Lonely - The Irony

"Are you lonely?" It's a question I hear a lot from Koreans.

You see, Koreans aren't used to living alone. Most of them live with their parents until they're married, and then they live with their spouses.

So when they found out I live alone, they all ask the same thing, "Are you lonely?" But I always say the same thing, "No, not at all!" And it's the way I feel. Even before I got Riley, I didn't really think of myself as being lonely. I have always had someone that I can hang out with or call up if I needed. But also, I value my alone time. I grew up in a different house than my sisters, so I've always known how to handle myself when I'm not surrounded by others. It doesn't bother me...and actually, I quite like having 'me' time!

I've heard before that it's possible to feel completely alone even when you're surrounded by a crowd of people. I never knew that feeling until I came to Korea. And today it happened again, hence the reason for this blog entry.

Today I traveled to a small town outside of Tongyeong to watch our teachers compete against other local schools in a volleyball competition. I didn't have anyone to go with, so I took the bus alone (no problem) and when I arrived, I sat by some teachers that I'm pretty friendly with. Well, when it was time for them to go warm up for their volleyball match, the space around me freed up. Some other teachers (older women) came to sit down, but I could understand them saying in Korea how they didn't want to sit by me because they couldn't speak English.

In that moment, the 30 or so minutes that I was sitting there, I couldn't help but feel so lonely, even though I was in a gym full of people.

To me, it struck me as so ironic that Koreans are always so concerned about me being lonely and not having anyone with me, but in that moment, I was completely isolated from the group of teachers. The teachers that 'shut me out' are not ones that I'm close with, nor are they teachers that I've had any interaction with...so I'm not taking it personally. I know that if it were any foreigner sitting there, they would have done the same thing.

It's just ironic to me...that's all.

April Happenings

It's hard to believe that April is almost over. Time is quickly racing by and I don't quite know how to feel about that! I just really can't believe it's already about to by May in a couple of days!! Wow!! 

On that note, here is the last month for me in pictures...

Riley and I out for one of our many walk on the seaside.

Cherry blossoms in full bloom against the night sky.

Liz, Riley, and I at the Tongyeong Cherry Blossom Festival

 I couldn't get enough of these amazing trees!

Sunset at the pier...a great reminder of why I love Tongyeong so much!

A small bout of food poisoning is a way to damper anyone's free holiday off (April 11...Election day in Korea)

My wonderful friend, Eujin's, wedding

Jinju for the day to see Sara and Ruby

Riley and I experienced a new (to us) park in Tongyeong...WonMun Park.

 Beautiful spring flowers everywhere!!

 Riley got a haircut for the warmer temps outside...oh my little man!

Busan to see Eujin and Gon in their new apartment as a married couple!

Lotte Giants game with lots of Tongyeong friends.

Riley!

It had been building up. And after I returned from my trip to the States in October, I just knew it was time! Time for me to get a dog!! I love dogs but I've always been a bit of a commitment-phobe. I like having my freedom and going and doing as I please. But finally I just knew it was time.

So I searched the web for a while, until I found an ad for a 2-year-old Miniature Schnazuer on Craigslist. The ad said the owner was leaving Seoul in January and needed someone to adopt his dog. Perfect! I thought! It gave me time to go home for vacation in December and get back and get the dog. Well, after email the guy, he let me know that the date had been moved up a month...mid-December. I automatically thought there was no way. I was about to leave the country for two weeks and I would only have the dog for a couple of weeks before that. But with some encouraging from my friend, Liz, and a perfectly (already) planned trip to Seoul, I met the little man and knew I couldn't possibly say no!

And so began my journey with Riley. Liz and I brought him back from Seoul on a cold December day and I welcomed him into my home. It's been amazing so far! I've had him about 2.5 months, and now, I don't know what I did without him! He's so much fun and add so much joy to my life! We've been adjusting to each other and forming our bond that will hopefully last many years to come!

Here are some pictures of my precious little man:

A couple of weeks ago, Riley got a little haircut! You can imagine my shock with I saw him for the first time! I didn't even recognize him! I kind of saw it has him going from a little boy cut to a man cut! It's so different!

Here's to many more years of precious time with my companion, Riley!

Lessons Learned

As I've grown older, I've learned that every person you come across should teach you something about life. Whether it be absolutely known at that moment or maybe realized 10 years down the road, each person we come in contact with has some way of impacting our lives and teaching us something useful.

Here's my story...Today, with the Korean school year ending, I said a sorrowful good-bye to a teacher that I've worked with for the past year at my country school. It's weird, right?! You can be around someone only once a week for a year and for a limited amount of time in those meetings, but they can still become someone that you desire to see and talk with. But as I reflect back on the year of working with him, I can immediately know what lesson he has taught me that will carry with me forward. Let me explain:

A year ago, when the new school year started and I met Mr. Kim for the first time, I was a bit hesitant...as I usually am about working with new people. He didn't seem overly friendly or happy about speaking English with me. Our time was brief on that first meeting. The second week when I saw him, it was for about a minute before he left me with his class full of rambunctious 6th graders. I was a bit flushered, since I always had a Korean teacher in the room at this school for translating and controlling the students. So there I was...standing there...thinking what a jerk this guy was for leaving me there....not even asking if he needed to do anything during our class. I was distraut. I didn't want to teach with him anymore. I didn't want to see him. I thought he was a major jerkface!

Well, if you read the beginning of this blog, you obviously know the story takes a turn for the better. As the weeks went on, I figured out it was fully 'my' classroom, and he started to stay to help with translating. Along with that, because of the schedule, I got about 20 minutes to sit and chat with him everyday before my class started with his students. We started forming a respect for each other and a friendship. I started really looking forward to seeing him every week and to getting our weekly conversation.

So the whole point of this blog, and what I'll take away from my time with his, is not to dismiss someone completely just because you get a bad first impression from them. I'm sure this is common sense to most people, but having it so clearly lived it in recent days, I just wanted to share it with you!

Cultural Difference - Child Abuse / Child Neglect

Last week, I was talking with a Korean friend of mine. She told me a story like this:

"Sara, did you hear about the news last week? In America, there was a man that was a preacher at a church. One morning, he had to go to a meeting very early and his young child was still sleeping. So he left his child at home sleeping while he went to the meeting. Later, while the man was at the meeting, the child woke up and was crying and couldn't find his parents. So the child went outside and was crying and looking around for his parents, then a neighbor saw him and called the police. Isn't that surprising?"

Let me pause my story to reference the story she was talking about.

After she told me the story, I was feeling a bit shocked as well...but as I thought about further discussion with her, I knew we would have different reasons for being surprised at this story.

So I asked her, "Which part of the story is surprising to you? That the man left his child home alone, or that the neighbor called the police when they found the child?"

And this is where the cultural difference comes into this story. For me, an American with Western beliefs, the shocking part of the story was that the man left his young child at home alone while he went to church. For her, a Korean with Eastern beliefs, the shocking part of the story was that the neighbor called the police and ultimately, the parents were arrested.

I tried to explain to her that in America, there are many different reason we might call the police in this situation, i.e. someone could have snatched the kid, the parents could have been neglecting the kid, etc. Still she was quite in shock that this story even happened and that it made it's way all that way to CNN in Korea. (I'm pretty sure it aired because the couple in the story is Korean.)

All of this being said, I thought it was a good time to discuss the cultural difference regarding child abuse/neglect in Korea and America. I first learned about this a few months ago when I was talking with a co-worker of mine. I asked her if there is such a thing as child abuse in Korea. She looked at me a little funny and told me that isn't a matter that is dealt with by officials in Korea. From my understanding after our conversation, Korea views child abuse and likes as a private home matter and they won't intervene on issues like that. To me, of course, I was completely shocked...especially after having a friend that works for CPS in Texas and knowing how often officials must intervene with this stuff at home.

Do I still think Korea is a much safer place that America? Definitely! Do I think abuse happens in Korea even though it isn't reported? Of course! Will I continue to find cultural differences in Korea and America no matter how long I'm here? For sure!

A Year Already??!!

Can you believe it??! It's already been a year since I returned to Korea for my second stint. Today officially ended my first contract at Tongyeong Elementary School and tomorrow officially starts my second one! I really can't get a grip on the fact that it's already been a year! The year has flown by with lots of wonderful memories and amazing friends.

Last week, I met with the principal to sign my contract for October 2011-2012! Later in the week, I went to the immigration office to renew my visa. And today, I got some songpyeong (filled rice cakes) to celebrate my one year anniversary at the school with my fellow teachers. All of these things are indicating to me that it's been a year, but my mind hasn't quite wrapped itself around that idea yet!

So here I am...starting my new contract tomorrow with an end date of October 14, 2012. The process of deciding whether to stay or not was a really long and stressful one, but today, it feels like I made the right decision. I can't imagine saying goodbye today, instead of saying "Whoo-hoo, one more year!"

So here's too another year...may it be as full of blessings as the first!! ^^

Kakao Talk

The newest and greatest app to enter my life....Kakao Talk. This is a Korean Messaging app that can be downloaded by anyone with a smartphone or app machine (i.e. iTouch, iPad, etc.). It reminds me a lot of BBM back in my Blackberry days, but it's so much better!!

What makes Kakao Talk so great for me? I can instant message with my family and friends from back home and it's like we're texting back and forth in real time. I definitely can't afford to text internationally, but this app makes my life so much better! And of course it's free!! :)

Why is Kakao Talk better than regular texting?? Well, I already answered the main reason...I can message internationally for free. Also, Kakao talk lets you attach photos and videos into the conversation with great ease! And one of my favorite features...you can know when the other person has read the message. This is great for me because I'm not left wondering if they got my message or not! Another great thing is that you can have group chats with multiple people and you don't have to worry about if you texted everyone or not...just do it in group chat!

So, if you have a smartphone or any kind of electronic that lets you download apps, I recommend this one!! It's amazing!!

Fostering Two Kittens

I don't know what is it about me, but apparently, I can't say no when my friends call about animals they are rescuing. I had just gotten my apartment back in order after the poodle I was watching, and then it came...a phone call from Danielle telling me she had found two baby kittens that needed some love. Because of her allergies, she wasn't able to keep them at her place...so I was the next in line. She brought over the two kitties and they were quite stinky, so we promptly gave them a bath. Usually cats aren't big fans of this, but they were fine and handled it with ease!!

After Danielle posted on Facebook, the cats were quickly adopted and I only ended up keeping them for 3 days. There were cute, but with the combination of muggy weather and kitty litter, my apartment was stinky!! I'm glad it's getting back to normal again!!

Here are a few pictures from the adventure!

One day after they had eaten, I caught them on film cleaning each other up! It was soooo cute!! I hope it makes you smile!!

For now, though, Sara's animal shelter is closed!!!

Foreigners Invade Hapcheon

A couple of weeks ago, a fellow EPIKer hosted a huge bar-b-que by the river in Hapcheon. It was a little bit of a journey to get there (1 hour to Jinju, wait, 1 hour to Hapcheon) but it was worth it in the end. There were lots of people that I met at my EPIK training, along with other folks I've met along with way this year. Of course, there were new faces too! Here are a few pictures from the day:

Laura and Colleen--They were hatin' on my music, but they're still cool!!

Little Yasmine! Her father is a fellow public school teacher in Tongyeong and her mother is a beautiful Korean! She's so adorable!!

The grillmaster at work! 'Santa' worked hard to put the BBQ together and get everyone fed!! He did a great job!

Mick...This guy makes me smile!!

Lots of food...lots of people...lots of fun!!

Can't wait for the next one!!

Cultural Difference - The Name Game

I can tell you, if you saw me when I just arrived to Korea a couple of years ago, you would of seen me offending people left and right. True, I have a 'foreigner advantage' whereas most people just disregard when I do something 'wrong', but sometimes, they still get offended. Even if I act as a perfect person would in America, I would still be offending lots of people in this Asian country.

When I write to people on Postcrossing, I always say that I love Korea and I feel like I learn something new everyday. It really is a completely different culture and the customs here are quite different (and often opposite) than the way we do things back home.

I can definitely say I've adjusted quite well to the differences here, but there are still a few things that don't come quite so easily to me. There is one in particular that I can't quite grab ahold of. Let's imagine a situation...two people see each other walking on the street...Person 1 says, "Oh, hello Person 2, how are you today?" Person 2 responds, "Hi, Person 1, I'm wonderful! Nice to see you!" ... And so on...

Well, in American culture, we would say the other person's name (if we remember, of course!). When people see me, I would expect them so call me things like Sara, Miss Allbritton, or Miss Sara ...something along those lines. I feel like when you say someone's name, it makes things more personal.

In Korea, it's not that way. If you address someone that is older than you by their name, it is considered rude. You should instead call them by their title, i.e. Teacher, Owner (as in restaurant, academy, etc.), Principal, etc. So instead of saying to my co-teachers, "Hello, Minie!", it's proper to actually say, "Hello, Teacher!"

For me, this is really hard. In a land of names that aren't easy for me to learn, when I actually do learn a name, I feel like I should use it as often as possible. Well, not so much! Pretty much, I shouldn't learn anyone's name that is older than me because I should just call them my their title. Another thing is that it feels really impersonal to me. If my students only called me 'Teacher', I think I would feel like they didn't distinguish me from any other teachers in their life. (American teachers, think about how much it irks you with your students only call you 'Miss' or 'Mister'!) I'm really big on giving people personal attention and not just having a 'form letter' for the things I say to people.

The reason this is so heavily on my mind today is because one of my students told me that their teacher was 'angry' because I called her by her given name, and not 'Teacher'. First of all, I always say her full name when I talk to her, and second of all, why would she tell my students?? Isn't that a little strange??! Anyways, my co-teachers imagine that teacher was just 'joking', but either way, I don't understand the situation!

All of this being said...It's just another cultural difference to write home about. I know that by living in a foreign country, I have to deal with these differences and adapt to them as I go. So here's to not offending people in this way anymore and to not learning anymore people's names (that are older than me)! I can save my brain space for something more useful!!

Random Saturday Around Tongyeong!

Sometimes, my Saturdays are pretty random. A couple of weekends ago, I had another random Saturday. I was supposed to be attending a day-long meeting with some other foreigner teachers, but the rainy season had just started and the weather was forecasted to be rainy....but, it wasn't! So, I had the whole day to do lots of random things! Here's my day in pictures:

The first stop of the day was a volleyball game that some of the 6th grade teachers were playing in. This is 이영미...she's the teacher that takes me to school every day and she is quite a volleyball player!

The team after the game. This league is 9-player volleyball...so the court is a bit bigger than normal and there are 9 people on each side. It's really interesting!

The next stop was a soccer game with Liz. Some of my 6th grade students play in a league and I enjoy watching them play.

This is 진민욱...he's one of my students and the captain of the team!

The team huddle as they returned to play in the second half.

After all of that, Danielle and I went on a little stroll with a new friend, Raju. There is a big Buddha statue that I see all of the time on my way to school, so we took a little walk to see it and the temple. This picture shows the current state of the rice fields...full of water!

The path leading us through the fields and to the big golden Buddha.

The temple...we finally made it!

Danielle and I with the golden Buddha! I can see this statue all the way from my apartment roof at night!

Garlic drying and getting ready for my belly!

It's always good to have nice, relaxing, random days! I'm sure there will many more to come!

Eat Your Kimchi

For anyone that is in Korea or has any interest in Korea at all, I highly recommend that you check out this website, EatYourKimchi. I seriously love it! I am constantly checking for new videos and can't wait to see what funny things they'll say next. I usually watch them while I'm at work and my co-teachers are always wondering why I'm laughing all of a sudden. This couple really cracks me up, and also keeps me really informed and up-to-date on Korea.

About eight months ago, I stumbled across their Youtube channel, and since then, their website and videos have been booming! And it's with good reason!! They (Simon and Martina) are excellent at showing Korean culture and giving a Western point-of-view about it. They have regular segments (K-Pop Mondays, Wonderful Treasure Finds Wednesdays, and TL;DR Thursdays) along with other random videos that they do about life in Korea.

Check it out! You'll be pleasantly surprised! :)

She's Gone!!

Friday was a bittersweet day for me as I sent the little doggy I was fostering to her new family. I was really enjoying having her around, but I knew in my heart that the long term of the situation wasn't good for me. I have too many unknowns to be a good mommy for the dog. Anyways, she has gone to live with one of the sixth grade teachers from my school. The teacher's parents have a farm with two other dogs so it will be lots more fun for the pup! I'm glad I got to help her in her transition from street life to family life!

Postcrossing - Seeing the World...One Postcard at a Time

A couple of months ago, I stumbled across a website called Postcrossing. The concept is simple...send a postcard, receive a postcard. The process is easy...get a random address from the site and pass on a piece of your world to someone else. The result is fun...random postcards from around the world and getting to share your home with someone else.

Postcrossing is really fascinating to me for a variety of reasons....I love seeing other places in the world...and I LOVE getting mail!! I really look forward to each postcard that shows up and greets me!

I totally recommend anyone to do this. You only pay for the postage and postcards, but the actual service is free. You should check it out...you never know where the next postcard will be from!!