Weekend Adventures

A lot happened last weekend and I actually have not had time to write about it.

After my last class on Friday in which Older Paul picketed against me grading their tests ("Teacher, I'm a protester!"). We went out because one of my co-workers, Jonathan, had his contract end and we wanted to give him a good send off. We started out at a 'Western Bar' nearby called 'Odyssey' with a giant historically inaccurate spartan warrior in the front. We all got there before Jonathan because he had to clean out his desk. After eating about three plates of food, it was starting to feel like a good riddance party instead of a goodbye party.

Talking with my Korean co-workers is always so interesting. Susan, I just found out, traveled all over the world for her husband's job - first in Hong Kong and then in Kazakhstan. She told us this story about having to send her son - one of my students - to the hospital on horseback because the snow was so deep there was no other way to travel. Where this had sent her into a homicidal frenzy when her husband got home, my reaction was more along the lines of: 'awesome'.

This conversation sparked another about accents and my Korean co-teachers proceeded to imitate various accents in Korean which was hilarious because I couldn't tell the difference and they couldn't stop laughing. Like I know how Korean accents are supposed to sound. The Chinese one was the only one I could spot because of the sing-song quality of the speech.

We traded slang and expressions. For instance, I taught them the phrase 'under your breath'and in, 'she said something under her breath behind the boss' back'. They taught me a gesture that means 'psycho' - a backwards peace sign, with each finger touching your eyes so your nose pokes out. This is because 'psy' (pronounced 'sigh') means 'between' and 'co' means nose. So, your nose is between your fingers. Thus, Psycho. We also discussed the nuanced meanings of words like 'slimy', 'skeezy', and 'vicious'.

It wasn't a really late night, I had to show Jonathan where the bus was to get to the airport and he had to pack still. Apparently, he left a lot of stuff, despite the good two hours of packing time he left himself.

Saturday, I went downtown to meet up with some friends and we did all manner of things, though we never did find that taco cart. Don't worry, there are plans to hijack it and drive it back to Suji where we can use it for our own sinister taco purposes. Stephanie wanted to show me this Irish pub she found in Itaewon that had hard cider on tap. And who should we see the first second we walk in, but the only Irish guy we know. That's right, Martin, of the rafting trip back in May, was sitting square in front of the door even though he lives across town. It was one of those moments where you realize that, although Seoul is big, the ex-pat community just isn't.

the Orange Inquisition

Today, Susan came in to the faculty lounge and started throwing things around. Since Susan is normally the picture of motherly love and never loses her temper - even though sometimes she has great reason - we were all concerned.

Turns out the mothers of one of our Kindergarten classes - Orange, the oldest - have banded together and decided that their children are not learning enough English. Since these kids are leaps and bounds ahead of all the others in kindergarten this makes no sense to me. But apparently, they called Susan out and flat out asked her why their kids don't speak better English. This, obviously, is a hard question to answer. What I would have pointed out is that these kids are only six and are pretty much still learning Korean.

They were yelling at her today because, as she was trying to explain to them, the class is focusing on speaking and being understood. Memorizing what to say and knowing what it means and when to say it. The mothers don't like this idea. They have an eye towards the future when their kids will have to take the Junior English Test (a written test). The mothers don't understand why their children aren't able to compose sonnets by now.

Being in a private tutoring school really leaves you a lot closer to the inner workings of the school than working in a public school might. I know the school has strained finances - this is obvious by the fact that I replaced two foreign teachers when I got here and another Korean teacher is now only working part time - and that kindergarten is where they make most of their money.

One of the students in my after school class, Daniel, is the brother of one of the Orange class students. And honestly, the one thats in Kindergarten is doing better than Daniel. I'm not sure why this is. Every time I ask Daniel a question about grammar he more often then not has the answer. He's not the top of the class but he's not lagging far behind, either. Yet, every time he has a chance to display his English skillz in front of his parents, he won't. When I call home to talk to him over the phone - this is mostly for the mother's benefit - he answers all questions with one word answers. Mostly 'no' and 'yes'. His father apparently speaks wonderful English and doesn't understand why he can't converse with either of his sons in it. I have a feeling his parents are leading this little crusade.

The mothers are going to descend on us in the coming week to observe classes and teaching styles to determine if they are getting their money's worth. This is highly nerve wrecking, especially when it seems they've decided that they aren't getting what they want. Poor Susan, being Orange's homeroom teacher, - or at least the only one who speaks Korean - is going to bear the brunt of the inquisition.

Either way, this week's stress level just when up exponentially.

A Night Out

I really have the best co-workers in all of Korea. Hands down.

We went out to dinner last night - the Korean staple of fired chicken and beer - and had a blast. Sally is leaving to become an Ajima (Korean for old lady, basically) and we teased her about practicing her ajima elbow (Old ladies in Korea routinely elbow people in sensitive areas to get their way - whether its to get a seat on the subway or samples at Lotte Mart). We met Susan's husband who speaks English better than I do and continuously tried to set up my new co-worker, Matthew, with various Korean ladies of his acquaintance.

If I ever have a question about Korean culture or language, they are more than happy to explain it. Rachel, out of some misguided theory that I actually want such information, has been informing me on the best places to go bungee jumping. Lynn recommends Korean Dramas for me to watch, and Sally always bring in Korean candy for us to try. Debbie explains things in terms that I understand when the other explanations just aren't doing it and William will explain things that it never even occurred to Debbie to explain because they are so common place. Jonathan and Matthew are both born and bred geeks who get my obscure references to Settlers of Cattan or npr, or some other geeky, web based happenings. All in all , its a good mix.

Yesterday, for instance, I learned about something rather peculiar. I saw some signs for the world cup game (being played today! woohooo!) that spelled it 'Corea' instead of with a 'K'. I asked William about that and he said that the name used to be spelled with a 'C' but when Japan invaded, they changed it to 'K' so that Korea would come after Japan in the alphabet. Really petty. I don't know why they didn't change it back, maybe because by then Korea had appeared on the world stage and they didn't want to confuse anyone into forgetting about them. Names have been changed for sillier reasons.

Drunk and Still Sober

We had some more Korean team building yesterday. This time in the guise of saying farewell to Sean, our co-teacher, who is heading back to Canada because his contract is over. Sean is going back to spend more time with his father who is dying of cancer. I always feel as though I should say something to him but I never quite find the words. And really, what is there to say? My cat had cancer but saying anything about that would just be ridiculous. How can I compare my loss with his disaster?

Needless to say we were trying pretty hard to have a good time last night. Sean seems to be pretty resigned about it but the rest of us aren't so well adjusted.

So we talked a little, the Korean teachers made fun of the men's eating habits (namely that they didn't eat enough) and Susan tried to get me to eat pig's liver (not a chance in hell). We talked a little about the whole North Korea and South Korea being on the edge of war thing and how three of North Korea's submarines are missing. Lynn was speaking quickly and gesturing at us which William said was her complaining that it didn't matter to us because we could just hop on a plane and go home. Which is true, I suppose, but we're still here now.

We drank a lot of makali which is a rice alcohol with milk or yogurt mixed in. It has the uncanny ability to turn my face bright red. This time I wasn't sitting next to Rachel and thus wasn't required to keep up with her in the makali drinking department. That was Sean's job this time.

We tried to talk about the new foreign teacher but it was like it was a national secret or something. We couldn't get a name or an age out of Debbie. All we could get was that it was a he and he would be getting here Saturday, starting on Monday (more time than I got). After being pressed we found out that he is from 'your country'.

It was pretty sober evening in general, with war and death on everyone's mind no matter how much makali was consumed.

Foxy

On Thursday we had a little English lesson within the confines of the teacher's lounge. It actually started out as a Korean lesson; Jonathan wanted to know what a Korean word meant - he majored in Japanese so he's picking up Korean really well.

Susan, our Korean co-teacher, said that the word meant 'foxy'. Jonathan frowned. I saw that he was reading a Go manual (Go is like the Chinese version of chess. Jonathan's whole reason for coming to Korea is to study Go and he goes to a Go dojo every weekend.) and couldn't imagine a scenario in Go in which you would use the word 'foxy'. I asked her if she was sure and Sally, another Korean teacher, clarified.

"Like Kris. Foxy." since she was referring to a six year old boy, I knew we weren't speaking the same language. Jonathan and I continued to stare blankly at the two of them until Sally continued. "He is clever but.... selfish. Like a fox." Ooooh.

We both had to laugh at this and I told them that that wasn't what 'foxy' meant. They asked if there was a better English word and the only one I came up with was 'Machiavellian' which is closer to what they meant then simply 'clever'. I had to, of course, explain what Machiavellian meant and Jonathan kept on laughing the whole time like I was doing something highly amusing.

On one hand, my inability to think of other words to describe things besides 'Machiavellian' was amusing and listening to me trying to explain it was probably even funnier.

But I think it has a little to do with the fact that its easy to assume that just because someone talks with an accent or speaks little English means they're stupid. Maybe he thought they wouldn't understand and me trying was hilarious. But Sally and Susan were perfectly capable of understanding the concept even though their English is limited

I can't say I haven't made that mistake before. When someone who speaks very little English manages to convey a complex concept it kind of throws me for a loop. I know they're not stupid but it's hard to keep that in the forefront of my mind. I am almost certain that this is how I sound in other languages, however, so maybe there are a whole lot of people out there who just assumed I was stupid. This whole misunderstanding has a lot to do with the fact that it easier to talk about simple concepts in other languages then it is to maintain philosophical discourse.

Finally, Susan and Sally asked what 'foxy' meant and, after I delved into the intricacies of the expression, we had a great deal of fun that day yelling things like 'hey foxy lady!'

EDIT: As it turns out 'foxy' does kind of mean what they thought but I still think I told them the right thing. In modern English no one thinks of those other meanings, everyone immediately jumps to 'sexy'.