Ahhhhhh! Even though I planned really well, it still feels like I have a million things to do before I leave Thursday afternoon.
……Close my bank account, training the new teacher, packing, shipping a few things home, getting my apartment ready for new teacher to move in, paying the final utility bill, cutting off my cell phone and internet, write cards to my students, eat about a million farewell meals, say good byes without crying…..
*runs around like a crazy woman*
David and I are moving to Indonesia!! Like I told him, sure am glad I named this AlexaAbroad and not, Alexa + kimchi reference or something like that. Sunshine, fruit, beaches, mountains, tea plantations, weekend jaunts to Bali, no more awful Korean winters, yeahhhh!
We had been applying for jobs outside of Korea after we were unable to find anything close to each other. There are not many opportunities to apply directly to public schools, which were the jobs we wanted, so we chose to go through a recruiter our friend mentioned to us and is well-known in Korea. It was miscommunication after miscommunication from the start–they thought we only wanted jobs in Ilsan (we had said we wanted to experience a new place), then that I only wanted elementary (I would go anywhere but wanted middle or high school), the jobs they were presenting us to were literally on opposite sides of Seoul (that could’ve meant living 2-3 hours apart by subway or bus), and so on and so forth.
The Korean market has become so over-saturated with both recruiters and English schools and the process was frustrating with long gaps where we wouldn’t hear anything from the schools we had been “presented” to. If you try to use more than one recruiter and you get presented to the same position by 2 different recruiters, it invalidates your application.
Even in other countries, the process seems to be getting bad as demand for English skills increases. Countries are trying to crack down on the unregulated, under-qualified teachers and piles on the steps in the visa-seeking process. Maybe a native speaker is looking for some adventure, maybe they just want a short term contract to make some money while they’re backpacking, or it’s something fun to do after college. None of those are bad reasons to move to a foreign country, but when you’re an English teacher, kids’ education is still involved. You still need to take that fact seriously and remember while this can be a fun time in your life, you’re also not on a year-long paid vacation.
So, I completely agree with the efforts to require a TESOL or a language related bachelor’s degree, but some of the Asian regulation changes seem misguided. For example, Thailand is still a bit of a Wild, Wild West of English schools and the pay is probably going to be pittance. Like several hundred dollars a month. Most of the jobs I saw hovered in the 600s (plenty were much lower), which is fine considering cost of living BUT they also wanted people to have a CELTA certificate. That’s like a $2,000, intensive EFL certification. I’ve been referring to these jobs postings I see as “seeking magical unicorn teacher.”
Related to the issue of certification, it also seems now that paper trumps experience. I have an English degree and we both have a 120-hour online TESOL. I have over 2 years teaching experience. David has a sport degree but loads of experience working with kids, did volunteer work with youth in South Africa for 3 months, and has a year of teaching in South Korea. Oh but your TESOL wasn’t in a physical classroom, sorry, we can’t hire you. We’re going to hire this guy over here whose never worked with kids or been out of his home country. So when I still surfing the jobs boards, those “no experience required!” ads were pissing me off.
Indonesia ended up being the place where we had the magical cocktail of experience and qualifications, so it’s where we’re happily going. Last summer we had loved visiting an elementary school in Bali and felt so welcomed. Though we’re working with adults and teens in Bogor (an hour south of Jakarta), I believe that we’ll feel the same. Already, the work hours are shorter, the environment seems healthier and more relaxed, there are foreigners in some of the directors and head teachers positions, and the school we’re working for seems to understand some of the stresses we might encounter and we start on a soft schedule after a few days rest. What a nice change from Korea.
My inbox gets its fair share of five degrees of separation e-mails from people interested in moving to Korea or teach abroad who want advice. I don’t mind at all because anyone who has ever moved to a new city, much less country, knows how many questions you have about the area, what to bring, what not to bring, etc. and I wish I had had fewer frantic internet searches during my preparation to come to Korea. Even if you’re not my old college roommate’s neighbor’s daughter’s niece by marriage, I have no problem answering your questions. Fire away!
But, in the spirit of being helpful, I’m going to add some new tags centered around the things I use in my daily life that I find indispensable. These will be broken into three main categories: travel, home, and teaching.
Today we’re going to start off with home goods. Check out my entry “Sunday Yum Day” for a half-assed recipe for banana pancakes and the thing I used to make them that I can’t live without. Oh yeah!
Back in America I have a beautiful stand up mixer with all kinds of attachments, a hand mixer, multiple sizes of mixing bowls and whisks, a food processor, and several varieties of strainers and colanders.
In Korea I don’t have space for all of those things. In Korea, I have a blender.
I bought mine at E*Mart, but some other big name stores for home appliances are Home Plus, Lotte Mart, Coscto and department stores like Lotte, Shinsegae, and Hyundai, though you might find higher prices at those last three. It cost me about W50,000 and has 2 blade attachments, a large pitcher shaped container, two medium sized and one short tube with lids for taking your juice, soup, blended coffee drink, smoothie, whatever on the go.
I’ve used the blender for all of those things, plus creaming butter for baking goods, whipping cream, mixing batter, and making Angel Delight, a British dessert that David introduced me to that I go kinda crazy for.
If you don’t cook and plan on eating take out from the kimbap shop every night, disregard this entry.
Or take my advice, get a blender, and have a margarita party.
Last week was American Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday! My mom sent me a bag of stuffing, fried onion topping for green bean casserole, and a few of my other favorite things (like those dried mangoes encrusted in chili powder at Trader Joe’s–do you know what I’m talking about? OMFG) for good measure.
While at Costco with my friend Louise picking up the rest of our Thanksgiving fixings, I got it into my head to make sage sausage stuffed mushrooms like my mom does for holidays. They’re pretty simple–sage sausage mashed with cream cheese and spices spooned into a mushroom cap and baked. I love them.
Like most of the world, Louise thinks of meat in a tubed casing when someone says sausage to her. I call that a hot dog or a specific name like kielbasa or bratwurst.
For Americans, ground (usually pork) spiced meat formed into a round and then sliced into patties is sausage. Apparently Koreans don’t have this, not even ones shopping in a Western wholesaler. Damn. We made do with ground pork and they were a hit at my Thanksgiving celebration that was nearly devoid of Americans, but the fact that sausage as I think of it (oh Jimmy Dean) isn’t an option kept bugging me.
Living in Korea, there are foods I miss, sure. Most things you find a decent substitute for or eventually just forget about the longer you go without. But occasionally, a food grips me and I can’t stop thinking about it.
I call that a food fantasy.
Most things I think about in passing (fresh mozzarella, mangoes, Granny Smith apples) but when a food fantasy takes a-hold of me, they’re always insanely specific and thus, impossible to satisfy.
For instance, a North Carolina style pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw on top, but only coleslaw made with Helman’s Real Mayonnaise. The little plastic tub of extra vinegar-y sauce you get at BBQ joints that have picnic benches instead of real tables is also a necessary part of the taste sensation. The side has to be hush puppies, but not the weird elongated ones that look like fried thumbs. They have to be the round kind that steam rises out of when you pull them apart.
Or, when extraordinarily expensive strawberries started popping up in grocery stores here, the idea of a toasted English muffin spread with Caromont Farms goat cheese and topped with thinly sliced strawberries speckled with freshly cracked black pepper held on to me ferociously.
Do you see what I mean when I say these fantasies are specific? Like really, really specific.
Can you see where this is going? Maybe but you’re only partly right.
I need sausage biscuits and gravy.
I need them like I need water and air. I can’t ever decide what I want to eat anymore because the one thing I absolutely want I cannot have.
But, they have to be from this place back home that was between my house and college campus called 821 Cafe, but referred to by Richmond natives simply as 821. I spent most of my high school and college years a vegetarian, so my desire is not for the typical, greasy Southern version of sausage biscuits and gravy (although the lack of meat sausage set off the craving), but their incredible vegan ones with protein crumbles and soy milk comprising the white gravy. Their biscuits are humongous and square shaped and uniquely crispy around the edges.
My saliva production has increased as I type. I am consumed by the memory of their taste.
So how do we tie up this entry about my weirdly specific, insatiable food obsessions? I have no idea. I can’t even think clearly now. I just hope y’all don’t think I’m too weird.
Oh, and feel free to share your food fantasies. I know I’m not alone…..
As I’m writing this, I’ve been in Korea 14 months and change. I’m on contract at my school until the end of February 2012 and I’ve got a contract that my manager put on my desk Friday afternoon stating the terms of me staying another year. It’s unsigned for one reason–in a meeting about me renewing, I was denied time to go home.
When you teach in a hagwon, there are no substitute teachers, no one except other teachers filling in on their planning time. I suppose I shouldn’t have been so surprised (How can I be expected to go 2 1/2 years without a visit home?, I said) when my manager told me she couldn’t see to it that I got 2-3 weeks off in the spring to go home to America unless another teacher agreed to stay over on their contract long enough to take on my classes. But I still am.
I love my life in Korea, no doubt. But I also love my grandparents and my brothers and sister and extended family and friends. I love goat cheese and mangoes and fresh baked good and farmer’s markets and the James River and mimosas at Sunday brunch. I want to take my dog Berkeley on a walk and sleep with my cat Wonton curled up on the pillow next to my face like he’s been doing since he was just a few weeks old. I want to talk to talk about Cheerwine and 821 and Lamplighter and okra and not have to explain myself. Just for a little bit.
It’s not ideal, but I’m going to see if I can finagle a few days off around Lunar New Year. We already have a 5 day break, so if I can get a few days off around that time to go home, I’ll be happy to see my family, even though the dead of winter isn’t exactly the best time to enjoy all of my favorite things.
That unsigned contract has given me a lot to think about. I can’t be Alexa Abroad indefinitely without one key thing: more vacation time.
About six weeks ago, a notice was posted on the teachers’ room door that our manager wanted to have a meeting with all of us on a Thursday after classes. This was right around the time for open classes–when parents come in to observe a lesson–so I was relatively unphased except for being a bit annoyed that I had a Skype session with a graduate school admissions counselor that evening that I wanted some time to prepare for. Our head teacher assured me it would only take about 5 minutes and wasn’t a meeting about anything negative, so when we were told that another ECC was shutting down and we would be absorbing all of their staff and students in July, I was stunned. We were asked to keep it under wraps until all parents at both schools could be contacted and made aware and assured that our jobs were safe for the duration of our contracts but that there might have to be some downsizing eventually.
Oh…….?
I was just shy of being at my school for 9 months, which is around when teachers are asked if they would like to extend their contracts, which I was planning on doing for another 6 months. But with the word downsizing hovering somewhere in the future, I started to worry.
About 2 weeks went by and I decided to go speak with my manager who told me that she was unsure of whether or not I could stay after my contract’s end in late August because the school joining ours had a small student body and 2 brand new teachers with nearly their full contracts still left to fulfill. That was not the answer I expected.
Although ECC isn’t the best paying hagwon or the one with the most desirable hours or the most vacation days, it’s a large and dependable company. That’s why I chose to work for them and here my sense of stability was being shattered. I was told I’d have an answer by mid to late June and that was that. I was left to wait.
I spent the next few weeks in a state of unsettled feelings, unable to focus on much of anything and analyzing every little interaction I had with my manager. Then this past Wednesday, I was sitting at the teachers’ computer making my weekly lesson plan to send home to parents and my manager came up to me and said she’d have an answer for me by that Friday. Two agonizing days. Then, she asked me about the new visa requirements, which says all American citizens must have an FBI background check for their E-2 work documentation.
Oof.
Back in January, the Korean government switched things up for us US citizens and a state background check would no longer suffice. Instead, an FBI background check would be required, which takes about 3 months to process. Three months that I just didn’t have.
Various rumors have been swirling about the ex-pat community that you didn’t have to get the background check if it was your first extension and they turned out to be true. I didn’t find that out until Friday afternoon after 6 o’clock though, when I marched (read: timidly tip-toed) into my manager’s office and demanded (read: politely asked) to know if I still had a job through March.
“Oh hi Alexa. It’s Friday, isn’t it? I got in touch with Immigration after calling them about 10 times–you know they never answer–and you don’t need the FBI check because it’s your first extension.”
“*blank stare* So….. does this mean I can stay?”
“Yes, you can extend your contract through the end of February.”
I wish I could say I let out a joyous whoop or smiled or had really any kind of reaction but after weeks spent somewhere between nausea, wanting to cry, and wanting to scream out of frustration, all I could think was “whew.” I didn’t start to feel happy and amazed that I got to hold onto my incredible life and students in Korea until several hours later.
I haven’t stopped smiling since!
All weekend I’ve been telling people the good news but my two favorite reactions have been from two of the Scottish people in my life. The “mysterious D.” as he likes to call himself ever since his first appearance in my blog, was so excited when I told him I got to stay in Korea he immediately halted his walk home from work to pop in to a convenience store and buy a celebratory beer. Louise, who is back home in Edinburgh counting down the days until she can get back to Korea, wrote on my Facebook wall in all caps how BLOODY AMAZING it was to hear that I’d be staying at ECC.
Now that that’s all cleared up and the secret’s out about the merger, I should be able to stop being such a space cadet and return to my blogging duties free of mental block. Today I went to Changdeokgong Palace and as soon as I can get my camera batteries recharged, I’ll be posting pictures of the palace grounds and it’s incredible “secret garden.”
Oh, and one more cause for celebration this weekend–my co-teacher Jennifer got married! She’ll be moving to America after her honeymoon in Thailand but we all got the opportunity to attend her Western-Korean fusion wedding. The uber Korean parts were the best though!
case in point
Editor’s Note: Three causes for celebration! Just off Skype with my mom and she’s coming to Korea in September!! ^^
Today I embarked on my first full work week since April 18-22. No, really. First we had a field trip then a day off because the April session was longer than our allotted 20 day work month, then the week after it was Children’s Day, then the week after that it was Buddha’s birthday. Monday today felt like it came out of nowhere after a traditional 2 day weekend.
So what have I been up to? Clearly, not blogging.
Following my last real entry about the field trip to Coex Aquarium, I was supposed to spend part of my long weekend at a baseball game with my co-workers Kimmie, Jenny, Jenny’s boyfriend Tyler, and my boyfriend David but it got rained out. Luckily, there’s no shortage of fun to be found in Seoul even when it’s raining buckets.
Jenny and Tyler knew about a place where you could rent out a room equipped with a Wii and a flatscreen so we were able to spend the afternoon in a cozy little space full of pillows trying to decipher Konglish characters for Mario Kart and doubles tennis for W7000 a piece (including drinks and snacks!). That was probably the most wholesome part of the day.
After dinner and margaritas at Dos Tacos (the ingredients needed for good Korean food and good Mexican jive together surprisingly well) in Hongdae, we found ourselves crossing the street to go to one of the many establishments in the Ho Bar chain and W1900 tequila shots made me hate my life the next day.
Fast forward to the next long weekend which began with me in serious pain from an allergy-related eye infection. After a somewhat grumpy night out with David, Kimmie, and confusingly, another David we take tae kwon do with, my mood was righted just in time for World DJ Festival.
Good thing too because Koreans know how to get down! One of the things I really enjoy about the Korean dance music scene is that drugs have virtually no presence. People know how to have an awesome time completely sober. You’ve probably heard the expression “High on life” and that is exactly what the bouncing, skipping, smiling, hugging-strangers-in-the-crowd, singing, screaming, super hip Koreans are. There were some periods of rain during the first night of the festival (when I attended, though there was also a second night) which just meant dancing in multi-colored galoshes and twirling umbrellas for lots of folks.
photo credit: David B.
The next morning at 5:30 am when the subways started running again was comedy gold. When you take the subway on a Saturday morning before sunrise you can be sure to encounter the following two groups of people 1) young people coming in from a night of drinking and 2) older people heading out to hike, go to market, and to judge the shit-wrecked party-goers. May 6th was no exception.
Since everyone was leaving at the same time, the subway platforms were incredibly crowded as we all craned our necks to be first to spot the train coming so we could be the first in line to hopefully nab a seat and crash out until your respective transfer point was reached. Everyone was laughing and jostling each other the second the train doors opened, jumping over seats and even though David and I weren’t lucky enough to get seats in the madness, were joining in with the general merriment. People began just sitting on the floor of the subway and after about 20 minutes I gave in and fell asleep sitting up until we connected with the orange line. When we did stop and pick up the occasional and always older passenger, they looked incredibly confused by the tangle of half awake bodies sprawled over every surface of the train and it was hilarious. Most memorable ride on the Seoul Metro System by far.
After a day of sleep, I ventured to Insa-dong for the more restful and educational aspects of my back to back long weekends: the Seoul Lotus Lantern Festival. That and my trip to the DMZ this weekend deserve their own entries, so I’ll be seeing you soon blogosphere!
My initial reaction to hearing that Osama bin Laden had been killed by US military was one of fear–I immediately thought of September 11th and prayed for my family’s safety in case of retaliatory attacks. After about five minutes of digesting the information, I wondered about the impact on President Obama’s approval rating.
Despite the death of the boogeyman of Western culture, in a lot of ways the world seems less safe than before I clicked on that BBC link. The system that backed the hatred of this individual is not gone. His funding, his support network, his terror organization–it’s all still there and it’s angrier than ever. Though one can say that the opposing side did the same thing when we were attacked, I’m sure the dancing in the streets of Washington is not helping our case at all.
I had never experienced being hated for being an American first hand until I came to Korea. Sometimes I’ll be pushed out of the way or treated poorly by Koreans but I was surprised when the person that made me feel the worst was a fellow teacher who daily barraged me with anti-American statements. A lot of them were ill-informed or childish and don’t bear repeating but it was very upsetting. It was a dark cloud hanging over each day and I was happy when the person in question terminated their contract early and went home. You don’t get to choose where you’re born.
This entry is somewhat haphazardly thrown together as I’m still processing and learning about the death of Osama bin Laden and its impact on American citizens, but the main point I’m getting at is that this is not something to be celebrating. Hatred never is, no matter how great vindication feels. So for the sake of your countrymen living outside of the safety of their nation and for the safety of those living within its borders, try to control yourself, please.
Although I had been expecting a call from the Korean Embassy after mailing off my E-2 visa application, I was in a state of shock when my phone rang late on a Monday afternoon and was asked “Can you come for your interview on Tuesday?”
“Tuesday? You mean tomorrow?”
“Yes,” with an exasperated addition of, “or next Tuesday….. if you have to.”
“Uhhh no.. I can be there….”
“Okay. 3 o’clock. Bye.” *click*
I laughed nervously over my blundered conversation, then walked, still tittering, into my cousin’s office to tell her I was due in Washington, D.C. in less than twenty-four hours.
Little did I know, this first encounter with the embassy would set the tone for my life in Korea.
It’s truly nothing to find out you have new students, a new class, a new textbook or a new schedule five minutes before these changes are set to take place. My American senses of planning and etiquette will never become accustomed to this which is why the beginning of this week left me more than a little flustered.
Monday around 4 pm I found a new student was to join one of my morning kindergarten classes the very next day. “She’s behind the others and her mother is very worried so you will also teach a 1-on-1 with her Tuesday at 3.”
%#@^!$*!@#
Tuesday was (oh, how I hate using the past tense right now!) the best day of the week–I taught from 10 to 2:30 then was free to leave, but usually spent around 3 hours planning for the week. Having such a huge chunk of uninterrupted work time made me so happy. Sadly, it only lasted for 5 weeks. Our time together was sweet, Tuesday afternoon.
Fast forward to Tuesday morning, where I discover that my student is a little behind but polite and delightful and catching up to others, if a little weepy on her first day of school. During lunch I was approached by our head teacher who tells me I have yet another new 1-to-1 class which will begin that very afternoon and the student (one of my 7 year olds) doesn’t know about it. Oh geeze. In the span of about 20 hours I’ve gained a new student, two classes, and have to stay at work an extra two hours.
If you decide to become an English teacher in Korea, expect things like this. Neither of the classes ended up being arduous nor is it really asking a lot to have someone be at work from 9:30 to 4:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays (I work until 6 on MWF), but on principle, I’m still miffed about the short notice.
However, my standard response to changes like these is always a smile and an “Okay. No problem.” Because, really, what else are you going to do?!
As I mentioned back in my Valentine’s Day entry, Koreans celebrate White Day, which is a follow up holiday to February 14th. On March 14th, the men who received presents a month ago give back to their female better halves and us single folk are four weeks closer to our noodle-centric celebration (hooray!).
Although I technically lack the proper equipment to give gifts on White Day, I brought Hershey’s Kisses for my co-teachers and lollipops for my students to school today. One of my Korean workers cracked me up by telling me I was doing better today than her husband when I handed her some chocolates this morning. None of my students pointed out to me that I’m not a man which didn’t really surprise me since they’re 6 and 7 and I was giving them candy. I did however get many gifts from my little boys and it was lovely! My favorite was from one of my afternoon students, Chris, who has in the past also made me origami frogs, birds, and fish:
super pleased
I was showing this off to my co-workers all afternoon. Folded inside the little shirt was a vitamin C candy that a lot of the kids here are fond of and it originally had a lollipop taped to the side, too. Chris can be kind of a handful but then he has these super sweet moments like today. Makes all the frustrations worth it!
As a lover of any excuse to get fancy, I glued gold heart jewels to my plum nail polish last night and one of my six year olds, Lucy, said, “Alexa Teacher, I love your manicure.” Manicure is a Konglish term, but it still surprises me when the kids say things like this. All I can do is hug them in their moments of tiny adulthood. It’s especially wonderful to hear Lucy communicate in poly-syllabic phrases because when I first started teaching her, she was uncontrollably crying her way through her first two weeks of kindergarten.
Another one of my extremely shy students busted out a phrase that I thought was way beyond her English abilities today and it was awesome! (Can you tell I love teaching? ^_^) In one of my afternoon beginner classes we’ve been working on greetings–Good morning, How are you? I’m fine, thank you., Hello, etc.–and with about 2 minutes left of class I was having them practice “Good afternoon Teacher!” The bell rang and Sophie, who normally barely speaks above a whisper, belts out “See you later, Teacher!” and bolted out the door. I was in shock at first but I’m sure she heard my uproarious laughter down the hallway a few seconds later.
At the end of this week, we’ll be taking some time out of classes to play games for St. Patrick’s Day and I’m excited! Outside of school, I’ll be joining all the other weigooks in the time honored tradition of acting like a drunken buffoon while wearing green and attending a parade in Seoul on Saturday afternoon. Never was much of a St. Patty’s Day reveler, but a South Korean pub event with unlimited Guiness is not something I plan on missing! Be safe this week, dear readers!
**Edited to add: Happy Pi Day, math nerds! ♥
Alexa Abroad 