Chuseok (Chew-sock) Holiday

I truly believe that a brief, 4-day pause from a hectic work schedule is a tremendous necessity for all. From my observation, Koreans rarely slow down the work train, but when they do, it's for a crucial reason. The most substantial Korean holiday I've observed thus far is called Chuseok. Though I'm not well-versed in this history of this celebration, the gist is to get together with family, pay tribute to one's ancestors, and have a feast. This holiday is similar to Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. This Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were "off days" for many people and businesses, and my school was no exception to this rule. (Actually, I think one of our Korean-English teachers had to work on the "off Tuesday," but everyone else had the opportunity to remain blissfully duty-free). 

For an actual Chuseok meal, Pepper and I were invited to a friend's house. This thoughtful and well-timed invitation was much appreciated. Otherwise, we might have meandered aimlessly, having no Korean ancestors to discuss and no place to go since a significant number of businesses and restaurants were closed. Other adventures that took place during this break included a gorgeous coastal hike, a trip to a Korean spa, and a particularly lovely beach walk. More pictures and descriptions are to come. For now, enjoy these tasty treats.

A fun, airy, Italian-inspired restaurant called "Man in a Kitchen Garden" boasts yummy dishes such as these. Every so often, it's good to get a break from Korean food.

A Japanese restaurant located near our apartment. Bacon-wrapped quail eggs? You simply MUST try.

Check this out, guys. A sweet, cream cheese pumpkin pizza. Such an awesome thing to try, especially since fall is in its infancy.

Though this restaurant has many yummy options on its menu, they are iffy when it comes to to-go boxes. The waiter seemed to believe that taking creamy pasta home was "unhealthy," but as you may know, creamy pasta dishes are HEAVY, and cannot always be consumed in one sitting. We had to politely insist upon this round take-home bowl.

Dinner with the boss and fellow co-workers. 

A traditional table of food, dedicated to a Korean family's ancestors. Compliments of my friend Jin's in-laws.

Urban beauty. This is located in the Haeundae district of Busan, just a few feet away from a subway exit. An abandoned train station was looks much prettier when orange flowers are scattered about in such a whimsical, carefree manner!

My co-worker and friend, Jin, and her husband.

Just playing a little darts on the holiday break.

Culture Clash: Education style

I'm angry today. Angry and frustrated. The agitator of these feelings is the culture clash between my North American upbringing and its immersion with South Korean life.

Trying to navigate cultural differences during a short-term stay overseas can be fun and amusing, but actually living in a country that is so very different from our own can be downright annoying and painstakingly frustrating.

I always believed that traveling to a foreign country for any reason, whether for mission work,

This is our apartment building. Also, note the Korean taxi.
Taxis here are well-kept and clean. 

vacation, or military purposes, was such an enchanting opportunity. Though my husband and I have only been living in South Korea for two and a half months, we've seen and learned A LOT, and not all of it is good. Some of it is. This country is unique, intriguing, and well-worth exploration, but describing the "good stuff" is merely half-or perhaps three-fourths the story. Merely candy-coating the "good stuff" and leaving out the negative would be misleading to our friends and loved ones, so allow me to express some hidden emotion.

The educational system here is brutal. Korean parents want (SO BADLY) for their children to succeed that they insist upon after-school private academies. Selfishly, this is a good thing for foreigners who are given opportunities to live abroad, gain teaching experience, and learn a new culture. However, academies have a negative side, which is the initially disguised academic pressure on these innocent students. I call this "initially disguised," because from the outside, students seem so intelligent, well-behaved, and submissive. The real reason? They're scared to death of driven parents who insist that they MUST excel academically, competitively outscore their peers and get into "the best universities." (At this point, I'm in the dark about Korean universities. I don't know which ones are considered prestigious, nor do I know what makes a university actually "better" than another). The academy where I'm employed is only focused on teaching the English language, but there are others. There are math, science, music, exercise, computer studies, and probably more that I haven't heard.

My teaching schedule is dramatically different from the schools I've previously worked. In American public schools, I had a daily schedule of three to four classes, and those classes met at the exact same time every day. Planning period, or breaks, were always the same. My Korean school schedule is far more complicated.

 I teach five classes in a row, with ten minute breaks in between. I have MWF classes, TR classes, a Wednesday/Friday class, a Monday/Wednesday class, and a Monday/Friday class. Also, there's an extra study class I teach  one night a week, and occasionally, I'm asked to stay and teach another new, temporary class.

We are expected to arrive by 2 p.m., and can sometimes leave by 8:30 p.m. However, my foreign co-workers and I often stay until 9 or 9:30 p.m., doing whatever task the school's leaders have asked us to do. This work isn't DIFFICULT, but it can be tedious, and when you're new at it, you feel like you're going insane. I've been here just over two months, yet trying to understand Korean culture, and moreover, their WORKPLACE culture, is puzzling. We have multiple meetings throughout the week, which is quite different from my American experience of brief, monthly meetings which have the attitude of, "don't worry, we won't keep you here long, but as professionals, we must meet. Yeah, we can all agree that we'd rather get this thing done so we can go home, grade those papers and/or walk the dog."

 When new classes begin, parents have to purchase textbooks for their children. Most of the textbooks we use have a corresponding "workbook," and sometimes, a "test book." So, this means one class may use three separate books. If new students show up without these necessary supplies, teachers are required to make photocopies of all these books, staple them neatly, and hand them to the student. Since Korean schools, businesses, and overall culture are/is generally very appearance-driven, they expect teachers to make GOOD copies. No grainy, overly-inked or smudgy copies allowed. If you rush and make faulty copies, you will be called out for it. You'll be called out for it not because you're a bad teacher, but because making poor copies is considered disrespectful to the parents, who are paying money for their child to attend the school.

So anyway, I'm angry. I'm angry that new things are always so hard. I'm angry that so many things are beyond my control. I'm angry that so many South Korean students are trained to believe that their self-worth will be lessened if they don't STUDY, STUDY, STUDY. I'm angry that one of my sweet little students, who, with earnest, serious eyes, tells me she cannot complete all the reading required in my class because she goes to so many other academies and can barely keep up with all the rigor. I'm angry that I don't have all the answers. I feel guilty about the fact that, as both a student and a teacher, I've apparently always had more free time than realized. No creative concluding sentence needed. This is how I feel today.

South Korean hiking

A beautiful mountain flower.

No matter how easy or strenuous the hike, most Koreans prefer to gear up in style. It's definitely a THING here. Take note of the hiking shoes, pants, Goretex shirts, backpacks, walking sticks, gloves, hats, and probably more items that are unseen in this photo. Many Westerners feel quite plain next to these folks. Still, Nike shorts and cotton shirts have always served me well in these environments.

Beomeosa Temple.

This picture was from our Sept. 13th hike. On this mountain, we had the opportunity to see the historical temple of Beomeosa and embark upon an incredibly lovely, strenuous hike. 

Unless you live right next to a mountain, the first step to accessing any hiking trail in Busan is to take the public transportation. This is quite the contrast from any hiking I've done in the states. I've hiked trails in both the Rocky and Appalachian Mountains, and each trail head was several miles away from the fast-paced urban scenes. 

Pepper and I loved the diminishing focal point of this scene. This covered path led to our third hiking excursion (This was our second actual mountain experience, as we'd enjoyed our first hike enough to take it twice in the same month).

Why this picture, you ask? Look carefully and you'll notice that this street ascends toward a large wall of greenery. During our first hike, we huffed up this road, turned right, and found the trail head. From this point on, the journey was incredibly steep, yet rewarding.

I captured this shot during our very first hike. I named this bench "the flintstone workout bench" because, let's face it, if Fred Flintstone had been a buff guy, this is the equipment he'd use. Pepper lifted it. I did not. Actually, you won't see many people lifting heavy weights like this in SK; from my observation, Koreans don't seem to be into the macho thing like North Americans. In fact, some men (not ALL, but many) are critical of their weight and prefer to stay as slim as possible. Imagine that, ladies! This cultural desire differs greatly from our Magic Mike-aspirations.

The great thing about this hike (hike number one) is that it's located on a mountain that's behind the city district we live in. For our maiden voyage, we sped up the process by taking a city bus for about a mile, then hopped off, walked a short way, then found a trail head. The second time, we were more confident about the trail head's location, so we simply walked from our apartment.

I watched as this family bowed to the traditional statues of "Buddha." Taking this picture felt incredibly risky because I feared I was acting as rude, irreverent foreigner. Though I can't relate to their beliefs, I do want to respect their cultural traditions and customs. The glass table to their left encases white, lit candles; their significance unbeknownst to Pepper and myself. We could only observe with interest.

Another view that made us glad we left the comfort of our apartment.

Welcome to the steepest hike we've ever had. No lazies, wimpies, or slowskys allowed. The staircase ended at a lookout, but connecting earthen trails led to higher, more woodsy sights. So pretty, and such a great getaway from the busy city.

Pepp, standing over a stream at Beomeosa.

Temple time.

We found stray cats by the temple, identical except for size. Mother and daughter, perhaps? The mother was overly cautious, but we think the kitten wanted to play.

Hiking signs.....though these aren't incredibly helpful for foreigners who have limited Korean-speaking skills ;)

Just goofing off before the hiking journey began. p.s nature fun fact: can you see the green moss in the left-hand side? Moss grows on the north (or in Korean, BUK) side of trees. Therefore, which direction am I facing in this pic? ;)

Art & other things

This is the most spacious room that I've ever seen in Korea. There was something comforting about these orange walls. The  paintings in this exhibit were artfully crafted by a Korean painter named Kim Tae Ho. Cool name, right? He paints layers upon layers of thick, acrylic paint, then uses a tiny tool to chip away at the dried canvas. The result is a neutrally colored canvas with canyons of color flecked throughout. (The handsome man in the blue shirt is my husband).

I'm smiling because I'm so happy to see such a large, open space again.

Here's the artist I was talking about. I'd have included more pics of his work, but I don't think taking photos was even allowed. Also, Pepper and I ended up walking through another big exhibit without paying.....and we didn't even know it until afterward. I cannot UNSEE art, however, and nobody confronted us, so, yay.

Am I the only one who thinks a grown man playing a cell phone game is amusing? This Korean man is dressed up in a full-fledged suit, but I suppose he has to do something to occupy his mundane subway ride. 

South Korean fashion......older women have their own look, for sure. Mismatched patterns are all the rage.

This gentleman is using what I assume is a fitness stretching machine. Also, note the sun safety gear.

Just a regular street view!

Many South Korean women practice "safe sun." Nope, it's not raining, but the sun rays are still abundant.

We aren't bored over here

Korean names are difficult for non-Korean speaking individuals to pronounce, so language academies such as ours simply give each student an "English" name. This really helps the foreign teachers who would otherwise have a difficult time remembering the correct pronunciations. Pictured here is Catherina, who is presenting her poster project on the country of Russia.

The sole Canadian of our group, James, tells little Joey that he is now her "English father." She responds by grinning from ear to ear.

Little Esther is a favorite at Maple Academy. Great personality, intelligent, adorable, and very teachable....the kind of student that you love to have in your classroom.

Welcome to my desk. These objects frequently inhabit my space. Also, take note of the exchangeable color pen in the pink bag. Those are a big deal here.

A cat seems very much at home in a local Gwangan scooter shop. When I first walked by, she was posted in the center of the room, lounging happily. She/he got curious and changed positions for a less photogenic spot, but I grabbed a quick shot anyway.