Seoul Searching: March 2009

Upon my return from Japan, I signed a new contract with BCM, similar to the one they had made with Jared a couple of months earlier. The contract comes into effect in the beginning of March, at which point I am no longer required to teach adult classes at BCM, and instead start teaching full time at a new elementary school called Hwarang, for the duration of the full school year. So, assuming that there are no major surprises at the new job, I won't be home until February 2010! I also accepted a pay cut as part of the contract, and then discovered that BCM had been planning to send me to the new school all along. Kwangwoon had dropped their contract with BCM; they wanted to get rid of a (possibly unreliable) middle-man and hire their foreign English teachers directly. Also, because Sean had just left BCM for greener pastures, the management needed someone to fill in the gap, so they switched my February adult class schedule from evenings to early mornings (6:30am - 8:30, Mon - Fri). It wasn't altogether surprising, though it was still a shock to my system, at first. For the first two weeks of February, I had to catch the bus to Kwangwoon, immediately following my morning free talk classes. However, the elementary school year ended on February 18th. Which meant two weeks of "spring" break...

Dinner and drinks at Mr. Kim's place, with Ty and three of his former students from BCM. The young guy next to Ty is an Olympic level swimmer. I regret that I don't have pictures to show of my own adult classes at BCM, despite dinning out with them on several occasions. Many of them were lively and inquisitive, and I will miss the atmosphere of respect, casual conversation, and personal stories that characterized many of my adult classes.

There are hysterical English (not to mention Konglish!) signs all over Seoul. You just have to keep your eyes peeled. Maybe this clothing store really does cater to the new generation of Korean children whose health is being adversely affected by American fast food chains. However, I have to say that most Koreans fall way short of any description using the word "porky".

Here are a few pictures from the top of our local perch, in the first week of February. It was the most beautiful, clear view I've had from Buramsan since arriving in Seoul.

My final days at Kwangwoon; many goodbyes were in order:

The picture above is of the wall in Monica's homeroom on the third floor, where I'd keep my books and prepare for classes. I had wondered for some time about the mysterious presence of the little squiggle following the "I like English" motto, until my girlfriend starting sending me all sorts of text messages with little squiggles after the comments. Apparently, squiggles are universally used to imply elongation and intonation of the phrase in question. Thus, the more squiggles after a text message, the more enthusiastic/amused the tone of voice. They've got text messaging down to a science here.

Grade ones posing with my juggling balls: Rebeca , Lisa, Jane, Katie, Tom. Jane wanted to keep the ball as a parting gift, and she practically made me pry it out of her hand. So sad.

I'll miss you guys!

My grade fives were a really good natured bunch, even when they were misbehaving, so I rarely had to threaten them with serious consequences. I found joking around with them more effective most of the time anyway. I was also lucky to have a couple of the biggest brains in the school in my classes (both girls - no coincidence). I really hope my future students at Hwarang can measure up!

I dinned at a place called Crazy Pepper with Jihyun. You can see the menu and meal below. I requested spiciness level 2 (see below), which was none too cautious, as my eyes were watering for the duration of the meal.

On the first weekend after finishing teaching at Kwangwoon, Jihyun and I went to a place called Giocat in Hongdae district. It's a "cat cafe" with more than two dozen cats roaming and lounging freely about the place. You order your drink and you get to pet your furry feline friends. There were even small shelves bracketed at intervals against the back wall, so a cat could be snoozing right above you as you sip your coffee or slurp your smoothie at a table. Strangely enough, most Koreans don't like cats (they usually prefer dogs as pets) and some people even harbour superstitions about them. I've heard stories about people afraid of getting the evil eye from cats in the dark. Of the cats that I see on occasion in or around my alley, some look a little thin and make awful noises after dusk. There are many strays around Seoul, and Jared even told me of an encounter with one on the mountain! However, the cats at the cafe were well-fed, happy, and playful. Jihyun used to have a cat herself, but the last time she went to visit her parents in her home town, she discovered that her mom had given their pet away to a new owner!

Jihyun has been on my case for not reading the books fast enough that she borrows from the library for me. She would always finish her Korean edition of a recent English bestseller in a matter of days. Last time it was Girl With a Pearl Earring; this time it was A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hoseini. I did finally finish, and it was a fantastic novel. I'd enjoyed the Kite Runner a year earlier, and I found Hoseini's second book, about the friendship through hardship of two women who end up married to the same cruel man during the most unstable period of Afghanistan's political history, even harder hitting than his previous book, as well as an intensely beautiful depiction of people's attachments to their home and family. The picture below was taken by Jihyun, while she studied for her classes in my apartment, and I took the opportunity to catch up on my, um, reading...

There was a mustache party going down at Culcom the next weekend. Both Ty and I tried to grow our mustaches out for a few days, but my girl friend did not approve, so I had to shave mine. Luckily they had these great fake adhesive ones for a few bucks at the door. Ty however, still decided to sport the real thing...

There was even a best hair contest to cap off the night. People improvised and made eyebrows, goatees, ear fuzz, & chest hair:

The party was followed up with a late night dinner at a local restaurant, hosted by the manager. We got schmooze with a few of the band members and Culcom staff.

Midweek, Jihyun and I went to the Body Works exhibit that has been traveling the world for the last decade or so. It just happened to be in my neighborhood for the past few months and I'd never had the chance to see. It was something else. They even had a display of petrified fetuses at various stages of development. All those organs, tendons, bones, and veins really serve to remind one that we are fragile beings: temporary organic clusters of cells with a definite expiry date. I think I was more squeamish than Jihyun, a nurse in training who wants to work in the ICU with the fine people who do organ transplants.

Soup brewing, Korean style, in the window of a small but popular restaurant. Good dinner for a cold night. I have my own hotpot now. They're great for cooking up one or two servings and keeping the meal warm as long as necessary.

For the last weekend in February, Jihyun and I reserved a small pension house near some botanical gardens an hour or so north of Seoul. We arrived by train, and even though it was winter, with nary a living flower to be seen outside, there was a stark beauty about the place, and the relatively fresh air of the countryside was a godsend. We explored the grounds, serene in winter's chill, and returned after sundown to witness the winter light show, when the trees and shrubs are draped in lights of all colours...

The smallest church in Korea. Considerably more quaint and less imposing than the garish mega-churches with the pink neon crosses which you can find all over Seoul.