Excitement, Frustration and Comfort Food

Every time I begin a post about Korea, I fail to finish. I become bogged down in the details. So I'm giving up on details for now and posting a quick update.

Bolgogi and side dishes in Seoul

I am alive in Seoul, Korea. Finished.

Just kidding. Click to read more.


The food is delicious. My first weekend in Korea, Alice and Scott (They chose to be called by English names.), showed me around Bucheon and took me to a bolgogi lunch that was overwhelming for all of my taste buds. Bolgogi is Korean sliced and barbequed beef. It's cooked over an open grill with onions and sometimes mushrooms. There were so many side dishes that we had to stack them on top of each other to keep them all on the table. Even between four of us, we couldn't finish all of the food.

 








 My apartment in Bucheon.




You may notice that I said Bucheon and not Ilsan. For my first month, I was moved to a newly opened school in Bucheon, a southwest suburb of Seoul. There are no students. Instead of teaching, I spend my days editing badly written workbooks, writing a phonics book and working Saturdays at Open Houses to promote the school. Editing is mostly mindless busy work because most of my edits are rejected. I have no idea how to write a phonics book.  It is a challenge, but at least it is stimulating.

Open Houses are by far the worst. They are aimed at children from ages three to six, who arrive with their parents. I greet them. Most children back away until they are safely hidden behind their parents legs.

When everyone is sitting inside our model English Village, I give a presentation to introduce English Village to the parents and students. If I am lucky, the parents understood about 30% of what I said. The children are then paraded through the Village to Immigration, the bank, cafe, market and photo shop. The children are expected to interact in an English dialogue at each station. Usually, this fails. We end tour of the Village with a souvenier photo of me with each child in front of a picture of the Eiffel Tower. I wear a sparkly hat and vest through all of this to add to my humiliation.

Next month, I move back to Ilsan because I am bad with little children. Or at least that's what my boss says though she's never watched me teach. There I will teach primary lessons daily.

 Dinners with Bella (top left) and Eileen (top center). Korean barbeque with an egg crust cooked around the grill, tteokboki (Korean rice cakes sliced and mixed with sauce, cheese and boiled eggs), and jjigae (Korean tofu and soy bean paste stew).

Outside of work the fun begins. On week nights I frequently hang out with the girls from the Bucheon school. Clara, my supervisor, lives in my building and is determined to teach me about Korea. Eileen and Bella are young Korean teachers. Since there are no students, they spend a lot of time cleaning and teaching me about K-pop and other things.

Leigh posing next to a basket of poop bread.

On weekends, when I finish with the dreadful Open Houses, I head out to see a bit of the city with American friends. Brian and Leigh are English teachers at the school in Ilsan. After a dinner with them in Ilsan, Leigh introduced me to dongke, literally "poop bread." It's freshly fried dough with your choice of filling: chocolate, custard, green tea and few more.

Damo with his mocktail in a pouch.

I've seen a bit of Hongdae, the liberal area of Seoul where many college students hang out. The area is filled with dance clubs, bars, boutiques and coffee houses. The week I arrived I met friends here for Indian food and a drink at a bar where all drinks were served in Capri-Sun style pouches. Last weekend, Leigh and I headed here for dinner, drinks and dancing. I have a feeling I'll be seeing a lot more of this area during the next year.

My friend Damo, a fellow JET alum now teaching in Korea, showed me to a famous market street downtown. The name escapes me. The street was filled with a myriad of stalls boasting local and traditional art, warm winter clothing and traditional Korean street food. I snacked on hodduck, a chewy bread delight filled with gooey brown sugar, and fresh ginger tea.

The food and friendly people are the best parts of moving to Korea. They also remind me that the frustrations at work are not there to make me miserable, but to keep pushing me outside of my comfort zone. I look forward to many more delights and challenges. More updates coming soon.