A handful of thoughts (part 1)

Snacks, those are something to talk about!

I, Amanda, have decided that I am going to start to make posts of ongoing observations regarding life in the school and things we see and just general Korean-isms (if that's even a thing). Why? Because I will hear/observe/interact and run into many things that just make me wonder how and why (and sometimes wtf), so to me they're worth visiting and thinking about. I expect this will be an ongoing thing and should be somewhat interesting (at least for me).

Sarah likes to cuddle and cling!

1. One of the first things I was told once we got here and have observed in action is that Korean children really enjoy close contact and hugging and the normal things a child needs. Perhaps they are even more affectionate because their parents aren't as physically affectionate and from what I understand a lot of Korean children grow up not hearing "I love you" from their parents until they're much older. That said, it's not uncommon for girls and women to be touchy-feely with each other. I also mention it because today I took Sarah downstairs since I had class with the 3rd and 4th grade girls and Sarah (who is only 4 years old) refused to let go of my neck after I picked her up and carried her down. Then you have Stella who is in my kindy class. She was hopping up on my lap earlier and hugging me. There was also Julia who probably hopped on my lap or hugged me and kissed my cheek half a dozen times today (as a note: this is only when she's having a good day and likes me instead of when I have to yell at her all day for not listening) and then later, at the end of the day while waiting for her mom and watching Toy Story 3, she actually pulled my arms around her while she sat in my lap. I find it kind of interesting, and in some ways the showing affection thing ties into food too...

The soup was kind of an egg drop kind of thing, the top left corner is a radish that's kind of spicy, to the right of that is a processed fish patty kind of thing. The rice had bean sprouts in it.

2. So speaking of food, it is a very nuanced thing here. We came in knowing full well that both eating and drinking are highly social, but there's more to that as well. If someone invites you to dinner you can't refuse, that is a huge social no no. That's a topic for another time though, I want to talk about something a little closer to home. By that I mean that everyone around here likes to feed us! Tonight I was sitting downstairs watching a movie with the two that leave the latest and the director comes in to watch with us, then leaves to grab a bunch of snacks and we all sit there and eat. The cook here at the school also gives us way too much food (she's so sweet though!), some of which we're in the process of figuring out what we do and don't like. Since Zach is still kind of hesitant and doesn't eat much, everyone (being the cook and the director, which has been mentioned to both of us multiple times, also by the other teacher) is suddenly worried that he's not eating enough. So he's annoyed, I'm kind of amused, and it's generally an interesting, but funny situation. 

Shinae (downtown), Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea

3. There's a tendency around here to not clean up after yourself and in some cases it's pretty bad. With younger kids I can kind of understand because unless they're taught to clean up after themselves they're not going to do it. The grown ups are another story altogether though. When we went downtown the first time (also known as Shinae-- that's she-nay if you're curious about the pronunciation) I was first impressed with the scenery and all the people as a typical tourist, but then I started noticing smaller details. First thing I really noticed? People would just throw their trash down in the street wherever. We saw a guy just toss down an empty cigarette carton in an alleyway next to someone's doorway. People just left their empty drinks sitting on or near benches. Admittedly, something I noticed after the fact was that there were hardly any trash cans or waste bins anywhere in public places. I put another piece of the puzzle together later when I saw an old woman digging through a trash bag and pulling out plastic bottles. Apparently the middle aged women (called ajummas, (아줌마) middle aged woman is pretty much the translation) clean up the public areas from all the trash and debris. That said, one thing I am taking to heart is working on getting the kindy kids to clean up their messes.

That wraps up the thoughts this time, I have more pondering to do, then I will be back!