Monday, July 23, 2012

So much to do, so little time

I haven't been blogging enough, I'm sorry!  Way too much has happened, and way too little sleep has happened in between.  Right now we're approaching week 3 of orientation, and already I've learned how to speak in complete sentences in language class.  Last friday, class pretty much exploded, and a bundle of vocab and grammar was thrown at us all at once, in a mind-boggling brain-melting kind of way....but wait! Before you make any negative exclamations, I have to say that this is the fastest I've ever learned a new language, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Frankly, I've been feeling kind of dumb for the past few weeks when I've wanted to make small talk with a Korean person, and all I can do is smile and bob my head like one of those plastic cranes that shoves its head in the water over and over... Anyways, there's one bit, and a picture to go with it.

Bwa! So hard!  Or as we say in Korea: 어려워요!


As for the teaching part, right now we're entering into the first days of a English Language summer camp, where Korean students from all over the country come to the University and let us ETAs teach them stuff.  Woo!  In addition to the explosion of Korean language vocab, there was an explosion of Korean people at the university as well.  The marble castle is alive!!  So the way the camp works is that each ETA gets to teach three classes, in which the ETA prepares the material on his/her own. Of course, we turn the lesson plan in before-hand and get comments, but other than that it's pretty free.  Each day has a different theme that we must inorporate it in some way as well.  I chose to teach the sci-fi day, but I'll talk more about that after it happens.  But all in all, I have no idea what will happen.  But I hope that my enthusiasm for sci-fi (of which there is a lot) will just infect my students, and if nothing else, make them enoying learning just a little bit more. (Eww sappy, derp, whatever, it's true!)

On a completely different note, this past weekend we got to have a little vacation by the beach before the madness began.  It was cloudy the whole time, but I got to go out and do some cool things like see some cliffside coffee shops, and do a little neon-lighted spelunking.  It's true! And here are some pictures!! But in just a second...

So, Friday morning a bus took us out to Donghae, a beach town on the east coast. That afternoon we had a lecture about Buddhism in Korea, and then took a trip out to a temple in the mountains.   
Pretty! 예뻐요!


On Saturday, after having naked time in the spa (swimsuits and other clothing are not allowed in the spa jacuzzis!!) I went with some friends to a cultural village, population 2: a nice Korean man who called us a cab after we gestured vehemently that we were a group of lost Americans, and an angry cow.



Then we went off to a lighthouse overlooking the sea.  The town around it was beautiful, and it was full of the coolest coffee shops I've ever seen (and I've seen my fair share, you know, being an addict and all).

        Basically, this shop was hanging out on a cliff-face and had a bunch of different platforms all over the side overlooking the sea. (^.^)



Next we went to an E-Mart (a huge department store) downtown, but we just shopped so there's nothing interesting to tell.  And then there was the cave: the cave with safety regulations that would perhaps not go over so well in the US, but which made it all the more fun.  There was some crawling about, concussion-worthy head bangs, and a bleeding toe. In all, it was an adventure!

What's happening in this picture you ask? Not really sure either...

Okay, that's all for now.  If I don't get lazy again, hopefully my next post will be about my first lesson! :)  So goodbye for now, and if you didn't learn to read Hangul, or all the vocab I posted earlier, GO DO THAT NOW!! :)

안녕히가세요!



Friday, July 13, 2012

This is why Korea is awesome

So here’s the deal...when someone says “Asia,” the first thing that comes to mind is probably China or Japan.  Everybody knows where they are, and everybody knows a little bit about them (everything is made in China! Pokemon come from Japan! etc…). But what about that little country mushed between, that shares some of the language and culture of those two well-known countries?

WHAT ABOUT KOREA?!?! 

When I told people that I was about to go live and teach in Korea for a year, the question of: “Why Korea?” often came out with a little note of incredulity or puzzlement in the end.  What I mean is, people asked “Why Korea?” with the intention of asking “Why would you go THERE of all places?”  There are many answers to that question, but for this post I’m going to give a bit of history to show that Korea is in fact one of the least ordinary contries on Earth.  The recent history of Korea contains a mind-blowing miracle that not many people know about, or know about but don’t fully comprehend.  This miracle includes Korea’s mind-boggling speedabulous economic rise, following in the wake of the often forgotten massacre that was the Korean War.  So, let me tell you what I mean…

From 1910 to 1945 Korea was under Japanese colonial rule (Living in South Korea, 31).  I won’t go into all the details of what happened during that time, but an important thing to know is that Japan implemented a stringent assimilation policy.  Essentially, this was a legal ban on all things Korean: culture, language, and even Korean names.  Korean citizens were required to adopt Japanese names, and schools were forced to teach classes in Japanese at all times (Living, 31).  If any of the rules were not carried out, citizens would be denied all of their civil rights, including access to schools and ration cards.  Japan’s reign ended in 1945 after the Second World War, yet Korea still was not its own country.  The Soviet Union and the USA replaced Japan, and divided the country in two: the Soviet Union in the North and the US in the South (Living, 31).  Over the next five years, Russia and China established a strong Communist Party rule over the North, including the development of a 150,000-200,000 man army, while the South remained less organized, with only 100,000 poorly trained troops. (Living, 32).  Then, in June 1950, North Korea attacked the South, beginning the Korean War (Living, 33).  And here’s something I’ll bet you didn’t know: during the war, Seoul was taken in only three days, and the South was pushed all the way down to Busan (Living, 3).  North Korea had practically taken control of the entire country by August!  To make a long story short, the UN stepped in in September and engaged in a war with the North that lasted until June 27th, when a cease-fire was agreed upon (Living, 33).  The devastation and death caused by this was monumental.  Over two million Korean civilians were killed, and about half a million soldiers.  The US lost 36,940 GIs, and the country was practically raised to the ground.

Now here’s where things get crazy.  After the end of the war (1953), the country’s GDP began to slowly rise, hitting $200 by 1970. Then, from 1970 to 1997 (that’s 27 years people) the GDP rose to $20,000 (Professor Kwon Lecture). That’s ONE HUNDRED TIMES HIGHER than it was in 1997!!!  I’m not an economics major here, but holy crap, readers, even I can understand this rarity.  South Korea’s rise in GDP has been dubbed “The Miracle of the Han.”  And as the all-knowing wiki proclaims: “The word 'miracle' is used to describe the growth of postwar South Korea into the world's 13th largest economy and a role model for many developing countries, something considered to be impossible by many at the time."
Unfortunately, I am not versed in the details of how this was possible, but if anyone reading this post expresses interest, I would be happy to search for some sources.  But I can say that a change like this is something only country full of amazing people could pull off.  I just can’t wait to get out there and learn more.  So whatever you think you have to say about Korea, about why someone would want to visit there as opposed to anywhere else...

Check it.  Korea rules.

(If I got any of these facts wrong feel free to send me angry comments, with the correct info of course.)

Biblio:
Whyte, Rob, and Kyoung-Mi Kim. Living in South Korea: How to Feel at Home, Make Friends and Enjoy Everyday Life. Brattleboro, VT: Pro Lingua Associates, 2001. Print.
Lecture by Yonung Kwon, 07/13/2012.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Arrival

I’m here! After a long, butt-numbing 22 hours or so we arrived at Incheon Airport on Thursday July 5th (we missed the 4th altogether >.<).  I won’t go into all the boring details of getting to Jungwon and settling in, but I will say that I learned something very interesting about Korea on the way.  Apparently, the GPSs that people use here have the ability to play TV, so, people watch TV while driving…no joke.  A friend told me this and I proceeded to stare into the windows of all the cars passing by, and there they were: TVs! 

Anyways, you’ll never believe what this campus looks like. It has a pool, hot spring, golf course and water park! But we were also told that Jungwon is an atypical campus, so don’t go transferring to Korea based on that ;)  Right now there are a handful of Korean students on campus for summer classes, but it’s pretty much empty.  Besides the expansive grounds, there’s one gigantic building for classes and dorms made entirely of marble: floors, walls, ceilings, everything!  And to conserve energy most of the lights in the building are off, so we walk through dark tunnels each day, and hear marbley echoes from every corner. 

Honestly, at the moment I still don’t quite feel like I’m in Korea since I’m surrounded by Americans and living in a large, empty private school in the mountains.  I’m sure that will change when Korean language classes start, and when I take my first walk through town alone and order some coffee. Keopi juseyo!   커피 주세요!

Well, that’s all for now. Tomorrow we’re all going for a visit to some schools where ETAs are teaching now to see what it’s like.  Business casual dress, 7:15 am, be there or be square!


Here's a picture of Jungwon University! (There were Cuckoo birds hanging out in the trees behind this picture)

 Oh, and I already found a can with T.O.P's face on it.  Times are good. :)

Monday, July 2, 2012

Shoving Off

The time has come!  I just finished packing and will be heading out tomorrow.  I thought about taking a picture of all my stuff piled alarmingly on my bed, but then you'd see all my secrets! O.o  Anyway, the itinerary for getting from where I am to where I need to be includes: a 5 hour plane, a 4 hour layover, an 18 hour plane, and then a 3 hour bus ride to the University.  It'll be sometime around 5 in the morning when my airplane full of jetlagged ETAs arrives at Incheon.  Yes.  And honestly, I know no more about Korea or the language than what I posted a few weeks ago.  All I got is a plethora of kpop and kdrama that I've watched over the years.  So I thought I would bombard this blog with links to all my favorite Korean pop culture stuff, as a farewell to my pre-Korea self.  In addition, hopefully someone will find some new music or shows they like!

So yeah, look forward to more interesting and informative posts in the future. 

Goodbye America!  and 안녕하세요 한국!

Korean Pop:

Big Bang: No joke, this band is taking the world by storm.  Their new album stuck at number 5 on iTunes (NUMBER 5!) and they're currently hitting up the globe on their first world tour.  They are my favorite. :)
     Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang_(South_Korean_band)
     Some Songs:
        Monster: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btDd9rOlc2k
        Fantastic Baby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAbokV76tkU
        Blue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GRP1rkE4O0
        We Belong Together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjTEMBB-mjY
     Solo work by T.O.P (my favorite band member):
        Turn It Up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdPnMoxKOWY
        Oh Mom (live): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA0CoqCsdpY
     T.O.P and GD:
        Knock Out (live): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjE4fikAJXY
        Don't Go Home: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGNrOPzDuTQ&feature=related

2NE1:  Awesome girl band.  They're part of YG Entertainment which also owns Big Bang.
     Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2NE1
     Some Songs:
        Can't Nobody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihi_kJJj_8A
        Lonely: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n4V3lGEyG4
        I Am the Best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7_lSP8Vc3o

4Minute: Another girl band : )
     Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4Minute
     Some Songs:
        Volume Up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsWl1--Niyg
        Huh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRbIZtUS2Ag
        Ready Go! (in Japanese): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy13NPM4rMs

Okay getting tired, so I'll mention two more: 1) Brown Eyed Girls  2) SS501

Now on to Drama! There's way too many so I'll just name a few:

     IRIS: This one is action adventure
        Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_(TV_series)
        Watch it here: (it has commercials so it's legal!!) http://www.dramafever.com/drama/124/1/Iris/
     Hana Yori Dango:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys_Over_Flowers
     You're Beautiful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You're_Beautiful_(TV_series)
       (you can see these last two on netflix : )

That's all for now! Please send comments if you want more recommendations or if you have some for me. :) 

And I need a picture, so here's Big Bang!