Tag Archives: Cultural

Bowing

Here in Korea, there’s a heck of a lot of bowing goin’ on. The deeper the bow, the more respect is being shown.

  • At the end of the newscast, the man and woman announcers make nearly a full bow to the audience, then to each other. (Well as far as you can go without bumping your head on the desk, I guess!
  • After I get out of the taxi, I close the door, then turn to face the driver. I do a small head bow, as I say thank you. He returns a small head bow, then drives off.
  • When you walk into E-Mart or Lotte Mart, the Korean equivalent of a Wal-Mart greeter is there. Usually a man or less often a woman in her 20′s, welcomes you with a hello and bow deeper than a simple head bow.
  • When you leave a sit-down restaurant, it’s common to turn to face the proprietor and offer a thank you and small head bow. This is especially the case if you’re slipping your shoes back on. You have to think about how to get your shoes on, turn around then say your polite goodbye.
  • When you pass an elder on the street, or someone that wants to greet you, you want to be ready with a small head bow, and maybe a hello (ahnyeonhaseyeo) or just ‘neh’ (yes/nod)

I think in the West, we often look back over our shoulder, smile and say Bye, with a little wave. The problem with this form is that is gives the person you’re leaving the view of your backside. When a front bow is most polite, the backside …isn’t.

There are bunches of rules about what politeness form you use with others, and how you bow, depending on age, situation, etc.  I seem to get by okay with lots of little bows all day long, and still just the most basic command of Korean.  (‘command’ seems a bit strong for the reality of what I do!)

(I’m surprised that students don’t bow to teachers. It’s not a problem for me, but I’d heard they probably would! Who knew, you’d get bows at E-Mart and watching the news, but not from student to teacher?)

Seongeup Folk Village

A couple buses, an hour and about $3 each delivered my friend and I to Seonguep Folk Village on a Saturday afternoon.

The Korean government subsidizes residents to maintain the traditional way of life and share it with visitors. So, we were able to see woven shoes, jujube tea being made, rope making and the black pigs being raised in the traditional way.

We were able to talk to the residents. Ok, no not really. They spoke Korean and we nodded our heads a lot. Still, it was really cool. I would definitely recommend it!

Modesty …more

Two items: beach & elderly

At the beach, so far this year, I’ve not seen one Korean woman wearing a swimsuit at the beach. This is different than in Busan where beginning July 1, it was ‘beach season’ and string bikinis were the norm. Here in Jeju, walking into the water with whatever you’re wearing is the norm.

The good thing about this is that it eliminates that whole “oh no, I forgot my swimsuit!” problem!

Second…

It wasn’t the same older lady that buttoned my friend’s blouse up just one higher…

but when I walked home from school, there was an older lady (ok older than me!) standing on her front porch one foot from the main walkway to the beach, bathing. naked.

It’s all ok with me, but it’s a little hard to figure out the rules! haha!

Walking up Samyang’s Oreum – Temples, Nature and Views

This symbol signifies Buddhism

A hefty elevation climb, but a short distance from my home is an oreum. Oreums are little volcanic burps under the surface that dot the island. These little hills generally have walking paths and at the top, a Buddhist temple or two.

So, it’s a lovely Sunday morning walk to head up to the top, about a 25 minute walk from my apartment.

Even though this is ‘tourist season’ and it was a Sunday, there were very few people. (Nothing like the crowds I got used to on paths in Busan, or even in Boulder!)

Buddhists generally put their temples in a natural setting to enhance the peace of mind of those who visit. As I walked up, listening to birds singing, seeing butterflies and moths flit in and out of the shade, I felt more peaceful with every step. A monk once explained that temples are positioned so they have a good view, so the temple itself can feel that same good feeling that we do when we enjoy a beautiful view.

On this oreum, there are actually three Buddhist temples. They differ in some ways, but share: lovely setting, and colorfully painted eaves, detailed pictures on walls, and beautiful sculptures.

As I approached, I could hear the bop,         bop,         bop,      bop,   bop,  bop, bop, bop,bop,bop  banging of the little percussion instrument the monks use.

I wandered around the grounds of one temple. Unlike a busload of about 20 tourists that showed up, I didn’t go inside this time. Instead, I took a few turns at the exercise park on the edge of the grounds: lifting weights, stretching my arms by twisting a big wheel back and forth, and another arm flexibility exerciser that involves reaching up with alternative arms, pulling a cable up and down. These outdoor exercise parks are sprinkled about in towns and parks. A really cool idea!

 

Jeju Stone Park

Saturday, I was lucky enough to get picked up by a friend for a walk in Jeju Stone Park. We stopped first at the forest and Jeju traditional village across the way. There they have built eight and are planning to build 50 total Jeju traditional houses that you can rent and stay in (up to 8 people). Very cool …stone base, thatched roof.

The Jeju Stone Park itself has paths through the forest, which is lush and dripping with ferns and usually water. It rained on  and off as we walked. It’s a worthwhile excursion with the forest paths, aesthetically placed interesting stones, harebaungs, and an underground museum about the geology of the area, plus exhibits about the universe!

Jeju is known for Stone, Wind and Women. We got all three on Saturday as we walked.

The guy on the right is thinking, "What is with her hair?" Ok, it was windy! What can I say!

Saunas…scrubbing, splashing and soaking naked

In our small town, there is a large sauna. You pay 4000W (less than $4) for entry and a few towels. Bring your own shampoo, soap, plastic bucket to hold them, and a scrubbie. (We didn’t know to bring them so were loaned these items. Apparently, this would be like going swimming but not bringing a swimming suit. We were the only ones this didn’t occur to.)

Walk into the first room where you take off and leave your shoes in a small locker. Grab the key bracelet and proceed to the locker room. Here, take off all your clothes, lock your locker and bring one of the little towels. Wearing only the key bracelet, head to the women-only sauna area with your toiletries (I was going to say ‘cleaning supplies)’.

You can rinse off at the standing showers first, but most of your pre-bath cleaning is done at the sit-down area. Here you sit on a plastic stool. Spray it off before you plop down. Then use soap and scrubbie and the showerhead at each station to clean yourself off. Shampoo your hair there too. If you’re with a friend, it’s common to scrub each other’s back. While this sounds odd, it feel pretty natural to do so here.

Then take your pick of temperatures, sizes of pools: very hot, mildly hot, cool, with whirpool seats, or the small ‘swimming’ area. This is long enough to swim 10-15 strokes of breaststroke and deep enough (almost 3′) to make it pleasant for swimming or walking. Take a turn in the steam room, where you can rest your head on a wooden block that has a head-size niche in it. Or head to the dry sauna. Repeat.

Soak quietly near the old ladies, or frolic in the largest area with the little girls. (The girls were the same ages as our students. We wondered, would be strange if they were? I think the answer is, that it wouldn’t be strange to them, so really, no!)

When you’re ready to leave, stop at the scrubbing stations again and wash or rinse off, then head into the dressing room, where combs and hair dryers are available for common use.

Feel great! The community sauna was born of necessity here since most Korean homes don’t have tubs. But, more than that, it’s a lovely part of Korean culture.

Modesty

Modesty is defined differently in every culture.

At the grocery store one day, my American friend was wearing a blouse buttoned modestly for American standards. But as she was selecting vegetables, an older Korean woman (an ‘ajumma’) reached over and mumbled something as she buttoned my friend’s blouse…just one button higher. My friend was in shock and  was at first speechless. Then we managed a few kamsamnida thank yous and slight bows.

Meanwhile, Korean girls of all ages wear shorts so short, that ‘hot pants’ is the nearest description that comes to mind. A combo that includes the tiniest shorts with a blouse buttoned up high is a common fashion here. And culturally acceptable.

And a third difference between Korea and the US is the bathhouses, or ‘saunas’ where females of all ages bathe nude together.

It reminds me that in Niger we were supposed to cover our hair, and wear skirts down to our ankles. And what freedom it was to get to Ghana where girls could wear tank tops and ride bicycles in shorts!

I can only shake my head and chuckle to see us humans taking it all so seriously, when totally different norms apply …all intending to convey the same common ideals of humanity.

Classroom Management: 1st Grade Girls and Boys

In my younger classes, there’s such a marked difference between the girls and boys’ behavior. It’s actually funny.

Girls in my class really can sit and they do well with a little bit of activity. They can sing a song, clap, turn around, do hand motions, then just sit down and work. The boys, on the other hand, just can’t! You’re asking for trouble if you start the class with a song that has much motion if you have boys in the class.

I made the mistake of doing London Bridge with them one day. The girls loved it. The boys were diving under the ‘bridge’, crashing into the ‘bridge’ holders, refusing to hold hands with anyone.

So, when we went to a performance at the Jeju Arts Center, I was struck by a similar scene.

There were six women on stage in flowing dresses moving gently, twirling and swooping sweetly to and fro. In contrast, there were four male performers. The guys were bare chested mostly, with frilly shoulder things and some straps across front and back of chest. One or two at a time, they would come out on stage, doing back handsprings and flips. Then they would show up with swords or nunchuks (two sticks connected by a chain) and be moving them about wildly and noisily.

Ahhh… this reminds me of my first MWF class!

Mongolian Horse Show

During my first week at school, one of the teachers asked if any of us wanted to go on an outing. I didn’t really understand what it was, but I’m new here, so I said, yes!

What a fabulous day we had we had! It would be hard to describe the Mongolian Horse Show at the Equestrian Center. We drove 45 minutes to get there, saw the riding arena and some of her friends, then… the show.

If I say it’s like a rodeo show, but with Genghis Khan theme, I’m not doing it justice.  The Mongolian music and narrator helped set the tone! Maybe the pictures will help. Anyhow, it was really cool. Trust me on this one.

Quiet Christmas Eve

Pretty funny going out to dinner when you can only whisper. Most people who know me would agree that if anything, I talk too much! So, only being able to whisper a little really cramped my style!  We laughed a lot.

My friend had wanted to take me to a fancy place in Haeundae but I wasn’t up to it. So, we ate at another traditional Korean food place in Seomyeon.  Here we had some kind of kimchi bap dish. So, again it’s kimchi, but in this dish the rice is already in the broth. It’s served boiling in individual hot pots.  In this case, they give you a small bowl to spoon out bites out so you can cool it down enough to eat it. So hot, nutritious, delicious! Yummy.

It was so cold! About 20F and windy! We enjoyed our dinner, briskly walked past the Christmas displays at Lotte Department store, and then I rode the subway back home.  I found out how to operate my floor heat, so my apartment is warm and cozy!

Korean students

My students are great. By teaching adults, the whole issue of discipline and classroom management disappears. Instead, I get to hang out with and listen to conversations about the lives of my students, which include:

  • a 70-year old who participates in our discussion class, then has a Chinese class afterwards
  • a 50-year old English teacher, who stays for Japanese class after my class, then teaches high school
  • many 20-something’s that have graduated university but have no job at the moment
  • a couple women who are preparing to interview as flight attends for Qatar Airways
  • a businessman who is preparing for conference travel in the US
  • a 30-year old who wants to attend automotive tech school in Australia
  • university students who are working to improve their English to be able to qualify for a job after graduation (by achieving a good score on the ‘TOEIC exam’): majoring in math, engineering, hotel management, interior design
  • a recently married shy 25 year old who is a university graduate but doesn’t work outside the home
  • an 18-year old preparing for her university entrance exam, who is taking her summer vacation to study instead of going to Thailand, as her mom suggested
  • many who say they want to learn English to make friends with ‘foreigners’ and learn about other cultures
  • a middle school teacher who wants to eventually live in the US near family in Alabama
  • several businessmen who come for business skills, but also for the freedom of expression that our conversation classes provide
  • nurses who work in hospitals and clinics that want to be able to help foreigners who come in to their facilities who can’t communicate well
  • a couple women who say they want to have an ‘international marriage’, that is to marry a non-Korean. when I suggest that it could be difficult to maintain a cross-cultural marriage, they say it would be difficult to marry a Korean man, given the strict traditional beliefs.

Cultural education …one by one

I’m really grateful for one aspect of my job, in particular. That is that, by design, I spend my days among South Koreans who are talking about their lives. Our topics include social situations, families, dreams, education, goals, frustrations, dating, cultural comparisons, and current events. And, in addition, there are also many opportunities to go out to lunch or dinner with students, who then become friends outside of the language learning realm.

It’s a total blessing for me to learn what Korean culture is through individuals, rather than as a amorphous group sterotype.

July Teaching Schedule: Last minute culture

It used to drive me crazy in the US when I was caught doing things ‘last minute’. Poor planning or procrastination by me or others would mean scrambling the last few days to complete a project.

But that was nothing!

Here, last minute is honed to an artform beyond anything I could ever imagine.

When I arrived at the end of May to begin teaching June 3rd, I was given my class assignments on Tuesday June 1 to begin teaching on Thursday. I was informed that I was ‘lucky’ that I had that long to plan and that I only had two different types of courses to plan for (Level 2 and Level 3). My schedule was teaching five level 2 course and one level 3 course, for one hour each day M-F. Plus, I was given a one-to-one student. I was told that I was given more notice than usual, because I was a newbie.

So, on June 30th (the day before July 1) at 4:15 pm, I received my ‘tentative schedule’ for July. It was then that I learned that I would be teaching three classes of a discussion group, one Level 2, one Level 3 and continuing with my one-to-one student.

The first day is always introductions, games and overview so prep isn’t required, but still, wow! As a new teacher, and never having seen the material before, it’s a lot to handle without totally freaking out.

There’s no way for me to prepare in a way that I would like to. I have to remind myself that the most important thing for me is to be there in a way that I can be present with the people that are my students, in a calm, open, caring way.

Thus, again, I turn to meditation. It helps me change my perspective from denial, frustration and panic to acceptance, gratitude and serenity.  A practice I feel better when I do once or twice a day!

Beomosa Temple Stay

From 1 pm Saturday until 11 am Sunday, my friend and I stayed at the Beomosa Buddhist Temple in Busan. It was a pretty cool experience and a definite change from the hustle and bustle of life working in the city.

Many talks with monks, many hours sitting cross-legged on the floor, learning the rituals and then enjoying the traditional Buddhist meal for dinner and breakfast, sleeping on a quilt on the floor from 9 am to 3 am, up for service where the monks played a huge drum, and bells, and a hike to a nearby hermitage.

I hadn’t expected to find the monks to be so personable and funny.  I had expected to be sore after doing 108 full bows but since we did this: one bow, then while down, string a bead, then repeat, it was actually enjoyable.

Probably the best way to get a sense of the stay is through the photos.

The freakiest thing was bumping into a classmate from my CELTA class three years ago. He’s from Michigan and had traveled to Denver to take the class, then went to Tanzania. That was a big surprise to see each other there, of all times and places.

Dinner out with students

On Friday night, the four students in the English class and I decided to work through our normal 10-minute break so we could leave at 9:40 (instead of 9:50 pm). From there we headed out to a traditional Korean restaurant to enjoy dinner!

It was really nice to hang out with them and discuss lives and culture. One of the students suggested this a couple days ago, because he said it would make our classroom discussions easier if we were all more familiar with each other.

Really wonderful experience. I resisted going to Karoake after dinner when we finished eating at midnight. Next time!

108 bows …training

I have been ‘training’ to be able to do the 108 full bows at the Temple Stay. At first blush, this might not sound strenuous, but it is. I did 50 one day, 70 another and 108 once. I don’t think I have all the steps correct though. I think I was bending forward to get all the way down and I think it’s supposed to be more of a squat. I’ll soon find out.

I hope this isn’t disrespectful, but a full bow reminds me a bit of the football training exercise in slo-mo (but we don’t shoot our legs out behind after you squat, instead you bow head to the ground).

Here’s the instructions they provided:

Ochietooji(Full Bow)

The posture of Ochietooji is intended to symbolically release the ego and respect the Buddha and other sentient beings. After putting one’s palms together and bowing to Buddha’s statue, press the knees, elbows and forehead to the ground.

1. Put palms together.

2. Make a half bow.

3. Sit on the knees.

4. Put the left big toe on the right foot.

5. Put the bottom on the feet.

6. Bow putting elbows and palms on the floor.

7. Put the forehead on the floor.

8. The knees, elbows and forehead, five parts of the body are on the floor.

9. Turn over your hands, to have palms upwards.

10. Raise hands straight up to ears.

11. Put palms on the floor again.

12. (every last bow of 1 bow, 3 bows, 108 bows and so on)

Hold up the head slightly and put palms together (hapjang) between the floor and the head.

13. Stand up.

14. Make a half bow before you finish.

Heading off for a Temple Stay at Beomosa Temple

A  coworker and I are meeting at the Beomosa subway station today at noon, to be at the Beomosa Temple by 1 pm. There we start our overnight temple stay. This is the same temple we hiked to a few weeks ago.

‘Temple stay’ is a way for English-speaking visitors to experience a day of monastic life in a traditional Buddhist temple. Beomosa’s history begins about 1300 years ago. Most Buddhist temple structures are made of natural materials, so are built and rebuilt at the same site over the years.

We’ll be in bed at 9 pm, and up at 3 am tomorrow.

Our schedule is:
Time First Day Second Day
03:00~03:30 Wake up & Wash

(in Silence)
03:30~04:00 Dawn Service(in Silence)
04:00~05:30 Seon Mediation

(in Silence)
06:00~07:30 Breakfast-TBM

& Clean Bowls
07:30~09:00 Tour to a Hermitage
09:00~10:00 Dharma Talk
10:00~10:40 Community Work & Survey
10:40~ Closing Ceremony
13:00~13:30 Registration & Orientation
13:30~15:00 Temple Manners

& Opening Ceremony
15:00~16:20 Temple Tour

& Self- Introduction
16:30~17:30 Learn Traditional Buddhist Meal
17:30~18:20 Dinner-TBM
18:30~19:00 Evening Service
19:00~20:30 Make 108 Prayer’s Beads
20:30~21:00 Ready for Sleep
21:00~ Sleep

Bow. Anytime. Anywhere

The fancy hotel Lotte has a person that directs cars into the parking lot. The uniform is the block cowboy? hat, white gloves, grey shirt and pants.

Some are more dramatic than others, making a fancy movement with the arms to direct the car where and when to turn. Then, he bows to the car after it drives past him.

Gwangilli Fish Festival

Saturday afternoon, my coworker and I took the subway nine stops (20 minutes or so) and thoroughly enjoyed the Gwangilli Beach for the Annual Fish Festival. Click above photo for link to more photos in this set.

  • Traditional drumming, dancing, storytelling
  • Wearing of foam fish heads (…think Wisconsin cheeseheads)
  • Tug of war
  • Pulling in the nets
  • Fighting over the fish
  • Fireworks
  • Lighting of the fishing boats

Does this game make my butt look big?