Welcome to winter!

Last week saw the first snowfall here in Korea for this season *cue EXO*, and it was apparently the heaviest snowfall for this time in 117 years. Well, I just made it through the hottest summer ever, so roll on the coldest winter, I guess!

Wow. December. 292 days here in Korea for me.

It’s a little strange, because although I have lived outside the UK before (almost 6 years in the USA), I have never actually done so for a complete full year in one go. Every year at some point I would start longing for home and make a trip of at least a month to go see my family and friends, and that would make me feel grounded and settled enough to make it through another long jaunt away.

But so far, here in Korea, that feeling hasn’t hit yet.

Sure, there have been moments when I’ve been questioning the teaching side of things and once or twice gritted my teeth to get through the week, but still when I walk through my door at night I feel comforted enough by my surroundings and the contact I have with those close to me (thank you Marco Polo), that I am actually now just waiting to hear if my contract has been renewed for a second year.

Yes, you read that right. I’m hoping to stay for another year.

With all being well, I will finish up my current contract in February  (finishing regular classes at the end of December, and then 2 winter camps in Jan), and hopefully start all over again in March.

Before I ramble too much about that though, let’s review November, shall we? Hmm, it looked a little like this…

Before we got the snow dump last week, there was indeed an autumn season complete with autumnal colours. The best colours you will find here in Korea belong to the maple and ginkgo trees with their bright red and yellow foliage.

It just so happens that here in Wonju (well, on the outskirts down near Munmak), there is a famous ginkgo tree called 변계리 은행나무 (Bangye-ri Ginkgo Tree). So famous, it’s actually Natural Monument No. 167 and has been a protected tree since 1964.  It’s estimated to be 800-1000 years old and, according to the story I read, the tree originally grew from the staff of a Buddhist Monk who was passing by and stuck it in the ground here. Additionally, it is said to be a sacred tree due to the large white snake believed to be living in it.

I made the trip out to see it thanks to a reminder by my elementary school teacher who told me she had just visited it, and it was well worth it; not just for the tree itself, but for the feeling of taking part in such a cultural event – the crowds of people flocking there were huge and the road to get there was bumper to bumper traffic.

I also discovered when I arrived, a little to my chagrin, a Wonju Trail stamp box right there in front of the tree. What? How did I not realise this was a trail? Urgh.

So, instead of making the trip to see the tree AND walking the trail to collect my stamp at the same time, I had to return a week later to do the same thing over again (and it was a little sad and shocking to see all the leaves had already disappeared).

I also tried my hand at being a bit social this month by agreeing to go hiking with my American teacher friend who works in the school building next to mine. We’ve had a couple chats here and there with each other, but given that I am VERY British and she is VERY American, my ability to socialise is a little limited because I get a little overwhelmed by people with a lot of energy.

However, she had planned to hike Chiaksan during a weekend and, still smarting from every time someone asks if I have been to the peak yet, I decided just to buckle down and go for it.

Please appreciate, this is quite a large endeavour on two fronts.

One – Chiaksan is not only a proper mountain peak at 1,288m, but is also bloody steep going up and down – plenty of rocks and stairs, and I haven’t hiked any proper mountains really since I arrived here in Korea.

Two – I suck at hiking with other people. It’s really high up on my list of things I really hate to do. I have in fact a list of people I can count on one hand who I am happy and comfortable to hike with, and random teachers I meet in foreign countries do not appear on it. This might make me sound like a horrible person, but hiking to me is a very personal experience; I like to walk at my own speed (molasses slow) and feel no pressure from others, I often hike listening to music and don’t always like to talk (I prefer to keep breathing as I climb), and I tend to stop 57,000 times to take pictures of fungi, my hands touching trees, and bugs.        

In this case, the hike worked out well because I actually ended up catching an earlier bus to the park than my teaching comrade, so I had an earlier start to my climb. It was much needed because the hike took me FOREVER (about 3 hours), with me reaching the peak and my friend turning up only about 40 minutes behind me, even though I think she arrived at the park about an hour or so after me.  

The peak Chiaksan is pretty impressive with three large cairns at the summit. I was surprised to find there were three of them, because if you look up the symbol of Chiaksan National Park, it clearly only shows two. The third is slightly hidden off to the side on a little trail that you may miss if you don’t wander around a little at the top. The view from the peak is 360^o and rather fabulous on a clear day.

I will say, it was nice to have company on the way down. As I am not huffing and puffing and getting angry at the mountain (as I inevitably do on my way up), we had plenty of time to chatter and banter and learn a bit more about each other. We just managed to make it back down and to the bus stop literally as the bus was pulling in, and opted to jump on rather than stay and look at the temple and wait for a later bus.

As a side note – Chiaksan National Park was the one park on my previous trip to Korea that I did not enjoy my visit to. It was a very rushed affair (you can go back and read about it if you like), and so I am glad I have had a chance to come back at do it justice with a hike to the peak. Having said that, my legs were in huge amounts of pain for the following 4 days to the point that I looked a right prat trying to shuffle up and down the stairs at my school. I would like to say that this is the first time I’ve hiked a mountain and had that reaction, so maybe Chiaksan and I aren’t meant to be best friends.  

And speaking of friends and socialising, let’s address this topic here in Korea.

Having done my research rather thoroughly (as I do) before coming here, I was well aware that ‘making friends in Korea’ isn’t a thing. Or more specifically, making Korean friends. Most people who arrive here seem to either be E2 visa workers (school teachers) or D2/D4 visa holders (students). In these cases, it seems the majority of people stick with those around them i.e. other foreign students or other English teachers in the vicinity of where they live.

I guess I’m an outlier on both fronts, because I haven’t actually really made any English teacher friends with the exception of my Chiaksan hiking buddy.

As for Korean friends, well, that’s a bit of a hard one. Part of me would say I have made one or two Korean friends. I base this on the fact that I am in fact right now, while typing, waiting for a Korean friend of mine to come and collect me as we are going to lunch. But, I would also temper that with saying that the friends I have made, I have done so through their desire to practice their English skills with me. And in some cases with a few of them, I am able to either practice a little of my Korean, or at least ask questions about Korean things I am curious about. So I guess it works both ways; while not what I would consider ‘friendship’ when held up against my friends at home, it is more than just cordial greetings in the workplace and I enjoy their company immensely.

And that works for me. It gives me the chance to learn more about the thoughts and opinions of the people of whose country I currently reside in, and it gives me an opportunity to socialise with the only expectation being that I can speak English to them (basically holding a general conversation).

And just the fact that I have managed to accumulate a few people with whom I can have a bit of a daily exchange with brightens my days. Every week I meet with my two study friends at Starbucks for about 2 hours for English conversation and Korean practice. Occasionally on the weekends, with one of these friends I head out for a walk or to a café or for lunch for a couple hours. I enjoy the regular meetings and it’s a highlight of my week.

These two people I was actually introduced to by a teacher at my middle school who, coincidently, is also a friend. When I arrive a school each week we check in with each other and then try to find time after classes to talk for about 30-40 minutes, mostly about random things in our lives. Her level of English just about matches my level of Korean, so we both feel comfortable enough to make mistakes or get frustrated at the same things we can’t seem to say.

I find her quite fascinating as she teaches social studies, and just last week we talked about her teaching the history around the British Bill of Rights, which I found enlightening, given I had never heard of it (is this just me?!). She in turn was shocked that I didn’t know about this most amazing bit of history that all Koreans appear to learn about (we seemed to work out it is something that came from the Magna Carta – which I certainly have heard of!).

My middle school is turning out to be the place I feel most comfortable I think. Although I am only there once a week, I think the atmosphere and the teachers there are more ‘my style’. As the school is small (about 35 students in total), the staff and students have more of a parent/child feeling to them. The staff seem to know the characteristics of the students well, accommodate them where they can (half of the students live away from home in the football academy), and seem able to both support and reprimand the students in equal measure.

In addition to the social studies teacher, my English co-teacher has certainly become more and more fun to speak and work with as classes have progressed. She likes learning idioms and so each week I keep  presenting her with new ones to try. The soccer coach occasionally says hello to me, but then becomes ridiculously shy because his English is very limited, but I’ve discovered the science teacher also seems really cool and a little quirky, so I’ve tried speaking to her a couple times too.

The teachers in my middle school overall seem the friendliest and have certainly become more approachable as the year has worn on. In fact, I’ve noticed that my students have also become a little less apprehensive as time has passed, with the biggest change having come just within the past few weeks. I have noticed a couple in all 3 of my schools trying to make more effort to exchange some type of conversation with me which I absolutely love.

Maybe it just takes longer here in Korea to get to know people. And even longer than that when you are also foreign and not fluent in Korean.     

And I guess all of this has slightly driven my desire to try and stay for another year. Though admittedly there are probably a few factors at play here. So if you are wondering why I am choosing to hang out for another 365 days in a far off land, here’s a couple reasons:

I live in a pretty nice 2 bedroom flat for free. The bills in my flat are relatively low. My landlady seems very nice. I own a nice bookcase. I was able to afford to buy myself a nice bookcase and some books to put on it.

I can also afford to have a takeaway meal once a week. I can afford a weekly trip to Starbucks and if I wanted to eat out a few times a month, I could do that too without breaking the bank.

I don’t need a car. I can get to wherever I want to go easily by bus, train, or taxi – and it’s totally affordable.

(You might be starting to see a theme here…)

I kind of like teaching. I always have. It’s a shame I have to teach English, but there you have it. But I really like that there is no paperwork and no duties other than teaching, tests, and camps.

I like my kids. Specifically my 4^th grade elementary, my 2^nd grade middle, and all of my Tuesday high school groups. The rest are fine, a little meh at times, but still beat out the majority of Sholt students I taught.

The school meals are great. The food in general here is really tasty. They have a never-ending supply of snacks. And the convenience stores are the best thing in the world.

I like the general feel of the country. For the most part, people are nice, there doesn’t seem to be much trouble, I feel very safe, the city I live in is clean and pot hole free. I can catch a bus and be hiking within 20-30 minutes, including hiking up a mountain. I can be in Seoul in an hour.

I don’t get a depressing feeling from the country. The Korean people here may feel differently, but I am coming from the privileged place of being able to enjoy the nice parts of this country without having to buy into its political woes, future problems, cultural expectations etc. It’s very easy to live in a bubble here, especially when you cannot consume the majority of the serious media given it is in Korean.

I have just enough socialisation here in Korea and enough contact from home that I don’t feel isolated or lonely or sad. But on the other side of that, I am isolated enough that I don’t feel I subject to any expectations or pressures that I put on myself when living at home. Honestly, living here makes me feel kind of like I’m holding a ‘get out of real life card’ in my hand, though I am fully aware it does have an expiration date on it.

So there you have it. Why living in Korea is a pretty good thing right now. I hope it continues being pretty good for a while longer. I would like that.

And on that note, time to head to my lunch meet up.

No doubt I will probably be a little useless on the holiday front this year, so a very early Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone and I’ll catch you in 2025!

Ps…. this was my lunch. First time eating Samgyetang (chicken stuffed with rice and long boiled in soup). It was unbelievably amazing. And the best thing – not only did the food taste fantastic, but life doesn’t get better than eating with a Korean person who starts the meal with ‘Today, I ‘m going to show you how to eat this like a Korean person does….’ and tells me what to do step by step and proceeds to integrate me into his culture.