Lost in translation..

A quick note: the kids provide a lot of funny translations. One of the kids told another teacher "Stomach out, stomach out." Two seconds later he threw up all over the classroom. A couple of days ago my kids asked what the English word for "poo air" is, which is a huge joke in what seems to be all of Korea. And yesterday they asked for my favorite translation: "What is the word for 'water poo'?"

Hiking Gyeryong National Park

After a month in the city, we finally made our way into the countryside. The fall colors are starting to show here and there, so we headed to Gyeryong-San National Park for a weekend of hiking and relaxation. The park is basically one big mountain full of Buddhist temples and hiking trails. The scenery was picturesque, the weather was beautiful, and the setting peaceful. We hiked for hours on Saturday, completely hiking up one side of the mountain and down the other, to finally reach the quaint but beautiful Gap-sa temple. Throughout the week the temple is still in use for young Buddhists, on the weekend it turns into a tourist filled festival (although only Korean tourists--we did not see any other foreigners all weekend). While many of the trees were still green, those that had changed were absolutely brilliant. And the persimmons, Oh! the persimmons. The trees were ripe and beautiful and covered the Buddhist compound. On Sunday we enjoyed a book in the shade, a persimmon, had a nap, and discussed how lucky we are.

Some of the Kindy kids...

Two weeks a month we teach the kindergartners, or kindies. Last February, many of them came to school not knowing a lick of English. And, unfortunately, most of the teachers knew just as much Korean. But these kids are amazing. Today they know their alphabet and over 100 common words. They can form short sentences. They know the days, months, seasons, holidays, foods, and, their favorite, animals. But most importantly, these kids, after just 6 months of English school, can effectively communicate in English. I never thought I would like spending so much time with little ones--God knows they can be a handful at times--but teaching youngsters will truly make this trip worth it.
The other day one of my kids, a stubborn girl named Jennifer, was in the corner becuase she would not color with the other kids. I asked her many times if she wanted to participate (yes, they understand what the word participate means) and, being as stubborn as she is, repeatedly said no. After a few minutes, Blake, the quiet and smart one, asked me if he could talk to Jennifer. He walked over to her in the corner and, in English, said caringly, "Come color with us Jennifer. It's okay." She slowly made her way to the table and colored with the rest of the class. Blake is only 4 years old, but for some reason, he knew how to approach Jennifer better than I did. Little moments like this make kids such a joy to be around. I love it.
So here are a few photos of the kids.
-ryan

Renegade Gardens, part 1

Ryan and I were surprised to find renegade gardens in any open space in a suburb of Busan in the South called Gimhae. I have yet to take photos of the gardens in Incheon, where we live, but it is clear that Koreans love their renegade gardens. True, I don't know anything about them and I certainly don't know enough Korean to ask, but they look pretty rebellious to me. We usually find them in deserted plots, or the space between the street and a fence. There are also small gardens on rooftops and balconies. These small food plots are a patchwork of vegetables, leafy greens and lots of red chilie peppers. We've been able to buy a few items from these little growers on Sunday mornings when they sell their products in a local park. That's great because otherwise a lot of stuff has to be bought at Lotte Mart (worthy of a blog by itself), or Korean Walmart-on-steroids.

My first theory is that with Korea's lightning-fast industrialization and globalization, there are still many people over 50 that remember the time following the Korean War when food was scarce and family vegetable plots were vital to survival. I'm still waiting to see the kids out there. Put them to work I say. I'll keep lookin.
-beth

Coffee...mmmm........

There isn't much good coffee here, mainly instant mixes, which we have not quite grown accustomed to. So on our way to school the other day we stopped into a western looking shop to grab an Americano. And what did we find? A travel coffee mug with a heart and the word
"Sacramento" under it. What a small world.

Teachin' English

Teaching English is hard to do. ABCDEF... to the little ones this is simple enough, but try explaining to the older kids why read (present tense) and read (past tense) are spelled the same but spoken differently. How is a child supposed to sound out the word Wednesday? Too often we just have to say "that's just the way it is."
One of the gems of teaching English to kids is learning bad words in Korean. Every now and then somebody in class will say something in Korean which everyone finds hysterical. I usually ask the kid what he just said, but that rarely gets a response, so I head straight for the teacher's pet (its kind of ironic that in 2 of my classes, the teacher's pet is named Ryan...haha). A few days ago I learned the words "shut up," "stupid," and, my favorite, "fart master." Sweet. Now I know 10 words in Korean.

Here are a few photos from the past few weeks. One is of me giving the victory dance after completing our first week of school. The other three are of our trip to a city called Pusan (or Busan) on the southern coast. There was an international film festival so we watched a bunch of movies from around the world. There were outdoor and indoor theaters, one of which was right on the water. Pusan is a beautiful city, especially after hanging out in our neighborhood of Incheon where everything seems kind of grimy. I think we spotted some movie stars, but we really didn't know the difference. -Ryan

black tofu is not black tofu

If you are traveling to a foreign country whose language you do not speak, I advise being very open to new cuisines. In fact, you must be open to complete mystery. Ryan and I have become accustomed to smiling and nodding a lot when we go to a restaurant and don't understand any of the dishes on the menu we are familiar with. With the smile and nod we are hoping to convey: "we do not understand you, please bring us something you think is good." Fortunately, this has gone surprisingly well. For the most part, Korean food is made up of rice, noddles, and soups with lots of red chili sauces, vegetables and meat.
The only problem comes with strange additions to these simple bases. This of course is only strange to an American who is not accustomed to squid and octopus tentacles, dried fish jerky and silk worm larvae.
Often a safer bet is to point at another customers food that looks appetizing and again smile and nod. Ryan and I got a tasty boiling soup one morning for breakfast with lots of vegetables and something that looked very much like black tofu floating at the bottom. "It must be some sort of tofu made from a different bean," Ryan said. I didn't think so. Tasted bloody. After a nice conversation of broken English with a man seated next to us after finishing our soup, we asked him what it was. Oxen bladder. That's right. Oxen bladder.
Not so bad actually, but next time I might say "anyo" to the black tofu.