EEK! Sook

Hey friends,

익숙하다 (Eek Sook ha-da) is the Korean word for "to adjust," and boy is that what I've been trying to do for the last two weeks. Sorry about missing a week, I have just been so tired and busy lately! I will try to tell you now what I've been getting involved in, as well as some of the struggles I've been facing to "eek sook."

Activities

1. School

So obviously, I have been involved at my school. I have 11 classes total and see each one once a week. In addition to my normal classes, I teach two lunch classes twice a week (4 days a week), and an after school "Arts and Culture Fair" class. My normal classes are placed into levels from A to D, with A being the highest. I have only taught each class twice so far, but I can already see the vast difference in both language skill and motivation level between the classes. I am trying to treat my students equally while also catering each lesson to the class' skill level. 

The girls are really excited to have a foreign teacher, even though they just had another Fulbright ETA last semester! Apparently I am taller than the previous ETA, so that's just amazing. It is quite entertaining to hear the girls whisper things in Korean without knowing I can understand them. They know now that I speak some Korean, but for the first week, there was at least one girl in every class who would turn to her friend and say "귀업네!" "Cute!" (pronounced gwi-eob-nae) when I walked in the room. One girl was walking behind me between classes once and said to her friend, "나 인사하고 싶다" "I want to greet him," so I turned around, looked right at her and said, "What?" I think I scared her to death to be honest, but I found it entertaining. I'm worried for the day when my foreignness stops being exciting and the girls view me as just another teacher, but I will update you when that happens.

I teach with two co-teachers, 임선생님 Ms. Im and 장선생님 Mrs. Jang. They seem pretty sweet, but I honestly have no idea how they feel about me. They don't give me much feedback on my lessons, so I'm worried one day down the line the will suddenly tell me they don't like me or my teaching style! That being said, they are very helpful in the class and translate when needed. I'm still rather uncomfortable in the office I stay in, but my Fulbright co-teacher 박효정 Hyo-Jung Park stays there as well so that helps. She is the sweetest.

2. Orchestra

Yes, you read that right: guess who's back in orchestra! Since my host dad works at City Hall in the fine arts department, he's got some connections. He told me I could join the 경주시민오케스트라 Gyeongju Citizen's Orchestra, so I looked them up on YouTube. They were honestly not super great, so I thought "Hey, I can sit in the back of the second violins like in college and have a good old time!" When I went to my first practice/audition last Monday, it was a bit of a different experience than I was expecting.

I walked into the room, and about 20 people were sitting in a small room (significantly less than the orchestra from the YouTube videos I watched). The director came over to me and asked to look at my music. I took out some random music, and he just put me in the first violins!! I was pretty nervous, but once we started playing I realized that this must be a different group. Come to find out, there is a professional level group (the one on YouTube), and a real, actual "citizen's" group which I joined. If you know me in any orchestral way, you know I'm honestly not that good at the violin, but in this group I think I may have been the best!! I'm not sure if I want to try and join the other group, because I think my skill level may be in between the two groups. 

Either way, it was a fun experience to pick up my violin again. I honestly didn't think I would get to play much in Korea, so no matter what group I'm in I will enjoy it. The rehearsal felt a bit like high school again!

3. 대금 DaeGeum

Well folks, the violin won't be the only instrument I will be playing this next year! My dad signed me up for 대금 DaeGeum (a sort of Korean, bamboo flute) lessons! When he asked if I would be interested, I don't think I was sure of the commitment I was getting into; but, my dad said he knew a 대금 DaeGeum master and we could get lessons (together!) for a discounted price. So why the heck not.

I had my first lesson last night, and boy was it frustrating. First off, in the car ride there my host dad says, "So, did you prepare the money for the lesson?"

Me: "Um I have some money on me."

"Oh, I didn't tell you!?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Well the instrument will cost about $300."

BRUH! I got scammed into buying a $300 dollar instrument BEFORE I RECEIVED MY FIRST PAYCHECK. By the way, this instrument will be a sixth of my month's pay! At the moment, I don't even have that much money available to me in this country, so my dad said he'd pay and I can pay him back.

Anyway, we went to the lesson and I got my 대금 DaeGeum. Dad and I had our first lesson together. Unfortunately, dad seemed to be a natural pro and I couldn't even make a sound with the instrument! I still can't! It was the most frustrating lesson ever! The teacher said this week we just need to practice making a note on the instrument and finger placement. Needless to say it is very different from the violin.

4. Church

There is actually not much to say here yet, as I am going to my first service tomorrow. That being said, I discovered that there is an English speaking church in Gyeongju! There is a Gyeongju Foreigners Facebook page, and I found out a few people on there have a Bible study once a week. I am hoping that this church can be a good community for me, as it would be very convenient. If I find that it is not a fit, I will have to look to 부산 Busan or 대구 Daegu.

Struggles

1. Korean Education

This has perhaps been one of my biggest struggles in Korea so far, and it is simply a perspective issue. Coming from an American education system myself (that is by no means perfect), it is strange to be in this completely new mindset of education and school. I often struggle to see the benefits of Korea's insanely difficult workload and stress levels. Almost every day at work so far, I have seen a student come into our office and cry. The weirdest part is that all the other teachers just know how normal it is and don't even acknowledge it. The students usually stay at school until 10 PM, and if not, they leave school to attend 학원 Private Academy (Hagwon), in which they study in depth on a certain subject. My youngest host sister 민영 Min Yeong is in middle school, and usually attends 2-4 학원 Private Academies every day after school.

My host father says he is sympathetic to his daughter's workloads, but there is nothing he can do to change it. I agree that if as a parent you allowed your student to work less, they would not make it in this hyper-competitive environment, but I hate that it has to come to that. From my perspective, many students do not have time to discover who they are or explore passions in their lives. The system has done well to bring Korea back from a dark place in it's history, but to me it seems that change is needed.

I know this struggle is due to a culture shock, but I can't seem to bring myself to think how this system might be good. I have seen other parts of Korean culture that are new or shocking to me, but the education system is harder for me to accept. We will see how I adjust as I continue teaching in this system.

2. Language

Let me tell you, the Korean language ain't easy. As I may have mentioned before, certain areas of Korea use different dialects/accents called 사투리 Saturi. My family (and everyone in Gyeongju) speaks with 사투리 saturi, and it makes my listening skills even worse than usual! I feel bad because my host mom will ask me simple questions, and I can't understand them because the endings of her sentences are so different that I get distracted. The same thing happens with the teachers in my office, and I feel like the classic dumb American who can't understand them!

3. Food

Eating Korean food every day has been a bit challenging. I think of it this way: When we are in America, "Korean Food" is a TYPE of food. If I said, "Hey let's go get Korean food." you might say "Oh I had Korean food last night, let's go somewhere else." As obvious as this might sound, here Korean food is just food. Food is Korean food. Besides me just being a picky person, it has simply been hard eating a certain type of food every day that I am not accustomed to eating all the time. Even at breakfast we have rice, soup and side dishes. My host family has said that I'm not eating a lot, and I feel kind of bad about it. I didn't think it would be this short into my time here that I would start craving American (Mexican, Chinese, Italian, etc.) food so badly!

4. Politeness

I have been struggling with ideas of politeness in Korea. I have learned about etiquette and such in the classroom, but it is harder to execute in real life. Since I am usually the youngest and/or lowest position wherever I go, I have to be aware of what's polite and what's expected of me at different times. I went to my first 회식 Work Dinner (pronounced Hwe-Shik) with the teachers in my office. I expected that I have to serve all the drinks and things like that, but then the teachers would say "No no just relax! Don't do that!" The hard thing about Korea is that I'm not sure when people actually mean no or when they are being polite themselves. Obviously being a foreigner adds another layer of difficulty onto these situations.

Pictures

Typical meal at our house

From the students on my first day <3

Joined a book club with dad

He's trying his best

More gifts from students!

My office. I sit in the closest spot on the right

선덕 SeonDeok

Sports Stadium

Where else do you stand when ordering chicken?

Precious 민주 Min Ju at the movies

We went to KFC after the movies. It was honestly amazing

Usually what 민영 Min Yeong does with her hour between school and 학원 Private Academy

Mom must have sensed the Korean food struggle and made this for dinner one day

Food from the 회식 Work Dinner

Given to me by a student... it says her name

The 대금 DaeGeum!

Well I'm sorry this post was as long as usual but particularly more boring. I'm still very tired from work and adjusting, but rest assured that I am enjoying my time in Korea. Updates to come on all of the things I'm participating in! Love y'all!

Annyeong Y'all