Recap: Week Three

Work was pretty different this week. That sounds like I actually know what “normal” is here. I just know it wasn’t this. The students have these big tests every month, and all the teachers have to do for those hours is pass out tests, make sure no one cheats, and find puzzles or games or videos to fill the post-test time.

I bought fruit this week. I got a couple pieces that looked like they might be sweet limes (like we had in India). They were not. More like weird grapefruit. I picked up a pomegranate and noticed when I got home that it’s from California. I bought banana chips, and I don’t care what you say … they count as fruit. I tried to buy oranges. If you bag your own fruit, you’re supposed to take it to the man at the scale who weighs it and slaps a sticker on the bag. Who knew. I did not visit the scale man, and so my oranges stayed at the check out. I also bought some beef, which is nothing like fruit. It tastes much better. Also, rice here is ridiculously expensive.

On the way to school on Tuesday, I discovered my voice was missing. Of all weeks, this was the best for such a thing since we didn’t have normal class half the time. My favorite was two of my pre-k boys who spent the first morning talking/croaking/whispering like me.

Thursday was Christmas party day at school. My pre-k kids did different craft things in the morning, got gifts from a Santa, and watched a movie after lunch. Apparently Santa lives Finland, but it didn’t phase these kids that Santa-from-Finland had darker skin than anyone native to any place close to Finland. The tip-off was the black hair that slipped from under the white wig. Poor Santa. A mass of kids followed him up and down the hall and into rooms exclaiming, “That’s not a-Santa!”

“Party” has a different definition for pre-k kids.  Somewhere between making reindeer, collecting presents from Santa, and decorating Christmas cards for mom and dad, one of the girls glared at me and said, “Why we do not have a party? This is not party!” And the worst thing about kids sharing their opinions is that it suddenly occurs to the rest of the group that they agree. Fortunately, the bell rang soon after, and I pawned them off on another teacher.

I spent Christmas day with Amy Nicewander. She showed me her place and we had lunch at her Korean parents’ restaurant. Fact of the Day: In Korea you don’t hang out with people who aren’t your age. So it made her Korean mom feel better to think of us as sisters. After lunch, we found a cab to take us to the Nutcracker. (Another fun fact: If you speak English while in a taxi, you are much more likely to be ripped off. All taxi rides so far have taken much longer than necessary.) I’m not one to get excited about ballet, but the Nutcracker was good. Sitting in the front row made it even better.

If someone in Korea tells you the closest subway station is far enough that you should take a bus or cab to it, they’re probably not pulling your chain. However, we saw a lot of good stuff on the walk to the subway. Amy also bought some snack food from a street vendor. The main one was shaped like a fish and had…berries or beans inside. I don’t really know. That makes it sound pretty unappetizing, but it tasted good. I anticipated something sweeter, but then I’m in the wrong country for sweet.

For reasons that should be obvious, I don’t talk much to non-foreigners here. But Christmas changes that. On the escalator in the subway station, an older man nudged me and said “Merry Christmas!” We stepped onto the subway and were greeted similarly by a couple very giggly teenagers. There were one or two others who wished us a Merry Christmas.  I think it meant more here than it does back home when it rolls off strangers’ tongues even though they often look anything but merry.

City Hall is a fun place at Christmas. There are plenty of lights and Christmas trees made of lights. There was even a fake glacier near the Antarctica display. It started snowing while we were out there. It was nothing like the MN storms, but it was still pretty.

Since my first day here, I was determined to avoid McDonald’s as long as possible. Guess where we had Christmas dinner. The spicy chicken sandwich is spicier in Korea. Next stop was Starbucks for a caramel macchiato. This particular Starbucks resides in the Kolon building.

Some photos from Christmas day…

As Seen On Christmas

Christmas Evening