So, most everything shuts down for at least a couple days at least (so much for immediate opportunities), while some can be closed for up to five days. Nothing really happens but spending time with family and lots of traveling to and from familial locales across the country. Family is a very important aspect in Korean culture and is something not to be taken lightly. I often get the thought of the 'it takes a village' theory in my mind as I make my way around in a foreign country that has pretty much welcomed me with open arms.
The genuine sincerity, courteousness and friendly demeanor I've experienced over the past couple months has certainly been unexpected but I obviously welcome it & do the best to reciprocate whenever possible but I'm kinda stuck on this one & I may just let it slide (seeing how I've been letting it slide for a couple weeks & I'm pretty sure my 'window' has already passed). But anyway, I feel like part of the 'village' due to the verbal acknowledgements and the few gifts I have been given throughout my time here thus far.
For the Lunar New Year, James (my school director) stopped by my apartment on a Tuesday morning bearing a couple presents. Apparently customary to offer gifts to family & close friends. The gesture was completely unexpected; one from him and the other from a parent of a students. I kindly thanked James for the gifts and went back to enjoying a bountiful breakfast of eggs, toast & juice. As my curiosity was well enough peeked, I decided to open the presents and see what constitutes a New Years gesture....low and behold, I received two very large boxes of seaweed!! Oh, if only there was room enough in my apartment to do backflips....I opted to celebrate this delightful occasion by settling for extra jam on my toast instead.
Seaweed is a common staple in the Korean diet and is often used to roll vegetables or rice in. I've actually had it a couple of times as I've eaten with my colleagues on occasion but it isn't necessarily something I have felt the need to run out and purchase at the market, not to mention, there was plenty left in the fridge by the previous teacher (which is starting to make quite a bit of sense). Later that day, as the director of the other school I'm working at dropped me off from a day of educating, she handed me a decent sized red bag, stumbled through her best attempt at English pleasantries & wished me a Happy New Year.
As I strolled home, I was curious to see if I would have the opportunity to figure out what to do with even more seaweed. When I got to my apartment and opened the bag, it contained a large, red, rectangular box which opened quite easily. Inside, I discovered a myriad of personal hygiene products, mostly made of soy & mostly indistinguishable as they were all Korean products but I was able to surmise that it was a combination of bar soaps, hair loss prevention shampoos, hair loss rinses (I can assume is like conditioner) and toothpaste. This got me thinking, alright, I've never been the 'smelly kid' & I know I'm not the typical 'overweight' American but were they trying to tell me something? Maybe I was beginning to resemble Tom Hanks in the movie Philadelphia & they thought I needed to be eating more & what better way to tempt my taste buds than with some delicious (it's really not bad) seaweed. I could also only conclude that maybe I was becoming the smelly kid & the soap ensemble was a subtle way of saying, 'Hey, you stink, tighten up you hygiene habits, man!'
Well, a few weeks have passed & nothing has been said about whether or not I am enjoying the gifts but I suppose they will be kind enough to let me know if I'm beginning to look malnourished or am giving off a putrid odor that needs to be seriously dealt with immediately.
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| Seaweed! |
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| More Seaweed! |
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| Soy Soap Smorgasbord!! |
The kids are all pretty giving, too. Since most of them spend two-thirds of their day doing something academically relevant, they usually come rolling into the academy with some sort of little snack or food item & are usually pretty generous in offering me a piece of their assorted food, candy or chocolate. There is one girl who was in my special January Discussion class (the entire month of January is a vacation for students but they still go to their academies) gave me a cool, mulberry colored round bar of soap with a decorative flower set into the center of it. Apparently her mom makes soap and she had helped her mom make this one for me as a way to thank me for the job I was doing as well as the time I take to read her journal, make corrections and give her feedback.
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| More Soap, homemade this time! |
It really is quite flattering to feel accepted and appreciated by students, parents and the directors. I know I received these things in varying degrees back in Florida, too but it's a different feeling. I guess it's like James has mentioned a couple times, I'm part of their family for a year & they really appreciate that. Good stuff!
As for the seaweed & soy soaps, let me know if anyone has a hankering - happy to ship it to ya....
Keep bein' awesome, people!
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