3 Things...

These are a few things I've been meaning to write about that make me chuckle a bit...

1. Facial Lotion

A few months ago, on Teacher's Day, I received some facial lotion from one of my students in Seoul. I've been using it regularly along with other facial lotion I already have. One of my new coworkers came over to my house last week to see how the move-in was going. I had all the bathroom products spread out right outside the door because I had been deep cleaning the bathroom. My coworker had this puzzled look to her face and she grabbed this lotion. Then she asked me why I was using a 'bleaching cream.' My first reaction was, "WTF Jienie!!" [the student who I received the gift from]. So I think this explains why I've noticed that I'm more pale than usual. Here I sat thinking it was because I had not gone on a tropical vacation this summer. I don't know if I should be mad at Jienie and her parents for trying to make me 'white' or if I should just think of it as a nice gesture. In Korea, 'lighter skin is better.'

2. "This area is famous for..."

One of my coworkers speaks English alright. She has been trying to show me around and explain the daily routine here. She has trouble expressing herself sometimes. She'll usually start on a thought, then I come in and try and finish what she was trying to say. She tends to use the phrase, "This area is famous for...." quite a bit. Sometimes it doesn't even make sense at all. But I just nod politely to let her know I understand. There were two instances when I kinda couldn't help it but to laugh when she used this phrase. The first time was when we were having lunch and a crap load of flies attacked our table. She instantly used the phrase and said, "This area is famous for flies." I didn't know how to really think of this quote. I know she didn't mean it in a way where please from all over the world come here just to be attacked by flies while trying to enjoy lunch. I'm pretty sure she meant to say something more along the lines of, "damn, so many flies in this joint." The second time she used this phrase and made me laugh was a day she came over to my house to check up on me. It was a hot/windy day and had just rained. The smell of manure from the cows across the street was pretty strong. I saw my coworker make a face of disgust followed by, "This are is famous for cows." I lulzed because I KNEW she wanted to say something like, "Damn it hella smells like shit!" Oh that Kim Hae-ran teacher is pretty funny.

3. Name Change
On my first day at Cheonbuk, I was pretty surprised to see how much power the principal actually had. Not gonna lie, just talking to him kinda intimidated me from the get go. He didn't seem like such a nice/caring person. But whatever, I just wanted to make a good first impression... I even wore my "Republic of Korea" t-shirt! As soon as I introduced myself, he said, "What??" I wasn't mad or anything and so I went ahead and introduced myself again. Apparently he still didn't get it. He said it would be too hard for the students to pronounce. I was like, WTF >__< So then I suggested he called me by my middle name. The conversation went like this...

ME: Hmmm. Ok, you can call me Alexander.
PRINCIPAL: Ehhh...Uhhh Allle??
ME: ALEXANDER! My name is Alexander.
PRINCIPAL: Alex-uh, ahhh yeh yehhh Alex-uh. OkOk yehhh. Alex-uh.
ME: *sigh* Hmm, yeah.... hello my name is Alex-uh.

The smell of manure lingers through my new home in the village.

New Location:Nakdong-ri, Boryeong-si, Chungcheongnam-do 355-810, South Korea <--- Google Map it!

So I've been living at my new location for a week and a half now. This place really is a village. It's nothing more than a farming community. Everywhere you look, there are rice patties and corn fields. And I know there are lots of cows around as well, even though I haven't seen them. No one can deny the existence of the unique smell of manure that seems to carelessly flow through the thick and humid air.

I live in this little place called Cheonbuk. As the recruiters were driving me here, all I could think about was, "What the hellllll?" While interviewing for this position, I was asked by 3 different people if I was ok with a 'rural area.' Of course I said yes for a couple reasons; 1 - I had been living at Jomel's place for 2 weeks... a rural town, but I thought it wasn't bad. It had multiple roads, community center, bus terminal, river, markets, etc. 2 - I needed a job, and really wanted this position because it was public school job. As we're driving, all of a sudden I accidentally blurted out what was on my mind, "Oh...myyyy..Goddd!!" Then I proceeded into an uncontrollable nervous laugh attack.

I'm pretty sure the two recruiters driving me were thinking the exact same thing, because immediately after they started laughing a lot. Of course they tried, in their broken English, reassuring me that everything would be alright in Cheonbuk.

I've got to admit, I really don't mind the incredibly small village feel. I'm slowly becoming a celebrity around here, being the only foreigner for miles. The people are pretty friendly once they know who I am and what I'm doing here. I have gotten good treatment at most of the restaurants I've been to in the area. In fact, one of the places across the street from my house always gives me more food/drink than what I order.

My coworker described the location of my house as "downtown" Cheonbuk. I chuckled a bit. I would say this so called downtown is made up of about 3 blocks worth of suff. There are a few restaurants, post office, bank, market [no vegetables], police station, clinic, and some other things which I don't know what they are. The nearest actual small town [lacks malls, movie theaters, etc.] is a 20-25 minute bus ride away. It's called Gwancheong. It has a farmer's market like place that sells lots of veggies and other miscelaneous crap. There is also a train station there that goes to Seoul.

One cool thing about this location in my proximity to the sea. One of the teachers drove me out the beach the other day. It is actually very nice. I could smell the salt in the air. Reminded me a lot of Seattle, minus the overly developed skyline. The beach itself is not sandy... it's actually made up of milllions of shells. Went to a seafood restaurant... oh man, so good! Everything was practically alive and there was a huge variety of stuff as well! I guess the village has it's ups and downs.

New House:

My new place is a huge upgrade from my small closet back in Seoul. I was given a 2 bedroom/1 bathroom house. The living room area is also very spacious. There is a large kitchen together with a dining area included. The house also has a separate laundry area. It's cool to have such a big place after that tiny whole-in-the-wall I used to have. I actually don't even know what to do with so much space. I think I spent my first 4 or 5 days at the house just cleaning the place... tackling one room at a time until I as satisfied with how clean it was.

I got internet installed [$30/month] and now cable tv [$120/year]. I really didn't need cable, but it's kinda cool since I get some English channels I really like [CNN, Discovery, Animal Planet, National Geographic, etc]. Man, I WISH I could get Univision hahahaha. The only thing that my house is missing now is some food in the kitchen. I really don't have much other than cereal, milk, yogurt, eggs, and some peaches.

My house is on the second floor of some unoccupied offices. And I don't have neighbors right next to me. This is great because I can turn up the volume on the music as high as I like. A lot of people in the village already know where I live. Some of my students will actually wait for me to come out of my house in the morning so we can all walk [150 steps] to school together.

New Job:

The new job is teaching English at two different elementary schools. One of the schools, like I mentioned, is only about 150 steps from my house. The second school is a 5 min bus ride away. Both schools seem to have really nice staff members. The principal at Nakdong is very motherly. She's always making sure I eat, have tea/coffee, and to keep the A/C on for me. She's hella nice. Right now it's summer vacation. We've been doing English Camp for the 5th and 6th graders. Last week and this week I just teach from about 9:30am-12:00pm, then it's lunch time! Usually we go out to some restaurant and the school pays, so I really like that part. Next week classes begin again in a normal school schedule. I haven't received my timetable yet, but all I know is I'll be teaching 1st-6th grade. I'm pretty excited about it. The kids I've worked with these two weeks are pretty nice and they bow to me hahaa. Their English level is a lot lower than the kindergarten kids I had back in Seoul. But I like this age group better... they don't require as much energy. I have yet to put a kid in time-out.