I Could Keep Apologizing…

…for my long absences from these postings, but I think I will simply post and be done with it!

As I was thinking of writing this post, I was struck with the concept of how much Charity and I have changed in the last 6 months.

They say that so much changes in your first year of marriage. Let’s see how true that is. I am writing the first rough draft of this post as we head to 속조 (Soekcho being the best translation), a little city on the eastern coast of Korea. The specter of Seoul shrouded in the mid-morning fog mutes and blurs the sharpness of the building lines as we slowly leave it behind.

I sit next to my traveling companion and best friend. She sits quietly, sweetly listening to her iPod and passively soaking in yet another hundred new sights a minute. My biggest blessing is in human female form.

What’s more I sit in a wonderful seat. The seats on this bus are ample, comfortable and—compared to those in the US—worth three times the price we paid of 20,000 won (about $17). I will say that the seats are quite necessary as the roads are nothing to speak of…

How have things changed, you may ask. Thanks for your question. First—and most obviously—I am winding my way through mountains 7,500 miles from the Lower 48. I am constantly surrounded by a spoken and written language which I only understand the most basic, rudimentary aspects of…forget speaking fluently!

Second, I am in a new job which is both challenging and wonderful. However, teaching is completely different from the Financial Services industry I was in only about 6 months ago.

Third, I have been eating food that I would have never thought to even try. What is more, some foods that I didn’t enjoy at home, I now find myself yearning and craving. We were invited to Chinese food by one of the students last week. As strange dish after dish was placed before us, I hesitated several times. Amazingly though, the food, although foreign to my taste-buds, was a delicious and wonderful experience.

I guess fourth would be the addition of a dog to our duo. She barks in Korean so I really have no idea what she is saying. Also we have to put 김치(Kimchi) on her dog food or she won’t eat it… In all seriousness, Mia has become Charity’s favorite new distraction. I have never seen a person go from “dogs are gross” to “ISN’T SHE THE CUTEST THING EVER!!!." *Gross!*

All this and more has changed since we have been here. But I won’t lie, there are times when I thought “Are we crazy?” and “What are we doing here"?” I also would be ready and willing to admit that our lives have become both harder and easier in different ways. There are moments when I desperately want to be home among those I know and love. Times when I think of SSBC back home and long for that local assembly. Then there are times on holidays that I really wish I were home.

On a separate note, Charity and I have been plugging away at the Korean Language classes (한국어 for those who can read it). Both of us wish we could speak as well as we are starting to understand and write. To give you an idea of some of out complications, let me bring a small dawn of light on some of our struggles. The most confusing aspect to date has been the number system. In order from 0-10 is 공, 하나, 둘, 셋, 넷, 다섯, 여섯, 일곱, 여덟, 아홉, 열 in the native Korean system. The problem is there is a use of the Chinese system as follows: 공, 일, 이, 삼, 사, 오, 욕, 칠, 구, 십. Now don’t worry about the pronunciation, the simple fact that the numbers have different symbols will tell you that they sound differently. The native Korean is used to count things like meals and other small things. The Chinese numbers are used to count money amounts and phone numbers to name a few uses.

Here is where it gets confusing! To say 3:33 (a time) you have to say 세시(시 meaning “Hours”) 삼십삼분 (분 meaning minutes). So for those that have taken the time to read this far, you can see that there is a use of one number system for the hours and another for minutes. Let me just say: “AAAAAAAaaaaahhhhhhh!”

Well, there is more to say, but it will have to wait…

More to come…

저는 단 이에요…

…But you already knew that didn’t you? 

 

I know that it has been a long time since I dropped my meager ripple in the information super-puddle, but I am back, if only for a mist-like moment.

 

Lets do a little math.  During the school year there are 8 hours of on site work.  Most of the time is devoted to teaching or preparation for teaching.  My role is very heavily laden with in between class questions, grading and teaching.  Interestingly enough, I also seemed to be taking a lot of my work home in the form of grading.  By my calculations I spend 8 hours at work per day plus perhaps another 30 minutes a night for a total of 42.5 hours of work a week. 

 

Fast forward to the last two weeks.  I spend 4-6 hours a day at school with perhaps an hour or two per week for preparation.  So lets say 26 hours—about half that of the normal school week—and then add to that 6 hours of class plus study time and that still puts me about 10 hours a week less time than during the normal school year. 

 

Mathematically, I should have more free time, but somehow I have been feeling busier than ever before.

 

By the way, the title of this post is “I am Dan.” “저는” means I.  “단” is literally Dan as it is easier than saying Daw-nee-ael.  The nearest approximation of “이에요” has a basic meaning of “is” or “am.”  So the literal translation is actually “I Dan am.” S DO V.

I think the sad part of the above is the length of time it took me to memorize how to say that as well to write it correctly.  I am a loooong way from using this language correctly!

 

Well, there is little else at this point to say other than we would love to hear from you!

 

More to come…

Looking Back…

Ok, so this has been an only marginally interesting week.  I say marginally because we have been in school in the routine for most of it, but we did get Children’s Day off.

 

I cannot say that we really did much on Tuesday.  We did go to Yongson to get a power supply for one of the other teachers for her laptop.  What you have to love about Yongson is the ability to ask on “flea market” style vendor and if you don’t like the price, simply barter.

 

One cool thing we saw (and I couldn’t resist trying) was the “Kkultarae” (꿀타래).  You can see it being made in the video I found on YouTube below.  It is basically honey that has been fermented and then pressed with a small hole made in the middle of the “pancake” which is then pulled like taffy and folded.  Unlike taffy though, the individual strands are kept separated by malt.  The finished little cushion of fine strands is wrapped around nuts and sesame seed oil which makes a wonderful treat.

 

I can’t say that we have done much interesting since then.  We both have been getting ready for summer.  That may sound like a simple statement, but it involves the installation of a air-con for the apartment, reading up on Hangul, figuring out our Master’s degree correspondence classes (yes we are both trying to get our Masters in Education) and preparing for summer school.  It has been a little difficult to know that we are only going to get a week or so off before we have to be back and teaching again.  Also, the week school is over is the same week that our Hangul classes start at Seoul National University (aka Seouldae or 서울대).

 

So, we are looking forward to a pretty busy summer! 

 

Also, pretty soon on the horizon we are going to be “debt free.”  What a blessing it has been to be here in Korea!  I am doing what I love in a new country while experiencing new aspects of the culture and all the while I am paying off debts back home.  I am profoundly at peace with the world it would seem.

 

Ok, so may 10th was Mother’s Day.  I thought it would be good to talk on the differences between Korea and America on this important holiday. 

 

First, Korea has new true “Mother’s Day.”  Tuesday was Children’s Day and Friday (which is actually carried over into Sunday) is Parent’s Day.  Now I think to understand Children’s Day fully, you would have to understand that Christmas in not nearly the marketing mayhem that you have there in the States.  It is actually very low-key and sedate comparably.  Children’s Day is comparable to Christmas in that Parents will spend most of the day with their children.  Also, this tends to be the time of doting and presents. 

 

For us, we went to Outback (I know it sounds a little strange, but Outback restaurants are quite prolific here) and they gave us “service” (ie something free) of those mini brown bread loves with their signature butter in extra tubs. 

 

Parent’s Day is actually Mother’s Day evolved.  I have been told that in Korea “every day is Father’s Day” and now so is Parent’s Day.  The holiday is geared more to the mother and the father does take a back seat.  The usual gifts are a carnation along with some other small gift like, *snicker*, a necktie for dad.

 

I wish I had more to say, but if there are any comments or thought, please drop me a comment on the blog for all to see and I will respond accordingly.

 

Otherwise, more to come…