Combo

This week wasn't very eventful yielding me little to amass a whole blog post. But, I've been collecting little tidbits, stories, funny moments I want to share with you that didn't fit into the past few weeks' blog posts.

Farting
Why not start here - this is Allison BTW? Early in our relationship Kenneth was sitting on my bed and he farted. I pretended that I didn't hear it because I thought he was trying to hard it. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth at the time. He shouted,"Did you hear that?" I popped my head out of the bathroom, my eyes bulging and said, "Yes!" He said, "That's good!" I just popped back in and didn't address it. A few days later I farted in front of him by accident. He said, "Good!" I said no it's not! He said yes, it means we are comfortable with each other. Now, literally any time I fart he says, "Good!" He is the perfect person for me.

Then, we stumbled across an article that talks about how if you can fart in front of your partner you have a solid relationship because it means you can be honest and open. And this is true with us. I am so honest with him about everything. I can tell him something really bad and he will comfort me and support me. It's the greatest!

Chop Chop Chop
At circle time each day my students sing a song called One Little Finger click here to see the video we use.
One little finger
One little finger
One little finger
Tap tap tap
Point your finger up
Point your finger down
Put it on your head. (Then nose, chin, etc.)

After months of singing this every morning with 4 year old kids, my Korean supervisor got this surprised look on her face and exclaimed: Allison teacher! You are saying "tap tap tap!" I thought it was "chop chop chop" - a song about chopping fingers off.

I am not lying. She thought there was a children's song about chopping fingers off that I was singing TO FOUR YEAR OLDS.

I didn't even know how to react.

THIS IS SOUTH KOREA NOT NORTH KOREA. GOOD GOD!

Convenience 
South Korea is a land of convenience. I think it's because Koreans work long hours and the grab-and-go culture is strong here. Also coffee shops everywhere. EVERYWHERE. So much coffee I can't image how all these little shops stay in business.
There are 7-11 type stores EVERYWHERE. On every corner, I am not lying. Some parts of this are great. They have such cool ideas that I think would be amazing back home.

• You can buy a cup of ice sitting in an ice cream freezer for a very small fee. It's just so handy because sometimes you don't need a huge bag of ice. 
• They sell cans and bottles of alcohol beside the soda. It's nice for someone like me who a)has a very small fridge and b)doesn't drink a lot. I'll just pick up a can or two on the way home and that's just fine for me. Sometimes we have "river beers" where we sit on a park bench near the river and talk and drink. Good times. 
• They sell milkshakes in a bag, again in the ice ream freezer. For the equivalent of $1 it has a little sucking spout and comes in vanilla and chocolate. It's frozen solid, but after a minute it breaks up and you can drink it. Such a good idea! I finally tried one this weekend, and yes it is delicious!
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Motorcycle Delivery
This goes along with convenience but it gets it's own category. Every restaurant, whether it's a chain, fast food, or a little family owned place with 4 tables does delivery on a motorcycle with a box strapped to the back. These guys weave through traffic, run red lights, drive over bridges and on sidewalks to delivery food. It's insane! I've never seen an accident, which kind of seems unbelievable since I've seen them run so many red lights.

One cool thing is these places deliver with real dishes and cutlery, then return the next day to pick it up. At first I though someone on my floor was a real slob, leaving his garbage outside his door. But it was his dishes from the night before, left out for the delivery man to pick up. Interesting concept!

Caesar Salad

I found it. THE BEST CAESAR SALAD ON EARTH. It is in a part of SK called Hongdae, I took a subway an hour to get there, not knowing it was there. I went for brunch on Saturday. I ordered the caesar salad and a bunch of breakfast-y sides: eggs, potatoes, baked beans. Oh Lordy! The salad dressing was so good. You can't find it here in teh stores - not the same. This was an American restaurant called Beastro run by a brother and sister team. When I took that first bite I literally lit up with joy. I can't wait to go back. Caesar salad is one of my favourite things on earth. 

P.S - I've decided to have "Selfish Saturday's" in the summer. Right now it is too hot to do much. Especially outside. So, during the day when Kenneth is at work, I am going to look up a restaurant I want to try, travel there, and then come home. Minimal sweating, maximum air conditioning (subway is air conditioned). Until it cools down in fall, I'm just going to lay low most of the time.

Here is a store sign I saw on the way home on Saturday. 

English OK!!! The Chinese Welcome.

Something about this made me laugh. It's a poor translation that makes it seem like we really thing English people are OK, but we will also accept Chinese people.

11 More days until I head out on vacation. I can almost feel it . . .

Love,
Alli 

The Perils of Logic

Friend Caitlin is reading a book about Korean business for a course she's taking and one of the chapters is titled The Perils of Logic. I can't get that title out of my head because it makes me laugh so hard. (Yes, another teacher I work with is also getting her masters here while working. I'm tired just thinking about that!) Basically, through her I've learned that Koreans don't really use logic with regards to business. Logic is more of a western thing, so that is why we've found it so difficult dealing with our contracts and desiring SO MUCH to be notified before things are sprung on us that involve planning. Like today, when at 2:30 I was told I would be teaching a new class at 4:30 with no time to prep in between because I had to teach a class in between. Cool. 

Anyways, let me recap the weekend. First, it's monsoon season now so it rains every day. And if it's not raining it's so humid it feels like it's going to rain, and then it does the next day. Getting into the habit of carrying an umbrella around all the time is tough. I had a compact one that fit in my purse but it's too flimsy. I bought a massive one that will hold up to the winds better. Too bad I left it in a changing room the next day. 

On Saturday I went to an area of Seoul called Dongdaemun which is known for it's fashion and architecture. I loved the area! I didn't think I'd find much there for myself since I'm almost the opposite of anything fashionable, but I was actually able to find a few pieces of clothing that fit me and were pretty neat! 

The Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Park is a giant, futuristic-looking building designed by the famous architect, Zaha Hadid (not the mother of the famous Hadid sisters as I thought - thanks Google!). Inside is a bunch of design spaces for people who make objects and for them to sell. It's like a marketplace for people who don't have a huge store. I bought a few little things in there to bring back home!

I liked it so much, I brought Kenneth and Caitlin back there on Sunday to see it. 

I stood looking at this building and literally said out

loud to myself: I think I like architecture!

Kenneth and I in front - you can barely see us!

Later, we went on a double-decker bus tour of historic Seoul. "Historic Seoul' is a bit of a misnomer because the old and new are mixed together in this beautiful mish mash of architecture. But, it took us by a lot of temples and fortresses. What the tour didn't provide is any words in English. It was kind of just a bus ride. Even the words we heard in Korean were just spouted out of a speaker that was recorded, there wasn't a person pointing things out. It also started to rain IMMEDIATELY as the bus started driving. Almost a mockery of us, really. But, we went under cover for a bit and then moved back out as the rain died down. It was neat to see the city whether the tour was worth it or not. Here are some photos I took.

Three's a party!

A rally against animal abuse. 

These tree trunks look fake!

Barbie store

This is probably the worst blog post I've done. It's not that exciting and it's a mish mash of information. I've also used the phrase mish mash twice now. Three now! My apologies on that front.

Stay dry my friends!

Love,

Alli

Canada 150

What does Canada 150 mean to me?

You know the phrase, the song, the many parables around the idea of "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."? The last 5 months have put so much in perspective. In the first two weeks I was here I emailed my boss back home and basically said that to her and told her if I ever complain about my job when I'm back just look at me and say "Korea!" and I will walk out of her office with that gentle reminder that I have nothing to complain about. There are challenges with every job, but perspective is always nice.

My experience work wise has already been documented on this blog, plus I've mentioned other details here and there. But let me be clear, the Korean's I work with have it SO MUCH HARDER. And, I don't think that's just segregated to schools, the work ethic here is fierce. My day is from 9:50-6:00. Their day is from 9:00-7:20. Luckily it's only 5 days a week, but many Koreans work 6-7 days. Last week I had a parent ask if once a month they can pull their child from class to spend time with her because they are so busy, but both parents have one day at the end of he month off, so can they take her? I just said YES! She's 4! Spend time with your child!

Are there Canadian's that work 6-7 days a week? Yes. But it's not the standard. We are lucky to live in a country with less population density so the competition for jobs is not as fierce. Koreans have to be so competitive because there are so many of them and such a limited amount of jobs. There is a student at our school who goes to Chinese school before coming to our English school and then goes home to do further activities like taekwondo. We give our students 5 pages of homework/week. THEY ARE 4 and already attend school from 9:50-2:30 5 days a week.

Being with Kenneth has opened my eyes to what he's dealing with here. Many Africans here are undocumented. (Don't worry, Kenneth is not. He is on the up and up.) But as a foreigner, unless you have a work contract like me in teaching, you can only have a 6 month travel visa that you can use to work. Many just stay and continue working being paid under the table. The problem that leaves is poor working conditions and being treated differently. Most Africans here are working in labour intensive jobs. Kenneth said his first job here was with 500 other Africans lifting heavy crates off of shipping containers onto machines to take them away. One day they were lifting something extremely heavy. A crate fell and busted open and a car engine was inside. Each of these men was lifting a car engine on his own. multiple times. The guy who dropped it ran immediately and called the police. They came and shut the operation down for the day. Each employee was paid for the day, but the man never returned. (I'm going to be honest, I didn't know if lifting a car engine on your own was bad because I don't know anything about cars but judging from K's face, it's bad.)

In Kenneth's words: We are blacks so we are treated differently. Legally, they should be paying us 2,000,000 won a month (equivalent to about $2000) but they pay us 1,500,000 because they know many of us are undocumented and just have to accept that money. The Koreans and whites doing the same jobs get 2,500,000 because the minimum for them is 2,200,000.

Being Canadian allows me the luxury of the law. When I think about the many times I've stood up and fought for my right to the equivalent of $1000 for that plane ticket, there are people here who can't speak at all because they will just be let go and replaced with another worker who will keep his mouth shut.

What's worse is Kenneth makes more money here than back home at his University admissions job back home. (Yes, we both had similar jobs back home.) In one month here he makes the same amount as 8 months home. EIGHT MONTHS! That's why he came here, to make money no matter what the job. Just to have a better life. All of this perpetuates the cycle. A guy here lifting a car engine making more money than working in a professional office will continue to work like that, without complaint and may I also mention without proper safety gear, etc.

Are there worse stories of disparity in the world? Obviously.

These are my experiences with people I know and why I am so thankful to be Canadian. I have labour laws to protect me in my country and when I travel to work.

So, happy Canada day. We have a long way to go to make things fair for those in Canada, especially our Indigenous brothers and sisters who have lived in Canada longer than 150 years.

Three Canadian teachers with the mittens!

A proud Canadian with her future Canadian

Love,

Alli