Riding the Seoul Train!

Well, things are becoming more and more familiar as time goes on. Having just finished my fifth week of teaching, I’m finding myself more and more comfortable working with the kids. Also, the kids are becoming less and less afraid of my beard, which is a plus. I even had a few of them offer me gifts of food for Chu-sok, their equivalent of our Thanksgiving. True it was a sponge-cake, but it was mighty tasty!

While I’m still working to understand the curriculum, I’m looking more and more for those places where I can supplement the lessons with my own style, thoughts, or materials. I’ve already managed to incorporate my guitar into a few lessons, which has gone over really well with the kids, and I’m hoping for more opportunities.

Because we had a three day weekend due to Chu-sok, I opted to join up with some other foreigners for a venture up to Seoul. We had a great time being in the city, although the people I went with were far more interested in shopping and night life then actually seeing much of the city. Still, I got to see some really interesting parts of town and got to experience what is definitely the most diverse city I’ve ever been in.

While we spent most of our time in what is considered the “Western” part of town, the diversity experienced there was incredible. On any street corner you could hear at least 5 different languages around you, and if you heard six people speaking English you were likely to hear six different accents. I went into a foreign food mart (right next to Foreign Restaurant), and was simply amazed at how many different skin tones, languages, smells, and foods surrounded me.

While it was incredible to be around, it gave me the strangest feeling, like I was in an amorphous place without any unifying definition; lacking in any striking identity other than commerce. I couldn’t tell I was in Korea, and it didn’t feel like I was back in the states; I was simply in a place where cultures met, mingled, and melted into each other. It was unnerving, yet invigorating. I’m eager to go back and get a deeper look into this multiculturalism, as well as historical sites that would teach me more about Korea’s unique identity and history. I think experiencing these two aspects of Korea will give insight into what the country, and in a larger sense the region, is going through; an intense time of redefinition, where traditions and ancient traditions are being held in tension with the progress of trade and modernity.

How very interesting.

With all that said, I was glad to step off the train back at Iksan. While there are roughly 500,000 people here, it was so quiet compared to the bustle of Seoul. I could actually hear my thoughts as I walked and went for a nice quiet read in the park. I'm glad Seoul is only 2 hours away by bullet train (traveling around 300km/hr, by the way), but I'm very glad to be living here in Iksan, in the quiet, and on the edge of rice fields.

Quirky Thing in Korea

What music do you hear in Korea? Well, if you're at the train station in Seoul you hear Latino beats, trumpets, and wooden flutes. Oh yeah.

P.S. Below is a picture of the TV in my hotel room. Amazing. Oh, and did I mention the complimentary computer and internet? Also, it was about $15 a night. Sweet.