Cherry Blossoms

Spring is finally here and the cherry blossoms are in bloom. Two weekends ago Megan, Alison and I joined our friend Casey and her recruiting agency for a fun filled long Saturday day down to the southern coast of South Korea. Casey’s recruiting agency, Appletree, planned an event for all the newly arrived foreign teachers and we decided to join a long. We boarded the bus at the lovely early hour of 6am and drove down to Jinhae, South Korea, close to Busan. After being on the bus for five hours we finally arrived to our first stop, the Korean Naval Base where we saw the famous geobukseon, turtle ship. Yi Sun-sin was Korea’s most admired admiral in the 1590’s, because he recreated their navy ship to the turtle ship and therefore changed the dynamics of sea battle. This turtle ship was easier to maneuver, had double or triple the amount of cannons, a roof covered with iron sheets and spikes, plus a top and bottom gargoyle, with all of this it was able to destroy the Japanese navy boats time and time again. After sinking hundreds of Japanese ships, the Japanese eventually surrendered and proceeded to join forces with Korea in order to defeat China. Yi Sun-sin’s creation of the turtle ship is amazing and it was fun to walk around it and imagine what it would have been like in battle those centuries ago.
In desperate need of a lunch break we were dropped off in Jinhae where we had a chance to walk around and enjoy the cherry blossom festival. The festival was big, crowded and very “aromatic”. As we walked amongst the various booths, feeling at times as though we wanted to vomit too oh that smells good; we stumbled upon a variety of interesting items. We passed by big pots of silkworm larvae and escargot being simmered in some kind of broth. Several booths were selling dried and flattened fish or squid which just smells horrible. With neither of these food items sounding appealing I was fortunate to find not just one but a few tasty Turkish kabobs. We also stumbled upon several booths selling a variety of delicious cookies that we just had to indulge in. Just before leaving one of the guys on the bus picked up a cup of boiled silkworm larvae and shared it with the group. Surprised by Megan and Casey’s bravery they willingly jumped at the opportunity and each eat one larva while I took their picture. Alison and I proudly chickened out and opted not to taste or feel that nasty larva in our mouths.
Just before heading home the bus took us to Jinhae beach which has a small little island that people can walk out too. Although it had a strong seaweed smell it was nice to get away from the not so pleasant aromas at the cherry blossom festival. The beach was quant but to me I would not consider it a real beach because the ground is covered in rocks instead of sand and there are no waves. I realize I may sound a little ridiculous but I happen to have high standards for what I call a beach. Never the less, the sun was out and it was a pleasant walk before we began our five hour journey back to Seoul.
The bus ride home was much more eventful then the morning ride since most everyone was feeling pretty good/happy from drinking so much soju. I don’t know if I mentioned soju in my previous blogs but it is Korea’s vodka and personally it’s not bad as long as it is mixed with some kind of juice or soda, plain is just disgusting. The first half of the ride, us backseat riders played a lovely drinking game which lasted till the alcohol was gone. With the first half of the trip behind us we spent the remainder of the trip singing our hearts out. Korean’s are known for their Nori Bong which to us we call karaoke and well it seems as though they never go anywhere with out it. This bus was all set up for Nori Bong and we took advantage of it. The bus had a decent size TV at the front, two microphones, a never ending book of songs and a massively large remote box that controlled and played the songs we picked out. I’m personally not a fan of singing but joined a long in the fun only because my voice was over shadowed by everyone else’s which I am perfectly content with. With all the singing and dancing we were home before we even knew it. Well that’s a bit of a lie, by the end I was ready to be home and the last hour passed by slowly yet entertainingly as well.
To conclude my day, it was fun and a much needed get away. It was great to meet new people who have only been here a short time as well. I felt rejuvenated after a full day away from sky scraper Seoul and I also just loved seeing the water and the cherry blossoms some what in bloom.

Happy Easter

Although it honestly doesn’t feel like Easter today, maybe because I didn’t find an Easter basket hidden in my apartment, my day turned out great. I had two lovely skype dates in the morning and then met Casey and Alison for brunch at Big Rock Brewery. We discovered this brunch at our recruiting agency gathering a few weekends back. The owner came over for a chat and told us all about his Canadian/American breakfast and since then we have been drooling over going. I figured since I won’t be with my family or friends from home enjoying a meal why not get my new friends here to go out for brunch on Easter. Of course only three of us made it out while the rest of the gang slept after staying out to late the night before. With or without them, us three girls had a blast and stuffed our faces and enjoyed tasty mimosas and a Bloody Mary. The brunch was delicious not as good as Salty’s from home but never the less good. Here are a list plate for plate of what I had, salad and croissant; potatoes, spring roles, and this rice and pasta dish; toast and veggie omelet; French toast and fruit; four cups of coffee and a spicy Bloody Mary. Two hours later we paid our bill rolled out of there and sickly walked home to take a food coma nap. I ironically was not in the mood to nap, probably do to all the coffee, convinced Megan (one of the girls who bailed on brunch) to join me for a walk outside. Just the other day I discovered this track field near by and had been meaning to go walk/run around it to get some exercise. Since Megan had been inside all morning/afternoon I told her to come outside for her vitamin D and we had a lovely walk around the track field. It was nice seeing people playing soccer, baseball and families out playing in the playground. With the sun setting or more just setting behind the buildings we opted to head home before it got to cold out. It is now night time and Easter is almost over for me but I hope all of you have a wonderful Easter and get something special from the Easter bunny, Happy Easter.

From Seoul

Brunch at Big Rock Brewery

Meticulous Parents continued (MPC)

On Friday Bonnie came in to have lunch with us and I of course asked her how the student’s parents are doing and if there is anything I should know. She said overall the phone calls have been fine but shared a few stories with me which I am glad to pass on to all of you. Apparently Lara’s father is upset because he feels that Lara’s bus ride to school is to long for her. Shocked to hear her say this I asked her how she responded and she told me she said nothing. Probably because there is nothing you can say to a ridiculous comment such as this. If you feel the bus ride is to long then bring your own child to school, come on what’s with these people. There are students who sit on the bus for an hour and she is on maybe thirty minutes if that and her dad is complaining, stupid I tell you. Another story she shared, was about Seoyhun’s mom’s concern that her daughter has lost one pound since attending school. One pound and you are freaking out; I don’t think one needs to be concerned. Admittedly Seoyhun doesn’t eat much for lunch because she doesn’t seem to like the food but I can promise she isn’t going to wither away. Plus, as Gordon (another teacher) put it, her mom should be happy because Koreans believe that in order to get married you have to be ridiculous thin and well we know this isn’t true. Have I mentioned how into their image everyone is here? So much so that as young as 6, children get laser surgery or are put on diuretics so they can be thin. A few weeks back Julie, one of Casey’s students had laser surgery on her face, not sure why exactly but what we thought were chicken pox where really scars from laser surgery. So in agreement to what Gordon said, the mom should be THRILLED her daughter lost a pound. (Trust that I don’t believe in this nonsense.) These are just a few more stories I heard about my children’s meticulous parents. I hope you enjoyed reading them and do anticipate many more to come.

Good Bye Heart

I ended this week down one child. My cedar class was originally a class of 9 but after Wednesday we became a class of 8. You would think I would feel the difference in the numbers but I honestly don’t and this is because Heart rarely attended school. Since the first day of school Heart has yet to show up on time or attend a full week of school. Apparently she had been sick so this is why she wasn’t attending school much the fist couple of weeks. Then, I come to find out that she doesn’t really want to go to school so instead encouraging her to get to school on time (10am) she will often times roll in at her own leisure any where from 10:30 to 12. Next excuse Bonnie (Korean assistant) told me was that Heart’s mom feels I don’t smile enough and it makes Heart uncomfortable. Trying not to take this comment personal, I asked myself why she might feel this way and I think it is because when Heart shows up it is always in the middle of my lesson and therefore I find it annoying to have to stop my lesson to deal with her. I honestly feel that if her mom was adamant about getting Heart to school on time and every day Heart would see how fun our days actually are and that I can and do smile a lot with the children. Finally, the last excuse for Heart’s absent, behavior and tardiness is she doesn’t like doing the school work. Probably because she doesn’t know what she is supposed to do because she NEVER shows up on time and always misses the lesson. Wow do I find this whole thing ridiculously annoying and stupid. Any how, in the end her mom decided to take her out of Bambini and it just so happen to be on Wednesday the one and only day Heart shows up on time. Shocked to even see her make it to school, let a lone on time, it was sad to see her go. After school her mom came to collect Heart’s belongings and we chatted a bit. I told her I am sad to see Heart go but in the end she might be doing the right thing for Heart since she is obviously not happy here and wished her luck finding another school more suitable to Heart’s needs. And so, my class of nine is now down to eight which ironically has always felt like eight with those rare exceptional days of the addition of Heart. It is sad to see her leave but good bye Heart.

From Seoul

Meticulous Parents

Have I mentioned how meticulous Korean parents are. I gather most of you got a brief sense of this after reading my blog post about writing Ricky’s mom an apology letter for him getting hurt under my watch. Here are a few other complaints we have heard from the Korean parents: A few weeks ago at are weekly meeting we were told the parents are astounded by how messy their children look when they return home. Their thought is we send them to school looking sharp we expect them to return the same way. So now we have to make it a point to zip their jackets, fix their collars, straiten their backpacks and jackets, look to make sure their shoes are on the appropriate foot and fix the girls hair. My thought is really, what kid ever looks good after a day at school. I sure as heck return home looking worst then when I left in the morning. Also, Korean’s are major germ a phoebes yet ironically not. The Korean assistance come in with a comb and hair ties and comb all the kids hair with the same comb so they look sharp when they go home, I’m sorry but isn’t this how lice spreads. Also if the children are sick and throw up, like one girl named Dahey did in Alison’s class, you would think she would go home but no they kept her at school. Just today Chloe another student of Alison’s had a fever and she still came to school. I really just don’t understand the Korean logic behind these sorts of behaviors. And the complaints I get about how the students hurt themselves is ridiculous. I have yet to go a week with out hearing from my Korean assistant that some parent is upset because their child came home with a scratch. I’m sorry but I cannot watch detail for detail what is happening every second of the day. My boys get very wild and rambunctious with each other and as much as I tell them to stop they don’t listen and continue to run and wrestle with each other because that is what boys do. Today I was told by Bonnie, my Korean helper, that Daniel’s grandfather is very upset because he has a scratch by his eye and she asked me how it happened. I simply looked at her and said it didn’t happen under my watch ask Daniel what happen, but could Daniel tell her, no, so it must not be that big of a deal since he wasn’t traumatized by the scratch. This nonsense really drives me nuts and I have no patience for it. It is honestly a good thing I am not the one calling the parents every day because having to listen to their nonsense is just annoying. Well I hope you got a bit more insight into the Korean culture or at least the Korean parents I have to deal with. Parent teacher conferences should be fun!