Venture to Korea with Amanda & Abi

To all our friends, families, and vistors - thank you for visiting. We will be updating this blog as our adventure develops.

a new and perhaps unwanted development

Originally I thought the 6 month mark would never come, and if it did, I really thought I would be super happy to be halfway finished, with the end in sight, and expected the excitement of coming home and seeing friends and family to overcome me....however, that's not what's happening. To me at least, I can't speak for Amanda on this one. This past week/weekend I've been feeling really really down that we're halfway finished. Of course I miss people, so don't take it personally, but it just suddenly occured to me that I will never see these people again, ever. I know it's a bit early on to be thinking this already, after all, six months is a long time. I often say to my kids "guess what today is" and then I'll tell them "it's friday, woo hoo!!!" or if it's one of my friends' or family members' birthdays or an American holiday and they roll their eyes at me and ask to play a game. But this time I told them it was Abi teachers six months in Korea. They didn't understand the significance and I explained to them that in six months I would go back to America. I explained the contract to them, and they all seemed really confused. Now most of my kids are 12 or 13 and understand English pretty well, especially when I slow it down/make it easier for them. Some of the rambunctious ones were cheering, but others looked as if I had ripped their hearts out. I didn't mean to upset them and generally thought that they knew that i wouldn't be there forever as all foreigners generally teach on one year contracts. One of my students even wrote me a note, asking me to stay in Korea and saying that she'll never forget me and I have to promise not to forget Intermediate students in America. As if that wasn't sad enough, I went out on both friday and saturday night with my Korean friends. I hadn't seen one in a while so I told him that it was our anniversary and he looked so sad and said "Abi no, please please stay." My friend Gil kept smiling at me on saturday and then he'd make this sad face and say "six months." Don't get me wrong, of course I'm flattered and really happy that so many people love me and will be sad to see me go, it makes me feel really good. But more than good, I feel awful. Every time I hang out with my friends it feels like it's the last time I'll ever see them. I'm all emotional and telling everyone that i love them, even before I start drinking! Even worse, Eric, my Korean teacher drove me home and in the car outside my house started listing all the great things about Korea. Telling me about the food and the people and the pay. He just sort of steered the conversation into "Korea rocks." I almost started crying and told him I didn't have any plans other than my brothers wedding and anything could happen. Saturday was also our dearest friend Robert's babies one year old birthday, which is a big deal in this country. We got to go to this big party with all this crazy food, songs, dancing, traditional clothing and to watch him and his wife and his baby, I almost cried again. Then the Korean girl who was being our guide, because she speaks English, volunteered me in some contest, which I was unaware of, for having come from the furthest away for the babies birthday. Second place went to Seoul... :) Later while we were eating with her she was talking about when she lived in America and was talking about all the things about America she hated....which of course are all the things that I hate too, and probably most American's hate. And the icing on the cake is everyone asking me what I'm going to do when my contract is up. It's the worst question because I have no idea what I'm going to do. I don't feel like I have much left in Milwaukee but the idea of starting over somewhere else is so daunting. I'm so used to things here and it's such an easy existence now that I'm used to everything and can speak enough to get by, and then some. It's the first time in my life, I know I'm young, that I've really loved my job and that's something I once thought was impossible. It's also something about being out of college and being truly without a path. I know general things I'd like to do at some point but now it's all up to me what I want to do and when and it's so hard for me to decide what's best. So basically I just really needed to vent all of that, and I hope it doesn't read too crazily. Please know that I miss you all and being here is really hard on that end but, but but.....................

 

~as always...ms. confused abi

posted by: 2SKLadies at 10:05 | link | comments (3) |

6 done, 6 to go.

On this, our six month anniversary, I felt I should finally update the blog with a few new bits of interest. During my first week here I wrote a list of things I liked and things I didn't like. The 'didn't like' list was quite long. But now I feel it's ready for publication.

Things I like about Korea.

1. Kim chi, donkas, kim pop, sue jay bee, soju

2. eating with chopsticks

3. feeling like one in a million due to skin color

4. being envied for my 'amazing' english skills

5. cute Korean kids who say funny things like "yo yo yo, check it out, say ho" and "fight the system" without having any idea what it means.

6. cheap cabbies and cabbies that want to marry you and believe you are a super star from America.

7. random people on the street giving you free things that you don't want.

8. being called beautiful for not having brown eyes.

9. pimped out motor scooters with flashing disco lights and blaring hip hop through the streets.

10. being able to pay off all my credit cards and double pay my student loans and still live comfortably.

11. walking.

12. the ocean

13. being able to reach things people on stools can't reach.

14. being seen as strong for being able to lift a box of paper.

15. making my kids laugh hysterically by telling tales of  "crazy America"

16. hiking mountains

17. being in a city that never sleeps

18. staying up on the beach talking until the sun rises.

19. the safety and complete and total lack of guns

Ok now on to the things I don't like. You'll notice the overlap. It's strange how some things can be a blessing and a curse at the same time.

1. always being noticed, pointed at, laughed at, approached and accosted by people of all ages who want to practice their English, especially when I'm having a bad day.

2. riding in automobiles as each trip feels like a gamble with my life

3. men living with no responsibility and women living with lots of it

4. boy children being more valuable than girl children

5. people believing that American movies accurately represent all American people and their culture

6. the frequency with which koreans get cosmetic surgery. it's hard to have your coworkers faces be constantly changing and acting like you don't notice.

7. the obsession with 'good health.' these people eat cocoons because they're high in fiber....so is all bran!

8. foreigners who come here to drink and fight and korean's thinking that's normal behavior in our country.

9. my kids asking me if i have guns and how many people I've shot....

10. being honestly told all of my physical flaws.

11. constantly having to explain 'bushy's' decisions and mistakes as if they were my own

12. the racism. more than one korean has told me that african americans and hispanics are 'dirty, lazy and ugly.'

12 B. Not being able to explain the value of diversity and the flaws of stereotyping

13. Korean people trying to sneakily take pictures of us at all times, as if we're rare gorillas.

14. How expensive it is to travel, even to Seoul costs almost 150$ just for transportation.

So the good news is the 'like' list is longer than the 'don't like list.' All in all I think we've both adjusted to life here phenomonally. To the point that we joke frequently about the things we'll have to readjust too. Just today we were having coffee at starbucks and wanted to run to the store to pick something up and felt completely comfortable leaving our purses loaded with money sitting in Starbucks. And then coming back to find nothing was disturbed. We continue to be generally dissatisfied with many of the other foreigners here. You think that people would make this life decision for generally the same reasons and then you get here and so many of them don't care about diplomacy and are just here for the perpetual party. There is also a foreigner need for high competition. Everyone wants to know how long you've been here, how much you make, how smart your kids are.....I guess it's not much different than home but still frustrating. I've got two of my cutest students agreeing to come home with me in my suitcase! I'm going to take some photos this week and will post them with some other more recent photos soon. We're in the intensive semester now which means we work like 9 hours a day and I've got some overtime pay for an extra class I'm doing. It's draining but probably good for the budget. I've purchased my ticket to Thailand for my March vacation. I'm headed all alone and super excited! I can't wait to see somewhere new and want to travel so desperately. I've also been taking Korean lessons which is hard beyond a doubt. I've memorized 43 Korean words like cucumber, fox and soap. I'm not sure how they will be useful but my teacher claims it helps so I'll do it. As always much love from both of us! Can't wait to see you all again soon~~~

~abi

 

** Also, Amanda and I have a special request for everyone who reads this blog. We recently saw the movie "blood diamonds" and want to ask/beg/demand that everyone go see that movie. It's not for the light of heart and you will not leave feeling happy-go-lucky but it's close to reality, if not nicer than the actual reality, and so important for us as consumers to understand the situation and how we perpetuate it. Please please, spend the ten dollars, and do what little we can to end one of the worst atrocities to human kind. We are all in this together.....

posted by: 2SKLadies at 08:11 | link | comments (1) |

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