Dynamic

Every city that I have been to in Korea has an English phrase that is plastered all over. Deagu: Colorful Deagu. Seoul: Soul of Asia. Ulsan: Ulsan for you. Busan: Dynamic Busan. I'm not sure how accurate those sayings are. When I visited Daegu in December I didn't see a colorful city, not even from the tower that overlooks the city. I just saw a lot of gray roofs. Asia is a big place so I'm not so sure if Seoul is really the soul of Asia but it's a creative saying. I guess Ulsan is for me but with how many things don't go my way I think Ulsan should have the title dynamic. I like Busan as a whole and even though I've gotten lost there I haven't had things randomly closed on me there. I'd prefer Busan to have the "for you" saying.

In the foreign community the country as a whole has been tagged along with Busan's phrase. I've heard over and over again, "this is Korea" or "remember this is dynamic Korea". The definition of dynamic is a very accurate account of my experience: Characterized by constant change, activity, or progress.

This is a blog entry about the constant change in places that change doesn't happen back home.

A common hobby of mine is looking at movie times on Thursday or Friday afternoon because I like watching movies and the movie theaters here are great. The seats are huge, they rarely show previews before the movie and you get to pick your seat when you buy your tickets, which means that movie planners like myself get great seats and don't need to arrive early!

Last Thursday I saw something that made me super excited! The animation movie Turbo was going to be shown in English AND in 4D. Most animation movies that come through Ulsan are dubbed in Korean so the little kids don't have to read the subtitles. 4D is the amazing crazy experience offered in Japan and now South Korea that includes a movie with 3D glasses and graphics but also has moving seats built with the capability to spray water in your face and air at the back of your neck. It is the full body movie experience. When I found out about the 4D option at the new theater in Ulsan I knew it would be something I'd want to do before leaving Korea but I wanted to pick the perfect movie so I wouldn't get sick or scared. Every weekend an action packed movie with fight scenes was offered in 4D until last Thursday.

I was so excited about the possibility of finally seeing a racing animation movie in 4D that I asked a bunch of friends if they wanted to see it with me. On Friday it was decided that I would buy the tickets online with my co teacher's help and we'd see the movie on Saturday. So I bought five tickets online and happily left school. Later that night I had a few missed calls and a text message in Korean. The only things I could read in the text were CGV (the movie theater's name) and 27 (the day we were going to see the movie). I sent the text to my co teacher and she told me the movie had been changed. I checked the movie times in the morning and saw that ALL of the Turbo showings in English were canceled. All of them. They just vanished even though they were there the day before and I had bought five tickets for the show.

I was speechless. I was shocked. I was angry. I was confused. I was a paying customer and my movie had vanished!

I decided to go to the movie theater and ask what had happened because I had spent a lot of money on those 4D tickets (each ticket is 18,000Won which is around $17) and I wanted my money back or switched to the only other 4D movie option, Pacific Rim.

My wonderful friend Meredith came with me and together we went to the counter and I showed the worker the text message I had received. She then had us talk to a different lady who seemed in charge and she explained that the movie had been changed and we could see it at a different time. I asked, "In English" and she sadly looked at us and said no. I then decided to ask if we could switch our tickets to Pacific Rim. She told us the first showing was at 9pm, which was fine with us since Turbo in English wasn't going to be shown until 8:30pm anyways. After she printed out our new tickets she told us that the movie was free. Free? Free. I asked, "my money will be on my card?" She said, "okay". I walked away with our "free" tickets surprised by our luck and confused by her "okay". I checked my bank account today and the tickets were refunded! I'll take a free movie any day.

The 4D experience was great. I was worried about Pacific Rim because I knew the movie plot was big robots fighting giant aliens that come out of the sea. There was bound to be a lot of seat shaking and water spraying. When we sat down in our seats an advertisement for 4D started to play and the chairs started moving out of control and all five of us couldn't help but make noise. My first thought was, "this is going to be a long movie". Thankfully the actual movie wasn't as theme-park-ride-crazy as the preview. In fact, I think the 4D added a whole new wonderful quality to an action movie (besides the water spraying in my face). We all enjoyed the movie and want to watch another 4D movie soon. I may never be able to go see another movie in America again (that's a lie - there are too many great movies coming out in November and December).

At the end of the day I wasn't angry anymore at dynamic Korea because, like they often do, things worked out.

Bless friends.

Victories

I have never been good at celebrating victories because there always seems to be something else off in the distance that needs to be done. Today I want to acknowledge two victories I've had in the last week or so. They aren't huge or dramatic but having lived in Korea for almost ten months now they are as close to a victory as I'll ever get.

On one of my few all-day-desk-warming days I brought my laptop with so I could make a movie of my Sports Day pictures. It was a great way to spend a few hours and I think it turned out great. I was very excited to show it to my students and to have a solid ten minutes planned for each class.

After finials I showed the movie to each grade. The responses were pretty similar, lots of laughing at their friends and hidden faces when their picture came up. Last Friday one of my 4th grade classes asked if they could watch the movie again. I didn't have anything super special planned because the textbook was finished so I decided to show the movie. As the movie progressed I noticed one boy sitting under his desk. When he saw me looking at him he crossed his arms to make an X (which is the common body language of "no" here) and said "no teachuh". The students in the class started to make a drum roll on their desks and I realized they only wanted to watch for one reason - to laugh at the boy under the desk. I knew he had a close up picture of himself in the movie (and I still remember him asking me to take his picture) and that the students must have planned this little humiliating act. Right before the boys picture came up I turned off the tv so the boy wouldn't have to endure that torture. You would have thought I'd murdered someone right in front of them by the noise they made. "TEACHUH NO" "BACK TEACHUH BACK". The little boy under the desk gave me a big smile and he sat in his chair. The students continued to yell at me and when I turned the tv on so they could watch the rest of the movie I explained that their friend didn't want his picture on the tv so they need to be nice to their friend. That caused a great shift in the yelling and the class started to yell at the boy in Korean. I didn't know what was being said but I could tell it wasn't nice.

I knew I wouldn't be able to convey to the students why I did what I did and I knew they wouldn't understand my reasoning even if they understood my words because the standard of bullying isn't the same. I have been in far too many classes where the whole class picks on one student and the teacher does nothing to stop it, as if this is part of everyday life and the kids who are difference should get used to it. It broke my heart when I first got here and it still does.

After the movie finished my Co Teacher could tell that the tension was still bad so she came up and started to speak to them in Korean. I could tell she was using her "mom" voice and by the end of her speech a few students were looking shamefully at their desks. I was very surprised by the turn of events. There I was feeling proud and shameful for what I had just done because it was against the grain of what I've seen teachers do here and my Co Teacher seemed to pick up on what happened and translated for me.

When class was finally over the little boy who hid under the desk ran out so fast I couldn't tell him I was sorry for showing the movie. I told my Co Teacher that I didn't know they were going to tease the student or else I wouldn't have played the movie again. My Co Teacher then continued to surprise me by explaining that she told the students that this was my culture (turning off the tv because someone didn't want to watch it) and that they needed to respect my culture. She then told me how she thinks the American culture is better because if someone is hurt then they won't do it but in Korea everyone will still do it even if someone is crying.

I was totally blown away by what happened in that hot classroom. I still am. I don't think we ended that classes' ability to bully each other but at least that little boy wasn't totally humiliated by his class and maybe they will remember what my Co Teacher said about considering everyone's feelings.

My last victory is on a much lighter note. I showed my 5th grade "What time is it" from High School Musical 2 for their lesson titled "I go to school at 8". The song really has nothing to do with the lesson but it is July and those poor students are sick of school. They really enjoyed it because it has dancing and they could understand "what time is it? summer time!". My Co Teacher liked the song too and I guess has been showing the students the song every class period since.

So during story telling yesterday I walked into 5-5's classroom and when a few boys saw me they all turned to the clock (like in the movie) and started to chant "summer. summer" just like in the song. That was a very happy American pop culture moment I was glad to have.

Today is the last day of the semester (finally) and I get to sit at my desk in the air conditioned room (YAY!) all day.

Bless friends.

Free

There are perks of living in one place for nine months. One of those perks is finally filling up a punch card and receiving a free cup of coffee. You may be wondering how a coffee lover like myself took a whole nine months to fill out a punch card, simple - there are too many shops! Back home I had two choices: Starbucks or Caribou, but here there are about six major chains in Ulsan and many more small shops that also have punch cards. I have eleven punch cards for coffee shops (I had twelve until yesterday when I finally got a free cup of coffee) and I'll probably finish three more before heading back to the States.

Another perk is having a handle on the bus routes. Yesterday Meredith and I decided to meet by City Hall for coffee and to find the Thrift Store that accepts donations. I didn't need to look up online what buses went past the city hall because I already knew! So as my time for departure got closer all I needed to do was open my Korean Bus App and type in the bus numbers to see what bus left my stop at a decent time to get me to the City Hall at eleven. Now before you get too impressed I can't read the Korean on the App, I have just memorized where my bus stop is on the APP and look for the time it comes. I do believe that is a big kind of accomplishment that has somehow become part of my routine.

Bless friends!

9.

Happy 4th of July!

Missing this holiday feels weird. As I sit at my desk I really wish I was going home for some sweet corn on the cob and watermelon. It took me about ten minutes to remember what I even did last year! I about missed the fireworks with Heidi and Kyle because we couldn't find a place to park, and the year before that my family did miss the fireworks because they started early and somehow we were the only four in Cottage Grove who didn't get the memo. This year I'll be celebrating the 4th as well as our 9th-month-in-Korea-anniversary with Meredith. I wish our night involved corn on the cob, but a good ol' hamburger will have to do.

Let's talk about summer.

This is the first summer that doesn't feel like a "summer" for me and I think that's because these kids are still in school. The semester ends on July 26th and summer camp starts August 5th. That means I find myself behind the desk planning away. The only difference between planning this camp and the last camp is the heat. It seems like a sweet sweet memory that happened forever ago when I was wearing my winter jacket over many layers of clothing. I don't think I'll ever be allowed to complain about the weather again after this year in Korea because this was the coldest winter I've ever had and this is by the far the hottest summer I've ever had. At the moment Ulsan is in the rainy season but the only rain I feel comes off my own body. The humidity. Do I need to say more? I don't think I do.

This past month was pretty basic besides one Thursday four weeks ago. I got to the classroom and tried to sign on the computer but it wouldn't let me. So I waited. When the students and my co-teacher showed up I found out that the computer had been rebooted and so the password was new (a piece of information I would have liked to know before hand, oh well). Then as I start to set up my lesson my co-teacher tells me, "Lesson 7 is for next semester. Do you have something else planned?" Wait... what? There are still two months left of the semester and we are done with the text book?

And here is the amazing part. I didn't freak out. I didn't panic. I literally looked at her and said, "okay, I have one game then." The game was for lesson 7 but I didn't care about that little fact. Somehow (by the grace of God) I let the lack of communication roll off my back and I conducted class like nothing inconvenient had happened.

The real kicker was the kids LOVED the game. Every time we finished the game they would yell, "Again, teachuh again!", I just smiled and said, "Okay!" By the third period the game had become a trend and the student's ran in asking, "juambee game teachuh juambee game?"

That was four weeks ago and my third graders still ask me every class, "juambee game teachuh?" That Zombie game has become a legend and I plan on keeping it on my USB forever because surprises happen and I never know when I'll need a good "juambee" game to keep the kids occupied for 40 minutes.

Bless friends.