Sitting Around Never Got Anything Done

For the most part, I've stayed away from big news stories on my blog. My blog is about me - duh - so I haven't spent too many valuable resources (namely my time and energy) on giving my views of something the rest of the world cares very little about what my opinion on the subject may or may not be.

On my 'About Me' link on the left side of this page, I say that, "First and foremost, I am a journalist. The rest doesn't really matter." A journalist is someone who reports the news in an unbiased fashion to others. Unbiased means that all opinions, all words that may indicate one's feelings on a subject, are left out of the equation when reporting something that is, has, or is foreseen to happen. As I learned in journalism school, there is probably not a news outlet left on the planet that releases a single unbiased news story. After all, if it is fact, why do we call it a news story? I don't report the news on television stations or radio, but I do write articles and copy to be published on reputable websites and in trade magazines, and that, too, can be considered news. Therefore, I consider myself a journalist. And whenever I report news, I always strive for an unbiased account.

However, this is my blog, it is about me and the way I see the world, and my opinions and biases are a part of the deal.

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Occupy Wall Street is something that has been taking place in the USA since September 17th, 2011. It has been going on for almost a month. It is a group of people who are tired of their jobs being taken away, tired of social and economic inequality, tired of corporate and government greed, and tired of corporate money and lobbyists control on government. People are upset that their jobs have been lost due to lay offs that were brought on by the recession. People are upset that the recession was brought on by big banks giving mortgage loans to people who couldn't afford them and by lobbyists pushing for causes in order to get funding for the corporation. People are upset that the government hasn't changed.

It is here that I ask myself, "What else is new?" But please, feel free to keep reading.

People have taken to protesting now as they have many times before. These particular protests are referred to as 'Occupy Wall Street.'

Occupy - to engage the attention or energies of; to take or hold possession or control of

The occupation is of Wall Street because that is the hub of America's financial greed and corruption.

The goal:  "Beginning from one simple demand – a presidential commission to separate money from politics – we start setting the agenda for a new America."

I understand the reasoning behind the Occupy Wall Street movement. I understand the protesters. I understand that economics is global - the problems that the occupation is addressing affect people worldwide. But I do not understand the need to protest globally.

Today I received a Facebook invitation to attend the event Occupy Seoul, which is being held in Seoul, South Korea, on October 15th, outside the offices of the banking regulator, the Financial Supervisory Service, where the Korea Exchange and many major financial institutions call home.

While I understand the global economy, I do not understand why foreign expats would want to protest their own economic problems on foreign soil. When jobs were lost and never found again at home, expatriates applied for and received jobs in Korea and other foreign countries. None of us would be here if we didn't have a job. We came here to work. We were hired before we even got here - it is how we got the visa that allowed us entry. Sure, there are some of us living here who are married to a native Korean and not working, but that is most likely a choice, not the result of a job loss.

I don't understand why expatriates would want to "Occupy Seoul" because, while the sister occupation of Occupy Wall Street claims to be a peaceful occupation, over 750 arrests have been made in the United States alone. I don't speak Korean, so I don't know what Korean laws say about protests and demonstrations. After contacting the US Embassy in Seoul, a source stated the following:

"I did call the U.S. Embassy and asked if we were allowed to protest if we didn't make any comments about Korea. The guy said it should be ok. But we shouldn't get too rowdy and get ourselves arrested..."

Hmm. The first thing that comes to mind when I think protest, demonstration, and occupation, though, is not peaceful. I cannot imagine over 1,000 expatriates gathered outside of the Korea Exchange with American lay offs, big bank bail outs and government greed on their minds maintaining a peaceful presence and not mentioning the country in which they are now living. If an expat gets arrested by South Korean officials, it is likely that deportation is the next step. The country that has given them a job when the native country has taken it away will stop being so welcoming, take away status as a legal alien, and send them back to the country where all that they are protesting suddenly slaps them in the face. 

One last comment is that nothing was ever accomplished by sitting around. Sure, the occupation is meant to be peaceful, and sitting in a private park with arms linked is a peaceful way to demonstrate one's passion for a cause led by someone else, but there has to be another way. If everyone sitting down got out their smart phones and used a note pad app to write down some ideas for ways to get things done, I'm sure there would be a few good ones in the mix.

I also think it speaks volumes that the world-wide 'sister' events were planned for a Saturday when people won't be working.

Yes, Korea has that, too.

Korea has lots of things that the USA has (except Disaronno). Korea has big cities, little towns, country views, concrete jungles, fast food, Chinese food, Febreze, and commercials. They also have B and E, otherwise known as breaking and entering.

Korea is a country that is virtually crime free. Guns are illegal, gangs are unheard of, and CCTV (closed circuit television) is quite literally everywhere so robbery is out of the question. Crime is not only something that is looked upon simply as being bad, but it is also something that is seen by one's family as dishonorable to the family as a whole.

With all of this in mind, yesterday my apartment was burglarized via someone breaking and entering into my apartment while I was not home. The entry method: sliding open my 18" wide by 12" high bathroom window that vents into the common hall outside, reaching in, and taking the goods. The goods: a cheap hair dryer.  The motive: either the thrill of stealing or wet hair and a hot date. The suspect: still unknown.

I live in an upstairs apartment of a building with a door code and CCTV. However, the CCTV is only confined to the entry and parking areas of my building and not the common halls or stairwell, so I may never know who slid my tiny window open (the window has two metal bars on the inside), reached their grimy hand into my bathroom, and stole my hair dryer that was parked in between the window and metal bars covering the window. It wasn't even a good hair dryer; it was one of the cheapest dryers that Home Plus sells. (The cheapest one didn't have a 'cool' setting.)

The worst part about the entire ordeal was the four or five hours in between realizing it was missing while I was thinking someone actually came completely into my apartment after gaining access to my door entry code, and realizing that my bathroom window is incredibly easy to open from the outside, provided it is unlocked. (Of course it was unlocked most of the time, if not open, because that is how I vented the moist air that builds up in the bathroom when I take a shower.) I methodically went through my entire apartment to see if anything else was missing, and if I might have unknowingly put the hair dryer somewhere else. It was about 1:30am when I noticed it was missing, or I would have notified my work. I don't really know anyone else in my city that I could call or go stay with at that hour, or I would have. I didn't fall asleep until after 5am, and that was only because the only way I could sleep was telling myself that the suspect stole my hair dryer through my bathroom window. Plus I could no longer keep my eyes open. And while the suspect still could have entered my apartment using the keypad, the most likely point of 'entry' (even if by someone's grimy hand) was my bathroom window because nothing else was missing. The hair dryer was resting right there in the bathrrom wintow between the window glass and the metal bars, so it was an easy target. Plus, 8 of the 10 apartment dwellers on my floor keep their hair dryer in that same spot, which is what gave me the idea in the first place. Being almost at the end of my hall gives me reason to worry, though, because the suspect bypassed many other hair dryers in the pursuit to steal mine.

Safety measures have been taken, though. I created a report with my work (they rent the apartment for me), and with the building Super, who also came tonight and showed me how to change my access code. I will also never unlock that window again. And any time I feel threatened, I'll dial 112, the number for the police in Korea. (119 is for fire emergencies, 112 is for police.)

I am posting this experience because I want people to know Korea is not completely crime free. No matter how big or small the crime may be, criminals are everywhere and they prey on unsuspecting people.

I'm a teacher! ...And I like it.

I do. I really enjoy it. I love seeing the kid's faces when they succeed. I know when they can do better. I know when they're trying and when they're not. It is a very rewarding job, and I'm happy I'm getting my feet wet with teaching here in Korea first, instead of jumping head first into a shallow lake with teaching at home: full classrooms of 28 kids or more who try to break you every second of class, don't do their homework, forget their books, misbehave because they don't want to be there... the list goes on.

I like teaching in Korea so much that I've decided to get my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate before the year is done so I can make myself more valuable here as well as to other foreign countries. For some, teaching English is a gap year between college and real-life, an escape from real-life for a little while, a chance to save money and/or pay off bills while experiencing something new and life-changing. And while I will eventually return to the USA, my life is officially changed and I love this living in a foreign country stuff, traveling, saving money, paying off bills, and experiencing new things so much that I am going to continue it for a while. I love Korea, but I'm definitely thinking about other countries I want to experience as well, and a TEFL certificate will open more doors for me so that I can cash-in on some unforgettable experiences.

To help you understand what I love about teaching English as a second language, you need to have an understanding about the format and process that it is here in Korea, and I'm sure it's quite similar in other countries.

I teach English at a hogwan in Gwangju, South Korea. Korea is great because housing like mine (a 4-5 story walk-up with tiny apartments) is so cheap and buildings like mine are everywhere. The school pays for it, and most will get the new foreign teacher within walking distance of the school. I am very close at a 5-minute leisurely walk. My area is relatively quiet, and I like it very much. I pass 8 coffee shops on my walk to work, 4 mini-marts (think 7/11), 1 larger mart that is more like a grocery store but only slightly larger than 7/11, a few literally hole-in-the-wall business that include a stationary store, a cell phone shop, a taekwondo hogwan with a piano hogwan just upstairs, a Chinese restaurant, a kimbop shop, and a skater shop. Two blocks away is the big blue construction wall that surrounds what will be the Asia Cultural Center for the whole of Asia when it is complete sometime in 2014. Just on the other side of that is downtown. If you take the shortcut through the center of it, underground shopping is available 3 stories above the subway tracks.

This is my very first time teaching in a foreign country, so I didn't have a lot of experience on how to choose a school when I signed up and picked my school. I feel I got somewhat lucky, though, because my school is new. This means that at 1-4 students per class, every class is smaller than it would be with the normal 6-8 students. While it is sometimes hard filling an entire 50 minutes while teaching to just one kid, it's an easier stepping stone for me.

However, teaching to just one kid who is bored with the curriculum because it never changes can be very difficult because I've got to stay 'animated.' And animated means that I work at Disney World. I am selling this material because my hogwan is the coolest, and most awesome hogwan to attend in all of Gwangju, maybe even Korea, and the kids have got to come to my park. Even if I don't believe it. Because it's a business more than it is a school. If you can get past that, you've come far. Trust me.

My hogwon is open from 2pm until 9:20pm. I start work at 1:30 Monday through Friday. The half-hour before the first class gives me time to prep my daily information sheets and review each lesson I will be teaching that day. Our first students arrive just before 2pm, and they are among the youngest. They typically come straight from home because at 5 and 6 years old, they are not old enough to be in regular school yet. From 3pm onward, kids come to the hogwan following regular school. The earlier in the day it is, we are usually their first hogwan of the day. However, the later in the day it is, they've probably already attended several other hogwans and are getting quite tired, but possibly have another school or two after ours. Even our latest class, which ends at 9pm (we have room for another class that would start earlier and end at 9:20, but that slot is not yet filled), one of those students goes on to another school that starts at 9:10 and doesn't end until 10pm. Koreans are dedicated to their education to the point where it becomes sad for those of us who grew up differently. But these kids also have no ordinary goals. They don't want to grow up to be firefighters or artists or teachers. No, these kids aspire to be UN diplomats, presidents, big-time inventors (think: Steve Jobs kind of big-time), major-impact scientists, and the like.

As far as curriculum goes, every other day, my co-teacher and I switch classes. That is the way our school works, and it gives the kids a different view for each lesson, because each one is three days long. They get three pages at a time that are all completed on the first day of the lesson. On the second day, the other teacher goes in and reviews the material with them and offers a different perspective. On the third day, the kids sit in a computer session and take a few easy tests that test their knowledge on the lesson they were just presented. Every three lessons there is a big test, with 10 multiple choice questions, 5 fill-in-the-blank questions (with an answer block to choose from), and then 12 writing questions where they have to write the answer and the question from the lessons they just learned. Every six lessons (monthly) they move up a level to virtually the same material. It takes six months to complete one color (Spring, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple) and then the material changes just a bit more (past tense, future tense, more in-depth questions, longer stories to read, etc.) Because my school is new and we don't have a lot of students, not much happens if they don't do well. We are not at that point yet where we can provide repeat-classes, let alone discipline for the kids who don't want to be there and act out at every chance.

To the native English speaker, the curriculum may sound extremely repetitive, and it is. But a few weeks ago, I had the chance to work with a native Korean speaker who substituted for my co-teacher while she was on her honeymoon for a week in Jeju Island. She speaks fluent English and even lived in Canada for a while, but grew up in Korea and can appreciate what it takes to learn another language from the ground up. I got her point of view of the material, and she thought that exposing the kids to the same material presented in different ways was a fantastic way to get them to keep practicing over and over again, without realizing it. I hadn't thought of it that way before, but I completely agree. And soon, our school will bring on a native Korean teacher who speaks fluent English so that we can offer TEFL Junior classes. These classes will prepare the students to take their Exams, which take place every year and they must pass in order to enter into the next grade level. English is always a part of that exam, as well as Korean, Science, Mathematics, History and/or Social Studies, and whatever instrument or individual sport (such as Taekwando) they have decided to pursue.

Through all of the adapting I have had to do to learn a new profession, acclimate myself to my new surroundings, and start to learn the native language (I've finally learned my alphabet and can read now! It's great!), I've really come very far, even if I don't always remember that I have. When I first started, I thought I had confidence in my classroom, but now I know that I didn't. Because NOW, I do have confidence. I can spot my students thinking about misbehaving. I've mastered 'the look' to give them that makes them stop thinking about it (most of the time). And I've learned that I like teaching. I've also learned what to look for in my next teaching job in Korea, and that's a pretty big step right there.

To end things, I want to introduce you to some of my most favorite students. They are all wonderful, but these boys are over and above spectacular in their personalities and enthusiasm for being in my class. I only teach them every other month, and they show up Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6pm for an hour and a half each class. Yes, it is much harder to stretch a lesson of 3 pages that long, but they make it fun for me, and that's another reason why I absolutely love them. (I feel the need to point out that James is no longer at our hogwan because his mom was disappointed with the amount of homework - we didn't give enough, at 7-10 items every night.)

From Left to Right in each photo: Britain, James, Brad Pitt, and Steve

"Posing for the Camera"

"And Right After"

The Abundance of Sales Assistance for Shoppers in Korea

Aside from the 'elbow' culture of getting on and off the bus or subway and walking down the street, Koreans are generally very friendly people. They will kindly welcome you into their shop or restaurant, and most will stop at nothing to turn you into a satisfied customer.

In the USA, I was always on my own when looking for something in a store, whether it was a large, national chain or a very small shop. Even if I wanted or needed help with something, there was never anyone around to ask. But in Korea, I can count on the presence of someone to help me in every department of every store, no matter the size. There will be a person there ready to help me, whether I want it or not.

I like the idea of shopping around, checking things out on my own, asking a question if I need to, and then either purchasing a product or going to find it elsewhere. Korea won't let me do this. The other night, I walked into a beauty store to look for a product to put on my lashes to make them grow longer and more full. I know that this type of product is common, so I decided I would go in each beauty store I came across while I was downtown and check out their product for this particular need, and see what I found. The first store I went in was innisfree, and it was just a bit larger than my apartment.

I walked in and was immediately greeted by two saleswomen, one who looked as though she really wanted to help. So I pointed to my eyelashes and spent the next 2 minutes or so playing charades, trying to get her to understand what I was looking for. After understanding, she showed me the product they carried. I looked at it, looked at the package, asked her if she was sure that's what it was (the package was entirely in Korean), she demonstrated the product to me and told me when I was to use it. But I still wanted to keep looking, as this was the first store I set foot in. Then we had the following conversation:  

Me: Kamsahabnida.
Saleswoman: You buy?
Me: No, I want to keep looking.
Saleswoman: (Points to package) grow! (meaning that the product will help my lashes grow)
Me: Nae. But I'll keep looking.
Saleswoman: (Points to package again. She's concerned she understood me wrong. She says something in Korean.)
Me: (I point to the package.) Nae. (Point outside.) I want to keep looking.
Saleswoman: Twenty two thousand.
Me: I'll keep looking.
Saleswoman: You want?
Me: I'll. Keep. Looking.

By now, I can tell the sales woman is concerned that she's been showing me something I'm not interested in. So what did I do? I bought the product. It is what I was looking for, after all, but I also wanted to check out what other stores had. However, after having the split-second image of the same scene playing out over and over again in every other store I entered, I decided to purchase the product from innisfree.

It is the same all over Korea. Home Plus has sales assistants stationed in every department to help you find what you're looking for. If you say you're looking for shoes, and they show you shoes, and you let your face show that you like the item (which I do all the time), they'll wonder why you're not buying the item. I'm not sure if everyone here works on commission, but it's really starting to drive me crazy. I just want to shop and look around and see what's what without the feeling of being pressured to buy something, just because I can't speak the language and they want to make the foreigner happy.

See all the assistants in their red aprons?

While I do appreciate the level of service that Koreans provide to foreigners and the number of sales assistants stores have on hand, especially compared to the lack of service assistants in stores back home, I think it's time to learn some new phrases. 'Just looking' is at the top of my list. Maybe I'll go to the GIC this week and ask them to pair me with a language exchange partner who can teach me some survival Korean.

To South Korea or Not To South Korea?

I've been thinking about it now for a good two months. I've spent more time thinking about this than I think I've ever spent thinking about anything else before in my life. And I mean really thinking. Not just thinking what it would be like and what I would do in my spare time, but what the consequences and benefits would be, what it would take in order to do it after I say, "Yes, sign me up," and how all the events leading up to my departure will take place. I've thought about how to sell my car, how much I'd have to send back home every month to pay for my remaining car payments and a storage unit for my stuff, and how my allergy to shellfish would stop me from enjoying many South Korean dishes. I've thought about how to get through the 20-hour plane ride, and having never been on a plane, how I'll feel on the flight: If I'll make it or if they'll need to call the on-board paramedic to come rescue me from some awful plane ailment. I've thought about having to hang my clothes in my tiny kitchen to dry because the South Koreans don't use clothes dryers, and how long it'll take me to learn basic phrases. I've thought about how many times I'll get lost, started at because I'm an American in a homogeneous country, and how I'll work with the student who just can't learn English, just how I just couldn't learn French, even with all the help in the world.

I've thought about it so much that I've started telling people I've been thinking about it. And while sometimes I might tell people things I'm thinking, this isn't something I take lightly. Not only am I looking at this as a year in a foreign country, after which I'll come home and move on with my American life, I'm looking at it as an opportunity. If I like it, I'll continue to teach in South Korea (political and economic conditions supporting, of course). I could even move to Japan to teach. And while there, I can explore anything I want - from Malaysia to Singapore to Hong Kong to Australia, a country I've wanted to travel to since I was ten, maybe even earlier. This isn't only the next year from when I start. It could very well be the next ten years.

Or I could absolutely hate it and count down the days until I return to the states. But somehow I don't see that as a plausible outcome.

For the past few months, even before South Korea entered my mind, I've been honing my writing. I've always had a special passion for writing, but it was always something I did on the side. I never did it as a real job or way to make any money to support myself. But now I'm thinking of myself as the next Anthony Bourdain, a journalist waiting to emerge from the little town she grew up in and see the world. See the cultures the people of the world live every day that are so different from my own little world of racist co-workers and people complaining they don't have money to pay the housekeeper. I'm struggling to pay for gas to drive the 4.5 miles to work. But there are people in the world who walk 4.5 miles to work because driving would take too long, or their only option is the bus and it was full the past two times it drove by, or people who just walk to walk and enjoy what they see along the way.

I've been thinking about becoming an expat and flying off to Malaysia and living the rest of my life on a beautiful expanse of exotic beach with an equally exotic drink, and sleeping with the other expat who now owns the bar.

I want to see the world and experience things I'll never get to experience at home. I want to do something with my life, even if its learning from other cultures and telling the world my stories of travel and how I came from where I did and saw the things I've seen. Give me a camera and a computer and I'll have the most captivating blog this side of the Pacific. Give me my passport and a plane ticket and I'll leave my 700 square foot 1/1 apartment behind in a heartbeat. I know there's a whole world out there to see, but sometimes I feel trapped feeling like I'll never be able to get to it. Like it's just beyond reach and keeps getting further and further away. Like something's always going to be holding me back, no matter what it may be. I just want to go. I've even considered leaving as early as March for South Korea, but again, I don't know if it will be financially possible with my apartment lease not ending until late June and just trying to get by every month, almost less than paycheck-to-paycheck, which is so much less than what I'm worth. The whole idea is frustrating, but being a financially responsible person I know that I just can't pick up and leave. If I couldn't make it or couldn't do it, what would I come home to? No money, no car and bad credit. And I just can't do that.

First Thoughts

Whenever I have something on my mind, I seem to see it everywhere - signs, book titles, quotes, you name it.

On my mind for the past few weeks has been teaching English in South Korea. Not only would it be a wonderful experience of travel and adventure that I've never experienced before in my life, but as a writer I could document the entire process. I would learn more about myself than ever. And I would have a more appreciation for cultures different from my own.

I went to the bookstore today and browsed the self-improvement section hoping to find something on happiness, travel and experiencing new things. I didn't say in that section long because it was right next to the Starbucks cafe and I didn't want to hear this guy tell his friend who, apparently WAS just born yesterday, all about his worldly views. But a few titles did catch my eye: I saw something like "Teaching to Happiness", "Lessons in Teaching" and "Happiness: Found Anywhere." It's not that I'm not happy, but that I could also be happy teaching and exploring a foreign country.

What I haven't found yet, though, is a book on first time travelers traveling to a country for an entire year. I've never been anywhere. I was born and raised in the town I currently live in, went to college less than an hour away, I've never been any farther north than Washington DC, never been any farther west than Pensacola, and never been any farther east than Daytona Beach. Unless you count those two 3-day cruises on the Disney boat when I was 7 and 8, which went to Nassau and Disney's own island. Aside from that, I've wanted to go places, but I've either never had the money or the time. And I've never had both at the same time. But teaching in South Korea would allow me the opportunity for both. I would leave the states with a job already lined up where I would get $1,500-$2,100 USD/month. I would be given an apartment to live in rent-free (roughly 500 sq ft for a single person), where all I'd have to pay is the monthly utilities. That salary would give me money to send back home every month for my car payment, storage unit and credit card bills, and still keep $800-$1300 in my pocket every month to save and spend in South Korea as I wish.

Still thinking about it, I wonder what another person would do with this opportunity knocking at their door? There is always the chance that I will apply and not be chosen, but what if I am? I will need to be prepared to go. And that eliminates the desire to apply blindly "just to see."

Also, contrary to what some people here may think, I wouldn't be doing it to 'run away.' I don't have anything to run away from. I'm single, and although I would terribly miss the very few real friends that I have here, I would make new friends and have new experiences. Apparently South Koreans are some of the nicest people on the planet. And I may never, ever again have a chance to experience something like this. Although, I may love it so much that I may choose to spend the rest of my life traveling, or the next few years teaching in Korea, writing about my experiences and living my life as a foreigner.

It is definitely something to think about, and every time I have a bad day at work, I think about it even harder. The fact that it is Sunday night, I've had a calm weekend and a great western dinner (slow cooked pork with potatoes and a Caesar salad) may say something in itself.

Good night 잘 자 (Jal ja)