Teaching in Korea: What I'm Doing Here

After a quick glance at a calendar, I realized I've been in Korea for over a month. Time flies, retrospectively at least. I also realized that most people don't know what I'm doing here, so hopefully this post will clear that up.

Until September 2014, I'm contracted to work as an English (ESL) teacher in South Korea. I work at a hagwon, which is what Koreans call private academies that are supplementary to students' regular school day. There are hagwon's for languages, math, science, music, and the list goes on. Most kids attend multiple hagwons per week, if not each day.

In the morning, from about 9:00 am to 2:30 pm, my hagwon is a kindergarten, so I teach a phonics and reading to a bunch of kids ranging in age from, I'd guess, three to seven. Once or twice a month, we get to take the "kindy kids" on a field trip, so that's nice.

last week, we took the kids to a traditional folk village.
it was like the Plymoth Plantation of Korea.

however, we spent most of the day in the amusement park area, which is fine
by me. the kids were really happy to be able to play.

In the afternoons from 3:00 pm to around 6:30 pm, the school becomes a hagwon for older kids, so I teach comprehension, reading, writing, and vocabulary to 2nd - 5th grade students. The school provides the textbooks, but we teachers have to write and submit all our own lesson plans, grade assignments, and send monthly progress reports to parents. There's always something due.

some of my boys on the field trip. the kid in the Dodgers hat never. stops. talking, but it's
impossible to get mad at him because he's so full of joy. i smile every time i see him.

Unlike public schools, hagwons are for-profit entities, and like most things, where money is involved, the stress level is inflated. The school I work at has an almost comical teacher turnover rate. The guy who I replaced lasted a week and then did a midnight run without telling anyone -- and he wasn't the first to do so...

the school does pay for our flights to and from Korea,
and occasionally they feed us when we have to work overtime or weird hours.

My first week of work, I was afraid of what I'd committed to because the place seemed so incredibly disorganized, but as the weeks have progressed, I’ve gotten use to the routine -- or lack thereof  -- and have become more open minded towards the constant flux of the school. I think they're trying to make things better though...

i don't mind the kids screaming on rides. just in the classroom.

In just a month, my patience has increased exponentially. Though, I regularly have to remind myself that kids are kids, that I was a kid once. They just want to have fun.

Still, the days can feel mad long, but like I said in the spider rant, I haven't been stressed at all -- terribly annoyed, but not stressed. The job does however take a toll on my body in that quite often I lose my voice before the elementary school students arrive, but I look at this as an area where I can practice the breathing techniques I've learned from my voice lessons, should I ever make it back to a stage...

sometimes, halfway through the day, i feel like this guy
and just want to hide somewhere quiet.

This weekend, I happened to meet one of the ex-teachers from the school I'm currently working at. She told me how much happier she's been since leaving and how being at the school taught her that she wasn't meant to be a teacher. I now wonder the same thing, which is interesting because before I started working here, I was planning on getting my masters in education once I returned to the US. Maybe I'm just teaching the wrong age group? Maybe it’s just the type of school I’m working at? I don't know. From this past month, I don't feel like this is what I'm supposed to be doing with my life. I don't want to sound too millennial, though; someone might tell me that I'm just lazy and have set the expectations for my life too high...

As one of my friends in Teach for America pointed out, "Teaching is hard." Yes. Yes, it is. I knew I was blessed with amazing teachers throughout my life, but since starting a full-time classroom position, my respect and admiration for my past educators has risen quite a bit. I want to send them all on a "thank you" vacation, but I can't because I have a teacher's salary.

At the church I've been going to here in Korea, we've been talking a lot about the weight of our words. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21a)." I know first hand -- as most do -- how one careless word can plant seeds that produce mental weeds well into adulthood.  Yet, at the same time, "Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (Proverbs 16:24)." I know that to be true as well. As a teacher, I feel like there are so many opportunities to speak life -- and death -- into students' lives. I just hope that even through the craziness of the job, I can be sure to speak life. 

Anyway, I’m planning on staying for the full length of my contract. I mean, I signed my name to it and I was raised never to quit; plus, I like Korea and want time to see more of the country. So, we’ll see how it goes.

Behind the Scenes: Braised Tofu and Eggplant

You guys, this wan't cool.

While making dinner, a little spider, about the size of a quarter crawled in my apartment. I squashed it and kept cooking.

Four years in New York and having grown up in the South, spiders, insects, and pests are no strangers to me. I've handled roaches, silverfish, mice -- MICE as in plural, and spiders... within reasonable size.

I mean, at the moment, there's a spider that's setup shop outside the front door of my apartment, and you know, I just let it do its thing. Really, it's doing me a favor keeping flies out. After a couple days here, I realized there was another little one that lived under the step into my bathroom. It mainly would stay in the shadows but occasionally would pop out. Once I tried to step on it, but it jumped back into its hiding place, so after that, I was like, That's cool. You stay in your lane; I'll stay in mine.

Back to dinner, after I squashed that first spider, I put it in the garbage, then opened my front door to take the trash out, and a grasshopper jumped in. Nooooo! I thought, I don't feel like chasing you around. So I stood and stared at it for a bit. I turned around to pick up one of my muddy tennis shoes, which I've lazily left at the front door since getting back from WWOOFing, and chucked it at the grasshopper, who just hopped around more.

I don't know if it was in my shoe or if it came in while the front door was open, but a freaking GIANT SPIDER crawled in and over to the kitchen cupboards.

It was too big to squash, to big to allow to take residence in a corner of my home, and also too big to try and catch because it looked like Death. Like it might as well have been a copperhead as far as I was concerned. Like this wasn't even an "I wish I had a boyfriend" moment because I don't even think a guy wanting to display his manliness would have wanted anything to do with this thing.

I had a mini rush of anxiety and had no idea what to do, so I embarrassingly called my co-worker who lives in my building, but I think she was at a bar because her phone was answered but all I could hear was ambient bar sounds.

So I just stood petrified for a few minutes until the National Geographic specimen decided to crawl back out the door.

Not cool. Not cool at all. Guys, really so not cool.

Now that it's all over, the crazy thing is, I realized that this is the first time I've come close to experiencing anxiety in Korea, which is saying a lot considering how often I felt it in the States. I guess that's a blessing? I don't know, at the moment, my heart's still pounding. Ugh.

Braised Tofu and Eggplant

As I've shared before, my kitchen in Korea is limited. While thinking of what to make for dinner the other night, I was reminded of a time a couple years ago when I helped one of my Hawaiian friends with a film shoot. To thank me and the rest of her cast, she had us over for dinner. That night, I was introduced to sesame seed oil and how wonderful it was on eggplant and rice.

So, I decided to try and find a recipe for the eggplant dish she made. I found this one, "Sunday Supper: Braised Tofu with Eggplant and Shitakes." 

The first time I ever tried tofu, I was in Kindergarten, living in California. At a cookout at my vegetarian, model best-friend's house, I was prompted to try some sort of tofu faux-meat that didn't sit well with my stomach. I never really tried tofu again until college, where I learned that it wasn't an invented meat replacement for people who wanted to stay in shape, but rather had been a staple in Asian diets for centuries.

Anyway, this recipe was really easy to make and legitimately tasty -- as in I'd make it even at home where I have more than two-burners to cook with, so I wanted to share it:



Braised Eggplant with Tofu:

You'll need:
- 4 teaspoons oil (I used soybean.)
- 1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms (I used the button kind.)
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 3 long, purple eggplants
- 1 tablespoon chili paste
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (The recipe's gluten-free if you use gluten-free soy sauce.)
- 1/2 pound tofu, blotted dry
- 1 tablespoon dark sesame seed oil for garnish


* If you want to serve this on rice, go ahead and get that cooking so it'll be done by the time you're finished with the eggplant.

1. Cook mushrooms 5-10 minutes in 1 teaspoon of oil. Once browned, set aside.

2. Cook garlic in 1 teaspoon of oil until golden.

fun fact: garlic is so popular here, you can buy it in convenience stores near the fruit

3. Dice the eggplant. Cook in 2 teaspoons of oil for 5-10 minutes.

all this was only like $0.40!

4. Add chili paste and water to pan. Stir and cook 10-15 minutes until eggplant is tender.

5. Add soy sauce, diced tofu, sesame seed oil, and mushrooms. Stir and  enjoy!

Some of you may be thinking, "It looks like dog food,"
even though I tried to compose the shot in the most flattering light.
But believe me, it tastes like fluffy clouds of wonder.

Recipe from: http://markbittman.com/sunday-supper-braised-tofu-with-eggplant-and/

WWOOF Korea

I wanted to spend last summer working on a ranch and this past summer farming in northern France. Obviously, neither of those things happened, but I have since remained interested in the idea of working someplace where I could look up and see the sky.

WWOOF connects organic famers around the world with volunteers interested in sustainable agriculture. The volunteers work the lands and learn farming techniques for a designated amount of time in exchange for meals and housing from the farmers. It's a pretty cool program and a great way to travel if you don't mind a little dirt and sweat. I'd been wanting to get involved with the organization for a while now, so this weekend, I did.

Yesterday, with a not-particularly-granola-looking group of fellow organic farming enthusiasts, I attended  WWOOF Korea's "Get Your Hands Dirty" day trip to Ungilsan.

At the meeting point, our WWOOFing guide told us about our task for the day and handed our volunteer t-shirts and pamphlets about AsioGusto. (Free swag!). We then hopped into the back of a pick-up truck and drove to the farm. I found riding in the truck bed to be quite exciting, since I'd only done it once before.

Once at the farm, one of the farmers gave us a brief lesson in strawberry planting -- our task for the day, and then, we were off to work!

We started planting the strawberries in our first greenhouse around 9:45am. None of us were really accustom to the labor of farming, being hunched over working in the mud. We often had to stand straight to stretch our backs and would laugh when we caught our fellow teammates taking breaks to do so.

strawberry plant.

long way to go.

almost done. 

After we finished our first greenhouse, we took a break for steamed red bean buns. I'd never had them before, but will be looking out for them in the future. Yum.

ho bbang.

Rejuvenated by the snack, we moved onto greenhouse #2. With a lot of people needing to use the bathroom and others being hungry for lunch, we were motivated to finish this one more quickly. We got into a rhythm and knocked it out in what felt like no time at all.

We jumped back into the pick-up truck and drove to the main farmhouse for lunch, a home-cooked Korean meal made from organic ingredients fresh from the farm. It was great to sit back and enjoy the company of the team as we laughed and ate together; though, the makgeolli that was flowing may have made some people extra happy.

rice, eggplant, kimchi, eggs, pickled Korean pumpkin, beef, potatoes, and soup.

sooo good.

While we were eating, a ladybug landed on our table. The farmer told us that ladybugs were a sign of organic farming, since the bugs do not populate fields that have been sprayed with chemicals. Cool little fact.

our team.

After lunch, we went back to finish up our third and final greenhouse. We sang a traditional Korean farming song and listened to the rain tap on the roof as we planted. It was perfect. I honestly kept thinking, PTL. Nature does that to you.

all done.

Around 6:30 p.m., we were done. We ended the day's events by celebrating back at the main farmhouse with, of course, more food. This time we had pajun (pajeon), one of my favorites.

lots of chickens at the main farmhouse.
when the farm started, the farmer only had two.

the head farmer, Beyoungsu Kim, made us dinner himself

We chilled until dark, talking and eating. When things started to quiet down, the head farmer, Beyoungsu Kim, told us his story, how he was in mechanical engineering but then came to learn the importance of sustainable agriculture for the environment. He thought the best way to advocate organic farming practices was to become a farmer himself, so that's what he did. About thirty years later, his farm had grown into the beautiful place we were privileged to work at that day.

Beyoungsu also talked to us about three practices he'd incorporated into his life since becoming a farmer: 1) giving up the quest for material wealth, 2) trading in speed and instant gratification for intentionality, and 3) being content even in life's discomforts. Words of wisdom indeed. 

It's an attractive lifestyle, farming. Literally reaping the fruits of your labor and not being polluted with all the opinions and advertisements of society, but rather having fresh air fill your lungs daily. 

a small, small portion of the farm. très belle, non?

Now, my shoes are covered in dirt. My camera's covered in dirt. My jacket has dirt on it. My water bottle has dirt in it. And that's cool. I'd gladly do it again. I'm definitely looking forward to more WWOOFing experiences in the future. Maybe I'll even become a farmer... (Ok, that's highly unlikely, but a garden would be cool.)

Chuseok

Last week, Korea celebrated a holiday known as Chuseok. You can think of it as the Korean version of Thanksgiving. I'm pretty sure it's the biggest holiday here but would have to double check. During Chuseok, families visit their ancestors' graves to pay their respects. They also share large, Thanksgiving-like meals but with Korean food, of course.

I didn't know anything about Chuseok until last week. Luckily, I work at a kindergarten-elementary school, so while the kids were doing their lessons about the holiday, I got to learn the material with them. We talked about traditional games (sabangchigi and wrestling), Chuseok attire (hanbok), ceremonial bows, and food. To wrap things up, the students took a field trip to an adorable kids' cafe, where the they got a cooking lesson and then learned to make songpyeon, a chewy rice dough stuffed with sweet sesame seeds and honey. Pretty good. The kids kept trying to get me to eat the ones they made. I didn't resist.

cooking lesson at the kid's cafe.

making songpyeon.

We got three days off work for the holiday. Being new, I had no idea this would be the case and hadn't made any plans or anything.

On one of the days, my co-worker gave me instructions for getting to Seoul, so I took the bus there to meet my aunt and cousin, who has been working in Korea for some time now. While waiting for them at the bus/train station, I watched a bit of a cultural performance.

cultural performers.

My cousin showed my aunt and me around two neighborhoods in Seoul, and taught me how to use the Korean subway, so now I feel relatively confident with public transportation here.

Seoul Station.

For the rest of the days off, I just worked on projects at my apartment and walked around the town I live in. On one walk, I went to find this funny advertisement I remembered passing on the bus. I'd actually tried to find it before, but didn't see it. This time I was successful though. Can you see what I was looking for?

the cartoon Jesus.

Another time, I went to investigate a mysterious staircase I always pass on the way to the grocery store. After, 200+ stairs, I found some cool hiking trails, this ornate pavilion, and a bunch of exercise equipment. Most of the public parks in this area have various work-out machines installed for public use. They work with your body weight, so you can't get super swole or anything unless you want to do a thousand reps, but still pretty cool. More about health than appearances, I suppose.

this doesn't capture the steepness very well...

pavilion off the trail.

pretty elaborate under there.

machines like these were all around the pavilion. they're also in most parks.

So, yeah. That was pretty much my Chuseok. I haven't been taking many pictures; the ones included here are pretty much all I have, but hopefully once I start doing more stuff, I'll be able to include more pics. On Sunday, I went to an international church and signed up for day trip and taekwondo community groups, so I'm excited about those. Also, this weekend, I signed up for a WWOOFing event, which I'm pretty excited about as well. We'll see how it goes...

Sugar Paper Desktop Wallpaper

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Pretty pretty.

from https://sugarpaper.com/desktop/

from https://sugarpaper.com/desktop/

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