Every day in Korea is a war. It is me versus the red sludgy substances that they call cuisine. Most consist of vegetables I have never seen mixed in pots with spicy sauce that make them almost inedible. This is my eating routine:
I take the first bite.
I drink a full glass of water.
I stir the sludge and contemplate why I ever agreed to come to Korea .
I take another bite.
Another bite.
I drink water.
Soon after I put down my chopsticks and decide that I will just go to Dunkin Donuts after school and get something that will bring me some degree of Good Ol’ American Artery Clogging Pleasure.
The End.
Okay, it might not be that bad…but it’s pretty bad. When I first got here I wanted to be the cosmopolitan traveler who was like “I am cultured! Give me delicious foreign foods!” Three weeks in I am sad and just want a cheeseburger. MmMmm….that would be delicious.
Moral of the story: If you send me a care package pack it with lots of ho-hos, oatmeal pies and fudge rounds.
Other than that things have actually been really good over here. Taekwondo is really fun. My legs are wicked sore all the time, but I am improving. I think we have our first belt test at the end of the month, so that should be cool. I’m hoping to move up to the next belt so my students will stop making fun of me for being a white belt. Several of them are black belts and like to rub it in a little bit.
Speaking of, classes have been really good. I teach 14 classes a week and have about 70 or 80 students. I only have one or two problem classes, so I’m pretty lucky. The kids really listen and try to do their best to participate. I also have a couple classes that are really shy. I think part of it is that I am a large, scary American, but I think also some of it is they just don’t want to make mistakes when they speak. I have one class—it’s the lowest level I teach—and they are very shy. They behave really well but I think they are just scared of making mistakes. When I look around the room to ask a question you would think I was holding a crossbow and putting the students in my sights. It has been fun though—a real experience.
The first couple classes were rough—I wouldn’t say trainwrecks, but small fender benders—I was so nervous and really didn’t know how to talk to the kids. The first week I definitely learned a lot, but I have a long way to go. It’s really interesting because I feel like we really have to have a balance in our teaching. We want the kids to learn and we want to be strict in some senses, but at the same time this is all supplementary class work (They go to school from 8-3 and then come to our school for 2 hour night classes) so you want it to be fun. I try to entertain the kids as much as I can. Especially my 9-11 classes. I know that they will probably be really tired and need some prodding to stay awake.
Last weekend I got the chance to climb a big mountain called Songnisan. It was really amazing. It took about 3 hours to get to the top. Korean trails seem to be a little different than American trails. When I hiked in Colorado , they seemed to kind of move back and forth up the mountain. In Korea its just straight up, baby! They don’t mess around. I posted some pictures at this website if anyone wants to check it out:
I’ve met some really cool people over here and it’s been fun traveling with them and getting to know them better.
Well, I think that’s all the really exciting stuff for now. I’ll post as more adventures occur.
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