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.