The Other Side Of The World

It was as good a time as any to start this blog right now, having been kicked out of our apartment for two hours by our landlady and a cleaning lady as they got rid of the traces of the previous inhabitants. Neither spoke English, though both seemed to have trouble grasping that we understood absolutely none of the Korean they were speaking, and so after 30 minutes of frustrating (and ultimately failed) phrasebook communication, they simply kicked us out.

So we walked down the street to a PC Bang, a small windowless room where adolescent Koreans play Counterstrike and Warcraft on superfast computers while sitting in padded recliner chairs. The door advertised a special rate for buying 10-hour blocks of time (only $7!), so it must be fairly common for kids to blow an entire day here. There's more smoke in here than any bar or nightclub I've ever been to, but the rates are really cheap, and we don't have an internet hookup in our flat yet.

Korea is by far the most "foreign" place I have ever been. We eased into it slowly, having a 7-day orientation at the rather isolated Korea University, sleeping in bunk beds and attending classes all day. A night, the entire mass of foreigners would descend the hill into the small and unsuspecting village below, swarming a bar or restaurant with a caucasian mob of around 100 people. The first major bar at the foot of the hill, K5, was actually closed on the first Saturday of our stay there (their grand opening was the following Monday), but the most charming members of our group convinced them to open their doors early, and K5 was cemented as the bar for EPIK teachers for the whole week. On Thursday, we ventured out into the nearby city, taking a fleet of around 20 taxis to the heart of downtown. We filled an entire city block, and jammed streets as we tried to find a bar owner who wasn't horrified by the number of us. Eventually, we found a noraebang (Korean karaoke), and divided into a few large rooms.

The list of songs was enormous, ranging from Meatloaf to Megadeth. We sang Sweet Caroline and Bohemian Rhapsody, and watched one kid struggle through Paint It Black. An hour later, we all took to the street again and found an unassuming chicken & pizza restaurant... which was much more of a family restaurant than a bar. So it was no surprise when we all were angrily kicked out an hour or two later by the owner. A group of the teachers had been extremely loud, refused to sit down, and one tried to steal beer out of the cooler. Our group of friends left as quickly as possible, having done nothing wrong and not wanting to be around if things got ugly. The owner looked like he may become violent if we didn't get out. The sad thing is that he will probably never let foreigners back in his business, which is a somewhat common attitude it seems- business owners and taxis will occasionally make an 'X' out of their arms and yell "No Foreigner!". I guess I understand why. Some foreigners are just assholes.

We finished our orientation, and spent a full 15-hour day in transit from KU to our placement. For those who didn't know, or have forgotten, we are on a small island province in the south of S. Korea called Jeju. Despite getting stuck with primary school (which seems easy enough, just frustratingly repetitive), our housing and schools are where we wanted to be, in the main city called Jeju Si. Our apartment is a bit small for two, and the bed is like a stone slab, but it is only a three-minute walk from the heart of the city, an area called City Hall (or whatever that is in Korean). We've met a couple teachers in our building already, and went out with an Australian and another newly arrived teacher from Wisconsin last night for dinner at a small house-restaurant off the main roads. We shared a dish that consisted mainly of pig spine and potatoes, which was surprisingly good. The couple who owned the house brewed some kind of moonshine rice wine, which had delightful cinnamon notes in the finish, but otherwise tasted like turpentine.

There seems to be a good community of ex-pats here, and we have already been introduced to the "foreigner bars" in our area. The food is good, with sushi being surprisingly cheap, and pizza costing around $20 for a small size. I have had some... um, trouble... adapting to the diet here, but I have heard that in a week or so I will be fully adapted. I just hope to avoid another "Ecuador-style" bout of illness before that point, though I have been avoiding food carts on the street and such to play it safe.

I start school tomorrow, and hope that everything works out. I was placed in a single primary school that is near to my apartment, and will be teaching for around 22 hours a week. My first assignment is to make a Powerpoint presentation about America, Texas, Houston, and me. So if anyone has any suggestions, I encourage you to help me out. I have met my co-teacher, the primary means of communication I have, and she is very nice. We spent 4 hours on Friday night getting my apartment set up, and she took us down to the E-Mart (a 5-story Walmart) to buy all of our necessities. Alicia's co-teacher and my own took us out to dinner at a Mexican food restaurant called El Paso... which was interesting, to say the least. And my pronounciation of "enchilada" and "quesadilla" was continuously corrected.

Anyway, I believe that the Korean women have probably left our apartment by now. I can only hope that didn't lock us out, because frankly if they did I wouldn't know who to call. Thanks for reading, and I hope to be able to post some photos of this place soon, as that is much more interesting than a big block of text. See you later!