Korea is a very interesting country, particularly socially. I heard it described as a country that puts on a modern fascade with all its modern technology and whatnot, but when you scratch the surface you see the cracks. And it's a very thin surface.
When I first noticed that the men go out drinking every night after work, I thought it was pretty disgraceful. Then I learnt that they actually have to go out if their boss/bosses are. Then, they cannot go home until the boss stops drinking. I'm not sure what would happen if they were to say no, but I imagine they would be treated pretty badly at work. Now, I don't know if this happens in every workplace, but I live right near the huge Samsung building so we get a lot of them around this area. They spend the weekends with their families, and perhaps I am being naive, but it can't be fair to their children!
Korea is portrayed as a very safe country. They say there is absolutely no domestic violence, children don't get abducted, and parents encourage their kids to go and talk to foreigners. Does this mean there is no crime? No, it's just not talked about.
I am aware that I'm in a completely different culture, but I watch the men in restaurants chomping food with their mouths open, and it's perectly 'acceptable' for them to hock flem back in their mouths and spit it out on the ground - I have to watch where I am stepping! Lovely.
I don't know much about the women here, but I have met some truly lovely ones. Like the two I met in the subway, and the lady who works in the coffee shop downstairs from my work is very friendly as well, even if the only English she knows is 'cappuchino' or other types of coffee! I do know that it is incredibly frowned upon for women here to smoke. Korean or foreign. The Korean women, so I've heard, are often too embaressed to smoke in public so they go into the bathrooms to do it. You can often find ashtrays in the cubicles.
It's all very interesting. Hopefully I will learn much, much more.
Thursday, 24 December 2009
A bit of a ramble - Seoul, Christmas, Emotions, Americans
On Sunday 20th I went to Seoul with Mekale. We took the train and they didn't check our tickets either way, so we sneakily managed to get childs tickets. It only takes about 30 minutes from Suwon Station which is great. The metro system (tubes) seems pretty similar to London's, but I think it would still take some working out for me if I went on my own! It's efficient though, not too many people and lots of space.
We went to Insadong first, which is a quirky shopping area - arts and crats and pretty allyways (pretty allyways, what?) Went to this beautiful tea room which you wouldn't expect to see in a built up city! (See pictures on Facebook) Just before that an old Korean man handed us a free satsuma each and then tried to force us to buy 4 more. We pretty much had to run away from him, and fortunatly he wasn't around when we left!
After drinking some nice tea we headed to Itaewon. It's another shopping area where a lot of foreigners go. These two women started talking to us at the tube stop and one gave us a piece of her satsuma. They were very happy to find out that I was 22 which they said is the "flower age" or something. Sounds good to me. In Korea, it isn't rude to ask a persons age. After a quick walk around (it get freezing by this point) we headed to an american bar called Gecko's. I had a BLT & chips - Yum! Nice & filling as I haven't been eating that much this week. Also went to an Irish bar packed full of foreigners. Had a couple of beers and a shot of Tequila, and headed back into the cold.
For the train we got a bottle of Soju (I am ever the classy lady) and a couple of mixers (beer & coke). Soju is the big drink it here - You can get it in the supermarkets in huge quantities for not a lot of money. It is traditionally made from rice, and tastes a little like vodka. Well, quite a lot like vodka actually. And most Koreans drink it straight! Got back and met a few friends in a bar, had some drinks with them and headed back to my lonely apartment.
I didn't really want this blog to be "I did this" and "I did that", but that seems to be what it is turning into! Oh well.
This week has been really hard so far. I'm not super busy with teaching yet, but I mean emotionally. Everyone says the first couple of weeks are the toughest. I can do it though, I got on the plane, right? I think that once I get moving into another apartment, with internet, I will feel better. And once I have a phone too.
By the time I type this up, I'll already have moved!
Well yes, that is true. I moved a couple of hours ago - Have unpacked almost both my suitcases. It's a nice room, maybe slightly smaller, and I'm having trouble with storage space, but that is quite frankly my own fault for bringing so many clothes. The bed is HUGE, but unfortunatly doesn't feel much comfyer than the other one I had, which was sometimes painful to sleep on! I'm pretty sure beds are not supposed to be painful. Oh well. Buck up, soldier.
As I now have a phone I have been able to arrange to go out tonight with Tara, Blake and maybe some of the others. It is Christmas Eve, after all. The plan is to go to Seoul tomorrow for Christmas Day - Eat a real Christmas dinner, go ice skating and walk along the river. However, our reservations fell through, so we're hoping for a Christmas miracle. I have kinda been dreading it, because of how much I will miss my family, but at the same time I know I'll have a great day and I'm lucky to be having this experience =]
I have finally been able to ask an American why they say 'erbs' instead of 'herbs'. Mekale didn't have an answer though - Probably because it's wrong! I've only met one other English person so far. I've met two girls from Ireland and everyone else is American. I like it though, they get to ask me questions like "So, did you guys actually like Tony Blair?"
We went to Insadong first, which is a quirky shopping area - arts and crats and pretty allyways (pretty allyways, what?) Went to this beautiful tea room which you wouldn't expect to see in a built up city! (See pictures on Facebook) Just before that an old Korean man handed us a free satsuma each and then tried to force us to buy 4 more. We pretty much had to run away from him, and fortunatly he wasn't around when we left!
After drinking some nice tea we headed to Itaewon. It's another shopping area where a lot of foreigners go. These two women started talking to us at the tube stop and one gave us a piece of her satsuma. They were very happy to find out that I was 22 which they said is the "flower age" or something. Sounds good to me. In Korea, it isn't rude to ask a persons age. After a quick walk around (it get freezing by this point) we headed to an american bar called Gecko's. I had a BLT & chips - Yum! Nice & filling as I haven't been eating that much this week. Also went to an Irish bar packed full of foreigners. Had a couple of beers and a shot of Tequila, and headed back into the cold.
For the train we got a bottle of Soju (I am ever the classy lady) and a couple of mixers (beer & coke). Soju is the big drink it here - You can get it in the supermarkets in huge quantities for not a lot of money. It is traditionally made from rice, and tastes a little like vodka. Well, quite a lot like vodka actually. And most Koreans drink it straight! Got back and met a few friends in a bar, had some drinks with them and headed back to my lonely apartment.
I didn't really want this blog to be "I did this" and "I did that", but that seems to be what it is turning into! Oh well.
This week has been really hard so far. I'm not super busy with teaching yet, but I mean emotionally. Everyone says the first couple of weeks are the toughest. I can do it though, I got on the plane, right? I think that once I get moving into another apartment, with internet, I will feel better. And once I have a phone too.
By the time I type this up, I'll already have moved!
Well yes, that is true. I moved a couple of hours ago - Have unpacked almost both my suitcases. It's a nice room, maybe slightly smaller, and I'm having trouble with storage space, but that is quite frankly my own fault for bringing so many clothes. The bed is HUGE, but unfortunatly doesn't feel much comfyer than the other one I had, which was sometimes painful to sleep on! I'm pretty sure beds are not supposed to be painful. Oh well. Buck up, soldier.
As I now have a phone I have been able to arrange to go out tonight with Tara, Blake and maybe some of the others. It is Christmas Eve, after all. The plan is to go to Seoul tomorrow for Christmas Day - Eat a real Christmas dinner, go ice skating and walk along the river. However, our reservations fell through, so we're hoping for a Christmas miracle. I have kinda been dreading it, because of how much I will miss my family, but at the same time I know I'll have a great day and I'm lucky to be having this experience =]
I have finally been able to ask an American why they say 'erbs' instead of 'herbs'. Mekale didn't have an answer though - Probably because it's wrong! I've only met one other English person so far. I've met two girls from Ireland and everyone else is American. I like it though, they get to ask me questions like "So, did you guys actually like Tony Blair?"
First couple of days in Korea
(Written on my first day)
Well, where do I start? I mean really, where? How about the fact that it's 7am here and I've probably had about 5 hours sleep in the last 48. I really wasn't expecting jetlag but there you go.
My plane journey wasn't too bad, aside from getting on the plane which (at the time) I thought was one of the hardest things I've ever done. From that point, I was entirely on my own. So, naturally, when I saw a friendly looking man holding a card with 'Ms Jenny Hogg' on, I was incredibly relieved! But, then he put me in a cab and sent me to the school. The taxi journey was odd. The car was quite big and new looking but the seatbelts in the back looked like they were from the 80's. I fell asleep briefly and the taxi driver woke me up and told me to move to the other side. He mimiked a sleeping action and said something like 'run over'. What?
The first thing I did at the school was eat birthday cake out of a paper cup with chopsticks. I was very glad that my iffy chopsticks skills didn't fail me!
I finally got a few hours sleep in the morning and woe up at about 10.30. I guess that's when my body clock thought it was time to sleep.
The first day and a half have been really hard, and also really good. I'm staying in a temporary room until another teacher, Mekale, leaves on Dec 24th. It's not a really nice room, especially as there are no windows in the main bit, but apparently the place I'm moving too is nicer.
Today (17th) I watched a couple of Mekale's classes. He went over the lesson plans for the next month with me and it seems so complicated! Everyone says I'll get the hang of it though. On mondays, wednesdays and fridays I have 7 classes per day, and on tuesdays and thursdays I have 2. They should be more spread out!
For lunch we went to a place in our building that serves savoury porridge. I had vegetables and cheese in it which was surprisingly good. Very warming for a cold day. Oh! The cold! I didn't think it was too bad when I got here but it feels like it's dropping a few degrees every day! After work, the other foreign teachers and I went to a place called Beer Hunter. I asked everyone what the beer here is like and the general consensus was 'piss!' It was alright though, not the best but I was just happy to have a beer at all! There we had chicken wings, nachos and fries - Made me feel less like I'm in an alien country!
Friday evening was Mekales leaving-do. The buildings in Suwon are very strange. Huge blocks which flashy lights all over, advertising what's inside. We started at this lovely wine bar - You wouldn't expect to see such a place from looking at the outside! I had my first experience of Noraebang - Kareoke rooms that you 'hire' for your friends. It was loads of fun, but my memory was a little hazy the next day =p
Well, where do I start? I mean really, where? How about the fact that it's 7am here and I've probably had about 5 hours sleep in the last 48. I really wasn't expecting jetlag but there you go.
My plane journey wasn't too bad, aside from getting on the plane which (at the time) I thought was one of the hardest things I've ever done. From that point, I was entirely on my own. So, naturally, when I saw a friendly looking man holding a card with 'Ms Jenny Hogg' on, I was incredibly relieved! But, then he put me in a cab and sent me to the school. The taxi journey was odd. The car was quite big and new looking but the seatbelts in the back looked like they were from the 80's. I fell asleep briefly and the taxi driver woke me up and told me to move to the other side. He mimiked a sleeping action and said something like 'run over'. What?
The first thing I did at the school was eat birthday cake out of a paper cup with chopsticks. I was very glad that my iffy chopsticks skills didn't fail me!
I finally got a few hours sleep in the morning and woe up at about 10.30. I guess that's when my body clock thought it was time to sleep.
The first day and a half have been really hard, and also really good. I'm staying in a temporary room until another teacher, Mekale, leaves on Dec 24th. It's not a really nice room, especially as there are no windows in the main bit, but apparently the place I'm moving too is nicer.
Today (17th) I watched a couple of Mekale's classes. He went over the lesson plans for the next month with me and it seems so complicated! Everyone says I'll get the hang of it though. On mondays, wednesdays and fridays I have 7 classes per day, and on tuesdays and thursdays I have 2. They should be more spread out!
For lunch we went to a place in our building that serves savoury porridge. I had vegetables and cheese in it which was surprisingly good. Very warming for a cold day. Oh! The cold! I didn't think it was too bad when I got here but it feels like it's dropping a few degrees every day! After work, the other foreign teachers and I went to a place called Beer Hunter. I asked everyone what the beer here is like and the general consensus was 'piss!' It was alright though, not the best but I was just happy to have a beer at all! There we had chicken wings, nachos and fries - Made me feel less like I'm in an alien country!
Friday evening was Mekales leaving-do. The buildings in Suwon are very strange. Huge blocks which flashy lights all over, advertising what's inside. We started at this lovely wine bar - You wouldn't expect to see such a place from looking at the outside! I had my first experience of Noraebang - Kareoke rooms that you 'hire' for your friends. It was loads of fun, but my memory was a little hazy the next day =p
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