Well, today I inadvertently left most of my things at my desk in the teacher workroom, as I rushed to get to the school-apartment shuttle after Tae Kwon Do. (The school TKD instructors offer an evening class for staff. It's great, and many staff, including some of those I report to, attend.) Having left my school computer, my books, folders, and all writing implements at school, there's not much work I am able to do this evening, except update my blog. So, here I am. My goal is to give you some of my impressions of Korea. (Unfortunately, my camera is one of the things I left, so pictures will have to wait.)
So, what's it like in Korea? Well, it's different, that's for sure. Besides the language, the people, and the food, there are a lot of little things that are different: the plugs (of course), the light switches, the road markings and street signs (not just the language they're written in), and lots of other things. Most apartments don't have ovens. (Baking is apparently not a traditional Korean cooking method.) The cars are smaller, the vans are more crowded inside when full, and they drive and park closer together. (Many cars have special mirrors focused on the bumpers, to aid in parallel parking. Some also have pads on the doors so they don't bang the car next to them when they open.) However, there seems to me to be a theme to many of the differences; an underlying difference between Koreans and westerners that is reflected in the many differences that I have learned about. Two related words keep coming back: closeness and connection.
Koreans seem to be more closely connected, more tightly knit to each other, than westerners, particularly Americans. You can see it in the immigration laws. No foreigner can receive a permanent resident visa, or become a citizen, unless he or she is related to a Korean by blood or marriage. So, the Korean-American teachers at the school can get F-class (family) visas, as long as they can trace their ancestry to Korean nationals, no matter how far back. I, however, would have to marry a Korean or Korean-American woman to establish permanent residency here.
Another thing that gave me this idea of connection is the way they support young trees. In America, we usually drive one or two stakes deep into the ground, and use ties to support them. Here, I saw a grove of ornamental trees, and they were connected by staves lashed to the tree-trunks, each supporting the others in mutual interdependence. A solitary tree was supported by three staves lashed in a tripod arrangement to the tree trunk. Again, connected.
Similarly, they require less personal space, and less privacy; in other words, they're closer to each other. When they line up for anything, they stand closer together than Americans would. In the teacher's workroom, students will wander in just to say hi, or use it as a passageway to the gym. (I never even saw the teachers' workroom at my high school.) The students' desks seem to be closer together. They will share cups at the water fountain, even though they make sure to only drink from the filtered water.
Yesterday I gave one student detention for tripping another student on the way back to his seat. First offense, no warning, straight to detention, do not pas Go, do not collect 200,000 won. He said it was just a joke, and even the injured student said it wasn't a big deal. Solidarity, again. I made a point that to do that in my classroom, is an offense against me. Just like stealing is an offense against God as well as the party who was robbed. Don't know how much of that got through, but the student got a yellow slip all the same.
There are many other things I see, some I can't even describe. I have over 100 students, mostly 7th & 8th graders with a few 9th, among five classes, and I'm sure at least a few of my female students have crushes on me. Some will come up and quiz me to see if I remember their names. One girl, doing this, put her hand on my arm. Another came up to me, told me about another girl, saying, "She loves you." I'm sure there are some others I haven't noticed yet.
I'm not really surprised that some of my girls have developed crushes on me. Considering my age, position, and appearance, the care I have for my students, and the high respect most Koreans have for teachers, it's only natural.
Personally, I feel that it's best if I consider all the students like my own children, or at least my nieces & nephews. I feel I can love them better if I take that attitude. Then, right actions will naturally flow. I thought of that when I walked two girls home from dinner last night. They are the teenage daughters of a colleague, and though the walk wasn't far, I wouldn't want my own daughters walking home at night unaccompanied, so I went with them. I just said it was for safety. They seemed to accept that.
Socially, Korea is a great place to be a teacher. Korea is still strongly influenced by Confucian thought, and a good teacher is higher than any other profession in the Confucian hierarchy. (I don't know how well that is reflected in the salaries.) One of the ways people show respect here is bowing, and the lower person should bow more deeply. I had occasion to interact with the school nurse, being treated for a pre-Korea skin injury. She spoke very little English, but such was sufficient to treat the injury, which she did with motherly care. While I was there, I helped her fix the electronic thermometers that they use to make sure the teachers aren't developing a fever.
Apparently, the school nurse is now a founding member of the Korean chapter of my fan club, because she told all her friends about me (I could see that, even if I didn't understand the words), and she bows quite deeply when she meets me, as a token of deep respect. She's probably the equivalent of a nurse practitioner, and to see that she holds me in higher esteem than herself, is quite a welcome change from the U.S.
As far as the physical appearance, the school sits in the middle of farmland, with mountains in the distance. So does the apartment complex. (I would have a better view of them if I wasn't on the first floor.) I do see plenty of farms on my commute to and from school. Here's my impressions of Korean agriculture:
They seem to use as much of the farmland for farming, as possible. For instance, I see rice paddies (first time I've seen rice paddies in August/September, and with no mosquitoes), and on the edges of them, I see other things growing. Like temporary greenhouses for watermelon. Or as much corn as they can fit into the edges. Or other crops I've never seen before. There are plants under rows of black, slanted shelters. I'm told they are ginseng plants, which is a root crop, and must grow for seven years before it should be harvested. I've never seen plant shelters in that configuration before, but then, I've never heard of ginseng farmers, so there you go.
None of the farms seem to be divided into rectangular sections. They're all following more natural contours. I'm told that this is family land, and they will only sell the land at great price because of that, and because that's where their ancestors are buried. (You can see stone monuments everywhere, which I'm told are all grave markers.) It doesn't look wrong, just different.
I'm told that, despite being very efficient with their farming practices, Korea does not grow enough food to feed its entire population, and must import a lot of rice from the U.S. Since the government uses a comprehensive system of tariffs to maintain a positive trade balance (they export plenty of manufactured goods, like electronics and cars), anything imported is expensive. That is borne out by the price I paid for brown rice, which was enough to dissuade me from buying that kind again. And I thought rice would be cheap in Korea! (I did find something, apparently a white rice & barley mix, that is inexpensive, cooks in 15 minutes, and makes a good breakfast porridge with milk & sugar.) I've yet to find a good, inexpensive source of whole grains.
There are, however, plenty of red-pepper plants. This region is apparently known as the red pepper capital of Korea, and it shows in the school cafeteria cuisine. (Apparently, they don't use tomato paste; if it's red, it's pepper paste. Much of the food has a red tinge, including the kimchi.) At the apartment complex, you can usually walk around and find at least one place where someone has put peppers out to dry. It could be on a car dashboard, or on a reed mat under a clear plastic rain shelter, or some other arrangement. (Note: These are not bell peppers. They are hot red peppers. You can also buy them green, and those are plenty hot as well.) It's a good thing I like spicy food.
As far as food goes, I have a pretty good deal. In addition to housing and medical insurance (the school will pay for any doctor visits until I get the necessary paperwork complete), the school provides two meals per day while I'm at the school. Lunch is in the American Café, which serves western-style food and plays K-Love radio streamed from the Internet. Dinner is in the school cafeteria, which serves Korean food, of course, always including rice, kimchi, and soup. I think I'm starting to acquire a taste for kimchi, and I can almost always tell if I'll want a small portion of the dish or a large one.
Well, it's after 10:00, I took my laundry out of the machine a while ago, so I think I'd better get to bed. One more thing I want to mention, before my prayer requests, is about the plugs. Everything runs on about 220 V here, but my computer and phone charger can take that voltage, so I only needed an adapter. I bought one from REI, the store brand, that said it would work in most of Asia. Well, it does work in Korea, sort of. It fits in the plugs, and it usually connects OK. The round prongs, however, are a bit narrower than the plugs here, so the connection is flaky, and moving it slightly can make it loose. This has apparently caused some spark-scarring. Fortunately, the school has provided me with a computer with the right plug, and that's what I use most of the time. So, if you need an adapter to work in Korea, don't buy the REI generic. Check them out more closely. I'll be willing to look at e-mailed pictures, with a coin for scale, to see if they're the right size.
Prayer Requests
Please continue to pray for the visa situation. The current goal is to get a D-6 (religious worker/missionary) visa. The school used to sponsor those directly, but apparently there was some abuse of that visa class in Korea. In the subsequent crackdown, most of those that the school sponsored were denied renewal, and only a few, like a pastor and his wife, were accepted. However, the school is part of the General Baptist Assembly in Korea, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention in the U.S., and they could sponsor my D-6 visa as a missionary to Korea. I think that would not be stretching the truth. Despite being paid fairly, I am in a ministry, working for a nonprofit that depends partly on donations, ministering to the kids, sharing my faith as well as my knowledge of mathematics. Please pray that I would be able to get a D-6 visa soon, hopefully before I have to renew my tourist entry permit.
I'm rather behind on my grading, and only staying a day or two ahead with lesson planning. (Lesson planning for math is not a big deal. With this teacher's edition, the lessons pretty much write themselves, and I have taught lessons with no preparation, but it's best to have a plan.) I have figured out how to streamline the correction process somewhat. Please pray that I would be able to catch up, post grades and return papers in a timely manner, and get some breathing room.
I gave my students a pep talk yesterday and today, and a couple of new handouts: a set of homework guidelines, and a survival guide entitled: "Help! My Math Teacher Doesn't Speak Korean!" I emphasized the importance of dedication, hard work, belief in yourself, and not giving up. I don't know how much of that got through. Please pray that the students would understand how dedicated I am to their success, and that they would respond with similar dedication to their own success.
Two nights ago, my mom forwarded me a link to another blog she reads. A Canadian knitter was writing about seeing her 20-year-old daughter off at the airport, to go to Australia for 4 months. She described (in rather earthy language) the difficulty of a mother dealing with that situation. It reminded me of how much my mother loves me, and how hard it must be for her to know how far away I am. I got a care package from her today, and the contents reminded me again of how much she loves me. Please pray for both of us, that God would give us peace, and help us deal with this separation in a healthy way. I know I can do it, because I'm an Enlightened Warrior, but a warrior's job is often difficult unless he's also a Wizard, which I'm not yet, at least not consistently. Please pray that it would be easier for both of us to accept this situation.
Well, I think I covered everything important that I wanted to cover. There's lots more I have to say, of course, but it's way past my bedtime. In closing, thank you for reading, and thank you for praying for me. I appreciate both, but the prayers especially. From somewhere in Korea, good night, and God bless you all!
