the second post.

Dear friends,
Let's start off as all others before us, with 'cultural observations.' This is the equivalent of leaning out of the tour bus and taking pictures of every familiar Western fast food joint in the country, or remarking on how weird the locals act. But wait, first to clean the palate:


If you'll remember, the last time I posted I had just met up with my boss (actually not really, but we'll get to that) thanks to a friendly visitor to Canada that could instantly discern the plight of a confused newcomer (having been one at some point, I assume.) Han directs me across the street and we dodge a motorscooter on the sidewalk. That shit right there? Dodging motor vehicles on the sidewalk? That's very new to me. Next we cut across the playground of a school. It's going on 9:30 at night now, and the park is full of kids playing as if it were noon. I just got back from a stroll as I write this on Saturday evening, and the streets were full of kids. There are a lot of young families here, and the children are up and active until 10pm. Last night, in the alleyway by my window, a bunch of them were smoking an illicit cigarette, if the giggles, coughs and odor are any indication. Mind you, where I am now is described as a new and upwardly mobile suburb of Yongin city, which is forty minutes outside of Seoul. Suburbs = young families.

Of course, calling a place suburban means something different here. I'm going to leave that there, and you can wait for the photographs. The nature of the urban space and architecture here is completely alien to Toronto. You would believe it until I take a picture.

More positive aspects of Korea? Well, these are subjective observations, and understand that I really delight in good, conservationist design. I was happy when I realized that Germany had nothing but water-efficient toilets, and recycled everything. My apartments have motion detecting lights, that come on as you pass and go out if you don't move fast enough. That's cool, whatever. I have a washer but no dryer... again, that's cool. I can live with that. The kitchen sink has an awesome 'bucket' that catches all those kitchen scraps and whatnot. The 'stove' is actually a gas range, not unlike one of those coleman stoves we used when camping.

On the other hand, Koreans are terrible drivers. Partly it's not their fault: a lot of the roads near where I live are actually alleyways, without sidewalks and with just enough space for one car. Except they're two-way streets, which leads to many standoffs. Luckily Koreans are polite. I couldn't see this system working in New York, or anywhere in the United Stubbornness of America.

Fresh off the plane, I had my first day of observation on Monday, my first day of 'teaching' on Tuesday (mostly just introductions and games), and my first 'real' day on Thursday. For this school, the midterms are next week. The week has been pretty stressful as I try and figure out, well, everything. The last teacher left stuff in quite a state, or maybe it just seemed like that because I was so clueless. I spent two-and-a-half hours rearranging the books and syllabi for all my classes.

The kids? They're smart. Scary smart. Understand that I am not a Eurocentrist; I have been informed that the real inventors of the printing press were Asians and not Gutenberg. Even so, it's kinda scary how quickly these kids get down to business, get their work done, and get with the programme. Put it this way: I'm standing in front of the class, assigning work from their workbook and using that time to figure out what to do next and where we are, and they're finishing their work before I can find out what to do with them next. I think back to how I was in grade school, or especially high school. We in the West have been far too complacent. If these kids stay as smart as they are now, they will be ruling shit, no doubt about that. Hopefully they won't let power go to their heads. Nevertheless, they are pretty awesome. "Teacher!! Game!!" They're crazy about Hangman. That's cool; I get the feeling they get worked hard all day. I have to think of some other activities to play with them.

Oh yeah, on Monday I had my first taste of a warzone, in that there was an air raid drill. There I was, reading an hour before class, and I heard sirens. Everyone knows the sound of an air raid siren, by grace of the film industry. As a Canadian, that was all I knew them to be: a cinematic convention. When I heard them, I put on my shoes and ran outside, and realized that everyone was walking around looking bored, smoking, pushing strollers... Okay, if they aren't worried, than I won't be either. I took a deep breath and went back to my reading.