Chasing Corea

Date: 3/5/2012

Here’s the breakdown:

3pm Get word of hweshik in last-minute Korean fashion

5pm Arrive at Korean bbq restaurant in the Cheongyang town center area. Take off shoes, sit on the ground, observe four tables pushed together with about 40 staff members (teachers, administration, kitchen, maintenance) already placing meat on the table-top grill amidst a plethora of Korean side dishes. Of course, there are 3 varieties of kimchi.

5:30pm Dumfounded by the three full shot glasses of Soju in front of me and correctly assume that this 회식 is to welcome the new teachers (me and the 2nd grade teacher)

5:35pm Ask the Kindergarten teacher next to me what I should do. She tells me to pour the Soju out in the water cup underneath the table. I promptly thank her.

6:30pm Full. Other teacher’s still going. The men at the end of the communal table get louder. Start singing songs. Soju continues to flow.

7:30pm “Main course” arrives, meaning some sort of noodle or rice dish.

7:45pm Experience acid reflux.

8pm Leave for the 노래방 [no-rae-bahng] or private karaoke room. Most of the staff go home. About 10 people left, mostly teachers.

8:15pm Amazed at the vice-principals dancing skills and how similar his style is to running in place.

8:30pm Sing “Beautiful” by Xtina. Booyah.

8:45pm The English/Science teacher expresses his high level of intoxication by dancing like there ain’t no tomorrow

9pm Sing my signature “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. Other teacher’s go crazy.

9:02pm Can’t see the screen because the teacher’s are dancing wildly in front of me and trying to sing along, but can only manage rah rah rah ah ah.

10pm Final teacher sings a song and everyone sits down to chat.

10:30pm Get kicked out by the manager to make space for other customers. Teachers get pissed off.

10:45pm Arrive at Tous le Jours cafe. Order peppermint tea. Chat about some sort of administrative issue—election of the head administrator? 

11:15pm My mentor teacher drives me home.

First…YES I am very bad at “blogging” and it’s been about a month and a half since my last post …hehe. I’m going to try and gradually complete some very belated posts  in the coming weeks. In the meantime…

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How to express agreement in Korean:

»»Standard “yes” =  [neh] Nationally-accepted; you’ll never fail with this one.

Do you want to try 번데기 [beon-dae-gi]? 네! (2.18.2012)

What’s that? It’s boiled silkworm pupae and they sell it on the streets of Seoul? Yes, a large steaming cauldron is periodically stirred amidst other street-food regulars such as skewered fish-cake and boiled hot-dog-wieners-on-a-stick. 2,000 won gets you a small one-time use water cup full of very hot 번데기. Good luck finishing the whole thing.

It smells like a heavy-set park ranger’s foot after a day of mucking around in the woods on a rainy day. IMHO food tends to taste like it smells, and this was no exception. 

»» The slightly more formal version of 네 = 예 [yeh]. Also a fail-safe.

We have a 회식 [hwe-sheek] (communal dinner) tonight with the entire school staff. Are you going? 예! (3.5.2012)

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of my very first 회식, but I do have a picture of a much mellower dinner a few days later:

However, the picture above doesn’t give the first one justice at all. I will dedicate a separate post to the initial dinner. In any case, they’re an awesome time, and a definite pro of Korean culture.

»»An informal variation of “OK” or “alright” or maybe even “sounds good” = 좋아 [joh-ah]

You down for traveling three hours to Geumsan for your friend’s 22nd birthday, and then spontaneously spending the night in a motel in Daejeon with her? 좋아! (3.11.2012)

I’ll dedicate a separate post to this event as well.

{excuse the The Ring-esque blurring}

We had “Chicken and Yogurt” in Daejeon: roasted chicken glazed in a classic Korean fried chicken sauce alongside cabbage topped with generous scoops of frozen yogurt. Pickled sweet radish on the side of course. The chicken was awesome: perfectly cooked, tender, just enough sauce.

»»Informal 어 [eo] or 응 [eung]. Great among friends or to one’s junior peers. Should be avoided towards most other groups.

Do you want to go to a kimchi factory with the owner of a delivery company on a Monday night? 어! (3.19.2012)

Loads of kimchi with 택배 오빠 [taek-bae oh-bba] (literally translated: delivery older brother)

Same loads of kimchi with Fernando! Also referred to as Nando and Fergie.

Afterwards, we went to an allegedly “authentically classic American style fried chicken place” called Mexican Chicken all decked out in nursery pink and purple private booths with swinging, stereotypical Texas saloon style doors. I’m not too into fried food, but Korean style fried chicken is booommmb.

»»According to my cousin, OK is commonly used in Korea: 오케이 [oh-kae-ee].

Would you like to go teach English in a rural elementary school in Korea for a year? 오케이! (2.3.2012-1.31.2013)

Two of my 1st graders. Seo Hyun and Eun Ji. Absolutely adorable.

**My advice: exercise these words as frequently as possible. With discretion of course ;-)

Tour of my dorm room during the 3 week orientation for the TaLK program at the Korea University’s Sejong Campus in Jochiwon. This is my first video blog, so please excuse the awkward narration!

Awaiting my flight from SEATAC to Incheon on Korean Air with an estimated total travel time of 50 billion hours (a.k.a 14ish hours). I’m just being a baby though, with a reimbursement from the TaLK program of up to $1000USD each way, I can fly flashy Korean Air. For lunch…Bibimbap! Yes. While leaving home in a rush, my mom looked at my outfit and said, “I’m not sure you can wear that on Korean Air”. I’m in track pants, a sweatshirt, and running shoes :-D I like to use the excuse, “I want to travel comfortably” to dress scrub. I told my mom, “I don’t care—are they going to kick me off?”

The Goodbye
I’ve been having non-stop free meals with lots of family and friends graciously wanting to see me off. I know I’ll miss Portland and I already miss NYC. 

One of my parents’ workers said that I should be stuffing my face with “American” food like burgers and pizza, but I probably won’t miss it (except I always miss NY-style thin-crust pizza). I LOVE Korean food and expect to enjoy every meal!

In the meantime, here’s my tribute to my home country as I say farewell for one year:

Fusion food galore

More white people than any other kind of people

Despite the previous—Ethnic diversity

English

Sandwiches

Burgers (with sustainably-raised meat of course :-D)

Brunch

New York

Oregon

After nearly two months and two three-hour trips up to Seattle, I finally have my Visa! My one-year E2 Visa is securely stuck in my US passport with less than a week before my flight (phew!).

The Visa situation was frustrating. To be sure, this sentiment may be unique to my American standards of individualism, which compared to Korea are much more pervasive. With that said, I called the Korean consulate in New York who told me that my father must submit proper citizenship documentation for me to obtain a Visa to work in Korea.

I’m 21 years old and figured my parent’s citizenship would have no bearing on my Visa. What’s more, my mom has all of her citizenship documents, but the mother’s documents don’t matter, only the father’s. To which my mom responded: “In Korea, women have no rights!”

Here’s some random advice:

-If you can, avoid the NYC Korean consulate. The lady both I and my mom spoke with was curt and unfriendly. Given we’re from Portland, I told my mom to contact the Seattle consulate, correctly assuming that people living on the West Coast are generally easier to work with (more polite, friendly, etc.) :-D

-If any one of your parents was at any point a Korean citizen and you are even remotely thinking of working or studying in Korea, make sure they are clear about their citizenship status. Even though my Dad has been a U.S. citizen since he was 12 years old, he has still remained a dual citizen all of these years and we had to “quickly” obtain proof of his citizenship (by quickly I mean as soon as we could, which amounted to almost two months). He had to expedite the processing request from the U.S. immigration office in Nebraska.

-As always, do everything as early as possible

Links:

Korean work Visa options: http://www.gone2korea.com/korean-work-visas.html

U.S. State Department info on traveling to S. Korea: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1018.html

U.S. State Department info on Visas in general: http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html

Seoul U.S. Embassy: http://seoul.usembassy.gov/

Busan U.S. Embassy: http://busan.usconsulate.gov/

Thoughts on my upcoming departure:

-Some quick Google searches led me to conclude that Korean Air was a better choice than Asiana. KAir is usually a bit cheaper, slightly more comfortable, and allegedly has better food. TaLK reimburses flights up to $1000 each way, so the price wasn’t an issue for me. The ticket was about $750 one way from PDX to SEATAC to Incheon International (ICN) and the flight is about 14 hours. I reported my flight info to TaLK through the My Page interface and read that there would be a booth stationed for me to check-in and wait for the shuttle to the orientation venue.

-My grandpa and parents keep trying to push this double-eyelid surgery on me saying its “cheap” (about $200 apparently) and high-quality (no scars). I’m slightly offended by the prospect and adamantly refuse the “polite” gesture. My eyelids should be good enough for any man or he’s not good enough for me thank you very much. See more info HERE if you’re unfamiliar with the phenomenon (states the cost as $2500-$3000, but that’s probably the cost of surgery in the U.S.)

-Not too excited about the weather awaiting me in Seoul. I’ve heard its like NY, but more extreme…Just think warm thoughts and cover those ears! I love warm weather and sometimes enjoy humidity since it’s good for my skin, but don’t mind the cold if its sunny at least!

It’s been raining non-stop here in Portland, OR, but I gotta love the green trees and snowy mountains and enjoy God’s beauty in my hometown. 

Hello! 안녕하세요 (ahn-yuhng-ha-sae-yo)!

This is the first post of the Chasing Corea blog and I’ll keep it short by simply introducing the purpose and features of the site.

I was accepted into the Korean Government’s Teach and Learn in Korea (TaLK) program in November 2011 to teach English in a South Korean rural elementary school for a year. For more information about me or the TaLK program, check out my pages through the links above.

This blog will essentially outline my experience in Korea as part of the TaLK program. Some posts I have coming up will describe my application, interview, and VISA application experiences. Here’s a preview:

Yes, I look forward to eating lots of Korean goodies.

Stay tuned and feel free to email me with any questions and please leave comments!

안녕 (ahn-yuhng)!