The Highs
1. Gangnam Style!
"You're kidding, right?" No, really, Gangnam Style had a decent impact on the beginning of my time in Korea. To think that 50 years ago, Korea was a poverty-stricken country still grappling with the painful memories of war and that now, it flaunts the 13th largest economy in the world despite its small size...is amazing! Even more, Psy brought tons of fame to Korea. I think most Americans thought of South Korea as some scary place where everyone is still impoverished and works in rice fields. Uhh, wrong! Whatever you think about the fact that people are extremely concerned with their looks and what everyone else thinks of them, the fact remains that Korea as a whole is not poor (it may have a national debt that outpaces its growth, but that's another story). Anyway, arriving in Korea just as Gangnam Style became hot was interesting because it brought light and acclaim to the country. The song was still #1 on iTunes long after it was old, tired, annoying, and even irritation-inducing here. Long story short--good job, Psy!
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| If only I could tell you how many times I've done this dance in Korea...everywhere. |
2. Those little moments when you know that what you're doing makes a difference
It's so easy to coast through a week of teaching classes without critically analyzing what I do. Way too easy. But I fight against that by nitpicking at my lessons and talking to my students all the time. At the end of last semester, I was unsure whether my teaching had really made any impact on them, and really felt down about it. Ok, fine, I felt downright bad.
But then, as I was giving speaking tests to my first graders (high school sophomores), something special happened: Nearly all of my students with unique needs specifically requested to take the speaking test--even though they weren't required or necessarily encouraged to--because they wanted to have a conversation with me. While our talks were brief, it meant so much to me that these girls, who are often overlooked in the grand scheme of things--thought enough of me and my class to volunteer to talk to me. Add to this the fact that meeting with a teacher one-on-one freaks out most Korean students, and I was on cloud nine!
Last week, two of my highest-level students who won the debate competition came and talked with me for quite a while about how to write their debate case. Normal, right? No, these two came in on a rainy day during the winter vacation, when they easily could have been doing something non-academic. I ended up taking them out to lunch and we had a great talk about all sorts of things...it really helped me understand their perspectives not just as students, but as people. I love the little moments like that--they make all the bad ones seem so minor.
3. It's like I'm famous. In this weird "It's only because you're a waygook" way...
This is a double-edged sword to which I guarantee nearly any foreigner in Korea can attest. People are always walking up to you saying "Heellllooooo! Where are you from???" I thought it was just a new-foreigner thing, but no, it still happens. On the one hand, the people take an interest in you because you're different. But on the other hand, you're only interesting because you're different, which in Korea, is almost always a bad thing.
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| For our purposes, skip over all of these except "annyeong" and "Hello!" |
Aaaand now for the other half.
The Lows
1. Holidays and family time
Christmas was by far the worst season for me thus far. My travels in college were usually restricted to the first half of the year, so I was always able to fly back to Oklahoma for Christmas. But not in Korea--Christmas is not a season, but a one-day event that inspires shopping and then goes away. I can deal with that, but not being able to see my family was really rough on me, rougher than I thought it would be.This is partially because 1) my family is AMAZING and 2) because I had just hit the point where all the novelty of Korea had worn off and I was left with what was real (not entirely bad). My mom and I had carved out a time when we were both available to Skype -- despite the 15 hours separating us -- so that I could see the faces of my extended family. I was SO excited, and had left my office to find a quiet room to video chat in. Then my mom said that there was a snowstorm there, and that my aunt/uncles/cousins/everyone had left early to avoid getting stuck on the highway. **Oklahoma weather, you never fail to be ratchet!** My heart dropped, but on the brigt side, I do have a great group of friends here, though, and spent the holidays with them, which was a great distraction from missing everyone back stateside.
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| Not quite the same situation, but you get the picture. |
2. Foreigner Isolation
While there's a large community of other foreigners in Daegu, sometimes people can be hard to reach. When the ice covering nearly every inch of the city precludes you from walking just about anywhere, and it's so snowy that taxi drivers won't pick up anyone, you sort of curl up into this ball by yourself. There's always the phone and Facebook, but it's not the same. Sometimes you just want to be around other warm bodies who are in a similar situation. Or sometimes you want to avoid foreigners at all costs and just talk to local people--err, that's kinda hard when your Korean skills are passable at best and most people don't speak more English than could be found on a travel guide short sheet. And you're foreign, which is kind of scary to many Korean people. Aargh!
That said, I'm loving the fact that I have so much time to myself. Aside from a week-long winter camp I taught, I haven't taught class since December 27th, and I've still been on full salary the whole time (EPIK perks!). I think a part of me came here not only to teach and inspire small changes and such, but also to help me figure out myself and what I really want in a career. I've made some major changes in life plans recently (more on that later) but it's nice to just be able to have whole evenings to myself. I could easily go downtown and talk to people, but it's refreshing to just be able to sit at home under my electric blanket and write about what I want to do and the person I want to become. I guess you could call it a self-induced hermit state.
That said, I'm loving the fact that I have so much time to myself. Aside from a week-long winter camp I taught, I haven't taught class since December 27th, and I've still been on full salary the whole time (EPIK perks!). I think a part of me came here not only to teach and inspire small changes and such, but also to help me figure out myself and what I really want in a career. I've made some major changes in life plans recently (more on that later) but it's nice to just be able to have whole evenings to myself. I could easily go downtown and talk to people, but it's refreshing to just be able to sit at home under my electric blanket and write about what I want to do and the person I want to become. I guess you could call it a self-induced hermit state.
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| It means "Foreigner" |
3. Not feeling challenged
This may not apply to everyone, but I love my work environment when it challenges me. Being pushed to learn new things and figure stuff out quickly is something that I actually enjoy, unlike most people. Although I've tweaked my lessons to no end and have "volunteered" for activities that happen after work, I feel like I've hit a plateau, kind of like this guy.
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| Yep, that was me! |
I'm still trying to find that nice area where I not only enjoy my work, but also thrive while doing it. Today, we got in new textbook samples and they're GREAT! They use lots of natural English phrases and pop culture, so I think I just got the kick I need to get it back in high gear.
