Oh, those Americans!

Hi all!

So I hear it was raining there this weekend? Same here....seems like the weather wants in on this whole global village concept, too, mmm? :)

Well, this past week(end), I had decided to take things easy for a change.....ya, right!

Now there's a group of foreign teachers in a neighbouring county, who have regular get-togethers. I joined them on Wednesday with a bit of trepidation, planning on leaving early so I don't get home too late. My SA friend, Shehaam and I were the only girls. She went home early, straight after dinner, while I decided to hang out with the guys. I ended up thoroughly enjoying myself. What a fun bunch, and really nice people, too. Big surprise! Why did we have so much fun? NO Americans! Hahaha! Canadian, Mexican and Caribbean.

The next day, I felt so energised that I was planning lessons and working really hard at school :) But when Friday morning rolled round, boy oh boy! I couldn't keep my eyes open! It was as though I'd been drugged! (Wednesday night after-effects! I'd only had ONE drink! A Smirnoff Cruiser, that's all!). Anyway, I gradually started to wake up as the day slowly wound on. By the time it was my final class for the day (3pm), my co-teacher and I had been talking so much, and cracking jokes with each other, that by now we couldn't stop giggling. He was even answering the school phone in English, totally confusing the Korean callers on the other end of the line! Which caused further giggles. He then decided to start quoting lyrics from "I Just Called to Say I Love You". And this is how we entered our classroom....

MR KIM: Good afternoon, students. Allow me to introduce my friend.....

ME: (dropping something on the floor and bending down to pick it up, as he's 'introducing' me.)

MR KIM: Korean, Korean, Korean.......(speaking)

ME: Goeie middag, klas! Hoe gaan dit? Vandag gaan ons.....

STUDENTS: bah-dah-dah-di-what? (looking extremely confused)

ME: (giggling, of course) Vandaag gaan ons....

MR KIM: (interejction from the back of the classroom) "No New Year's Day...."

ME: (giggling)

MR KIM: I just called to say YOU love me!

ME: (doubled over, giggling and gasping for breath)

STUDENTS: Did you drink alcohol before class?

MR KIM AND I: HA! HA! HA! HA!

And so the fun and madness continued.

On Saturday morning, I went to Daegu to check out an International Food Fair. Turns out it was all Korean with an Indian/Pakistani stall and a Turkish kebab stall! Well, at least, I got to watch some traditional Korean performances (singing, drumming, dancing) which was really a treat. Afterwards I met up with 3 Americans (pre-arranged), and NEVER again! We had agreed to meet up and go shopping at Costco. A planned 3 hr shopping expedition trip from start to finish ended up being a 7hr trip, thanks to indecisive, clueless men who insisted on finding a specific burger place, after 30min of directionless discussion, while we had meat and dairy products in the boot. Add to this pigheadedness, traffic jams and getting lost PLUS still not being able to read Korean hangul writing (despite them being here for much longer than me), and being mapless....etc etc etc. Is this just a male thing? Or an American thing? Someone, please clarify, cos just when I was beginning to give the Americans some credit, they go and blow it all over again! The general opinion here amongst us non-Americans, is that intelligent, good, decent, respectful, educated and NICE Americans actually do exist, but they are very few and far between.

Another thing that totally boggles the mind, is how ignorant these people are! And yet they all have university degrees! I can't understand this! University degrees, but they don't know basic things about the world that our high school kids would know! One of my Aussie friends' theory is that the US education system is so poor. If you are rich and can afford top-notch colleges/universities, then you're ok. If you can't, then you have to settle for low standards of education. And yes, although these 'English'' teachers from the US have degrees, their standard of education is so low, that they cannot find employment in the US. So basically, they are the rejects, and hence they come over here and 'rape' Korea with their poor education and arrogant ignorance, and refusal to adapt to the culture here, and at least try and learn the language. They have really given us foreigners here such a bad reputation. It's maddening! For instance, there's an American 'teacher' in a nearby town who believes that caffeine is sugar. What on earth is he teaching his students, I ask?

Come to think of it, when I had first arrived here, my main co-teacher had mentioned to another teacher that I am the most intelligent foreign teacher he has met, or worked with. He'd had to contend with Americans before me!

The nice thing, though, is that when Koreans ask me if I'm American, with a bit of suspicion and coldness, when I say South African, their faces immediately light up, and they get so warm and friendly!

Apparently, many Koreans don't even want Americans in their country. There is such a huge military presence here....backup in case North Korea decides to attack. But the US also used South Korea as a launch pad for the Iraq Invasion. Hence many Koreans are fearful of terrorist attacks aimed at the American military bases in Korea.

Anyway, onto happier stuff. Bernice (SA) and I went to Gumi yesterday for some jeans shopping. I've gone down 3 sizes :) Me very happy chicky! We met Martine (Oz) and Mags (NZ) for lunch, and couldn't stop yakking all afternoon. A very nice girls' day out, especially after my trying Saturday with the Americans :(

So please, if there are any nice Americans out there reading this email, don't be offended (Verna, Mike, Sharon). You're the nice ones, remember? You're not here in Korea with the 'rejects'.

So much for my 'taking-it-easy' weekend. Next week is Seoul and JUMP! Finally!

Liefde vir almal :)

Andrea