Since my arrival in Seoul, my life has been moving on Korean time. Meaning, all hours nonstop. That's the thing that is so mind boggling to me. Time of day apparently holds no importance to Koreans. Last week, when I was out in Seoul, I saw a couple walking their baby in a stroller. Sounds completely normal right, well add in the fact that it was 1:30am, and it completely blows your mind! School kids here go to school from morning until early to mid-afternoon, depending on when they start, then go to hagwons (supplementary schools-I work for an English language hagwon) until 10-11 at night, and then probably get home around 11:30 or midnight, and then do it all over again the next day. Mind you, these are elementary and middle school kids--mostly the middle school kids. It is not an uncommon sight to see kids in class at my school drinking coffee drinks in class. Sleeping in class is also an everyday occurrence. We are supposed to discourage this activity, but when I heard how these kids live their days, it's really hard for me not to just let them sleep. Most kids go to several hagwons, since they don't go to a single hagwon everyday (I have 4 classes, I see each class twice a week). The norm is about 2-3 hagwons. They have hagwons for various different things: language, music, science, etc.
My life, on the other hand, has transitioned into an entirely new system. I now go to work around 2-2:30pm start teaching my first class at 4:30 and finish my last class at 10:30 (I teach 2 classes-yes, each class is 3 hrs. long). Then we are hurried out of the building promptly by 10:30 and from there most of the teachers go out for drinks and food, so I normally get home around 2am and then wake up around 10 or 11 and start my day over. However, I only teach 4 days a week and I have Wednesdays off this term-which, according to the other teachers, is the best schedule. I have to agree, it is quite nice. Mon, Tues, then Thurs, Fri and no class on the weekends. So on free day, I can: explore the mountain trail that is apparently a couple blocks from where I live (I've been told there is a temple somewhere near the top), figure out what the difference is between Seoul milk, morning fresh milk, and fresh milk at the Lotte Mart around the corner, or finally find bottled green tea that is plain tea and not brown rice tea. It's not bad, but when I want something refreshing to drink, I don't normally crave a drink that tastes like rice krispies. So far, the only way I can be sure that the tea is plain tea, is if I defer to the Japanese brand Itoen.
Coming soon: Mind your manners on the Metro; The Elysian fields of electronics; Protein Parties and other tales; Will Kats of Korea ever come to fruition? All this and more after the break!
