Living a far way from home.
It's my third week living in korea. I figured out important thing, it's so hard to do something completely new.
I went snowboarding for the first time. Well to be more accurate I tumbled down a snowy slope for half the day. I did this one really cool move I call it the “Oh fuck I'm gonna die” propeller move. It's basically falling and twirling down the slope for a good ten yards while thinking... Well you get the idea. Needless to say I limped a little for a couple days.
Korea is different in many ways from the US, but that I was expecting. What surprised me is how fortunate I am to be working at my particular school. I am by far the least experienced teacher, and I'm surprised in the cultural differences between Americans and Brits. I don't want to go into detail but let's just say I think I'm just tipping the iceberg with the discovery that almost none of them have had a Peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But going back to my work, I'm outclassed as a teacher. In a odd way I feel like I have to work three, four times harder to produce anywhere near the acceptable caliber of work. Observing the other teachers I learned that they are good at what they do. Because of the amount of work I've been doing, I haven't had the opportunity to explore the city. In way I'm little glad, it gets tiring trying to do things in a language you only know a handful of phrases in. Living here and doing things is actually harder then I thought it would be. Trying to fumble through basic tasks like buying water or figuring out how the hell to operate a washing machine really makes you feel dumb. Especially when you have the passing thought that you should know this.
I like it here. It's hard to explain. But the more free time I get and the more I just go and do stuff the better I feel about everything. I won't lie it's hard. But then again I think I'm harder on myself than the situation is. Maybe something comfortably familiar like a stand up shower, or just something that I sort of fit in with, perhaps if I felt like I wasn't so far away from home I wouldn't be.
I will try to take some photos this week to show you all.
Later.
It's my third week living in korea. I figured out important thing, it's so hard to do something completely new.
I went snowboarding for the first time. Well to be more accurate I tumbled down a snowy slope for half the day. I did this one really cool move I call it the “Oh fuck I'm gonna die” propeller move. It's basically falling and twirling down the slope for a good ten yards while thinking... Well you get the idea. Needless to say I limped a little for a couple days.
Korea is different in many ways from the US, but that I was expecting. What surprised me is how fortunate I am to be working at my particular school. I am by far the least experienced teacher, and I'm surprised in the cultural differences between Americans and Brits. I don't want to go into detail but let's just say I think I'm just tipping the iceberg with the discovery that almost none of them have had a Peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But going back to my work, I'm outclassed as a teacher. In a odd way I feel like I have to work three, four times harder to produce anywhere near the acceptable caliber of work. Observing the other teachers I learned that they are good at what they do. Because of the amount of work I've been doing, I haven't had the opportunity to explore the city. In way I'm little glad, it gets tiring trying to do things in a language you only know a handful of phrases in. Living here and doing things is actually harder then I thought it would be. Trying to fumble through basic tasks like buying water or figuring out how the hell to operate a washing machine really makes you feel dumb. Especially when you have the passing thought that you should know this.
I like it here. It's hard to explain. But the more free time I get and the more I just go and do stuff the better I feel about everything. I won't lie it's hard. But then again I think I'm harder on myself than the situation is. Maybe something comfortably familiar like a stand up shower, or just something that I sort of fit in with, perhaps if I felt like I wasn't so far away from home I wouldn't be.
I will try to take some photos this week to show you all.
Later.
posted by Avery Young at
5:30 AM
|
3 comments
