Photoooos

Streets below PNU (Pusan National University) about a 15 min walk from home and where lots of bars, shopping and food is. 

 Pathetic produce section. Pretty much everything is packaged in annoying plastic bags and you usually can't buy things in anything less than these large bags. Not great for a single eater who eats minimal veggies.

 A few bags of rice

 A few more bags of rice.

 This is the size of rice that I buy for myself.

(In case the sarcasm doesn't translate I do not buy these, I buy individual microwaveable rice that is delicious and I eat it every day)

 Chili paste

And more chili paste, again appropriately sized for the army.

So pretty much grocery stores kinda suck here. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of the isles of ramon or soy sauce. Pretty much they sell very few items but the items that they do sell they keep an entire isle stocked of the exact same product in varying size containers. It also appears that they only use chili paste to flavor food and sell no other spices. This has definitely reinforced my love for the Co-op and Whole Foods. Also wish that I could get some of those fresh veggies from the farm that Mother will be living off but sadly fresh delicious food does not seem to be something that the Koreans are very into. Word on the street is that Costco is awesome so I think we are going to make a trip there with someone with a membership after we get paid to stock up. 

For those of you not in the know this is the han bok, the traditional dress. I have been surprised by how many of these shops are around Busan. Luckily I've got this area of fashion covered. My han bok is being kept safe in a closet in Vermont (a place that it has been since about 2005). I must say that as stately as some older women look in their han boks (there were a number at the wedding I went to) it is definitely not the most flattering garment (unless your pregnant).

Blowing up.

So today Danielle and I had a lovely day of exploring. We spent the morning at the Busan Museum of Modern Art and then the afternoon eating and shopping around where we live. Unfortunately the museum was a bit of a disappointment. It was quite a large space that was not fully taken advantage of and the lighting was very poor. We saw one exhibit of Japanese art (somewhat surprising as I thought they hated each other). Unfortunately all we could figure out was that it was Japanese art because everything was in Korean. The exhibit spanned a huge amount of time from what I could tell- about 1700s to current. Some of the pieces where quite beautiful, particularly the older ones. What really frustrated me about this specific exhibit was the framing. For some of the more modern pieces some genius had framed them in giant, carved, gilt frames that were doing nothing for the work. It was as though they were hoping that giving such grand frames would elevate the art. Definitely did not work and definitely hurt some interesting pieces. The other exhibit that we saw was of the work of Oh Seung-woo, a Korean who had quite a wide range. We actually only had the patience for one of the rooms and I think we chose the wrong one. We saw his series on the Ten Longevity Symbols and I just cold not get over his color choices. It was all neon pinks and oranges and each picture had little deer (that looked like Bambi), turtles and cranes. The colors plus the deer just came across as kitshy. At the back of the room though were a few pieces that he had done 10-15 years previously and those I liked much more. A more normal color palette and the subject matter was more more interesting- mostly of his travels but done in what I guessed was a fairly traditional watercolor fashion.
Definitely glad that we went (and that it was free) and I will be interested to see what other exhibits they get throughout the year but sadly was not blown away. I guess after the one and only MoMA I might be a bit spoiled.
We then took the train back to PNU (Pusan National University) which is one stop past where we live and in the direction of work. Lots of activity in the area- food shopping and going out, the typical college area (minus the wasteland of Morningside Heights and Columbia). Anyway on our way to lunch we stopped in some sort of arcade on steroids. It was this huge poorly lit room that was filled with the most deafening sounds of guns and cars the chatter of tons of teenagers (mostly boys) playing these games. We were only in there for a second but it was maybe the most overwhelming second that I have experienced so far in Korea. Apparently this is what kids (like my students) do for the 3 hours of free time that they get on Saturdays. We had the first American food that I have had since being here- burgers and fries- for lunch. Pretty tasty but no new york city burger. Then we wondered around the back streets going into stores- sadly we had to resist actually shopping as we have yet to be paid and are running low on funds. Anyway, as soon as I do get paid I definitely plan on returning as the cloths are awesome (something I had guessed by all my people watching) and super cheap!

Flirting Eagles

So I have finally been hooked up to the fastest internet pretty much anywhere and now I can not only download anything I can possibly imagine for free (stealing copyright material doesn't seem to exist here) but I can also keep my blog super updated so get ready for this to blow up.
After today I will have completed my first month of teaching! I definitely feel like I have gotten better- it took being a bit of a bitch to some of my more rowdy and rude classes but I think I have finally established my authority. So now that things are in control I am having much more fun- especially with the younger kids (shocking I know). The class that I find really fascinating (unfortunately not due to the material) is my Eagle Listening. Its the oldest group (most of them are about 14 except for a few geniuses that are 12) and one of the higher levels so they can speak quite well. Pretty much the class consists of me playing recorded lectures, them answering questions about the lecture and then going over the answers while listening to the lecture again. Super exciting. Unfortunately the class/all our classes are geared to get kids ready for the iBT TOEFL exam so they can all go to Harvard which means that lectures are usually pretty dry but I'm kinda a dork so I find them interesting. The one lecture that I did not find interesting was on men and women in the work place. It discussed the obstacles faced by men and women and was pretty much wildly sexist. Being the daughter of a totally hippy feminist and a strong, beautiful Barnard woman (this is how emails to the Barnard community were addressed) I was very opposed to teaching this material. In one lecture in particular it said that women did not face competition from men but that they had to override their natural instinct to take more administrative roles and care for family. Not acceptable material in mind. Anyway, it didn't seem there was much I could do but I happened to be reading a wonderful article in the New Yorker about The Feminine Mystique and came across this quote: "The belief that women are biologically destined to be domestic and subordinate is just a construct, created by psychologists and social scientists, and used as an ex-post-facto justification for inequality" (Manand, Louise. "Books as Bombs". The New Yorker, Jan 24, 2011). Great quote but unfortunately way over the heads of my students. Instead I simply told them the lecture was wrong thank you very much.
The other aspect of my Eagle class that makes it so fascinating is the flirting. I haven't spent time with middle schoolers since I was one and watching them it doesn't feel so long ago that I was behaving exactly as they do. Its only between the "cool" kids but its absolutely hilarious. While I can relate because I was one of those super cool kids in middle school (and always) as a teacher it has become maybe one of the most annoying this ever and it seems impossible to put a stop to. Its like the three hours in English class are the only time that they get to see people of the other sex and they just can't focus on anything but impressing them. Next week there is going to be a seating chart.
The Eagle class is also the class where they have to do presentations, and I have been assigning different genre's of music. Yesterday we did country with Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton. I got the best response from Dolly Parton, mostly because she looks like a barbie and because I followed it up with this video. It seems that it is going to take a little while to really get them to actually use their minds and form and independent opinion of any of the music but I am requiring them to actually listen to the music (why I have to make that a requirement is beyond me) and talk about their opinions in their presentations. So far the kids that have done the best job are these three 12 year old girls that are super smart so hopefully I will get the others to follow in their footsteps.

Still Judgmental In Korea (Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb)

Danielle and I had our first run in with two Mormon missionaries (apparently they just overrun the country). We were walking up the stairs to the train for work and immediately upon reaching the top and American girl asked in a super perky voice and as though we knew each other, “Hey, how are you?” Needless to say it was pretty clear that she, and her missionary partner, a Korean girl, were not English teachers as they were both dressed in long skirts and coats and carrying suspicious looking books and wearing name tags.

            Luckily they were not able to begin converting us as we were only on the train with them for a few stops. Slightly interesting to hear about her: used to be a hairdresser in California and got sent to Korea and has to stay for a total of one and a half years (she had completed about a year). As I’m sure you can all imagine my slightly judgmental streak has not been obliterated by the sudden onset of adulthood and had the discussion of the benefits of the Mormon faith been brought up I’m sure I would have found it nearly impossible to keep my mouth shut. Frankly I am quite opposed to the idea of missionaries in general, its great if your religion works for you but I frankly don’t want to be told that I have been living in the dark because I am not part of it. On top of that I have an extremely strong aversion to the Mormon faith. This has been developed through extensive research including a course on Mormonism taught by a fabulous Columbia professor (Randall Balmer), all four seasons of Big Love (obsessed with Chloe Sevigny) and of course filled out with some South Park. Needless to say a religion created at a time when frankly people should know better than to believe some random guy that “was given” gold tablets from God but was the only person who could see them before they were “return” to the angel Maroni not to mention the whole polygamy thing, the mountain meadows massacre, and the exclusion of black men from the ministry until the 1980s as well as the rejection of gays. Luckily that poor California girl did not get to hear these thoughts (let along my thoughts on the Mormon support of Prop. 8 in California).

            Other than that the week has been fairly uneventful. Thursday night I went out with some coworkers to get chicken and beer. It seems that fried chicken is quite popular here. In the super markets there is always a section of various kinds of friend chicken and there are tons of friend chicken restaurants. So we had some friend chicken and beer, which was quite delicious though, I felt slightly ill when I was going to bed. I went to the grocery store today to pick up a few items and at the end of every single isle there was a Korean screaming the benefits of some product and handing out samples. I don’t know if this is a regular Saturday occurrence of if I just stumbled upon something special.

            So far the teaching is definitely getting smoother. I had my first review with my boss and it was very helpful. She obviously told me that I was awesome and pretty much confirmed my feeling that I am about a million times better with the middle school kids rather than the elementary school ones. I frankly find small children somewhat terrifying and none of them appreciate my monotone not my bitter and sarcastic sense of humor. Apparently an appreciation of all of that comes along with puberty as I get along charmingly with my older students. Unfortunately they all listen to shit music (K-Pop) so I took the liberty to throw out all the research assignments and will be slowly working them through an overview of good music. I figured I would start out easy with the British bands: The Beatles, The Stones and Cream. Each class we have twenty minutes for these presentations and hopefully the kids will enjoy them. It also means that I get to show them cool YouTube videos.

Ready For Some Pictures??

My apartment:

The view from my huge windows (this is what I see when I fall asleep)

The previous resident added the lovely picket fence sticker along with some butterflies. Really spices up the view

The picket fence during the day

Some more stunning wall "art". Can't decide if these should be fully embraced or covered up/removed.

The view during the day.

The rest of my apartment! The little loft is where I sleep, it would be perfect if there were about two more feet so I could stand up but whatever. All in all quite a lovely place to live, and it will be even better when I get some furniture!

Russian Prostitute

So I have been warned several times that my blond hair (fake) and my blue eyes (very real) make me a Russian prostitute here and that I shouldn't take offense when people inquire about my rates.
I have successfully finished my first week of real work! Today Danielle and I are going to venture into the city for the first time. We are headed to  some big shopping/market area which should be interesting.
Yesterday one of my students asked me if I was speaking in my normal voice...wasn't really sure how to respond but eventually was able to figure out that he thought I sounded like I had a cold which was actually correct.
I am really looking forward to getting to name kids. Apparently if they are new and don't have an English name yet we get to name them! If your lucky I might even name one after you. Some teachers have clearly abused the privelege as I have students named: Berry (girl), Shiny (girl), Young (girl), Silver Bell (apparently a translation of his Korean name) and Pong (boy).

Huge Appartment No Furtniture

So I have officially moved into my apartment in Busan! I finished training Friday afternoon (passed with flying colors I'm sure) and got to my apartment around 11 pm. Its pretty exciting having my own apartment and knowing that I will be in it for a whole year! There is a pretty tiny kitchen (but I don't think I will be doing too much cooking as the food here is super cheap and delicious), a quite large and very empty main room that has huge floor to ceiling windows looking out on downtown Busan. I am on the 15th floor so its a pretty awesome view. My bed is in a little loft above the kitchen/main room. Its only about 4 feet tall so getting dressed is a bit of a challenge and I have hit my head about a million times. Definitely find that I am a little too big for Korea at times!
My new boss Jen has been amazing! She has done a ton to make Danielle and I at home hear. Not the least of which was taking us out with her friends of Saturday until way too late! We finished our night at a noriban (cant spell anything in Korean but you guys can't speak Korean so I don't think it matters what I write). Anyway, noriban is pretty much just Kareoke in a private room. Pretty funny stuff. There seem to be tons of Americans, or at least English speaking people here. Most of them are doing the teaching thing I believe. Needless to say I think Danielle and I have a good chance of finding a few friends.
I started work on Monday and have successfully completed three days of classes. I teach two 3 hour long classes each day starting at 4 and ending at 10. Its a pretty long day, especially because I have had to come in early to prep and make sure I know what I am doing (I don't). One minor issue that I am dealing with (besides having to teach children how to speak and spell, something I usually can't do myself) is figuring out an eating schedule. We only have a ten minute break between classes and trust me that is not enough time to consume a satisfying meal. My goal is to find some delicious (and nutrisious of course) snacks that will keep me going until I get back to my apartment and my huge glass of red wine.
Besides the food issue there is of course the teaching issue. It really hasn't turned out to be as hard as I expected. The classes go by shockingly fast- probably because I have a million things to do and am in a blackout panic most of the time. But its actually pretty fun, though my feet and back hurt at the end. Most of the kids are really cute once I am able to get them to stop staring at me in fear and actually talk to me. There is one girl that I literally cannot get to open her mouth (so far she is not my favorite). One of my older students, upon hearing that I went to school in New York City, asked me if I had ever heard of Parsons School of Design and then went on to tell me who her favorite designers where: top of the list was Alexander McQueen who I definitely did not know about when I was 14! The week is pretty long and its strange to think that I will be doing it for 5 days every week for a year!
The food here is also amazing. There are these little restaurants all over the place (I think they are called Orange something) and they have awesome food that costs about $4 for a huge meal!
I have yet to get internet in my apartment but as soon as I do I have some fabulous pictures to show you all of my apartment and even more importantly of the GIANT bags of cereal that they sell here. They are amazing and should really be introduced in America. The only negative so far is that it seems all this stress and excitement has made me sick. Pretty big bummer but I will hopefully get over it soon! All in all Korea has been great and I am looking forward to my year here!