Slurping up the Specialties

Friday was my first and only day of observing classes and learning the in’s and out’s of teaching English. The kids are absolutely adorable--- initially, I thought I’d prefer to teach the older kids (ages 12-14), however I’ve now requested to be put with the young ones because they make me laugh. For the most part, they seem well behaved and they’re incredibly smart. The kids who come here for English classes are learning basically the same English lessons that Kids back home are learning in their Native Tongue Curriculum.

Most kids in the school have English names instead of their regular Korean names—this makes it much easier for the English teachers to address them, and also fits well with the concept of an English Language School (Kids are not permitted to speak any Korean in the classes, so it’s fitting that they address one another in English names). Most of the names are chosen by the mothers and some are really funny- a girl named David, a boy named Jessica, a boy named Tiger… there’s also Joon, Peach, and a tone of Sally’s.

Once classes finished at 9:30, everyone finished up their paperwork (I observed) and then we headed out for a very cultural dinner party. We have three teachers leaving to go back to the US, so it was a goodbye party for them and a welcome party for me (another teacher from Canada will be arriving in about a week).

The menu for this dinner included many first time dishes for me. As Busan is the fourth largest seaport in the world, they have an abundance of fresh seafood. Tonight we were feasting on fresh oysters (yes, I had one, and almost gagged!) also a smoked fish that was pretty good, some type of seaweed soup, and of course, OCTOPUS!!! The entire restaurant was filled with tanks holding octopus—they were fairly large, a little bigger than the size of my hand. The octopus was brought to the table fully intact, and then the server chopped off the heads and took them away. The rest of the body was then cut into small pieces and dipped into a yellow sauce. It was surprisingly tasty—sort of like calamari, but without the stringiness—it had a thick texture, and you could feel the suction cups in your mouth.

The entire meal was eaten on the floor with cushions. My Korean boss was very concerned that it would be uncomfortable for the North American teachers (especially the females) but it was not that bad. In traditional Korean style, there were not individual plates, rather everything was put on the table in small dishes and people just used their chopsticks to pick up food and eat it.

Another significant aspect of this meal was the drinking… Koreans are big drinkers. There was endless amounts of beer and Soju. Typically I am not a beer drinker, but I was sitting right across from my boss, and he was constantly filling my glass. Drinking the Soju was a first time experience for me. Because I had not done it before, I had to take the first shot as everyone cheered me on--- not bad! It was much smoother than I expected, but was quite strong. The taste was not overpowering but had a lingering aftertaste of rubbing alcohol. I later discovered that it was quite drinkable when mixed with the beer.

At the end of the meal, the servers returned with the octopus heads in small dishes. They were cut into small pieces and were said to be the delicacy of Korean dining. Interestingly, as they were cut, the ink from the octopus began leaking out and pooled in the bottom of the dish. Throughout the whole meal, I had tried to keep an open mind about the experience, but this pushed my limits. Although everyone said it was tasty, I decided to refrain from trying it myself—it was just a little too much. I’ll have to save some experiences for later in the year!

Interesting observations:

• · It is very rude and extremely frowned upon to eat or drink in the streets of Korea (because 50yrs ago people were very poor and could not always afford to eat/drink) however people spit in the street. Yesterday I was walking and an old lady horked right beside me into a gutter… gross!

• · Koreans have heating that comes from the floors—it is so nice to get out of bed in the morning and have a toasty floor for your feet to walk on J

• · Koreans are hugely respectful people—the younger generations are constantly bowing and showing signs of respect to the older ones—it’s nice to see

• · Bath towels are the size of a face cloth—I don’t know how that’s supposed to do the job… I’m just glad I brought one from home

• Koreans don't use liquid soap in public restrooms... only a bar of soap. Every time I use it, I can hear my sister Amy in my head "I'm sure this isn't very sanitary". There's lots of adjusting to be done!

Missing everyone terribly!!