The Ultimate Guide to Boseong, South Korea: Sleep It!

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To read the Ultimate Boseong Guide post about lodging, please click HERE to be redirected!

Thanks, and happy travels!

~Nomadic Madda

The Ultimate Guide to Boseong, South Korea: Find It!

Sorry, we've moved!

No Excuses Just Travel has recently relocated to http://www.noexcusesjusttravel.org.  

To read the Ultimate Boseong Guide post on access and transport, please click HERE to be redirected!

Thanks, and happy travels!

~Nomadic Madda

English Camps in Korea & How To Develop A Successful One

The idea of coursework during summer and winter vacations is quite foreign to most westerners--as is a school year that starts in March!  Unlike the west, schools in Korea begin their school year on or around March 1st.  Students are then in school until the end of July, taking their summer vacation throughout the month of August.  The second semester spans from the end of August until Christmas, and the students have a long winter break for all of January.  Weirdly enough, they come back for the first week of February for graduation, but then go on break again (for Lunar New Year) until the new school year begins in March.

However, students aren't free to relax, go on vacation, or even really get much of a break during these "vacation" periods because they are required to attend "camps".  Camps (and for us native English teachers, English camps, specifically) are additional special courses that students must enroll in during their summer and winter vacation times.

This is similar to how kindergarten started out as completely optional in the USA--wait.  Did you even know kindergarten was optional in the USA?  In fact, even today only 16 states mandate kindergarten enrollment!  Today, kindergarten is seen as such a norm and necessity we don't even question the idea of enrolling our children in it.  Parents don't want their children to be "left behind" their classmates academically and socially upon entering 1st grade, so the idea not enrolling them isn't even given a second thought.

This is essentially the mentality behind Korean summer and winter courses, as well as the hagwon  (학원: Korean private school/academy) obsession pushed upon Korean students today.  Parents, and many times even the students themselves, are so obsessed with getting that extra leg-up against their peers that they're willing to sacrifice nearly any and all free time.  Of course (just like kindergarten enrollment in the States), when everyone does it, it eventually becomes expected.  To not attend winter or summer camp would be seen as quite strange or lazy.

Most native English teachers (NETs) are asked to teach two weeks of camp in the winter, and two in the summer.  Some schools condense it into one, and others have even extended it into three or four.  It all depends on the needs of the school and the teacher's mandated vacation time, which is why teachers at different schools will have different breaks and camp requirements.  As contracted public school teachers in Jeollanamdo, our contracts entitle us to 24 paid vacation days in winter and 8 in summer.   This means that for the long winter break of January and February, any days that are not in my 24 approved days I must be in school as I'm being paid for them.  Most schools will have teachers "desk warm" during that time (no classes to teach, just required to be present in the office), though the school has the right to utilize us for camp classes during those days if they so desire.

City Highlights: Shopping in Gwangju

While my switch from apparel design and production to linguistics and the ESL world may have seemed abrupt, I certainly haven't left the world of fashion entirely!  Shopping is still one of my favorite aspects of travel, and I love discovering the unique aesthetics and styles of each city and country I travel through.
Korea has been inching its way into the fashion spotlight over the last few years, especially in terms of street style.  While foreigners often think of Japan as being a more experimental and fashion-forward center of Asian street style, after traveling the two countries that doesn't seem to be the case.  Japanese subcultures and their extreme fashion are certainly more "out there" than Korean fashion, but when you look at the average Japanese street crowd, you'll find a lot of black, grey, and navy and the same dull business suits and skirts shuffling past.
Korea, on the other hand, has become extremely experimental.  Still conformist in the sense that trends are followed with a herd-like mentality, but the fashions that catch on here seem to be far more expressive and flamboyant.  For example, a current trend this past fall/winter 2015 has been cropped pants.  For Korean men, this is exhibited in the form of a very slim, tailored pant that ends short, just above the ankle, and is paired with either (often contrasting) socks or bare skin.  A more casual alternative is a cuffed skinny jean, achieving the same look.

A photo posted by @wanshiki on Oct 18, 2014 at 8:18pm PDT	A photo posted by Kyunghun Kim (@halopeoplekr) on Nov 2, 2015 at 3:16am PST
Three young Korean men showing the cropped pant look, featuring cuffed denim, bare ankles, sneakers, socks, and boots.	Five young Korean men showing the biggest trends for this fall: slim, tailored, cropped pants; wool overcoats in a variety of colors; sweaters layered over collared shirts, and bare ankles peeking out over leather dress shoes.

For women, the cropped pant trend manifests itself in the form of culottes, where the comes in a wider variety of patterns and colors. Koreans aren't afraid to incorporate these trends into their work wardrobes, and many professionals can be seen with fun pops of color, patterns, and on-trend tailoring influencing even the most conservative of business dress.

A photo posted by SOL-SOL Street (@solsolstreet) on Oct 26, 2015 at 12:29am PDT	A photo posted by Korea Street Fashion (@realstreet1) on Oct 20, 2015 at 7:32pm PDT
A woman at Seoul Fashion Week shows off her boldly patterned culottes (cropped, wide-leg pants) and a chunky knit sweater.	A young professional shows how bold fashion has pushed business wear in Korea. Note the unique cut to her button down shirt; loud, printed skirt; and bold accessory choices.

With Koreans quickly embracing fashion as a form of self-expression and stepping out of the old shadows of conformity, shopping in Korea is more exciting than ever.  While there are a plethora of resources and shopping guides available for Seoul and Busan, I didn't see too much out there for some of the other larger cities in Korea.  After living in Jeollanamdo for the last year and a half, I've become a frequent visitor (and shopper) in the downtown Chungjangro (충장로) area of Gwangju (광주).  I recently went and visited my 12 favorite shops in the area, which I have marked out on the map below:

Same Town, Same Year...New School!

Wow, long time no blog, hey?

As I'm still sitting here in the tea fields, you can safely assume I've renewed for another year of teaching down here in Boseong, Jeollanamdo.  I had a great year at my elementary schools and high school, and the town of Boseong truly feels like home.  When it came time to renew my contract, there was no doubt I wanted to do a second year!

Sadly, funding was cut for my elementary school at the county level, so I wasn't able to stay there for a second year.  What followed were some rather anxious few months as I waited to hear from my coordinator (and probably drove him crazy) about my new school.  I had initially applied for a switch to an elementary school in Suncheon, but the day before our new placements were officially announced, my old co-teacher from my vocational high school reached out to me.  Her new school, the academy high school in Boseong, had received unexpected funding for a Native English Teacher (NET)!  We had a quick get-together that evening after school and decided to call the main office first thing the next morning to catch them before making the placement announcements.  Somehow, all the pieces fell into place and I was able to stay in Boseong!  As great as Suncheon would have been, staying in a town I knew in my same apartment and working with a co-teacher I know I already get along with fantastically just seemed like the most logical choice.

Now I am happily settled in at my new high school, which is just across the river from my apartment complex.  This school hasn't had a NET since 2010, so both the students and staff were buzzing on the day of my arrival.  Especially the students, who are absolutely adorable and so polite.  Judging from their reactions, you'd think I was Beyonce or Taylor Swift!  The boys battle one another to say hello, and the girls shyly wave and dissolve into a mess of giggled when I say, "Hi!" in return.  I even got a marriage proposal on my second day, but all the girls in the class told him they wouldn't "accept" our relationship as he was unworthy. Poor guy!  They crushed his dreams harder and far more swiftly than even I could!  I'm sure it will all die down by the end of the semester as I go from Dazzling Celebrity Foreigner to Regular English Teacher.

The school itself is beautiful--it looks like something out of a Korean TV drama!  The campus is fairly large, and there are many new buildings.  As an academy high school, there are dorms for students who live in the countryside or whose parents want them to focus more on their studies.  Our classes begin at 8:30AM and while 7th period ends at 4:15PM, the students don't get to go home until 10PM or sometimes even 11PM!  Both lunch and dinner are served on campus, and students spend their evenings in "self-study," which is supervised by teachers.  In fact, many of the teachers who live 30-60min away in Gwangju actually stay in the teacher's dorm building during the week because of their supervision duties.  Both the students and teachers work very hard and incredibly long hours.

Yes, this is actually my school.  Yes, it actually looks like this.  Who said country living wasn't cool?

English Teachers' Orientation: What to Expect (And What Not To)

Every job--even within the same field--will be different.  And every orientation, even within the same company, can be different.  Some throw you out there on your first day and watch as you sink or swim.  Others hold your hand and hammer their way of doing things into your head, denying you any freedom to experiment and improve the system.

No comment.

I've held a variety of jobs  and participated in a range of activities over the last decade, and I've experienced countless orientations that fall all over this spectrum.  When I came to Korea in August of 2014 to teach English as a second language, I didn't know where our program's orientation would entail or how much it would or wouldn't help me in my new teaching job.  Obviously even within the same orientation everyone's personal experience of it will be different, but here is what I took away from mine:

DON'T EXPECT everyone to be on the same level.  There were some people I met that I was incredibly impressed with.  One girl spoke gorgeously fluent Korean (and blew away all the Korean co-teachers at our introduction!), and others still had years of teaching experience or were working on Master's degrees while abroad.  And others were new, just like me.  In fact, you may even meet some people whose qualifications you strongly question, but at the end of the day, take everything as a learning opportunity.  Pick up good tips from the more experienced teachers and learn what not to do from those who set bad examples.  You have control over what kind of teacher you want to be!

DO EXPECT to meet some awesome people.  Not only are you all in the same boat, but that boat is floating in a foreign sea, and you're all feeling equally out of place.  Orientation sort of feels like being a freshman in college all over again--friend groups are formed, everyone is a little awkward and out of their element, and no one wants to seem like they don't know what they're doing.  But everyone is new to something--whether it's teaching, or Korea, or both.  Orientation is a huge opportunity to make friends...and go visit them in their respective placement cities later!

Walk like Moses: The Jindo Sea-Parting Miracle (Festival)

Despite our hectic schedules as we settle into the new school year, Lorna and I found time this weekend to venture across Jeollanamdo to the island of Jindo.  Every year, a festival is held to honor the legend of Grandmother Ppong and her escape from the island.

A statue of Grandmother Ppong and a tiger to commemorate her escape.

Long ago, on the island of Jindo, a group of villagers were constantly under the threat of vicious tiger attacks.  One day, they finally made their escape from the main island to the nearby island of Modo.  Unfortunately, in their haste, Grandmother Ppong was left behind.  All alone on the island and desperate to be reunited with her family, Grandmother Ppong prayed fervently to the Dragon King.  One night, he visited her in a dream, telling her he would create a rainbow reaching all the way to Modo Island and her family.  The next morning, Grandmother Ppong rushed to the sea to find it had indeed parted, creating a path for her to safely escape the tigers.  Halfway across, Grandmother Ppong collapsed, too old and exhausted to make the rest of her journey.  But her family had also been visited by the Dragon King, and and hurried to meet her on the sea path.  In the arms of her loved once, Grandmother Ppong said, "The Dragon Kind has granted my wish and reunited me with my family once again!  I could not ask for anything more in life!" before passing away.

Each year, locals, Koreans across the country, and many foreigners venture down to the island of Jindo to participate in commemorating Grandmother Ppong's escape from the tigers of Jindo and her faith in the Dragon King.  While I was initially wary of crossing a sea using the precious little footwear I have here in Korea, Lorna assured me waders could be purchased at the festival.  So, we hopped in the car and made the 120km (75mi) drive across the bottom corner of the country.

The event itself is a good 20min drive into the island itself, and we easily found it by following the trail of cars and buses.  The sea parting itself wasn't to peak until 6:10PM, so we had plenty of time to kill arriving at 12:30PM.  Right at the entrance, there was a man selling the infamous waders used to cross the sea. We nabbed a pair early on and tossed them in the car before heading in to check out the stalls.

Local Tip: They all cost ₩8,000, so it doesn't really matter where you buy them.  The stalls were all throughout the grounds and they didn't look to be running out, even right up until the parting!

Somehow, we managed to stumble into the international tents almost immediately.  Stalls representing Korea, Peru, India, America, Russia, Turkey, Germany, Japan, and others advertised food, drink, and occasionally crafts.  Ironically enough, the American booth was the least accurate out of all of them, selling Korean-style ice cream (served in a large, V-shaped corn tube instead of a cone) and Korean-style potato tornadoes.  Longing for my days in Japan, I immediately grabbed some takoyaki while Lorna went for the Korean chicken.

Clockwise from top: spicy Korean chicken, Japanese takoyaki, and Japanese okonomiyaki

Grapefruit juice, straight from the source!

We brought our snacks to the seaside, but were soon interrupted by a parade coming our way!  Drummers, dancers, and students in animal costumes lined up, preparing for the 3PM procession across the shoreline to the sea-parting point.  Some of the middle school students next to us shyly struck up conversation with us, and we ended up chatting with them for nearly an hour.  They were very punchy (typical of Korean kids) and kept tugging at each other's costumes and cracking up.  One poor boy who was an orca kept inadvertently whacking everyone with the tail of the whale worn on his head.  When we went to take a picture, one of the girls asked a boy dressed as a crab to snap it...only to have him sadly look at his hands--incapacitated by the costume's claws.

Korean Hospitals, Doctors, and Health Care

I'm six months in to my stay here, and it was bound to happen at some point.  Some good ol' Korean nasties have settled in my system and blessed me with a pretty brutal cough.  I'll spare you the details, but I'm typically a very healthy person and get over illnesses quickly.  So, once I hit the one-week point without seeing much progress, I decided it was time to see a doctor.

Korea has a fantastic health care system that even covers us native teachers during our contracts.  I think the cost and efficiency of this system comes as the biggest shock to Americans, who have exorbitant costs and wait times associated with hospital and doctors visits.  Here, when you mention that you're unwell, the first suggestion a Korean will make is that you go to the hospital.

The hospital?!  For a general visit or check up?!  It sounds strange to those of us from Western countries, who associate hospitals with serious medical issues, long-term stays, or emergencies.  But here in Korea, the hospital is the first stop when assessing your health problems.  Only after you've been checked out would you possibly receive a further recommendation to see a doctor, who is a specialist in a particular field.

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.

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.