Yep, it was one of those days. I woke up to the rain beating on my windows, and it continued to pour as I unfurled (or is it "furled"? I always get the two mixed up) my umbrella and began the walk to work. It must have rained most of the night and hard because the puddles in all the dips and crevases on my route--and there are many--were deep. There are no sidewalks, so walking to work is a game of chicken with cars, motorcycles, and other pedestrians all jockeying for the best spots--translate that to safest--on the streets. After going about six blocks and barely missing being thoroughly doused by passing cars and vans, I thought a taxi would be good about now, and, voila, one pulls up going the right direction and lets a passenger out. I scoot in next to the driver, pull out my card with the name, address, and telephone number of the school on it--all in Korean hangul calligraphy--and sit back to be driven to school.

The driver can't figure out where the school is--and he only speaks Korean. He calls the school and gets the cook who doesn't have a clue either what he is talking about or how to get there. She's a good cook. He tries a few other phone calls and gets more exasperated by the moment. We haven't moved an inch, and the meter is running. You have to understand there are no street names, or if there are, no one uses them except the really big ones. Navigation is done by landmarks--tall buildings, important businesses, that sort of thing. The driver had a GPS, so I don't know why he didn't use it with the number I had in hand.

Juggling, purse, gloves, umbrella, I get out and say, "I'll walk." I make it to school in about 15 minutes in pretty good shape and realize I have left my brown book bag with my camera in it in the taxi. The whole school was going on a field trip to a children's muscial and clay modeling program--you know, like making things with clay. I had planned to take pictures.

Erin and Sonya figure out they can trace the call on the school phone, and call the taxi about my bag. Sure enough it is there, but he says he is on the other side of Seoul and I will have to pay. OK, OK. A taxi fee has got to be cheaper than buying a new camera.

While I am waiting for my students to get to school, Thomas, the first one there, and I are looking at a book of dinosaurs, his passion, at my desk, and he knocks over my cup of coffee. He learned a new English word--splash (It's a good thing I'm not any good at cussing! I'm really not!).

We hustle the kids through morning snack--pork dumplings--back into all their rain gear and onto the vans that will take us to the theater. It's not terribly far, but Seoul traffic being what it is, it takes over an hour to get there. That really makes my wonder about the taxi driver and how far he got in such a short time. Anyway, half way there, I look down and realize I forgot to put my street shoes on and am still wearing my school shoes---that's after helping the children take off their slippers and put on their street shoes. I just forgot all about my own feet. My school shoes are an old, comfortable pair of Birkenstocks that I cleaned up the soles on so I wouldn't have to wear the slippers that were killing my back the few days I tried to wear them. So that wasn't too bad, just embarassing.

We all had a good time at the performance. The players did a puppet type show of Thumbelina, as I found out later since it was all in Korean. The actors were lively, the puppets were small clay figurines, and the music was fun. After the show, each child had a bag with five balls of clay, and the teacher on stage taught them to make some fruit. Truly an interesting experience with four, five, six and seven year old--who are really three, four, five, and six.

Back at the school, we ate lunch--fried fish cutlets, rice, sauteed bean sprouts, bean sprout soup, and kimchi-- at 2:00, had an English lesson until 3, and Kim finished with a Korean lesson until 3:50. The taxi driver had delivered my bag and camera and charged me 20,000 Won, about $15. Evil man!

A kind parent gave me a ride home from school at 5:00, and as I was getting out of the car, I made sure I had my purse, my umbrella, and my brown book bag, but when I turned to shut the door, there was the brown bag still on the floor. Twice in one day I could be so careless? Turns out the mother has a brown book bag exactly like mine, and sure enough I was walking away with her clothes and no telling what all.

It's just been a day of glitches--small, irritating glitches, but enough to make me think the earth did a little hiccup on its axis and I have been reacting to it all day. I've felt I was walking at a slant--or maybe just thinking at a slant. Hmmm, sounds like a line from Emily Dickenson.

Up to this week, my Seoul experience has been cold, cold, and colder. Every day I would get up, check the weather, and think, "Do I layer under my heavy, wool, winter coat, wrap one scarf under and one on top up to my eyes, and top it off with a knitted cap, or do I layer under my raincoat, scarf underneath, and knitted cap on top and umbrella in my carry-bag. This week, I'm looking for cool weather clothes--one layer, no scarves, gloves or knitted cap. The sun has popped out. Buds are bursting. Foliage I thought were just sticks are blossoming in green, yellow, pink, and white. I have two walls of windows in my studio apartment. Because of the frosted glass on the inner window--thus no need for curtains--I had no idea what the view was. Friday was so pretty I opened the windows to let the fresh air in--at least as fresh as it can get in downtown Seoul--and saw to my amazement there is a tree, several trees in fact, and one blooming in cherry blossoms. Saturday night it rained all night--ahh, blessed sleep--and Sunday morning the tree is solid white in blossoms. Ahh, spring has sprung!

I have gotten quite brazen in talking to people, particularly caucasians I run into on the streets close to where I live. Last week I met Dee Ann who works in a school in my neighborhood and doesn't live far from here. Of course we exchanged email and cell phone numbers. Today we went to Itaewon--she looking for turkey, which she is craving, and me looking for my list of "if I ever come across. . ." I completed my list: cushioned socks, ear muffs, black tea, and cheese. Sadly, we found no turkey, but the hunt is on. There's also a book store in the area that we just happened to stumble across--of course--and I stocked up on Agatha Christies and a few other fun reads. In my area, Gangnam-Gu, I rarely see a caucasian face. In Itaewan they were everyplace: soldiers from the bases, teachers from all over the city, tourists. I may go back and find a sidewalk cafe where I can just people watch.

Yesterday Erin and I went to the National Museum and the Palace. It was a beautiful day. Now I am even more curious about filling in the gaps of my understanding of the history and culture of this country. I am in constant admiration for how far this country has come since the Korean War. They have pulled themselves up from a third world country devastated and divided by forty years controlled by Japan, WWII, a civil war, to a vibrant, progressive country competing in the global economy. When I see older people on the streets, I try to imagine what they have seen in their lifetimes. But to do that, I need to know more.

Nancy

I have found meat, real meat. I have eaten meat. It's here! There are three small grocery stores within a few blocks of my apartment. One is a small Mom-Pop with very narrow aisles and crowded shelves--definitely not accommodating to generously endowed customers who are also loaded down with book bag, purse, and grocery basket. I invariably knock something down or shift it on the shelf. But they have milk, eggs, peanut butter, diet coke, and really good vegetables and fruit, so I stop there often.

The California Grocery is a larger store with a much bigger selection and even some American products. I try to balance out my purchases between the two stores. Last week I was perusing the store--much of what I see I have no idea what it is or how to prepare it--and wandered back to the meat department to see what they have to offer. Then I heard someone say "Nancy Michaelis." At least that's what it sounded like in a Korean kind of way. I looked around wondering where that came from and I heard it again. It was the butcher! I said, "How do you know my name?" He grinned broadly and said, "I read Galleria Magazine." There was an article about my teaching at the new Spring Academy in the magazine with a pretty good picture--yes, I can now say I have been a centerfold. I have no idea what the article says since it's all in Korean and my understanding of the Han-guel alphabet is very limited, which means I usually get the pronunciation wrong and besides that I don't know what I'm saying. Anyway, he recognized me and likes to practice his English. So I bought some Korean beef, which I put in my freezer and haven't tried yet.

The other grocery store is just half a block from my apartment. I have been in there a few times, but found very little to buy as the prices are quite high. I only see Mercedes and BMWs and big, shiny black cars that I don't even know what they are and very well dressed ladies getting out and going in to shop. Anyway, I stopped in there the other day to see what these people could possibly be shopping for and found the frozen meat shelves. Truthfully, I thought I was buying center cuts of ham, but when I got it home to cook it, it was quarter inch thick pork chops. Oh, my gosh, they were sooooo good.

My other meat experience is from a street vendor that I see occassionally on my way home. He has a pickup with a rotisserie on the back where he has about four rows of skewered chickens turning and roasting. I broke down and bought one--thinking if I get food poisoning, so be it. Those chickens smell soooo good. I bought one. They're small.
When I broke it open, I found it was stuffed with rice and in the middle of the rice was a plum. Along with the chicken and rice came a container of pickled radish and a little bag of mustard sauce. What a meal!

I had bought some hamburger at Costco when I was there in January, and I have been very stingy with it. I think most of the beef comes from Australia. The butcher, Lim, was surprised when I particularly wanted Korean beef. I will let you know how it turns out when I cook it.

We eat a lot of well prepared fish and squid and fish jerky and what looks like little dried minnows at school for lunch. In fact, the food at lunch is always very good. There's always rice and soup and kimchi and some sort of vegetable and some form of protein. It's plenty filling, so i don't usually cook big suppers. But, ahhh, to have meat.

This evening I needed comfort food. It was the first day of classes with the usual jitters, stress, trying to stay on schedule, dealing with curriculum glitches, realizing there are not textbooks in yet for the subject I was about to teach, wondering why some students who were perfect angels at 10:00 are rebellious imps at 2:30, just finding out I have to teach the seven year's old science class as well as the six year's old and it’s a completely different curriculum, staying until almost six o’clock trying to get it all straight, and walking the mile home with every muscle and joint screaming, “Are we home yet?”

So I stopped at the street stall I pass every day and bought a take home portion of tteokbokki, a very spicy, fat noodle, fish cake dish with a whole boiled egg--probably for protein considering all the carbs--simmered in a red peppery sauce. With cold beer, it was delicious--and cheap. The whole bowlful cost me 1000 won, about 65 cents, and it was more than I could eat! This is a favorite with school children. You should hear my students oooh and awwww when it is served for afternoon snack----hmm, maybe they’re needing comfort food by then too! I have walked past this lady every day thinking, “I don’t know how to buy that. What do I ask for? How much will it cost?” Today I thought, “What the heck? I need comfort food and that looks a lot like macaroni and cheese!” Well, not really. It’s very red and each of the noodles is about the size of my ring finger--I had to look at my hands to make sure I got that right.

Now I am carb and spice sated, ready for a “long, winter’s nap”--or at least going to bed early. The first time I came across this dish was at Erin’s church where they were dishing it out with gusto to all the Sunday School kids for a special treat. All the ladies warned me not to try it; it was much to hot and spicy. I loved it--must be the Texas taste buds. My English conversation students raved about it as their favorite food when they were my students in January. I watched a TV special on eating in Korea and what a winter treat tteokbokki is to chase away the chills. Now I know for myself: it’s comfort food!

February Classes

The February classes have come to an end. For me it was the great experiment: how do I work with six-seven year olds who speak little to no English and have varying degrees of knowledge and proficiency? Thank heavens I had the help of Kim, my Korean teaching partner. Whenever the children would get to the frustration level with instructions--not always because of the language barrier but because I would go too fast or expect them to catch on too quickly--she would step in with Korean and help me with the one-on-one. She would also understand the bosses' objectives much better than I would, so she was there to instruct me also. I think it worked. The children did learn a few things. And I learned a lot!

We had our Little Pig Opera and parent orientation Saturday, Feb. 28th. When we began learning the songs to tell the story of the Three Little Pigs, I thought, “There’s no way this is going to work.” Oh me of little faith! The children did learn the songs--for the most part. Actually, I’m not sure they ever really grasped the words or concept of “not by the hair of my chinny chin chin”, but other lines and songs they truly incorporated into their new vernacular. I was reading The Hungry Caterpillar the last week of class, and on the second reading when I got to the part of the big, fat caterpillar, they all burst into song with the wolf’s song: “I want a big, fat, pig to eat!” In another part they jumped in with the pigs’ song: “No way, no way, no way no way will I let you in. Not by the mumble, mumble, mumble, mumble.”

I got to meet most of my students’ parents from February and a few who will begin in March. Most speak some to proficient English. For those who didn’t, Kim was there to talk about our class and the student’s progress. A big concern for several of the parents is that school not be so demanding and so stressful that it takes the joy out of learning. My philosophy exactly. Korean schools, from what they tell me, can be very demanding and stressful. I’m not sure if it is the schools or the parents in this highly competitive scholastic environment. But I have heard this concern reiterated since I came here. Even here at Spring (my school) we seem to have an awful lot of material to cover, but I remember substituting in elementary years ago and being overwhelmed with all the textbooks and workbooks the kids and teachers had to deal with every day.

I mentioned that I think the children in February did learn a little bit. Well, one thing I know they did learn was farm animals. Every day we did flash cards with pig, hen, horse, cow, goat, duck, goose, dog, sheep, donkey, farmer, and tractor. We did the phonics beginning sounds. We made the animal sounds. We did work sheets. We made barns and put animals inside. We sang “Old Mac Donald.” We played “The Farmer in the Dell.” Kim found a book and CD in our library called Down on the Farm. The last two weeks, we read the book and sang the song every day: “There are many sounds that you can hear, down on the farm. The rooster on the fence goes cock-a-doodle-doo. The dog on the porch goes woof-woof-woof. ETC” The last day, the last hour I pulled out the book and the CD. There was a lot of in the ear whispering and giggling, but I just chalked that up to youthful enthusiasm. We sang about the first animal, “The rooster on the fence goes. . .” and the students all burst out with ‘Moo-moo-moo.” Quizzical me goes on to the next page. More whispering and giggling. “The dog goes--cock-a-doodle-do.” We all laughed so hard: conspiracy, collaboration, mutiny! But what I really saw was creative thinking, leadership, and so much laughter. It was fun! Again I learned a lot.

Trying to make English alphabet letters correctly, staying in the lines or getting out of them when need be--like g and j--counting above ten--really, eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fifteen make no sense at all as words, learning phonetical sounds for the letters and the words that go along with them, copying short sentences--how do you make this stuff fun and interesting so they can learn it. I’m learning a lot.

One of the things I am in a delima over is teaching manners and politeness. I have talked to my Korean bosses and fellow teachers about this. How far do we go? Is our purpose here to acclimate these children to English/American ways as well as language? With the Koreans I am around at school, in the shops, and on the street, I don’t hear “please,” “thank you,” “you’re welcome,” or “excuse me.” There is a phrase for “thank you” but the context seems different. And people always seem surprised when I say it to them--and not just because my accent is so bad! There is no holding doors for people. When someone bumps into you, there is no “excuse me.” The Korean way is just different. There is no right side to walk on. Everyone is all over the place, so there is a lot of bumping and chargning ahead. So how far do we go with the Anglicized version. I am surprised how much I find myself saying things like “please” and “thank you.” It is surely engrained in us. I am, however, losing the “excuse me” and becoming as rude and pushy as everyone else seems to be.

Well, tomorrow starts the new classes with almost all new students. The students Kim and I will have are the advanced six year olds who have some English. I have no idea what that means or how much they know. I do know that one of the students is probably ADD, and we have been warned of what to expect. I haven’t gone over my textbooks or lesson plans for my multitude of subjects, so I had better hit the books. Yep, I’m learning a lot!