Yes, Skin Color Counts

For some reason Korean television stations feel that children learning English is prime time worthy news, so they seem to always send camera crews to film this major milestone in a child’s life. It always makes me laugh when television crews come into whichever school I’m teaching at in Korea and routinely bypass me and my classroom. I see them posed outside the classroom, maybe in part because the kids are either really loud and excited or diligently writing and creating, then when they walk inside and see me, they quickly turn around and leave.

Sometimes I’ll hear someone in the crew talk about they don’t want to film a Korean teaching English, they want to film an American, kyopos don’t count as American when it comes to filming.

The only time that being kyopo was an “advantage” for the television crews was when I taught at SEV and a bunch of Russian kids were studying there for two weeks. Since I was one of the few teachers there that the kids would behave for (probably because I didn’t talk to them like they were kindergartners, but rather as teenagers) and they were vocal in preferring me to some of the other teachers that they had the previous week, they decided that it would be in their best interests to have me teach them in front of the TV cameras. In addition since I’m Korean-looking, it points out the coo that Russian parents sent their kids to Korea to learn English, not England, Ireland, etc., but Korea.

Politics, crazy, huh?

My Friend and Ala Too

As I was wondering around “Little Moscow” I was freezing and happened to walk past a cafe/restaurant My Friend and Ala Too, it was open and looked nice and warm. So obviously I was sold. Stepping inside was a bit like being transported back to Russia, it wasn’t as nice as the places that I ate at while in Russia, but it had the feeling, the ambiance of being there. The fake ivy plants climbing up the brick columns in the middle of the room, the TV blaring Russian news, men sitting with their beers at 10:30 in the morning, the smell of warm bread coming in from the kitchen.

And obviously I got plenty of looks from the customers and the owners, an obviously none Russian girl speaking more Slovak than Russian asking for a menu,  preferably in English. After deciphering the handwritten menu, I decided to have the lamb pelmeni soup without the bread (I was being sacriligious on a Sunday of all days), which also got me more odd looks.

Lamb pelmeni soup

My mouth was watering when the waiter brought my plate to me. And the smell, the delicious smell, was a very good advertisement of what was in store for me. Almost two thirds of the way through my soup, I was already in a food coma which is just more proof about how wonderful it was.

The only negative to the meal was several minutes after I arrived, they started to set up for the lunch rush, which meant cigerette trays everywhere. Growing up, I thought that Korean men were terrible about smoking, seemingly every fifteen minutes or so, getting up from the table to have a smoking break, but Russian men take the cake. It’s nonstop chain-smoking from the moment they sit down at a table. I can’t imagine what it would be like if Russian men weren’t allowed to smoke inside restaurants or cafes.

RaTa

There was a Seoul Eats get-together to have Uzhbek food, which of course since I was halfway hibernating, I didn’t go, but I decided Sunday to check out the place, unfortunately it was closed at 10:30 in the morning on a Sunday morning. So I wandered around the area and food a teeny tiny bakery, Rata.

Rata Russian Bakery

Inside it was more like an English greasy spoon than a bakery, but the breads smelled delicious. I have no idea what the actual names of any of the breads were called, but through a mangle of languages, I was able to find out what each one was filled with.

Lamb pastry on the left and the mashed potatoe pastry on the right.

In the end I decided to get one filled with lamb (DELICIOUS) and one filled with potatoes (FAIL). I think that I need to go back and try the other ones, a couple different types of lamb and a beef one. Oh and only 3,000 won for both massive pastries. Yes!

Bears and Jesus

Jesus resisting temptation.

Over the weekend, Great Faith Church had an exhibit in the subway museum at Gwhangwhamoon station. Only in Korea would there be an exhibit of different biblical passages using teddy bears.

Christmas 2009

Abroad, it’s a bit difficult for me to go to midnight Mass like I normally do in the States, over the last couple of years, I’ve kinda gotten used to the disappointment of not experiencing midnight Mass. If you’ve never been to a Catholic midnight Mass, tag along with a friend, although I’m a bit biased. ^^

Christmas altar at Myeong Dong Cathedral

After Mass, the people who usually attend and help out at the English Mass had tea together, while we waited for the meal (turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, veggies, cranberries, and pumpkin pie) to arrive from Camp Casey. As soon as the turkey (and ham ewww) arrived, the guys went to work carving the meat

the guys of Myeong Dong Seung Dang hard at work

After a gift exchange and the usual gift drawing, I went to get some hot chocolate from Leonidas, unfortunately for me Myeong Dong was the most crowded that I have ever seen it in my life and so I ended up wearing a good portion of my chocolate

Merry Christmas 2009

I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones, filled with fun, laughter, smiles, good food, and conversation.

Avatar

I’ve been disappointed lately by the movies coming out of Hollywood. It seems that every season the quality goes further down, it’s simply just recycling previous movies or badly “re-inventing” comics and cartoon series. Right now the biggest movie is Avatar. I am not a fan of James Cameron. The only movie that he’s made that I’ve liked is Terminator, and that’s really it. James Cameron movies are not really movies that I want/need to see in the theaters the minute that they come out.

I do agree that the graphics were stunning and that it will re-invent/change how graphics, I thought that the CGI moved much better, much more fluidily than the motion capture techniques that are highlighted in The Christmas Carol (and that the characters were less creepy than in motion capture). And parts of the story were unique and the attention to details, as in hiring a linguist to create a language, showed positively in the movie. For the most part the actors did solid jobs. And the best part/line, ‘I come from the jarhead clan.’

And for the bad: the accents going in and out annoyed me to no end. Sam Worthington, I can’t say that he’s a good/great/bad actor since I’ve only seen him in two films in which his accent was all over the place. And I can’t focus on anything but the fact that his accent is everywhere but where it’s supposed to be. It seems that he can’t say more than two consecutive sentences with an American accent in a calm tone and if you want him to have emotion in his voice, forget it, it’s all Aussie, which would be fine if his character was an Aussie.

It’s obvious that the US Marine Corps didn’t have too much input or help in the movie. Why would they, the movie itself is over two hours of bashing the military and the men and women in the military. You don’t like Iraq (or Afghanistan) fine, but don’t bash the men and women who believe in their country so much that they are willing to die for their life. A movie like this isn’t about being “pro-peace” or “intercultural communication” it comes off more as a bashing of America, American culture, American people, and the American military. Every American citizen has a right to their opinion about the States, the right to express their opinion, I have definitely expressed my opinions about things that I don’t like about America, but I would never say that I bashed America, especially like Avatar does.

I think on some levels this movie annoys me because two years ago, I realized that I was actually still a citizen of the Republic of Korea, but to get a particular visa (F4 for someone of Korean descent but a citizen of another country), I had to sign away my rights as a Korean citizen. That was a painful process for me. I love my homeland and I love the country that I’ve called home for two-thirds of my life, I thoroughly dislike it whenever Korea and America go head to head in some sports competition, I usually hope for a tie, even when it’s not possible. I have friends around the world that would give anything to legally have a US passport or greencard, that every year apply for the greencard lottery and look for ways to be more “attractive” in the visa application process. I also come from Texas, which is a military state, so many of my male friends are in one of the branches of the military (mostly Army and the Marine Corps). And so it hurts to watch movies or hear Hollywood actors downing the States or the military.

I had higher hopes for Avatar but in the end for me, regardless of all the technological advances, it was a great disappointment to me and I doubt that I will be spending any money on watching it or any of its sequels in the future.

It’s Almost the End

I have to admit the two days that I had to work this week were sheer torture for me. Not really for any other reason than because for two days I had to sit in my office and have to find things for me to do to keep from being bored out of my mind. And that was mostly because I didn’t have a single class during the week and Min-hui was assigned to be the Singa Winter Camp director, which meant I didn’t have to plan and write all the lesson plans by myself, in fact she’s actually writing most of the lesson plans. My mind was already on Christmas Vacation Time, daydreaming of being able to sleep in (and not having to see KYY unless she’s hogging both sides of the stairwell in our apartment).

It was decided that almost all of the teachers, the vice principals and the principal were going on an overnight trip, to bond and “get ready for the next year.” Everyone forgot to tell me until the very last moment (something that I won’t miss about Korea), which I’m not interested in seeing everyone else drunk off their butts for two days and being stuck with KYY. Everyone assured me that I won’t have to be around KYY, because they didn’t think that she would go. But let’s be serious, she has no friends at the school or in Seoul, she spends every night in her apartment by herself or at COEX by herself, so even if no one talks to her the entire trip, she’ll still be around people, she’s going. I looked at them and asked where would they put the person who doesn’t eat pig meat and speaks better English than Korean…with the Korean teacher that’s the least liked and speaks English??? No one really said denied that would happen, that in a moment of desperation to throw me with KYY so that they could avoid having to be around her. So I obviously didn’t go but I did enjoy a couple of lazy days in my apartment, listening to Christmas music and watching American TV.

Although I wasn’t expecting a Christmas party, I do find it interesting that for Chuseok, the school didn’t do anything special for its teachers or staff, but it do things for the principal’s 100th day. I mean even SEV did stuff for its teachers to celebrate Chuseok.

And apparently in February I have to have dinner with the vice principals and the principal because they’re going to miss me so much.

Samcheongdong

After Mass last Sunday (yes, I know it’s a Sunday, but it’s freezing cold, the high was -2C and I hibernate in my apartment unless a friend drags me out or I have Mass) I went to Samcheongdong (I think I’m currently trying to have chocolate at every cafe in the area.) to pick up my Goguryeo hanbok.

hot "chocolate" and delicious cranberry butter cookies

But first I went to The Little Prince Cafe, I constantly walk by it on my way for waffles and am intrigued by it so Idecided to try it yesterday. The inside is nothing like the outside, outside scenes from the Little Prince are painted on the walls of the cafe, but on the inside there are rows and rows of floral pictures. It was a little disappointing to find that out. I ordered my usual hot chocolate and a macadamia cookie. Instead I received milk with some chocolate flavoring and the most delicious cranberry butter cookies that I have ever had in my life, so I’m really not complaining too much.

Then it was on to GGoo to pick up my dress. I had wanted to go with more “peasant” colors and color scheme, darker colors that were accented by slightly lighter shades. The woman who maded the dress looked and me and said that with my coloring I should go with more “aristocrat” colors and color scheme, brighter and more contrasting colors. I’m really glad that I listened to her. I’m kinda wincing in the pictures because the glass door is open and the raw silk of the hanbok is really light.

a look at my hanbook with and without the jogori

Oh and apparently on the Green line (Line 2), there’s a Christmas subway train. A really bad shot from inside another train.

if you squint you can see the Christmas train on Line 2

Christmas Potluck

My friend Ruth has had this idea for a while now that she wanted to have a Girl’s Christmas Potluck In, which I was all for, food, Christmas music, people, sign me up! This past Saturday (December 19th if anyone is keeping track) we (some girls from Ruth’s church, Ruth, and me) trudged up the hill to Ruth’s house.

yummy!

It was a smorgasbord of western food, roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, pasta Carbonaro, pasta seafood Carbonaro, Guatemala refried black beans and chips, homemade cookies (!!!!), bread, etc.

scattegories fun, words that start with J...

Of course Paul kept us laughing with his jokes and other entertaining activities, especially during scattegories. A fun night and a great way to celebrate Christmas abroad.