1. Korean carrots are huge and cucumbers are skinny (and spiky). Shocked me a bit when I first walked into a grocery store here.
2. Saturday I made another trip up Palyoung Mountain. It's only a ten minute walk from my house, followed by a 50 minute trek to the top, so I like to visit every two weeks or so. A random Korean stopped me on my hike down from the top. He knew basic English very well and asked me the normal round of questions (where are you from, where do you work, etc). I think most Koreans are surprised to see a foreigner on the mountain, as it's usually middle aged married couples making the hike to the top. It must also seem strange to see a person hiking the mountain by himself. This is a culture of couples, and you almost always see people walking about in groups of two or more.
I was reminded of how many positive experiences I've had hiking this mountain. In fact, I've only ever had positive experiences -- there's almost always been someone who says hi to me or offers me a relaxing coffee and/or banana.
I go to the mountain to clean out my mind. It's a spiritual journey to the top, often accompanied by symphonies and songs by Mahler, and there's always more released from body than a layer of sweat -- the journey grounds me, makes me feel like I'm in one piece, reaffirms my mission in Korea. It's so easy to get bogged down by stress or monotony that this cleansing ritual becomes important every two weeks or so.
3. Culture of hitting.
Today I had a conversation with one of my middle school students, Kyle, about hitting in Korean culture. When I first arrived in Korea, I was shocked and frightened to see how physical the students are with themselves and with their teachers. At school, it's a common sight to see students smacking each other, rolling around on the ground, jumping into the air, on top of each other, etc...it happens so often most of the time the teachers only shout "Stop it!" from across the room and leave it at that. The truth is, about 90% of the time this 'fighting' is harmless, good-natured, and even cute, like puppy dogs playing in the backyard.
Teachers have a physical relationship with the students as well -- teachers will grab students' backpacks or sweatshirt hoods to keep them from running off without doing homework, raise their fists at sassy students, pull students' hair or cheeks if they don't do their homework. Of course, there is the whipping stick (or 'stick of love'), which usually solemnizes the tone of the class, but generally this is playfully too.
I've heard that Korean friends are very touchy feelly, including groups of guys, and it's not uncommon on the street to see grown men playing slapping each other on the street. We're so much more conscious of personal space in the USA. Also, it's not an uncommon sight to see grown men walking down the street holding hands.
Getting back to the conversation I had today with Kyle, he told me about fights he has with his younger brother (another one of my students)over who should turn the bedroom light off. The their mother gets involved, in it all turns into this great comedic fistfight. That was funny.
This was not. I asked Kyle about hitting in the schools and he told me that students hit the teachers, but not in a playful way, but to humiliate them. Many students are rude to their teachers and take pleasure in making a joke out of them during class (while they're not snoozing). Students ignore attempts by their teacher to wake them up, or will shout out "What are you doing teacher?!? Go back and teach! GO! GO!" They hit the teacher with their fists, chuck erasers at him, ddongshim him (look it up, and their 50-60 year old teacher does nothing.
I know what I would have done--quit. I can handle verbal abuse, but physical attacks do not belong in the classroom. I don't understand this, but this is not the first time I've heard of the recent problems of students behavior in a 21st century Korea.
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