Insect Appreciation with the 4H Club

Friday was a national holiday in Korea. It is a celebration of the Korean language, called Hangul Day. As such, it was another long weekend free of work responsibilities but I was invited to join the 4H club at the school for an activity. I'm not usually one to give up my day-off, but this sounded interesting even though the details weren't explained to me clearly. All I knew was that I needed to be at the school at 10am and that they had invited a local farmer; a farmer of insects.

Upon entering the room, I saw that on each desk was a series of creepy crawlers in baggies and other equipment. I was intrigued, but a little grossed out.

The insect farmer has some renown in the area. He gave an interesting presentation on his bugs (in Korean) and showed a news report where he was interviewed demonstrating his farming practice.

I got the gist of it from the video and pictures, and some of the teachers translated for me. But what the video and presentation did not prepare me for was that these bugs were not simply educational, they were on the menu.

When in Rome... eat what the Romans eat. Many of the students, especially the boys really tucked in and munched on the bugs, even the live ones. I decided to try some of the dried out and salted mealworms. Not that I really wanted to but I felt the peer pressure rising. 

At first, the mealworm didn't have much of a taste. It was crunchy and dry. Then the taste hits you. It tasted like a foot and a piece of mealworm got caught in my teeth. 

After our light snack, it was time to start on our project. The farmer had brought some exotic bug specimens, which at first I thought were plastic models, but were real dead insects. I received a beetle from Indonesia. We were meant to manipulate the bug's legs and appendages so it could be splayed out in a display case.

Of course, the insects suffered from rigor mortis so we placed their stiff bodies into warm water for several minutes. This loosened up the limbs so we could get to work. A worry in the back of my mind was that these bugs would come back to life and scurry across the room.

We pulled and stretched out the limbs and antennae, holding them in place with pins. Eventually, the insects were fully spread out and secured. We were instructed to leave the bugs in this position for one week while they dried. Once dried, the insect could be moved to the plastic case and displayed in our home.

I wasn't exactly crazy about bringing this bug home, even though it was surely dead. I have enough bugs living in my apartment as it is. At least it will serve as a warning to other bugs not to mess with me.

But that wasn't the only parting gift we received from the session. I took home my very own baggie of mealworms to snack on and some bug juice. I was told that it's mixed with ginseng and cinnamon. I have a feeling that the juice will be sitting in my fridge for a long time.

As always, the highlight of the activity was spending time with my wonderful students away from class.

Calligraphy

There have been very few extra-curricular activities at the school this year. Club activities for students were cancelled in the spring and then slowly re-introduced in the summer and fall. Students are now able to participate in their clubs (basketball, 4H, movie club) about once per month.

Extra-curriculars for the teachers have also been very limited. I was told that the staff would typically have dinner and a party every term. This would've been my formal welcome to the school and a great way to connect with the teachers early on. Unfortunately, with concerns surrounding COVID-19, staff events have been cancelled. Staff are even reluctant to schedule casual dinners at a restaurant after school.

Likewise, opportunities to engage with Korean culture in my free time have been very limited. The local community centre stopped offering Korean language classes. Taekwondo dojos were also closed for a while in the spring. 

I was very happy when calligraphy classes were offered to the faculty once per month. I don't have a particular interest in calligraphy, but it is an interesting art form and provided an opportunity to practice with the Korean alphabet and spend some casual time with teachers whom I don't normally get to interact with.

Naturally, the classes were offered in Korean, so teachers helped translate the instructions for me when required. But mostly, I sat quietly and practiced my letters. It was very relaxing and even meditative.

The calligraphy instructor was hired from outside of the school. She couldn't speak English so she constantly recruited other teachers to translate. Humorously, she would go off in Korea for a minute or two, then the other teacher would say to me, "She said you need to practice more."

At first, we used a paintbrush to practice the writing techniques of Korean calligraphy. After a while, we switched to the much easier to handle "brush-pen."

Each we week had a new project to work on. We needed to select a meaningful phrase and carefully draw the calligraphy on the paper or object. First, I made a little card that says "My home is Canada."

Then I made a hanging placard that says, "Cheer up!" Of course, I hadn't learned these Korean phrases in advance, but our teacher gave us some samples at the beginning of the course, so I just copied my work from that and the teachers translated for me.

My last project was a tissue box cover. For that, I chose the expression "You are my sunshine."

I can't say that my calligraphy is any good since I'm an absolute beginner. The other teachers learned some calligraphy when they were students. But I think I did not too bad considering I had never done it before, didn't practice, and have no artistic ability. One teacher examined my work and said my calligraphy was at the middle school level. Good enough for me.

At the end of our last class, I received a beautiful calligraphy set with nice pens as a gift for participating in the course. "Please practice," I was told. We'll see.

Chuseok: Korean Thanksgiving

I am currently enjoying a five-day weekend thanks to the Chuseok holidays in South Korea. Chuseok is essentially a harvest festival often described as Korean Thanksgiving. This is the time of year when Koreans return to their hometowns to visit family and pay tribute to their ancestors in ceremony and celebration. They tidy tombs and offer various foods and gifts.

Traditional food for Chuseok is Songpyeon (stuffed rice cakes steamed over pine needles) and the school cafeteria served up a Chuseok meal on the last day before the holiday. While the students and teachers will enjoy many traditional foods at their home, this was my chance for a taste of Chuseok.

Also, my department head gifted me a nice towel for Chuseok. Everyone was in a festive mood by the end of the day, and many teachers had left for an early start to the holiday.

Of course, Chuseok is being celebrated differently this year because of the corona-virus. In fact, the government of South Korea has asked that people limit travel and refrain from visiting their hometowns. Special level 2 social distancing rules have been put in place over Cheusok. Seoul has been placed under stricter measures.

Foreign teachers in Busan, such as myself, received additional information and warnings from the Board of Education to be very careful during this time. We need to do all that we can to avoid catching and spreading the virus. The Canadian embassy in Seoul also reached out to Canadians with specific information for the holiday season. In particular, the embassy advised avoiding areas where protests might take place. Even during the pandemic, and in some cases because of the pandemic, protests have occurred in South Korea, mainly in Seoul.

When I was first hired as an English teacher, I reviewed the calendar and circled Chuseok in October as an ideal time to go abroad. Five days of vacation would be perfect for a little trip, and I had pencilled in a visit to Taiwan. Even as recent as August I thought it might still be possible to go. Korea was doing well containing the corona-virus. Taiwan was also doing well. But alas, travel is still not practical with the mandatory two-week quarantine requirements upon returning to Korea, so I spent Chuseok here in Busan.

Naturally, as with any weekend, I spent some at the cafe. This time I visited a nice spot with a view of the sea at Dadaepo Beach. As the beaches are closed to swimmers, I enjoyed my view and walk without excessive crowds or noise. A peaceful start to the holiday.

The weather is still comfortable, warm, and sunny with blue skies in Busan. I decided to spend a morning hiking on Jangsan Mountain on the Eastern edge of the city. I started my hike around 8:30 in the morning, so few people were on the mountain, but most of the hikers that I did see wore their facemasks even though they were outdoors. I had hiked up Jangsan mountain in the Spring so this time I took some gentler side trails and found a scenic view of this "block stream". 

While Chuseok was subdued throughout the country this year and my plans to travel abroad were once again dashed by the pandemic, I really enjoyed my time off from work and was happy to see a few sights in Busan. Downtime is nearly over and teaching resumes on Monday. Happy Chuseok everyone!

Cars of Busan

I was walking along a busy street the other day and saw a taxi stopped at a red light. He was there for a minute or so, and I guess he got impatient waiting for the light to change. He hit the gas and went through the intersection about 15 seconds before the light turned green. This is not unusual in Busan.

I've seen delivery scooters stopped at red lights, a few cars back when they decided to speed between the stopped cars to get to the front of the line, and then just burst through the red light. Scooters rarely stop for red lights.

Cars unquestionably have the right-of-way and it's important to stay on your toes as a pedestrian. Crosswalks don't give much time to cross the street. If a car can make its turn by squeezing past you at a high speed, they will do it. I've almost been hit a few times as a pedestrian, including once in the school parking lot.

I noticed several interesting differences between cars in South Korea and back home. I presume because of relatively tight spaces in parking lots, many cars are affixed with pads near the doors to avoid damaging the next car when they open their doors.

Another interesting difference is that many cars post their cellphone number on the corner of the windshield. This comes in handy when you double park and someone needs you to move your car. However, I can't imagine this would work well in other countries. People would probably get some angry calls based on their poor driving and parking. But Korea is an entirely different kind of place.

At self-serve gas stations, you'll notice that plastic gloves are provided for customers when filling up. I don't know if this service is offered because of COVID-19 or if it's standard sanitary practice. I imagine it's been a regular thing in Korea for a long time. The price of gasoline in Busan converts to about $1.47 (Canadian dollars) per litre for unleaded and $1.25 (CAD) per litre for diesel. A little more expensive than back home, I think.

I find the vehicles are quite similar to those in North America. Most of the cars are standard-sized sedans, hatchbacks, and smaller model SUVs. They're hardly any large pickups or bulky SUVs and most of the delivery trucks are quite small.

Cool hood ornament

There are still plenty of mini Kei-cars around, with a size more similar to the vehicles I saw in Japan.

I've seen some foreign vehicles such as Ford, BMW, Mercedes, and Toyota. However, domestic brands like Hyundai and Kia dominate the market, naturally. 

The school buses are quite interesting. They are basically mini-buses painted yellow. They pick up students and take them to school or after-school programs like study academies or even to taekwondo or music practice.

I have been driven in a few cars while here in Korea, and they tend to be new, clean, comfortable and equipped with all of the modern technical features such as on-screen navigation, over-head camera, and television. But it's already been 7 months since I've driven a car, and I likely won't have the chance to drive for the entire year. I'm not eager to drive in Korea, but I wonder about my driving skills when I return to Canada. 

That's Dog You're Eating

Teacher:    That's dog you're eating. Can you eat dog?
Me:            What!? Dog? Dog, like d-o-g, dog?
Teacher:     No. Dog, like d-u-c-k.
Me:          

 

So, yes, my colleagues do speak English but there is the occasional miscommunication, especially with facemasks muffling things. I never really bothered to translate the lunch menu before eating but I think I'll start. Knowing the difference between dog and duck can make all the difference.

School lunch featuring duck, not dog.

Indeed, life is strange here and sometimes it's necessary to seek out some familiarity. I was introduced to an Italian restaurant that serves some amazing spaghetti in crab sauce with fresh homemade bread. The owners are a friendly, older Korean couple who spent some time living abroad and can speak English. They take incredible pride in their food and the quality is amazing. After the first meal, I knew I would become a regular customer. Korean food is great but at least with spaghetti, I don't have to guess what I'm eating. Spaghetti is spaghetti. And it's one of the best meals I've had in Korea.

Despite the strangeness of life here, I am amazed at the kindness I have received from the Korean people. I have become somewhat of a regular customer at Twosome Place, a cafe next to my main school and near my home. I still can't communicate properly in Korean, but I've made friends with one of the baristas. Whenever I come in during her shift, she gives me free ice cream with my latte. The first time was an amazing surprise because we hadn't really spoken at all, so it was just a kind gesture for a regular customer. But since then, it's been consistent. Every time I see her, a cup of ice cream is added to my order. There's nothing like ice cream to help you forget about the ridiculousness of teaching at middle school. I just need to remain consistent at the gym to offset all of this ice cream.

When I was living in Toronto I didn't eat Korean food regularly but every so often I would stop by KoreaTown and pick up some Walnut Cakes, known as Hodo Kwaja in Korean. These cakes resemble actual walnuts and are filled with either sweet red bean paste or mash potato and walnut. I hadn't found any in Korea until yesterday when a teacher brought some in for everyone to try. I love the sweet bean paste.

Food is a bridge to understanding a culture. It can make you feel happy and accepted. It can also make you feel like a foreigner, completely lost and out of your element. No dog for me, thanks.