English Club

My co-teacher, Kyeong-Ran, approached me last week about ideas for the English club I would be running. So, I gave her a list of things I like to do that we could relate to English - cooking, creative writing, etc. Of these options, she chose the one item I put on the list as filler - English drama club.

Talking to her later, I found out it was actually our new principal that wanted me to do drama club. Apparently, he is very excited and "has a lot of ideas for plays." I'm concerned.

I don't dislike theatre. I think Shakespeare is great, I enjoyed Death of a Salesman and A Raisin in the Sun. There was even a time in my life when I went to drama camp in the summer and was greatly concerned about emoting and vocal projection. But ever since 8th grade, when Patricia Bass got the part of Alice in Alice in Wonderland and I was cast as a flower #3, my enjoyment of acting has soured. She was petite and looked uncannily like the Disney version of Alice but I was the better actress! Just ask my mother.

So, I guess I'd better figure out what I'm going to do before next Friday.

My First Week and Dental Hygiene

I'm very excited because I bought a travel toothbrush today. All of the other teachers go to the bathroom to brush their teeth after lunch and I've felt very left out until now. I don't think Koreans are really into dental hygiene. It has more to do with the fact that kimchi is a smell that sticks with you.

If my cafeteria is anything to go off of, a traditional Korean meal consists of rice, often mixed with other grains, soup, some kind of vegetable and a curry-like dish. I got excited yesterday because, in addition to the above, they had some kind of fried oblong food. With ketchup! So, I took a big bite only to realize it was a deep-fried and breaded hot dog. Boo.

Why do Koreans love hot dogs so much? They treat them as the 4th meat after beef, pork and chicken. In addition to serving them the traditional American way, they slice them up and sautee them with vegetables or throw them into soups. I like to be adventurous and try new foods, but that's just a bad surprise.

For my ice breaker activity I am having all my classes make name cards. I told my first class 'write your name' and ended up with a bunch of name cards written in hangul. So, for the next class I said 'write your name in English' and half of the name cards had actual English names like 'Frank' and 'Jennifer.' The idea of giving them English names has always weirded me out - it seems vaguely imperialistic and culturocentric. So, I told my advanced 1st year class ''write the name you want me to call you in class.' I got 'Bush,' 'Obama,' 'Smart Boy,' and 'Asshole.'
I should have just made a slideshow.

First Day of Teaching

Today was my first day of actual teaching. And it wasn't that bad! By the fourth time of giving exactly the same lesson, it's pretty easy to just glide though.

My principal approached me today and offered to take me out to lunch for bulgogi sometime. He told me I should eat a lot so I don't become ill. In general, Koreans seem to want to shove as much food down my throat as possible. But, who can really complain about extra packages of cookies?

I haven't had the chance to take photos of my school or my neighborhood, so here's a photo of a three-story Dunkin' Donuts.

My Awesome Pad

So far, I am really enjoying my tiny apartment. I live in Yeongdeungpo area, which is just south of the Han River.

(Here's a link to a handy map if you need a visualization)

Here is a picture of my room:

As you can see from my clothes rack, Korea is pretty much devoid of dryers. It seems space is at such a premium that Koreans combine things you never would have thought to combine. For instance, my washing machine is also a stove. Or, my bathroom:
Behold, the toilet shower. Brilliant.

Stereotypes

I lied, I'm not posting photos of my apartment yet. I still haven't finished unpacking after 4 days.

My co-teacher told me yesterday as we were driving to get me registered at the immigration office that I am 'very like an American. And very not.' I look like a stereotypical American - blonde, tall, blue eyes - but I act very polite and dress conservatively. Hah. I will take that as a compliment, since I agree with her about a lot of Americans.

The view of Americans here makes me a little distressed, though. I think the combination of media and the fact that 33.3% of Americans that come here are total weirdos gives Koreans a very skewed view of the United States.

On an unrelated side note, today at lunch I had Ojingeochae Bokkeum, stir-fried dried squid. So good!
(photo courtesy of My Korean Kitchen)