Exploring Pohang and Some Interesting Koreanisms

So, after settling into school we spent some time exploring Pohang, our new home. We are only 5 minutes walk from the biggest and best beach in Pohang called Bukbu Beach. We also took a walk along past the beach to Hwanhoe (Sunrise) Park which is a big wooded park set on a hill which has many trails as well as a observation tower where you can see round the coast for miles, a mini zoo with some small animals and an art gallery. I love being so close to the beach, we both love living near the water and so are vary happy that we are in Pohang!

Bukbu Beach

A sunny day in early March

Feet on the beach.

The beach and the boardwalk.

There is also a great group of foreigners here who have welcomed us into their bosom like old friends which really helps with the homesickness. There are a mixture of EPIK and hagwon (private English academies) teachers and everyone seems really nice. We came to Pohang with 27 other EPIK teachers, even a few from the UK, so it doesn’t feel quite so scary!

A hangover day on the beach with Corey and Paul, EPIK friends who are from the UK too!

An interesting find for us was our first ‘outdoor gym’ area which you can find all round town and cities in Korea. Basically, it is a small play park sized are where there are a whole variety of basic exercise machines (self powered of course, no treadmills here). So, after hiking up a hill what else would you want to do but some pull ups, sit ups, arm exercises (as well as others that can look very suggestive). This may be why Koreans are all so slim - seriously, the girls are stick thin and so are lots of the guys. You occasionally see a slightly chubby Korean but no often. They put this down to their diet of mainly vegetable, rice (which apparently is highly nutritious) and that everyone loves kimchi.

Outdoor gym equipment.

Definition of kimchi = is a traditional Korean dish which is usually made of fermented vegetables (but not always fermented) with spicy seasoning. The most common veg used is cabbage but they also use radish, cucumber, green onion as well as hundreds of other varieties. It is served at EVERY Korean meal, without fail, including breakfast. All Koreans love Kimchi and it is rated as one of the Top 10 Healthiest Foods on the planet due to the healthy bacterial content. I think I will stick to Activia thanks.

Yum, tasty plate of fresh kimchi.

Other interesting things about SoKo so far:

1. They have underfloor heating in all homes which is great, warms your toes and heats up really quickly.
2. They have ‘wetroom’ bathrooms where there is a shower head over the sink no shower curtain. Everything gets wets but hey, its a bathroom and is waterproof.
3. They are amazed by Westerners and I am famous. Seriously, despite there being about 1 million Westerners now in Korea they are still surprised to see one walking down the street. You will often her the word “waygookin” which means foreigner and you quickly get used to saying “hello” a million times a day. You get stared at wherever you go and often people want their picture taken with you. Love it!
4. Blue eyes confuse many Koreans. One of my kids asked “Teacher, teacher, can you SEE?”.
5. Koreans do not wear their outdoor shoes indoors which I personally agree makes a lot of sense. Mostly. At home, we take out shoes of at the shoe area, there is a shoe cupboard and everything. We have separate bathroom shoes (kinda like jelly shoes) as the floor is often wet from it being wetroom. However, where this makes no sense is in school. The kids and teachers all have school indoor shooes. BUT they walk into the school and to their classroom before changing. They also go out into the playground with them on. Is this not outdoors I ask?
6. Koreans are very friendly and polite except if you happen to be walking past them/next to them/around them in the street. They WILL bump into you, despite there being loads of space and will not apologise. Apparently this has roots in Confucianism and the importance of relationships - if they do not know you, they have no relationship with you and in big cities it id impossible to have relationships with everyone SO no relationship = no person. You are a nobody and will be bumped.
7. Koreans are very bad drivers - they pull out from nowhere but all seem to slow down. And taxi drivers are mental!
8. They have no cheese (unless you count the rubber slices as cheese but I certainly do not. Help, I need cheese to survive!
9. Koreans love karaoke which in Korean is 'noraebang' - literally meaning singing room. They go out, get drunk on soju and then head to noraebang - these are not like western karaoke places, but have individual rooms that fit from 4-20 people, you have your own large screen TV, book of songs, microphones and even a tambourine!
   

So this is where you dispose of your pets.

Camambert in s squeezy bottle??? I think not.

Noraebang in a travelling van. Just what you need at the beach! She is definitely enjoying it.

Week One: Doing Nothing

Well, after a 3 day weekend courtesy of Korean Independence Day (freedom from Japan in 1919) we had our first day at school. Up early, breakfast and the short (seriously, for me its 3 minutes) walk to school I arrived bright and early. My co-teacher had not yet arrived and the office staff had no idea what to do with me. I was sent from one office to the other until Jenny arrived and escorted me to our staff office. In my office there is me, 3 Korean English teachers (Jenny, Emily and HyoJoo) and a female PE teacher (whose name I can never remember). To my surprise, the first day the kids are sent home at lunch time and all the teachers go out for lunch! I like this idea.

Pohang Hangdo Elementary School

It's quite a big elementary school with approximately 1000 students.

School gymnasium

Kindergarten building behind the kindergarten playground.

Stone at front of school - I have no idea what it says!

However, for the remainder of the first week I was left sitting in the office with nothing else to do. It turned out that week 1 of term is when teachers plan their lessons (except homeroom teachers who of course have the kiddies) but with no computer, no textbooks and no guidance from my co-teacher, I was left sitting about literally doing nothing but listening to Korean conversation for 4 whole days! The other teachers chatted amongst themselves but rarely included me, even Jenny who had been so talkative the week before on the drive to Pohang. Needless to say I found this first week very hard. I was so used to an office where everyone chatted, we were all so busy and I had a really close group of friends who I missed immensely (and still do, particularly at lunch times!). Garry was a star these first few weeks and really helped me through some tough old days, taking me for pizza and letting me eat lots of fried chicken.

Elementary English textbooks for Grades 4, 5 and 6.

My desk (busily working on facebook and with a newly bought school computer)

My office, there are 5 of us in total.

Garry, Garry, where for art thou Garry?

Well, after a 3 hour bus journey to Gumi during which I was really ill and had to get medicine from a doctor, we were introduced to our co-teachers. Off Garry went with his co-teacher and off I went with mine with no form of communication between us. My co-teacher is called Jenny (they often have an English name for ease of pronunciation) and she seems really nice. if not a bit on the eager front. She collected me in Gumi and drove me the 2 hours to Pohang all the while chatting in very broken English. During the drive it became apparent that they had not yet found me an apartment but she said I could stay in the Principal’s (empty) apartment until next week. No worries I thought, however, when we arrived at the school it was soon discovered that a female teacher was living in the apartment but they decide I could stay with her - YAY for me. The teacher was exceptionally kind, she spoke very little English but made me feel at home with a Korean ondol (floor bed made of blankets) and I was in bed by 9pm clutching my UK mobile wondering where in the world Garry was.

In the morning the teacher had made a huge breakfast (eggs, cheese slices, toast, sweet potato, and of course kimchi) which was very kind and we chatted in some English using a lot of miming. She let me use her computer and I sent out an SOS for Garry. Luckily, his co-teacher HaeSoon had contacted my school and phoned the teacher I was staying with to arrange to meet up. Little did I know that Garry had been put up in a fancy hotel on the beachfront!

That day was spent getting Garry’s apartment and his furniture all arrived in a flurry - bed, TV and unit, chair, fridge/freezer, washing machine - things happen quickly in SoKo! I also attended a doctor as I still felt a sick and dizzy and HaeSoon took me to her local surgery. It became a bit awkward when the Doctor asked if I had ‘morning sickness’ and HaeSoon did not know what to say! I was handed lots of little sachets of pills (at least 5 pills in each pocket) as well as some drink sachets to be taken 3 times a day for 4 days. If only Sheils knew, I had no idea what I was taking but it seemed to work and within a few days I felt a bit better.

Orientation Closing Ceremony

After our 10 days of orientation, EPIK held a closing ceremony for all the teachers which was an amazing display of some traditional dancing and music.

Where are we going?

Well, kindly, EPIK decided it was best withhold from all us teachers our final destination until the second last day of orientation. This caused for many anxious conversations as although we knew what province we would be in, with 200 plus teachers going there we had no idea where we would be placed. I think Garry secretly hoped that we might be placed in different towns so that he could get some peace but alas, we finally learned that we were both to spend a year in POHANG!

On the map it is South East.


This was quite amusing for me as when I had been applying for jobs in Korea, I had been offered a private job in Pohang but had not gone through with it as EPIK had offered me a position. We were given our school names which were quickly googled and hilariously they could not be closer! Poor Garry. We were given new contracts and signed them quickly. We were then sent off to the closing ceremony (yes, with more Korean “delicacies” = hungry Monica) before our 3 hour bus to Gumi the next day to meet our co-teacher.

Definition of co-teacher = a co-teacher is a Korean teacher who is based in your school and given the job of assisting/managing you in your year in Korea. You will usually teach some classes with this person but not always and not all classes. They are paid no extra money for helping you so small bribes are recommended throughout the year. Many EPIK teachers report that your relationship with your co-teacher can make or break your school experience.



Here are some pics of a night out learning ‘Farkle’ - a dice game that our friends Katy and Danny from Coloroda taught us during orientation. Oh, and you can also see beer and soju - a traditional Korean alcohol made from rice, its about 20% alcohol and tastes like watered down vodka.

Jeonju Cultural Centre and Traditional Korean Village

Although many of the days were taken up with lectures and Korean lessons, they were very kind to us one Sunday and we went on a field trip! We were taken to a Cultural Centre in Jeonju where we learned many different traditional Korean arts. Firstly, we were taught a basic Korean ‘Mask Dance’. Clearly my competitive nature came out and the guy decided that I was rather good and made me dance in front of everybody else! Some people also got to dance under a large Korean dragon.

Me with Nicole, Jarrod and Kevin.

For the day, a whole new class was formed and we were chosen to be part of 'Mike's Superstars'. We felt very special for the day.

Dancing with scarves in the traditional mask dance.

Jarrod and Trevor doing the dragon dance (or playing the train game?)

Me with the instructor for the mask dance.

Garry in his monkey mask!

We then were involved in a traditional Korean wedding – Garry got to be best man and I got to be mother of the bride. Garry did not know what his costume was to be before he volunteered for this role! Pretty does not even cover it.

A traditional Korean wedding with Garry as best man and me as mother-of-the-bride.

Finally we learned how to play a traditional drum which was great fun for me – not so much fun for the rhythmically challenged Garry Burns. We were served a lunch of ‘Bibimbap’ – this is a large bowl with rice and many other vegetables which sometimes has an egg placed on top. You mix all the ingredients together in your bowl along with some spicy red paste and munch away!

Learning to play a traditional Korean drum.

The ever present kimchi.

After lunch we were set free on a Traditional Folk Village which was really very beautiful and finally showed us a side of Korea that appealed to me much more than the multi story apartment blocks and large assortment of restaurants, corner shops and general disarray. We walked around the narrow streets, saw some traditional Korean homes and visited little boutique style shops. Garry and our new friend Albertus, from South Africa decided this was the best time to try a Korean delicacy – the silk worm. It looks like a tiny little cockroach and is roasted. On the count of three they both stuck the little blighter in their mouths and I so wish I had taken pictures of the following events! Both started off trying to pretend that it wasn’t that bad but soon their faces turned south and they were smacking their jaws trying to get rid of the “gritty” texture. They agreed that it was a once in a lifetime experience not to be repeated.

Rather large Korean gate.

Our friend Albertus and a big black teddy bear.

Cute Korean kids.

Garry and Albertus smiling after the silkworm munching.

Japanese writing on a slate pillar.

Before we headed back to the University, we also learned how to use traditional Korean paper to make a photo frame in the shape of a love heart – it was very funny seeing a whole group of 20+ males sitting around carefully cutting out little bits of paper and using tiny little glue brushes to make their little heart-shaped frames. Bless.

Landed!

So, after a rather hectic last few weeks - waiting for contracts, finishing work, packing up our home, selling the car, getting Visas in London, weekends away – we finally boarded the plane (there were some minor issues regarding the weight of our bags, I need name no names as to who packed too much – we all know that was me!) and after two 8 hour flights we landed in Incheon Airport, South Korea! Needless to say we were a bit tired but no rest for the wicked – we had to register with EPIK (English Program in Korea) at the airport and then board a bus with many other sleep deprived Westerners and take a 4 hour bus journey to Jeonju (pronounced Chonju) for our 10 day orientation.




So, after a rather hectic last few weeks - waiting for contracts, finishing work, packing up our home, selling the car, getting Visas in London, weekends away – we finally boarded the plane (there were some minor issues regarding the weight of our bags, I need name no names as to who packed too much – we all know that was me!) and after two 8 hour flights we landed in Incheon Airport, South Korea! Needless to say we were a bit tired but no rest for the wicked – we had to register with EPIK (English Program in Korea) at the airport and then board a bus with many other sleep deprived Westerners and take a 4 hour bus journey to Jeonju (pronounced Chonju) for our 10 day orientation.

We arrived at Jeonju University Student Halls at about 2am – and it was snowing! We had a quick medical check (large thermometer thingmy stuck deeply into ear canal), got a hoodie, name tag and some fruit and headed up to our room on the 15th floor. Twin beds I hear you say! Nice. But it was clean, new and had huge glass windows so we could see out over the city. Every morning we awoke to the sunrise over the mountains behind the city which was beautiful – but also very bright. This did not help the jet lag.




For the next 10 days we would be staying in the Uni Halls with another 350 new EPIK teachers from the UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada and America. We had a very tight schedule of lectures, breakfasts, lunches, Korean class (taught by a Chinese lady with a Mongolian assistant – really???), Korean movies and occasionally sleeping.

On the first night we had a Welcoming Ceremony where we were shown some traditional Korean dancing and then shepherded into a large tent (remember, at this point there is snow outside and we are in a tent – warm it was not) where we were greeted with a large array of Korean “delicacies”. Any of you who know me, know that strange and unusual food is not my foray. Needless to say I did not eat much. One rumour did start at this meal that one type of food (a sort of brownish jelly type item) was made of ducks blood. We learned a few weeks after that its actually made from walnut. Idiot Westerners!