Language of the people

I realized I need to put thought into my posts so I stay sane. Teaching 7-12-year-old children whose first language isn't English for eight hours a day is proving to be detrimental to my own ability to use complete sentences with adults when I leave the classroom. Also, I find myself adjusting my language to be more Korean friendly to adults. This could be a delusion on my part that if I say "maybe not" instead of "No, I don't think so" (and other similar wordings I commonly hear Koreans say in English) they will understand more clearly, but it's becoming a habit. I debate if it's me assimilating to the Eastern culture of not wanting to blatantly deny or turn down anything or if it's simply a difference in phrasing. And then I remember that language is how we express thoughts cultivated in our cultures. And it makes sense. I assimilate pretty easily to my surroundings and I'm usually aware of it - like when I had a friend from Pennsylvania at the beginning of college, I started pronouncing things like she did. But then I could decide not to blend back into the South Louisiana accent. So now that I'm living in a completely different culture, it's interesting to see how my language is reflecting that.

On a similar note, I've been teaching one of my new English friends how to speak like "like a Southerner chewing on a straw of hay" (as per his request) and in turn have been working on my English pronunciation, which has been really entertaining. I was told by some Canadians I met in Itaewon that I do have a twang, once I talk for a while, and I was a bit disappointed. I know it's pretentious of me to not want to have any trace of a Southern accent in my speech but it's also become such a habit to purposely pronounce things "more correctly/Northern" when I realize I'm not. So much to think about!

So I'm trying to remember what it was like to be 12. The classes I'm most anxious about teaching are the older girls because they're almost teenagers and don't want to be in school or listening to me tell them what to do. But since I can't let them play on their cell phones for the entire 40 minutes, I'm trying to remember what else would have engaged me at that age. On the other hand, I'm really excited to teach the little kids. They are so much fun and have actually taken to me quite quickly! I can't walk out into the hallway without hearing "Heather Teacher!" yelled from somewhere. It's a good feeling :)

As much as my language might be adapting slowly to the culture, my daily habits are struggling to adjust. Right now, I'm blogging because I'm scared to try and wash clothes in the scary monster of a machine that I have to use here. Also, bathrooms are set up differently here, which I actually like but I'm not well-prepared for it yet. Essentially, the whole bathroom is the shower floor, so most of the time, the floor is all wet - so you need shower shoes to go to the bathroom, or in this case, since the washing machine in this dorm I'm in right now is in the bathroom down the hall, to wash clothes. And since I'm in this "box" until the first, I don't have shower shoes. There are just a lot of little inconveniences that I'm not adjusted to yet and hopefully will figure out soon.

Yesterday I had my first cup of good coffee. Yes, I paid around four dollars for it, but it was regular brewed Kenya coffee and it was delicious.

Last night the group I'm training with and I had a night of complete comfort. We went to Itaewon, which is, I think, where the largest military base is in Seoul, so there are usually more foreigners than Koreans there. We went to a place called Dillinger's and had chicken fingers and french fries and watched American football - replays of the Thanksgiving day games - and it great.

Blagging it

- Sat between two English guys at dinner and learned the word "blag."

- Was the "victim" of English sarcasm.

- Wore high heels all day and thought my feet literally might break somehow by the end of the day.

- Also didn't wear a coat and it got down to 30F.

- Can't wait for ondol floor heating in my apartment.

- Told a Korean man I want to learn Korean and he laughed in my face.

- Decided to buy smaller heeled boots for the winter.

- Need to figure out what shoes are appropriate for snow.

- Can't wait to move into my apartment.

- Learned that the British accent I do is "posh."

- Bought "Korean Made Easy for Beginners."

- Had Korean BBQ tonight and still smell like it. (They put all of our coats and bags into a huge plastic bag so they didn't smell like the food too.)

- Had Soju after a toast was given to "the monarchy" - and am still laughing at that.

Cafe Ole'

I'm giving up on well-organized posts, even if I do call myself a writer. Deal with it.

My first weekend was successful, I'd say. I hung out with Eunhwa for the first time on Saturday. I met her at Tech in 2008 and we've kept in touch until now and she's back in Korea in university and actually lives in Bundang, which is where I am now, so that's convenient and really nice.

One goal I had/have for being here is to be a part of the Seoul Writers' Workshop. I found it a few months ago and applied for jobs specifically near Seoul so I could attend meetings. In Ruston, I had a writing workshop with some good friends. We met once a week over the summer and had dinner and then all read something we'd worked on that week and gave feedback to each other. It was super helpful and I learned a lot in that time. From what I knew, the Seoul workshop would be similar. And I knew I wanted in. So I joined on facebook and Sunday was the anthology launch party. So I took the subway to Seoul by myself to find Berlin Cafe, meet some people and hear some poetry. It was a success. I met some teachers at a few different universities in Seoul who have lived here for over ten years. I had a great time with them and also learned a lot about many different things - from the difference in the buses to work opportunity at universities. I knew I was in good company when I spelled "Dana Gioia" for interested ears. (I was only talking about the thesis I wanted to write. I wasn't shamelessly promoting him that time!)

It turns out there is a separate poetry workshop from the general one and it meets once a month. I'm excited about it. Now, I just need to get a routine going so I can write in the mornings before school. Luckily there's a coffee shop pretty much next door to the apartment I will move into December 1st.

I'm excited about moving into the real apartment too. I mean, it's not exactly spacious, but where I am right now, the teachers call "the box." So yeah.

My new question: How easy is it going to be for me to buy cheese here?

Jetlag

As you all collectively say, "Good Lord, it's about time," I have finally made it to the ROK.

Main lesson learned so far (with accompanying story, of course): If you don't know where you're going, know the Korean address of where you live.

Tonight after school at 8:10pm, a friend was supposed to come from another city to meet me for dinner. I wait in the Dunkin' Donuts across the street from the ECC to get only the second cup of coffee for my day that has been filled with screaming children and sassy teenagers. Yes, to all of those who assured me Korean kids are so well-behaved, you were misinformed. Needless to say, I'm chugging the second cup o' joe to try and relieve my throbbing headache as I wait for Amy. About 30 minutes later as I decide to buy a donut, she and Kristy arrive and we plan the best route to the American restaurant they wanted to go to - Butterfinger Pancakes. After the first bus didn't take us to the right place and one taxi driver refused to drive foreigners, we found a driver who knew the place.

During dinner, Amy asked if I knew how to get back to my apartment... I did not.

And I didn't know the address, other than it's by AK Plaza, which seems to be a pretty well-known landmark in Bundang. Google did not agree. But I remembered I had the check-in slip from the room where I'm staying (a quiet floor of dorm-type rooms designated for students studying for the bar exam) and the address to the building is most likely written somewhere on it in Korean. So Amy types the name "Cozy House" in Korean into Google maps and then we set out on a bus, following those directions, to find my place. We got off somewhere that looks like the end of town, and it was definitely not the area I was staying in. We're basically lost with low cell phone battery and no idea of my address. So we see this lady coming out of a restaurant to bring the umbrellas in to close the shop and Amy calls out "English?" and she luckily says "yes." We show her the paper with maybe my Korean address on it and she calls a cab for us and tells him where to go. Whew, thank you, kind lady in white.

In other news, here are a few pictures of my room.

Yeah... However, after assigning one of those white drawers you see behind the suitcases for trash and one for dirty clothes, it's starting to feel like a home. Oh, and because I bought toilet paper tonight. It's 3-ply. I didn't even know that was possible.