I left South Africa mid March not knowing exactly where I was going, when I was getting ‘there' and what to expect from the adventure that lay ahead.
I received a phone call literary an hour before boarding a plane to Taiwan and it was the Incheon Education Department that asked me if I was still available to work in Korea ASAP? The interview lasted 7 minutes; opposed to the 50 minute one I had 3 months before when I did not fit the required profile. In the first interview they asked me what I knew about the placement program EPIK and I said I knew nothing. Stupid answer I know, but I didn’t want to know everything. I just wanted to go! During the 7 minute interview they asked me some of my characteristics and if I would be able to work on an island off the west coast of South Korea. I didn’t know where this island was or what they would expect from me. All I asked was how long does the ferry ride take to the island, how far am I from Seoul and if there were other foreign teachers on the island? Within 2 minutes I made up my mind – “I’ll take it, when must I be there?”
I booked a flight to Taiwan because I couldn’t wait any longer in South Africa. If South Korea was taking too long then I would go search for a job in Taiwan. I was ready to leave South Africa since December 2009 and it was already mid March with no response. I thought to myself that if I was on the move things would happen for me and it did. Sitting waiting at home killing time was not what I wanted.
Four days later and my contract arrived at Estienne and Xenia’s apartment in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. I signed it, took the train up to Taipei, applied for my E2 Visa at the embassy, Traveled around Taiwan and then off to Korea.
Upon arrival I could see the Korean peninsula taking shape as we flew in and I was looking at the islands and country side excited but thinking: “fuck, it’s rural down there”.
I arrived in South Korea on a cold cloudy Friday morning. Sleep deprived from sharing a dorm with strangers snoring in Taipei and taking the bus to the airport before sunrise.
At the airport I was welcomed by a non-English speaker with a sign that read: “Albert – welcome to Korea”. O yeah and I was the only guy on the plane to be searched, what kind?
An hour later and I was at the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education where I was greeted by Sarah. Sarah would later become famous for random one-liners and quotes at the orientation which I attended a month later. I arrived in Korea without an orientation group – alone.
Sarah briefed me and said that my co-teacher would arrive shortly. Mrs Oh and Mrs Kim entered through the door, shy and confused and sat down in the busy office and introduced themselves. Not a word of English from Mrs Oh (my co-teacher) and some broken English from Mrs Kim.
One thing I could get out of them was that there was one more foreign teacher and his name is Charles.
From the Education Department it was straight to the Medical Centre – no detours or lunch. Another cold depressing building with every medical test you can imagine. I got the reassurance that I am not colour blind, wow, what a relief. But my AIDS and TB tests results would only come a week later – negative! Hell yeah!
I thought to myself that I am like a Chimpanzee they found in the Congo basin, that they had to see and test if he’s a pedigree before they send him into rehabilitation or sell him off to a zoo in China. Taking the second piss in the cup was torture as I was empty, but I squeezed out a few drops. Something I soon found out was that the instructions are never clear in Korea. You just need to roll with it.
Back in the car and off to Ganghwa Eup – my home town. Driving there I realized that this was the countryside I’d seen from the plane. Nothing compared to the lush green landscapes of Taiwan. The landscape was gray and dull with trees that appeared dead in the cloudy smog of this Friday afternoon.
I had only a backpack and a small bag with some extra clothes – taken out of my Taiwan comfort zone. I was escorted up the steps by my co-teacher to my room on the third floor and open to discover a mess. The person that lived there before me had just closed the door and took off. I dropped my bags and helped to clean. In the bathroom I found make-up, pictures of men on the floor and a strange to-do-list which involved buying a red scarf and a jacket. “Fuck – this setup looks gay!”
Mrs Oh and Mrs Kim took me out for a Korean dinner and her husband cleaned the room while we were away. It was time for the weekend to start and they said good bye and left me there. I took a deep breath and sat down on my bed.
“There’s blood on my sheets, for fuck sakes, what happened in this room”.
I took the sheets off and climbed into my sleeping bag and stayed sleeping in it for more than a month.
A long time family friend Albert Le Roux is also in Korea at the moment and he was in Seoul for the Saturday only. I opted to leave the semi clean bachelor flat and bus it out to Seoul where Albert greeted me. That night we had a few cold ones and I was back in Ganghwa the next day. Recharged and ready for the unfamiliar.
I rolled up my sleeves and tackled the dirty room. There was a knock at the door and I was confused. I opened and saw another westerner standing in my door step. It was the guy my co-teacher told me about – Charles. I soon found out that Charles lived right opposite me, that we would take the ferry together to school in the mornings, that he was my age and also from South Africa and he gave me the reassurance that there were more foreigners on this island.
One of the first things I asked Charles was who the hell stayed in this apartment before me?
He then gave me the brief yet horrid story. I was right, the guy that stayed there before me was a thriving homosexual and had to leave Korea because of an anal infection. That’s right, an anal infection. He was hospitalized in Seoul and it was a severe infection that spread to his blood. His knees got swollen and he was unable to walk properly and was sent back home a month later.
I was going to take his post at the school.
My first few weeks at school
I am working on an island west of the Korean mainland called Seokmodo. In the mornings I take a ferry to school and the whole commute from home to school takes about an hour. I live on Ganghwa Island but work on Seokmodo island. Ganghwa is about 2 hours north of Seoul and is connected by two bridges to the mainland. It’s a big island in the North West of South Korea and borders with their rival North Korea.
My first few weeks at school were confusing. I had a week of observation (facebook time) and finalizing administrative issues, but I still had no idea what they were expecting from me. I did not have an orientation as most people do when arriving in Korea and thinking back now I am grateful for that as my expectations would have been different.
I am here in the sticks man - an island where the students parents still plow the land, have their own vegetable gardens and overdose on Soju. Where there’s only one road and it goes around the island, where agriculture dominates and where there’s more old people than Wonder Girls Youtube hits.
This is the rural part of Korea: where dogs are on chains guarding the fields, where vegetables get sold fresh and unwashed on the street, where you can only leave by ferry, where no one speaks English and where I’ll be finding myself for the next year.
Drinking Soju, eating Kimchi, but still J-Walking.
I arrived in a cold dull Korea, but the weather soon changed and so too did my experience. Spring started late and the flowers started to blossom around mid May. Green leaves appeared on the seemingly dead looking trees and the biting cold was over.
I made good friends with the other foreign teachers on the island and we are tackling the rural life together. Staying out here on Ganghwa has its advantages and we try to utilize it as much as possible. We often go on day trips either hiking the surrounding hills or going for a picnic. We are not that far from Seoul or Incheon city and on weekends we make the trek out there to enjoy one our favourite pass times – drinking!
Drinking is a big part of Korean culture and these people like to overindulge on a local brew called Soju. Koreans drink unholy amounts of this brew that results in grown men passing out and the streets of Seoul covered in vomit in the early morning hours. My first experience of Soju is something I’d rather try to forget. Well, I can’t really remember much except the way I felt the next day. A feeling I try to minimize as often as possible, yet I struggle to. Soju is a cheap drink and is available EVERYWHERE. I still stick to beer, but it’s tough to say no when a round of Soju gets poured.
The Korean cuisine is tasty and interesting. I haven’t eaten dog or strange intestines yet, but each plate is colourful and pretty. I am not picky when it comes to food and I eat everything, well, almost everything. The food is very spicy and my taste buds have become accustomed to a more spicy approach when dinning out. I don’t make food at home. I did not make food in South Africa either. Eating at a restaurant is cheaper than making your own meal – that’s if you eat Korean food. Kimchi is a traditional Korean fermented vegetable dish that is common throughout Korea and will be served with EVERY meal. It’s said to be extremely healthy as it is rich in vitamins and helps with digestion. It’s almost impossible to not eat a piece of Kimchi everyday as it’s served with every meal. How to get your elementary students all worked up? Tell them Kimchi is yucky!
I had my orientation after a month in Korea. A week off from school staying in the Incheon Royal Hotel eating like a king, meeting new people and making new friends. The orientation’s timing was perfect as I just started to settle in at school and could take my beginning experiences with me. I also had more free time during the orientation as I had already done my medical test (A strong healthy Chimp ready for export anywhere in the world except North Korea).
I soon found out that I was at the one extreme of teaching in Korea. I actually knew this, but the orientation reminded me: Life on an island, teaching English to a handful of students, having a co-teacher who could not speak English and commuting an hour to school every day. I was not complaining for life is easy at my school; it’s just boring at times. I only have the people I know in Incheon and Seoul to compare my situation too, so there might be a few more of us out there (echo sound).
I’ve been taking it real slow here on the island. I only bought a cellphone two and a half months in (but never buy airtime). I was sleeping in my sleeping bag till just before Clementine arrived (post to follow soon). I was only paying the bills that they glued to my door and I can say about 10 Korean words of which one is ‘hurry up’ and the other to order beer. My Korean is terrible. It’s sad to say the truth. I am making no real effort to learn the language. I am making some slow progress and I am starting to read Hangul, but still nowhere near making a good impression. I rely on my ability to speak with my hands, make funny faces and sounds or acting. Even drawing has helped me. All this has been working thus far and it is a universal language if you have the patience and confidence.
Koreans will often remind you that they have four distinct seasons. I arrived towards the end of a long winter, saw the spring blossoms come and go and we’re now entering the hot humid summer season. I fear the brutal winter to come but time is flying by real quick and my first 3 months are already done. There are days that routine kills me, but it’s a part of the means to an end: to see more of the world, experience new cultures, save money, o yeah and pay off debt.
I’ll try to keep this blog updated as often as possible and not leave you hanging like the past 3 months. Everything is going good here and I am feeling healthy and excited for the adventures that lie ahead. My job is of a more responsible nature and the days of sleeping late and leaving whenever I want will be put on hold. The work is not difficult at all and living on the island is bearable. I am having a great experience here and saying that the work here is a means to an end is not the complete truth as the experiences here on the Korean outskirts is an end in itself.
