Crime and Punishment: The Sequel

I have written before on the state of corporal punishment in Korean schools. I have to restate a simple fact: I cannot stand this kind of physical punishment anymore. I have been here 3 weeks, and I have seen enough verbal and physical abuse of students to last me the rest of the year. Today I saw a girl, one of my favorite students (she's a loudmouth) be yelled at by a teacher for at least 30 minutes until she was sobbing hysterically. What good is supposed to come of this? This took place after her parent/teacher conference.

I know what you're all going to say. It's a different culture. They don't think of it as bad or abusive. You have to respect their culture. Pfff. Whatever. I accept it, it's what they do. I do not have to like it. I do not have to condone it. I can hold them in contempt for it. For me it is simply wrong. You do not treat other people like this. You cannot tell me that it is effective in disciplining the students.

The student caught smoking and smacked and kicked and forced to wear a sash with anti-smoking slogans on it is not doing any better. I taught him today, he sleeps through class. Yes, clearly the fear of God has been put in him and he is now a model student. I don't think so. What did the whole ordeal do? What did it prove? That absolute power corrupts?

This kind of random violence against students is all over the place. When students fall asleep in my class, I walk over to them and wake them up. The Korean teachers walk up to the students and smack them very hard to wake them up. They pinch the students. Flick them in the face. I'm sorry, I could and will never do that. I know some English teachers who have given in and started hitting kids for sleeping. It seems like overkill to me. I am feeling compelled to talk to someone about this. It's really troubling me.

Make Sure You Use The Bathroom Before You Leave The House

Everyone grew up with their mother asking them "are you sure you don't need to use the bathroom before we leave the house?" It's been asked by mothers for centuries. I'm sure that George Washington's mother asked him and that King Tutankhamen's mother asked him. It's just what is done. With that said, mother's advice, to use the bathroom before leaving the house, has never been more important than in Korea.

To call the public bathrooms that I have encountered here "disgusting" would be the understatement of the century. I work in a school, a clean type of place. The bathrooms make me cringe. To walk in the hall anywhere remotely near the bathroom means that your nostrils are assaulted with the powerfully pungent smell of stale urine and filth. It's enough to make you hurl.

The reason behind this overwhelming stench can be found in small wastebaskets inside the cubicles of the bathroom. These are placed strategically for used toilet paper. Apparently the plumbing is not capable of dealing with the paper. Question: if the pipes can't hand the secondary matter of toilet paper... how do they handle the primary matter when people use the bathroom? I have no idea why this antiquated idea of plumbing and waste disposal is still in use today... all I know is that it is the most God-awful thing I have encountered here.

I thank God everyday when I get to school that I went before leaving the house. I can hold it all day to avoid these bathrooms. There isn't enough lysol and clorox in the known universe to disinfect these potties to my liking. The sight and smell of them will haunt me to the grave.

Finally: The Americans Say Hello

Last night I finally met up with some of the Americans teaching here in Anseong. This was such a relief. On friday, I ran into Victoria, a woman from Maine, on the street. Seeing another American stunned me. Literally I felt like I had seen an alien. We exchanged numbers and emailed eachother. We agreed to meet for dinner on wednesday.

When I arrived at the designated spot, I met another American, Carl from Florida. Carl is Mr. Korea, he's been in Korea for 3 years, but only a few months in Anseong. The three of us went to dinner at a restaurant where you grill your meat at the table. It was good.

Of course, the best part of the meal was just sitting around and talking. Like all teachers do, we talked about our students, about the schools and the lack of assistance we get in lesson planning, we talked about cultural things.

It was a great night. We walked around a bit, Carl and I went to the supermarket... where I met 2 Iraqis here on vacation. Foreigners abound I guess, if you know where to look for them.

Now, why could the company that placed me here drop me an email saying "Oh, these other Americans are in your city, send them an email." Seriously, much of the culture shock and strangeness could be avoided. It makes sense... tell that to the company.

Korean Students Are...

Before coming to Korea, I was full of ideas of what a Korean student looked and acted like. We all have that idea in our head of the respectful Asian student. The student that sits at their desk quietly, taking notes on every word that comes out of your mouth. The scientific or math prodigy. The amazing violinist or pianist. You think about those "studies." You know the "studies" that rank schools, and put Japan and China in the number one and two slots and the USA is number 893. You know what I'm talking about. This is the idea that we all have in our heads of the average Asian student.

Now for a dose of reality. The average Korean student is the same as the average American student. They spend their time in class talking, playing with their cellular phones, trying to listen to their mp3 players, doodling, applying make-up, staring into a mirror. This is whom I have to try to teach to.

On top of this normal behavior, my school is a vocational school, and the vast majority of high school students have no interrest in learning English. Sure, if you want to get a good job working for Samsung or LG you have to have excellent English skills. But the fact is that every student is forced to take English, so the one's that gave up long ago are still being forced to work at it. Getting these students to speak English is like pulling teeth.

This is my life, for 22 hours a week. 22 classes that do not want to be there, that do not want to learn English. This is not the "reality" that exists in my American mind. How strange it is when actual reality butts in and ruins everything.

Mrs. Roper Has A Heart Of Gold

I know that I wrote before about my landlady, and how she buts into my apartment and life without warning or invite, but she's also there for me when I need help. Last night I was exhausted when I got home. It was a long day of trying to get children to speak English. Literally, it was like pulling teeth. I don't know if this was due to the BEAUTIFUL spring day or the fact that none of the children here care about English.

So, I was exhausted. My fridge was on empty. I had some old celery, a bit of yogurt, some grapes, and water. None of this added up to a meal. I ate the grapes but that didn't really fill the void. So, I went downstairs to my landlady. She was just getting home. She was kind enough to call Dominoes Pizza and place an order for me. So nice of her. When the pizza came, it was delivered to her apartment. Her husband rushed it up to me, and then ran downstairs to pay the delivery man. He came back up with my change and told me that the theatre near my place was showing Mission Impossible 3. It's so nice of them to think of things that I would like. It could be much worse.

My landlady and her husband rescued me when I was too tired to tredge to the market and then climb up that steep hill to my building and up 3 stories worth of stairs to my apartment. They rock.

When In Korea... Avoid The Noid

I did it. I had my first real American meal. Over the weekend I had the quintessential American fast food... pizza. Not just any pizza mind you... but Dominoes. Yes, here in Anseong we have both Dominoes and Pizza Hut. However, Dominoes was good enough to tape a flyer to my door, so they got my business.

Pizza here is different than pizza at home. That's a given. The crust is the same, nice and chewy, golden brown. The cheese is good, actually it was the most dairy I've had since coming to Korea. The difference lies in the toppings. Now, I had a steak pizza, a good choice. The pizza had no sauce, cheese, steak, peppers, broccoli, and a drizzle of sour cream on it. It was aesthetically pleasing and hit the spot. Not quite the pizza from home, but close enough to give me warm fuzzy feelings.

Now, the choices of pizza here are strangely foreign, definitely Korean. You could get a stir-fry pizza (bimimbop I think it's called), or basically anything you could imagine. There weren't a whole lot of "normal" choices, but they did have pepperoni. For side dishes you could get bread (not breadsticks or garlic bread... just plain bread), spaghetti, baked spaghetti, or various Korean soups.

All in all, it was a successful meal, but definitely an experience. By the way, pizza here is very expensive. It was $25 for the pizza and a coke. Not something I'll be doing constantly, but when I need a reminder of home, I can always count on Dominoes to deliver it in 30 minutes or less.

Mondays: Am I Supposed To Pay Attention?

Ah, mondays. It's the same the world around. The return to the daily grind from the sweet release of the weekend. Time to put that suit back on, get back on the expressway for gridlock, and time for those dang meetings.

Every monday morning in Korea, we have a meeting for all teachers. The meeting begins with everyone standing up, looking at the flag and then sitting back down. This is the only part of the meeting that makes sense to me. The rest of the meeting, which can last for over 30 minutes, is made up of different teachers speaking Korean and the vice principle speaking Korean. To help break up the monotony, there are hand-outs... in Korean.

Now, I have quite a pile of these handouts in Korean. For those of you who forgot, I do not speak or read or write Korean. So why do I need these handouts? No one translates them for me. No one interprets for the speakers in the meeting. I just sit here, on-line, catching up on my email. It's strange to me, that no on has ever offered to interpret for me. I hope it's nothing important like the emergency evacuation practices or what to do in case of Soviet invasion.

Dan's Blog: Bringing People Together Since April 2006

It's amazing. Who knew that so many people would be interrested in my life here in Korea. Correction, in my agony here in Anseong. The people that contact me out of the blue really make my day so much brighter.

I am hearing from people that I very very rarely hear from. Friends from back in my Western Michigan University days. It's nice and strange at the same time to find out that these people are checking my blog everyday, like it's the morning newspaper. Well, it's filled with more entertaining news than the newspaper and it's less depressing.

The people that read my blog and email me about it really surprise me. I only thought a few people would really care about what is going on here, and to find a broader more diverse audience makes me very happy. So, read on, and I will keep coming up with new and exotic things to write. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it.

The Scarlet Letter

I've written before about the punishment levied against students here in Korea. Now for a new installment with new punishments.

Last week I saw a girl being punished by the gym teacher. While the teacher was berating her, she had to kneel on the floor with both of her hands up in the air. She kept her head down and was crying. I guess it's better than being smacked, kicked, and yelled at.

Today two male students had misbehaved. One was the boy who was caught smoking, the one from my first entry about punishment. I'm not sure of which rules were broken by the boys. Today they have to wear bright yellow sashes with blue and red writing on them. These mark that the boys are bad and break the rules. The sashes have anti-smoking slogans on them. The boys also have to sit in the hall at desks just outside of the teachers' office. Each time a teacher goes by, they have to stand up. They also tend to get yelled at all day long.

So, to sum up... you don't really want to break the rules in school in Korea. You will be broken down to tears by the faculty, you may get smacked or kicked, or you may be marked like a modern Hester Prine.

Cafeteria Life

Each weekday I eat lunch at the school cafeteria. This is the main source of my sustainence and source of Korean cuisine. I've asked and the teachers believe the food to be typical of Korean cuisine and of normal quality. So, in other words, it's not disgusting food but ordinary.

With that said, the food here in the cafeteria is always an adventure and sometimes a slap in the face. First, you go through the line and pick up a pair of chopsticks from the container and a spoon and your trey. The trey is metal, the food is hot. You do the math. The trey gets very very hot.

Each and every day there is rice, kim-chi, soup, and another side dish or two. Usually the rice and the soup are the best thing on the menu in my opinion. Other items scare the hell out of me.

Horrors encountered so far include all kim-chi (see Korean Cuisine for a more complete discussion of the horrors of Kim-chi), squid soup (I can't eat anything with suction cups and tentacles), pork with hard-boiled eggs (the whole eggs were a yellow brown color, not something encountered in nature), seaweed with the tiniest fish ever and peanuts (smelled like fish food, but contained the smallest fish ever... whole).

Some items are on the menu and make me so happy. These include french fries. Sure, they were ice cold and I'm certain they were seasoned with cinnamon, but I was happy none the less. Fried fish, tasted exactly like a fish stick. Not my favorite food, but you take what you can get. Ketchup, the king of condiments. Lastly, tempura zuccini (I think that's what it was) but it was good and served with ketchup. You can't complain about that.

Outside of school my diet mainly consists of fruit and juice. I like to keep it simple. Maybe I'll cook something more bland and stomach friendly like chicken soup or potatoes, but that's about it.

Home Sweet Home III

New pictures of the apartment. Highlights include: the new couch and ricecooker, the television, my shelves with things on them, my Korean cleaning supplies, and the stained glass in my front door.

Coke And The Promise Of Hope

I've been in South Korea now for two weeks. Frankly, it seems like much longer. I have a hard time remembering being home now. If you have never been so completely away from home it's hard to understand. Being on vacation is different, knowing that you will be home in 2 weeks makes all the difference. Being away for one year seems like such a long time to pass, and it's going by oh so slowly.

The strangest thing about being so far away from home and so far removed for me is the language barrier. Maybe it's the sheer amount of new things, but I cannot for the life of me keep any Korean words in my head. The only new word I learned is "bop" which is rice. People tell me new words, and they go in one ear and out the other. It is strange to be somewhere and to not speak your native language. I spend all weekend not speaking English. It's strange to not hear and not speak your own language. Yesterday at the immigration office in Suwon, I saw my first "Europeans" since entering Korea. I was so excited, it was a bit pathetic and rediculous. I didn't know these people but I searched their faces for a clue, anything, that told me they were experiencing the same thing. It was strange.

When you're in such a strange place, anything familiar becomes a life raft, promising hope that things will get better. I had a coke the other day. It was sitting in my fridge, getting good and cold. All day I thought about that coke, and how great it was going to be. I don't especially like coke, but it was something familiar. I've never tasted anything so good in my life. There's a Pizza Hut here in Anseong. That's for next time. I have to see if it's the same, or at least similar enough to give me the same reaction. Anything that is familiar. I've experienced too much new for such a short period of time. It's time for the familiar to give me a sense of security and belonging.

The Korean Restaurant Experience

Yesterday after the students finished their mid-term exams for the day, several teachers (myself included) went out for lunch to a restaurant here in Juksan. I was unaware of this.

The restaurant was very nice, and much more intimate than American restaurants. With that said, here is the deal. There are no chairs, of course. You must sit on the floor, on very thin pillows. Now, for those of you who do not know, last winter I fell on the ice and injured my knee severely. Over the summer I injured my back while moving and have been seeing the chiropractor since then. Also, in Korea I sleep on a slab of concrete which causes constant back pain. So... sitting on the floor did not agree with me at all. It was very painful for me and not that enjoyable. Also, my leg fell asleep immediately. I endured and carried on. I'm such a brave little toaster.

The food at the restaurant was quite good. It was not rediculously spicy like the rest of the food I have had here. Each person had their own bowl of rice, and then the table was covered with small bowls of side dishes. You use your chopsticks and eat what you like from the table. This included bowls of soup that you used your long spoon, took a bite, and that was it. Kind of strange but I can adapt.

Now, the food that was offered in addition to the rice. Cabbage with apples and mayonnaise. Seaweed. Whole fish. Raw fish. Squid. Bean Sprouts. Meat? Crab. Mushrooms. Soup. Steamed scrambled egg. Fried rice pancake thing.

I am fairly certain that while at the restaurant and sampling the food, that I ate nothing but carteledge. It looked like little bits of meat, but the crunch told me otherwise. The crab that was served was eaten whole. Shell and all. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. I did not partake in that, plus it was covered with what looked like a very spicy sauce.

At the end of the meal I had not eaten enough to please the people. These are the same people that obsess about me losing weight. I guess it's true, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

What To Watch, What To Watch???

Korean television. Wow. What can I say? To call it random would be an understatement. To call it rediculous and stupid may be a tad bit too on the mark. So, what can one hope to see on Korean television? Here are your choices... pay attention.

Yes, I've seen it. Spongebob Squarepants speaks Korean!! Who knew?

There is one channel that every time I flip through is apparently a gameshow (I use that term loosely) of the board game Othello (the one with the white and blacks circles). It's just two people playing the game, nothing else. Yeah, that's all that it is. Morning, noon, and night. Very popular game apparently. Update: it's actually a Chinese game called GO. Still seems pretty boring to have an entire channel devoted to it.

Home shopping. Lots of home shopping channels. These account for about one third of all the channels. They all appear to be selling the home massage/exercise device where you stick electrodes to yourself and electrocute yourself. Seriously, it's always on and always for sale.

The cheeziest pop-singers that you have ever seen. Very popular. They are on about one third of the channels here. Their music all sounds the same, and they all look the same. Men with spiked up hair, shirts with the sleeves ripped off. Women with the biggest hair you've ever seen. Think 1986 but with bad elevator music.

Various reality and drama shows. So, we have the very worst that culture has to offer in the reality show... and the very worst that culture has to offer in the soap opera. Everyone is dumber for watching these.

Educational TV is popular too. There's a channel teaching you math, and one teaching you English. They look like they cost about $12.50 to produce.

Lastly there is the English programming. Thank God for minor miracles. There is the AFN (Armed Forces Network) which shows everything really, from E.R. to Law & Order to 20/20. Instead of commercials there is propaganda. There is also the Discovery Channel. Many an hour of my life is wasted watching this. It's nice after hearing something you can't understand all day, coming home to English. Who cares if the subject matter is boring, you still get a small island of sanity.

So, don't touch that dial, because you have yet to buy your self-electrocution device or to win the great Othello challenge game show. The choice is yours. Maybe it's best to choose a book.

Garbage Bags And The Korean Brand of Christianity

I had to buy garbage bags. The trash was piling up in my kitchen, it was pretty gross. Now, in the US you simply head on off to Walmart or some other less hellbound store and buy some Glaad bags. Not in Korea. Here, you need special specific bags, or the garbage men (whom I have never personally seen) will not take your garbage. Now, I say this with a grain of salt, since there are plent of bags of garbage sitting around that are not in the proper bags. But, I'm a good boy and will follow the rules of this country, wether they pertain to shoes outside the door, Hello Kitty surgical masks, or the proper garbage bags.

Now, I asked people where to get these bags. The answer was never quite clear. I knew that they had them at the ONE place I know how to go in this city, the LG Supermarket. Well, I didn't see them when I went shopping on saturday. So, yesterday I asked Mr. Yoo, the man who drives me to and from work, to go with me to the supermarket to get them. He agreed.

Thank God that he went with me!! First, at the checkout you ask for the bags. You tell them how many (at LG they come in packs of 20), and what size (small, medium, large). Then you pay. When you're done, you take your receipt up to the service counter and pick up your bags. There is no way in hell that I would have been able to do this on my own. Things in Korea are overly complicated. Please note in the pictures, my officially bagged garbage, and then the group of unofficial bags on the curb. Great. By the way, watermelons at the LG are $9.80!! Anyone else find this price high for a small round seedless melon?

As for Christianity... I was unaware that Christianity was so popular in Korea. This city has lots and lots of churches, in fact, my apartment is across the street from a very large church. The churches here are all very large, I have not seen a small local church. The thing that interrests me most though about these churches is this. At the top of every spire, and they all have spires, are large crosses. That isn't out of the ordinary at all. The strangeness begins when night falls. At night, the neon lights turn on and these crosses glow bright red. Fire engine red. Red crosses dot the horizon of the city. This is the tackiest form of Christianity I've seen since Tammy Faye Baker. You would NEVER see this in Howell, let alone in any place I've been in the US. But as they say... to each their own.

Home Sweet Home II

My dining room, washing machine, and a bad picture of the evil bed. May it burn in hell.

Home Sweet Home

Some lovely shots of my apartment. Please note the kickin' sound system on my shelves. More to come.

A View Of Anseong

All photos were taken using my super small digital spy cam, for those of you who saw it and laughed.



The view from my apartment. They consider this a small city. See why I'm hesitant to wander out alone too much?

My Korean Landlady

No, it's not a new sit-com on the WB. It's my life. Duh. Saturday morning, my landlady and her husband (I'm assuming that's who he is) were working on the apartment next to mine. Actually, it's attached to my apartment, but they put a big wardrobe infront of the door connecting them, so they're separate now. The problem by the way is that you can hear EVERYTHING going on over there.

Anyway... I received a delivery of some appliances, and my landlady just barged right on into my apartment. She was unhappy that I kept my shoes by the door and not in the hall (OMG, it's an international incident). Then she told me to clean up (now that I have a vacuum I can do that). She showed me how to use the washing machine, and her husband installed the phone. He also told me to keep my shoes in the hall (I get it, thanks).

The rest of the afternoon, the landlady was just coming into my apartment without warning. Now, on t.v. we all like the scrappy landlady character who is the busybody of the building, keeping eveyrone in line. In real life, it's annoying and will end in me yelling at her or something. We'll have to wait and see how that turns out.

By the way, my shoes are now in the hallway. I've cleaned up with my new vacuum cleaner, and I've done laundry. The landlady wins... for now.

The Yellow Sand Is Coming!!!

Here is something that the tour books won't tell you. Did you know that the Korean peninsula is under constant "attack" from yellow sand from China and Mongolia? Well, it is. This means that the sky is always hazy and foggy. There are warnings today on the Armed Forces Network (God Bless America) about the sand. It's much like smog warnings or ozone action days. More importantly, this means that my allergies are freaking out and that I can't stop my eyes from burning and watering, and my nose from running. I'm looking quite pathetic. I may just have to get a Hello Kitty surgical mask. I hate yellow sand. Damned China and Mongolia. I think that each country should keep their own sand and durt and such, and leave me out of it. Just another fun-filled fact about Korea.