Jeff and I have accepted contracts at an international school in Mongolia (Located between China and Russia)! We’ll be teaching our subject areas – Jeff is teaching math, grades 7 to 10 (ish, we’re still not entirely sure), and I’ll most likely be teaching grade 1. One of the best things about this school is that it teaches the Ontario curriculum! When we get back to Ontario we’ll have had experience working with the curriculum and some of the textbooks – this is pretty cool (and rare)!
We’ve been working with a recruiter since February, applying to jobs and hoping to get ourselves employed by September. Our recruiter suggested that we look at jobs in the Middle East. She said that since we have such little experience that we would likely find jobs there since the international school industry is exploding. She originally suggested Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Later on she informed us that there is too much competition in those areas and that we should look to Kuwait or Qatar since we’ve only been teaching for a year, and because it’s ESL it doesn’t count towards anything! Qatar I was okay with, but Kuwait is just a bit too close to Iraq for me! So we applied, and waited. We emailed and tried to get things moving… but not much came out of that situation. If they had told us straight up that they couldn’t place us I would have been fine, we could have moved on and found our own jobs or anther recruiter. I was a bit disappointed that they seemed to have dumped us!
So, as we were dealing with the recruiter (or lack of recruiter… they were SO attentive in the beginning, but seemed to fall apart after a while…) we talked to people. It ended up that a close family friend’s daughter had just been offered a job at a school in Mongolia. My mom got some basic information from Megan (the daughter) and sent along Megan’s email address too. After a few emails back and forth with Megan we decided to apply to the same school where she had just accepted a job. We applied directly to the school. Our contact was interested in interviewing us, but wanted to make it soon – within the next 24 hours! He had already interviewed some other people who needed to know if they were being offered the job. They had received job offers from a different school and wanted to know if they from the school in Mongolia before they responded to the other job offers. (Does this make sense? It sounds confusing… sorry!)
We ended up having an interview on Tuesday night, we had contacted the school on Sunday. We spoke with the school contact (who is in Ontario) at 9pm (it was 8am for him…) He offered us jobs at the end of the interview. A day later we accepted.
So, we’re off to Mongolia. We’re excited! The only thing I’m not excited about is the fact that Ulaanbaatar (the capital city, where we’ll be living) is the capital city that records the coldest average temperatures in the world. I am going to freeze. I’m hoping there will be lots of yarn so I can knit my self warm! Mongolia will definitely be a change from Seoul. It boasts 2 million people – the whole country! Half the population lives in Ulaanbaatar. Seoul has a population of 14 million... more if you count the city suburbs. It will definitely be a change, but one that I are really looking forward to!
A couple of weeks ago, as we were leaving our apartment to go to work in the morning, we encountered a very pleasant surprise!
Opening our door, we heard a gentle thud and then some quiet scraping as we continued to push. What did someone put in front of our door? And who would have put it there so as to block our door??? To our great pleasure, we discovered that what was "blocking" our door was, in fact, a package from home, left in front of our door by the mailman (or woman!) because the box was too big (much too big) to fit into our tiny little mailbox downstairs!
It was a great way to start the morning, especially since we had, just a few days prior, discussed how it had been a while since we had received any mail. While most of our package was off limits until Easter weekend, we were allowed to break open a few small things to whet our appetite and to decorate our humble abode. They are so cheesy that we'd never think of putting them up back at home, but here, away from home, it somehow felt, not just ok, but rather appropriate.
The next day, we had our friends over and they remarked at how lovely our Easter decorations looked and I'm pretty sure that they weren't being sarcastic... At any rate, Easter has finally arrived and we got to open the rest of our packages. It was like Christmas all over again - tissue paper everywhere!!
So with our chocolate stores replenished and our spirits buoyed, we'd like to wish you all a Happy Easter!!
This past week I've been sick. It's nothing major, just a simple cold that made my nose run and caused me to feel really exhausted. Well, yesterday when I arrived at school my two co-teachers mentioned that I looked exhausted. I said, yes, I was sick. They suggested that I go home early - after lunch (I only teach classes until 12:10 on Wednesdays, then I sit in my office for 4 hours so I wouldn't be missing much). My new co-teacher said that I should take "what is it.. a woman problem..?" that's right, menstruation leave. She was planning on taking it so she could leave early (she wasn't really sick, I think she just needed an excuse...) I was honestly sick, there was no reason why I should claim that it's related to "women's issues" since it's not. I have 15 sick days, and I have yet to take one. I ended up going home, on real sick leave, but I was shocked that I could use my monthly visits as a reason to go home.
My understanding is that South Korean women are entitled to one day of menstruation leave a month. Before 2004 the women were paid for this day. A change in laws now means that not everyone necessarily receives pay for this leave. Catherine Price believes that the right to menstruation leave puts women at a disadvantage. It sends us a step backwards with regards to the rights that women have worked so hard for over the past hundred years. It gives employers reason to hire only men if women are going to be taking a day off each month. There are lots of points of views found in the comment section of Price's article - read them, they're interesting!
On a related note, we went to see the Vagina Monologues last weekend with some of our friends. It was a great show. The show was a bilingual show featuring both Koreans and foreigners.
Let me tell you a bit about the show those who haven't seen the Vagina Monologues. The show was originally a book written by Eve Ensler, a woman who interviewed over 200 women - young and old- on the topic of their vaginas (my dictionary is saying that this is not the correct spelling, and is suggesting vaginae!) Now in its tenth year, the Vagina Monologues focuses on stopping violence against women and children. The money raised from each show goes to support local and not so local organizations. The money from our show went to an organization in Korea that works to help women who have been brought to Korea and trafficked for sex.
The show was about 2 hours long and featured about 12 monologues related to the vagina. Some of the monologues were extremely funny (even Richard, our easily embarrassed friend was laughing out loud!) Other monologues are extremely sad. They deal with women being raped by soldiers in war torn countries, and sexual abuse against children. It's a very interesting show, one I would highly recommend (Jeff came too and he enjoyed it!)
I've spent much of the past two weeks decorating my classroom. I've put up pictures of the weather, designed a cool calendar, and renamed the groups. Our groups used to be called: one, two, three... six. My co-teacher and I decided that something a little more exciting and fun would be a nice change for this new term. So we decided on county names - one country from each continent.
We now have Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Italy, and Uganda. I made signs with names and flags and hung them from the ceiling over each table group.
When I went in to teach my grade fives today I was shocked and dumbfounded to find out that some of them did not want to sit at the Uganda table. They kind of whined and moaned a bit when they were assigned to that group.
After class, my other co-teacher (not the one that made up the group names with me, but the new one... ) said (in her slightly broken English) that maybe the students didn't want to sit at the Uganda table. She seemed to indicate that perhaps we should change the name (at least that's what I was expecting her to say). She said that "maybe students don't like Uganda because it's a black country, it's in Africa". Well... my mouth just dropped. I had nothing to say to her... I was in complete and utter shock. Did she actually just say that?!! I got defensive, and mentioned that I had lived in Uganda for a year, and that it was a great country (I wanted to say that the people were much friendlier than they are in Korea... I was SO MAD!!!) I think she noticed my reaction because she then suggested that we teach the students a bit about Uganda because they don't know anything about it. She said that she couldn't tell the students anything about the country (hence her decision not to call them on their rude remarks and reactions to being seated at the Uganda table...) so I could do that.
Just thinking about the remark and that conversation make my blood boil. The Korean school system doesn't seem to teach multicultural education (I base this partly on the fact that I get pointed at and called foreigner by some of the younger students at the school - how inappropriate!!!) I know that Korea is still a fairly new country in terms of its independence, and that there are not a lot of foreigners here, but I am still shocked by the racism that exists, even in the teaching staff. It makes me so mad.
So, this is just a rant. I don't think that all Koreans are racist, and I am happy that my co-teacher is willing to help me teach the kids about Africa, but I am still in utter shock that this happened....
~Jen
I have to tell you about my new computer (which, incidentally, has STILL not arrived, more than two weeks after ordering!!). Mostly because I'm lazy, I'm going to tell this story in point form.
As a preface (what good story is complete without a preface?), I'd like to point out that yes, we did make it harder than we really needed to, but it wouldn't have been nearly as fun otherwise. Now with that being said, onwards!!!
- old computer died
- cost to replace display = $1000
- cost of new computer = $1100
- cost of new computer that I'd rather have = $1400
- end result = Jeff gets a new computer
- have to call Apple or order online if I want the educational discount
- no time to order a new one while visiting at home in Canada
- plan to buy one in Korea
- problem!!
- can't speak or read Korean to order from Apple Korea
- don't have a Korean credit card to order online
- ah, but there's a solution
- our friend Laina speaks Korean
- our friend Vanessa has a Korean credit card
- here's how it played out
- Laina called Apple Korea when we couldn't figure out something from the online Apple Korea website
- she told the operator my name (since I was the one purchasing it)
- when asked where to send it, Jen gave Laina the address of her school since her co-workers apparently always get personal items shipped to the school and I didn't have my school's address easily at hand
- result = Laina told the operator to address the package to Jen
- when asked about payment, Laina gave the operator Vanessa's credit card
- when asked for an email address, Laina gave her own so that she could read the Korean email
How many foreigners does it take to order a new computer in Korea? Four.
I think we broke the operator's brain.
I get such a kick out of overhearing two little Korean girls giggling and whispering in the bathroom stalls. It reminds me of my childhood, sharing very important secrets with my precious girlfriends. I can't understand what the girls are talking about, but I'm sure that it's serious business, considering they're in the stall together. My biggest question is "How do they both fit in there at the same time?"
Side note: One of the teachers in my office noted today that I was looking very fashionable these days. She thought that I had become more concerned about my outfits. Sadly enough, I've been wearing the same clothes throughout the winter, it's just that now I'm only wearing 3 layers instead of the previous 4 or 5, thus you can now see what I am wearing. (There was a point during the winter when I seriously asked myself why I bother to get dressed each morning since I wore my coat all day long. I could have come to school in my pjs and no one would have noticed!!!)
~Jen
P.S. After having neglected our photos page for over three months, I finally posted links to the pictures we have posted on Facebook. There are quite a few new albums for your viewing pleasure if you haven't yet seen them online! We'll try to be a bit quicker in posting them next time!!
Having completely neglected this thing called a blog for weeks upon weeks, I thought it might do some good to let everyone know that we're still alive.
So much has happened since our last post. That was us on our way home. And now we've returned from the cozy comforts of our childhood homes, back to a land so foreign from our own... yet still somehow familiar.
Is it crazy that we've grown accustomed to such quirky customs that makes this land so strange? Not that I've necessarily missed these things, but they just feel normal now - optional stop lights, cars driving along the sidewalks, getting packages of pickles alongside your pizza order, seeing old men gather for soju and cards in the middle of the subway station during the midafternoon bustle, and watching old grandmothers text away madly on their cell phones, while sitting next to a young couple who are not holding hands, but rather huddling together so that they can both see the screen of their cell phone-sized TV, which is broadcasting their favourite Korean romance. Yes, this is our home.
There's a lot to catch up on. I'll try to be brief, though we all know that this is a fight I can never win. Our time at home was awesome. We did the requisite family and friends stuff - it was awesome seeing as many people as we did, though of course, we would have loved to have seen more. Our schedule was so busy seeing people that even though Jen and I did virtually everything together, I still felt like I didn't see her at all.
Let me elaborate. Jen and I had lived together before we arrived in Korea, but there was always lots of other people around too. Though we have lots of great friends here in Korea, they are all so far flung from us that it is relatively uncommon for us to see them outside of weekends. As a result, Jen and I are stuck with each other. We see each other and no one but each other all week long. And being surrounded at work all day by people who rarely speak to us because so few of our colleagues can speak English... well, we've grown quite close together to stave off the isolation of our schools!
So, while back in Canada, we were both so busy catching up with our friends and families, we had little time for ourselves. It wasn't until we got back on the plane to Korea that I had a chance to slow down and realize how much I felt I had missed Jen. To go from having hours together every day to the bustle of our visit home was a bit of a shock. It was such an odd feeling having spent so much time together and yet still having missed her. Weird.
Anyway, I digress.
This thing's getting too long though. We'll provide some details of Erica's wedding when I'm not too lazy to post some pretty pictures to go along with a post. Suffice it to say it was a great trip home and an even better wedding - jetlagged and all, we still managed to shut down the party!!
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