Traveling Beans

Today I Love Korea...again

Classes are cancelled today because of physical testing. A student just told me she is tired because she had to run, do sit ups, bicep hang, and then some other motion that I could not understand (she just bent over and started stretching towards the ground). The teachers are chilling out in their jeans and sweatshirts. The sun is shining, like it usually is in Mokpo, and my hands are a little cold as I type, indicadent of the crisp air-- nice break from the sudden 24 degrees Celcius we had yesterday (75 degrees Fahrenheit for you Americans! haha...ok, so I cheated and looked it all up).

My closest teacher friend, an older teacher who sits beside me in the teacher's room (kyomushil) said we are going out for lunch today. It will probably be an inexpensive feast because she is frugal, but knows what's important (as most Koreans do)--food! Our lunch group of four --her, another senior female teacher, a male senior teacher, and me (senior being older)-- is a fun crew. The other female teacher is the "whang", which means king or queen, but basically you don't want to get in trouble or you will have to see her...at the same time many girls look up to her because she's brilliant, a workaholic, and a great mentor. The other male teacher is the silent type, has only spoken 3 words to me, but when he does speak you want to be sure to listen. He doesn't preach, just says what's on his mind, which is usually honest and maybe not the most important point of view, but maybe the more socially just or fair view.

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Back from lunch. Like I said, it was a feast. Spicy dumpling soup with lots of vegetables and hand made noodles, with another spicy noodle dish after that. A peaceful place in a part of Mokpo that was laid out by Japanese when they occupied Mokpo. The owners are former art teachers and make paper, paper and laquer decorative boxes and lanterns. I am welcome to come learn for free any day at 3 pm, I just have to pay for my own materials. As long as they play Louie again (Louie Armstrong fit the environment perfectly as we enjoyed our afternoon lunch date), I am going to try my best to be there.

That is how things have gone here. One person invites me to go somewhere with them--to a meal, to a mountain, to a temple, and though it may turn into a longer affair than I planned, we always meet amazing people with an outpouring of hospitality ready to offer or share anything they have. That is how my Korean traditional dance classes started out, that's how I went traveling with my calligraphy teacher back during orientation, and that's how I went to one of the most beautiful gardens when I visited Gwangju when I ran into some college kids from the area.

Gotta remember these times when I am depressed and wishing I were back home in New York City or when I interpret a man's loud voice as him violently yelling when it's acceptable to scold anyone depending on your rank: oldest men are highest, then old women, and then...so on with children being at the bottom...and being a young woman, I feel like I am sometimes treated as or looked down upon as a little girl. Those are the worst days...when I feel vulnuerable and unsafe because I am a young woman. I know it sometimes in my head, but I have been randomly scolded by older men --for example some bus driver-- or have watched other young woman embarassed on the street or in the subway by older men who are just seeming to flex their higher social status and power.

But today...I feel safe and warm...surrounded by those brilliant and hilarious older teachers, the girls at my school...and the one man that I have the most daily contact with --the male teacher in my lunch group-- is so quiet and fair that today, being here in Korea doesn't feel so scary or lonely as it had been....

posted by jacquelina @ 1:01 PM