Family Life in Korea

I've been thinking a lot about the idea of family in Korea and what a family "unit" here means. Many people at our orientation and even now like to say that Korean family units are very close knit, more so that in the US or other Western countries. They stress how important it is in a Korean family for the children to succeed, to do well in school so they can get a good job and bring respect to their family, they stress how much emphasis parents put on supporting their child's education, how multiple generations live together under one roof, how they spend tons of money on cram schools for their kids, just so they can get ahead... Much of the second hand discussion of Korean family life that I've heard has emphasized education, probably because I'm hearing it all from teachers. Secondly it has emphasized respect for the family.

I agree with some of the above, but not the sentiment as a whole that Koreans have a closer knit family unit than do Americans. I agree with and see plenty of evidence to support some of these ideas; families do spend a lot of time and money getting their students into good schools or extra tutoring. Students also do respect their parents, they don't want to shame them, or their grandparents. Students also do take education seriously, because it determines so much about their lives. I also agree that extended families do make up a much greater idea of the "family unit" than they do in the West. I think of a family unit as a mom, dad and two kids. Here it is very common for extended families to spend lots of time together, for aunts to pick up nieces and nephews from school, for cousins to spend long amounts of time together, for daughter in laws to care for mother in laws. It is also not uncommon for children to reference their "younger brother" or "older sister" -- and then I later find out these people are not related by blood, but are a family friend's daughter or a parent's client. Yet the more I talk to students in my schools and observe the Korean families that make up my world I question the assumption that a family "unit" is ever so intact in Korea as we think it is. I think the idea of family is even more differently defined in Korean then in the US than had I originally thought, for both the good and bad.

I have numerous students who tell me how their father works in Seoul or some other far off city and they never see them, except on weekends or once a month. Yet their parents aren't divorced, that's just how it is, they go where the job takes them. Also in Korea all public school teachers have to switch schools every five years, private school teachers do not. Thus when a job position opens or closes, the teacher moves where they need to. Public schools have a better rep in Korea, and I think the changing of new ideas in and out of the schools in good, but I can see the appeal of working in a private school if it means you know you won't be potentially uprooted from your home every five years.

"Being a working Mom in Korea is very difficult." 


Case in point. One of my coworkers is a little under 40 years old and is an art teacher at Sangji. Sangji is a private school so she knows she doesn't have to transfer to a public school. Her husband works for Korean Air in Seoul and she only seems him on the weekends. She has two small children, a 6 year old boy and a 4 year old girl. She takes being a mom very seriously and loves spending time with her children, reading, swimming, making art. I think she is a very positive person and a great mom. She's invited me over to her house twice now to play with her children and have dinner. Its been great. Her son goes to an English Language Immersion elementary school and is already amazingly accomplished for a six year old, he is great at English, can already divide and multiply, is great at sports and plays piano... Somehow my coworker fosters and encourages all of this in him, and she somehow got him into that prestigious school, yet when I'm around her with her family she is so laid back and free, not strict at all, and her kids are still respectful and independent. I wonder how things will keep going throughout their educational career. She told me tonight she has a special dream that she could travel with them throughout many countries when they are in high school, because she thinks education is not just in the classroom and that is not her focus, and that is why she also is studying English, so she can travel all over. Sounds like a great little family. Let me remind you though that her husband is never in the picture because of work and perhaps personal reasons.

The last day of school in December she came in late, looking very upset, like she has been crying. At the end of the day we walked out together, she asked me if I saw her "upset face" earlier. I said yes and asked if everything was okay. She said she has just found out the night before that she was transferred from Sangji Middle School to High School. Both schools are founded by the same person and teachers often switch between the two as they share the same grounds. She was shocked by this turn of events and did not ask for it. She said she was upset and had been crying and didn't like the high school. I took it as she just liked teaching middle school better. The other day day she came into school unexpectedly, we talked a little and I asked her how her vacation was going. She said it was wonderful to be home with her children, the happiest days for her. She also confided that she has been crying and nervous about moving to high school for the entire vacation. I finally got it as she kept speaking... In middle school we end at 4:30 and teachers go home by 5:30 or 6pm. In the high school they don't go home until 9:30pm three nights a week. In all of March they have to stay until 9:30 every night. This is because students stay at school doing "self study" all those extra hours and teachers have to stay and supervise them. She is heartbroken because she doesn't know what to do about her children. They already have a nanny that watches them after they return from kindergarten and elementary school, the nanny cooks dinner and stays until 7pm. My coworker has no idea how she is going to find someone to watch them until almost 10pm. She has no family in Wonju. And who will help them with their homework or read them their stories? I feel so badly for her. I asked if she could request not to be transfered, if their was anything she could do. She said no, she had asked, but because the boss already signed the paper, it is done. That's just how it works in Korea. You do what you are told, no matter what. She said she wished she'd been fired, because she wants to quit but knows she can't because her family depends on her income. She also explained that if she quit now she would be done for good. She is an older teacher and so high up on the pay scale that she would never be hired over a new teacher, that a school has to pay a much lower salary to. Her husband works in Seoul until 10pm every night. What is she to do? "Being a working Mom in Korea is very difficult." 


I understand that being a working mom in her kind of situation anywhere is difficult and that there are people out their with far less ideal lives. Yet it is shocking to me that she, a 10 year+ veteran teacher can at the drop of a hat be asked, no, told, that her schedule will change and her life will change and her children's lives will change is there is NOTHING, absolutely nothing she can do to stop it aside from quitting. How is that valuing the family unit? How is that a good education system? Perhaps I am just an outsider and I will never understand. But I think that is a shallow way to view the situation as well.

For another perspective, I have a student who sees her dad maybe once a month. She lives with her mom and her "older sister" who is actually not related to them at all. She is the daughter of someone they knew who is living in Wonju to go to high school, because she had to go to this specific, good school, that required her to leave home. She studies everyday. Her mother insists she sleep in the same bed with her. They watch dramas together. Last year she was forced to go to private after school tutoring until 11pm every night. This year thankfully she does not have to go and gets to study at home instead.

Lastly I have a student who said she wishes her parents would get a divorce. She says her mom does not go home during the day because her dad is there and she avoids him. Thus sometimes my student had to sleep in her mom's store instead of going home. This is the same student who is amazingly smart and dedicated. Who told me she has to get all A's or she gets in trouble, because her older brother got all A's and now goes to a good university. She studies for six hours everyday. She is not allowed to watch TV or use the computer during the week. She told me she slept for 20 hours last Saturday.

I don't know if all of what I'm saying is aimed more at dissecting the Korean family unit or at defending my opinions against those who will tell me "oh Koreans are much more close knit families than in the US." I really just think its a much different idea of family that I don't quite get. Childhood is very different here, more independent yet linked to pleasing your family. I know there are lots of absentee parents in the US but maybe here there is just less of a pretense of pretending to be around the family than in the US. Here people have what seem to be practical reasons for being apart and tell it like it is, in the US maybe reasons for being away are just as practical but kids aren't willing to accept that because they don't believe their parents are doing things for their best interest. I also think that Korean kids are becoming more and more westernized and are beginning to think this way too, a little. Maybe family life and educational life are linked more than I realize in Korea... kids spend more time at school than at home so who is their family? Their peers or their parents? Yet when kids in the US finish school at 3pm do they really spend time with their parents, or their peers, just at a burger joint or in someone's room rather than in study hall? I don't think its insignificant that Korea has the highest number of suicides than any other developed country in the world. And no one talks about it.

Or perhaps I am totally off base and these are normal stories for any teacher to hear. Or that I'm only hearing the slightly "bad" stories because those are the kids that need to talk and get the stuff off their chests. That is the nice thing about teaching that I am enjoying, getting to know my students and having them realize I can be a support for them. Also that "foreigner" card comes up sometimes in ways that people appreciate, like a breath of fresh air, as in "oh we can tell you this because we aren't offending you like we would a fellow Korean" or "I can tell you this because who are you gonna tell?" or "you understand and I envy that you don't have to put up with this crap like me."

Education and the family... two important things. Two things that no one can agree on how to do the "right" way. Two things people in America think are "deteriorating." Thinking positively I believe that cross cultural interaction like I've been experiencing here is the key to helping "fix" these problems. Or at least tackle them from new directions.

Winter Time

Winter in Korea has been very cold. Most days it doesn't get above 10 degrees F. Actually yesterday it was about 30 degress F. It was noticibly warmer, thankfully. So warm in fact that the ice that has coated every street for the past month finally melted. It was a nice change of pace to finally be able to see the pavement again and not slip your way around. The slight warm up also brought clouds, or was caused in part by the clouds, clouds that in warmer weather would have brought rain brought snow, lots of snow. But for the first time this winter when we woke up to find the ground freshly covered, the snow was not packed tight or frozen, it was light and fluffy, shining in the sunlight. There was a few feet of it and people everywhere were emerging from their homes and business to shovel it off their front walk. This is the kind of snow I don't mind, where everything looks perfect, like a set from a movie or decorations at Disneyland, with the snow sitting among branches and shrubbery. Instead of freezing and slipping on my way to school today, instead I looked around and smiled, hearing the snow squish and crunch beneeth my feet. In a few days things will undoutably be icey, dirty and slushy, but for now, I welcome the change.

Because the weather has been so downright COLD I haven't been up to much in the past month. I don't think I'm the only one either. Many of my friends are also buckling down in their apartments, bored yet unmotivated to go out, eagerly awaiting their vacation plans which will take them home or to tropical lands. In three weeks Jason and I will be going to Thailand and Cambodia for a little R&R and sightseeing. I can't wait! Until then we've been very content watching episode after episode of the X-Files and Avatar, the Last Airbender. We met up with friends Saturday night for what turned into an all night eating and drinking fest, which I think was much welcome by all of us who have a bit of "cabin fever." We also spoke of the underlying stress that keeps us all up at night, its just the stress of it being winter coupled with the fact that we are nearing our six month mark of living in a foreign country, a mark always cited as the time where you reach the hight of your culture shock and homesickness. Saturday was a fun relief from it all, full of laughing and funny stories. I'm sure the taxi driver who picked us up at 4am thought we were crazy. A group of four foreigners asking for a norebang, standing outside in freezing weather, otherwise totally alone? But we did make it to the norebang, for better or worse (I think the worse, our singing voices were not good come 5am.)

Jason and I also did emerge from our cave for a short trip on Friday. We booked a night at a small resort spa just an hour outside of Wonju in Pyeongchang. (Pyeongchang just made a bid for the 2018 winter Olympics, let's hope they get it, third times the charm, right?)  It was an excuse to get out and into the country. The resort was small, with only a handful of rooms. We stayed in the "Patio" room which included a cute patio area with BBQ (all covered in snow of course), a flat screen TV set up to play Wii and a private jacuzzi tub! It was super cute and lots of fun. We had breakfast at the resort in the morning and were able to choose an "American breakfast" instead of Korean. That was awesome. We stared in wonder at our plates filled with delicious food: french toast, garlic bread, tater tots, egg, bacon, sausage, fruit... oh it was delicous!! Its been so long since we had a proper breakfast like that. Breakfasts in Korean usually consist of rice and kimchi.

Originally we were planning to just head back to Wonju after the hotel but Scott and Amber called saying they were going to go to the Pyeongchang Trout Festival. Since we were in the area we decided to meet them. It turns out Amber and Scott were on the wrong bus and took the wrong route to get to the festival so Jason and I accually arrived two hours before them. We tried to stick around a wait for them but it was so cold we left after and hour and a half, missing them compleatly. (But we did see them for dinner.) The trout festival was the one we had planned on going to with my family but due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease they had temparerly canceled it when they were here! But Saturday we made it to it. It was a funny sight to see. The river was a huge frozen mass that you could walk out on, skate or sled around on. Farther down the river there was a designated area for the trout fishing. This consited of either pre-purchasing a tent for you to sit in or on the spot buying the cheaper day pass to the come as you please area. Jason and I did not enter either area because we didn't want to trout fish, but we stopped and looked. People took large poles and had to dig their own holes in the ice to fish from! They would scrape out the ice and then stick some bate in the hole! It was strange and hilarious! There were all kinds of people too, from old men to little kids with thier families. Everyone just sat or stood around hoping for a bite. If they got one the fish was hooked and they pulled them in. We saw a few people leaving with trout. We later learned from Scott and Amber that farther down was the area where for 10,000 won you could put on a sweatsuit and jump in a portion of the river and try to catch the fish with your bare hands. Apparently Scott did this!! I was sorry to have missed it. He even caught a fish! What a man!

The rest of the festival included food tents and areas for sledding and ATV riding. A John Deere tractor was pulling people around on these giant sleds, so they would go quickly over the bumps and hills. I slid down a slide made of ice that was cut into the hillside. The festival was fun to see but it was also very cold and we weren't dressed that properly for it. When the wind picked up and blew the ice around the frozen river it was quite the chill.

I have one more week of teaching before I get a week off! I thought I would be "desk warming" all winter vacation, meaning I have to come to school and just sit at my desk instead of teaching (because no kids are here, its vacation) or instead of sitting at home. But my school actually put together a schedule and I've been teaching for three weeks, two classes in the morning then a two hour conversation class in the afternoon. Its been surprisingly fun and okay. Its the higher level kids and the classes are small which is awesome! In my conversation class their are actually only two girls, of very different ability levels, which makes it a challenge to plan for them. Usually we just end up talking, which is also hard to do for two hours. But I can't complain, the girls are nice and hey, Thailand in three weeks!

New Year's and Basketball and Winter Camp

New Year's 2011

For New Year's this year I really wanted to do something "big." I decided going to Seoul was what I was looking for. Thus Jason, Scott, Amber, Brian and I hopped on the bus to Seoul Friday night, New Year's Eve, and headed for the Downtown City Hall district. Jason and I had only returned from Seoul to Wonju the day before. We were tired. But, I was determined to make it to the big city! When we got off the bus we decided dinner was a must, Mexican food was suggested and enthusiastically agreed upon. Brian new of an On the Border near Yonsei University so we headed that way.

After a few subway changes we emerged from underground, only to wander around for 15 minutes or so, until finally using an iphone to locate exactly where the restaurant was. It was already 10pm by then and they just barely squeezed us in, they closed at 10:30! We ate delicious Mexican food, tacos and enchiladas, mmmhh so good! We also got margaritas and good beer! No soju or cheap beer for us! It was great! The drinks were weak though, and left me wanting more, but alas were kicked out. We also needed to get to our final destination. That required a quick ride on the subway and we emerged in Downtown, right near the skating ring Jason and I had walked by numerous times recently with my family just days before. I knew right were we were! The crowds were huge and before we entered them we stopped at a convenience store to buy some cheap beer. Amber said she needed so liquid courage if we were going to stand in a huge mob in the freezing cold. We pushed our way in and only had to wait about 15 minutes before midnight. We were on the edge of a crowd filled with thousands and could barely see a glimpse of the stage show and hear the music that occupied the main festivities for the day. At midnight we cheered and could hear people shooting roman candle fireworks around us. On the outskirts only a few went off next to us, but some ash managed to get in our eyes to which I screamed "oww! my eye!" Although Amber tried to get us to leave right away, fearing the mob would move, we didn't want to. But then suddenly we were forced to move along. The mob was lurching forward, a mass wave of people moving as one, without the ability to stop or change direction. Our little group was pushed along, with Amber and Brian in the front, we all tried to hold on to each other and not get lost. If you were to fall, you would have been trampled! Amber was getting pretty freaked out at this, squeaking out "I told you we were gonna die! I told you to leave! I told you this was a bad idea!" For the rest of us, while a tiny bit scary, the mob wave was more fun than anything! And we managed not to spill our beers. We did see some little kids in strollers, their parents standing around them to guard them from the wave, and wondered why there were out there, as it was definitely dangerous for small ones. The rest of the night Brian couldn't let Amber live down her quasi-hysterical cries, or my "my eye!" He poked fun at how we were being big babies!

After that our group split up a bit and Jason and I ended up in a sit down pub with Brian. I really didn't want to go to sleep that night. We had no hotel, but were planning to stay in a jimjilbang. Although jimjilbang's are nice, I hate sleeping in them and get really hot and uncomfortable. Brian agreed but was contemplating sleeping because he had planned to stay in Seoul for the day. Jason was just tired. But I decided I would make it all night and be on the first subway at 5:30am headed towards the bus terminal, then on the 6am bus to Wonju! That's when things started running again. And you know what? We did it! We made it all night! We stayed at the first bar for a long time, just chatting and having a few drinks, it was really nice and relaxing. Then we headed to a hooka bar where we payed way too much for some "nachos" and cheap beer. But the hooka tasted good and the atmosphere was pretty hippy and relaxed. Somehow we made it all last until 5am when we tugged back out into the cold to find the subway. Slipping and with teeth chattering, we made it on a second wind! The second we were on the bus to Wonju, we all slept. We woke up briefly to say bye to Brian, got home and crawled into bed to sleep the day away. Was it worth it? For sure! Were my sleep patterns screwed up for days, of course.


Winter Camp 

For the first week of January I was teaching at an Immersion Winter Camp at a different school than Sangji. The camp was for middle school and elementry students from all over Wonju. I was one of 12 English teachers located in Wonju chosen to teach at it. There were six classes of each grade and I was with the second highest level of middle schoolers. Although I was dreading camp originally, I enjoyed it. At first I was super nervous because I'd had to turn in lesson plans and supply lists just the week before my parents arrived to visit. I was given no warning and had to created 12 lessons from scratch in just a few days. With help and advise from friends, and luckily no teaching in December, just sitting at my desk, I somehow finished them all. Yet when the camp started I was really able to get a sense of my students abilities, which was super high, and their enthusiasim for English, which was also high. I lucked out majorly and got a class of 11 students, boys and girls, with high ability and the strong ability to try and speak. They were perhaps too loud and talkative at sometimes, but I am getting better at controlling them. They were an extremely fun class to teach! As the week went on they became more outgoing and I was able to challenge them more and more. I'm not sure how much they really "learned" that could be measured on a test, but I hope the English immersion gave them some confidence and the time to practice speaking, something Korean kids NEVER get to do in class, unless it is with a foreign English teacher. In their English classes with their Korean teachers, all they do is bookwork and test prep. I was happy at the end of the week when one student remarked "wow its weird to see Korean writing again!" as he was handed an evaluation sheet. All week he read in English, which is an accomplishment in itself for teaching in Korea. Many students, perhaps just flattering me, perhaps sincere, said they were so sad English camp was over, that they would miss me, that I was the best teacher they'd ever had, that they wanted me to come teach at their schools! I just laughed and said thank you. I gave the students my email address in case they wanted to keep talking to me, and one boy, my favorite, has been emailing me since then! He is so cute and sends super sweet messages about playing with his neieces, or what movies he's seen, I hope we continue to be in contact! I think its harmless good practice for him.

I really enjoyed the English camp in the end. It was such a huge change from my usual school where the classes are huge, I only see kids for 45 minutes each week, I have no supplies, very little support... at camp I could request any supplies I needed for craft time, science time... every teacher also was assigned a Teaching Assistant. The Assistant's were all Korean university students who are studying to become English teachers. My Assistant was awesome! She obviously spoke Korean, but also English, fluently! And she's only 22! She was way more help than any of my usual teachers. She also was awesome in that she would only speak English to the students, when they would ask her something in Korean, she would say, speak to me in English. I could always rely on  her and felt I had the backup I needed and thought I would get when I first came here. Camp was also great because all the native English teachers could talk and bounce ideas off of each other. Every day also included an awesome snack for teachers and students, from pizza to hamburgers to kimbab! We also got done at 1pm everyday and got to go home! We taught four hours in the morning and were finished. It was so nice to have a slow lunch afterward, I'd either go home and take a nap or eat out with Brian and Amber and still be home by 3pm to relax and plan for the next day. I enjoyed making difficult lessons that I knew the kids would listen to. That week Jason was also at a winter camp, but at an elementry school that doesn't usually have any native teachers, he had a really similiar experience. We were so down in the dumps after everyone leaving after the holidays that our camps were an awesome pick me up and reminder that teaching can be fun and rewarding and challenging all in one, you just need the proper support and motivation!


Basketball

The orginizers of the English camp also paid for all the teachers to go out to dinner twice, norebang, and go to a basketball game. Wonju has a team that plays for them in the national leauge. They have a nice basketball stadium in Wonju too. Basketball here is played exactly the same as in the US. So we got to go to a game one Wednesday night! We had front row seats and enjoyed watching Wonju beat Seoul! Both centors, for Seoul and Wonju, were big black guys, probably from the US, while the rest of the team was Korean. They were pretty good! (I didn't think the centers were that great though.) The Wonju coach even got a technical during the game and was kicked out! Unlike in the US though, he didn't kick and scream, he just quietly left after arguing over a call. It is not right to show those kinds of emotions in Korea, you would be shamed and loose face, so he kept them in.

The highlight of the game was the halftime show. Earlier they had told us that one of us might be choosen to paly the game at the half time show and win a prize. I had casually mentioned to one of the organizers that I played basketball in high school. Thus when I arrived at the game she handed me my ticket and said "you are playing the halftime show!!" I was so shocked and just started laughing! Should have kept my mouth shut. I had told Amber earlier too, I would never volunteer for something like that!" Karma got me. Never say never! I was nervous and a little worried I would have any idea what to do because I can't understand Korean. Luckily when it was time to go down to the court for the competition, the Korean girl, Ashley, was there to translate! I was against two super not athletic Korean high school girls, haha! We had to run from the base line to half court, put on a wig, place a rubber ball between our legs, jump with it between our legs to the basket and then shoot. So that's what I did! It was great! I shot the ball twice and then made it! I won!! Yay! For my prize I got two tickets to a shabu shabu buffet resturant, not too shabby! I also got interviewed and broadcast on the giant TVs! They warned me this would happen! After I said my name and that I was from the US they asked who my favorite player was, luckily Ashely had told me a name to say, otherwise I would have been clueless! The interview was a little rushed so I don't know quite what I did or said but it was a silly and fun experience! How lucky am I. Later that night Jason also won a free pizza from dominos, delieverd on the spot to our seats. He did this by dancing well during the cheering time, we were copying the cheerleaders moves and she picked up out of the crowd to win. I've decided we need to go to more basketball games.

The Family and the holidays have come and gone, now its back to teaching...

It's already been a week since my family left Korea to go back to CA, which means its already been two weeks since they arrived for their visit! And since they left I've celebrated New Years and started teaching an English Immersion Winter Camp!

The visit by Mom, Dad and Scott was much anticipated, needed and enjoyed. I miss everyone already, mostly because it was so much fun to have everyone here! It was great to be able to show visitors Korea, eat at our favorite restaurants, take in the culture and to explore more of Seoul together. And of course it was amazingly wonderful to have everyone together for Christmas. It hadn't felt much like Christmas before they got here, even though Jason and I decorated and had been listening to Christmas music, which we were kind of sad about, but once the three of them arrived, decorations and presents in hand, it felt a little more right. Jason and I were also very glad to have a weeks break from teaching and/or "desk warming" (we hadn't really taught in over a month, really we had just been sitting at our desks because we were required to be at school while students took tests, went on field trips and basically partied for the last few weeks of school. Why there are two weeks of school left after final exams beats me.) I do feel somewhat more renewed now. It was so nice to have familiar faces around, to be able to talk and relax. I just wish I had even more time with them! There is still so much to see of Korea and there is still so much to catch up on!

To tell a little of what happened over the course of the week, here are the highlights.

The Wednesday they arrived I went to Incheon Airport from Wonju to meet them. It was a three hour bus ride. They were supposed to arrive around 7:30pm and the last bus to Wonju for the night was at 9:10pm. Close but enough time. Except, when I woke up on Wednesday I saw that Mom had texted me right before they had boarded the plane at LAX to say there were already delayed by two hours! Thus their plane didn't arrive and unload until about 8:45pm. I was watching the flight time travel updates all day in hopes this would miraculously change but alas it did not! So as I stood at the gate anxiously awaiting their arrival I also watched the clock tick past 9:10. Finally they emerged and to my surprise I wasn't upset at all about having missed the bus, I was just so happy to see them! I wish I could watch them emerge from the terminal at Incheon every month! I just love the excitement and anticipation and eventual rush of happiness! The three were a little tired but in good spirits. I told them we'd have to find somewhere to stay for the night. Mom went over and talked to the Korean Air people because that's who they'd flown through and told them what happened. Good idea she did because they gave us a free stay in the airport Hyatt! We got a room with four beds in a beautiful hotel that operated a private airport shuttle! It worked out nicely because everyone got to sleep comfortably and shower. I was a little worried because it meant I'd have to miss work on Thursday morning, which meant I had to call my coteacher and explain to him what happened, but he was understanding and I wasn't disappointed at all that I got to hang out with my family instead of desk warm!

We chatted and looked out the window during our bus ride to Wonju the next day. I threw Mom and Scott in a taxi and told the driver to take them to my school "Sangji yogo," which luckily he did and luckily it was the right place, while Dad and I took a different taxi. There was too much luggage for one. We got to my apartment and then immediatly left for my school. I was expected and I told my coteacher I would bring my family over to see everything and meet him. From noon until four pm we were on a whirlwind tour of Sangji, its students and its teachers! I first took them to the English Zone where they met one of my favorite students (who made me cookies for Christmas!!) and were mobbed by a random group of first graders. They were so curious, they asked a lot of questions, tried to touch Scott's hair, and were just crazy! I tried to warm my family they were energetic! Then we met my coteacher Mr. Byeon who gave us some snacks and then told us we would go meet the Principal. I made sure my family knew to accept everything given to them. We had a really long tea time with the Principal, Mr. Byeon translated and we expressed our thanks, he talked about wanting a sister school in the US, etc. The meeting ended with the Principal asking where they would stay in Wonju. I said with me. He then insisted on giving us a free nights stay at a "four star" hotel in Wonju. I tried to say no. Mr. Byeon got quiet and looked at me, then looked at the Principal. "It would be a good experience..." he went on. I got the hint. I had to accept. It was true Korean style, subtly pressuring me into saying yes. So I agreed, he called the hotel, told them to expect us and gave me the vouchers. My parents felt like celebrities! Then it was time to meet all the teachers in the school, at the teachers after school meeting! Gulp! My parents had to stand up in front of all the teachers and say something. Then Mr. Byeon took us on a tremendous tour of the school. We visited classroom after classroom, office after office, he dragged us over to the high school where we met the nurse, the office manager, the tech guy, the VP. Mind you I've never had a tour of the high school, I've never met these people, I was shown things at Sangji I didn't even know existed! Where was my tour and introduction when I first got here? Apparently forgotten. At the end of it all Jason finally met up with us, he'd been at English camp all day. We were exhausted. It was true Mr. Byeon, true Korean style! Frustrating and amusing all at once. That night we were basically forced to stay at the hotel, which was definintely not a "four star" hotel because they made my coteacher drive us there, so we couldn't escape. It was a little sad because everyone wanted to stay at my place because we'd finally arrived and it was cute and snug for Christmas. We did have an excellent tofu dinner at my favorite place and from then on moved to my apartment.

Tofu dinner on the way. Did I mention we always sit on the floor in Wonju?

Friday I had to "work" during the morning so Mom, Dad and Scott explored a little on their own. Dad really enjoyed seeing the numerous driving ranges around town so he checked one out, and they had fun walking the streets around my apartment. Its nice I have a key code to get in because they could come and go as they pleased. In the afternoon I took them to the Wonju Central Market to see the shopping mixed in with traditional food vendors. It was super cold so not as many little old ladies selling veggies on the street were out as usual, but it was still fun to see. That night was Christmas Eve so Jason and I wanted to take them to a really nice dinner. We invited our friend Scott and the six of us went to a nice duck restaurant. There you grill the duck yourself on a burner, both smoked and normal, and you make a wrap with lettuce, onion, veggies and bean paste. The food was fabulous! Mom wanted to try soju so she, Jason and I shared a bottle. She thought it was really good! (BTW, she LOVED the instant coffee!! Maybe she's Korean?) After dinner we went for gelato in Scott's area of town. I was hoping to karaoke or go to the sauna, but everyone was so tired after days of travel and socializing we decided to go home.

Central Market

Duck dinner here I come! Merry Christmas Eve! Scott and Dad

So yummy. Grilling our dinner. 

Saturday brought Christmas morning! Mom was so great she brought us all stockings to hang and even put our names on them! She filled them with candy and toys and we got to open them at morning! Mmmm American chocolate! She also brought presents for us, some from other family members too, and we had a lot of fun sitting in the living room opening them together. (I got all great things!) (I also now refuse to take down the Christmas decorations because they make me happy.) Jason made pumpkin pancakes (courtesy of his grandma's care package). The rest of the day we just took some small walks around Wonju, saw Jason's apartment, had some coffee on the side of Chiaksan mountain (it wasn't pretty like we remembered because everything was dead and cold, haha) and had shabu shabu for dinner. Jason went crazy and ordered a huge meal, which he and Scott devoured. We settled in to watch Toy Story 3 together but didn't make it very far before everyone fell asleep! It was a nice, slow Christmas day.

Dad, Me, Mom and Scott in Wonju

Shabu shabu dinner. Mom and I

Sunday was a long day and perhaps we traveled too far but... we made it to the Eastern Sea to see Naksam Temple. It is a beautiful place right on the edge of the water. We also saw a bit of Sokcho by bus, it looks like a cute place. We had a simple lunch with some great fish as the centerpeice. No one was brave and got any crazy seafood dishes though, even though we were surrounded be fish and sea life of all kinds! Mom wanted to try more soju that night but for some reason it didn't taste nearly as good. Jason cooked a simple dinner and we watched Indiana Jones, well half of it, before falling asleep. 

Cute Yang-Yang mascot. Cute Korea! 

Drinking the sacred water at the buddhist temple. 

Eastern Sea

Lunch. Yummy fish!

Naksan Temple Gate

 Monday it was time to change location and head to Seoul. Dad and Jason checked out the sauna right next to our place (aka they got naked together and bathed!) Otherwise we started the day slowly, Dad and Mom took a last walk around the neighborhood and by the time we go the bus it was after 12. On our way to Seoul it started snowing! This caused some traffic but it was beautiful to see the snowflakes falling outside. Almost a white Christmas! From the bus station in Seoul we took the subway to our Lotte City Hotel. The subway stops right underneath it so it was super convenient to travel anywhere in the city. Jason bought us all reloadable "T-Money Cards" so we could just swipe them every time we road the subway instead of having to pay each time. Its only 900 won a ride that way. Our hotel was pretty cool. It was nice and clean, but only had one bed per room, so three of us had to share. The cool thing was that the hotel was only the first 10 stories, after that the other 30 or more were apartments! True Korea once again, high rise apartments everywhere. This also meant that the bottom two floors of the hotel/apartments were full of stores; a supermarket, restaurants, nail salon, coffee shop, etc. It was easy to get dinner that night and breakfast in the morning. Plus the supermarket had all the snacks and drinks you could need. Earlier Dad had picked up a brochure about a skating ring in the downtown area of Seoul. We decided to go check it out. We emerged from the subway in one of the nicest and most hip areas of Seoul, near City Hall and its most famous temples and shopping areas. There were thousands of Christmas lights in the trees and on the buildings lining the streets. It was beautiful and definitely reminded us that it was Christmas time! Everything was gorgeous. We easily found the skating ring and bought tickets for the next round. It was an amazing deal, only 1000 won (less than $1) to skate for 1 1/2 hours, including skate rentals! And the ring was nice and clean, with a warm locker room and a giant Christmas tree. We were a little apprehensive at first but Dad edged us on. Once we got on the ring Mom and Jason took off! Scott soon gained his ground and followed. Dad was doing well too but took a tumble at one point, hurting his wrist. I was a scardy cat at first and clung to Jason or the side wall whimpering but even I got over it! We skated the entire time and had to drag Scott off at the end. Before calling it quits we walked down some more beautifully lit streets and found the newly renovated stream that runs through central Seoul. It was a great night.

Skating with the Seoul mascot

Scott's on the move!

Watch out for this stud!

Who do you think is faster? Or enjoying this more? LOL. 

Holiday Lights! So great!

Tuesday morning brought clouds and the chance of snow. (It had snowed through the night!) In the morning we headed to Gyeonbok Palace. It was closed so we walked through the cute area of town known as Samcheondong to a different, more famous palace that was open. We also passed through the Hanok Village area of town which contains some of the renovated and thus now chic vintage Korean homes. When we entered the palace it started to snow!! It was beautiful and we had a great time prancing through it! It was a real solid snowfall and just kept coming down. It made everything hushed and clean looking. I was glad my family got to experience such a nice snow. But by the time we were done at the palace it had stopped and was clearing up! We walked on to Insadong, finally grabbed lunch, and sloshed through the now slushy streets. After a break at the hotel for some much needed R&R we headed to Myeongdong to take in the night life! Myeongdong was busy and bustling as ever, filled with high end shopping, vendors, food and neon. We had a delicious ramen dinner (Scott ate everything, he loves ramen!) we quickly stopped in a photobooth before finding a karaoke room. I luckily read a sign (in Korean!) for the "norebang" and we went in. After a five minute wait we were ushered into our private room for an hour of singing! Everyone, even Dad, had a great time singing! The room is fun because its loud, you can choose from hundreds of songs, you get two microphones, a disco ball and a tambourine! You can't help but have a good time! We left the room super pumped and happy, not even realizing it was almost 11pm!

Trying to catch snowflakes on our tongues

Snow!

Oh Jason and his face mask. (He put the flap up so we could see his smile.) Nice picture everyone else. 

Myeongdong

Karaoke!

Tired on the subway

Wednesday was our last full day together. The day started with a trip to the huge Seoul fish market, for Dad, it was gigantic and filled with raw fish, dead fish, live fish, people were trying to sell us sashimi right and left. "Second floor restaurant! Sashimi!" they would say. Scott received many compliments on his hair. Dad took many pictures and almost got sold a huge tuna (probably hundreds of dollars!) Then we visited the Korean War Memorial and the War Museum of Korea. We saw lots of huge statues, tanks, guns and planes, covered in snow. The war museum was interesting and as Mom and Dad pointed out, is the only museum they've been to dedicated to displaying the history of solely a war. The Korean War is very present in the minds of Koreans, even today, so the museum is very important to them. From there we walked to Itaewon and got burgers before heading back to Myeondong to find the entrance to the cable car ride up to North Seoul Tower. N Seoul Tower is on top of a large hill in the middle of Seoul, giving it a great height advantage and making it the best place in Seoul to see the view (also they dubbed themselves the "most romantic view in Seoul" for all those couples out there.) Rather than walk or take a bus we took a fun suspended cable car ride up the mountain. Then it was an elevator the viewing platform of the tower. The whole experience was really great and fun! The viewing platform offered a 360 view of Seoul. It was beautiful! We enjoyed picking out the landmarks we knew, our hotel, the train station, the skating ring (that's right, we really could see it!) the Olympic Stadium, the many bridges over the river. We stayed up there during dusk until the lights turned on in town. Then you could see all the cars, buildings, Christmas decorations, it was breathtaking! We stopped for dumplings in Myeongdong before checking out the expensive merchandise in the huge Lotte Department store. We road the escalator up all 12 stories! I was glad Mom was able to see some of the Korean shopping we'd been talking about! With no breaks all day the night came to an end. We lounged in the hotel and went through the pictures we'd taken all week.

Seoul Fish Market

War Memorial. I'm not PC at all and am shooting a gun! 

N Seoul Tower

Far from home. Indiana Jones style. 

Seoul

Thursday was time to say goodbye. Jason and I stood on the street as Mom, Dad and Scott pulled away in a bus headed to the airport. There were tears on both sides. We waved through the tinted windows. After that Jason and I were down in the dumps as we caught the subway, then the bus back to Wonju. We are okay now but when we first got home the apartment seemed too empty all of a sudden. It was a great trip with lots of fun times and memories! Like I said, I wish I had more time just to sit and talk, go shopping with Mom, joke around with Dad, catch up with Scott. I hope they enjoyed it all too. I know we didn't get to see everything on the list but we made one heck of a dent!

My Favorite

Miss you and love you but am doing well, back in the swing of teaching and (shockingly) enjoying it! (Just a little.)