Happy Birthday to me... But I'm not any older

Here in Korea, though everyone (obviously) has their own birthdays, they don't "age" on the day of their birth. Koreans all add another year to their age on New Year's Day. Therefore, even though it was my birthday, I'm still the same age here as I was before my birthday. Now that's a birthday I can celebrate. If I leave Korea before New Year's then return to Korea after, does that mean I'll never age again? Sounds like it is worth a try.

We celebrated my birthday over several days. Wednesday, the day before my birthday, I was swept away by my friends without knowing where I was going. They took me to a bakery where you buy a cake and decorate it yourself. It was super fun. It started out looking quite professional if I do say so myself, but then we got a little excited with the goodies and it ended up looking... GREAT! Just maybe not so professional. We then headed out to the new Mexican restaurant and they treated me to dinner. After dinner, they sang happy birthday and I made a wish. I wasn't planning on sharing my wonderful looking cake, but since they DID buy it for me and DID help me decorate it, I supposed I had to so we demolished our beautiful artpiece and chowed down.

Thursday was the day of my birthday, and I had to work. BOO. I woke up and opened my huge stack of cards from my family before getting ready and going to school. Not many students knew about it at first, but word spread quickly. Miss Jane brought me a small gift and I had a few students come in to say 'Happy Birthday'. My sweet newspaper students brought me a tower of choco pies after lunch with a candle on top and sang to me (though there were a few 'da da DA da blah blah blah blah's because they forgot a few of the words in the middle- which made it even cuter) and enjoyed choco pies with me before they had to return to classes. Except one second grade boy, he forgot and came running in right after the others started leaving, brushing his teeth and saying "Sorry teacha! I forgot! Happy Birthday! So sorry!" all the while toothpaste spitting from his mouth. Needless to say, the newspaper president yelled at him for forgetting, made him go spit out his toothpaste and come back to wish me a proper 'Happy Birthday'. It was so darn cute. That evening was the first day of my school festival and Kaleena and Adrienne joined me for part of it, then Kaleena and I went to grab a simple dinner.

Friday just absolutely made my day. Miss Yang's 1st grade girls class came in after lunch with a cake, candles and a poster with little heart post its with messages on them. They sang to me and wished me happy birthday, I cried, they recorded it. It was so touching, I gave them all hugs and have read their cute little messages over and over. One girl's was in Korean, she came to me and pointed to it. "Teacha, I did Korean. You are learning, right? Can you read?" When I read the characters for the first sentence then said in English "Happy Birthday", then read the second sentence in Korean, then in English said something along the lines of "study Korean" they all broke out in applause. They were quite impressed. I also had a few other classes sing to me (in English and Korean) throughout the day. One student brought me the card that Kaleena made for me (it had pictures of us on it, so it was obviously mine) that I had left in the gym during the festival the night before, and when she went to give it to me she acted like she couldn't speak English (I know she can) and ran out the door. I followed her, asking for her to give it to me, and when I rounded a corner, she, another girl and one of my favorite boys sang to me. So cute, nice trick. That night was the festival again, which Adrienne came to, then we headed to her school's festival after.

Saturday we had decided to go to Hotel Ariana, which is a nice buffet style restaurant with a live band (that is quite good!) and unlimited beer (good, craft beer) and wine (not so good, sweet wine). We ate then headed downtown where we had a few more drinks with some of our other friends (there were several birthday people that night), then a small group of us headed to a noraebang (karaoke room) to finish off the night. The festivities even stretched to Monday, when another envelope full of more cards from family arrived.

I really have to say, this birthday was STELLAR. It will be very difficult to beat. I got to spend it with great friends and my students made me feel so loved. I already have my birthday poster hanging in my classroom. And yes, both cakes were completely eaten (oops).

Exam(in)Nation

When I first arrived in Korea I noticed one HUGE difference between Korea and America. No it wasn't the language. No it wasn't the food. No it wasn't the difference in looks. Those were too obvious. Those were things I knew about. The biggest difference that hit me immediately was their education system, or rather the stigma that surrounded education.

It amazed me that, when I walked into school at 8:20 every morning, the school was already full, students were already studying. Heck, some students were already in the hallway being punished. What amazed me even more was the day when I exclaimed to one of my 1st grade (freshmen) classes "Well at least its 7th period! You get to go home soon!"... if only looks could kill. "Teacha, we have class." I quickly moved on from the subject but approached my Korean co-teacher after class.

High school students, at least my high school students, have 8th and 9th class from 4:30 to 6:30. At this time, some students leave for "academy" (aka private tutoring schools where classes are small groups), but they can only leave if their homeroom teacher has confirmed with the parents and the academy that they do, in fact, have academy classes. If not, the students stay. We serve dinner at my school from 6:30 to 7:30, then they have "night study", where the students do supervised self study from 7:30-9:30. At 9:30, most students go home. I realized this one night when I was walking home from the store at 9:45, 2 huge bags in hand, and was met by a swarm of uniform-clad students. WTF are they doing out so late?! Oh right, they are just getting out of school. Notice I said "most" students go home at 9:30. If you are one of the lucky, smart students, you get to stay until 11:30. Yeah, you heard me. Its like you are punished for being smart, being held captive at school until nearly midnight. And even after that, many students go home, to only continue to study. Oh, and did I mention that they go to school on Saturdays and study on Sundays as well? Families spend THOUSANDS of dollars a year on private academies (not even one on one tutoring, but small group study).

So I quickly realized that school here is treated a LOT different than back home. Students are allowed to sleep during class, because teachers know they don't get much sleep anyway. It seems like students can fall asleep at the drop of a hat, in between classes during their 10 minute breaks, on the bus, I've even had a student fall asleep standing up in my class (though students sleeping in my class is rare).

But it isn't just students that study. When I walk into the teachers' office or when we are having a "self study" class in my room, often I find my coteachers watching online lectures. Crazy. Its like this country never stops studying.

But this week I saw what all of the fuss was about. All the teachers in Korea know that the biggest day of any Korean student's life is the day of the Korean SAT. The big test that determines their entire future. And I don't say that lightly. Yeah, the SAT (or ACT) was important in America, but remember, we can take it more than once. We can choose when we take it. And it SURELY isn't as crazy stressful as it is here. Students literally spend years of their lives studying for this one test that is finished in (a mere) 9 hours. Students take the test so seriously that many study until 1-2 am, the stress is so bad that it drives many to have health problems, and some even to suicide. Its a very unfortunate situation (and that's the nicest way I can put it otherwise I'd be here for a while expressing how I really feel).

On a day that the world seems to stop, Korean 3rd grade students (seniors) AND teachers are a wreck. Businesses open late, subways and buses increase frequency and police patrol the streets to avoid any traffic issues. I've even heard you aren't allowed to drive your car during certain hours unless you have a student with you (or are returning home) and it is illegal to honk your horn during testing hours. The country even shuts down ALL AIR TRAFFIC during the listening portion of the test. Yes, military drills and international flights are all postponed until after the listening test is finished. Police stand outside each school, and sometimes even escort students running late. Younger students and parents stand outside the school cheering the students on as they arrive, giving them tissues and beverages (on this stressful of a day, I'd hope that beverage is some sort of strong alcohol, however I'm sure it was something more along the lines of hot tea or orange juice). Adrienne and I decided to wake up and go gawk at the chaos, but where we were there wasn't much to see, only parents escorting their children to school (laced fingers and all) and a few students with encouraging posters.

Entrance to my school on the day of Suneung

The Korean SAT, or Suneung (soo-nung), is comprised of 5 subjects: Korean, math, English, Social Science/Science/Vocational Studies and Foreign Language (usually Chinese or Japanese, but can be others) or Hanja (traditional Korean writing/language, which is different than what they commonly use today). It lasts from 8am to after 5pm. Teachers are afraid that they will do something to distract the students. Complaints include teachers clicking the mouse on a computer, opening a window, a too-strong scented perfume, standing too close to a particular student's desk and even sniffling. My co teachers were all so tired today (the day after the test) because they literally had to stand still, afraid to move, for the entire test.

One co teacher told me how, at her old school, a teacher confiscated a watch because they thought it had calculating capabilities. The student, therefore, wasn't aware of the time and didn't finish the test (there are no clocks in the rooms). The parents sued the teacher for close to $50,000 to cover living and study expenses for the next year-until the student could take the test again, and the school made the teacher go to their house every day to apologize because they were afraid the family would come after the school. If students don't do well on the exam, they literally spend one year studying and tutoring for the retake.

It is really crazy how much these students study. But they are quite smart. I mean, I teach 700 students and I'd say quite a few of them are on their way to being tri-lingual. Yes, English study is required, but they also study other languages. Not only that, they don't use calculators. And I'm pretty sure they still do the same calculus and trig problems I did in high school. Its crazy. I really can't wait to see if the rate they are going makes them take over the world, or if something completely backfires. Lets hope its a happy medium.

If you have 20 minutes to spare, I'd REALLY suggest watching this short documentary about a day in the life of a 3rd grade Korean student. I've been here 8 months and there were things in this documentary that I still didn't know about and that still amazed me.

Click HERE to watch the Documentary

Also, an article that was written a few years ago about Suneung. Click HERE to read the article.

But, a crazy testing day for 3rd graders means a free day off for me! So me and some other high school teachers went out and enjoyed Korea's autumn beauty.

Adrienne, myself, Lauren and Joanne

At the botanical gardens of Daegu

So I was on a Korean TV show: Golden Bell

A few months ago, a teacher mentioned to me that our school would be featured on a Korean variety show, Golden Bell. It is a show that visits different schools, allowing 100 of the smartest students to compete for the prize, a full scholarship to university (also at stake, but not the grand prize, a trip to an English speaking country). I was told to keep it hush hush, since they didn't want the students getting too excited before midterms, but soon after, the rumor spread like wildfire! All the students were excited. They began studying past questions and practicing their "talents" (there is a portion on the show that students can be chosen to show off their talents, including singing, playing guitar, imitations, addressing a family member with a heartfelt speech, etc). I was then told that I would be asked to read the English question. Great. We all know how well I do with public speaking, and now I have to do it on national television?

So the day of the day of the recording, our students had to go to Keimyung University, which was close to our school, since the set couldn't fit in our gym. Luckily, I was on a bus with about 20 other students, so I just followed along until we got there. We were supposed to arrive at 7:30 and it was SUPPOSED to be finished by 4:30, however we were finally able to leave at 7pm. Let me tell you, controlling hundreds of kids for 12 hours, most of whom are extremely bored, is difficult.

The set up of the gym was actually quite neat. The 100 chosen students were on the floor with whiteboards for their answers, 10 students from each class were on either side of them with posters cheering them on, a row of teachers were also on one side, then the rest of the students and teachers were up in the second floor bleachers watching.

Students were asked questions and had to write their answers down on their boards, show them and were eliminated if they were wrong. However, there was a chance after Question 20 for students to be brought back into the game. In order to ring the Golden Bell, you had to answer all 50 questions correctly. Apparently it isn't that common, so we were excited when our students did well, however we were unable to ring the bell. But, the last girl standing did win the trip to Europe, a great opportunity for her (and she speaks pretty good English too so that is a plus).

Last girl left

In order to give students a second chance at winning, 4 male teachers and 2 female teachers had to do this sort of game where there was a stack of mats. The female teacher would bounce up and down on the mats and the male teachers had to pull the mats from under her. For each mat that was freed, a student could re-enter the game. Our school actually broke the record and rescued 82 students. Add the 10 students that were still standing by that point and we only had 8 students that were out of the game.

I got to spend my day hiding from the cameras, though I was unsuccessful and they made the blonde foreigner come sit in the front, got a HORRID shot of me, and played it on TV. Also, when it was my turn to read the question, I got nervous (of course), but made it through. I apparently read the question too quickly, because they repeated it several times for the students. Then, all of a sudden, I hear "Allie Teacher"? Huh? Me? "Allie teacher, sing a song! You know, norae ('song' in Korean)" This is when I began to FREAK out. My face got red, I nearly started crying, I knocked over a cup of tea on the set. I finally got the point across that I can't sing (but really I wouldn't, I couldn't think of ANY SONG other than 'Happy Birthday' because that day was my Dad's birthday... come on Allie, a song, ANY song other than Happy Birthday... nope? Ok just embarrass yourself and refuse to sing). Lucky for me, they cut that part out.

Filming my question

Miss Jane and I

Me looking like a freak

It was a really fun day. I got to hang out with some students and teachers in a laid back, non-classroom environment, which was awesome. And I also got to see who the "smartest 100 students" were. Some really surprised me, others I knew right away and a few I was surprised to NOT see. But what was really exciting was that I not only could tell who was who, but I recognized most students from the back corner of the second floor!

After the long filming day was finished a bunch of the teachers headed out to dinner, which ended up being the best BBQ I've had since I got to Daegu. And, of course, there was soju and beer, along with the Principal and Vice Principal. It was great fun, but a really long day, so I was happy when my ride decided to leave earlier than the other teachers. A great memory, and I have the entire thing in video to remember it by.

Chuseok 2013

Chuseok is the Korean version of Thanksgiving. Koreans get together with their families and pay respects to their ancestors. One of the first things we were told when we got to Korea was that traveling on Chuseok is a pain, however most foreigners do it despite the warnings. I mean, who can pass up a 5 day weekend? So when Adrienne and I FINALLY decided on where to go, most of the flights were booked, so we got horrible prices and inconvenient times. But hey, we were going to JAPAN!

But then the nuclear reactor started acting up again and all of our Korean friends, co-workers and students were telling us not to go because it was too dangerous at the time. We really did do some research, and it was kind of all a "maybe it is, maybe it isn't" situation, but what really had us thinking was the travel arrangements and the money. Once we really thought about it, we were going to be spending about $800 for 3.5 days in Japan. I really didn't want to be rushed, but I really didn't want to back out either. So after much deliberation and thought, we decided to cancel our plans and stay in Korea for Chuseok.

Kaleena, Krissy, Adrienne and myself at the Gyeongbokgung Palace 

It actually worked out really well because Kaleena's sister, Krissy, was visiting from the states and we all had a really good time.

First on the agenda was heading up to Seoul. We've been to Seoul a few times, but I hadn't gone to any of the palaces, and I can't turn down an excuse to go shopping. So we shopped a bit and visited my favorite street, Insadong, that has cute little craft shops, pottery, traditional crafts and super tacky souvenir shops. We also headed to one of the palaces which, to be honest, was much like the Forbidden City. I'm starting to think that, if you've seen one palace, you've seen 'em all.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Year of the Rabbit

We also decided to head to Busan for a few nights. We wanted to enjoy the beach before it got too cold. Well, if you know me at all, you know I hate the beach, particularly laying out on the beach. What I was looking forward to was strolling on the beach, drinking coffee and/or a beer (depending on the time of day), people watching and enjoying the beautiful sight, sound and smell of the water. We spent an awesome night chatting on the beach, enjoying the full moon and watching a few small fireworks being set off by people on the beach. Oh, and eating some AWESOME Korean BBQ.

Busan at night

Amazing BBQ

Just before sunset

Morning Haeundae 

The main reason for wanting to go to Busan, though, was to see the temples. Note to self, don't try to visit temples on holidays. They are PACKED. But they were beautiful. One was inland and one was on the coast. I'd seen pictures of the second temple before from friends that had visited... It looked beautiful, and man it didn't disappoint. Though extremely overcrowded, we had a great time watching little kids play around and the weather was beautiful, so it was a great day.

Beomeosa Temple

Yonggungsa Temple

The crazy line to get to the temple, and it wasn't always moving

After returning home, Adrienne and I decided to rent bikes (though they were free- you just leave your ID) and bike along the river and I also decided to take a full day and rest (it was vacation after all). We also decided to hike Palgongsan again, but we made it a short hike because the bus ride there was RIDICULOUS. It was so crowded that Adrienne was LITERALLY pressed up against the window, face first, and I was supporting my entire body weight on one arm against the window in order to stand because we decided to give our seats to two older ladies.

Biking along the river

Palgongsan

Next year I really hope to get tickets before they are all sold out so I can leave the country, but it was actually really nice to hang out in Korea and see what my "home country" had to offer.

Smiling

I know I'm behind on blogging (I'll catch up soon, I promise) but I just have to write a small blurb about my love for my students (yet again).

I just started back to school for the new semester and, while 7 of my second grade (sophomore) classes changed and I now have 5 new second grade classes, I still have all 12 of my first grade (freshman) classes. I also got a new time schedule, and I was disappointed to see that I have 2 days that I have 3 classes back to back... last semester I was tired after just 2, but 3?! Wow, that is going to take a lot of energy.

BUT NOT WHEN YOUR FIRST CLASS IS YOUR FAVORITE.    EVER! (well, on Tuesdays anyways, Fridays are a different story)

My first class on Tuesday mornings (I have 1st, 2nd and 3rd period classes on Tuesdays) is my favorite class and this morning was my first time for teaching 3 in a row... they are angels. ANGELS I tell you. I love those boys. They all trail in and nearly every single one greets me in a raised, high tone, excited voice. "HI TEACHA!" "LONG TIME NO SHEE TEACHA!" Ah, these kids. They were all so energetic walking into class. We talked, we joked (I gave them a hard time for liking this HORRIBLE girl group KPOP song- then they talked me into letting them watch it if they had extra time at the end of class, and of course they did, and of course said horrible song is stuck in my head).

But these boys, I just really can't describe how amazing they are. They all participate. They all ask questions. They have a pretty decent level of English. They all pay attention. Yes, every once and a while they get a little loud, but that is probably because I'm laughing so hard I think I might pee myself. By the end of class, my face is always hurting from laughing so much.

Anyway, I couldn't contain my love for these boys, I just had to share :)

Infinite World Tour

My last summer trip: a weekend in Seoul to fuel my new obsession… KPOP.

After a week of deskwarming, I hopped on the fast train to Seoul to meet up with Adrienne, who had flown in from Tokyo earlier that day. The next day was the event we both had been waiting for for a long time. The INFINITE concert. We were pumped. We even got shirts made from the shop in my college town that I picked up during the wedding trip.

Saturday we woke up and headed out shopping for a bit, taking advantage of the H&M and Forever 21, before we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the concert. 

The fans donate rice and the group gives it to charity

After a winding walk in the subway station, hopping off the wrong subway just in time (and Adrienne literally having to leap over an old lady and her luggage) then finally getting on the right subway, we were off! We realized we were on the right subway when other Infinite fans were surrounding us. We got off the subway and were immediately immersed in street venders trying to sell us merchandise. We really wanted glow sticks, but we waited to get closer to the concert where we picked up our tickets. Lesson #1: the good merchandise isn’t near the concert. In Korea, it is all sold out by the time you get there, so we were out of luck and had to end up buying cheap, generic glow sticks. We found our way inside and found our seats, where there were signs waiting for us for a “fan project”. We would hold up this particular sign when Infinite was singing their last song. As a surprise for the group members.

Inside the venue

Glow sticks- a must

There had also been a ton of “no cameras” signs everywhere, but I had planned on ignoring them and hoped not to get caught. If I did, what would they do? Scold me and tell me to put it away. I could deal with that. So I was trying to take a few sly pictures when I saw a security guard go over to another waygook, ask for her camera, then asked to follow her out of the concert. She never returned. Lesson #2: They will kick you out of the concert if you try to break their rules. So I kept my camera hidden the rest of the night and planned on borrowing pictures from the internet later.

My only 2 pictures

We enjoyed the concert so much. They are great live performers. They really engage the fans and try their best to make everyone happy. They threw signed paper planes to the crowd, they did “fan service” (basically hugging and joking with each other), one member “proposed” to a fan and gave her a ring and a flower and they even took selfies with fans’ camera phones. Wait, I thought no pictures allowed. Oh well. But it was a great concert. And when we held up the signs at the end, they all were really touched, some even crying.

Borrowed from the internet :)

It’s a big thing here apparently. Fan projects and making the members feel appreciated. Fans here even collect donations for the idols’ birthdays and send them a large amount of gifts. As if they don’t already have everything they will ever need.

Again, borrowed from the internet

After the concert was over, Adrienne and I headed out. Only to be greeted by a huge line for subway tickets. Lesson #3: Get your return ticket before the concert begins. We waited for EVER. And we were starving. But we had a great time. I hope to get to see them in concert again.

After the concert- happy girls!

The banners we held up on their last song- it says "I'll be waiting Infinite"