My Korean Milestones

Coming to a new country and not knowing any of the language can be frustrating.  Here are some of the big milestones I've accomplished since coming to Korea:

Week 0 (July):

- Managed to catch a bus from Seoul to Daejeon and meet up with my friends before starving to death.

- Can say my friend's address in Korean and catch a taxi home on my own if necessary.

Week 1 (August):

- Can successfully navigate the subway in Seoul alone....although the stops are all written in English too, and I have a travel card I can top up.

- (Can't read or write)

Week 2: 

- Can order coffee or tea with the Konglish name (Korean pronunciation of English words), as well as beer and soju.

- Can navigate a familiar bus route on my own using my travel card.

- (Still can't read or write, still haven't eaten a meal alone)

Week 3:

- Can read consonant characters and a few vowels.

- Have picked up on a few Korean words and phrases.

- Can tell everyone my height in Korean.

- Am getting really good at charades.

Month 1 (September):

- Can properly greet, thank, and say good-bye to people using the correct level of politeness.

- Can read, albeit slowly and often without understanding what I'm saying.

- Slowly learning a few more phrases and getting used to using them every day.

- Am really, really good at charades.

- (Names are so, so hard to remember, you guys...)

- Can communicate with Korean guys when we go out to clubs.

- Have a pay-as-you-go phone

- Have a Korean bank account

Teaching in Rural Korea (And Why "One School" Sometimes Means "Three")

Before I left the USA, the one thing I was the most excited about was getting my placement.  I was constantly online searching all over Jeollanamdo (전라남도), trying to see what regions and cities there were, and what life was like there.  When I finally received my packet from Canadian Connections, I had been placed in my second choice: Boseong county (보성군)!

In hindsight, I'm actually very, very glad I ended up here and not Yeosu (여수), which was my first choice on my application.  Yeosu is a beautiful, larger costal town about a 75min drive from me, but nothing quite has the beauty and charm of a rural town in the Korean countryside.  Boseong county has a population of about 63,000, but the town of Boseong itself is only around 9,000-10,000.  It's actually around the same size as my hometown of Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

Swung by the tea fields on a rainy day...You can imagine what it looks like on a sunny one!  Stunning.

In total, those 63,000 people are spread out over 256mi^2, or (663km^2), which means once you leave the towns, it's relatively sparse.  Children have to be bused all over the region to attend school, and as a result, many schools have a very small number of students.  For us teachers, this often means teaching at more than one school.  This both cuts costs for the schools, since they split the cost of an English teacher among themselves, and makes it easier to ensure all students in the region are receiving English education with a native speaker.

Bonding on Your Teacher's Trip, and How Not to Die.

Back in September my co-workers and I had a meeting to discuss our school trip.  There were many ideas on the table, ranging from island hikes to temple visits to traveling to multiple cities, but I didn't know quite what was in store for me until I was picked up on Thursday morning.  Our itinerary, a five page packet, was written entirely in Korean.  I couldn't be bothered to translate it, so I opted to just roll with whatever was thrown my way.

Fellow foreign teachers in Korea, consider this your warming: regardless of their age, all of your Korean co-teachers can out eat, drink, and party you.  The activities are never-ending. They will not stop, and they will not show you any mercy.

Our general route from Boseong to Geumodo...followed by Yeosu, Suncheon Bay, and the Naganeupseong Folk Village.

The morning began innocently enough.  After managing a last-minute washing machine delivery (don't ask), two of my other co-workers and I were picked up bright at early by our school's bus driver, Seokoh-ssi.  His van had two seats in the front and an open back, so my two co-teachers kicked off their shoes and sat on blankets while I was ushered into the front seat.

흥국사 (HeungGukSa) Temple Stay

Well, this temple stay happened back in September.  Due to a variety of problems with technology (computer breaking, getting a new one, entire blog post deleting, unable to transfer photos, etc, etc.) no one has heard from me in a while.

We've been busy making new friends!

But I'm still here!  And still keeping very, very busy, so you can expect many more posts from here on out!  The weather is getting cooler now, so we've been enjoying the outdoors while we can.  One of the places we explored was 흥국사 (Heungguksa) Temple where we lived with Buddhist monks (and their many dogs) for 24 hours.

Birthdays In Korea.....And Why I'm Old.

I have almost forgotten that I am actually 24, not 25.  In fact, I won't turn 25 until March 6th of 2015, but on January 1st of 2015 I will be considered 26 in Korea.  What?!

Koreans count your time in the womb as part of your life span, so when you are born you are considered 1 year old.  Age is incredibly important in Korea, and your age is labeled by the year you were born in, not the individual month and day.  So, since I was born in 1990 and it is now 2014, I am considered to be 25 years old along with every other child born in 1990.  When the new year changes over in January (solar) or February (lunar), there is a big celebration for everyone turning a year older.  So in the year of 2015, everyone born in 1990 is considered to be 26 years old.  Yikes, talk about feeling like time is escaping you!

One of the first questions I am asked by every Korean I meet is "How old are you?".  In Korea, you are considered "friends" or 칭구 (chinggu) with anyone in your same birth year.  There is a very strict hierarchy in Korea, so even if someone is only one year older than you, you must speak to them with formal language and treat them with respect.  On the flip side, if someone is younger, you are able to freely speak in more casual language.  Obviously this can get even more complicated with people who are considerably older than you (parents age, grandparents age), as can sometimes lead to confusing work situations.  For example, if a boss is younger than some of his employees, how does he address them?  Formally because they're older?  Informally because he's their boss?  Do they have to use more formal language with him even though he's younger?  I'm just glad everyone at my school except one teacher is older than me!

Start Saving for a Ticket to Visit Korea, Because I'm Not Coming Home.

You guys, I'm so, so sorry, but I absolutely love Korea.

Please remind me of this in 5 months when I'm homesick and lonely, craving Mequon Taco Bell and have gotten sick of rice.

About a month ago, I bought a one-way ticket and hopped on a plane, traveling over 30 hours to get here.  I'd never been to Korea before, I don't speak or read the language, and I knew a grand total of four people in a country of 50 million.

Officially the last photograph of me in the USA.

I haven't had a chance to truly sit down and study the language yet, but I now know a handful of phrases and am able to (slowly) read and write.  In the span of a week my circle of friends and family has expanded to eighteen.  In Korean culture, friends are made by being "introduced" by a mutual friend.  Striking up a casual conversation with a stranger is strange and uncomfortable, but with an introduction, people are quick to be friendly and keep in touch on KakaoTalk*.  For example: my friend from college, CJ, introduced me to his friend D on Sunday.  D brought along another friend, B, who I ended up grabbing lunch and hanging out with on Tuesday when my other friends were busy.

Coping with Language Barriers & Becoming a Charades Master

Moving to a new country is never easy.  There are foreign customs, strange foods (that may or may not agree with you), bizarre stereotypes, and every day tasks like grocery shopping or ordering a cup of coffee can become incredibly challenging.

Help.

I lived abroad in London, England for a semester and found plenty of frustrations during my stay--and that was in an English-speaking country.  A step up from that, traveling throughout France (where I speak the native language well) has been manageable.  Even other countries that I have visited in Europe have used Latin alphabets that I have been able to read.

Somebody Time Me, I'm Heading to Korea

Traveling to South Korea from the United States is far more than "just a 13 hour flight".   I've traveled enough (both domestically and abroad) over the last few years to know you should always give yourself extra time between each leg of your journey.  However, the longer you travel, the more these unexpectedly add up.  I got up at 6:45AM on Tuesday, July 29th and was prepped for the following itinerary:

• Leave home in Cedarburg, Wisconsin at 7:45AM CST to make it to Mitchell Airport (35min)
• Catch flight from Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 10:30AM CST to Chicago, Illinois. (2h 45m)
• Sit at the O'Hare Airport for ~2 hours. (5h, and we haven't even left the US yet...)
• Catch the 12h 40m flight from Chicago, Illinois to Tokyo, Japan (17h 40m)
• Sit at the Narita Airport for ~1h 30m (19h)
• Catch the 3h flight from Tokyo, Japan to Seoul, South Korea (22h)
• Catch a bus from Incheon Airport to Daejeon, where I would connect with CJ. (24h)

So hypothetically this should only take me around 24 hours of traveling, right?  Wrong.  So very, very wrong.  Catching all of my connecting flights went over very smoothly.  However, I am neither graceful, fast-moving, nor collected when I am juggling a purse, a computer bag, a 65L backpack, a suitcase, and a second 75L hiking backpack zipped in a carrying case.

Packed and ready to go!