Kam-sa-ham-ni-da (Thank you) South Korea, I am out!

Tomorrow morning I’ll take the plane back to South Africa after spending a year in South Korea as an English teacher.

Time flew by real quick and I had some wonderful experiences living and travelling in East Asia.

I can recall back when I boarded the plane for Taiwan as if it was yesterday. I couldn’t wait any longer in South Africa and wanted to leave, so I decided to go and look for work in Taiwan, but soon received a call from Korea to come and work on an island somewhere in the yellow sea. I took the post without hesitation and did not really know what I was getting myself into. I still remember those first moments in Korea when I set foot into my apartment to find a dirty dump and not knowing who else lived on the island. I remember sitting on the bed which was covered in blood because the guy before me had to leave due to an anal infection and thinking to myself; “what the fuck did I get myself into coming to this far off place for a year?”

Things soon changed as I made friends and realised that I was not alone on the outskirts. And it’s these friends that made my time here all the more memorable. We were a small community who became real good friends and we carried each other through the good and bad times. This place is really different and remote and it was my friends that made this year so great.

Commuting to work on another island for an hour daily was an experience in itself. I took a ferry to work every day and often had to run for busses or hitch-hike rides with Koreans as I tried to communicate in my non-existent Korean. I soon figured out who was who and would get rides with either the police chief, the bank manager or post office attendants. I later knew all the faces on the morning and afternoon ferry and locals would give me rides knowing that I am the foreign teacher teaching their children. The ferry crew understood that I didn’t want to stand in a line with Koreans and that I’d sometimes run for the ferry even as it pulled out. I became a local on the ferry and informed people where to take the bus as we shared a shot of Soju or ran together for the late afternoon bus. I was never able to speak the language and made no effort, but the people on my route knew me and we shared a laugh, a nod of the head or a one liner in Korean or English.

Many people would complain about this tiring commute, but I decided to make the most of it and there was a part of me that enjoyed sprinting for busses or negotiating a lift to and from school.

I taught at two small elementary schools and loved the small intimate classes. I knew all my students and had a good relationship with each. There were only two boys out of all 39 students (two schools in total, eight classes) that I taught who I had a hard time with. Other than that I had a good report and enjoyed what I did. It was really one of the easiest jobs for good money. I earned a decent salary to play bingo and sing songs and put this money to good use to travel.

The main reason for coming to South Korea was to travel and I think I did okay in that department. In a years’ time I was able to travel to Taiwan, mission around Indonesia with Clementine, hike the Great Wall of China near Beijing and ferry to China to see the bustling city of Shanghai. I did a bit a travelling around Korea too, but was never intrigued by this place. Korea is an interesting place, but at times it was too square and I spent most of my time in Ganghwa and Seoul on the weekends.

I had a truly authentic experience as I lived out in rural Korea and would hit the city on weekends.

Ganghwa had its ups and downs, but we all persevered through to make this a great experience. There were times that routine was killing me and so to the lack of diversity. Other times I felt alive as I saw the fighter planes overhead during the shelling of Yeongpyong Island by North Korea. The days we hiked the surrounding hills after work or the mornings I woke up with the most brutal Soju hangover. Pulling faces, making noises and drawing pictures to order food, missing a bus or train, beating old men at pool, head banging to Iron Maiden, getting the school mute to speak, realising the power of a ‘high-five’ and putting a smile on the ferry crews faces all contributed to me having an enriching experience.

It’s an old saying but I do agree with it and it’s that you determine your own happiness. I stayed positive throughout my time here knowing that it was only temporary and that I came here for the experience.

I’ve thought about why this year has been so good for me and it came down to this: Having Clementine visit me three times and a solid group of friends was what made it. Her visits and being able to travel with her to Indonesia and having her here for Christmas is something I’ll forever be grateful for. Along with Clementine’s visits were also the opportunities I had to travel around East Asia seeing places I only dreamed about and the solid community of native English speakers.

In two days from now I’ll be drinking a cold one in warm Cape Town and I’ll think back on my year abroad. A lot will only then kick in and reveal itself, but as I am sitting here I am nostalgic about the year that has past and excited for the next adventure.

Good Bye Seokmodo

Friday was my final day as an English teacher in South Korea. I’ve had an awesome experience living and teaching on the outskirts of Korea and when I am home I’ll look back at a truly memorable time. Seokmodo Island has a real small community and I felt welcome and at ease, even though I could not speak the language or understand all the customs.   

Working at such a small school has its advantages and disadvantages. One advantage was that I got to know and interact with each student. I knew all their names, their capabilities, their likes and dislikes and sometimes even their parents. My largest class had only ten students and my smallest two. It’s a complete different experience to other teachers in the city.

On Friday my students organised me a surprise party and sent me off smiling. They wrote me letters thanking me for my efforts and made me feel like I did have a positive influence on their English education.

I thought I’d share some pictures of my students with you as I’ll be out of here in a days’ time. I will try to update my blog once more before I leave this place with some final thoughts and photos. 

Migration from the countryside

Almost Full-Circle

I am nearing the end of my contract and time spent in South Korea. In three weeks from now I’ll be back in South Africa after a memorable experience on the outskirts of Korea.

Yesterday I decided to go and walk around the small town where I teach for one last time. Boredom, curiosity and watching photo journals on the net, forced me outside in the biting cold. I had only my Iphone and captured these images of a remote place recovering from a brutal winter. I’ve been here for nearly a year now and I’ve seen the seasons come and go. The schools getting smaller with less students and teachers and soon I’ll also be off. 

Harsh Winter

Record low temperatures have resulted in an abnormal amount of ice being sent into the Yellow Sea. The Han River sent vast amounts of ice into the sea which caused the ferry from Oepori to Seokpori to stop from crossing.
In turn it resulted in me not having to go to school for three days. No complaints as I had three borings days spent on Ganghwa Island – sleeping late, going to gym and spending time in front of my laptop.

Everything’s back to normal for now, but I wouldn’t mind if it had to happen again. Commuting all the way out to Seokmodo, freezing my balls off and slipping on the ice as I navigate my way past shrimp barrels aren’t all that great when there’s only two students to teach at school of which one doesn’t even know the basic rules of Jenga.

We are currently halfway through winter and it’s not as bad as I expected. Today saw a big snow storm and I am hoping the route to school will be snowed over by tomorrow. If I make it to school I’ll skip on the Jenga, not even mentioning Dominoes and stick to the old faithful wordsearch and colouring in pages.

In a week from now I’ll be in China. Still freezing my balls off, but it will be a change of scenery and something exciting to look forward to. 

In All Societies

The Commute - Continued

My teacher asked me last week to write a small article for the local Ganghwa Herald Newspaper about my experience in Korea. "Just write something, Alber-Te" she said. This was what I wrote:

Commuting to the Outskirts

I never thought I’d find myself to be an English teacher somewhere on an island in the Yellow Sea, let alone so near unpredictable North Korea who decided to shell Yeonpyeong island last week. At first I thought I’d be in some city with tall buildings and coffee shops. Then I received a phone call one early morning back in South Africa where they wanted to know if I could fill an English position on an island, ASAP. I took the post without hesitation and landed 2 weeks later in a dull late winter South Korea.

It’s certainly not your average English teachers experience when you tell them that you commute to school with a ferry everyday where you teach English to only a handful of students - a school the size of some of the classes in the city.

What adds to this authentic experience of working in rural Korea at a small school is surely the commute there and back.

Mornings I wake up after snoozing my alarm for about twenty minutes. Time is limited and I rush to catch the 07:20 bus – miss this bus and you need to take an expensive cab ride. I therefore, to the dislike of most Koreans, j-walk almost every morning to catch the bus in time. I jump on the bus as we take the bumpy road to Oepori where we skip all the red lights on the way (similar to my j-walk skills). The completion of the new road to Oepori is taking forever and might only be completed by the time they build a bridge to Seokmodo Island

Oepori is the port where I board the short 15 minute ferry for Seokpori. On the ferry it’s a nod of the head to all the familiar faces as I take my seat and prepare my breakfast. Every morning the same: yogurt and muesli.

On Seokpori’s side I wait for one of the teachers to pick me up. Half the cars all look the same, so I’ve started to memorize the cars registration numbers. A squeezed ride and I make it to school as I drop my hat in my bag, take off my shoes and prepare for another day on the outskirts.

The two schools I work at (Samsan and Heumyeong Elementary) are both extremely small with bright enthusiastic students. I have the opportunity to know and interact with each student as I teach them the English language. It’s truly an authentic experience to be based in a rural part of Korea and yet you’re so close to the city.

Getting home in the afternoon is a different ball game. Most days it’s easy, but there are those days when there is no lift and others where I have to run for the ferry. When I say run, I really mean run. It’s happened that the ferry has stopped for me before, but I don’t want to miss this ferry as it will result in me missing the bus and arriving home real late. Other days I go stand next to the road and throw my thumb out. It’s a small island with only one road that goes around and I have to rely on my hitch-hiking skills for strangers to take me to Seokpori.

At Seokpori I first have to buy my ticket from the grumpy bouncer-like lady who never smiles. My Korean vocabulary is very limited, nonexistent at times, but I try my best to put a smile on this ladies face by saying Anyeong hasaeyo and kamsahamnida in many different ways, smiles and tones.

Then it’s back on the ferry and on the bus. The bus leaves at 17:00 sharp (my watch is set on the bus time) and the ferry docks around 16:55, which results in yet another sprint and side stepping shrimp barrels to make it in time. On the bus I try to take the back window seat as this is the least likely seat to handover to and elder.

Since my time working on Seokmodo Island I’ve been held up at Oepori due to a typhoon or because of thick fog. I’ve missed the ferry several times by only a few seconds and I’ve also made it with seconds to spare. I’ve ran my heart out for the ferry and busses. I’ve made meaningless conversations in imaginary Korean as a hitch-hiker in a foreign country and I’ve still not been able to put a smile on the ticket-lady’s face.

In the city and elsewhere people sit in traffic for hours. My commute takes me an hour each way daily, though I would never want to trade it for sitting in the traffic. It’s an awkward, thrilling commute that adds to my experience on the island. Waking up late is not ideal, but there’s a part of me that loves the rush. The winter is now approaching and the commute will now become a different experience.      

  

Daily Routine

The Yearly Revolution

The commute

Mornings I wake up around 07:10, wash my face, down a yogurt and go stand next to the road at 07:30 looking like “boy” on the street corner. I dress neat wearing a shirt and a beanie to keep my wild-morning-hair down, which I drop in my back pocket as I enter school.

Everyday I have a different teacher that picks me up outside my apartment. Charles (who also works on Seokmodo Island at a middle school) and I share the ride to the ferry. Monday mornings used to be the worse. Charles’s co-teacher would pick us up in his small automatic car and chase it to Oepori (the ferry port). The conversation would consist of the church, blind dates and that it’s time to settle down with a girl, the English language and stressing about whether we would make it in time to catch the ferry or not (we usually make it with a few seconds to spare).
He has since bought a new car which makes me feel a little bit safer and we now get there on time.

One thing that all foreigners and even Koreans agree on is that Koreans can’t drive for shit. Always in a rush, lacking confidence and skill or sometimes over confident is the cause for numerous accidents. A red light acts as a yield sign and gets ignored most of the time. Their hand will be put on the hooter before deciding how to take control of the situation. Impatient and always on the hooter, but never a: “Hey fuck you (middle finger), look where you’re driving!” The first few weeks were scary, especially on Mondays, but I have become used to it now. If I do die in Korea then it will be in a car crash.

At Oepori I board a 15min Ferry ride across to Seokpori. My mornings start off with the beautiful soundtrack of the ferry engines and the nod of the head to all the familiar faces on the ferry. Charles and I go stand on the deck where he smokes 2 cigarettes and we absorb the morning view. On the other side I get a lift to school with whoever stops first to pick me up.

At the end of the school day I must always ask around to find out who will be going to the ferry port. I just say the ferry port name: Seokpori. There have been days that no one can take me to the ferry and you don’t want to miss the ferry, because then you wait another 30 minutes for it to return, resulting in missing the bus too. So on these days I decide to hitchhike and I get picked up real quick as this is an island with only one road that goes around. I’ve become good at it and some of the teachers without a car follow me to catch a lift. A South African showing the Koreans how to wing it! At school rumors are going around that I am a professional hitchhiker and they laugh at me, but when they too want to go home they follow me and take the back seat.

Seokmodo is an island visited by old people and tourists with kitted color matching hikers’ gear who come here to climb Haemyung Mountain. You’ll also find tourists flocking here to see Bomunsa Temple (the main tourist attraction) and then leaving as soon as possible to not be stuck on Seokmodo. All these tourists have one activity in common, which is to feed chips to the seagulls hovering around the ferry looking for a free meal. It’s an exciting event that I also often participate in. It’s a great opportunity to take photos and for Korean’s to show off their latest SLR Cameras.

Back at Oepori I walk in the road hoping that someone feels sorry for me and picks me up so that I don’t have to wait for the bus. It’s happened several times that someone has picked me up, but I often end up taking the bus back. I wait 15 minutes for the bus to arrive and with my Ipod blasting I take the back seat (the seat with the least chance of having to stand up for an old person) and I fall asleep till I arrive back in Ganghwa 20 minutes later.

A total commute of just under an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. I could compare it to sitting in Cape Town rush hour traffic – just with a little bit more excitement.