My Korean Barber

ROCKS!

I've been going to a barber next to my apartment building for my simple buzz cut, and each time I'm more impressed by the guy.  The first time entering the barber shop was a bit of a mystery due to the twirly traditional barber shop sign out front.  I had heard about these signs and what they could mean, but I couldn't recall how to tell what one was the barber shop and what one would involve old women, plastic gloves, and a horizontal "chair."  I was relatively certain I was safe due to the exterior of the building, but living next to so many love motels made me nervous. Once inside, I saw that it is a rinky-dink barber shop that actually reminds me of a place I went with my dad as a kid.  Just a couple barber chairs and a couch is all, I can picture old korean men sitting around drinking coffee and talking about the news.

 After finally mustering up the courage to open the door to see what was in side (bed or chair?) I saw an old guy sitting on the couch watching tv, and I breathed a sigh of relief.  Approximately two seconds later I thought "what if this actually is one of the other barber sign-bearing places of business, but a dude runs it?!?!" The old guy gave me a big smile and ushered me to the barber chair, and whipped out his clippers... I was finally relieved, and ready to try to explain what I wanted done with my hair.  One would think this would be simple and obvious, however he tried to shape the sides longer than the other hairs resulting in one goofy-ass haircut.  After finally conveying my desired buzz he was happy to fix his creation.

And that is the best part about my barber, he tries SOOOO hard.  First, he straps me into the chair and covers me with 2 or 3 different items to save me from getting a single hair on my shirt, then he methodically clips my hair making sure not to miss a single spot.  He uses three different clippers, depending on what part of my head he is cutting, and is so careful around my  ears I feel like he thinks my head is a balloon ready to pop if he ever were to accidently stab me with the clipper.

Next he scours my entire head looking for strays that he missed.  I watch him in them mirror, and he actually looks like a sculptor at work.  After working around my entire head and clipping imaginary stray hairs he lathers the entire perimeter of my hair with some shave cream.  He then proceeds to take a straight blade and shaves the lathered area to make sure I have a sharp looking hairdo.  Never before have I shaved or thought about shaving my widow peaks, but he did, and continues to every time I get a hair cut.  Perhaps thats not the oddest part though, as he shaves MY EARS too.  It wouldn't make sense to bend my ear and shave behind it, so to complete the perimeter he shaves my ears EVERY time.  I checked before going to the barber the 2nd time to see how long my ears' hair was, and it was non-existent (most likely due to the previous visit).  Nonetheless, my barber makes sure I look good before leaving his chair.

Now, at this point during the first experience I was truly amazed at the quality of haircut I was receiving, and was ready to pay him many compliments on my way out, but it turns out the haircut was only 1/2 over.  My barber then changed the covers he had on me to prevent any hair from falling on my clothes and put a tray on my shoulders that fit snug around my neck.  I was confused, and he could tell from the look on my face, so he happily explained in korean.  I nodded with a grin because thats my answer to every korean who speaks to me, and he lathered up my head with some sort of soap.  Now I thought he was going to shave my head, which had me a bit worried because I didn't know how to stop him, and I wasn't sure how my school would take it if I showed up as a skinhead one day to teach the 4th graders.  So, I braced my hands on the chair's armrests ready to bolt outa the chair if he brought a razor anywhere near me, but he pulled out an electric massage tool and gave me a head massage for a few minutes.  REALLY RELAXING!  and I once again my heart returned to a normal pace.  Next, he threw on some gloves and started giving me a massage with his hands which was OK too until he started pushing certain spots on my head.  It kinda hurts, and it seems like he's searching for some soft spot in my head that'll cause permanent damage... I'd be cool with this type of thing if I could communicate to understand what is going on, but, instead, I have a guy who doesn't seem to have all his teeth pushing on my head as hard as he can, with an intent that doesn't seem healthy.  He finally stops and I'm still alive, so I figure he must have an idea of what he's doing so I stay seated.    

The haircut experience continues as he takes the toiletseat bowl off my shoulders and asks me over and over to stand up (in korean) and come to the sink.  He sits me in front of a large sink and pushes my head over it to start washing my head.  Then he pulls out some ball that looks like one my mom uses in the dryer and starts scrubbing my head with extra elbow grease.  Finally he throws a towel on my shoulder and says something (guess what language he said it in...) so I assume I'm suppose to get up, but he pushes me back down and makes me wash my face and hands.  I comply, because frankly at this point I'm so confused/lost that I just want to make it out of this in one piece.

The last step of my korean haircut experience is to sit in a new chair while he sprays products on my head and combs my 1/8" haircut.  I just smile at how ridiculous it is, and thank him a lot (partially because he deserves it, and partially because thats 1 of 2 phrases I know in korean). I splash some aftershave on my face because he says to, and its complete.  TA-DA!!!  FINISHED!

As I am shuffling some money in my wallet to pay the guy I couldn't help but think it was going to be expensive because he did put in a ton of effort.  I pull out two 10,000 won bills thinking I'll just get by  the language barrier by paying too much and seeing how much he gives back (a practice I still use today).  He laughed at me and took 1 of the 10,000 won bills and returned with 2,000 won in change.  I couldn't believe it!  This amazing haircut for 8,000 won?  I tried to tip the guy the remaining 2,000 won, but he refused, so I received the best haircut of my life for less than 8 USD.

And that is why my korean barber rocks.  I've done this process about 4 times now, and I can tell he gets a kick out of cutting red hair.  I guess I can't escape the laughter...

My experience at the barber is only one example of living in korea, but I have had a lot of similar situations in the day-to-day living here.  In the beginning every encounter was an unknown, and thus a bit stressful.  However, now I realize how awesome most korean people are, and how happy they are to help.

week in review

The last seven days or so have been pretty entertaining, so I thought I'd blog.

First, SANTACON was better than I had expected, with seemingly thousands of people dressed in santa gear.  I didn't take any photos to show the red mob, but I'm sure you can picture a thousand santas at a bar/park.  It was amazing to see, and clearly the korean people who live in Seoul agreed.  I think it must be odd for them to go about their daily lives with the expat community celebrating our many holidays (halloween, christmas, can't wait for St. Patty's day).  I can't help but think they're concerned for their children's education when they only see us together when we're dressed up and drinking.  Oh Well.

SANTA!?!?  I KNOW HIM!

On Wednesday the entire country had a war drill at 2 PM.  I didn't realize the magnitude of the drill until we tried to leave a bit early to see the doctor... all cars pulled off the road and had to find a fallout shelter, & fake North Korean jets flew over the major cities.  A bit intense, but I didn't get too into it since we had someone from our school taking pictures of everything.  Instead, I continued my unfinished games of rock-paper-scissors with some students, and played a game of 'who could knock over who' while squatting with some other teachers (I lost, fancy that).

Wednesday was also a sad day in korea due to the departure of a good friend, Alex Kimball.  Kimball and I lived a few blocks apart and got dinner together regularly.  It was a privilege to meet and hangout with him on a regular basis, and he will most certainly be missed.

 Here is Kimball and me on the metro

yeah, we're cool

This week also concludes my after-school duties.  Both my advanced class, and my phonics class have been some of my fondest memories from teaching so far.  Some of the students in my phonics class made phenomenal progress, and it shows in their participation in regular class activities.  Both classes were a refreshing change of pace from the regular classes due to their desire to improve, and the respect they showed me.  

Only one more week of classes before my trip home!  I'm really excited to see everyone and indulge in the few things I miss.  Also, I found out I will have my cell phone reactivated while I'm back, so feel free to call/text while I'm home.  

fast times at Maeyeoul Elementary

Dearest readers, I'm sincerely sorry that I have not updated this blog thing in so long.  If it is true that it is the thought that counts then I have written hundreds of posts.

Recently I have been on cruise control at school... planning the occasional lesson, playing rock paper scissors, and giving an abundance of high fives.  Students have lost nearly all interest in classes as the semester draws to a close, and my lessons have taken that into account.  Games have increased, curriculum has seen some interesting twists, and rules seem to be becoming more like driving laws (polite suggestions) opposed to absolutes.

The faculty at my school plays volleyball every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 which is nice since it ends my school day 40 minutes early, and I get a little run around time in the gym.  I didn't realize how serious this was until we had some ex-professional volleyball players attend one of our bi-weekly practice sessions.  At first I was a bit skeptical about the competitive nature (surprisingly competitive!) of after school volleyball between middle aged men, but I am really enjoying it.  I think other members of the faculty who were previously too nervous to talk to me are now trying to communicate with me even though its very difficult and sometimes embarrassing for them.

Its hard to believe its nearly Christmas!  Time is flying by here, but I suppose thats an indication of how much I am enjoying my time in Korea, and how busy I am.  Hard to believe its been 5 or 6 weeks since I was dressed as a chicken and clucking my way around Seoul.  This coming weekend I'll be roaming Seoul dressed as Santa Claus and taking part in Santacon- Seoul.  The mob of Santa's should be a blast and it will definitely be fun to see all the Koreans' reactions.

Coming up on the 26th of December I'll be landing in La Crosse to visit friends and family for a while.  No definite plans as now yet, but I do plan on spending NYE in Madison!   I'm REALLY looking forward to coming home to see all of my family.  Since I moved to Madison and now the ROK, and Josh (brother) moved to Wyoming, it has become difficult to see each other.  Luckily our paths will cross over this vacation, and we'll get to catch up in person, opposed to skype.  One thing I'm NOT looking forward to is Wisconsin's freezing winter.  Suwon has had little more than flurries recently, and even that doesn't stick to the ground.  I am mildly concerned about flying home in the winter with little time between connecting flights.  The odds of flights being on time from Incheon-Detroit-Minneapolis-La Crosse seem slim, but hopefully all goes as planned.

That'll be all for now, but I like adding a picture or two on each post of students that make my life easier or fun.

1st and 2nd graders singing "Today is Monday" at the English Festival.  "All I want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" would have been more appropriate.  

A clown dressed in a monkey suit. 

D, playing doctor at the English Festival.  Student: "I have broken head"

4th grader.  Always with a smile, and always participating.  Receiver of many a high five.

ground

I'm gunna cover a lotta ground on this post...  Its been a few weeks since I've posted anything (fancy that) so here are a few things that were memorable from the last few weeks.  First, halloween was ridiculous, and I was dressed as a chicken.  Big thanks to Diana (duck) for helping me with the costume.

Open your eyes, D!

My school had a school-wide festival, and all the kids dressed up in costumes or traditional garb to do some sort of dance/skit/music for all of their parents.  Overall I'd say it was a huge success, and I'm glad I got to watch it.  I didn't get too many quality pictures from the event, but some of the teachers at school have some pictures they said I could steal from them.  Here are a few that I took:

two cute kids, not really sure what they said, but it was the beginning of the whole festival.  

look! a gaggle of asian elfs

traditional korean drumming

Like I said, I thought the festival was a huge success, and the kids did a great job!

I should also introduce a couple co-workers who have helped me immensely.  Gemma, who is in charge of English at Maeyeoul Elementary (my school), has bent over backwards for me since I've arrived.  She was the person waiting in Incheon Int'l for me, and is the one that has helped me since I stepped into South Korea.  Big Thanks to her, and all of her efforts!  

Gemma to the left, and a fellow teacher to the right.  

Second is Edward.  Although he is two years older than me, he is also in his first year of teaching.  They have two years of mandatory military service, thus he is just now beginning his career in education.  I also stayed a week with him in his apartment when I first arrived because the previous native speaker was still occupying my current apartment.  It certainly wasn't the easiest situation for either of us, but I think it was extraordinarily generous of him. 

Edward preparing for a lesson

Edward explaining a game

Last, is Fran.  Fran rocks and I can't really explain how much she has helped me.  In a previous post I mentioned things weren't very easy to set up (cell phone, bank, ARC) and Fran is the one who took me to all of those places for the  2nd time and fixed everything.  But thats not the only reason Fran deserves credit, she keeps me sane during the week as she is the best english speaker at the school.  She's my ally at school functions when I don't have many people to talk to, and we share many a laughs.  She is a great person, and I'm lucky to have such an experienced teacher as a resource as I wade through this first year of teaching.  

Fran and I visited Seoul

you can also see the three teachers in my facebook profile.  Gemma is to the far left, Edward is sitting next to me, and Fran is over my left shoulder.

Last thing for today's blog... Dak Galbi!!!

By far my favorite food since coming to Korea, and I go out with a couple UW guys every week to get it (Nate, Kimball, Wolfish).  It's delectable, and I think if it were in the US it would be a huge success.  It's veggies, chicken, rice noodles, and some seasoning.  Thats an oversimplification, but I don't care.  Either come to Korea to try it, or wikipedia/google it.  

before

After

funny photo

We set up a market for our 4th graders and provided fake money for them to go around buying and selling items they had brought from home.  Most items were pretty basic (dolls, stickers, small toys), but my first class had a large number of toy hand guns.  In the US this would never fly, but in Korea you can pretend to shoot your handy thumb+index finger gun at your neighbor till you turn blue.  I think this photo is hilarious because they're negotiating the price of a handgun, and it's the most serious I've seen these kids so far this year.   

Whatever it takes to get them to speak English

getting the hang of it

Wow, I really suck at blogging.  I'll try again, here we go...

Last time I ended by mentioning the two German girls that were visiting, Chrissi and Enna.  It seems like forever ago already that we went hiking, but it was a great trip to Seoraksan National Park where we did some hiking and exploring of the small sea city called Sokcho.  I spent a fair amount of time remembering my time in Germany, and realizing the impacts of my time there.  For many people who have done study abroads/exchanges the friendships created aren't usually kept, and to be honest it started to seem that way for me as well.  Thankfully, Enna and Chrissi visited during the Chuseok holiday break from school, so we had 9 days to travel together and catch up with each other.  Even though 4-5 years have passed since we had seen each other it really didn't seem like it.  Perhaps thats why I describe them as sisters more so than friends from Germany.  In any event I'm so grateful that they came to visit, and I can't wait to return to Germany to see them and their families!

View from our picnic location.  

Chrissi and Enna atop a mountain.  The city of Chuncheon below.

I'm also starting to get the hang of life in Korea.  The initial stage of chaos and blind-happiness has worn off, and life is beginning to follow some sort of routine.  Its hard to describe how life is here due to the language barrier and differences in culture, and sometimes its so aggravating that you only wish for a day of normal interactions.  Simple things such as setting up a bank account or cell phone account are a hassle, and I feel like a small child being led around by my korean caretaker as they fix everything for me.  But, there really is no other way, unless I want to spend 4X the amount of time to get the accounts set up.  Also, this would be a proper time to point out how helpful Koreans are.  Getting my ARC (alien registration card), cell phone, and bank account open has been a bit difficult.  Actually, no, really its been an absolute bitch, and a burden on 2-3 teachers other than myself, along with the businesses that I am going to.  However, they have demonstrated unbelievable patience and truly care that it all gets taken care of in as timely of a fashion as possible.  They have made my life much smoother than it should have been, and I am much indebted to them for all of their hard work.  All I can offer in return is a poorly pronounced 'Gamsa homnida" (thank you) and as big of a smile as I can muster up in crappy situations we found ourselves in.  Thankfully everything is set up, and no one was hurt. =)   

I've also met a ton of great people while in Korea, and I'm excited to meet more people.  It was the one thing that made me nervous about coming to Korea, and it turned out to be one of the best parts so far.  Everyone has been a lot of fun, and we seem to all get along really well.  Unless I'm the guy that no one likes and everyone knows but this guy.  I don't think thats the case, but if it is, SHIT!  

Last thing for today... I chaperoned a 5th grade field trip to a science museum a week ago and had a good time.  The kids LOVE kpop (korean pop music) and they watched kpop music videos for two hours and didn't make a noise (won't forget that).   Not much to talk about, but I thought I'd show a few pictures of my students.  

They followed me all day trying to teach me bad things to say in Korean.  

watching kpop videos.  there were 65 heads in the isle before I tried to take the pic.

Daniel, one of my funniest students.  "Keith, give me a chance!!!" when I don't call on him in class.

First few weeks in Korea

I decided to start a blog about my time in Korea, so here it is.  Initially I was against writing a blog, but perhaps it'll help me remember my time here, and also people can witness some of the fun/funny/stupid/crazy things that have happened to me so far, and whatever happens in the coming months.  


So, I landed a few weeks ago, and have been settling into my apartment for the last couple weeks.  So far I really like the place, and the location is great in my city. There are 7 UW grads in my town, so we meet quite regularly for dinner and to share our stories from school.  


My school is great, especially because its brand new.  It was built a year ago, and its a rather small elementary school. I teach 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, which can be a lot of lesson planning, but at least I get to teach something new every day.  The kids are great, and most have some desire to learn English, but of course there are some difficult kids too.  Makes me wonder what I was like for my 4th-6th grade teachers, I was probably one of those kids.  


Last Friday I had two guests arrive.  Chrissi and Enna, the girls I lived with while I was in Germany.  We've spent a lot of time in Seoul, and have been enjoying catching up with each other (it has been 5 years already...).  Tomorrow we are planning on going hiking on the eastern side of Korea, and it should be a lot of fun if the weather cooperates.  

in the hostel.  chrissi is to my right, enna to my left

the north tower in Seoul.

So that's a good start to this blog thing.  I don't know if I'll keep up with it or not, but we'll see.  Future posts will have more detail, but I thought I'd recap the first few weeks.  


take care.