Surprise! We're going hiking!

One of the best bits of advice I received about teaching in Korea was to maintain a flexible attitude and be prepared for abrupt and last minute changes.

In the States, if a friend/boss/lover was constantly changing plans on you at the last minute, it would be taken as a sign of disrespect.  When a person changes the agenda at the last minute, he/she is saying that your time is expendable.  Sure, occasionally legitimate problems create unavoidable cancellations, etc., but if someone is constantly making and breaking plans or relying on you to come through at the last minute, they are treating you like a doormat.  (Even if they don't realize they are doing this; they could be well-intentioned, lazy, or used to getting their way.)

In Korea, at least in the public school system, last minute changes are frequent and unapologetic.  But they are the reality of a system that is simply planned (or not planned) differently than in the States.  This comparatively non-schedule/communication oriented planning seems to be directly related to the Confucian "group mentality" aspect of Korean culture. The administrative thinking appears to be: "We are a team.  We are working as a group, not individuals. Therefore we can make last minute decisions to benefit the team, and the team members will be happy to contribute.  Why create detailed schedules and adhere to them strictly when the teachers will always be happy to work with unexpected changes?"

Or that's my interpretation anyways.

Basically what this all translates to in my life is:

1) Occasionally sitting in class, wondering where the students are, and finding out that they aren't coming because they are a) cleaning the school b) on an outing c) other activities that were surely planned before that exact moment.

2) Watching SH pick up the classroom phone, have a discussion, and hang up telling me that we have to run to the cafeteria or the teacher's lounge because there is a meeting we're supposed to attend.

3) Being told that the next day there will be no classes because the students are on a field trip. 

4) Surprise! We have a teacher's dinner tonight for several hours!

And the latest:

5) Surprise! We're all going hiking tomorrow, so bring some gear!

**

The thing is, with these situations, it isn't miscommunication - there isn't an awkward intern somewhere who forgot to send out the memos.  And it isn't noncommunication - the information eventually does appear.  Ultimately, it's a little something I like to call surprisecommunication.  So many surprises!  How exciting!  :) 

This is the perspective I'm able to take (and I know I sounded sarcastic, but I'm semi-serious), because, if you hadn't noticed: most of the surprises mean less work or getting to know my co-workers (with a free, excellent meal).  Also, adding "surprise" in front of bad things, always makes them better.  The bus that's never on time?  I love riding the surprise bus!

The hiking trip

I had a wonderful time hiking.  I would describe it in great detail, but the result would be extremely boring for anyone who wasn't there (and anyone who was).  Basically: a couple of hours on a mountain in newly Spring weather surrounded by blooming pink flowers and an excellent view.  I had a fun moment in which I realized that the area across the water was North Korea. 

More highlights: the teacher's dinner afterwards when, once again, the majority of the men are tipsy/drunk.  We had a shouter, a redface, a suddenlyabletospeakenglishnowthatmyinhabitionsaregone, and a fellow who sat slumped at his table at the end.  He just...stared.  He had to be guided out when we left.   

Read more »

Thursday was stupid.

I was going to write this post on Thursday, and title it "Today was stupid," but, in accordance with the stupidity of the day, I never got around to it.

I've been spending my free time making my way through some of the classics that I never read, and I'm currently in the middle of Portrait of a Lady. I had no idea of the magnitude of my undertaking until I went to a bookstore yesterday and saw how thick the paperback edition is.  Kindle Deception.  In Portrait, James uses the word "stupid" in the old-fashioned ways; tediously dull, or alternatively: dazed.

When I say that my Friday was stupid, I am being fully up to date in my vernacular.  I mean stupid.  As in the word sandwiched between "dumb" and "annoying" when you and your siblings insulted each other as children.

Now that that's clear, allow me to elaborate on the stupidity of my Friday.

1) My utilities bill had finally arrived in my mailbox. I wondered why it had taken so long. I showed my co-teacher (for translation purposes), and she told me it was my second notice, and it had a late fee.  I had never received the first one. Also, I had no idea how to transfer the money to my landlord's account because online banking wasn't working because I needed to fill in my ARC number in order to open an account. Oh, and there's a $50 monthly management fee. Charming.

2) I couldn't call my landlord to explain my situation because I a) don't speak Korean, and b) didn't have any money left on my prepaid phone plan and didn't know how to charge it.  (My co-teacher called for me and got it sorted out).

3) I got lost following directions to pick up my ARC (Alien Residence Card).  The directions involved changing between buses and metro lines, and eventually exiting "near" the Immigration Office and staring at the photo of the building trying to match it to the ones around me. I didn't manage to do this, because it wasn't actually in sight.

4) I went into four different phone stores trying to switch my prepaid phone plan to a postpaid one.  (I had a prepaid plan because you can't get postpaid until you have an ARC).

5) None of the service representatives in the phone stores spoke English, so we used an elaborate system of miming, sketches, and bilingual phone translators to talk. (This part was more fun than stupid until it lasted three hours).

6) Eventually it was discovered that I could not change my plan to postpaid because in my bank account, my ARC number does not match the one I received. This was not surprising, as I didn't open the bank account with my ARC.  However, my passport number (which I opened my bank account with), also didn't match the information in my bank account information.

7) By the time we discovered #4, my prepaid plan had been cancelled. I was left without any sort of phone access.  Making it impossible for me to call my bank the next day and ask what number I need to give the phone people for my bank information.  The whole need a phone plan before you can get a phone plan conundrum.

8) I trekked back an hour to my apartment and bought some comfort food.  Only to discover I had lost my Korean credit card for the second time in one week.  As in, I had received the replacement card on Tuesday.

9) I walked to a phone store and had them call the phone store that was an hour away to see if they had my credit card. Yes. They did.

Buuuuut.  On the bright side, I met lots of people who were very enthusiastic in their efforts to communicate with and help me.  Out of the five Korean words I know, "Thank you" has been the most frequently used, with "Hello" being a close second.

The fun thing about saying hello in Korean is that you can pretend like you're in Arrested Development.

(Couldn't find the clip I wanted, but Lucille adopts a Korean boy to make Buster jealous and they all think his name is "Anyang" because that's all he says.)

**

My evening picked up.  I went to dinner, phoneless and cardless, but still had an enjoyable meal.  We watched the 23.30 showing of Hunger Games, and I slept at 3.30.  Questionable life decision with my 6.30 wake up alarm, but I was actually quite perky on Friday, even if my socks were mismatched and I was pronounced as "looking pale" by Young Rak. This probably had more to do with my makeupless face than my lack of sleep.  Thanks Young Rak.  

Read more »