One month into the school year, and I have finally found a bit of time to write something other than lesson plans. This first month of the spring session has brought about much professional growth for me and I must say, "everything's coming up roses". I feel as though each week, new seeds of educational opportunity have been planted in my schoolyard garden and have been given the proper elements of light and space, and faith that soon they will bloom. So dutifully each day, I spend countless, but joyous hours taking care of, and tending to these tiny career kernels just beneath the surface of this lush land, and now, am finally able to see some "green".
Translation: On the day I was given my assignment to teach high school English at a famous foreign language school, I was also asked to consider a longer stay in Korea because they (the EPIK program and the Daejeon Board of Education) had "bigger plans for me". Of course, I agreed to consider all opportunities and was immediately intrigued and eager to learn more. Since that time, I have learned and earned my way to teaching not only 6 classes of sophomores & juniors, 3 classes of Korean English teachers (as students) and a weekly club of university-bound seniors, but also have been recruited to conduct semesterly on-going training sessions for Korean English Teachers from all over the metropolitan area.
While I am thrilled with these professional developments, as they are more than I could have ever imagined or hoped for before coming here, I am completely dumbfounded as to how and why they are happening to me! I have literally been unable to put into words how this incredible "job" and its responsibilities makes me feel, which explains the long delay of this blog posting. I have mentioned my feelings about these fortunate events in my life to a few people and they have responded with genuine congratulations, but a definite lack of surprise. So in an effort to explain and emphasize my feelings of utterly ecstatic surprise and exhilaration, I offer the following. Please click here, and think "career advancement" whenever you hear the word "you".
Friday, March 26, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Home Improvement
Two weeks ago today, I arrived in Daejeon with 59 other EPIK teachers all wide-eyed and weary, and ready to finally be home (away from home). On that day, we were all to be greeted and taken to our respective apartments by a Korean "co-teacher" who would assist each of us in obtaining any essentials and provisions necessary for the 3-day long, holiday-weekend. My anticipation of a long-awaited corporal collapse and claiming of some time and space as my own was at an all time high. However, lo(w) and behold, "before I can lay me down to sleep, I must pay the landlord for my keep". This is NOT what my contract states and I try my best to explain that I do not have that kind of money on me (400,000 KRW = 365.00 USD), but yet I still need a place to crash for the night...not to mention the year I am contracted to be here. Not until I turned the empty, white lining of my pants pockets inside out did the message get through and I was given a reprieve for the the weekend. Only then were my 2 large suitcases full of clothes, one small roller bag full of books, my 27lb. backpack and I all taken to my apartment, or rather, my room. The landlord (who has turned out to be a sweetheart who speaks NOT a word of English) and the Korean co-teacher (who has turned out to be a sour puss who feigns "no English") proudly show me my new digs. As soon as we enter, I have seen the w
hole place. It is void of any furnishings but a twin bed, and yet they are expecting to take me shopping for what I may need to make the place a home? Again, this is NOT what my contract states, nor anywhere near what I was expecting, but I am tired and have no way to deal with any of it until Tuesday when school starts. So off to E-mart, the local discount store, we go -- where I buy only the absolute necessities: a blanket to sleep under, a sauce pan in which to heat my tea water, a bag of apples for meals, and a big bottle of wine just to get me through tonight!! And for the next two weeks, the school and I star in our own crazy, comedic episode of "Home Improvement".During the first week, I signed the contract on the place, paid my first month's rent and fees, scrubbed the place from top to bottom and tried desperately to describe the diminutive size of the room to the ordering department. Just to give you an example -- when they gave me options regarding what size of refrigerator I could select (dorm size, apartment size, full size or commercial size), I chose "pocket size"! During the second week, I was running back and forth from school to home as it seemed items were being delivered and installed almost every day. First came the desk and chair, then the refrigerator and washing machine, then a 'soft' closet and gigantic television and finally internet service. Now, exactly 2 weeks later, I can confidently report that my room contains all the contractual furnishings PLUS some assorted bookshelves, a toaster, and a Korean-style dining table. Perhaps the following snapshots will give you the idea that "I've come a long way, baby"! Stay tuned for the next blog entry, complete with before and after videos of "Kristina living the Korean way" in Apt.#201, Eden Villa, Nae-dong, Daejeon, South Korea!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
All in a days work?
Living so close to my workplace makes my morning commute more like a walk in the park. I am out the door, down to the corner, up the hill and inside the building in 13 minutes flat! While it is a nice walk, there is no park anywhere in sight. However, there are some incredible, intriguing and enticing sights along my path. Incredible is Tosol (meaning: pine tree) Mountain, this fir-ry outcropping is one of the foothills that loom over this side of the city, at the base of which stands my school. Intriguing is a massive structure shaped like a ship complete with sails and rigging and looks like it has run aground into the side of this mountain. The first 2 mornings that I passed it, I wondered what on earth it could be. The answer came that afternoon at the Welcome Luncheon for new teachers without me even having to ask the question. I was to meet the other teachers in the school parking lot at noon and go from there. But instead of piling into cars or 
a bus, we all started walking down the entrance road and right onto the dock of the "Queen" (the ship) for one of my favorite Korean meals: Chabu Chabu. Our meal was served on the upper deck, with a "Captain's table" filled with administrators while the rest of us galley wags gathered 'round a long 2-sided table where we scarfed down the grub in silence. In silence, meaning without much conversation, since few of us speak the same languages and the Korean custom is to concentrate on eating, not talking. All in all, the food, the service, the company and the experience was, dare I say, "shipshape"! The enticing sight along my walk to work is the Paris Baguette Bakery. I force myself to walk on the opposite side of the street, never leave myself with enough time to pop in, and hold my nose and cover my eyes when I hurry by. This decadent shop is a feast for the senses. Even though it is a chain store here in Korea, each outl
et has a distinctive layout that makes you think you are shopping for fine jewelry in an elite boutique in the most affluent arrondissment in Paris. Pastries of every shape and flavor are assiduously arranged on multi-tiered tables that allow customer access to these beautiful, buttery works of art from every side. All of the breads and cakes and pastries are on this kind of display in the middle of the store front (not behind glass cases or counters). It is truly a bakery extraordinaire, and with as enticing as it is, to go in, I don't dare!
If my morning commute is a 'walk in the park', then my work day is somewhat like a luxury spa visit. As soon as I step inside the warm, welcoming room they call the teachers' lounge, I remove my coat and shoes and snuggle my feet into my soft slippers that I wear at all times when I am in the building. I help myself to a cup of hot water from the kettle in the kitchen that has been held at the exact temperature for a perfect cup of green tea. In my planning space, there is a desk that has been stocked with all the necessary accessories to unleash my creativity in designing classroom activities. For the next 30 minutes, I can do whatever I want...chat with co-workers, sit quietly in the living space to read something, make final preparations to a lesson plan or even catch a quick nap (since I stayed up so late blogging:>).
At the sound of the morning bell (which sounds more like the tinkling little tune that plays while the ballerina twirls upon a mirror at the opening of a young girl's first jewelry box), I gather my materials and my cup of tea and shuffle downstairs to my classroom. In the hallways, students smile and greet and bow and I respond in kind while I make a mental note to bow at the waist, not the wrist, as half my tea has been spilled before I reach the room.
There are 4 class sessions before the all-you-can-eat buffet lunch is served in the cafeteria. Of course, teachers have a separate buffet table with no lines. So, for approximately $2.75, I load my tray with salad, soup, Korean meats, vegetables, rice and the omnipresent kimchi. I find an empty chair at one of the teachers' tables and give my best effort to eating everything but the soup with my chopsticks. When my colleagues stop laughing and I am tired of flipping and dropping and wrestling with my food teetering at the end of these flat metal sticks, I put my tray on a side table and proceed to the vat of rice broth, which is the only beverage offered at lunch and is consumed only after the meal is finished. It is said to aid in digestion and tastes much like a very weak brown rice tea. It is made by scorching the bottom of a pan of white rice so that the rice in the bottom of the pan becomes 'toasted'. The top layers of soft, fluffy rice are removed immediately and water is poured on top of the toasted (baked on) rice and left to steep. Each person ladles out a small portion into a wide shallow bowl and drinks it down while standing around the vat.
After lunch, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, brushes their teeth! Therefore, I return to the teachers' lounge to retrieve my toothbrush and join the rest of the ladies at the row of basins in the bathroom. Ironically, during this activity, they talk...never while eating, but when brushing teeth, they chatter and splatter away.
Only 2 more class sessions to complete the day. So, I make myself a cup of mint tea (to compliment my fresh minty breath) and head downstairs to my room. At the stroke of 3 o'clock, it is time for me return to the 'lounge' and let the students do their daily cleaning of the school. That's right, while I sit and lift my feet for them, they sweep and dust, take out trash and mop the floor in our teachers' lounge. Every student participates and every room, hallway, staircase and elevator gets this same treatment. They have only 20 minutes to complete the task before they resume their evening schedule of classes. First and second year students are at school until 10pm, while the 3rd year students, or what we call seniors stay at school until 11pm.
As for me, my visit to this luxury 'day spa' ends at 4pm, and then it's all downhill from there, literally.
a bus, we all started walking down the entrance road and right onto the dock of the "Queen" (the ship) for one of my favorite Korean meals: Chabu Chabu. Our meal was served on the upper deck, with a "Captain's table" filled with administrators while the rest of us galley wags gathered 'round a long 2-sided table where we scarfed down the grub in silence. In silence, meaning without much conversation, since few of us speak the same languages and the Korean custom is to concentrate on eating, not talking. All in all, the food, the service, the company and the experience was, dare I say, "shipshape"! The enticing sight along my walk to work is the Paris Baguette Bakery. I force myself to walk on the opposite side of the street, never leave myself with enough time to pop in, and hold my nose and cover my eyes when I hurry by. This decadent shop is a feast for the senses. Even though it is a chain store here in Korea, each outl
et has a distinctive layout that makes you think you are shopping for fine jewelry in an elite boutique in the most affluent arrondissment in Paris. Pastries of every shape and flavor are assiduously arranged on multi-tiered tables that allow customer access to these beautiful, buttery works of art from every side. All of the breads and cakes and pastries are on this kind of display in the middle of the store front (not behind glass cases or counters). It is truly a bakery extraordinaire, and with as enticing as it is, to go in, I don't dare!If my morning commute is a 'walk in the park', then my work day is somewhat like a luxury spa visit. As soon as I step inside the warm, welcoming room they call the teachers' lounge, I remove my coat and shoes and snuggle my feet into my soft slippers that I wear at all times when I am in the building. I help myself to a cup of hot water from the kettle in the kitchen that has been held at the exact temperature for a perfect cup of green tea. In my planning space, there is a desk that has been stocked with all the necessary accessories to unleash my creativity in designing classroom activities. For the next 30 minutes, I can do whatever I want...chat with co-workers, sit quietly in the living space to read something, make final preparations to a lesson plan or even catch a quick nap (since I stayed up so late blogging:>).
At the sound of the morning bell (which sounds more like the tinkling little tune that plays while the ballerina twirls upon a mirror at the opening of a young girl's first jewelry box), I gather my materials and my cup of tea and shuffle downstairs to my classroom. In the hallways, students smile and greet and bow and I respond in kind while I make a mental note to bow at the waist, not the wrist, as half my tea has been spilled before I reach the room.
There are 4 class sessions before the all-you-can-eat buffet lunch is served in the cafeteria. Of course, teachers have a separate buffet table with no lines. So, for approximately $2.75, I load my tray with salad, soup, Korean meats, vegetables, rice and the omnipresent kimchi. I find an empty chair at one of the teachers' tables and give my best effort to eating everything but the soup with my chopsticks. When my colleagues stop laughing and I am tired of flipping and dropping and wrestling with my food teetering at the end of these flat metal sticks, I put my tray on a side table and proceed to the vat of rice broth, which is the only beverage offered at lunch and is consumed only after the meal is finished. It is said to aid in digestion and tastes much like a very weak brown rice tea. It is made by scorching the bottom of a pan of white rice so that the rice in the bottom of the pan becomes 'toasted'. The top layers of soft, fluffy rice are removed immediately and water is poured on top of the toasted (baked on) rice and left to steep. Each person ladles out a small portion into a wide shallow bowl and drinks it down while standing around the vat.
After lunch, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, brushes their teeth! Therefore, I return to the teachers' lounge to retrieve my toothbrush and join the rest of the ladies at the row of basins in the bathroom. Ironically, during this activity, they talk...never while eating, but when brushing teeth, they chatter and splatter away.
Only 2 more class sessions to complete the day. So, I make myself a cup of mint tea (to compliment my fresh minty breath) and head downstairs to my room. At the stroke of 3 o'clock, it is time for me return to the 'lounge' and let the students do their daily cleaning of the school. That's right, while I sit and lift my feet for them, they sweep and dust, take out trash and mop the floor in our teachers' lounge. Every student participates and every room, hallway, staircase and elevator gets this same treatment. They have only 20 minutes to complete the task before they resume their evening schedule of classes. First and second year students are at school until 10pm, while the 3rd year students, or what we call seniors stay at school until 11pm.
As for me, my visit to this luxury 'day spa' ends at 4pm, and then it's all downhill from there, literally.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Schoolhouse Rock & Royal
It's almost 7am when I awake with a start! I had been fiddling with my alarm last night, testing it to make sure it would ring at precisely 6:30am, exactly one hour before I must be on my way to school. However, in my tweaking of the time, I had failed to turn the switch on. Somehow, some internal mechanism shook me awake and flung me into the shower. Thankfully, everything else was organized for efficiency and so I not only made it out the door on time, but had the opportunity to check my email, take a "first-day" photo and receive a visit from my landlord. No, he was not dunning me for rent, he was offering me an umbrella, as it has been raining the past 2 days. Ironically, I just bought a collapsable one yesterday and just happen to know the Korean expression for "I have", so I chalked it up to real communication and yet another example of Korean hospitality.
Once out the door, I briskly walk up the steep incline of the hilly street and soon happen upon "a" school. I was told that "my" school was at the top of the hill, on the left side of the street and that I was to report there no later than 7:50am. So I make a sharp left turn into the driveway to find about 100 stairs that I must climb in order to get to the building. I am dressed professionally in a suit and heels with my down-filled jacket and backpack wrapped around me, but take these stairs 2 at a time as it is almost 7:45am! I get to the top and just inside the building when I notice that all the shoes that are scattered in front of the lockers are very, very small. Now, it's true that Koreans are petite people, but so am I and I am teaching high school students, so I am expecting their shoes to be somewhere near my size, not replicas of the baby sneakers that used to hang from the rearview mirror of my first car. I am in the wrong school! Quickly and quietly I depart and dart back down the stairs and further up the hill. Whew, all that fitness running has paid off, I arrive at the right school only moments before my appointed time.
No sooner had I entered the teachers' room and removed my coat and was trying to be cool (in every way), before I was escorted down a frigid hallway into a small auditorium even colder than the cooridor. Evidently there is a gathering of the faculty and staff scheduled in an effort to meet and greet the new teachers. So I file onto stage with the 5 other terrified teachers and wait for the Vice Principal to introduce all of us. As soon as my name is mentioned there is an audible murmuring among the crowd. The VP half laughs and says in his best Englilsh, "famous, presidential name". Then he asks each of us if we want to say a few words, so when my turn comes, I thank them for this opportunity and tell them that I am honored and feel fortunate to be here. Then I smile and nod and then the room responds in kind with big grins and deep bows as though I am some kind of royalty. I am definitely uncomfortable up here and can't wait to get back to the teachers' room where there are English speaking people to help explain this phenomena to me.
Unfortunately that won't happen for a while as the 1000 students in their navy and plaid uniforms and diversely decorated indoor slippers are waiting in the gymnasium, anxious to welcome and receive all of us new faculty members. The students are standing in perfect rows, 20 across and 50 deep listening to a speaker on stage when we enter the room. There are many more administrators here and I am asked by one of them for some basic information (such as my location of origin and what school I graduated from most recently). My lapel is pinned with a coursage consisting of 4 brightly colored flowers and I am corraled up and onto the stage once again to be introduced. This time I am only expected to step forward and bow or wave. I am one of the last to be mentioned, but I know it's coming when I hear the words "Frori-dah" and "Kan-a-dah" and then my name, "Kleesteenah Ezenowul". Before my right foot has left the floor, I am deafened by the roar of screaming teens all waving and giggling and bowing. I look out over this crowd of crazy kids and my face cracks into one of those permanently plastered-on smiles that you can't control and the intensity of which makes your whole face twitch. Thank god I wore lipstick today and they are far enough away, there is no trace of tension.
To say that today, I was warmly received and graciously welcomed would be an understatement. I was honored and revered as though a rock star was in the room. Not only at the assemblies, which all happened before 9am, but also throughout the day in offices, hallways and classrooms. The celebrity life can be so exhausting, especially after a whole day of it :>). As you can see from the photos below, it took its toll on me.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Day One in Daejeon
I awake in my empty room of Eden Villa Apartments on Saturday morning. It's a nice room and quite spacious since there are no appliances or furniture except for the twin bed pushed into the far corner. I lay still and just move my eyes about to determine and realize where I am now. I am in "my" apartment in "my" new city, Daejeon. Ah yes, time to get out there and take it all in. I fling off the blanket I bought last night at a local discount store and put my feet on the luxuriously heated floor. I shower and dress, load up my backpack with computer and camera and head out onto the street. My neighborhood is called Nae-dong and within a half a block from my apartment is every kind of shop and restaurant imaginable. But today, I want to expand my horizons and explore other unknown areas, so I hike up the street and over a bridge (overpass) and into downtown. The whole jaunt takes only 30 minutes and I find myself in a place so reminiscent of Times Square, it's hard to believe. Huge buildings covered in signage line the streets, buses and taxis and Hyundais and Kias are weaving among each other like bumper cars, while a sea of dark-headed Asians dressed to the nines and beautifully made up are dancing and prancing down the sidewalks on this bright and mild morning. I spot "Holly's Coffee Shop"-- the perfect spot to stop for a spot of tea. Sitting in the window watching the action outside I decide to join in this weekend revelry. So I pay for my green tea latte and step outside into the warm wave of people. Just then, bus #301 comes to a heinous honking halt right in front of me. The people pooled together at the curb start flowing onto the bus and so I position myself at the back of the line and step up to pay my fare. I have no idea of where this bus goes, but I don't have an agenda and I need to learn the system some time! So, for less than a U.S. dollar, I take a 10-12 minute bus ride into a different section of the city and hop off into a new adventure.
I am due to meet the rest of the "Daejeonites" (EPIK teachers stationed in Daejeon) at 7pm in front of Time World Galleria where we are anxious to share our stories of our first 24 hours out of orientation. I have no trouble finding this massive mall. It is a 12-story building with a gigantic TV screen on the outside wall. Inside are 10 floors filled with nothing but big name designer stores selling haute couture and elite accessories. The basement level is a gourmet grocery store and the top level is a smorgasbord of high-end restaurants. I am enthralled by the number of people actually shopping there. So I find my way to the lobby where there is nothing to buy and wait for my fellow teachers. About 25 of us gather to make a plan on how we intend to "do downtown Daejeon".
Out on the streets, the neon lights flash and cast a colorful glow on my yellow hair as we pass by, and shop after shop is blaring music and touting their sales through PA systems. The two most popular items being sold are cell phones and pizza. And although all my colleagues still need a cell phone (as it is the #1 communication device in Korea. That is to say that if you are of the age that you have learned to speak, you have a cell phone!), we opt to communicate our need for food instead, and hit the nearest pizza joint. So, with slice after slice and story after story, we while away the night bonding and sharing, and planning and daring to have regular and frequent English events together. Ironically, the first activity on our collective docket is FREE Korean lessons this Saturday from 2-4pm. It will do us all some good to put the shoe on the other foot and become the kind of foreign language learners that our students already are.
It's been a dynamic day, and there is more to discover tomorrow, so I mark my calendar, and bid my adieus, and hail a taxi back to Nae-dong to call it a DAE(jeon).
I am due to meet the rest of the "Daejeonites" (EPIK teachers stationed in Daejeon) at 7pm in front of Time World Galleria where we are anxious to share our stories of our first 24 hours out of orientation. I have no trouble finding this massive mall. It is a 12-story building with a gigantic TV screen on the outside wall. Inside are 10 floors filled with nothing but big name designer stores selling haute couture and elite accessories. The basement level is a gourmet grocery store and the top level is a smorgasbord of high-end restaurants. I am enthralled by the number of people actually shopping there. So I find my way to the lobby where there is nothing to buy and wait for my fellow teachers. About 25 of us gather to make a plan on how we intend to "do downtown Daejeon".
Out on the streets, the neon lights flash and cast a colorful glow on my yellow hair as we pass by, and shop after shop is blaring music and touting their sales through PA systems. The two most popular items being sold are cell phones and pizza. And although all my colleagues still need a cell phone (as it is the #1 communication device in Korea. That is to say that if you are of the age that you have learned to speak, you have a cell phone!), we opt to communicate our need for food instead, and hit the nearest pizza joint. So, with slice after slice and story after story, we while away the night bonding and sharing, and planning and daring to have regular and frequent English events together. Ironically, the first activity on our collective docket is FREE Korean lessons this Saturday from 2-4pm. It will do us all some good to put the shoe on the other foot and become the kind of foreign language learners that our students already are.
It's been a dynamic day, and there is more to discover tomorrow, so I mark my calendar, and bid my adieus, and hail a taxi back to Nae-dong to call it a DAE(jeon).
Twas the night before school...
The first day of school is tomorrow and I feel just like I did when I was kid. I have my outfit laid out, my backpack is loaded, I have lunch money ready and I am filled with anticipation of all the new friends I will make and the new things I will learn. It's natural to be a bit nervous. It's how every student feels before a new school year starts, only this year, I"M the TEACHER! Wish me luck and stay tuned as this first week of my two-fold foreign experience (teaching & learning) unfolds.
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