As the World Turns ... (Korean version)

It's September 1st. In the words of Joey Lawrence: "Woah". Have I really been in Korea for 2 months already? At times it feels like I have been here forever ... other times I feel like I just stepped off the plane. Regardless of where I am or what I'm doing, time has always freaked me out. How it can move both fast and slow is absolutely amazing.
I'm currently teaching my second week at Hwasun. So far, everything is going well. I have yet to run into any major problems (aside from rowdy kids and low levels of English) which has been really nice and somewhat unexpected. This week's lesson is about the daily life of an American teenager. I'm using my high school experience as an example and am including pictures from home of my family and friends. The students are very responsive to this, and are really interested in learning about American culture - much more so than learning English. Every picture I show them they all gasp and express a collective "ooooohh". All of my female friends look like either Brittney Spears or Anne Hathaway, while all my male friends resemble Tom Cruise. (I guess the Tom Cruise thing is pretty accurate though, as all my pictures of male friends have them someway involved them with either a yellow couch, L. Ron Hubbard, and/or Katie Holmes.)
It's been an interesting week / weekend (I've come to accept that pretty much every day here in Korea will be filled with at least one interesting surprise). I am learning to enjoy the unexpected and have become more apt to go with the flow. "Why yes, principal, I would love to eat a bowl of mayonnaise. How did you know I loved it so much?"
Here are a few interesting highlights and reflections from this past weekend / beginning of the week for you all to peruse as you sip your morning coffee:

This last Saturday morning over breakfast, my host-mom told me we were going to go watch my youngest host-sister play soccer. (I swear that is what she said. I am 100% positive I heard the English word "soccer" and the Korean word for "to go" come out of her mouth) I was pretty pumped ... I had no idea that my host-sister played soccer, she is so busy studying and going to school I didn't know she was part of a team. After breakfast my host-mom and my oldest host-sister went to pick her up from Saturday school (yes, sadly, Korean students fall victim to Saturday school) and were on our way to what I believed would be a Korean girls soccer game. However, as we started driving through the mountains, I began to question our schedule for the day. Never mind that my soccer playing host-sister was still wearing a skirt. Maybe Korean soccer is played on a mountain, and the girls all wear skirts? Adds a little extra challenge? But I soon found out I was wrong, we actually arrived at a Buddhist temple for my host-sister's monthly "volunteering". Please know that in Korea volunteering as a student is not as valued (for college applications) as test scores and English language ability - apparently Mrs. Bonner is not world renowned. However, my sister was involved in a volunteer group which means (from what I was able to observe) she gets together with 10 or so of her friends for a lunch date once a month and "volunteer" to hang out together. But they were all speaking in Korean, so who knows what they were talking about (well, actually, they all knew ... I was the only one who sat there with absolutely no idea what was going on and a somewhat glazed over look on my face) Maybe they were discussing how to save the world, end global warming, defeat the British ... I have no idea. But I enjoyed a nice afternoon at the temple and was able to tour the grounds and eat some delicious veggie kim-bap. Although I was a little disappointed that there was no soccer.

I recently learned the Korean word for "abortion". My host sister, trying to explain that her aunt had a "miscarriage" a couple years ago, kept telling me how her aunt had an "abortion". Well that's pretty upfront I thought, but went with it ... making conversation. After finally realizing that her aunt didn't intentionally abort the baby (this led to some pretty awkwardly amazing hand gestures on my part), the conversation then progressed into me asking about the legality of abortion in Korea - it is legal - and learning that while it is allowed, it is heavily frowned upon ... not unlike the US.

In the past 2 weeks I think I've probably eaten about 3 loaves of bread. My host-mother, upon my arrival into their home, asked me what food Americans eat daily. What first came to my mind was bread - I think it's safe to say that Americans eat about a slice of bread a day, be it in sandwiches or whatever. My host-mom became very pleased with this - as bread is very available in Korea - and took it to mean that as Asians eat a lot of rice with every meal, Americans must eat a lot of bread with every meal. This has led to 2-3 slices of bread being a regular side dish (if not the main course) of absolutely every meal she feeds me. At first I was ecstatic, as I hadn't eaten bread for a while ... but now I'm beginning to grow tired of it and am longing - actually longing - for some simple rice. Funny how your body usually craves what it can't have.
My host-mom actually took me bread shopping last night. As she takes her oldest daughter shoe shopping, and her youngest daughter shopping for books, I am now designated as the "daughter" who she buys bread for. It was very cute and extremely thoughtful - and I was able to pick out my favorite loaf of bread. She was absolutely delighted.

Due to my host-mother's new obsession with bread and making that bread into toast, I bought my host-family a toaster. Their kitchen lacked what I thought was such a vital component to anyone's kitchen ... so yesterday I rode my new green bike down to the store and bought them a brand new toaster ... complete with 3 settings. Today for breakfast my host-mom made us toast and really enjoyed watching the toast cook and squealed with joy (and a little fear) as the toast pops up from the slots. It was delicious ... and very much appreciated.

This last Sunday night I was left alone for the very first time at my home-stay. My host-sister had to attend her academy (like always) and the rest of the family visited my host-father's brother's house to remember the passing of another one of his brothers. I wasn't invited to go to the ceremony - which was absolutely fine with me ... so I was left at home. My host-mother was especially concerned, as she continually told me "You will be so ronery! (lonely) So cute.
You should have seen my host-family prepare for this. It was like they were getting ready for a nuclear holocaust. "The can food is in the cupboard, Don't worry ... the door has 5 different locks on it (for reals), Here's the basic game plan for if Martians attack". I am now prepared for everything. It was an experience ... I actually got a lot accomplished, lesson plan-wise, and was also able to slide around in my socks and underwear on their freshly waxed wooden floors. Wow, 2 Tom Cruise references in one post - jackpot.
When my host family arrived home and saw that I wasn't dead or attacked by Martians, they praised me like no tomorrow. If there was a medal for "best American to pass 2 hours of free time alone in her home-stay in South Korea", I definitely would give Michael Phelps a run for his money.

This weekend was also special because my host-mother gave me a dress that she designed. She is a stay-at-home-mom that designs dresses on the side for her oldest daughter, and a couple weeks ago she graciously offered to make me my very own dress. Well today it arrived ... in the clutches of the most fabulous male dress maker in Korea. Extremely excited, my host-mother quickly gave it to me and ushered me into my room to change. I have to admit ... it's not necessarily my "style" (if I have one, that is) but it is amazing. All white, all lace, there's a giant bow, and some jewels. What's not to like? It's all the rage in Korea right now - in Hwasun that is ... although, I'm not too sure exactly how that rage will translate when I attempt to wear it back home in America.
I wore it to school yesterday and was greeted with many glorious compliments, "Rauren! Fairy princess!" "Rauren! so beautiful!" "Rauren! so Korean!" (I'm going to take that last one as a compliment, seeing that I'm actually in Korea) Although I felt extremely awkward wearing it, throughout the day it did grow on me and I absolutely love it. My host-mom was so pleased ... her attempt to slowly Korean-ize me is working.
If you want to check out my new dress go to my picture website (or Facebook) and see how awesome I look.

I constantly get called "Indiana Jones". I'm really starting to consider picking a week during the school year, wearing only clothes/gear that Indiana Jones would wear, and try to convince my kids that this is how everyone in Indiana actually lives. If only I can find a giant boulder ...

Today when I arrived at school I did what I always do: walk down the hallway, receive about 20 "Hiiiiis! I'mfinethankyouandyous", slipped on my slippers (so literal!), and had a thermometer shoved in my right ear ... pretty sure she hit eardrum. All the teachers got a personal thermometer to take the temperatures of students at their own will. This brought great happiness to the teacher's in my teacher's lounge ... it amused them for a good 45 minutes as they took each other's temperatures (about twice each), my temperature, and the temperature of the communal bowl of grapes (not really, but they should have). In an effort to root out/prevent swine flu, students' temperatures will be taken daily by their homeroom teachers. I don't know how effective this will be, but I think I might just be a little jealous. I didn't get my own thermometer because I don't have a homeroom class.
Oh ... and I didn't have a temperature, and apparently am swine flu-free.

In related news, each year the second graders at Hwasun High School take a 3 day trip to one of the nearby mountains to relax. And by relax I actually mean study all day, but in the mountains. The second graders (including my host-sister) were very much looking forward to this trip, but were greatly disappointed when it was canceled this week. Because of the increase of swine flu/influenza outbreaks in Korea (all 3 of them) it was canceled. I guess there are a lot of pigs in the mountains?
I'm still not 100% sure exactly what "swine flu" entails, so I'm just going to continue to relate it to pigs, pork products, and Babe, not unlike many American media outlets.

Excellent news this week. I am the new owner of a brand new, lime green, cutesy girl bicycle. I really wanted to buy a bicycle and be able to ride around town and have access to important things like the post-office, bank, and various eateries ... so when I asked my host-family how I could go about acquiring a bike they were super excited and begged to buy one for me. I repeatedly told them I wanted to buy it for myself, as I would have to keep it at school (it's too far to ride from home to town ... especially because it's on a busy highway), but my host-family insisted that this would be a great gift for them to give me. After putting my foot down (I was standing during these conversations, so both feet were down, I guess) I was still unable to buy it myself and now have a new bicycle that was probably the greatest gift ever from my host-family. I have been able to ride it around town and let me tell you, the awkward stares and gawks have only increased. An American girl on a bright green bicycle, yeah, I'd probably stare too.
So how did I go about repaying my host-family for their generous gift? I bought them a toaster (as I mentioned earlier). Duh. I'm pretty sure that's standard Korean etiquette. Someone buys you a bike ... you buy them a toaster. I've read the cultural guide books thoroughly. Trust me. If someone buys you a vacuum, you get them a crossbow. It's just common courtesy.

It's been more than two weeks since I have been living in Hwasun. My only complaint thus far is that I have yet to use public transportation. I have found my host-family, particularly my host-mother to be quite protective, if not over protective. Shout out to real mom and dad - thanks for the freedom, which I now desperately crave.
In these two weeks I have been unable to truly venture out on my own (besides from my few excursions on my new bicycle). My host-family keeps saying that they will "teachy me the bus-uh" but keep finding reasons not to. They also believe that I must first learn the ways of the bus (as far as I know, it's pretty easy - get on, ride for a while, get off - but maybe it's different here in Korea). They also believe that I can only learn the ways of the bus with a Korean, not on my own. So I have yet to use the bus ... but am keeping my fingers crossed for this weekend. I have asked a couple times, and have attempted to awkwardly drop hints: "Man, I bet the bus is really fun!" ... but have so far been unsuccessful. I want to respect my host-family's wishes and don't want to appear as if I want to escape ... but come on. All I want to do is ride the bus. Oh well, hopefully soon. Rosa Parks didn't have it easy, I guess I'll wait my turn too.

I don't want the CIA to hunt me down ...

This morning I received an e-mail from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Academic Exchange Programs. In order not to serve as an outright spokesperson for Fulbright or the US government, I must inform you all of this disclaimer regarding my blog and my blog postings:


**This site (Fulbright Korea 2009 - 2010) (http://laurenkorea.blogspot.com/) is not an official Fulbright Program site. The views expressed here are entirely my own and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State or any of its partner organizations.**


This allows me to "retain both my artistic liscence and academic freedom". Funny, I was not aware one must now obtain a liscense to share her "art". Maybe I'll paint some pictures and sculpt some clay to make full use of my new artistic liscence.

More updates soon, I must now head to my first of 3 classes today ...

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

6:00 am - Wake up to my alarm.
6:00 + 30 seconds - Convince myself that I can be afforded only 9 more minutes of sleep. Sleep commences.
6:09 am - Wake up and make my bed (yes, I make my bed in Korean to please my host-mother).
6:10 am - Shower with Julius Caesar.
6:20 - Beautify / dress myself and clean my room.
7:00 - Eat breakfast with my host-mother and host-sister. Breakfast usually consists of 2 slices of bread with peanut butter and jelly (which is absolutely fantastic), half of an apple, 2 Korean grapes, and a glass of orange juice.
7:20 - Wait for my host-sister to get ready for school by awkwardly sitting in either my room or the living room in my grown up teacher clothes.
7:40 - Get driven to school by either host-father or host-brother. Conversation in the car does not ensue.
7:50 - Arrive at school and make my way to the teacher's lounge.
7:51 - Put on house slippers.
7:52 - Turn on my computer and get out my notebook
7:53 - Sit for 1 hour and check e-mail, play mahjong, read a book, pointlessly waste time on Facebook.
9:00 - Teach first class. Get gawked at by students who are extremely impressed by my: height, brown hair, and overall Western appearance. Impart wisdom upon the children by answering questions such as: "Do you know David Beckham?" (no) "How do you spell curry?" (c-u-r-r-y) "Why did you come to Korea?" (still haven't really figured this one out)
10:00 - Teach second class. Get gawked at by a whole new classroom of students. Answer the same questions.
11:00 - One hour or free time in the teacher's lounge. Amuse myself with the computer: blog, play more mahjong, try to look important and busy to the other teachers.
12:00 pm - Teach third class. Gawking continues. Male student professes his love for me. Feel extremely awkward. Thank him and walk away.
1:00 - Lunch time. Try not to die in the mob that is referred to as the student body. Fight my way to the food line. Become disappointed when realizing I will once again have to stomach rice, kimchi, and more rice. Awkwardly find a place at the teacher's table. Sit and nod as the teachers all speak in Korean, point and me, and occasionally drop my name. Take up my tray and head to the water station. Again become disappointed when the water is actually hot tea.
1:10 - (yes, lunch is only 10 minutes) Head back to the teacher's lounge and continue to look busy. Chat with friends from home.
2:00 - Teach fourth and final class for the day. New questions are answered: "How old are you?" (22) "Are you married, teacher?" (yes. To David Beckham). Gain respect.
3:00 - Return to teacher's lounge and get in one last game of mahjong. Attempt to bond with fellow teachers by eating whatever type of food they bring as an afternoon snack. Sometimes successful ... sometimes choke on grape seeds.
4:00 - Call host-brother and ask him to pick me up from school. Basic conversation is as follows:
HB: (lots of korean words)
Lauren: (in Korean) "Hello. I am at school. Come. Now."
HB: (more Korean words)
Lauren: "Ok?" "Goodbye?"
4:02 - Wait for host brother on the side of the street. Receive even more weird looks from the people of Hwasun.
4:10 - Am delighted to see host-brother's car and ride with him home. No conversation ensues.
4:20 - Arrive home and tell host-mom about my day. (my day is always fun, but difficult)
4:30 - Eat an apple and drink a glass of brown "water".
4:45 - Nap for about an hour.
6:00 - Wake up and attempt to talk with host-mom as she makes dinner. Offer to help make dinner and get denied.
6:30 - Defeated, retreat to my room and read.
7:00 - Eat dinner with host-mom and sometimes host-brother. Am delighted that the food is always delicious. Am not forced to eat kimchi. Become full.
7:30 - Study Korean with my host-mom. Attempt to understand what she is saying, and end up recognizing about 25%. Am somewhat satisfied. Stumble over more Korean words and wonder if I will ever be able to feel comfortable with the Korean language.
8:15 - Talk with family / friends from home. Am relieved to see America is still functioning. Delight in familiar faces.
9:30 - Read or watch American television on the Interwebs. Attempt to do laundry.
10:30 - Harry Potter date with youngest host-sister ... read 5 pages. Enjoy teaching her new English phrases / metaphores / wizzard vocabulary.
11:15 - Tell the host-family good night as I watch my host-sister trudge into her room to study for about 3 more hours, while my host-mother and host-father watch Korean dramas upstairs.
11:20 - Brush teeth with Julius Caesar.
11:25 - Fall asleep instantly.

Repeat every weekday for one year.

Korean Jesus loves ramen

Yesterday was another experience ... I went to church with my host-mom and oldest host-sister. They are self-proclaimed Catholics but have started to attend a local Presbyterian church so as to impress my host-sister's boss who is Presbyterian.

Koreans: 1
God: 0

I asked my youngest host-sister if she was going to come with us, and she was shocked I even asked. She then explained to me that Korean middle and high school students don't usually go to church because to do so would be to waste 2 or 3 precious hours of study time. She instead opted (well, her mother opted for her) to stay home and study.

Koreans: 2
God: 0

Church was ... interesting ... to say the least. It was all in Korean (it would be a little silly to think they would attend an English speaking church), so I sat through about 50 minutes of a sermon and about 20 minutes of some really beautiful gospel music of which I understood about 1% of what they were saying. For the first 10 minutes or so I attempted to pick out certain words to try to get a feel of what the pastor was saying, but soon realized that was too ambitious of myself. Our 6 weeks of Korean class did not cover holy words. A real shame, as I am not prepared to preach the gospel in Korea ... one more point for the Mormons. (There are tons of American (duh) Mormon missionaries over here)
I was, however, able to understand when exactly to bow my head and clasp my hands together for prayer. Success. Jesus would have been proud. I also found it interesting and slightly amusing that Koreans use the English word "amen", they do not have a Korean word for it. They spell it out in Hanguel, but it is still pronounced "amen". Well, their pronunciation differs slightly ... after each prayer and song the congregation would say a group "amen" which I understood to sound exactly like "ramen". But maybe they were actually praising the delicious noodly dish. Around 12:00 with lunch nowhere in sight, I probably would ask for some ramen too.
Following the service we hurried down to the basement and competed in some type of competitive eating contest to see who could scarf down their rice, kimchi, and bean sprouts as quickly as possible. We were in and out of the lunchroom in about 10 minutes ... which was fine with me, I did not desire any second helpings of kimchi.
We then hurried to what my host-mother continued to call "churchy education". A group of me and about 10 other old Korean ladies sat on the floor and drank tea (almond tea - which was absolutely delicious) and listened to a man who came in and spoke for about 20 minutes. Again, I had no idea what he was saying, but I was able understand that in various parts of his lecture he mentioned hair, honeymoons, English (probably referring to me in some way), and Samson. He also gestured a lot and drew invisible maps on the wall ... but that didn't really help me understand.
Overall, it was a good experience ... I'm glad I was able to witness a Korean service. I'm not too sure if I will be a regular church-goer during the rest of my time in Korea, but now that I've gone once I'm pretty sure that my host-mom believes it will be a regular thing.

After church I went with my host-mom and my host-brother shopping for shoes and bread. My host-mom buys the oldest daughter shoes and makes her dresses, while makes the youngest one study. I'm starting to see a Cinderella story in the making ... I just hope I'm not another evil-stepsister they somehow recruited from America. Anyways we arrived at the shopping district in Gwangju and my host-mom and I set out for the shoes while my host-brother did God knows what. She spent a solid 45 minutes trying to pick out the best shoes while I was showed a bench and given a juice box with "Orange Drink" written on the label. Absolutely fantastic. I can't say I wasn't too upset, most of the shoes were too small/narrow and I have no desire to own 4 inch heels. After buying 3 pairs of shoes we then walked around for a bit and in a very nice gesture my host-mom took me to a store where they have "big size" for Rauren. Great. Regardless, I didn't buy anything and we looked around for a while. My host-mom bought me a couple hair accessories (apparently my hair isn't too big) a GIANT blue bow and a sparkly heart. Both very cute ... both very Korean.

I now find myself finished with the very first day of school (the first for me, not ever) at Hwasun High School. I only teach two classes on Monday and have already planned my lesson for the week, so I hung out / amused myself with the computer for a couple hours. (you will now likely see an increase of blogs during the weekdays because of my new found free time at school) I would like to socialize with the teachers and get to know them better, but have found that none of them in my teacher's lounge speak English and are extremely busy preparing lessons and teaching.
This morning I was officially introduced by the head principal to all the other teachers. I stood in front of all of them as he spoke about me (in Korean, of course) as I nodded my head and smiled. They seemed fairly happy and clapped when I did my fanciest bow. I then found out that I had to introduce myself (also in Korean) and managed to mention my name, that I'm from Indiana, and that I like Korea and the Korean language, but it is hard. This was also met with applause and silly grins. Making a first impression. Check.
The two classes that I taught today went relatively smoothly ... as smoothly as a first class in Korea can go, I guess. I played 2 truths and a lie with them and they all seemed to enjoy it. Most of the students wrote very basic sentences "I am a sexy guy" (yes, that was one ... a truth to be exact) "I am 15 centimeters tall" (pretty sure that one was a lie). All in all it went well, I really just wanted to establish myself as their teacher and gauge their English language ability. Check, check(I guess).
A few observations from my first day of teaching.

Korean kids are absolutely adorable. Way cuter than American kids ... hands down.
They all wear school uniforms here - and today, unknowingly, I wore clothes that are really similar to their uniforms - I hope they don't think I'm a new transfer student.
They probably won't seeing I'm about 1 foot taller that EVERYONE here.
Korean high-school students have no shame. They will ask you anything.
I will have to get used to being stared at when I do everything. Everything. In the cafeteria today I'm pretty sure I was the center of attention. Though I guess it is pretty fun to watch me shovel rice in my mouth. (and I actually do shovel) I was allowed about 5 minutes to eat this afternoon. I think all of Korea is in one giant eating race.
The students speak Korean way more in the classroom than I expected ... I guess I was spoiled from Camp Fulbright where the kids didn't speak Korean at all. Definitely something to work out throughout the year.
My students are much lower-level than I first expected. My work is really cut out for me.

Well it's now time for me to study some more Korean with my host-mom. Today: transportation. Hopefully after this I will be able to explore the busy streets (they aren't busy - unless you count the bales of hay that roll through the town) (there's really no hay here - joke) of Hwasun sans host-family.

Like sand through the hourglass ... so are the days of our lives

So. Much. Has. Happened.
I apologize for not blogging in a while ... blame it on my faulty Interweb connection in my new room, or the fact that I have been busy playing Uno with my new host family while trying to de-awkward and somewhat Korean-ize myself. Regardless here it is, my life for the past 8 days.
My life has changed drastically (trying not to sound too dramatic, but it's really pretty true). I have moved out of Chuncheon, spent last weekend in Seoul, and have recently moved to Hwasun and in with my new host family whom I will be living with for the next 11 months. Craziness.
I don't know exactly what it is (maybe the constant moving around, the fact that I'm finally realizing I'm in Korea of all places, or the fact that I haven't eaten Mexican food - which I am desperately craving - in what seems like forever) but I feel as if my thoughts are really scattered and displaced at the moment. So I will give you a semi-bullet-pointed rundown of my life in the past week.

• I moved out of Chuncheon. At exactly 8:30 am last Friday morning (that's not true ... we left around 8:45) however, I was definitely on the bus at 8:30 as our counselors exclaimed that "we will leave people! We have done it before and we will do it again!” False. Anyways I spent last weekend in Seoul and had a glorious time with my fellow ETAs before we all moved away to our respective towns. Friday afternoon was filled with lectures and pool-parties (oh, the life of a Fulbrighter). After arriving we were all shuttled to the Fulbright headquarters in Seoul and were given a talk by an American / Korean doctor. He was pretty legit - the only doctor in the whole world to be certified to practice medicine in both Korea and the US. After giving us a good 20 minute rundown about what to do when we inevitably all get diarrhea (he strongly advised us to get rid of any Imodium we packed because it could cause our insides to explode - sorry Mom, that's a good 8 dollars down the drain – ha ha potty joke) he gave us various phone numbers and ways to contact him if: we break our leg, are attacked by killer bees, accidentally eat poison, or if everyone in Korea dies in a horrible car crash and we are the only survivor. So I'm pretty sure I'm safe.
• Following the rousing doctor talk we all headed over to the US Ambassador's residence in Seoul and attended her annual Fulbright pool party. Arriving fashionably late (about 2 hours) the ambassador arrived wearing a beautiful black skirt and shawl - don't worry she's a chick. We were treated to an amazing spread of American food (burgers and hot dogs, and veggie burgers!) and ate under red, white, and blue umbrellas … it was the 4^th of July that I never had. Toby Keith would have been proud. Though I didn't swim in her pool, I realize in hindsight I totally should have. Oh well. Next time.
• Friday night, after the diarrhea talk and ambassador schmoozing, a group of us went out for a night on the town in Seoul. I had a great time and it was nice to spend the last couple days in Seoul with some of my ETA friends. We actually were able to score VIP seats in a pretty nice club. One of the other ETAs has friends in Korea who apparently are well connected to Seoul nightlife. And thank god, because the club where we were was so insanely crowded there was literally no standing room. Koreans have little respect for fire codes.
• Saturday and Sunday I spent just walking around the city, taking in the sights, and frantically trying to buy appropriate gifts for my host family, co-teacher, principal, and vice principal. I managed to score some sweet gifts that I'm pretty sure they all have/will like, and managed to find my way around the city successfully. Success.
• This past Monday was what Fulbright dubs "Yonsei Day" - the most important day ever. EVER. Says our orientation counselors. It was a pretty fancy shindig. We all dressed up in super nice clothes and met our principals and co-teachers for the first time. It was somewhat awkward and very nerve-wracking, but all in all I think it went smoothly. We all filed into a small auditorium where we stood against the walls (kind of like a firing squad) but instead we were faced with about 200 strange Korean faces who were giving us the up and down like it was their job, each trying to figure out which American they would "get" for the year. Each one of the ETA's names was read aloud and we had to step forward and give our best ensa (fancy Korean bow) and wave to our principal and co-teacher as our school was announced to the crowd. When my name was called I gave my best bow and was met with my male principal and female co-teacher standing amongst the crowd. My co-teacher let out a really loud "wheeee!" assuring me that she would be a ton of fun throughout the year.
• After everyone was announced we all scrambled to exit the auditorium and find our principals and co-teachers so we could head to lunch and finally introduce ourselves and get to know them better. (both my principal and co-teacher spoke English very well, so there was really no language problems throughout lunch, which was absolutely glorious) I met up with them and soon discovered that my co-teacher is about half the size of me. I swear she's literally 4 feet tall. I guess that would make me 8 feet tall, which is not necessarily true, but I, in heels, felt like the white female version of Shaq - with significantly less baller skills. Yes, I wore heels and looking back on it, it was probably a poor decision because the first 10 minutes or so upon meeting my principal and co-teacher was spent by them asking me how tall I was and exclaiming "giant Rauren!". We then sat down for lunch and had a good hour long conversation about school, my life in Korea and at home, Indiana, Korean food, corn, and things of the like. I think I made a fairly good impression ... they seemed to be impressed with my ability to eat spicy things and say certain Korean phrases like "I like rice" and "It is hot outside". Although I did manage to drop my chopsticks on the floor as soon as I picked them up ... so there was a good 5 minute conversation where they worried if I would actually be able to feed myself during my time in Korea. I assured them I can function and have the ability to bring food to my mouth, so they then let me eat.
• After lunch and a final farewell to the other ETAs, we all grabbed our luggage and headed out in our separate directions to meet our home stay families. I drove to Hwasun with my co-teacher and her husband (a good 5 or so hour drive) and arrived at my home stay around 9 pm Monday night.
• My co-teacher dropped me off at my home stay and after talking with my host mom for about 20 minutes she left me to fend for myself. Oh man. I was then left in the living to start living.
• After staying with my host family for about 5 days, I have come to find that they are: absolutely adorable, super super accommodating, determined to better their English language skills, very curious about American culture and my life, extremely hard workers, hardly ever idle, and extremely excited that I am here to live with them. I am very, very happy that I was placed in such a great home stay and am very much looking forward to living with them this year. A quick rundown of my host family:
• The mother - Probably the cutest thing on the entire planet. She is a housewife and stays home pretty much all day cooking, cleaning, watching Korean soap operas, designing dresses, and scurrying about the house. I don't think she ever really walks somewhere ... I have only seen her shuffle her feet at an extremely fast pace to get from point A to point B ... kind of like a hover craft or something. (I don't know if that's an accurate description, but hopefully you all get the point) She is absolutely wonderful and goes to great lengths to make me feel at home. She is fascinated that she is the same age as my mom, and often exclaims that she is the Korean version of my "mommy". She is super concerned about my diet and always makes sure that I eat enough good, vegetarian food. A couple days ago, in attempts to please me she poured tomato sauce over all of my meal because she knew that Americans love tomato sauce. An extremely nice gesture that led to an interesting meal. She speaks little English, but is absolutely determined to learn all that she can. The few phrases and words that she does know she repeats over and over and is so pleased with herself. It is absolutely priceless. Whenever I go outside she always exclaims that I am going "sightseeing", as I taught her that word a couple days ago. Hilarious.
• The father - He is a garden architect/landscaper with his own business that he runs out of his home in Hwasun and Gwangju area. He isn't around much during the day because he is busy with work (planting trees and mowing lawns, I assume) He speaks almost no English and is hesitant to speak with me, for fear that he will appear unintelligent. Although he has told his daughter (who then translates for me) that he likes that I smile all the time and that he thinks I am a nice girl. I attempt to speak to him in Korean and that gets me somewhere, though not very far.
• The youngest daughter - My new and closest friend. She is a second grader in the high school where I will teach (17 years old) and speaks English extremely well. She serves as the translator between me and the rest of the family and does an amazing job. Well, I guess she does ... for all I know she could be telling them that I smell badly and wear weird clothes. Although, she was wearing a Vanilla Ice t-shirt yesterday. (When I asked her if she knew who he was she had no idea but thought it was "cool". I suppose the time difference is greater than I first thought. Apparently it's 1990 over here in Korea). She devotes the majority of her time to studying (about 8 hours a day) math, Korean, English, and science, because she has the high hopes of attending one of Korea’s finest science universities that is taught solely in English. I feel kind of sorry for her when she is stuck in her study for countless hours on end, but she really doesn’t seem to mind. She does, however, often take breaks where we talk together, eat ice cream, and play Uno, which she adores.
• The oldest daughter – She is currently working as an assistant to an art professor at a local university and plans to secure a teaching job there next January. Though she is 27 years old she still lives at home, but is seldom here. All Korean girls continue to live at home until they are married. But with her mother’s strict curfew it doesn’t appear like that will be anytime soon. Though I did spend a day with her and her boyfriend (who speaks English fluently) and we traveled down to the South Sea to watch the launching of the very first South Korean rocket ship. She doesn’t speak much English, but we have agreed to try to teach each other language throughout the year. Also … I’m pretty sure she weighs about 50 pounds.
• The brother – He also lives at home and is 21 years old. He attends Joson University (the same university where the oldest daughter works) and is an art student. He is not home very often … I’m assuming he’s usually at school, but the parent’s don’t really keep a close eye on him so he could be a part of the Korean mafia for all I know. And judging by the way he dresses and the “bling” around his neck I wouldn’t put it past him. He speaks little to no English, and often complains of a headache every time I speak …. but he is hoping to improve his English throughout the year and is happy that I am here.
• So that’s the family … their house is absolutely beautiful (I have added pictures to both Facebook and my picture website so you can see). I was given my own cutesy, little room and often hang out there or in the living room. Although the family apparently doesn’t believe in chairs so I sit on the floor pretty much all the time.
• I have yet to start teaching … the first day of school back from their 3 week summer vacation is next Monday. I was able to visit my school earlier this week and meet the principal (again), the vice-principal, and other teachers at the school. I also was given a tour … the high school is massive … about 900 kids total … and became acquainted with my desk/workspace. I have to navigate around the school and switch classrooms each period, so was given a desk and a computer to work during my off time. I was also given my schedule – I teach 17 classes a week (each class is about an hour), but will see each class only once a week. I end up working only 17 hours a week, which right now seems like a pretty sweet deal.
• I also recently received a Korean cell phone or a “hand phone” (such a better name for it) and a Korean bank account. I now think it’s pretty neat to say that I have an “off shores bank account” … I think it makes me sound more official and legit.
• Anyways … I have been enjoying my first week here in Hwasun, although because school hasn’t started and the rest of the family is usually pretty busy I have found myself with a lot of down time. Hopefully I will become busier in the coming weeks as school starts, and then be able to reminisce about the glorious couple days I had with copious amounts of free time.
• To sum up, I’ve had a successful first week in Hwasun, and I now leave you all with a short list of some “highlights” / awkward moments / general observations about my first week away from Orientation and living in real Korea:
• One of my host mother’s hobbies is designing dresses for her oldest daughter. She explained to me that once you graduate high school she will then start making you dresses. As her younger daughter looks on longingly, she offers to make me a dress that she has already designed. Extremely flattered, I accept and then see what I will be wearing … something that I can only describe to be a mix between a cream colored wedding gown and an 80s prom dress. It’s pretty spectacular. So one of her friends (some dude that sews the dresses that she designs) came over to the house to take my measurements today. This process was extremely awkward as he spoke no English and just started measuring various parts of my body. And I’m almost positive I heard him snicker after he measured my waist. The dresses that he usually makes for Asian women who are literally the size of a small toothpick. Meh. At least I’ll get a sweet all white, lacy, sleeved dress out of the deal.
• I was recently told by both my host sister and my host mother that I was “beautiful like an elf”. If that doesn’t boost one’s self-confidence, I don’t know what will.
• When I visited my school for the first day I tried to show off when attempting to talk to one of the other teachers and said about three sentences in Korean. He then took it that I was fluent and began to ramble for about 2 or 3 minutes. Reminder: don’t do that again.
• I recently gave my host father a small bottle of Scotch as a thank you for welcoming me into his family. Please note that before this I have heard him say not one single English word. But after he opened it and was seemingly quite pleased with my gesture he looked at me and with a sly grin said “yeah, Scotch”. I don’t really know what this means … but I’m pretty sure he likes me just a little bit more now.
• My host brother was late for dinner last night; however the parents didn’t seem too concerned. I asked my host sister why he was late and she said he just got back from driving himself to the hospital because he had shoulder surgery. Apparently it’s an out-patient procedure in Korea and is extremely effective.
• One of the most well known brands of chocolate in Korea is “Crunky”. My host father recently bought me and my host sister a bar for us to share. While devouring the chocolate my host sister asked me what it means to be crunk. I then was able to school her on the finer art of American crunkness.
• In addition to learning what it is to be crunk, I was also able to impart upon my host sister what it means to be a fascist. During the measurement-taking debacle earlier today my host sister to me how her other sister was so “fascist” … meaning, of course, fashionable. It took a great deal of strength to contain my laughter. In a similar vein my host mother, in an attempt to explain to me all the festivals they have in Korea, continued to state that there are many, many “cannibals” in Korea and that we can go to many “cannibals” during the year. Priceless.
• I have started reading Harry Potter (about 5 pages each night) with my host sister who is determined to understand it in English. Cultural ambassadorship at its finest.
• In my oodles and oodles of free time over the past couple days I have started and finished The History of Love … a book Jess gave me to read before I left. It was outstanding. I am now in love with Leo Gursky.
• Korean water equates to green tea. They do not drink water (at least in my home stay), only tea, “for healthy”. The first couple days I was drinking what they called “water” – a light brown liquid - without knowing it was actually tea. Oh how thankful I was to realize it wasn’t dirt water.
• In attempts not to be fat or get fatter, my home stay family takes a walk after about each meal. This walk is actually 5 to 10 minutes of marching in place, in the living room, or jumping rope so they no longer feel full and thus fat. I have partaken in such “walks”, and plan to market this revolutionary exercise routine as soon as I return to the states.
• The bugs here are pretty intense. My room had a couple of mosquitoes a few nights ago and I wound up with some itchy bites. When my host father noticed this he went into my room, plugged in some type of contraption, shut the door, and told me not to go in for at least an hour. Apparently he set off a bug bomb – which has worked great, as I am currently mosquito free. However, last night my host sister came into my room and frantically unplugged this contraption and warned me that if we left it on for too much longer it would turn into poison and kill me. Good to know.
• The first night at my home stay, my home stay family was anxious to know about my American hobbies. As I don’t really have a solid list of hobbies, I told them I played volleyball and basketball in high school and very much enjoyed doing so. They now assume I am a stellar athlete who loves to workout. This stereotype is only intensified by my desire to wear athletic clothes around the house. I’m pretty sure they are starting to question why I don’t exercise regularly or go for runs as they expect I should.
• As I mentioned earlier, I went to the South Sea this week to witness the first ever launch of a South Korean rocket. The rocket was designed to go into space and measure weather patterns, and then return with important information. After a 2 hour car ride to the sea, we arrived 5 minutes late … and soon discovered that the rocket launch was a failure because the engine became too hot and thus could not achieve lift off. I was surprised to see that all the people who came to watch the launch did not seem too disappointed. The general consensus was “eh, it’s ok … let’s have a beer and play in the ocean”. I’ve been told they are going to attempt to launch it again soon. Hopefully this time they will remember to turn on the air conditioning.
• In addition to the Crunky chocolate, Korea also has 2 lines (is line the right word here?) of chocolate – one designed specifically for men and the other for women. Today after lunch I was given a square of Chocolate for Women, in a fancy pink package. After inquiring the difference between chocolate for men and chocolate for women, I was met with blank stares and told that no one knows. When I asked to try some chocolate for men those blank stares turned into frightened looks and I was soon told that women never eat man chocolate.
• Shout out to Kacy – have a great time at DePauw this year, I will surely miss it.

Wow. It has taken me 6 weeks to discover that this is how I appropriately title my blogs

Man. So much news. I feel like I haven't blogged in a while (probably because I haven't). In the past week or so a lot of stuff has happened ... and I will try best to sum it up in a cutesy little blog post.
Since the last time we talked (or I typed at you) I have successfully visited the DMZ (not the department of motor zehicles), taken and passed my Korean language final exam, participated in the Fulbright talent show, graduated from Korean language class and earned a pretty stellar diploma from Korea University, and am currently packing up to move into the next phase of my journey - moving away from Chuncheon and to Hwasun, where I will spend the rest of my time here in Korea - teaching kids and promoting cultural exchange and stuff.
The trip to the DMZ was really something. It's not exactly all that I thought it would be, but it was something. To be fair, I don't really know exactly what I was anticipating ... We visited Hwacheon a small, rural town a couple miles south of the DMZ. This particular site is one where tourism is allowed, but is not very well known or frequented by foreigners. We arrived in Hwacheon after what felt like a forever long bus ride up one long and windy mountain. At some times I felt like we might really be heading to Candy Mountain or something. Along the way we stopped at several "check stops". I don't exactly know what was being "checked", as we were not allowed to get off the bus. Our Fulbright leaders talked to the guards for around 20 minutes or so until they finally let us through. God knows what they were talking about (the weather, the Yankees, what the hokey pokey really is all about?) Anyways, we were finally let through and made it to the actual demilitarized zone that is causing all this fuss. As I said before it was kind of disappointing. I guess I kind of expected some great fireworks show, a super locked down high tech security station, or at least a giant banner of Kim Jong Ill at the border.
But we were immediately greeted by a couple South Korean army men and escorted to a small building facing the much dreaded North Korea. We were given a quick talk about the DMZ and then shown a slide show of the different flowers that bloom at the DMZ during the four different seasons and pictures of North Korean men fishing (no joke - I have no idea why that was relevant). After the rousing slide show were were given 10 minutes to look at North Korea. So I looked. Then I looked some more. I didn't really know what I was looking for, but I looked for it.
We were absolutely not allowed to take any pictures that were of North Korea or directed towards the North, so I thus have no pictures to share (sorry, I'm not that rebellious and did not want to risk my life - that's how scarey they made it sound - only for a couple pictures of some mountains). However, I took a few pictures facing South Korea from the North's point of view. Looking out all we could really see are mountains and a few different fences. The fence that actually separated us from the DMZ and thus North Korea was not that tall, made out of regular fence material (whatever type of metal that is) and had those pointy, sharp circular things at the top to stop people from climbing over. I don't really know why anyone would want to climb over, but it was there nonetheless. It was pretty non-intensive ... something you would probably see at a shady school playground.
All in all it was somewhat disappointing. I didn't get to see Kim Jong Ill or Bill Clinton ... the main reasons I went in the first place. I guess they aren't part of the packaged deal. Unless you're a journalist or something.
After looking at North Korea we turned around and went back to Hwacheon and stopped at the South Korean water museum, naturally. We ate a glorious lunch of be-bim-bap (a veggie and rice dish) and toured around the water museum for about an hour. The grounds were very pretty, but kind of wet. No idea why.
Before returning back to Chuncheon we stopped and observed both the Peace Bell and the Desire Bell (I was hoping we might stop at a Taco Bell too, but sadly I was wrong). The Peace Bell in Hwacheon was really legit. It was built next to the South Korean peace dam which was built as a way to protect South Korea if the North ever released their dams as a way to flood the Southern half of the peninsula. (this was actually a strategy North Korea tried to implement, until they realized that South Koreans are also capable of building dams) So to kind of rub it in their face, South Korea built both the Peace Bell and the Peace Dam to promote national unity and to represent the continued struggle for peace. The Peace Bell is one of the largest bells in the world and is made entirely from scraps of ammunition from various wars all around the world. It currently weighs 9,999 pounds and the hope is that when the North and South reconcile and make peace the final pound will be added (in the form of a bird's wing - one decorative bird on the top of the bell is wingless). Poor guy, I bet he gets made fun of by all the other peace birds. Our Fulbright group also got to ring the bell, which was pretty exciting. The government only allows for the ringing of the Peace bell on certain special occasions, and apparently they deemed our presence a good enough reason to give it a ring. Three of the ETAs who are placed in Hwacheon got to ring it (man, I was so jealous) three times. Very awesome.
After we rang the Peace bell and had our fill of the water museum (eh?) we visited the Desire bell. Not as sexy as you would think. The Desire bell was created out of pure wood and was not given a ringer so as to remind everyone of the harsh realities of the Korean war and the continuing dispute between the North and the South. (no one gets to ring that bell, ever)
After all the exciting times had at the DMZ, we all had to return to Chuncheon and this past Monday we took our Korean language final exam. I think it's fair to say that I studied quite a bit ... our exam was 2 hours of reading and writing, one 5 minute dialogue, and one 5 minute interview with our teacher. Pretty nerve-wracking to say the least. But after studying for what seemed like forever I took the exam on Monday and am now happy to say that I did well enough to pass the class! (with a solid B/B+ average) I gong-pu-hayo-ed (studied) like it was my job and it payed off. Well, it actually is my job ... I am literally getting paid to do this. But that's neither here nor there.
Since we all for successfully completed and passed our Korean language final exam the Orientation team rewarded us with a mandatory talent show! It was pretty nice ... a lot of people got up and sang songs, danced, jump roped, recited poetry, and played musical instruments. Fulbrighters - not just pretty faces. Although I did not share any of my amazing talents, I did participate in a patbingsu (similar to ice cream) eating contest where I displayed my talent of liking desserts and my ability to eat them. I did fairly well, although did not win. I entered the contest mainly to score some free desert ... and that was a complete success. So I sat on the stage while people watched me eat it at a regular pace. It was really exciting.
Following the rousing show of talent, today we had our Korean lnguage graduation ceremony today. It was very formal and we were all presented with some pretty legit diplomas from Korea University. We were all enrolled in a 6 week Korean language course that is usually taught over the length of one semester. So it was very intensive and thus pretty challenging. We had some of the greatest song-sang-neems (teachers) we could have asked for ... they were insanely helpful and absolutely too cute for words. It was really, really sad to say goodbye to them this afternoon. I so badly wanted to put my favorite teacher, Yo Hana, in my carry on suitcase (she totally would fit) and take her with me to Hwasun.
Anyways, our teachers presented us with some fancy diplomas displayed in a red-velvety diploma case (which actually seemed way more official than the glossy paper DePauw handed me this past May). So now I guess I can say that I am a graduate not only of DePauw University, but of Korea University as well. (at least that is what it will now say on my resume ...) After the official handing out of diplomas each class put on a skit/song/dance/some type of presentation where we demonstrated our Korean language abilities to our teachers, our teacher's bosses, our Fulbright boss, and anyone else who happened to walk into the auditorium at the time. Our beginner one class put on a skit where we told a tale full of love, heartbreak, existential crises, and reconciliation - all in Korean. I, naturally, portrayed Katie Holmes in our Korean drama. It seemed to be a hit (as were all of the classes' presentations). I think it is safe to say that we all are on the way to being experts on the Korean language - or at least able to find the bathroom and order rice in a restaurant.
So now I find myself spending my last night in Chuncheon ... packing up all the stuff that I have accumulated the past 6 weeks and trying to stuff it into my suitcase. We are all headed to Seoul for the final weekend to explore, relax, and prepare for the next step in our journey (that sounds really cliche, sorry). I am super excited but also super scared. Just as I was finally adjusting to Chuncheon and able to navigate through the streets of this glorious city, they move me all the way across the country (that sounds really dramatic, but Korea is a pretty small country - about the size of Indiana, actually). As I prepare to leave Chuncheon and move to Hwasun (all by myself eek!) I can't help but listen to Green Day's "Time of Your Life" an flip through the pages of our Orientation book in a nostalgic manner (Not really. Come on - this isn't high school). But I am sad to go, and will miss certain parts of orientation ... like being surrounded with 70 other people who are going through exactly the same thing as me (and that speak English). However I cannot wait to begin the next step of my krazy Korean journey.
Stay tuned!

(also ... I posted some more pictures. Come check it out!)

In 2 weeks I will no longer be living out of a suitcase.

Oh glory day. Today was the much anticipated Placement Day here at Orientation. The 70 of us dressed up in our finest dresses (except for the guys ... they wore pants) and awkwardly stood in a large auditorium until Mrs. Shim (the head honcho of Fulbright Korea) read our name, school, and the name of the town where we will be living and teaching for the next year! Super exciting, but somewhat nerve wracking. Up until now I guess it really hasn't registered that I will be living somewhat alone in a big scary country that I just met. But I signed up for this. Just weird to know that the first time I will have to be a real "adult" (pay my own cell phone bill, have an actual job that doesn't let you wear running shorts, etc) I will be doing so in Korea.
Anyways ... today I learned that for the next year I will be living in Hwasun, a mid sized city in the southwest tip of Korea. It's located in the Jeollanam-do province (the greatest of the 10 Korean provinces, in my opiniong) and about 20 or so miles east of the Yellow Sea. As of now, I'm not too schooled on exactly what Hwasun has to offer or what excatly I have gotten myself into. My current knowledge of my host city is only what I have drawn from the first couple or so pages that sprung up on the Google search bar.
However, I'm pretty excited about my placement in Hwasun. I will be teaching a co-ed high school and will have around 6 classes with 30-35 students in each class. We filled out preference forms about two weeks prior to Placement Day indicating where we would like to live and what type of school we would like to teach. I was very open to any type of school (boys, girls, co-ed, high, middle, etc). The only preference I had was to live inland and not in a coastal or island area. This is due to my diet ... as the closer to the coast, the more fish-based is the food. Gross. However, my request to be placed away from the coast was not exactly met, as I will be a good 20 minute busride from the fishies. There's nothing really I can do about it now ... but I do not intend to put any fish (or other meat) in or around my mouth for the next year. I just hope I am able to communicate with my host family and build a strong relationship with both my host family and my school.
I have been able to check out the school's website and from what I can tell it looks pretty legit. Granted everything on the website is in Korean, so I really don't have any idea what it is saying. It could be saying "Worst school ever!" but I hope not. I doubt that is something they would advertise ... Koreans aren't that silly. There are lots of pictures of smiling and happy Korean kids ... so that's promising. I have also learned that there have been 3 past Fulbright ETAs at my school, so I will be able to contact them and get some more information about what exactly I should expect.
I will leave you all with the website from the school and a map of where I will be living for the next year!

Enjoy!

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl
(I realize you all could Google map this yourselves, but look! I have saved you the trouble!)

http://www.hwasun.hs.kr/cgi-bin/main.cgi?board=5_3
(If you click on the blue English link at the top of the page you will be able to view the English program)

[If I could figure out how to get my keyboard to type in Korean Hangul, this would be a really witty subject heading - in Korean]

Alas, I cannot yet manage how to do so ... yet.
The past couple days here at Fulbright Orientation have been a somewhat of a blur. Over the weekend I stayed in Chuncheon and became more familiar with the night life of this booming metropolis. (I actually was forced to stay in Chuncheon and not participate in a Key Club excursion because I need to raise my language exam scores. Bleh. I'm working on it ...) I also saw the Camp Fulbright kids off this Saturday. The two week English immersion camp has ended and we are now back on track to the "regular" schedule. Here, "regular" schedule consists of 4 hours of language classes and a good 4 hours of culture workshops and seminars. It's like they think we don't have any culture!
The workshops and training seminars ... as boring as they might be ... are actually pretty helpful. In the past 4 weeks or so I have learned how to become a more effective English teacher, and have also been able to ease myself into the Korean lifestyle. I can now say that I will know exactly what to do if/when:
I meet my school's principal for the first time - Principals and vice principals are super important here and are somewhat feared (at least by me). Not only will I have to bow at an exact 45 degree angle (I'm pretty sure they whip out protractors just to check) and not mumble any of my Korean when I introduce myself. Oh man ... need to practice that. I also have to buy him/her really nice gifts when I meet them - standard when you meet any person who ranks higher than you on the social ladder. I actually just bought and gave my two Korean language teachers gifts today. Some pretty amazing Minnie Mouse socks I got in a local store here in Chuncheon. They absolutely loved them. However, I don't think I'll be getting a pair for my principal (who are usually guys). I'll probably go with the Mickey Mouse for him.
People ask me about/complain/tell my why I shouldn't be a vegetarian - one of the counselors here is also vegetarian and has given me some pretty helpful pointers. She said it would be best to tell Koreans that my family at home are all vegetarians, and I eat vegetarian as a way to bond with and support the rest of my family. (Dad, you've got about 2 more weeks to give up meat before you make a liar out of me) Because the Korean culture here is so group oriented, my vegetarianism is more understandable and thus justified by Koreans so long as I do it not for individual benefit or individual desires, but to support my community and/or family.
I ride in a taxi ... all by myself - A friend and I went shopping a couple days ago - neither of us speak Korean - and I managed to safely direct us to our destination and back. And I actually understood the gist of what the driver was saying. I was so proud of myself and the progress I have made that I let out a little squeal of excitement ... promptly losing all respect the taxi driver had given me. Oh well. It was still neat.
Koreans approach me because I am a foreigner - we have had several cultural seminars dealing with this topic and past and present ETAs have illustrated many different ways about how to deal with this. Reactions have varied from: scream and shout English until they go away, (probably not something I will try, at first) try to speak to them in Korean (also something I don't know if I will feel too comfortable doing at first), and/or walk away quickly (seems kind of rude to me). I have been approached/stared at intently on multiple occasions ... mostly when I am outside of the university grounds and in the city. I had a pretty intense staring contest with a little Korean girl a couple days ago on the escalator in Emart. Sadly I did not win. Koreans are extra good at not blinking for long periods of time ... something I need to work on. However, I usually smile and wave and attempt to say something in both English and Korean, trying to explain myself. This has generally worked - a smile and a thumbs up can go a long way I've noticed.
Well today I was able to go to and participate in a traditional Korean tea ceremony. It was pretty legit. The lady who did it for us was a Korean tea master and I had some of the best tea I've ever drank. We had a mixture of green tea and lotus tea - made from the leaves of the lotus flower. It was gorgeous and tasty - a pretty sweet combo. Actually the tea wasn't sweetened, but the ceremony was. (I took some pictures and will be posting them soon on my picture website)
Today I also learned that placement day - the day where we all find out where we will be living for the next year and what school/grade level we will be teaching - has been moved. It was originally scheduled for this Wednesday, but they moved it up, so I will know where I will live by tomorrow evening! I'm pretty stoked - I feel that for the past 3 or 4 weeks I have been living in limbo. Kind of in Korea, but not really. Kind of own my own as a "grown up", but not really. I think that once I finally realize that I will be living in Korea pretty much by myself (with my host family, not with other American ETAs) the feeling will finally sink in that I'm in Korea and have to do some stuff now. Some pretty important stuff, actually. Cultural exchange and ambassador things and stuff. I hope I can handle it!
I will definitely let you all know exactly where I will be living and in what type of school I will be teaching. So stay tuned ... if I can find some free time tomorrow I will definitely let you all know via blog!

Lauren, out.