War? We've heard it all before.

'So...Emma Teacher, North Korea, should I worry?'
'Hmmm....North Korea, they're silly but I don't think they are so silly'

When the news of North Korea bombing Yeonpyeong Island reached my staff room the response amongst my Korean co-workers was one of mild frustration and amusement rather than major concern and anger. Judging by the international news coverage and the many messages of concern (thank you, I was very touched) it seems that the events were more hyped outside of Korea rather than inside. Not to say that it passed us by completely, it's more that people seemed relativity unphased/unsurprised. Most Koreans that I have talked to want reunification and know that conflict will be part of the process. Technically the war is not over, this is just prolonged armistice.

Funnily enough the most interesting reaction to the North Korean attack came from my class of 7 year old boys. In the days following the attack, totally unprompted (Not that these little toughnuts need any kind of motivation to fill they sketch books with guns, tanks and jets.) they began to draw very animated pictures of South Korea blowing North Korea to smithereens. When I talked to my Korean co-teacher about this, her reply was simple: 'Jeannie, we have a bloody history'

In search of Cats.

Real cats?
Yes real cats.
AND you can hug them?
Yes.
AND drink tea?
Yes.

Daegu Cat Cafe, It was just a rumour, a friend of a friends co-worker had once gone there. I had to find it. Its no secret that my fondness of cats goes beyond ridiculous. I miss my Lola-Meow a lot, and the withdrawal has been tough.

It took a little finding but after a couple of phone calls, talk of a Mexican restaurant and one dark ally the treasure was unearthed. Cats real cats, cuddly kittens and fluff balls galore, not to mention tea, coffee, beer and banana smoothies.

Happiness is a cat in the lap and cuppa in hand.

An apple for the teacher

I'm constantly surprised at the respect that teachers, even the pretend ones such as myself, are given. Almost every week one of the parents has some kind of treat (usually edible) delivered to the school for us all to enjoy. On one occasion one of the five year old's was sick at lunch time, not really a big deal I thought. By mid afternoon we were all noshing down on fruit waffles sent in by the mother to apologize for us having to deal with their marginally ill child.

Chuseok - Korean Thanksgiving is being celebrated this week, which for me simply means three days off work, but for Koreans its about as big as Christmas. All day Friday and Monday gifts from the parents were flowing into the office, usually large gift baskets/boxes filled with foodie items such as rice cakes (see above) or yummy smelling soaps and things. Feeling overwhelmed and amused, as I was handed a huge box of dried seaweed, I was told by one of my co-workers that if I thought this was something  "I should wait for Teachers Day". A whole day dedicated to honouring teachers? Now that really is something you wouldn't get back home!

Photos are go

It took me most of a night to figure it out but I did it! Photo albums from my trips about are now available by clicking on the tab to the left. They're largely unedited and I'm still in the process of adding captions - bear with me I'll get there.

Rocking the Hanbok

Next week is Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving, so this week we had a Chuseok party at school. All the preschoolers and teachers dressed up in Hanbok, played games and made and ate song pyeon (steamed rice cakes). By the end of the day the kids were about as excited as we were exhausted aka the party was a success.

Korean traditional dress - Hanbok consists of a poofy petticoat with a long over skirt/dress (usually pink for unmarried girls and red for married women) on top you wear a little fitted jacket. The great thing about Hanbok is that the quantity of fabric means that its comfortable and flattering on all. The downside of which is that its quite hot and somewhat cumbersome to wear when entertaining 45 preschoolers during an unusually hot autumn day.

Laughter is the best medicine

The great thing about teaching young children is that it reminds me to laugh. One of my favourite classes I have is Saturn class (all out pre-school classes are named after planets) they're a group of eight, 6 year old boys. They're boisterous, loud and cheeky and I usually walk out of class feeling like I've just survived a natural disaster. But I love them. Every time I teach them I laugh. One of them is always doing something that is, usually unintentionally, hilarious. I can be having a rubbish day, fed up with lesson planning, report writing and questioning why I decided to do any of this at all. But, after 40 minutes with Saturn, I may still not be feeling like a box of birds but, I would have laughed at least once, which does wonders for the soul.

One of 'my boys' is a really good drawer. He likes to draw 3 things, jets, guns and dinosaurs. The other kids are great, they'll look at Sam's drawings and go nuts, pretending to be scared of one of his dinosaurs, they'll shriek and hide under chairs. Either that or suddenly I have class full of fighter pilots and machine guns. I love this, their imagination and creativity is fantastic. I feel like such a task mistress having to pull them away from their imaginings. I remember playing 'pretend' for hours as a child, we were everything from forest animals to French war heroes, the lunch bell ringing or home time at the end of playmate was always such a disappointment.

One of the things that I really like about Arche - my school is that its reasonably well rounded with an emphasis on play and creativity. By comparison to NZ standards there are a lot of expectations put on the kids and by proxy their teachers to work hard and achieve well. I am constantly stunned by the amount of home work and extra curricular activities my students do. Its nice to work in an environment that gives me a degree of space and freedom to make the lessons as enjoyable and creative as I can. I'm sure my kids will agree that I don't always succeed but at least I'm giving it a go.

Teaching should be full of ideas instead of stuffed with facts.

~Author Unknown

First impressions

So surreal have the last two weeks been that it feels more like two months.

Everywhere I go I take my notebook. Jotted throughout are essential pieces of information, everything from how to say hello in Korean to emergency numbers. Scattered amongst these vital tidbits is an eclectic and at times erratic collection of memories, musings and impressions.

So, in attempt to decipher not only my own handwriting but the reality of the first two weeks of my Daegu dream here are a few of those first experiences and impressions.

Flying:

As expected my flight over was arduous. The highlight was discovering that the in-flight entertainment included the documentary about Christian the Lion (youtube it, will melt any heart). The lowlight was losing the plot while watching the Topp Twins doco. Had a bit of a cry into my to-much-manky-rockmelon fruit salad while the man in the seat next to me looked uncomfortable and fiddled with this tomato sauce sachet.

Arrival:

As we landed at Incheon airport there was a rainbow in the sky. I took this as a good sign.

Self sufficiency:

From Incheon I had a four hour bus ride to Daegu. I arrived around 1am. Having been awake for near on 24 hours I was tired, confused and memorised by the numerous neon lights. I was also alone. Mr Seong (my boss) was supposed to be at the bus stop but, even in Korea, the best laid plans fall through. Unsure where I was - had I got off at the right bus stop? - I checked in a nearby Hotel. Emails sent, received and I was found.

The best thing about any scary/stressful situation is being able to look back and laugh. The bizzare interaction I had with a helpful but utterly useless taxi driver, the image of me trying to carry all my bags at once in the rain (did I mention that I arrived during a typhoon?) cause me to have a private giggle. But, what really makes me laugh (out loud) is discovering that the hotel I blindly checked myself into was a Love Hotel. The complimentary condoms probably should have been a dead give away but it wasn't till I tried to turn the lights off that the penny dropped. I couldn't turn them off, I could only make them dim and go red. Brings a whole new level to the term 'red light district'.

Impressions:

Korean TV makes me laugh, I watch it for the ads. My favourite is a Korean Dorothy and the rest of her Wizard of Oz pals dancing/singing to a jingle written to the same tune as the 'YMCA'...I think they are advertising cell phones.

I've seen some pretty sweet bikes. Mostly ridden by old men and women. Clearly the Wellington scene hasn't reached Korea yet.

While I still have a lot of Daegu left to explore I think I've found my favourite street. None of the streets really have names, rather they are identified by what they sell, i.e. cell phone street. I recently discovered Culture Street. This little gem is home of an array of galleries, han bok (traditional Korean dress) shops, musical instruments and a couple of really nice independent (somewhat of a rarity) cafes . My fav is called 'the kitchen' the décor is kind of kitsch/pop art. Needless to say it would go down well in Wellington.

People are kind. The other day as I was walking home with my groceries an elderly lady tapped me on the shoulder grabbed one of the bags from my hand carried it part way home for me.

Its hard to explain, but so many things in Korea are just....so cheesy? kitsch? I'm not sure what it is.

And of course there is school. School is manic/ full on/ great/ overwhelming - so much so that I think it deserves its very own post.

Where?

Daegu

Where?

Ummm south east of Seoul, north of Busan.

Hope you're not going to North Korea (chuckle chuckle)

No, no, its quite south of the parallel, its the 3rd largest city.

Really (raises an eyebrow)

Do you like Kimchi?