Tonight I did something...risky! Risky, that is, when you're a picky eater like I am. I went into a Korean food shop and had a meal there. I even ordered something my friend Roy had recommended to me without ever having seen it before. Call me boring, will they? I'll show them! Who am I talking about?
I have to confess that I've had a hard time finding Korean food that I really like, so I've mostly stuck to foods I'm familiar with. If you were wondering why I eat so much pizza, that's the reason. I guess I figured it was time for something different. My meal was bibimbap (which I'd enjoyed on the flight here) and mandu (Roy's recommendation). Bibimbap is a mixture of rice, vegetables and sauces, and mandu is sort of a stuffed dumpling type of thing. The meal was OK, but man, was it spicy. I'd wager many Koreans have never dealt with sinus congestion in their lives.
I felt full about halfway through the meal, but since I like to get my money's worth (we're talking about 7000 won here!), I tried to eat as much as I possibly could. Since the mandu wasn't as spicy as the bibimbap, I set the bibimbap aside after eating most of it and committed to at least finishing the mandu, an endeavor at which I was successful!
I don't currently foresee myself being a regular diner at that establishment, but I'm glad I had the experience. At least I proved to myself that I can survive being outside my comfort zone just a tad.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Water Week it Was, Plus a Visit From a Friend
This past week sure has been busy for me. One of the other English teachers went on vacation, so I covered an extra kindergarten class. It wasn't too much trouble, but it reminded me of how difficult teaching can be when you're not familiar with the students. Some of those students already knew my name from when I visited their classes while training, and this time around I was able to commit some of their names to memory.
Friday, however, was the most fun day of the work week, because we got to go on a field trip! Our destination was a water park, to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation. I can't remember the last time I went to a water park. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever been to one. I have been to public pools and the like, though, and it's been a long time since then.
The typical swimming uniform for Koreans is a swimsuit, a t-shirt and a baseball cap. I can now add the Dodgers and Astros to the list of MLB caps I've seen here. I even saw a guy and a girl walking around together, one wearing a Yankees cap and the other a Red Sox cap. I wonder if they knew they were on opposing sides of the GREATEST RIVALRY IN SPORTS (according to the moronic national media)?
I brought the only solid-color t-shirt I had available, the red one, and my retro White Sox cap, since it was the only ballcap I had. On the bus ride over I was "fortunate" enough to sit in front of a bunch of girls who typically spend class time pushing my buttons. Before we arrived they'd pushed enough buttons for an international call. They stole my hat, threatened to throw it out the window, and hit me several times. They tried to record me saying things in Korean on their cell phones, but I kept saying other phrases I knew instead of what they wanted me to. The experience was not without stress. I ended up putting my Sox hat in a locker when I got there because I was too concerned about losing it.
Fortunately, when we got to the park I was assigned to stay with the kindergarteners. What a relief: I got to be with the kids who liked me. I spent most of my time in the shallow water, which was considerably deeper for such small children. I've always liked those kindergarteners, but that day I really got to bond with them. Occasionally we mixed with a few of the older classes, but since we were in shallow-water areas, they tended to be the younger grade levels.
I ended up reuniting with those girls who harassed me on the bus at one point. They continued their feud with me, but when they grabbed onto my arms so that I could carry them through the water, I complied with their wishes. I hope they realized that despite their hijinks, I'm still willing to be friendly to them.
The kindergarteners were finished in the water areas before the rest of the classes, which meant I was free to do whatever I wanted until dinnertime. I went on one of the waterslides called "The Tornado" with a Korean teacher and a kid whose name I can't remember. It was fun but scary, because there's a terrifying drop that leads to a large tube where you go up and down the sides with centrifugal force. It looks something like the picture on the side.
After that I decided to take it easy and just relax for the rest of the free time I had, but there was a brief period of frustration when I misplaced my shoes, socks and shorts. It turned out that since the room where I'd originally left them was no longer in use, the kindergarten teachers had taken them to a different area. I was relieved when I got them back. After having dinner we packed up the buses again and went back to school. It was an eventful and tiring day.
Saturday (which is still "today" for me as I write this, though it's past midnight) was noteworthy because I got to see Roy, an old friend of mine, again. He was the one who inspired me to come to Korea, and I'm sure glad he did. He made the three-hour bus trip here and gave me a call when he got to the main intersection near my school. I went outside to find him while still talking on the cell phone, and as soon as he spotted me from a distance I waited for him to cross the street into my neighborhood so we could start catching up.
I took him to Nantapizza 5000, which has become sort of a weekly treat for me. It was a good place to sit and talk while enjoying some inexpensive yet tasty pizza. It was amazing that I hadn't seen him in over five years, but it felt like we could just pick up where we left off. While I don't think I have a lot of friends like that, I'm very thankful for the ones I do have.
There aren't a lot of details that are necessary to share about Roy's visit. We mostly just walked around town and talked about stuff. Some of it was personal, some of it was reminiscing, some of it was just updating each other on what we've done since college. It was really great, though. A lot of people who know me know I feel weird when it comes to revisiting the past, but there are certain types of conversations I miss from my college years. It's hard to describe this type of conversation exactly, but it's one where subject matter can be either frivolous or deeply spiritual. I can't have those with many people I know. Right now I feel very fortunate that I have one friend in Korea with whom such a conversation is possible.
Raffles has swapped around portions of my schedule starting next week, including the addition of a new class. It's a new challenge that I'm a little nervous about, but I guess the changes will keep me on my toes. At least I only teach three classes on Tuesdays now, so...hooray.
Friday, however, was the most fun day of the work week, because we got to go on a field trip! Our destination was a water park, to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation. I can't remember the last time I went to a water park. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever been to one. I have been to public pools and the like, though, and it's been a long time since then.
The typical swimming uniform for Koreans is a swimsuit, a t-shirt and a baseball cap. I can now add the Dodgers and Astros to the list of MLB caps I've seen here. I even saw a guy and a girl walking around together, one wearing a Yankees cap and the other a Red Sox cap. I wonder if they knew they were on opposing sides of the GREATEST RIVALRY IN SPORTS (according to the moronic national media)?
I brought the only solid-color t-shirt I had available, the red one, and my retro White Sox cap, since it was the only ballcap I had. On the bus ride over I was "fortunate" enough to sit in front of a bunch of girls who typically spend class time pushing my buttons. Before we arrived they'd pushed enough buttons for an international call. They stole my hat, threatened to throw it out the window, and hit me several times. They tried to record me saying things in Korean on their cell phones, but I kept saying other phrases I knew instead of what they wanted me to. The experience was not without stress. I ended up putting my Sox hat in a locker when I got there because I was too concerned about losing it.
Fortunately, when we got to the park I was assigned to stay with the kindergarteners. What a relief: I got to be with the kids who liked me. I spent most of my time in the shallow water, which was considerably deeper for such small children. I've always liked those kindergarteners, but that day I really got to bond with them. Occasionally we mixed with a few of the older classes, but since we were in shallow-water areas, they tended to be the younger grade levels.
I ended up reuniting with those girls who harassed me on the bus at one point. They continued their feud with me, but when they grabbed onto my arms so that I could carry them through the water, I complied with their wishes. I hope they realized that despite their hijinks, I'm still willing to be friendly to them.
After that I decided to take it easy and just relax for the rest of the free time I had, but there was a brief period of frustration when I misplaced my shoes, socks and shorts. It turned out that since the room where I'd originally left them was no longer in use, the kindergarten teachers had taken them to a different area. I was relieved when I got them back. After having dinner we packed up the buses again and went back to school. It was an eventful and tiring day.
Saturday (which is still "today" for me as I write this, though it's past midnight) was noteworthy because I got to see Roy, an old friend of mine, again. He was the one who inspired me to come to Korea, and I'm sure glad he did. He made the three-hour bus trip here and gave me a call when he got to the main intersection near my school. I went outside to find him while still talking on the cell phone, and as soon as he spotted me from a distance I waited for him to cross the street into my neighborhood so we could start catching up.
I took him to Nantapizza 5000, which has become sort of a weekly treat for me. It was a good place to sit and talk while enjoying some inexpensive yet tasty pizza. It was amazing that I hadn't seen him in over five years, but it felt like we could just pick up where we left off. While I don't think I have a lot of friends like that, I'm very thankful for the ones I do have.
There aren't a lot of details that are necessary to share about Roy's visit. We mostly just walked around town and talked about stuff. Some of it was personal, some of it was reminiscing, some of it was just updating each other on what we've done since college. It was really great, though. A lot of people who know me know I feel weird when it comes to revisiting the past, but there are certain types of conversations I miss from my college years. It's hard to describe this type of conversation exactly, but it's one where subject matter can be either frivolous or deeply spiritual. I can't have those with many people I know. Right now I feel very fortunate that I have one friend in Korea with whom such a conversation is possible.
Raffles has swapped around portions of my schedule starting next week, including the addition of a new class. It's a new challenge that I'm a little nervous about, but I guess the changes will keep me on my toes. At least I only teach three classes on Tuesdays now, so...hooray.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Throw Out the Heater
So last night I had an interesting experience. I was lying in bed trying to sleep around 2:00 AM when all of a sudden I heard a noise coming from the kitchen. I couldn't tell exactly what it was. It registered in my mind as some sort of popping or bubbling noise. At first I thought it was coming from the hallway or one of the rooms next door (since what would be happening in my kitchen?), but I quickly realized the call was coming from inside the house. I went into the kitchen, turned on the light and found that the hot water heater was leaking onto the floor.
The apartments here in Korea use individual hot water heaters, and unless you have power running to them, you won't get hot water. I learned that the hard way when I first got here, since I didn't know how it worked and I ended up taking cold showers two nights. It turned out the power strip my heater had been plugged into kept tripping, so it wasn't warming up the water for me. The solution was simple: plug it directly into the wall (being the overthinker I am, I assumed that the heater needed to be plugged into the power strip for some reason, so I didn't want to mess with it).
That was in the guest apartment; I've had no such troubles in my current apartment. Apparently though, a small hole developed somewhere in the tank and it began to drip. I used every towel I could find except my bath towel to sop up the water until I finally figured out how to cut off the main water feed to the heater. It stopped the dripping, but now every time you run the water in the kitchen or bathroom it starts again.
Since it happened in the middle of the night, I had no choice but to wait until today to report it. Fortunately, I had the problem contained in the meantime. This afternoon they called the professionals, who said the heater needs to be replaced (which, I guess, makes sense). Until it is though, I'm stuck having to use the guest apartment for my showers. How fortunate for me that it's currently vacant.
This has nothing to do with the heater, but I thought I'd mention that MySoju.com fixed Episode 2 of Three Dads, One Mom, so that's the second Korean drama I'm tackling. So far it's quite a different experience than Lovers in Paris.
The apartments here in Korea use individual hot water heaters, and unless you have power running to them, you won't get hot water. I learned that the hard way when I first got here, since I didn't know how it worked and I ended up taking cold showers two nights. It turned out the power strip my heater had been plugged into kept tripping, so it wasn't warming up the water for me. The solution was simple: plug it directly into the wall (being the overthinker I am, I assumed that the heater needed to be plugged into the power strip for some reason, so I didn't want to mess with it).
That was in the guest apartment; I've had no such troubles in my current apartment. Apparently though, a small hole developed somewhere in the tank and it began to drip. I used every towel I could find except my bath towel to sop up the water until I finally figured out how to cut off the main water feed to the heater. It stopped the dripping, but now every time you run the water in the kitchen or bathroom it starts again.
Since it happened in the middle of the night, I had no choice but to wait until today to report it. Fortunately, I had the problem contained in the meantime. This afternoon they called the professionals, who said the heater needs to be replaced (which, I guess, makes sense). Until it is though, I'm stuck having to use the guest apartment for my showers. How fortunate for me that it's currently vacant.
This has nothing to do with the heater, but I thought I'd mention that MySoju.com fixed Episode 2 of Three Dads, One Mom, so that's the second Korean drama I'm tackling. So far it's quite a different experience than Lovers in Paris.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Thoughts on Lovers in Paris (or...French Twist!)
So I finally finished watching Lovers in Paris. I guess since this is my blog for all things Korean, I'll recap my thoughts on all the dramas I watch here, and include cheesy alternate titles just to keep things light-hearted.
As it was my first experience watching a Korean drama from beginning to end, I don't have much to compare it to. I've seen parts of other dramas, but it's not the same watching random episodes when you're not familiar with or invested in what's happening. From what I can find through the internet, Lovers in Paris was one of Korea's most popular dramas, and many fans seem to consider it one of the better ones out there. I hope this doesn't mean the bar's been set too high for any I decide to watch in the future.
I guess I might as well break this post up into various segments to discuss the various elements I find discussion-worthy.
Plot
I'll preface this section with the standard spoiler warning, because if you plan to watch this drama someday, you might want not want certain things to be given away beforehand. Of course, there are so many twists and turns to the story that it'd take forever to reveal everything. In the interest of space I'll try to set up the main plotlines only without giving away all the details that make it interesting.
Even though she's not the first one billed, the main character is a young Korean woman named Kang Tae-Young who's in Paris studying to be a filmmaker. She has a hard time keeping a job while in Paris, but then she hears about a wealthy auto industry executive (named Han Ki-Joo) who needs a housekeeper. Since Ki-Joo also happens to be Korean, he wants a housekeeper who can prepare Korean meals for him. Given her unusual qualifications for the job (not many Koreans in Paris, you know), Tae-Young jumps on the opportunity as soon as she hears about it.
Tae-Young has a creative spirit, so she quickly takes it upon herself to add her personal touch to Ki-Joo's household. She buys brands of food he doesn't like, redecorates, reorganizes, and leaves cute messages on post-it notes around the house. Ki-Joo finds all this annoying and fires her.
Since Ki-Joo is a shrewd businessman, he does research on all his prospective business associates before meeting them. When examining the file on a French executive he's planning to meet, he discovers that the man's wife is Korean, and from Tae-Young's hometown! Suddenly, he realizes he has an opportunity. He tracks down Tae-Young and asks her to accompany him to a social meeting with this French executive. Tae-Young agrees to go with him in exchange for her job back. When they meet the French executive and his wife, they pretend that Tae-Young is Ki-Joo's fiancee. As planned, Tae-Young and the Korean wife hit it off due to their shared hometown and experiences growing up there (albeit in different generations).
Tae-Young later meets a young Korean man named Soo-Hyuk who helps her out when she gets caught in a difficult situation at a store. It turns out that Soo-Hyuk is Ki-Joo's nephew, and something of a drifter. Ki-Joo was a late child, so he's only six years older than Soo-Hyuk. Even though they're an uncle and nephew, they were more like brothers growing up. The reason Soo-Hyuk is able to travel to other countries and live a fairly carefree lifestyle is because his rich uncle has always been there to give him money when he needed it. When Soo-Hyuk first meets Tae-Young he's smitten with her.
Tae-Young agrees to accompany Ki-Joo to a second social meeting with the French executive, but this one is marred by an embarrassing altercation that starts when one of the other guests accuses Tae-Young of being a prostitute (which he believes to be true from a misunderstood previous encounter). Ki-Joo ends up having to confess that Tae-Young isn't actually his fiancee, and resigns himself to the fact that his company just lost a potential business contract. After Ki-Joo and Tae-Young have a heated argument over the situation they go their separate ways. Unbeknownst to Ki-Joo, Tae-Young writes a letter of apology to the French executive's wife, which smooths things over and allows his company to get the contract.
Despite his poker-faced exterior, Ki-Joo is strangely captivated by Tae-Young, and after he learns that his company got the contract, he wants to reconcile with her. However, he's unable to get in contact with her. Independently, both decide to return to Korea (and we're only on the third episode here!). Ki-Joo's return is meant to be permanent, and Tae-Young's only temporary, but she ends up having to stay longer when family problems arise.
The drama doesn't return to Paris until the very end, so despite the title, over 80% of the series takes place in Korea. As you can probably guess, Tae-Young and Ki-Joo find each other again in Seoul, and things progress from there. Ki-Joo wants a relationship with Tae-Young, but of course, in true drama fashion, it gets complicated.
Ki-Joo's father (who heads the car company) is trying to arrange a marriage for him with the daughter of a congressman. This daughter is your typical haughty rich girl that you can't help but hate. Ki-Joo has no interest in marrying her, but what he doesn't realize is that the congressman is blackmailing his father about a family secret that could ruin the company, and this marriage is what he wants in exchange for keeping quiet. Not only that, but Soo-Hyuk returns to Korea with his eye on Tae-Young, unaware that his uncle is already pursuing her. You can bet some tension arises out of that situation.
What happens? Well, I think this is a good point to say "watch it and find out!" If you're really lazy though, you can probably find a full summary somewhere on the internet.
Ending
My grandmother has told me she isn't always happy with the way these dramas end, and I've seen comments on the internet that suggest other people feel the same way. Does this one have a happy ending? Well, without giving too much away, I will say that yes, it does, though it may not be exactly what you were expecting for most of the series.
What's really interesting is that after the main story concludes you get sort of a second ending which confused me when I first saw it. It's one of those things that makes you question whether everything that came before it was real or not. I actually had to go on the internet to read people's interpretations of it before it made perfect sense to me. It's kind of funny that the ending of LOST was easier for me to understand at first than the ending of a Korean drama.
According to something else I read on the internet, the original ending had one of the characters committing suicide. I'm glad they changed it (oops, did I give away the fact that nobody commits suicide?).
Writing and Acting
It's hard to gauge the acting perfectly when I don't speak Korean, since I don't have a mental reference point of how certain words should be inflected. From what I sensed though, I thought the acting was pretty good. There were times when I felt the characters' emotions, and I doubt I could've cared about this drama if the actors couldn't adequately portray the necessary feelings.
I would also say that this drama was well-written. Of course, there were some melodramatic moments, but the story was engaging, the twists were interesting and the characters were likable. Even when the "good" characters did bad things, I understood why, because they were well-developed. There were times when I was hoping Tae-Young would end up with Soo-Hyuk (who was less dependable but more romantic), and other times when I was hoping it'd be Ki-Joo (who was more dependable but less romantic). Corny, yes, but that's a drama for you.
By the end even some of the "bad guys" were sympathetic figures, and the last time you see them you get the sense that there may be hope for them to change their ways. While a good drama needs an antagonist, the act of hating someone isn't especially fun. I thought it added some positivity to the story that we saw a human side to a few villains.
Music
I'm not exactly sure if this is par for the course, but Lovers in Paris used a lot of recurring musical themes. One was "Moon River," which frequently found its way into the score, and in one scene it was even played diegetically. There were several pop songs that were used for various situations, sometimes with only the music or the melody as part of the score. There was one song that seemed to be used during the fallout from intense moments and another that seemed to be used in heartbreaking moments. I especially liked the one used for the whimsical romantic moments, called "Romantic Love."
My favorite musical selection though, may have been the quiet music playing in the background in one scene. I doubt many people are familiar with this song, but I recognized it as soon as the characters stopped talking for a moment and I got to hear it clearly. It was Extreme's "When I First Kissed You." It's a great album track from a hair metal band who decided to go lounge jazz for a few minutes. I don't know whether it was randomly chosen from some list of songs or whether someone knew the song and suggested it, but either way, I applaud its inclusion.
Other Observations
I found it interesting that this series aired from June to August of 2004 and there was a reference to Marlon Brando's death in one of the episodes. Marlon Brando died on July 1, 2004, so that would suggest to me that these dramas are still being filmed while the series is airing. I guess that makes sense, since I can recall hearing of low-rated dramas being cancelled before they were done with the story. Still, I wonder how close to Marlon Brando's death that particular episode aired, because you'd think they'd want to be several weeks ahead in case there was some sort of holdup during production.
The videos on MySoju.com were generally pretty good, but there were a few episodes here and there with technical issues. In two of them the audio and video got out of sync (not too badly, but just enough to annoy me), and in two others the subtitles would disappear from time to time. Perhaps the subtitler had decided to go back to those scenes later and forgot?
It was also pretty obvious to me that English was the subtitler's second language, as the wording was occasionally awkward. I could usually tell what was intended, though. I frequently saw the word "wish" used when "hope" would've been the proper choice. When the characters say things like "I wish you do well" you know what they mean. I'd frequently "hope" I could've been there to help out the subtitler.
I can't complain too much, as the final product was satisfactory, and it was better than not being able to enjoy the drama at all.
Final Thoughts
Would I recommend Lovers in Paris? If you're the type of person who enjoys a romantic Cinderella story and can handle the roller coaster ride that comes with each new development, then yes, definitely. After having seen the first few episodes months back, I'm glad I can now say I've seen this series in its entirety.
As it was my first experience watching a Korean drama from beginning to end, I don't have much to compare it to. I've seen parts of other dramas, but it's not the same watching random episodes when you're not familiar with or invested in what's happening. From what I can find through the internet, Lovers in Paris was one of Korea's most popular dramas, and many fans seem to consider it one of the better ones out there. I hope this doesn't mean the bar's been set too high for any I decide to watch in the future.
I guess I might as well break this post up into various segments to discuss the various elements I find discussion-worthy.
Plot
I'll preface this section with the standard spoiler warning, because if you plan to watch this drama someday, you might want not want certain things to be given away beforehand. Of course, there are so many twists and turns to the story that it'd take forever to reveal everything. In the interest of space I'll try to set up the main plotlines only without giving away all the details that make it interesting.
Even though she's not the first one billed, the main character is a young Korean woman named Kang Tae-Young who's in Paris studying to be a filmmaker. She has a hard time keeping a job while in Paris, but then she hears about a wealthy auto industry executive (named Han Ki-Joo) who needs a housekeeper. Since Ki-Joo also happens to be Korean, he wants a housekeeper who can prepare Korean meals for him. Given her unusual qualifications for the job (not many Koreans in Paris, you know), Tae-Young jumps on the opportunity as soon as she hears about it.Tae-Young has a creative spirit, so she quickly takes it upon herself to add her personal touch to Ki-Joo's household. She buys brands of food he doesn't like, redecorates, reorganizes, and leaves cute messages on post-it notes around the house. Ki-Joo finds all this annoying and fires her.
Since Ki-Joo is a shrewd businessman, he does research on all his prospective business associates before meeting them. When examining the file on a French executive he's planning to meet, he discovers that the man's wife is Korean, and from Tae-Young's hometown! Suddenly, he realizes he has an opportunity. He tracks down Tae-Young and asks her to accompany him to a social meeting with this French executive. Tae-Young agrees to go with him in exchange for her job back. When they meet the French executive and his wife, they pretend that Tae-Young is Ki-Joo's fiancee. As planned, Tae-Young and the Korean wife hit it off due to their shared hometown and experiences growing up there (albeit in different generations).
Tae-Young later meets a young Korean man named Soo-Hyuk who helps her out when she gets caught in a difficult situation at a store. It turns out that Soo-Hyuk is Ki-Joo's nephew, and something of a drifter. Ki-Joo was a late child, so he's only six years older than Soo-Hyuk. Even though they're an uncle and nephew, they were more like brothers growing up. The reason Soo-Hyuk is able to travel to other countries and live a fairly carefree lifestyle is because his rich uncle has always been there to give him money when he needed it. When Soo-Hyuk first meets Tae-Young he's smitten with her.
Tae-Young agrees to accompany Ki-Joo to a second social meeting with the French executive, but this one is marred by an embarrassing altercation that starts when one of the other guests accuses Tae-Young of being a prostitute (which he believes to be true from a misunderstood previous encounter). Ki-Joo ends up having to confess that Tae-Young isn't actually his fiancee, and resigns himself to the fact that his company just lost a potential business contract. After Ki-Joo and Tae-Young have a heated argument over the situation they go their separate ways. Unbeknownst to Ki-Joo, Tae-Young writes a letter of apology to the French executive's wife, which smooths things over and allows his company to get the contract.
Despite his poker-faced exterior, Ki-Joo is strangely captivated by Tae-Young, and after he learns that his company got the contract, he wants to reconcile with her. However, he's unable to get in contact with her. Independently, both decide to return to Korea (and we're only on the third episode here!). Ki-Joo's return is meant to be permanent, and Tae-Young's only temporary, but she ends up having to stay longer when family problems arise.
The drama doesn't return to Paris until the very end, so despite the title, over 80% of the series takes place in Korea. As you can probably guess, Tae-Young and Ki-Joo find each other again in Seoul, and things progress from there. Ki-Joo wants a relationship with Tae-Young, but of course, in true drama fashion, it gets complicated.
Ki-Joo's father (who heads the car company) is trying to arrange a marriage for him with the daughter of a congressman. This daughter is your typical haughty rich girl that you can't help but hate. Ki-Joo has no interest in marrying her, but what he doesn't realize is that the congressman is blackmailing his father about a family secret that could ruin the company, and this marriage is what he wants in exchange for keeping quiet. Not only that, but Soo-Hyuk returns to Korea with his eye on Tae-Young, unaware that his uncle is already pursuing her. You can bet some tension arises out of that situation.
What happens? Well, I think this is a good point to say "watch it and find out!" If you're really lazy though, you can probably find a full summary somewhere on the internet.
Ending
My grandmother has told me she isn't always happy with the way these dramas end, and I've seen comments on the internet that suggest other people feel the same way. Does this one have a happy ending? Well, without giving too much away, I will say that yes, it does, though it may not be exactly what you were expecting for most of the series.
What's really interesting is that after the main story concludes you get sort of a second ending which confused me when I first saw it. It's one of those things that makes you question whether everything that came before it was real or not. I actually had to go on the internet to read people's interpretations of it before it made perfect sense to me. It's kind of funny that the ending of LOST was easier for me to understand at first than the ending of a Korean drama.
According to something else I read on the internet, the original ending had one of the characters committing suicide. I'm glad they changed it (oops, did I give away the fact that nobody commits suicide?).
Writing and Acting
It's hard to gauge the acting perfectly when I don't speak Korean, since I don't have a mental reference point of how certain words should be inflected. From what I sensed though, I thought the acting was pretty good. There were times when I felt the characters' emotions, and I doubt I could've cared about this drama if the actors couldn't adequately portray the necessary feelings.
I would also say that this drama was well-written. Of course, there were some melodramatic moments, but the story was engaging, the twists were interesting and the characters were likable. Even when the "good" characters did bad things, I understood why, because they were well-developed. There were times when I was hoping Tae-Young would end up with Soo-Hyuk (who was less dependable but more romantic), and other times when I was hoping it'd be Ki-Joo (who was more dependable but less romantic). Corny, yes, but that's a drama for you.
By the end even some of the "bad guys" were sympathetic figures, and the last time you see them you get the sense that there may be hope for them to change their ways. While a good drama needs an antagonist, the act of hating someone isn't especially fun. I thought it added some positivity to the story that we saw a human side to a few villains.
Music
I'm not exactly sure if this is par for the course, but Lovers in Paris used a lot of recurring musical themes. One was "Moon River," which frequently found its way into the score, and in one scene it was even played diegetically. There were several pop songs that were used for various situations, sometimes with only the music or the melody as part of the score. There was one song that seemed to be used during the fallout from intense moments and another that seemed to be used in heartbreaking moments. I especially liked the one used for the whimsical romantic moments, called "Romantic Love."
My favorite musical selection though, may have been the quiet music playing in the background in one scene. I doubt many people are familiar with this song, but I recognized it as soon as the characters stopped talking for a moment and I got to hear it clearly. It was Extreme's "When I First Kissed You." It's a great album track from a hair metal band who decided to go lounge jazz for a few minutes. I don't know whether it was randomly chosen from some list of songs or whether someone knew the song and suggested it, but either way, I applaud its inclusion.
Other Observations
I found it interesting that this series aired from June to August of 2004 and there was a reference to Marlon Brando's death in one of the episodes. Marlon Brando died on July 1, 2004, so that would suggest to me that these dramas are still being filmed while the series is airing. I guess that makes sense, since I can recall hearing of low-rated dramas being cancelled before they were done with the story. Still, I wonder how close to Marlon Brando's death that particular episode aired, because you'd think they'd want to be several weeks ahead in case there was some sort of holdup during production.
The videos on MySoju.com were generally pretty good, but there were a few episodes here and there with technical issues. In two of them the audio and video got out of sync (not too badly, but just enough to annoy me), and in two others the subtitles would disappear from time to time. Perhaps the subtitler had decided to go back to those scenes later and forgot?
It was also pretty obvious to me that English was the subtitler's second language, as the wording was occasionally awkward. I could usually tell what was intended, though. I frequently saw the word "wish" used when "hope" would've been the proper choice. When the characters say things like "I wish you do well" you know what they mean. I'd frequently "hope" I could've been there to help out the subtitler.
I can't complain too much, as the final product was satisfactory, and it was better than not being able to enjoy the drama at all.
Final Thoughts
Would I recommend Lovers in Paris? If you're the type of person who enjoys a romantic Cinderella story and can handle the roller coaster ride that comes with each new development, then yes, definitely. After having seen the first few episodes months back, I'm glad I can now say I've seen this series in its entirety.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
A Short Kindergarten Funny and a Few Minor Updates
Remember when I mentioned in a previous post that after we read a book to the kindergarten class they have to draw pictures of their favorite parts? Remember when I mentioned that the girl I picked last to choose her favorite part started crying last time? This week we read a new book and the kids had to draw pictures again.
I learned that the teacher who preceded me used to let them draw numbers to determine the order in which they chose, so I decided to do the same thing. I added a rule too: the person who picks last this time gets to pick first next time. I figure no one wants to be last two times in a row. That meant the girl who cried last time got to be #1.
There were no tears this time, but I have a story that I wanted to share. There's one boy in this class who's really funny, and he happened to be the one who drew #10. He gave a disappointed "awwwwww!" when he saw his card, so I told him "It's OK! Next time you get to be #1!" His response was to go "Ha ha ha!" in sort of an evil-laughter manner. Maybe it's not as funny on paper, but it was pretty funny at the moment.
I'm sorry I haven't updated as much recently, but I hope to have some new posts up soon. I'm almost done with Lovers in Paris, so I'll probably be giving some thoughts on that once I'm finished watching it. I also have some updates to the various lists I've been keeping on this blog:
I saw a new National League ballcap last week. We can officially add the St. Louis Cardinals to the pile. I think the gap between National and American League cap sightings has closed considerably since I first started keeping track of them, so perhaps it's not necessary to divide by league anymore. Let's see, all the MLB caps I can recall spotting are:
Atlanta Braves
Baltimore Orioles (It was the one that says "O's" on it rather than the picture of a bird)
Boston Red Sox (Unfortunately all-too-common)
Chicago White Sox (I've talked about that phenomenon plenty)
Cleveland Indians (The Indians are pretty popular here. My guess is it's because of Shin-Soo Choo)
Detroit Tigers
Milwaukee Brewers
New York Mets
New York Yankees (The most common, unfortunately but understandably)
Oakland Athletics (I've heard the Bay Area has a large Korean population, which may explain why this one is so popular)
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants (Being the defending champions might be a factor, and also that aforementioned Bay Area thing)
As of right now I can say I distinctly remember seeing half the teams in Major League Baseball. Unless I'm forgetting a few AL teams (for some reason I'm thinking I might have seen the Angels and/or Rangers), the NL has now taken the lead.
Last Saturday I went back downtown and walked around a bit. I even bought a Secret CD while I was there, so my Korean music collection has begun! I heard another Secret song in public that day: "Melodrama." I wanted to stay and listen to it, but it was raining and I didn't have an umbrella with me, so I didn't want to get wetter than I already was.
The list of nicknames might also need some amendments. "Hummingbird" decided to go back to being "Cockatoo," and I'm trying to give this girl in another class the nickname "Pouty Girl." Trust me, there's no more perfect word than "pouty" to describe her personality.
In other good news, I finally found a postcard to send to my friend! I'll have to make a trip to the post office next week to get it mailed out to him, since it's closed on the weekends.
That's all I have for now. I hope I'll be posting here again sooner rather than later.
I learned that the teacher who preceded me used to let them draw numbers to determine the order in which they chose, so I decided to do the same thing. I added a rule too: the person who picks last this time gets to pick first next time. I figure no one wants to be last two times in a row. That meant the girl who cried last time got to be #1.
There were no tears this time, but I have a story that I wanted to share. There's one boy in this class who's really funny, and he happened to be the one who drew #10. He gave a disappointed "awwwwww!" when he saw his card, so I told him "It's OK! Next time you get to be #1!" His response was to go "Ha ha ha!" in sort of an evil-laughter manner. Maybe it's not as funny on paper, but it was pretty funny at the moment.
I'm sorry I haven't updated as much recently, but I hope to have some new posts up soon. I'm almost done with Lovers in Paris, so I'll probably be giving some thoughts on that once I'm finished watching it. I also have some updates to the various lists I've been keeping on this blog:
I saw a new National League ballcap last week. We can officially add the St. Louis Cardinals to the pile. I think the gap between National and American League cap sightings has closed considerably since I first started keeping track of them, so perhaps it's not necessary to divide by league anymore. Let's see, all the MLB caps I can recall spotting are:
Atlanta Braves
Baltimore Orioles (It was the one that says "O's" on it rather than the picture of a bird)
Boston Red Sox (Unfortunately all-too-common)
Chicago White Sox (I've talked about that phenomenon plenty)
Cleveland Indians (The Indians are pretty popular here. My guess is it's because of Shin-Soo Choo)
Detroit Tigers
Milwaukee Brewers
New York Mets
New York Yankees (The most common, unfortunately but understandably)
Oakland Athletics (I've heard the Bay Area has a large Korean population, which may explain why this one is so popular)
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants (Being the defending champions might be a factor, and also that aforementioned Bay Area thing)
As of right now I can say I distinctly remember seeing half the teams in Major League Baseball. Unless I'm forgetting a few AL teams (for some reason I'm thinking I might have seen the Angels and/or Rangers), the NL has now taken the lead.
Last Saturday I went back downtown and walked around a bit. I even bought a Secret CD while I was there, so my Korean music collection has begun! I heard another Secret song in public that day: "Melodrama." I wanted to stay and listen to it, but it was raining and I didn't have an umbrella with me, so I didn't want to get wetter than I already was.
The list of nicknames might also need some amendments. "Hummingbird" decided to go back to being "Cockatoo," and I'm trying to give this girl in another class the nickname "Pouty Girl." Trust me, there's no more perfect word than "pouty" to describe her personality.
In other good news, I finally found a postcard to send to my friend! I'll have to make a trip to the post office next week to get it mailed out to him, since it's closed on the weekends.
That's all I have for now. I hope I'll be posting here again sooner rather than later.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
The Loony Teacher
It's still strange to think of myself as a teacher. I never imagined that one day I'd be the guy in business casual attire carrying a basket full of supplies and an insulated metal coffee cup to class. While I'm still learning, I feel like I'm developing a natural teaching style, and as I become more familiar with the classes and their protocol, I'm more able to project the image of a professional who knows what he's doing.
Learning the kids' names really helps. If you're able to address them directly, it's easier to make a connection with them. I hate to admit there are still several students whose names I don't have committed to memory, but hopefully before too long I'll know them all by heart. Of course, it's fun to come up with nicknames for them. A sampling of some of the ones I have so far:
Ben. There's a kid in one of my classes who looks like the Korean child equivalent of Ben Vereen. He's very smart, but unfortunately he's a bit of a smart aleck as well. If he bugs me I can get him back by calling him "Ben," which annoys him and prompts him to correct me on his name.
My Nemesis. This one kid seems like he can never stop moving his arms, so he's constantly tossing things in the air or pounding on the desk. Needless to say, he can be a bit annoying to deal with. Whenever I see him outside of class I jokingly say "Oh, my nemesis. We meet again." I don't think he has a clue what I'm saying, and it's probably just as well.
Minnie. This boy has shown up to class wearing a Minnie Mouse t-shirt several times, so I started calling him that in an attempt to tease him about it. He's the token sluggard in that class, so he usually doesn't seem to notice when I say it.
Motormouth. This kid has a habit of talking constantly. It almost seems like his mouth is running beyond his control, hence the nickname you see here. He seems to have embraced the nickname, which makes me feel kind of cool. His glove in center field probably won't give Paul Blair a run for his money, though.
Hummingbird. This one was actually adopted by the kid himself. In this class the kids are being taught about different birds, and this one started calling himself "Cockatoo" at first. Somewhere along the line he decided he wanted to be "Hummingbird" instead, and I've been calling him that ever since.
I'm sure some better nicknames will develop in the future, but right now these are the best I can do.
So what is my teaching style like? Well, it actually varies from class to class. In the classes that require more energy to keep the students focused I might best be described as a bizarre hybrid of Conan O'Brien, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Danny Kaye and a drugged-up squirrel (you know, all my comedy influences, except the drugged-up squirrel). I'm sure it must be quite a sight. The kids are often either entertained or frightened, but at least they pay attention, which can be half the battle. For the classes where I have Korean co-teachers, I can usually tone it down a bit, though I occasionally go into crazy-happy mode when the students seem to be dragging.
There are a lot of kids (particularly younger ones) who enjoy harassing the teacher, so they direct remarks at me like "teacher is crazy" or "teacher is loony." Hey, I don't take it personally. I'm not there to be their buddy, I'm there to teach them. As long as they're learning I can go home at the end of the day satisfied.
I often surprise myself with the things I find myself doing. I'm not currently involved with improv, but teaching these classes feels a lot like it sometimes. You constantly have to think on your feet, and that spontaneous joy of discovery shows up a lot.
I'm not a very touchy-feely person, but I've sort of become one when I teach. Because kids are constantly getting up from their seats, you constantly have to be dragging them back. With those physical contact barriers broken down, I frequently find myself touching their faces and heads whenever I need to get them to cooperate. This past week I've even come up with a new threat do direct at the boys who act up in class: the mustache. I take a black dry-erase marker and walk over to the misbehaving kid. I grab his face and say "OK, you're getting a mustache!" It gets them to behave temporarily. Like with most things improv, I have no idea what inspired me to do that, but when you commit to your choices, they usually result in success.
Another big part of my in-class persona is that I imitate the students. When they're speaking Korean instead of English like they're supposed to, I'll phonetically mimic them, which often gets a laugh. When students are laughing amongst themselves I'll walk over to the desk and start laughing with them, often going above and beyond the level of their actual laughter. It's somewhat akin to Tabern laughing at Alex the Clown (few outside my family will get that reference).
Today I even pulled out a famous Family Matters moment. You know that episode where Eddie comes home after his curfew and Carl is angry with him? Remember how right after Eddie's friends exit the scene Eddie's still laughing inanely and Carl sarcastically imitates him? It's pretty legendary among my siblings and me. Today I imitated a kid with that same sarcastic laugh and the class broke up. One kid even fell on the floor because he was laughing so hard. Good old Reginald VelJohnson. Funny in any language.
I'm surprised at how far I've come already. It seems like just yesterday I was walking around totally clueless, and now here I am feeling more and more comfortable in my role. As always, I'm not sure what else this job has in store for me, but as I've mentioned before, I love being able to impart my knowledge of the English language to others. Could this end up being the first job I've ever had that I loved? Well, you know, I wouldn't mind that.
Learning the kids' names really helps. If you're able to address them directly, it's easier to make a connection with them. I hate to admit there are still several students whose names I don't have committed to memory, but hopefully before too long I'll know them all by heart. Of course, it's fun to come up with nicknames for them. A sampling of some of the ones I have so far:
Ben. There's a kid in one of my classes who looks like the Korean child equivalent of Ben Vereen. He's very smart, but unfortunately he's a bit of a smart aleck as well. If he bugs me I can get him back by calling him "Ben," which annoys him and prompts him to correct me on his name.
My Nemesis. This one kid seems like he can never stop moving his arms, so he's constantly tossing things in the air or pounding on the desk. Needless to say, he can be a bit annoying to deal with. Whenever I see him outside of class I jokingly say "Oh, my nemesis. We meet again." I don't think he has a clue what I'm saying, and it's probably just as well.
Minnie. This boy has shown up to class wearing a Minnie Mouse t-shirt several times, so I started calling him that in an attempt to tease him about it. He's the token sluggard in that class, so he usually doesn't seem to notice when I say it.
Motormouth. This kid has a habit of talking constantly. It almost seems like his mouth is running beyond his control, hence the nickname you see here. He seems to have embraced the nickname, which makes me feel kind of cool. His glove in center field probably won't give Paul Blair a run for his money, though.
Hummingbird. This one was actually adopted by the kid himself. In this class the kids are being taught about different birds, and this one started calling himself "Cockatoo" at first. Somewhere along the line he decided he wanted to be "Hummingbird" instead, and I've been calling him that ever since.
I'm sure some better nicknames will develop in the future, but right now these are the best I can do.
So what is my teaching style like? Well, it actually varies from class to class. In the classes that require more energy to keep the students focused I might best be described as a bizarre hybrid of Conan O'Brien, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Danny Kaye and a drugged-up squirrel (you know, all my comedy influences, except the drugged-up squirrel). I'm sure it must be quite a sight. The kids are often either entertained or frightened, but at least they pay attention, which can be half the battle. For the classes where I have Korean co-teachers, I can usually tone it down a bit, though I occasionally go into crazy-happy mode when the students seem to be dragging.
There are a lot of kids (particularly younger ones) who enjoy harassing the teacher, so they direct remarks at me like "teacher is crazy" or "teacher is loony." Hey, I don't take it personally. I'm not there to be their buddy, I'm there to teach them. As long as they're learning I can go home at the end of the day satisfied.
I often surprise myself with the things I find myself doing. I'm not currently involved with improv, but teaching these classes feels a lot like it sometimes. You constantly have to think on your feet, and that spontaneous joy of discovery shows up a lot.
I'm not a very touchy-feely person, but I've sort of become one when I teach. Because kids are constantly getting up from their seats, you constantly have to be dragging them back. With those physical contact barriers broken down, I frequently find myself touching their faces and heads whenever I need to get them to cooperate. This past week I've even come up with a new threat do direct at the boys who act up in class: the mustache. I take a black dry-erase marker and walk over to the misbehaving kid. I grab his face and say "OK, you're getting a mustache!" It gets them to behave temporarily. Like with most things improv, I have no idea what inspired me to do that, but when you commit to your choices, they usually result in success.
Another big part of my in-class persona is that I imitate the students. When they're speaking Korean instead of English like they're supposed to, I'll phonetically mimic them, which often gets a laugh. When students are laughing amongst themselves I'll walk over to the desk and start laughing with them, often going above and beyond the level of their actual laughter. It's somewhat akin to Tabern laughing at Alex the Clown (few outside my family will get that reference).
Today I even pulled out a famous Family Matters moment. You know that episode where Eddie comes home after his curfew and Carl is angry with him? Remember how right after Eddie's friends exit the scene Eddie's still laughing inanely and Carl sarcastically imitates him? It's pretty legendary among my siblings and me. Today I imitated a kid with that same sarcastic laugh and the class broke up. One kid even fell on the floor because he was laughing so hard. Good old Reginald VelJohnson. Funny in any language.
I'm surprised at how far I've come already. It seems like just yesterday I was walking around totally clueless, and now here I am feeling more and more comfortable in my role. As always, I'm not sure what else this job has in store for me, but as I've mentioned before, I love being able to impart my knowledge of the English language to others. Could this end up being the first job I've ever had that I loved? Well, you know, I wouldn't mind that.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Dramarama
Thanks to my wonderful grandmother, I was introduced to the world of Korean dramas back in Chicago. I'll confess I have yet to watch an entire drama from beginning to end, but thanks to the miracle of MySoju.com, I possess the ability to do so. As knowledge of K-Pop has allowed me to make connections with the people of Korea, so might a knowledge of dramas, so I've decided to begin familiarizing myself.
Which drama am I starting with? Well, I figured since I've seen bits and pieces of various dramas, I'd choose one that held particular interest to me, Lovers in Paris. I watched several episodes and it really stuck with me, though I wasn't devoted enough to watch it until the end. I especially liked the lead actress. Her name is Kim Jung Eun, and she's funny and cute. I can't remember if my grandmother told me she liked this one very much, but hey, I can watch it and decide for myself.
The episodes in Chicago are shown in half-hour installments, but I've learned that the original episodes are actually an hour long. Either they edit them heavily or they make two episodes out of one. Most of the stuff I'd seen was from the first two episodes, and I was amazed that I'd seen so much, since I was expecting that I'd missed a lot more than I had. I've just completed Episode 5, so the last half has all been new to me.
So what do I think of it? Well, I can understand the criticisms about the writing and acting quality of these dramas, but doggone it, I don't watch TV expecting masterpieces. If the story manages to make me care, I'm happy, and so far, I definitely care. I hadn't foreseen some of the paths this story would go down, and as you'd expect from a drama, things are getting complicated. I have no idea where it's going to go from here, but that's the whole point (like how I managed to say absolutely nothing about the actual plot?).
Lovers in Paris wasn't actually the first one I attempted to watch. There was a different one called Three Daddies, One Mommy that I watched the first episode of, and I really liked it. The only problem was that the second episode didn't work for some reason, so I'm stuck right now. Hopefully they'll get it fixed so I can see how that one goes.
Three Daddies, One Mommy is actually pretty funny. If it weren't a serialized story it'd probably be classified as a comedy. The plot is that there's a man with three close friends who gets married. He and his wife really want to have children, but the problem is, he's infertile. The husband becomes so desperate that he convinces his three friends to donate their sperm so that he and his wife can conceive. The wife hates the three friends though, so the husband has to keep it a secret that when he goes to the doctor for the special fertility procedures he's actually using his friends' sperm. At the end of Episode 1 they show the husband deciding to mix all three friends' sperm together so that it won't be known which one is the father.
The synopsis of the drama gives away what happens next, but even if it hadn't given it away, the preview for Episode 2 would've: soon after they successfully conceive the husband dies in a car accident, leaving the three friends to take care of his wife. I already have a pretty good idea which of the three friends will end up being the father, since one of them is portrayed as more honest and decent than the other two, and they've foreshadowed it in other ways as well. Of course, who knows if they're planning to pull a plot twist? Anyway, I hope they get Episode 2 fixed so that I can continue watching that one too.
Am I going to become a drama addict? Maybe, maybe not. Of course, I was obsessed with LOST once, so I definitely have the right type of personality. Oh, who am I kidding? Resistance is futile!
The episodes in Chicago are shown in half-hour installments, but I've learned that the original episodes are actually an hour long. Either they edit them heavily or they make two episodes out of one. Most of the stuff I'd seen was from the first two episodes, and I was amazed that I'd seen so much, since I was expecting that I'd missed a lot more than I had. I've just completed Episode 5, so the last half has all been new to me.
So what do I think of it? Well, I can understand the criticisms about the writing and acting quality of these dramas, but doggone it, I don't watch TV expecting masterpieces. If the story manages to make me care, I'm happy, and so far, I definitely care. I hadn't foreseen some of the paths this story would go down, and as you'd expect from a drama, things are getting complicated. I have no idea where it's going to go from here, but that's the whole point (like how I managed to say absolutely nothing about the actual plot?).
Lovers in Paris wasn't actually the first one I attempted to watch. There was a different one called Three Daddies, One Mommy that I watched the first episode of, and I really liked it. The only problem was that the second episode didn't work for some reason, so I'm stuck right now. Hopefully they'll get it fixed so I can see how that one goes.
Three Daddies, One Mommy is actually pretty funny. If it weren't a serialized story it'd probably be classified as a comedy. The plot is that there's a man with three close friends who gets married. He and his wife really want to have children, but the problem is, he's infertile. The husband becomes so desperate that he convinces his three friends to donate their sperm so that he and his wife can conceive. The wife hates the three friends though, so the husband has to keep it a secret that when he goes to the doctor for the special fertility procedures he's actually using his friends' sperm. At the end of Episode 1 they show the husband deciding to mix all three friends' sperm together so that it won't be known which one is the father.
The synopsis of the drama gives away what happens next, but even if it hadn't given it away, the preview for Episode 2 would've: soon after they successfully conceive the husband dies in a car accident, leaving the three friends to take care of his wife. I already have a pretty good idea which of the three friends will end up being the father, since one of them is portrayed as more honest and decent than the other two, and they've foreshadowed it in other ways as well. Of course, who knows if they're planning to pull a plot twist? Anyway, I hope they get Episode 2 fixed so that I can continue watching that one too.
Am I going to become a drama addict? Maybe, maybe not. Of course, I was obsessed with LOST once, so I definitely have the right type of personality. Oh, who am I kidding? Resistance is futile!
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Scenes From a Korean Life
Perhaps it's a sign that I'm settling in when the days all start running together. I can't keep track of what happened which day as well as I used to, so that tells me everything's become business as usual. I still feel somewhat like "the new guy," but less so than I did before. I'm getting more comfortable running classes and dealing with the kids, and I think this job just might work out.
For this post I thought I'd do a bunch of random themed segments that can stand alone. Perhaps this format will work, perhaps it'll be awkward and I'll try to ignore this embarrassing chapter from my blog in the future. Let me know what you think, OK?
Kindergarten
Right now I would have to say my favorite class is the kindergarten class I teach every morning. There are several reasons for this: 1) You basically get to be a big kid for 40 minutes, 2) the stuff you teach is simple and straightforward, and 3) the kids are still at the age where they'll behave. The older kids don't ever want to shut up. You can yell at them to stop talking, and they'll literally go right back to talking once you're done uttering the command. Kindergarteners though? They still respect you and even think you're cool (because hey, someone besides me has to think it).
We sing a song in class every day, and the song we were assigned for this unit is called "We're Going on a Bear Hunt." At the end of the song the protagonists actually encounter the ursine beast in question, so I instituted a tradition where I yell "It's a bear!" and start chasing them around the room. It works especially well given my size. The kids have started anticipating it and running away before I can yell "It's a bear!" though, which ruins the effect. Pavlov would be proud.
We start out each class with "How Are You?" (not the Cheap Trick song, though that'd be awesome), wherein the kids tell me how they are and ask for a high ten, five or zero (a zero is a fist-bump, and it's the most popular). There are also some different variations on them that they learned before I got there and that they've had to teach me. Once I've asked all the kids "how are you?" they ask me how I am, and I have to give an answer and ask for something of my own. I've taken to asking for high eights, high twos, high nines and the like, because it'll help them practice their numbers and of course, I just like to be different. One girl now often asks for unusual-numbered high finger counts when it's her turn. Ian's the name, inspiring creativity's the game.
The high zero once led to a funny moment. Since I'm so tall I often get asked for a "high jumping zero," where I'll have to stand up and let the kids jump for it. One boy always makes me put my fists as high as I can get them (which none of those kids are realistically tall enough to reach), and in his attempt to bump my fists he ended up punching me in the chest. The teacher made him apologize, but it didn't really hurt, since he's just a little kid. I was laughing more than I was experiencing pain.
There was one time I made a girl cry (unintentionally, of course). The kids had to pick their favorite parts from the book we read and draw them, and since they have to present their pictures later, none of them are allowed to pick the same part. Since the person who goes last gets the slimmest pickings, the girl who brought up the rear started crying when it was her turn. I felt like such a jerk, even though I knew I hadn't really done anything wrong. She got over it, as people do, but I still felt bad. I'm such a big softie. I guess it's no mystery why girls are able to wrap guys around their finger; we can't stand it when they cry.
As difficult as my other classes can be sometimes, Kindergarten makes it all feel worth it.
Talk to the Sox Hat
Everytime I see someone wearing a White Sox hat I've made it a habit to recognize it in some way. Call it an attempt to connect. A while back I was at Nantapizza 5000 (you know, home of the Large and the XXXL), and while I was waiting for my pizza a guy came in who was wearing a White Sox hat. I pointed out the hat and to my great fortune the guy spoke English fairly well.
He said the hat was actually his friend's and that his team is the L.A. Dodgers. I didn't bother bringing up the 1959 World Series. It's surprising to see a fan of a National League team around here, because as I mentioned before, American League team merchandise seems a lot more common.
Whenever they see someone who clearly isn't Korean they ask if you teach English, so of course, I told him that I worked down the street at the hagwon. You frequently get asked your age when someone meets you, and people are often surprised to learn I'm 29 because of my youthful appearance. The guy told me he was 33.
Not that the guy sounded like a native speaker or anything, but I found it interesting that some random guy who seemed like he was stopping to pick up a pizza after an evening at the bar spoke better English than many of the other people I've encountered around town. Maybe his parents sent him to the hagwon in his younger days.
Who Let the Dogs In?
As I mentioned in a previous post, the health codes when it comes to animals seem to be a lot less strict here. You think it's bad that a woman's bringing her dog behind the counter at a pizza place? What would you say if I told you a woman brought her dog into a grocery store? It's a strange experience to be looking for food and suddenly notice a dog walking around the aisles. As far as I can tell, the dog didn't cause any problems. Still, I can't imagine a dog being allowed into an American supermarket unless it was some sort of seeing-eye dog (that reminds me of a certain unpurchased sitcom pilot co-starring Conan O'Brien and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog).
Pease Porridge Hot
Some of you may have heard that I was sick last week. I went out to eat on Thursday night and felt sick before I even got home. My theory is that some of the meat I ate was undercooked. Anyway, it didn't go away with simple rest, so it took all my strength to get through my Friday classes. I spent the weekend cooped up in my apartment trying to recover. I stayed in bed well into the afternoon just because I wanted as much rest as I could get. I even turned on the TV and listened to some sort of trot concert for a while.
On Monday I got worried, so I visited the doctor (which was within a short walking distance of the school) and he gave me two days' worth of medication to take. He also recommended that I only drink water and eat non-spicy, non-salty foods for the two days. It just so happened that next door there was a place that served non-salty, non-spicy porridge. I ate there for every meal, and while I wasn't a big fan of spending a little more on food, I was thankful for the delicious treat and the fact that it did help my stomach out. Even though I'm no longer required to eat there, I went back for lunch on Friday just to relieve my stomach from the ramen I'd eaten the day before (ramen here is extremely spicy, and I've realized that using the full spice packet is murder on your insides).
Hopefully I won't have another sick experience anytime soon. In a job where you have to be in front of people for long periods of time, you don't get much time to recuperate.
Song and Dance Man
I love music, and one reason K-Pop is so much fun is because it's given me a new subset to discover and have my life enriched by. My minor familiarities with it have allowed me to connect with Korea in small ways.
I've already gone on about my favorite girl group, Secret, and how much fun they are. I have a mental tally of all the Secret references I've made or heard since I've been here, and it looks something like this:
I heard Ji Eun's solo track "Going Crazy" playing when I walked past a shop.
A woman who came into the office had "Shy Boy" as her ringtone.
When I was doing "how are you?" with one of my classes a girl answered "it's a secret." Secret? Here was my opening. "Secret? Shy Boy?" It got a small laugh from the girl.
One of the Korean teachers was singing "Starlight, Moonlight" in the office, and we had a brief conversation about Secret. She said "pretty girls." I said "Yeah, they are, and the music's good too."
A kid in one of my classes was singing a bunch of random songs, and I suddenly heard the "du-bap, du-bap, du-bap" intro to "Shy Boy" and I said "Hey, I love that song!" He was surprised I knew as much about Korean music as I did.
I saw Hyo Sung and Sun Hwa on some quiz show while I was waiting for my pizza last time I went to Nantapizza 5000.
There's more to my musical involvement than Secret, though. In another class a girl told me during "how are you?" that she was going to the aquarium. I asked her what her favorite fish was and she said "jellyfish." Jellyfish? Here was my opening. I said "Jellyfish is also a great rock 'n roll band," and sang them a few parts from "Baby's Coming Back" and "New Mistake." For some reason the kids could only laugh. Their loss if they don't like great music.
I also have to mention that one of my classes has only three students, all boys around the age of 11. Whenever they have to make sentences their favorite verb is "kill." Yes, even in Korea boys have an innate warrior mentality, and considering the fact that all men are required to serve in the military for two years, that might not be altogether a bad thing. I have to mention though, that one boy in that class apparently knows the song "You Raise Me Up" (I don't think any link is necessary). The only problem is that he doesn't know much past the title. He'll randomly sing it in class and fill in the gaps with whatever enters his mind. So how does his version go? "You raise me up, so I can kill you..." I told him that the next line is "so I can stand on mountains," and he occasionally sings it the right way now, but his original version is funnier.
Another of my classes is only one girl. I have a Korean co-teacher in that class, so there won't be any student revolts happening on our watch, as we outnumber them. We were discussing how Korean has some subtleties in its pronunciations that non-speakers don't pick up on very easily, and I mentioned "Eun" vs. "Yoon." When trying to think of an example for "Yoon" I mentioned the singer Jang Yoon Jung, and they thought it was funny I knew her. I said I liked her music and the Korean co-teacher said "Can you sing for us?" I went "Eomeona!" and got a laugh.
I'm glad I got into K-Pop. Some of it's really good, and I feel like it gives me a small bit of credibility just to be familiar with it.
Things'll Be Great When You're...
Saturday (today) was the most eventful day I've had in a while (non-school division, that is). First there was an important errand I had to run: getting my first haircut in Korea. My last haircut was in early May, and my bushy hair was really starting to become unbearable. I ended up choosing a small place run by an older man. I showed him the picture on my Alien Registration Card to give him an idea of how I wanted it to look, and he did a pretty good job. Interestingly, he didn't use clippers at all. He did the whole thing with just scissors and a comb. He's a crafty veteran of the haircut business, he is. He also had the TV on and I saw Hyo Sung from Secret on some show, so that was a nice bonus. After the haircut he took me over to the sink to give me a shampoo and let me rinse off my head and face. He may work out of a tiny old room, but he treats his customers great. It only cost about eight bucks, too. I know I'll be keeping that place in mind next time I need my ears lowered.
On Monday one of my fellow English teachers took me downtown in the morning to help me mail a package, and the area around the post office looked to be worth exploring. Since I didn't have time that day, I decided I'd go back on the weekend and look around. Well, it's the weekend now, and that's just what I did.
We took the train on Monday, but I decided to walk it today. Of course, I second-guessed the route I was taking and ended up getting lost. Fortunately, I have a relatively good sense of direction, and somehow, miraculously, I found my way to the area near the post office and got to walk around and see all the shops in this tightly-packed mall-neighborhood hybrid.
I stopped in a music store and found Secret's latest album (only 10,000 Won, too!). It was right next to some creepy-looking Lady Gaga disc, and you could practically see the musical quality of Secret dwarfing it. I wanted to buy it (Secret, not Lady Gag-gag), but I decided to wait until I get my first paycheck before I buy anything too frivolous. It'll probably still be there in two weeks, or whenever I decide to go back for it. I'll probably have to buy a CD player too, since the disc drive on my computer wasn't working very well last I tried it. I need a Korean music collection! They had a bunch of Western music too, but no Cheap Trick for some weird reason. They did have two of Warrant's later albums (Dog Eat Dog and Belly to Belly), which surprised me, as those didn't sell too well and are probably long out of print.
Another store I stopped in was a place that sold baseball caps. I was wearing my retro-logo White Sox cap while I was out, and I saw a girl in the store trying on a stylized Sox cap. Of course, I had to tell her "Chicago White Sox! Good choice!" and point to my own cap. She was confused at first, but a girl who worked there seemed to understand what I was saying and explained it to her. Gotta rep the Sox brand.
Speaking of baseball caps, I think that downtown area is where all the National League team caps went. I've mentioned that you mostly see American League caps around here (the Phillies and Pirates are the only NL teams I can recall seeing before today), but downtown I saw the Giants, the Brewers, the Padres, the Mets, the Braves, and the Pirates again.
One of my goals while I was there was to find a postcard to send to my friend, but I wasn't able to find one. I'm told that because Gwangju isn't really a very tourist-y area, postcards are hard to come by. I'm sure there has to be one somewhere though, and I won't rest until I find it!
Around 5:00 I stumbled across a Kentucky Fried Chicken and stopped in for a bite. I decided to go with the shrimp burger, which for some reason meant I had to wait longer than everyone else for my order. I'm not sure what the deal with that was, but when I finally got my food I enjoyed it. I'd enjoy eating out more if I knew how to order more specifically and didn't always have to pick something simple to make it easy on both sides.
Oh, and I heard two more Secret songs while I was downtown: "Starlight, Moonlight" and "Oh! Honey." Before long I'll have heard every one in a public place!
I took the train back home just for simplicity's sake, but after I'd already entered the terminal area I realized it was a different train than the one we'd taken on Monday. Miraculously though, I didn't get lost, because the train I ended up on was going in the right direction. What a day it was.
For this post I thought I'd do a bunch of random themed segments that can stand alone. Perhaps this format will work, perhaps it'll be awkward and I'll try to ignore this embarrassing chapter from my blog in the future. Let me know what you think, OK?
Kindergarten
Right now I would have to say my favorite class is the kindergarten class I teach every morning. There are several reasons for this: 1) You basically get to be a big kid for 40 minutes, 2) the stuff you teach is simple and straightforward, and 3) the kids are still at the age where they'll behave. The older kids don't ever want to shut up. You can yell at them to stop talking, and they'll literally go right back to talking once you're done uttering the command. Kindergarteners though? They still respect you and even think you're cool (because hey, someone besides me has to think it).
We sing a song in class every day, and the song we were assigned for this unit is called "We're Going on a Bear Hunt." At the end of the song the protagonists actually encounter the ursine beast in question, so I instituted a tradition where I yell "It's a bear!" and start chasing them around the room. It works especially well given my size. The kids have started anticipating it and running away before I can yell "It's a bear!" though, which ruins the effect. Pavlov would be proud.
We start out each class with "How Are You?" (not the Cheap Trick song, though that'd be awesome), wherein the kids tell me how they are and ask for a high ten, five or zero (a zero is a fist-bump, and it's the most popular). There are also some different variations on them that they learned before I got there and that they've had to teach me. Once I've asked all the kids "how are you?" they ask me how I am, and I have to give an answer and ask for something of my own. I've taken to asking for high eights, high twos, high nines and the like, because it'll help them practice their numbers and of course, I just like to be different. One girl now often asks for unusual-numbered high finger counts when it's her turn. Ian's the name, inspiring creativity's the game.
The high zero once led to a funny moment. Since I'm so tall I often get asked for a "high jumping zero," where I'll have to stand up and let the kids jump for it. One boy always makes me put my fists as high as I can get them (which none of those kids are realistically tall enough to reach), and in his attempt to bump my fists he ended up punching me in the chest. The teacher made him apologize, but it didn't really hurt, since he's just a little kid. I was laughing more than I was experiencing pain.
There was one time I made a girl cry (unintentionally, of course). The kids had to pick their favorite parts from the book we read and draw them, and since they have to present their pictures later, none of them are allowed to pick the same part. Since the person who goes last gets the slimmest pickings, the girl who brought up the rear started crying when it was her turn. I felt like such a jerk, even though I knew I hadn't really done anything wrong. She got over it, as people do, but I still felt bad. I'm such a big softie. I guess it's no mystery why girls are able to wrap guys around their finger; we can't stand it when they cry.
As difficult as my other classes can be sometimes, Kindergarten makes it all feel worth it.
Talk to the Sox Hat
Everytime I see someone wearing a White Sox hat I've made it a habit to recognize it in some way. Call it an attempt to connect. A while back I was at Nantapizza 5000 (you know, home of the Large and the XXXL), and while I was waiting for my pizza a guy came in who was wearing a White Sox hat. I pointed out the hat and to my great fortune the guy spoke English fairly well.
He said the hat was actually his friend's and that his team is the L.A. Dodgers. I didn't bother bringing up the 1959 World Series. It's surprising to see a fan of a National League team around here, because as I mentioned before, American League team merchandise seems a lot more common.
Whenever they see someone who clearly isn't Korean they ask if you teach English, so of course, I told him that I worked down the street at the hagwon. You frequently get asked your age when someone meets you, and people are often surprised to learn I'm 29 because of my youthful appearance. The guy told me he was 33.
Not that the guy sounded like a native speaker or anything, but I found it interesting that some random guy who seemed like he was stopping to pick up a pizza after an evening at the bar spoke better English than many of the other people I've encountered around town. Maybe his parents sent him to the hagwon in his younger days.
Who Let the Dogs In?
As I mentioned in a previous post, the health codes when it comes to animals seem to be a lot less strict here. You think it's bad that a woman's bringing her dog behind the counter at a pizza place? What would you say if I told you a woman brought her dog into a grocery store? It's a strange experience to be looking for food and suddenly notice a dog walking around the aisles. As far as I can tell, the dog didn't cause any problems. Still, I can't imagine a dog being allowed into an American supermarket unless it was some sort of seeing-eye dog (that reminds me of a certain unpurchased sitcom pilot co-starring Conan O'Brien and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog).
Pease Porridge Hot
Some of you may have heard that I was sick last week. I went out to eat on Thursday night and felt sick before I even got home. My theory is that some of the meat I ate was undercooked. Anyway, it didn't go away with simple rest, so it took all my strength to get through my Friday classes. I spent the weekend cooped up in my apartment trying to recover. I stayed in bed well into the afternoon just because I wanted as much rest as I could get. I even turned on the TV and listened to some sort of trot concert for a while.
On Monday I got worried, so I visited the doctor (which was within a short walking distance of the school) and he gave me two days' worth of medication to take. He also recommended that I only drink water and eat non-spicy, non-salty foods for the two days. It just so happened that next door there was a place that served non-salty, non-spicy porridge. I ate there for every meal, and while I wasn't a big fan of spending a little more on food, I was thankful for the delicious treat and the fact that it did help my stomach out. Even though I'm no longer required to eat there, I went back for lunch on Friday just to relieve my stomach from the ramen I'd eaten the day before (ramen here is extremely spicy, and I've realized that using the full spice packet is murder on your insides).
Hopefully I won't have another sick experience anytime soon. In a job where you have to be in front of people for long periods of time, you don't get much time to recuperate.
Song and Dance Man
I love music, and one reason K-Pop is so much fun is because it's given me a new subset to discover and have my life enriched by. My minor familiarities with it have allowed me to connect with Korea in small ways.
I've already gone on about my favorite girl group, Secret, and how much fun they are. I have a mental tally of all the Secret references I've made or heard since I've been here, and it looks something like this:
I heard Ji Eun's solo track "Going Crazy" playing when I walked past a shop.
A woman who came into the office had "Shy Boy" as her ringtone.
When I was doing "how are you?" with one of my classes a girl answered "it's a secret." Secret? Here was my opening. "Secret? Shy Boy?" It got a small laugh from the girl.
One of the Korean teachers was singing "Starlight, Moonlight" in the office, and we had a brief conversation about Secret. She said "pretty girls." I said "Yeah, they are, and the music's good too."
A kid in one of my classes was singing a bunch of random songs, and I suddenly heard the "du-bap, du-bap, du-bap" intro to "Shy Boy" and I said "Hey, I love that song!" He was surprised I knew as much about Korean music as I did.
I saw Hyo Sung and Sun Hwa on some quiz show while I was waiting for my pizza last time I went to Nantapizza 5000.
There's more to my musical involvement than Secret, though. In another class a girl told me during "how are you?" that she was going to the aquarium. I asked her what her favorite fish was and she said "jellyfish." Jellyfish? Here was my opening. I said "Jellyfish is also a great rock 'n roll band," and sang them a few parts from "Baby's Coming Back" and "New Mistake." For some reason the kids could only laugh. Their loss if they don't like great music.
I also have to mention that one of my classes has only three students, all boys around the age of 11. Whenever they have to make sentences their favorite verb is "kill." Yes, even in Korea boys have an innate warrior mentality, and considering the fact that all men are required to serve in the military for two years, that might not be altogether a bad thing. I have to mention though, that one boy in that class apparently knows the song "You Raise Me Up" (I don't think any link is necessary). The only problem is that he doesn't know much past the title. He'll randomly sing it in class and fill in the gaps with whatever enters his mind. So how does his version go? "You raise me up, so I can kill you..." I told him that the next line is "so I can stand on mountains," and he occasionally sings it the right way now, but his original version is funnier.
Another of my classes is only one girl. I have a Korean co-teacher in that class, so there won't be any student revolts happening on our watch, as we outnumber them. We were discussing how Korean has some subtleties in its pronunciations that non-speakers don't pick up on very easily, and I mentioned "Eun" vs. "Yoon." When trying to think of an example for "Yoon" I mentioned the singer Jang Yoon Jung, and they thought it was funny I knew her. I said I liked her music and the Korean co-teacher said "Can you sing for us?" I went "Eomeona!" and got a laugh.
I'm glad I got into K-Pop. Some of it's really good, and I feel like it gives me a small bit of credibility just to be familiar with it.
Things'll Be Great When You're...
Saturday (today) was the most eventful day I've had in a while (non-school division, that is). First there was an important errand I had to run: getting my first haircut in Korea. My last haircut was in early May, and my bushy hair was really starting to become unbearable. I ended up choosing a small place run by an older man. I showed him the picture on my Alien Registration Card to give him an idea of how I wanted it to look, and he did a pretty good job. Interestingly, he didn't use clippers at all. He did the whole thing with just scissors and a comb. He's a crafty veteran of the haircut business, he is. He also had the TV on and I saw Hyo Sung from Secret on some show, so that was a nice bonus. After the haircut he took me over to the sink to give me a shampoo and let me rinse off my head and face. He may work out of a tiny old room, but he treats his customers great. It only cost about eight bucks, too. I know I'll be keeping that place in mind next time I need my ears lowered.
On Monday one of my fellow English teachers took me downtown in the morning to help me mail a package, and the area around the post office looked to be worth exploring. Since I didn't have time that day, I decided I'd go back on the weekend and look around. Well, it's the weekend now, and that's just what I did.
We took the train on Monday, but I decided to walk it today. Of course, I second-guessed the route I was taking and ended up getting lost. Fortunately, I have a relatively good sense of direction, and somehow, miraculously, I found my way to the area near the post office and got to walk around and see all the shops in this tightly-packed mall-neighborhood hybrid.
I stopped in a music store and found Secret's latest album (only 10,000 Won, too!). It was right next to some creepy-looking Lady Gaga disc, and you could practically see the musical quality of Secret dwarfing it. I wanted to buy it (Secret, not Lady Gag-gag), but I decided to wait until I get my first paycheck before I buy anything too frivolous. It'll probably still be there in two weeks, or whenever I decide to go back for it. I'll probably have to buy a CD player too, since the disc drive on my computer wasn't working very well last I tried it. I need a Korean music collection! They had a bunch of Western music too, but no Cheap Trick for some weird reason. They did have two of Warrant's later albums (Dog Eat Dog and Belly to Belly), which surprised me, as those didn't sell too well and are probably long out of print.
Another store I stopped in was a place that sold baseball caps. I was wearing my retro-logo White Sox cap while I was out, and I saw a girl in the store trying on a stylized Sox cap. Of course, I had to tell her "Chicago White Sox! Good choice!" and point to my own cap. She was confused at first, but a girl who worked there seemed to understand what I was saying and explained it to her. Gotta rep the Sox brand.
Speaking of baseball caps, I think that downtown area is where all the National League team caps went. I've mentioned that you mostly see American League caps around here (the Phillies and Pirates are the only NL teams I can recall seeing before today), but downtown I saw the Giants, the Brewers, the Padres, the Mets, the Braves, and the Pirates again.
One of my goals while I was there was to find a postcard to send to my friend, but I wasn't able to find one. I'm told that because Gwangju isn't really a very tourist-y area, postcards are hard to come by. I'm sure there has to be one somewhere though, and I won't rest until I find it!
Around 5:00 I stumbled across a Kentucky Fried Chicken and stopped in for a bite. I decided to go with the shrimp burger, which for some reason meant I had to wait longer than everyone else for my order. I'm not sure what the deal with that was, but when I finally got my food I enjoyed it. I'd enjoy eating out more if I knew how to order more specifically and didn't always have to pick something simple to make it easy on both sides.
Oh, and I heard two more Secret songs while I was downtown: "Starlight, Moonlight" and "Oh! Honey." Before long I'll have heard every one in a public place!
I took the train back home just for simplicity's sake, but after I'd already entered the terminal area I realized it was a different train than the one we'd taken on Monday. Miraculously though, I didn't get lost, because the train I ended up on was going in the right direction. What a day it was.
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