The photo speaks for itself
So I’ve officially eaten dog. Puppy, to be precise. I’d better explain things before I start getting hate mail from the PETA types. Dog is a fairly common food in Korea. It seems less popular with the younger generation, and less popular with women, but it’s certainly not unheard-of.
On Monday we had a half-day because of midterms, and afterwards all of the teachers were to go hiking. Prior to the trip, they asked us what we would like to eat. The choices were chicken and dog. Being the adventurous (and perhaps callous) type, I opted for dog.
The hike was a nice relaxing walk up a hill next to a stream. After a couple hours, we re-convened at the restaurant near the base of the hill. Side dishes were served, and before long the waitress brought out a steaming platter of puppy.
The meat was surprisingly tasty. A bit chewy, and with an interesting flavor. Maybe a touch gamey, but not in a bad way. Just enough to make it interesting. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much actual meat on the plate. Most of it was skin and organs, which Koreans eat without hesitation. I, however, am not a big fan of skin or liver, regardless of the source. The entree was a big bowl of puppy soup, which was excellent. Not much meat to be had, but excellent flavor nonetheless.
Apparently, Koreans believe that dog meat is good for regaining strength. They suggest that women eat it after childbirth. Men seem to eat it to increase their manliness. Erin said the younger female teachers seemed to regard it as a silly male thing.
It caused quite a stir among the teachers when I sat down at the dog table. Apparently they were very surprised that I had chosen it. Maybe that’s just because I’m a bit of a picky eater here. (I still can’t stand the sight/smell/taste of squid.) They didn’t seem offended, just surprised. I don’t really know what to make of that.
Lots of people are really offended by eating dog because they have dogs as pets. This doesn’t really bother me, provided I don’t think about it too hard. In my mind, there’s a certain distinction between pets and farm animals, and these dogs weren’t raised as pets. Maybe people object because they think dogs are smarter than sheep/cow/goats/etc. Maybe that’s true, but I’ve met plenty of stupid dogs. I’m just going to assume that I ate a dumb one.
It wasn’t the best meat I’ve ever had, but it certainly wasn’t the worst. I’d give it a B- overall. One question remains, however: What do they use to herd the flocks on a dog farm?
Drug Test, part 2
One of my readers reminded me that I hadn’t posted the new drug test results. All clean! That was a relief; I think a second positive would have been difficult to explain. Now I even have my insurance paperwork. If I get run over by a cab driver, the Korean government will actually help pay for my medical bills! Pretty sweet. Sure beats my (mostly) uninsured status back in the US.
Hangul (the Korean alphabet)
Erin and I have started taking the free Korean class offered in town. It seems like it will be helpful, but the textbook and handouts are printed completely in the Korean alphabet, Hangul. This is forcing us to actually learn the alphabet, something we’ve both been putting off. I don’t have to teach today (standardized test day), so I’m studying. It’s actually a very simple alphabet, with an interesting history.
Hangul was invented in the mid-1400s by King Sejong, who seems to be pretty darn famous here (considering that he’d dead). Prior to it’s invention, Koreans used Chinese characters (hanja), and only the elites knew how to read and write.
Sejong sat down and planned out a written language that the commoner could use. One of the ancient texts says: “A wise man can acquaint himself with them before the morning is over; a stupid man can learn them in the space of ten days.” I must be stupid, because it’s taking me more than one morning. Still pretty darn easy, though. Hangul is fairly unique in that it was invented at a specific time, by one party. It didn’t evolve over time. Because of this, it’s very logical. Unlike Chinese, it’s very easy to type on a keyboard or cellphone. My students certainly have no problems text-messaging under their desks in class.
There are 14 basic consonants, 5 double consonants, 10 vowels (or semi-vowels) and 11 diphthongs (combined vowels). These letters, or jamo, are combined into syllable blocks. Each block contains two or three jamo. It seems pretty strange at first, but it’s really quite logical.
Here is a sample word. (I’ve made the text larger so the letters are easier to see. Note: Some users may have trouble seeing this. You might need a language pack of some sort. I don’t know for sure.)
컴퓨터 = Computer
The Korean pronounciation is slightly different, sort of like “come pew taw”
1. The first character block consists of three jamo.
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The first is ㅋ (hard “K” sound) — in the upper-left.
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The second is ㅓ (sounds halfway between the “O” in “come” and “aw”) — in the upper right.
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The third is ㅁ (“M” sound) — on the bottom.
2. The second block consists of 2 jamo.
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ㅍ (“P”) — on top.
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ㅠ (a semi-vowel, “yew”) — on the bottom.
3. The third block has 2 jamo.
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ㅌ (“T”) — on the left.
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ㅓ (sounds halfway between the “O” in “come” and “aw”) — on the right.
It’s really not as complicated as it seems, and once you know it, the rules are constant. Not like English, with hundreds of difficult exceptions.
(Note: I pulled the quote and some of the information from the wikipedia page on Hangul.)
Apartment Photos
As promised, here are some photos of the apartment. There’s an entire room I don’t show, because it’s currently empty (except for recycling). As soon as we find a use for it, I’ll take a picture.
Enjoy!
Teaching in Korea — a Typical Day
This is a typical day of teaching in Korea:
- 8:20am: Arrive at school.
- 8:30-9:55am: Free time. First period is 9:00-9:45, but I only teach that on Tuesdays. Usually I’m preparing a lesson in the mornings (printing worksheets, etc).
- 9:55-10:40am: Second period. Teach second grade (8th grade in US) for 45 minutes.
- 10:50-11:35am: Third period. Teach first grade (7th) for 45 minutes.
- 11:35am-1:35pm: Free time. Work on lesson plans, write blog posts, eat lunch, etc.
- 1:35-2:20pm: Fifth period. Teach first grade for 45 minutes.
- 2:20-3:45pm: Free time. The internet is a good time-waster.
- 3:45-4:30pm: Seventh period. Teach “English Club”. Today we’re watching an episode of the Simpsons, because I can’t think of a better lesson plan.
- 4:40-5:25pm: Eighth period. Teach the “Teacher’s Class”. This is a conversation class with 7 or 8 Korean teachers. I find this quite stressful, but I only do it on Thursdays.
I’ll be home and drinking a beer by 5:40pm. Actually, this is one of my longer/busier days; most days I’m actually home by 4:40. Unfortunately, Korean beer is officially The Worst Beer in the World®. I’m working on a brewing operation, but it will take time.
A word about drug testing
I was just told by my co-teacher that today was exam training, so I don’t have to teach. A decent time to relate a recent experience that Erin and I had.
Our contract here required us to take a drug test, specifically a urine-sample based test. We were driven to the hospital last Wednesday, pissed in cups, and had blood drawn for HIV/AIDS. We weren’t concerned about passing either test.
Last Friday, a nurse came to school to get another urine sample from us. There was some problem with the previous test, but we were told not to worry. Maybe it was too diluted, I don’t know. We gave them another sample and didn’t think twice about it.
On Monday, our co-teacher pulled us aside and told us that we had failed the drug test, specifically the heroin/methadone test. She was shocked, and believed us when we said it must be a false positive.
Erin and I have both been taking a few different over-the-counter and prescription drugs. I’ve been using pepto-bismal for stomach problems, ibuprofen and acetaminophen for headaches, and diphenhydramine (benadryl, Sominex) for trouble sleeping. Erin has also been taking Sominex occasionally, and both of us had taken it Thursday night (before giving the second sample) We knew of another EPIK teacher that also failed his drug test after taking Tylenol PM (also diphenhydramine).
I decided it was time for some research. After an hour of searching medical journals, I had a few articles that mentioned false positives on the EMIT immunoassay test from diphenhydramine. I printed them out, showed them to our co-teacher, and arranged to take another test.
Our test is tomorrow (Friday) morning. I last took Sominex on Sunday night, so I should be in the clear. But needless to say, this entire escapade has been embarrassing. So here is some advice for anyone taking a drug test for employment:
- Do your homework! Find out what type of test they will be using, and study potential cross-reacting compounds (substances that could cause false-positives)
- Find out the next step after a positive test. For federal jobs in the US, the law mandates that positive EMIT tests be followed by a gas chromatography test, to rule out false-positives. This is obviously not the case in Korea, and could have caused serious problems for us. Insist on follow-up testing, if possible.
- Prepare your personal information. Make a list of everything you’ve taken in the past month. This should include prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications and any vitamins or supplements. Google-search for potential cross-reacting compounds. Bring the medications and prescriptions to the test with you. Print and bring any information relating to false-positives.
- Consider speaking to an attorney. I don’t have one and can’t afford one, so this was out of the question. Thankfully, our employer is willing to work with us. This won’t be the case everywhere, and a false-positive can cause serious professional and financial damage. It never hurts to know the law.
I didn’t have a strong opinion about workplace drug testing before this, but that has changed. I grant that it is necessary in certain situations, but policy needs to be crafted carefully. The real problem is that accurate tests like gas chromatography are expensive. Businesses are much more likely to spend a few dollars on something like EMIT than a couple hundred on a GC test. More likely than not, it will be on YOU to protect yourself.
A final note, watch for faulty information. A Google-search on these topics turns up thousands of shady pages written by stoners looking to pass a test. Most of the info is either hopeful or paranoid. Look for scholarly sources.
I’ll let you know how the next test turns out.
A Change of Plans
The national EPIK orientation ended last Friday, and we boarded a bus for Gangwon province. When we got there, we learned that our city placement had changed. Instead of Donghae, we were placed in Gangneung, a larger city 30-40 minutes north (but still on the coast). We sat through another graduation ceremony, and were immediately whisked away by our Korean co-teachers, Mr. Kim and Mrs. Lee. We learned that we will both be teaching at Gangneung middle school, an all-boys school.
We spent two nights in a hotel while the current EPIK teacher vacated the apartment. We moved in on Sunday, and the place was still trashed. The former teacher, Paul, was gross. We managed to get things cleaned up a bit, and we got (mostly) moved in. The apartment is pretty nice. 3 bedrooms, with a screened-in balcony. More than enough space for us.
We started teaching on Monday. We were supposed to observe for a day, but both Erin and I just got thrown into the mix. I’ll write more about teaching later. It’s going to be a challenge, but I think I can manage.
The immigration requirements are still a hassle. We went to the hospital for HIV and drug testing today. They’ll be ready on Friday, but we’re supposed to leave early Friday morning and go to the immigration office in another city. Except the immigration office needs the medical test results. Pain in the ass. Once we get to the immigration office, we’ll have to apply for an Alien Registration Card (ARC), which will tie up our passports for 1-2 weeks. We can’t open a bank account until will the get the ARC. And we can’t get paid until we open a bank account.
Also frustrating: We learned today that the cost of the hotel will be deducted from the $300 settlement allowance coming to each of us. Hopefully it won’t be too expensive. They asked if we wanted to stay by the beach or in the city. I sure wouldn’t have said by the beach if I knew I was paying for it.
On a more positive note, we’re going on a class hiking trip tomorrow. I would have done it for nothing, but we actually get paid extra for it. I’m also getting paid extra for teaching at the elementary school once a week, and for an extra credit class that I’m teaching by myself.
Heading Out
Today we wrap up the EPIK orientation and head out to our province, Gangwon-do. I’m glad to be done with training, but there was a lot of useful info presented. Still a bit nervous about the placement. Evidently the placements we were told on Monday are not set in stone. The coordinator with whom we interviewed is not really the boss, and nothing is certain. We were told that couples would “almost certainly” get placed where they were told, as there are not many couples placements in Gangwon-do.
I won’t breathe easy until Erin and I arrive at the same apartment, however. Some couples (in other provinces) have been finding out that they are housed separately. That one would be a deal-breaker for me.
Anyways, I won’t have internet atmy apartment until I can obtain my Alien Registration Card (ARC), which will take a week or two. I’ll be checking in from school or internet cafes, but there may be fewer updates in the next couple weeks.
Wish us luck!
A Post About Money
It might be rather rude to write about my finances in Korea, but I’m sure people are curious. I know I would have liked to have more information when planning.
Keep in mind that I’m still at orientation and haven’t actually received or spent any real money. I have learned a few things from talking to returning teachers, however.
The lowest level salary for provincial EPIK teachers is 2.0 million won/month, or about $2000. Doesn’t sound like much, but included with the contract is airfare both ways and housing. Depending on where you live and how frugally you spend, I’ve heard that you can spend all of that, or save half of it. Maybe even more if you’re really tight. Erin and I are housed as a couple, and one of the EPIK coordinators said that should save us a lot of money.
Also, in rural provinces, you may end up teaching at multiple schools, in which case you are paid slightly more.
US citizens get a better deal than most. All teachers are exempt from Korean taxes for the first 2 years of their employment. Most other teachers have to pay taxes in their home country (or may opt to pay Korean taxes). US citizens, provided they make less than some large figure (I think 75K/year) are also exempt from US taxes.
Total annual payment (including severance pay, settlement allowance, and rural bonuses) should be between $26,000 and $28,000. Doesn’t sound like much, but with the tax benefits, provided housing, and a (seemingly) lower cost of living than the US, this isn’t a bad financial move for me.
This ends my discussion of money. Enjoy some photos:
First day, and some photos
Had the first day of orientation in Seoul. We submitted our flight receipts for reimbursement. The actual training starts tomorrow. Not sure how much they can teach us about teaching in a few days, but I’m thankful for all the help I can get. We wandered around before lunch; here are a few pictures of Seoul near the university:
Edit: I should probably add some details. We flew into Incheon International Airport in Seoul. I’m not sure how long the bus ride to the university was, but pretty long. At least 1.5 hours. We’re staying at Konkuk Univesity. Accommodations are pretty nice for a dorm. Everything seems brand-new. As I mentioned in my last twitter update, my stomach is still adjusting to the food, but things are going well.
