Arrival in the Hamlet

My family and friends,

Thank you for the letters of encouragement you sent me. Some even brought me to tears, though perhaps they all did as their force built up over the course of the letters. This was a little embarrassing as I have to read them at the High School, there being no internet access at my homestay. They have offered to get it, however, and I may take them up on this. It is not a necessity, but it would be a comfort to be able to communicate with you all that much more easily.

Yesterday I arrived in the Hamlet. I was presented to my principal and co-teacher during a formal ceremony at Yonsei University in Seoul. After this, I ate lunch with them. It was a delicious meal and very fancy. My co-teacher speaks English very well and seems to want to help me in any way she can. Unfortunately, that help will have to wait until Monday, as she is having an operation performed in Chuncheon. She has asked me to call her Sonny or Snow White since this is what the students call her, though I suspect she is also trying to make things a little easier on me. I appreciate this.

Because of the operation, the principal (교장선생님) and I traveled to the hamlet alone. This was a little awkward as he does not speak any English. However, he was very friendly and when I fell asleep a few times (by accident, as I did not want to seem rude) he let me be. The hamlet is about 3-4 hours from Seoul by car. Sonny said at dinner that this is far. I laughed at this a little and told her about what far means in the United States, where road trips for the more adventurous souls can take whole days. The principle and she laughed at this a little.

We arrived in the town safely around 7:00 pm, at which point I met my omeoni (어머니, host-mother), who owns a beauty supply store, the younger daughter R., and two of the teachers. One in particular, Mr. Lee, has been particularly helpful with my adjustment as he is the head English teacher it seems and can speak English fluently. We all went out for samgyeopsal, after which I finally met the rest of my host family. The eldest sister is H., and she is a student learning to be an elementary school teacher. She speaks English better than she will admit, and her presence has been a blessing. Unfortunately, she will be leaving for Chuncheon soon to continue her studies. The youngest brother’s name is W. He is in pre-school, and he apparently watches an English conversation video called “Talk Talk” almost every night.

I stayed up with the family and talked with them about many things, among which was our common faith. I think that they are Presbyterians, something which I may or may not be able to confirm tomorrow when we attend church together. They were talking about John Wesley at any rate. [I have since discovered that they are in fact Methodists. I should know my church leaders a little better...] They asked if American Christians drink. I laughed and told them it depended. I am a Lutheran and Lutherans are notorious for drinking beer, I explained. Many Baptists on the other hand won’t touch any alcohol. I told them about my friends Beth and Ted H. who recently married, one a Baptist, the other a Lutheran respectively, and how at the wedding festivities, the Baptists would hardly drink, while the Lutherans imbibed deeply, even having champagne with their orange juice in the morning. They found this entertaining.

I finally went to bed around 11:00 pm, as I had to wake up early for breakfast at 7:30 am. Breakfast was a rather dinner like affair, as it usually is with Korean cuisine—rice, spicy soup, kimchi and other vegetables. I will have to explain to my host mother that, while I enjoy Korean food, I usually do not eat much for breakfast regardless.

Then, my host father drove Ruri and me to school. I was deposited at the main gate to the H.S. without any indication of where at the school I was supposed to go. Luckily, my students are apparently very glad to see me, and thus were more than happy to point me to the main building. There Mr. Lee met me and showed me to my desk and gave me a tour of the building. There is apparently a wing of the school that is entirely dedicated to English, an English only zone, where the students can come during the lunch period and participate in situational conversations for prizes (e.g. buying plane tickets at the airport, asking for directions to certain landmarks).

Later in the day, I was presented to the entire school in an assembly in which I was given flowers. I gave a rather poor address in Korean, which I tried to supplement with English which was an even bigger disaster. Ah, well. I did get a cheer when I said “Thank you” in Korean. I also received several compliments on my pronunciation with conversational phrases, though my pronunciation of names seems to be a little off.

My schedule will be fairly light. I have 16 classes of about 50 min. each. Eight classes are with the students and the other eight are with various adult community members. The later classes will be smaller and will be more freeform. Apparently, I am just to ask the members what they would like to talk about. We shall see how this goes.

But as for the schedule itself, I will work Tuesday through Friday. I think they will expect me to stay during the entire day, even though I only teach one class on Tuesday, and this early in the morning. This is fine by me. I can move my Korean language textbooks to the school and study there in between my lesson planning. I am glad for the 3-day weekends. They will allow me to explore the area and go hiking. They will also allow for longer trips to other cities should I so desire, though I will have to make sure I have permission from my host family so I do not offend them.

At 12:30, I was told that I should go home, so I loaded my flowers onto my bike and rode away. Many of the students wished me a friendly farewell as I rode back to the house, where I met my abeoji watching television. The rest of the day has been spent taking naps and watching television, unpacking and writing this note home, which I will not be able to send until Monday. During the unpacking, I discovered that one of the apple butter jars I had brought as a gift was damaged during the flight. It was incredibly complicated trying to figure out how to tell the abeoji that I wanted to throw it away. He thought I wanted to eat it! I still need to find a stationary store to buy gift wrap for the presents I brought. Apparently, merely presenting the gift is a no-no.