Korea Life Blog - Snowy Days (updated)


It's been a cold and blustery couple of days here in the northern parts of South Korea. It's not snowing today but it's damn cold and windy. Julie's hair was blowing all over on the way to the bun shik chib where we had kimchi fried rice, gogi mandu, and kimbap. I should have taken a picture. It was delicious. But I go there quite often and will get one soon enough.



Another snowy shot added by popular demand. The trees are quiet and covered with snow. This could easily be a picture taken in New York State or anywhere with snow and trees for that matter.



The cats are suffering through the cold spell so I've been feeding them more than usual. The kitten (nearest front) has grown up into an adult already. After 5 months of feeding her, she's finally accustomed to me and lets me pet her. She purrs loudly and rolls around in the dirt. Whether she really appreciates me or she's just happy about the food, I'm not sure. Mostly likely she's just in heat and sees me as a gigantic male cat available to impregnate her.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Ugh

I just finished teaching the three back to back 50 minute middle school classes. There used to be a break between each, now there isn't. I started them at 4:10 and finished at 6:40. The first class was one boy who didn't talk. The second, two smart kids that I actually liked teaching. The third consisted of 3 loud-mouthed girls with color phones and 3 brainless boys without a clue.

Stan showed up 40 minutes early today. He's waiting for our Friday night dinner ritual. Windy should be here shortly. Tonight we will go eat stinky chigae, chung guk jang.

Two weeks ago I asked my boss's wife for a second chair for my apartment. I'd glady get one myself, but to do so would require a total 3 hour trip to a shopping center, plus having to carry the chair on a bus. I don't want anything fancy, I said, just a place for a guest to sit. She nodded, but never said anything again about it. Today I asked my boss.

Boss: "Wae?"

Me: "For friends to sit down."

Boss: shakes his head. "No."

Me: pointing at a wooden chair in the classroom. "Where can I get simple chair like that?"

Boss: struggling hard to comprehend and reply. Finally - "Very far." laughs, conversation finished.

I guess I won't be getting a chair anytime soon, thanks boss for the help. Not that we don't have extra chairs all over the school and you'd be getting it back when I finish working here - that's OK, my friends can sit on the floor again.

Oh well, it's Friday night and time to cheer up. The jobs still not that bad, just some communication and consideration would be nice.

Julie's coming later for the weekend. By coincidence, her boss has also given her several more classes including a two hour class three times/week, and of course, with no extra pay.

I got a few pictures of the kids today and some of the snowy scenery. Stay tuned.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Bad Day/ Bad Week

One of the newer Korean teachers rarely talks to me, despite the fact she speaks English better than anyone else. She will go a week without saying so much as a word - even if I ask a question straight to her face. She'll smile and look away but not answer me. Then other times she becomes bubbly, energetic, talkative - bouncing around the office singing kids songs in English. I couldn't handle her mood swings so I took to ignoring her. Well suddenly out of nowhere today she says, "Good news, Shawn! You have to teach my new class tomorrow! Aren't you excited? Don't forget!" She didn't wait for my reply, she bounced out of the room on another merry high.

I looked up at my schedule. Sure enough, there it was penciled in - the new class. Another new class. Yet another goddamn class! Now on Friday I have two elementary classes, three horrible 50 minute middle school classes, then Windy for an hour.

To add insult to injury, the new classes consist of one student each. Oh boy.

I mentioned that all the classes are now five minutes longer. That doesn't sound like much, but it adds up over the course of a day and a week. Especially since the kids have been used to 40 minute classes for the past two years since the school opened. Now they've been getting antsy and restless more than usual: "Teacher, go home time! time to go home! bye bye! see you! see you again teacher! game over!"

Plus that extra time means less time between classes. We used to have ten minutes, now just five - which is not enough. By the time you sit down, you look up only to groan - it's time for your next class. Today I felt tired, really tired for the first time. It's becoming a real job.

Before you jump all over me, keep in mind where I live and why I came here. I live in the middle of nowhere. I came here because of the laid back job and schedule. I would NEVER have come here otherwise. And when I started it was really an easy schedule. I only taught four days/week, 3-4 classes each day. I had no adult class. It was a perfect trade-off. Living in a tiny town in isolation in return for an easy job. Then they added the 5th day. I had almost felt guilty before, so I didn't say a word. I expected it.

Then I had to teach the Korean teachers and the boss's wife from 10:00-11:00 AM everyday. Even though it was embarrassing and stressful to teach them, I didn't complain. Next they cancelled that and gave me the new adult class at night. Then a new class here, a new class there over time. This week, as I said, two new classes and the increased class time. Why am I living here in nowhere anymore? The trade-off is gone.

Anyway, I thought I may have a relief tonight as Windy had to go to see her co-worker who was in the hospital with brain cancer. Take a look here to see how it went. The Windy Times.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Hectic Hagwon

Arriving at the hagwon today, I looked at my schedule on the bulletin board and noticed yet another class penciled in. It seems every month a new one mysteriously appears without any notice or explanation at all. Had I not looked, I would have missed the class and received the scorn again of the teacher who would have to cover it.

I mentioned yesterday that my boss has started a new Math program. The large room in the back of the school used to be a place for the kids to hang out and play and watch videos while they waited for class to begin. This kept the school relatively quiet and the hallways empty. That room has now been made into two Math classrooms. This means the kids have nowhere to go when they arrive - often 10-20 minutes early. Instead, much to the scorn of all the teachers, they run up and down the hallway and stare in the windows. There's nothing like trying to teach a class when 5 kids are in the hallway making goofy faces at you and the students.

It seems as time goes by, my hagwon, once a nice little place with a perfect number of students, is certain to turn into the hellish overcrowded, chaotic places I've worked for in the past. My boss has gotten the business bite. He's becoming all the bosses I've had before - intent on making more and more and more at the expense of his staff and students. I can't wait until the massive new apartment complex is finished and hundreds of new kids are in need of an English school. I think there's room up on the roof for a summer session.

I do have to give him credit though. I found out how he's getting so many new math students already. In addition to fliers he sent home with every kid and in the local newspapers, he had every student already enrolled in the English program take a math test. He then sent home the results to unsuspecting parents. The test, most likely designed to result in a low score and therefore shock the parents into enrolling them in the math program, seems so far to be working. There's already a lot of students and the boss's wife has been meeting with parents all day.


Oh well, my day hasn't been that bad. While I was eating jab chae bap downstairs for lunch, a kind little old lady came in trying to make a few bucks selling these homemade back-scratchers with built in massaging wheels. What the heck, for 3,000 won they aren't a bad deal. I bought one to help her out. At least my back won't be itchy anymore.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Occupation Picture Time

After a brief lesson on jobs: OK, kids. Picture time. Take your time. Slow down.


I love these jorla-man stick figure drawings. This kid should start a comic book.



At first I got a little upset when I saw the drawing of the teacher. I have a big forehead but come on! Then I realized that's not my name. Phew. That's one of the Korean English teachers, Kal.



Here's another one of those kids that needs psychological therapy. Everybody except the mailman, taxi and bus drivers looks pretty evil. He's got an awful idea about teachers.



A typical sample drawn by one of the girls. I like the front end views of the drivers. The post office mailman taking the little kid's letter is also cute. There seems to be something strange about the first picture, though. I didn't know farmers in Korea were known for their basketball abilities. Shouldn't he be out harvesting the rice? Oh well, 8 out of 9 isn't too bad.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Great Weekend

After a special, tender, "romantic" weekend with Julie, I feel refreshed and ready to keep on blogging. She went home this morning. The poor girl. She had to take a train for two hours to get to work. I was so tired, I could barely stay awake until she left. I'm sorry about that Julie. It won't happen again, I swear. (fingers crossed behind my back)

Now I'm at the hagwon. I walked in today and everyone was busy zip! zip! zoom! running around. Nobody said anything to me or asked about my long weekend. There were two new teachers there. Who are they? I had no idea. Finally I introduced myself. They are the new math teachers. My boss has started a math program.

Moments before my first class I was informed by a teacher all my classes are now 5 minutes longer than before, and all my break times shorter by the same. Why? Because 40 minutes isn't enough time to teach math, so all the English classes had to be extended to match the math schedule. What a wonderful feeling returning to work after a holiday.

I guess it wasn't that bad for me. Skip, who teaches English to the middle school kids, found out upon arriving that his classroom is now being used for math and his schedule has completely changed. The poor guy had to move all his stuff into the already overcrowded office. He went from having a nice spacious classroom to not having even a place to sit down. You should see him pacing around and shaking his head.

Well, because of the extra times, I'd better copy more games and puzzles. A little extra teaching time doesn't bother me that much but how hard would it be for my boss to say, "Shawn. Schedule change. Understand? OK?" and introduce me to the new staff...

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Comments

The reason I haven't updated is because I'm losing interest. I have to check my site now 20xs a day to delete all the asinine/racist comments people have been leaving. I guess the Windy section has made Korean readers angry, but I figured that would be the case if I said anything negative. When I simply talked about how great the culture is - the food and the nightlife, etc., I rarely got a comment I had to delete. Now it's out of control.

If a foreigner says anything bad about a Korea, some Korean people will try and justify the culture and brush it off as the foreigner doesn't understand. Others will just call them a white pig. When I talk about Windy, it has nothing to do with her being Korean. It's simply the way I feel about the her as a person. And I don't need any more warnings about "What if she sees it?" Obviously I'm aware there's a risk. And I'm taking the risk for the sake of making the site a little more interesting than glorifying everything as if making an advertisement for Korea. You can get that on Arirang, where they showcase a foreigner life in Korea. "Oh, I love Korea. Everything is so wonderful here. Teaching is so interesting and exciting. I study Korean and I can make 6 kinds of kimchi. Oh, blah blah blah, sunshine and roses in Korea!"

Also, the "you get paid to teach her so shut your face" argument - I get paid to teach kids, and I only took the adult class as a favor to my boss for being kind to me. I don't have to like it. If you don't like how I feel, you don't have to read it. That's why I put it on a separate page.

If I continue on writing how I really feel, I'll have to disable the comments section. Otherwise I'll have to abandon the Windy section and go back to writing about happy things.

After that rant, I feel much better. Julie and I are going out again for traditional chung-guk jangand bu-chim-gae.

written by shawn matthews    -|link