My English Teacher's Name is Gillian...

So it has been exactly 9 months since I moved to South Korea and I still find myself learning something new everyday. It's definitely not easy living in a country you have never been before but living in a country with vast cultural differences where the absence of your native language is evident, makes your daily life that much more challenging. One thing I have realized over the past couple months, is that I cannot blame every misunderstanding on simply being "lost in translation". When a conversation with a Korean hits a road block and both parties are questioning the others ideas or intentions, there are 3 things you must consider.

1. Yes, something could possibly be "lost in translation".
2. The whole conversation could be a misunderstanding.
3. Yes, you heard correctly and now realize how brutally honest Koreans can be.

To help you understand what I am getting at, I will provide you with personal examples from each of the instances above:

1. It is almost expected that when attempting to learn another language, far different from your own, words, phrases and even ones intentions might be lost in translation. After a night of drinking with two of my taekwondo instructors, they began asking me and my other foriegn co workers how to pronounce certain words in English and vice versa. One word they so willingly taught us to pronounce in Korean, is the phase "Peyontae". Their English, compared to many other Koreans I have met, is pretty decent, however they were having some difficulty explaining the exact definition of the word "peyontae" to us and decided to look it up on their phone. The definition read along the lines of "to observe cute, round or chubby cheeks" and seemed appropriate to verbalize to an infant or baby. The next day at work, I was excited to share my new Korean lingo with my grade 6 students (who always remind me that I am living in THEIR country and should therefore learn how to speak THEIR language). So with a proud smile on my face, I walked up to one of my students and in Korean repeated my newfound vocabulary "You are a peyontae". This students face immediately turned red and most of the class burst into laughter (the other half questioning my mentality). Assuming my pronunciation was waaayyy off I asked them to assist me with my articulation... that was until one student declared, "teacher, why would you call Alice a pervert???" So..... I think by "round" he meant "vulumptuous", by "cute" he meant "sexy" and by "chubby cheeks" he meant... well not the cheeks I was thinking of!?

2. Obviously a misunderstanding is common practice in a foriegn country. This proves to be true ESPECIALLY when you are a teacher to young children who can barely pronounce the word "fine" ("I'm pine thanks" - its F-F-FINE...you are not a tree!) or constantly interchange the letters "R" and "L" or "B" and "V" even though they look and sound noticeably different ("I want to go lorrelbrading-- ROLLERBLADING! And it was a ROBBER who stole the money, not a LOVER!"). Anyways, like I said, misunderstandings are common occurances in my daily life but nevertheless are entirely expected. One particular instance happened the other day in my grade 3 class when I was asking each student about their weekend. I got the usual mundane answers, like "I played video games" or "I rode a bike" however one student caught me way off guard when he said, "I went to my grandfathers home and watched him burry corpses in his backyard". Uhhhhh...? I had to pause for a moment, clearly taking note that a student just told me he watched his grandfather dig graves for dead bodies in his backyard, but also believing that this MUST be a miscommunication. After asking this student to repeat himself 3 times, I came to the conculsion that his grandfather is a farmer and he therefore spent his sunday afternoon watching his granddad plant crops in the back... or so I hope...

3. And lastly what I have come to distinctively pertain to Korean culture is their abrubt honesty. A classic example of this occured last christmas where a foriegn co teacher of mine was given a christmas card by our Korean secretary/co worker that basically read, "Merry Christmas! Happy New year! Lose weight!" Koreans are not afraid to tell you when you look like crap (and no, they wont cherry coat it with "you look tired"), they will literally say to your face and without you inquiring; "You look bad today" or "Your face looks puffy" or "I've noticed you have more and more grey hairs everyday". It's almost inevitable that one will grow tougher skin just by living and working in Korea. Now, the surprising thing, is how one should respond to such an honest/painful remark. What I have found to be shockingly acceptable in Korean culture is to admit you were under the influence of alcohol the night before (even if you may not have been) and Koreans will be completely and utterly empathetic. Stange concept I know, where in North America, a real hangover would most definitely be covered up by a fake cough or sniffle over the phone explaining you caught a 24 hour virus, in Korea a cold or even the flu can be cured with tylonol and a face mask. A hangover on the other hand, proves that you are a socialable person and invites conversation about events of the night and future drinking arrangements.

Now, this brutal honesty doesn't just stop at friends or co workers but has also leaked into the younger generations, aka my students. Last week, I had my grade 6 class write a diary entry. Each week I assign them a topic for me to edit, grade and return to them the next class. Since I have been assigning these diary entries for the past 9 months now, I kind of ran out of ideas and recycled another foriegn teachers proposal to have my students write one page, introducing me, their foreign teacher, to a friend or family member. I sort of had a weird feeling about this one, mainly because this is the same class that has told me, more than once, that I have bad style and weird hair. Anyways, I would like to share with you some of what my grade 6 students wrote to describe me *the last 2 are my personal favorites:

"First, she is my English teacher. She said she is 23 years old but I think she is 30. So I think she is lie to us. Maybe I will like her much better if she doesn't lie to us about age and plays more games. She is sometimes funny but not always. At last, she is tall and her clothes are very strange and her hair is curly". - Kelly, grade 6

"My foriegn teacher's name is Gillian. She is 23 years old. She has curly hair. She is Canadian. Her fashion style makes her look very old because her style is like grandma. She is nice sometimes but sometimes she is angrily". - Emily, grade 6

"My foriegn teacher is tall. She smiles a lot. I don't like her clothing but she is kind and a little funny. She likes bagels and poutine." - Janice, grade 6

"This is my English teacher Gillian. We saw pictures of her childhood and brothers and parents. I think she was more beautiful when baby than now. She has dark face and not fat. She can speak English very well but she can't speak Korean well. She is kind because she gave us Canada money but I want a dollar. She is sometimes bad because she gave us strange cheese. She has a lot of earings than normal people. It looks TERRIBLE. I want her to put off them!!!"
- Sophie, grade 6

"My English teacher is my teacher Gillian. She is from Canada. Her style is like grandmother style. Her hair is much curl. It is like a snake or ramien noodle. She has 2 brothers. One is handsome the other is so so. She likes Korean food. She doesn't play a lot of games so she treats children badly. Sometimes she is kind though. She is tall so she looks like an ostrich"
- Owen, grade 6

Write more soon,!

Gonna go cry myself to sleep...

Miss you all!

Signing off,

Gillian "grandma style ramien haired" Teacha xx

If your friend jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?

Rafting just north of Seoul

The bridge

Leigh about to jump off BACKWARDS!

Getting ready to jump

Well in my case, the answer is YES. Not because I am a "follower" or give into peer pressure easily, I just happened to be the second last person to bundgy jump off a 54 meter bridge north of Seoul, SK. I guess I should start by explaining the prior activites that eventually lead up to this exciting free fall.

A couple weeks ago, Leigh (my co-worker) and I were busy at work and decided to research stimulating and enjoyable things to do in Korea on our weekends. We had both been previously told about an organization called Adventure Korea (http://www.adventurekorea.com/) which cators to foriegners living abroad who are somewhat adventurous or just want to try something different. This past weekend, Adventure Korea was leading a rafting and bundgy jumping trip leaving from Gangnam, Seoul at 7:30am on Sunday. Still hard at work, Leigh and I made some phone calls to our friends telling them about this exciting opportunity (for a great cost to by the way) and rounded up 8 others to join our team.

As it turns out, this was the same weekend our very good friends from Gwangju were leaving us. With two years under their belt and an expired contract they were flying off to India to travel for a couple months before returning home. The amazing thing about living abroad is that your friends literally become your family. We are all in the same boat, living in a foreign country without anything remotely familiar, working the same jobs and forming close-knit relationships unlike any other. The downfall to this, however is quite obvious. Everyone has an expiry date flashing above their heads and it's only a matter of time when we turn the page and start a new chapter in our lives.

Saturday night, some friends and I from Gwangju, took Jessie and Kate out in Seoul for 'the last supper' (or in modern days- 'the final drink'). The following morning, with puffy eyes and an hour of sleep, we boarded a bus to begin our Adventure Korea, Korean adventure. First stop: rafting! This was my first time ever rafting, although even those who have endured this water sport in the past would probably say rafting in Korea is unlike what is recognizable to Western standards. The aesthetics are pretty much identical; large oval shape yellow boat, suitable for about 8-10 people. The journey through a river, however, differs greatly from what us "outsiders" are familiar with. During the calm patches of water there were several squares of sand along the side of the river. We docked our boat and enjoyed a fun water slide made out of two upside down rafting floatillas accompanied by two Korean men vigorously splashing water on the boats to warrent a slippery slide down. Ofcourse, being in Korea, there was obviously an abundance of alcohol (specifically soju and beer) being drank at our mini pit stop in the middle of NOWHERE! During another still arena of water, our guide proposed an idea. He directed us to stand on the edge of the boat directly across from one another in pairs, each holding one end of a paddle in attempt to push one another off the boat and into the chilled river. In the end, everyone ended up in the blue (and white) water at some point or another.

So with a bruised knee cap and soaking wet clothes, we headed out into the country until we spotted a lonesome red bridge approximately 54 meters above water. This was to be the bridge we would all commit our suicide pracitce on. Watching the first 2, 3, even 10 people jump was quite a bit nervracking to say the least...more like mindboggingly horrifying, questioning my will to live and crap in your pants type of scared... but considering I was the second last person out of 50 people to jump, made me mentally over-prepared (if that is even possible). However, that feeling of comfort and vigilence quickly diminshed when I was standing at the edge of the bridge realizing that the Korean man attaching the bundgy cord to my harness spoke extremely limited English (okay, that was generous... he did not speak English whatsoever)! So now, unsure of

a. whether or not I am mentally prepared to jump

b. if I will actually make it out alive

c. whether or not I am physically prepared to jump, because let's be honest here, a mis-communication at this point in time would be REALLY unfortunate!!

and d. why I even decided to do this in the first place?!

With 3 hours of built up courage and a brief count-down, I somehow managed to bundgy jump (or march) off the edge of the bridge, screaming into thin air. This was probably the scariest yet most rewarding experience I have ever gone through in my entire life! No, I would probably never do it again but would definitely recommend it to others inquiring.

All in all it was an incredible weekend filled with extreme personal challenges, stepping (jumping) out of my comfort zone and saying goodbye to great friends! The summer in Korea has been brilliant this far and there are still plans of camping and beaches in the near future.

Will write again soon!

Miss you all!

Signing off,

Gillian Teacha xx

Made in China

Harbour ride boat tour in Busan

My parents first night in Gwangju I took them out for dinner with some friends

View from the boat ride

A Korean beach covered in umbrellas

My parents basking in the sun on the beach in Busan, SK

Most Koreans have a fear of the sun and cover up head to toe

An authentic dramatic Korean performance in Seoul

Saw the performance Nanta our last night in Seoul

Rickshaw's are a very popular form of transportation in Beijing

Most men walked shirtless on the streets due to do horrible heat wave

An adorable kid in Tienaman Square

Entering the Forbidden City

Inside the Forbidden City

Purchased a caligraphy piece in the Forbidden City

The streets of Beijing

Panda reserve

Most children roamed the streets bottomless

Standing infront of the Great Wall

View from the top

Outside the Olympic Stadium

Dumpling makers or brain surgens? You decide.

Our delicious dumpling dinner

So I know it's been about 2 weeks since my trip to China and visit from my parents, but better late than never! It was such an amazing 10 days with them and I couldn't have imagined a better time! Yes, some tears were evident upon their arrival but they were quickly shed and many smiles, laughs and stories were shared. Before leaving for Beijing we traveled to Busan in the South of Korea, took a harbour ride around the sea and laid-back on the beach.

A Korean beach experience is very different from a beach I am familiar with back home. I mean, considering where I was brought up, "beach" wasn't exactly an essential word in my vocabulary, travelling has allowed me to witness the attractive paradise of what a beach has to offer. Since Korean's have a somewhat irrational fear of the sun (parasols in hand if their destination involves stepping outdoors) it was not surprising that the beach in Busan is completely covered in umbrellas, already dug into the sand. I find a great sense of pleasure when I am lying leisurly on a beach chair basking in the sun, cracking my eyelips open every so often when a song changes on my ipod, just to peer at the current and the clear blue sky reminding me that I am completely in my zone. When there are hundreds of umbrellas and parasols distorting your view, as well as Korean's starring and judging you wondering why you are not covered head to toe in fabric holding some sort of shield from the evil sun, it makes it almost uncomfortable to try and get a glimpse of the sea or a real sense of your surroundings.

All in all, Busan was a great mini vacation and nothing close to what we were about to endure in China. Our accomodations in Busan were definitely different than what my parents are used to, but I'm thankful they are so open-minded. My mom, my dad and I ended up staying the night in a Korean "love motel" disgned largely for couples. Since Koreans tend to live with their families until they marry, love motels are catered for couples to spend the night outside of their parents home and come equipped with interesting vending machines and creams. It was kind of a funny experience though and my dad was just happy the room was at least air conditioned. So I am sure the Korean woman working the front desk that day went home with a funny story for her family.

My parents and I bussed to Seoul late Tuesday night, enjoyed a hop-on-hop-off bus tour Wednesday and then watched the performance of Nanta Wednesday night before our early departure Thursday morning. Nanta is a world famous non-verbal, unique performance originating in Korea. There are only 5 cast members, half actors/half chefs who dance, cook and play music all with a variety of kitchen utensils. It was a really neat presentation and something I would definitely recommend to others visiting Seoul.

On Thursday the 29th we departed for Beijing and the next 4 days that follow are pretty much all combined together in my head. It was 4 days of waking up at 6am, hitting as many tourist destinations as possible in one day, and arriving back to the hotel by the early-ish evening. So in no particular order, our days consisted of; the 600 year old Summer Palace, the silk market (where you can literally price the merchanise yourself by bargaining until the tired Chinese retail worker either decides to give up on trying to sell a fake prada watch for $100 or realizes she doesn't have a chance when negotiating with an experienced Jewish father, aka my dad!).
Side story: the silk market is a six story building with various booths of clothing, gadgets and accessories on each floor. To give you an idea of how much you are haggled and harassed here, my parents and I would stand at the end of one isle, take a deep breath and literlly RUN to the other end ensuring no eye contact was made with the solicitors. At one point we were being pulled on and yelled at by 15 different workers that the 3 of us ran to the nearest exit, ending up in an old stair well and apparently interupting another group of employees grabbing a quick bite. It was pretty hilarious when my mom, my dad and I looked at eachother standing aimlessly in the stairwell amongst a family of Chinese retail workers, not quite sure why we were there, how we even arrived at this destination and not quite sure where to go next. Overall, it was a unique experience to say the least and I also learned that I am able to shop even under extreme pressured circumstances.

To my surprise, the haggling didn't stop at the silk market. People were always ready to sell you things on the streets no matter where you were or what time of day it was. I remember walking out of a resaturant after dinner and noticed that it had started raining while we were eating so none of us were prepared for the pool of water we were about to set out into. Just before I was able to think of the best way to get back to the bus in hopes of enduring less rain, a man selling umbrellas came out of no where and i'de say did pretty well for himself!

Moreover, the tour we were on took us to the Forbidden City where we were introduced to some Emperor's nephew who created an authentic caligraphy piece for us. We also visited a panada reserve, Tienaman Square, a cloisonne factory, the Olympic Stadium and ofcourse the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall was definitely a site to see! It was amazing walking up the wall with a 2 year old on one side of me and an 89 year old man on the other. Unfortunatley China was hit with a horrible heat wave which made parts of our outdoor excursions almost unbearable, but my parents, always thinking ahead, brought along battery operated fans with them, which in Asia, is not something the locals are used to seeing. So while the majority of the population is operating manual fold-up fans, my father is enjoying a cool electric breeze by the touch of a button. This might sound like any other mundane act (using a hand-held electric fan) but in Asia, they are non existent and EVERYONE uses those asian-esq fold up ones. So my father, a tall, grey haired (sorry dad), caucasian man, managed to acquire even more attention to himself, if that is even humanly possible.

As beautiful and unique as Beijing was, it was also a little dirty and somewhat uncivilized (or at least compared to other asian countries I have visited). Most children wore bottomless jumpers using the city streets as their throne (if you catch my drift). The heat wave allowed for minimal clothing to be worn on all accounts and most men we saw were shirtless as well. The bottomless babies and shirtless men were not limited to the streets and were also exhibited in museums and fancy restaurants.

Chinese food in China is obviously delicious but also very different from American chinese food. One restaurant my parents and I went to had no English on the menus (something I am used to from Korea) and also no English speaking waiters/waitresses (another challenge I am used to from Korea). However, knowing minimal Korean and not having any familiarity with the Chinese language, made things a little more difficult when trying to order. We saw a picture on the menu which we thought might have been peeking duck, but from some of my scarcily close encounters in Korean restaurants almost eating dog, we wanted to feel certain that what we were about to order was not any kind of domestic house pet. Clearly, verbal communication was not an option, so my mom decided to draw a picture of a duck, I helped her out by making hand gestures to form into a ducks beek and my dad, sitting across the table is quaking like a duck. We must have looked like the strangest family to ever step foot inside this restaurant!!

On the other hand, my parents and I did have some interesting food trying experiences throughout our trip. After a lot of peer pressure, both my parents decided to dip into a traditional Korean snack of Silk Worms (which are absolutely disgusting but are for some reason served as a side for almost every meal). Mine and my dads taste buds are seemingly similar and he also thought they were quite nauseating. My mom, however, noted, and I quote, "taste like chicken"! My first night in Beijing I met up with a friend from University who was completing an internship and leaving for Thailand the next night. So a couple of us went out Thursday evening, caught up over some drinks and had a unique dining experience where both Vince and I tried chicken heart for the first (and most definitely the last) time.

For the remainder of the trip, we were brought to various chinese restaurants with our tour guide (who I will get to later), so having a chinese chaperone made things a lot easier and more comforting. Our tour guide Linda was a sweet woman I suppose, but I think may have been assigned to the wrong bus because even when she was speaking English, I thought she was speaking Chinese. It was very difficult to understand her and by the third day of the tour she completely gave up on speaking English altogether. She might have been knowledgable on the historic sites we visited, but its not like I understood a word she was saying. Ill give her credit though for trying to be funny, however after using the same line of, "If you are not on the bus raise your hand!" kind of got old.

On our last night in Beijing we walked around a market and went to a chinese dumpling restaurant for dinner. As soon as you walk inside the restaurant there is a glass window with about 15-20 workers dressed in white lab coats, wearing face masks, holding sharp utensils and concentrating vigorously on the subject at hand. To someone who didn't know they were watching dumplings being made, it could have easliy been confused with brain surgery! 27 dumplings later, we were ready to head back to the hotel for our last sleep before my parents and I parted ways again. The trip to Beijing and seeing my parents in Korea was almost surreal! Everything worked out perfectly and I was so happy that my parents made this trip happen.

Anyways, if you are still reading, I hope I didn't bore you too much. Ill have a few more entries to come shortly. Only 3.5 months left and then off to Australia for me! Miss you all and will write more soon.

Signing off,

Gillian teacha xx