So my co-teachers (desperately wanting to call them
Ko-teachers) decided they would be kind and take me out to dinner tonight. All of this came about because Kate missed a tutor session with me. It really wasn't a big deal but she wanted to take me out to dinner to apologize, so I figured why not?
Now it has been evaluation week here at
ECC, which is just another way of saying us teachers have to fill out 75 or so report cards. Now this wouldn't be so bad except that it takes a long long long time to write two paragraphs for each student, every month. After awhile you run out of things to say. So I dread evaluation week as it really is this black cloud over everything I do. It puts me in a bad state and I don't like it one bit. So it is a pain because you begin to loathe your time at
ECC and it makes life very tough to deal with. It just so happened that this week my kids decided to be extra difficult and I am not sure what exactly they were doing but they made me want to cry. I am fairly certain that it is because I have high
expectations of myself and I want my children to learn
English, much much much more than they do. They just want to spend time being kids and who can blame them? Well apparently I do, but that's what a teacher is for right? So I struggled through my
kindy lessons because some children understand the lesson in 30 seconds while others need 15 minutes with the same material; only you can't spend extra time with the student that needs the help because in the background you have other kids running and punching
each other, really its romper room and I can't distance myself from it.
OK enough about the bad part of my day because it turned out to be quite the stellar evening even with the rotten morning.
So back to dinner, my
Ko-teachers (screw it its my damned blog I'll speak how I choose) want to take me to
Dok Galbi which is a pretty good rice and chicken combination with a twist, but I am not a major fan of the
DG. I instead ask if we can get
Beebim Bap which I have decided is going to be a staple of my diet wherever I go because its simple and I love it. So they decide to take me to this little place out of the city that serves a mean bowl of
beebimbap. We get in Kate's car (after removing it from a robot garage) and head through the mountains all the way outside of the city, passing through scenic vistas and mountain views. If only I had brought my camera :(. 30 miles later we arrive at this
picturesque traditional themed complex hugging the hillside. We go to the museum (yea it has a museum attached to it) and check out the knives that women would use to commit suicide,
didn't get a great reason as to why; unless you count them being innocent and pure as one, and funeral jars sans people luckily. Also they had a cool collection of bags that are lucky by nature. After the museum we strolled through the hillside complex and finally settled in for our meal.
Now since this was supposed to be an impromptu Korean lesson, and it was only far more of a cultural lesson than language, they forced me to order for the table. So one
yogiyo (Here please) segue
nakjigalbi, (three octopus stews) and
hanna beebimbap juseo (one BBB please) and we were raring to go. The food was delicious with a plethora of excellent little side dishes, and the bap was simply exquisite. During the meal I was
complimented on my proficiency of my chopstick use, all those years eating sushi paid off, and was asked why would I come to Korea. I gave them the requisite George Mallory response, "Because it's there!" much to their
bewilderment.
After dinner we went out and sat by the fire (didn't I mention they had a campfire? Oh silly me) and sat and talked awhile. I should emphasize that only about 25% of the
conversations of the evening were held in English so I was largely out of the loop. That didn't stop me from chiming in here and there, I don't think being mute would though...and somehow the
conversation goes from every from how to salute like a Korean girl scout, to why being trendy is evil (according to
Hennah) to would you consider staying in Korea for more than a year. All and all it was a fantastic time. I really wish I had brought my camera though because as we enjoyed the crackling flames off to the left was the moon peeking over the pine trees with a group of monks in the foreground sitting at a traditional gazebo...sigh there's always next time.
Finally after a few hours we decided to head back home, a pleasant trip through the valleys and winding around the mountains as the rain began to softly fall. It was a fantastic evening that completely redeemed the tragedy that was my morning. Also we were talking about dating and how it works in Korea when I brought up that it seemed like long-distance
relationships were experiments in self torture. I was rebuked by Kate though who is right now living in one and says that long distance
relationships are the perfect kind of
relationship. Her BF is living two hours away and they only get to see
each other once a week, if that. When I asked why it is so great she responded "If they are closer, then they are always around and getting in the way of my private life". The other girls vehemently agreed with Kate while I was set to chuckling at the complete opposites ideas of what a good
relationship is. So there you have it boys and girls,
relationships in Korea are better when the other party doesn't get in the way, you know by doing things like being friends and spending time together.
Until next time pasties...
Will "I live in Korea"
Dunkel
