Madgab

One of my favorite games to play with my family is Madgab. If you don't know what it is, Madgab is a group game where one person draws a card with a contorted phrase on it and their teammates have to guess what the phrase is by hearing it, reading it and trying to decipher what the connected letters/words are actually saying. It's so much fun, and we always have a blast at family get-togethers (though I admit, I've found a cheat and it's not so much fun when I play.) But the others play fair and come up with some ridiculous conclusions that leave us in hysterics. For instance, my cousin tried guessing the phrase with a number of different accents. Her phrase was "Chest Hey Kitty Sea". (Yes, read that and take a guess at what exactly it is- not easy once you've read it!) I think she tried to guess it along with her teammates for the whole two minutes, but her especially going through a list of accents and coming up instead with a table of laughing hyenas, myself included! From the short consonants and long, drawn out vowels of Chinese to sing-song Norwegian to question and answer format, I swear my cousin said it in every possible format and still could not for the life of her and her kin, come up with the phrase she was saying over and over and over and over again. Actually, with some of her accents we thought she got it, she was so close to the phrase. Yet, she'd start on another accent to try and hear the answer in a new spectrum. I don't remember if she got it or not, but the answer was "Just take it easy." An answer we thought all too fitting for such a difficult phrase!

Anyways, I miss this game and my family to play with, but the reason I bring up this story is that I just realized that this game, though I thought I missed it, is actually all around me here in Korea. I swear, every where, everyday! From conversations with my co-teacher and students and fellow Koreans, to reading bad English on signs, to listening to K-pop (the Korean music here that's pretty much Backstreet Boys in Korean) to watching television. It's everywhere. "It" being bad English, bad contorted English!

For instance, a couple of weeks ago I went on a trip with a bunch of foreigners, but I ended up sitting next to one of the few Koreans (a gyopo, so born in Korea but moved to the USA when young). Her English was very good and we chatted for most of the train ride. While we were talking I didn't notice much Konglish (Korean-English that is pretty much their accent/pronunciation of English words put to Korean.) I didn't notice until we got to the turtle ship that is. "Wow, the turtle sheep is so amazing! I never knew!" she said. "The what is so amazing?" I caught my mind tripping up. I didn't want to poke, but she had told me before that she couldn't say 'ship' right and that her children made fun of her. So I joked with her a bit and made her say it again. Then I wondered how she says 'shit'. It's the same sound, so put in her words should come out 'sheet'. I asked her and sure enough she couldn't say 'shit' to save her soul. Her personality was so kind and innocent that I told her her mispronunciation must be meant to be, that to say 'shit' correctly would be the truest profanity against God and mankind and would bring apocalypse if she said anything other than 'Sheet balls in May'. She laughed and said, 'Aw, sheet.'

Moreover, still at the turtle sheep, I remembered my friend Jinah (the girl I wrote a blog about in March) could not say 'turtle' to save her soul either. It was a 'turter', the 'l' sound being often confused with 'r' here because of their tricky Korean letter ㄹ that is sometimes a 'r' and sometimes a 'l'. Thus, standing at the pride of Korea, the great turtle ship that defeated the Japanese so long ago, I could not think of anything outside of how, in the world of Madgab and Konglish, it is demoted to a 'turter sheep', with holes in its bottom to 'sheet', and with spikes on its 'loof' to 'kir' the Japs.

So, I guess what I'm getting at is that I never would have thought that such a simple game could prepare me for a life a world away, but it certainly has. These are but a couple of simple examples of the Konglish I've run into here. There are so many more! So, so many more! Other sounds that are often confused here are 'b' and 'v', 'f' and 'p', 'sh' and 's', and 'th' and 't'. Words like 'violin', 'river', 'love', 'for', 'thank', 'ruler', 'shop' and 'coffee' become 'biolin', 'liber', 'rub', 'por', 'tank', 'rurer', 'sop' and 'coppee'. Thus, imagine talking with someone and hearing, "I went to da Han liber yesterday and drunk coppee wid my priend. Tank you por sowing me dat sop." Can you say tricky? No, but I can say 'ticky'. It's bery ticky libing and speaking here. Bery ticky. It's a good thing, I think, that I can chest hey kitty sea, done two?

905

In elementary school, I remember talking about people who influence you and who you influence. We were told to think of the people who make a difference in our lives and to make a list of them. I wrote my parents, my friends, family and probably my dog. That list hasn't changed much. My parents are still my number one backers, my friends and family a jumbled list of great people who I rely on everyday (and they are probably very unbeknown of it), and then, you know, I think still rely on my dog, even if she has been dead for four years. Nothing has really changed, and I'm quite proud of that. Though I might be able to add a few different characters to that friend category that certainly weren't there before and who have most definitely changed my views on the world... Those cards know who they are I believe :P)

Then there was the second list we were told to make. It was a list of the people we influence, whether for good or for bad. That list is most definitely a bit different now. When I was ten, I believe I wrote all of my friends and then maybe the fish I fed every morning (though forgetting sometimes, thus passing the chore onto my mother.) In all I think the grand total was ten or fifteen things/people I influenced. I couldn't even really count my dog as she was fed by my dad and brushed by my mom. I just played with her. Perhaps she counts. We'll say she does. So maybe sixteen people/things. Sixteen.

The title gives my grand total away, but this is what I figured out this week. With all of the classes I teach, an estimated 35 to 40 students in each class, five to seven classes in a grade, and four grades. The grand total of people I influence on a weekly basis is 9-0-5. Nine-hundred and five! I can't even believe it! That's 56.2 times the people/things from my first list. And that's not including all of the new friends I made, nor the sixth grade I taught last year. If one were to count them the grand total would be more like 1,200-1,300. My goodness! How life spins and churns. I don't think I ever dreamed I'd be so influential. I'm really not that kind of person. I never wanted to lead anything once I got into junior high school. I just wanted to enjoy everything. Now I get to do both and I'm bewildered of myself. Absolutely astounded, and a little regrettably proud. I usually save the bragging for my mom (she doesn't think she does, but she does a bit... and you know, all moms should and must!), but for this number of minds I've touched, well, I can't help myself. I think it's awesome.

So, on that note, here are some more pictures of the cherubs I've gotten to know and love over the past year. They have changed my second list and astounded me, but have also changed my first one, too. It's now 1,300 people long and growing :)

My fifth grade class.

The usual stance of the fifth grade and up. BOREDOM. Until I get them riled up that is...

My favorite third grade class. So cute!!! The girl in the pink up front has the biggest smile and cutest voice I've ever heard. And what does she use that charm for? To call out my name whenever she meets me in the hall. "JENNA TEACHA!!!!!!" Grabbing my arm and hanging on it like I'm some camp counselor or older sister. What can I say? I love it. All of the third graders have started to follow her lead though. So it's getting to be take down Jenna or rip apart Jenna, which is a bit more taxing on me than first was. I feel like bird seed actually. All of the birds flock to me and I look like that bird-feeder lady in Home Alone. Then comes Jiny, my co-teacher, around the corner to save the day and shoo the birds away before Jenna gets eaten/torn apart. Ah... and I still love them, and Jiny.

My birthday surprise. A huge and very scrumptious cake, candles and a choir of my co-teacher, another lovely friend teacher and my fifth grade co-teacher. They sang to me in English, then Korean. Then left me with a seriously large cake to either stuff myself or divide between whatever teachers I could find on a friday. Needless to say, by the time I was through with the cake, there wasn't much less to divy up!

The lines. Practicing them at least. They may be no army or grand marching band, but they do pretty good for little kids full or wonder and energy. They also don't look like much here and that's because this is only half the school. Naturally, it's easier to practice when you have a little leg room!

Jinah!

When I was at home my mother found something of great interest, and well, of great coincidence, too. She found the contact information for a long lost friend from high school. The long lost friend being the Korean foreign exchange student I had befriended my senior year of high school. Her name was Jinah and she had been only 15 when participated in the foreign exchange program that would be a learning experience ten fold over what she’d hoped for.

Jinah was taken-in by a family that was by most standards perfect. They had a mom, a dad, two daughters and a son away at college. They had a beautiful house in town next to the hospital and cemetery (something I always thought was a convenient coincidence for those who passed on during their stay). They were also quite active in the school, running to games and activities, volunteering and talented, too. They were seemingly perfect for a foreign exchange student because they were seemingly the perfect Caucasian American family.

The whole year plays out in my mind now like a movie. The girl comes and is welcomed with open arms. She is treated like a princess for the first month maybe two. Then the novelty starts to wear off. She doesn’t speak very good English, thus there’s a lot of miscommunication. There are a lot of necessities for her, so she becomes a hassle. And finally, she says she’s not really Christian and doesn’t want to go to church. Well, we can’t have that. If she’s going to be that ungrateful, we’ll no longer help her or accept her as apart of our family. She may live under our roof for the rest of her stay, but it won’t be pleasant, she will not be happy!

And that’s my guess as to what went on behind closed doors. A scenario out of the pages of Harry Potter. She’s taken in, then told to live under the stairs. Only in this case she was accepted by choice (and it’s my guess for appearances sake, too). Then after she did not live up to their perfect expectations, she was berated for being different, for being foreign, for being herself.

I must say now that I’m quite proud of my group of friends in high school. They were kind to her, invited her places, showed her things, tried to talk with her. They tried to understand a little as to what it was like for a foreigner to come to small-ville, Wisconsin. Thus, I think she was happy for some time, even if it was only once every weekend.

Then there was how I got to know her. Jinah had joined the cross-country team for something to do after school and to meet new people. I was a senior then and on my last and final year of sports, plays, activities and so on. Needless to say, I was very busy. But as she was on the team, I tried to get to know her a bit. One of the few who was not scared to talk with her right away, she started to ask me for rides home when the weather was bad. So I of course said yeah, sure, and thus started our friendship. I tried so hard to get what I was saying across to her. I doubt whether 80 percent of it was ever understood, but I think she just liked to be talked to, to feel accepted by someone. So I kept chatting, asking her questions (sometimes miming them if she didn’t understand), and always hoping that she wasn’t bored with me and that someday she would flood our conversations with her miraculous English.

That of course never happened. She improved but was in no way talkative really. She was just sweet, with a kind disposition. She seemed to enjoy everything she came across except for the front door to the family’s house where she stayed. Thus, I liked her very much and was very sad to see her go that spring.

Six years later my mother finally opens a drawer that has been stuck shut for two years. On the top of all the junk sits a piece of paper with a name slightly forgotten, with information below it slightly inaccurate. It also happens that I am living in the same country now as the girl and as the information. I can now read it and speak enough of HER language to contact her. I also happen to be at home in Wisconsin, on an unplanned two-week leave, when my mother happens to find this all the week before. Thus, I came home and found yet another reason to go back. Like I’m meant to be living in Korea, meant to meet this girl six years ago, and then meant to find her again. Funny how life works like that, but that’s how this one happened to pan out.

Three weeks ago I tried emailing the address on the information slip. It couldn’t send, the address was non-existent. I tried looking up the apartment address on the internet, and found nothing. Then I tried calling her cell-phone, and was a different person altogether. Finally, I tried her home phone. I asked for Jinah Jang. My Korean felt oddly strong that day. I remembered how to ask where she was. So I asked. I didn’t understand the answer, but did at the same time. My guess was that she was ‘out’, but that she did live there. That this was her father and that he knew what I was asking about.

Then I realized I hadn’t tried speaking English yet, and that maybe he thought I was Korean. So I said in English, “I’ll call back.” At this the gentlemen simply when “Ahhh!”, like it was all making sense to him, like the bad Korean on the other end had some logic to it now. He just said ‘Nae, jomshimanyo’ (Yes, wait a minute.) My heart picked up a beat, was he going to get Jinah? Was she actually there?

He came back and instead was able to say in his limited English the ‘handa-phone’ number in English. I thanked him profusely then called the number he’d read for me. She picked up after only two rings. I spoke in English, she seemed confused. I tried the Korean phone etiquette’s “Yoposaeyo?” and she seemed more confused. I switched back to English and tried to explain quickly who I was. CLICK. She hung up on me. My bad, I botched that one. So, I texted her then and explained who I was and what I was doing in Korea. Not fifteen minutes later did I receive a text back with nearly all exclamation-points. She was indeed so happy to hear from me!

So we made plans for that weekend. She lives in Gwangju, about four hours south of me by train. So, I being the lover of all things new and exciting, hopped on a train for Gwangju and was accepted with open arms by her, her friends and her family. We went for tea at a university area tea café. Then did the very Korean sticker-photo booth and made memories to last as long as the adhesive does. Then onto dinner with her family at an all vegetarian buffet… turns out Jinah is vegetarian as well! After that, we ended the night in a ‘W-ii room’, a place where you can rent any game and a room for an hour for five thousand won (about $5).

The next day we went to the Bamboo Forest near Gwangju with her and her friends. It was a beautiful place, and a lovely day for a walk. So we got to walk and talk, and catch up on life over the past six years. A truly lovely experience, and one I’ll never forget.

In a couple of weeks, Jinah is planning to come to Seoul for a weekend. Hopefully, I can show her just as much hospitality as her, her family and her friends showed me. They were really much too kind to the foreigner! But gladly so, as well.

I think it's so much more romantic to carve one's initials on a bamboo tree. ^_^

A great example of the randomness of Korea. Obviously, we're in a bamboo forest, there should be panda bears!

Our meal of rice and beans in a bamboo 'cup'. Naturally, the cup is made from the bamboo of the surrounding bamboo forest. Good meal, but I could have gone for two!

Jinah and friends on our walk around the park area near the bamboo forest. They're all so cute and sweet, and obviously Korean with those poses :)

The Korean pancake appetizer/meal thing. It's kind of like an omelet with all its onions, green peppers, meat/seafood of choice and egg coverage. But the substance they use has egg and flour and salt, so like a pancake but not. Hm... difficult to explain but it's very tasty!

Jinah and friend (can never remember Korean's names if only met once) pose in the bamboo forest at a 'resting area'. Also, that's a kind of kimchi pot to the left, now also used as decoration or trash bins at cultural parks.

Jinah is left, me obviously, then the sweet couple we played wii with.

The mother of pearl peacock on the huge wardrobe in Jinah's home. She said her parents got it as a wedding present. Amazing how intricate the whole thing was!

The entire wardrobe. It's about 6 ft high and 12-13 ft long. All of the decor is done by hand, making this worth a small fortune. (About 2-3,000 dollars.)

Snowy day at school

I'm supposed to catch a flight tomorrow. I'm supposed to see my best friend in a day. I'm supposed to be reunited with my parents on Sunday. And all next week I'm supposed to travel about Wisconsin visiting friends. All these things and more I will do. Or rather, I hope I'll do.

It hasn't snowed in Korea for a month now. The fluff from the first storm in January vanished two weeks ago. The temperatures even got to the 40s. I got out my spring jacket. And the ajumas got out their hiking gear. Warm weather was nigh and we were all readying ourselves.

Then today I wake up. I throw on my spring coat and rain boots and head out to join the brown grass and gray sky with a smile saying, "You'll be green and blue soon, trust me." But while stuffing my current read in my bag I glanced up. I glanced to see white flakes resting on my boots. Melting quickly but just as soon being replaced. My eyes darted to the road, the sky, the rooftops and car hoods. White. They're all white.

At first I'm excited. I love snow. It's pure, it's cleansing, I can eat it and it warms me and cools me at the same time. I love to look at it and dream those marshmallow and chocolate castle dreams with handsome princes and talking horses. My mind goes adrift, over the mountains to ski chalets and snowball fights. I remember the fun I had during recess so long ago now. I turn into the mush beneath my feet, and I am happy.

I began to walk, I let the happiness sink in. I'm still excited and begin to purposely step in puddles with my rain boots. SHLOP SHLOP SHLOP. The muddy ice water hits my rubbers to no avail. I win this round. Next puddle. SHLOP SHLOP SHLOP. A bit makes it to my knee this time. A dark stain appears on my leggings. It's cold and I feel the chill travel up my spine. I quit for the time being. I become distracted by the sights and sounds around me.

The stoplight is green, my walk light red. I wait and rock slightly, my galoshes making smaller slurping noises as to and fro I go. The Korean lady to my right glances at me. No doubt curious about this weird foreigner gal in the heart covered rain boots. I don't look at her until she looks away. When I do I snicker to myself. She's obviously fallen into the sorry and lonesome stage of adulthood. I think this then feel a pang of pity. I want to help her find childhood again. I yearn to make her laugh.

The light changes. Mine is green. I walk. I see her veer to the right. Heels clopping and sloshing in the mush and snow covered lane. She glances my way one last time and disappears down the alley. I begin my puddle hop. Today is a good day, I think. I'm alive.

The walk continues like this. I get distracted by the everyday nuances turned magic by frozen water droplets. I marvel at everything. I'm still so excited about the day. For not only is it snowing AND the day before I leave for home, but it is also graduation day at my school. It is the sixth grader's final farewell and also my head/co-teacher's. I have her gift under my arm. I hold it close. My excitement peaks as I take me final steps towards the school, my hellos echoed by small, accented voices. I head to my room and begin my day. The lightbulb still dormant of spark. Realization not yet attained. Future travels forgotten in the instant I saw snow. I head to my desk. I await my co-teacher.

She arrives forty minutes late. Her hair soaked, her shoes emaciated. She looks tired and warm from walking. "Where have you been? Did you have car trouble?" DING. Small spark in my bliss. CAR trouble. "No, no. I didn't drive today. I took the bus." Ah, I see. The bus. Not fun, but better than nothing. "But the traffic was so horrible," she continued, "so many accidents." Hm? DING. A second spark, larger and more sustaining than the first. "Yes, you know Korea we do not get snow usually. We get a little and it is very dangerous to us." DING DING DING. We have lift off.

Dreet, shit, damn, gah! Where was my head this morning? I think. Why so delighted with pretty white stuff when the same stuff may spell your doom? Hello in there. You TRAVEL tomorrow. You are supposed to FLY, did you forget? Why are you happy with snow when it's most likely to either delay your plane for hours or cancel it all together? Where is your head?

I ran to the computer. I searched for the weather report. I found the USA Today flight website, it's lead story the record setting cancellations in Washington D.C. Shit, I think again. This is not good. It's not Chicago, but it's too close for comfort. Search: Chicago, IL. The information relays. A few delays but no major cancellations. At least for anywhere but D.C. and the northeast United States. Whew. My heart rate lowers a bit, heaves become real breaths. I was about to puke for a bit. But this website says I'm okay. It says I'll come home. I check my flight. No delays. I check Incheon airport. Few delays, no cancellations. I check the weather three times.

I'm coming home.

I hope I'm coming home.

I am right now typing this the night before my departure tomorrow morning at 11:40 AM. I need to catch a bus that should only be an hour to the airport. I'm guessing with three inches of snow, and a country incapable of clearing said snow without the suns help, that hour will turn into two. Then there's the airport with the Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day four to five day weekend. It's a scary thought, what I'll be facing tomorrow. Lines upon lines. Pushy Koreans. Stop and go traffic. Delays and ice. More ice, snow and delays. I only hope some power will hear my cries. Will see how much I need this. How important this is to me and my loved ones. I just, I just hope. I hope tomorrow goes well. I hope to see my family and friends. I hope to sit at my piano the same time next week, and then let my fingers fly. I hope to hug my friends, my mom, my dad, my grandmother. I hope to play with my little cousins. Maybe get my butt kicked in air hockey. I hear the kid's got a fierce game. I hope to see my family and be with them if only for a day. I hope my flight takes off tomorrow, I hope it lands in one piece in Chicago and I hope the connection from there to Minneapolis does the same. I hope to see you all very soon. And I hope I won't hate snow if all fails. Like I said, I hope. Just hope.

Video taken before my revelation. Notice my naivety. I should have taken one during my enlightenment. It would have been much more entertaining!

Stair cover. I pretended I was stuck beneath a glacier. Or like in the movie "The Day After Tomorrow", in a mall underneath meters of snow.

View out my classroom window. Lovely Christmas cards to brighten any day.

Window ledge.

Our poor parking lot/soccer field/track/play ground.

Was so worried about snow taking over my plane and life that I forgot to take many pictures of graduation. That was until my co-teach told me that this lovely lady is leaving our school. "Oh, you didn't know?" How am I supposed to? I really don't read minds. I was just kidding. Please let me know these things! I just about cried. This girl is the Kindergarten teacher. She is amazingly sweet and kind and loving and happy. I just love her so much, and am so sad I probably will never see her again in this lifetime.

Winter Camp 2010

Winter camp just finished last week. I'm a bit relieved and yet saddened. I loved my kids, and loved the time frame. Three hours of class every morning. A much more productive time span than the usual short 40 minute class. It was also extremely productive because of the teacher. Meaning one, one teacher. There was supposed to be a co, but she was pretty busy running around like a chicken with her head cut-off to find the time to find her head and my classroom of 20 students.

Thus, without a co, it was a fantastic display of my children's ability to understand English with ridiculous gesticulations, and not to mention a chance for me to practice those gesticulations... you know those my Norwegian ancestors have so kindly passed down to me. I often think of how lucky I am to have ingrained hand/face/body gestures. They make life as an English teacher so much easier... and entertaining! For those kids who do understand my English, they get to laugh at me explaining what "giddyup" means. And for those who don't understand my English, they catch on pretty quickly as to the meaning of my words. Especially when I start flapping my arms and screeching to mimic a goose. (I just thank God a video camera has yet to sneak it's way into the classroom!)

Anyways, Winter English Camp, a grand time of coloring, games, activities and vocabulary, we spent two weeks learning things from Christmas food, music, terms, card writing to the Winter Olympics, the book and movie "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", and also the excessively messy but fun activity of making rice krispie treats. We had sugar everywhere on food day, then a competition of the utmost difficulty (running with a ball between your knees and then with a pencil balanced between your nose and upper lip- difficult stuff) on Winter Olympics day, word competitions and the game 'dice of fortune' (like the wheel of fortune, just with a dice... yep, i was vanna and pat!) on Snow Day, and of course paper creations from cards to ornaments, to stage props for our play, to 'wish links'- a paper chain, and finally to the classic favorite, snowflakes.

Wow, I forgot how much we really did. And we had so much fun doing so, I don't really have anything else to write except that I'm glad it's over, as it was exhausting work, but also that I'm looking forward already to next summer's camp!

Some photos of the kiddies:

Excited about her rice krispie creation. Sprinkles and chocolate chips galore!

The elves decorating their treats.

Me whipping up a batch of frosting. The kids were so amazed at what powdered sugar and milk could do when mixed together!

Making a Family Wishing Tree. Each group made one 'branch' of the wishing tree. Then wrote on each branch a wish for their family.

The tree finished, sort of. The branches on the bottom are the ones with the family wishes. Then the top has ornaments with Christmas wishes. The next day we made snowflakes with wishes for their friends.

Part of the World Wish Chain we made on Snow Day (Wed. Jan. 27th), backed by a favorite clown.

Rice krispie treat final outcome.

World Wish Chain presented by the ghost of Christmas past.

Making Christmas presents for our skit background.

Subin making paper hearts as Christmas ornaments. Sweetheart of a girl!