Just One Expat's Opinion: Halloween in a Korean Classroom

No crazy stunts this week - I think my mother needed a break. And truth be told, so did I. October was packed full of delicious adventures, it was truly a month to remember. November will be more low key for me, taking me out of Cheongju much less and giving me an opportunity to get settled into a schedule.

Before I let October pass with all it's glory, I had one more thing I wanted to accomplish for myself. There was an art show in Cheongju at the end of the month and I was participating. This was my first art show, following a series of "firsts" for the year (first time eating a bug, first time conquering a mountain...) Not only was it the first show I was actually in but it was the first thing I have actually won in...well I can't remember the last time I won anything. I submitted my favorite piece of art just for the glory of being in an art show. The win was a pleasant surprise. And with oodles of fantastically supportive friends behind me it was thoroughly enjoyable evening complete with a real steak dinner. I say "real" steak because the alternative here is more like a hamburger steak, and far more common in this cow deprived country. Chowing down on the long desired slab of beef made me almost as happy as winning the competition. It was truly a great night and I got to go home with a cash prize and a swollen ego.

#11 - "Hope"

The art show benefited an organization for under privileged children.
This was the art they made and were selling. Traditional Korean mask key chain.

The kiddos themselves making ukuleles even cuter.

Yes please!

Apparently the theme of this restaurant is outdated electronics?

Pretty awesome blue grass band

A snapshot of my week.

The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing. Staying home (I feel a simultaneous sense of normalcy and weirdness calling Cheongju "home") was an opportunity to get some much needed rest, especially considering how full I had begun to pack my week. I am getting into a routine here, one that is far more entertaining and busy than my lackluster routine at home in the States. I finally signed up for an art class, something I have been wanting to do for years, my Salmulnori lessons are in full swing, should be starting Korean lessons soon and this week I signed up for a gym membership with my very own personal trainer (Natalie).

Cafe with the ladies

I have also agreed to spend an hour or so every Wednesday evening having coffee and letting a few women I work with practice their English on me, while teaching me a little bit of Korean along the way. These women could not be a sweeter set of ladies who have a sincere interest in learning English and hearing everything there is to know about me and my culture. I benefit as well by not only learning the language but getting a chance to ask cultural questions. This week I learned that when you get a bunch of women together in any country, we will gab about how men are helpless without us.

The Korean language book one of the
women gave me. This is how
Brits are depicted.

More importantly, I learned to have some patience and respect for English language learners in America. I was never disrespectful, but I also didn't full appreciate the difficulty of it. I just finished a very slow and painful conversation with a woman who was desperately trying to communicate with me in English, while I attempted to translate as much of what I was saying into Korean. My head literally hurts from that conversation. I am amazed more and more every day with people who can speak more than one language, especially those who speak it fluently. I remember Itai saying how tired he was after having long conversations with me. I understood it, but I didn't really understand it until now. I would love to master the language and get to a point where I am fluent. However, the very idea of translating everything I'm saying in my head for more than three sentences seems daunting.

In the midst of my whirlwind schedule, I have also had the opportunity to teach my students about Halloween. I did a slideshow teaching them all about the history of Halloween, complete with images of candy corn, candied apples, incredible jack-o-lantern designs and of course, a little Halloween vocab. They were fascinated, a holiday practically devoted to kids eating candy? It made me appreciate the holiday on a whole new level. We listened to Halloween music and designed our own jack-o-lanterns then created our own monsters. I was impressed with their artistic ability. Some recreated the examples I had on the screen, almost perfectly. Others used their imagination to create their own creatures, which thrilled me.

Pause for some 3rd grade cuteness...

This girl wins best dressed ever day. The cuteness is astounding.

Notice she's wearing her winter coat inside. It's freezing in this school!

Adorable is photo bombed by adorable.

They were proud of their art and happy to show it off to me. If they didn't finish they could take the work home to complete, but most of them came back to me that very day with their art in hand ready for my ooohs and aaaahhs (which I happily gave). Lots of kiddos came running up to me to give me candy throughout the day as well. The gesture was ridiculously sweet (no pun intended). When I gave my students candy at the end of class it was as if I was giving them gold. I heard, "I love you teacher!" from over 150 little munchkins this week.

6th graders working hard...

Candidly, it made me miss home a bit. Even though Halloween is not a significant holiday in terms of family or culture, it still made me miss some of the simple little things that were easily attainable at home. I miss the Halloween decor that sprinkled the neighborhood I grew up in. Including, my favorite little witch that hung on our door. I miss candy corn and pumpkin seeds! Carving pumpkins with friends and the fun of picking out a costume (even over 30).

A gift from a student.

However, I don't miss Christmas attacking your senses the second Halloween ends. It'll be interesting seeing when xmas makes it's first appearance here in SoKo.

This evening we will be headed off to Seoul for the night, then off to an apple festival the next day. Since my city is small and much less foreign, Halloween will go by without much of a mention. I look forward to seeing how Seoul handles itself on this waygook holiday.

Eat some candy corn for me folks!

Some more adorable Halloween art crafted by adorable Korean children...