city was an easy two hours; my co-teacher bought me some noodles at a rest-stop (which were very tasty) and brought me straight to my apartment to meet my landlady who was very nice. They told me all abut the heater, keeping the water warm in the cold nights, set up my internet (which I found out I need my ARC to turn on), and showed me how to work the cable tv. After I recieved my key and signed some paperwork I was taken to the school to meet the principal, and on the way my co-teaher gave me a few tips on where the shortcuts to school are if I didn’t want to take the main road (which is about a 15 minute walk but includes a Paris Baguette on the way). Meeting the principal went very well-he complimented me on my Korean, told me I was very welcome, and we sipped green-tea for what seemed like 30 mins. The principal reminded me of the evil guy in Mortal Combat so I was a little intimidated at first… After that, I was taken to my classroom to have a “look around” and get accustumed to where I will be teaching for the next year (2nd shock). After that, my co-teacher said he was very busy and he needed to get some stuff done and asked me if I knew the way. I figured I knew enough and got home safely, saying “hello” to everyone I saw on the way (being referred to as Tom Cruise several times). Once home, I LOST it. My emotions were overwhelming and I was already missing the states; feeling alienated and alone, 5,000 miles from home, I had no idea what was coming next. Luckily, I ran into a nice English woman who helped me out before her Yoga class. There is a group on Facebook (of course) that I joined and have been invited to dinners and am playing soccer this Sunday. Now, 5 days in, I am feeling much better and am thankful for all that has happened. I am starting to see more of the city and venturing around to keep my mind off the homesickness. For example, I was walking downtown the other day and came across this underground pathway which I thought was to a subway…Nope. It was an underground mall. I had a look around, exited and ended up being in a completely different place than I entered. Good thing I came up in the “farmers market” here bc I got me a few snacks. I ended up getting home alright. Just had to take a long walk, but who said walking wasn’t good for them?

I can already feel myself growing…Crying is not my thing nor something I would do at home, but I guess doing it allows me to get to know myself and helps with getting out of my comfort zone. Good thing there is a “Mr.Pizza” here to drown my emotions out next time I have a break down. To all of those back home: Miss you.