Extras
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September 24, Re-center
Because of (another) Christian cult, cases spiked a few weeks ago in Seoul and haven’t been completely eradicated. I texted with C briefly and she told me they are now doing online interactive classes at the elementary school. “All the kids look sad and bored,” she said. I was inexplicably filled with that ghost of rage regarding English education and I had to take a step back to ask myself why. It’s no secret that I am not a fan of public school English education in Korea. A focus on reading comprehension is a detriment to the most fundamental use of language: communication. It feels in my experience that Korean…
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Who’s that strange man?
Whenever I see a mannequin in Korea, I experience the most cognitive dissonance. Or rather, just post-colonialism. Excluding small island nations, Korea is one of the most homogeneous countries in the world. The Koreans of today can be traced back to the Koreans from almost 5,000 years ago in nearly the same location on the peninsula. I know because I read it about it in a bus station museum somewhere in Gangwon province. And yet every time I see a mannequin, it’s white. Not only in color, but in very obvious Caucasian European features. It’s not only local brands or big-name shops. It’s also municipal branches like the police department…
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Life 2020
I opened the Gyeongsangnam website and was greeted with this: Well, there’s an answer! This, however, is still not in line with my original plan: take off a few months and go back to the USA. This guideline stipulates that I actually cannot leave the country between contracts if I want to work for the GOE this year. It’s time for you to participate in a fun game show: what shall I do with my life? First, let’s review the background information. School Calendars Korean schools start in spring and end in fall, March to January. Teachers can get contacts starting in either fall or spring semester. Gyeongsangnam is the…
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For the Formerly Gifted
You know what? Sometimes life is just hard. You can be thankful for being alive and still feel weighed heavily to the earth. If I can be honest with you, there has always been a piece of me that feels separate from both myself and others. It’s not a lonely piece per say but a piece that feels disconnected and maybe nihilistic. It’s been with me for a long long time. There was a short period in college where it disappeared and I felt guilty. What would tie me to the earth and keep me from floating away? People couldn’t be this carelessly happy all the time. Maybe it’s an…
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Current Events
As an expatriate in South Korea, I’m watching events unfold with a unique perspective. I am not a minority in the U.S. and certainly cannot and will not be able to speak to the personal experience of my minority American brothers and sisters. Ever since I was young, my father has taught my brothers and I to be highly skeptical of all police: “If he pulls you over, don’t get out. Don’t open your trunk. He has no legal rights to do that without a warrant. He may place damning evidence on or in your car and frame you. If a police car is following you on an empty road…
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Palace Detour: Changdeokgung, Changyeoggung, and the Secret Garden
UNESCO world heritage feels, a secret garden, an overly friendly caterpillar, more walking than I’ve done all year. I see now why Gyeongbuk Palace is the most well known and first shown palace in Seoul because if you brought me to Changdeokgung first, the former would be a disappointment. Quite accidentally and even without reading every placard I spent 4 hours lost in the palace grounds. These palace grounds are less than half a mile away from Gyeongbuk and served as a secondary residence to the King’s family. As such, the planning didn’t have to follow such strict royal architecture rules and instead the buildings flow with the landscape. There…
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“Foreigner”
Current Korean language headache: 외국인 is translated as “foreigner” or “international” and literally means “outside country person”. However, the real meaning is “non-Korean” which poses some problems if you’re attempting to talk about foreigners in your own country. For example, to talk about international students at my home university posed some real challenges during my writing segment today. If I write in Korean, “there are many international students” and use the word 외국인, the Korean reader will assume I mean there are many non-Korean students. Not quite the point I was trying to make, eh? The definition for “foreigner” in English is location dependent. If I’m in America talking to…
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For Prospective EPIK Teachers: The Realities of Living and Teaching in Seoul with SMOE
It’s that time of year. Applicants to EPIK (English Program in Korea) eagerly await acceptance and eventual placement results. Almost everyone wants Seoul and almost everyone is disappointed when they don’t get it. Everyone wants to live in the capital: the glitz, the glam, the Gangnam. But for those of you holding out for Seoul and nothing else, we need to have a reality check. I’ll admit, I was relieved when I opened my placement email and saw “Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education”. Confirmed– I would not be living in a village with no access to the outside world. I could keep doing all the things I had been doing…
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Korean Consonants
Let’s talk about Hangul, Romanization, and why it’s always a bad idea to describe Korean in terms of English sounds. This all came to me when I was watching a YouTube video of a Korean woman quizzing English speakers about loan words from English. The native speakers kept hearing a /k/ sound even as the Korean hostess was convinced that the native speakers would surely hear a /g/ sound. I am also personally invested in this topic because every time I order at an American chain in Korea, the cashier corrects my Korean pronunciation of the English loan word. (At Subway: 안녕하세요. 써브웨이 맬트 주세요. Hello, I’d like the “seo-bu-way…
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Women and Coffee
Last night my amazing Korean tutor who lives in Hong Kong and popped off about my boy problems told me, “I moved to Hong Kong because I got married. But it didn’t work out.” She’s lived in Hong Kong for 8 years and I’m desperate to know more: if she wants to move back to Korea, what happened with her husband… I asked her if she wanted to remarry to which she swiftly and vehemently said “no”. She added that a boyfriend would be nice. I’m really amazed that she uprooted her life for her spouse and then decided to stay anyway. What a queen! All this continues to convince…