A Very Lengthy Week

Dear Landlord,
May you never try to solve another computer problem again.


This week...this week...this week..it was a very very very HARD week. I'm going to go ahead and say it was probably the worst week I've had in maybe 4 or 5 years. On Wednesday someone asked me, "What can I do for you?" and I said, "Buy me a one way ticket to Chicago, Illinois." However, now that it's Monday and I'm looking back, it still was difficult but at the same time, I felt alot of love from most of my classes.


Although this week will forever be burned in my memory as a week of computer mayhem, there was surprisingly some very great moments. But let me just tell you first about the frustrations and then I will cheer you up with stories from my ever entertaining students.


So, last Sunday, I got home to an apartment that had no internet connection. This has happened before when it's been rainy, so I didn't think much of it. I spent my Sunday night watching a documentary on sharks..pretty interesting..I even thought to myself, "wow, it's kind of nice not having internet." But then Monday came and still no internet. So, I told my school and they were supposedly going to take care of it. I'm pretty sure they thought the internet would somehow miraculously fix itself. Monday night came and still no internet connection. This is when I started to get a little irked. I hadn't realized how much I depend on the internet. It's my lifeline for keeping up relationships back home and without it, my world felt much more isolated and lonely. Tuesday came..Oh Tuesday, this is when it all went down. I did everything as usual, I walked into school around 3 pm..ready to eat some lunch and relax a little before my class at 4. But my director tells me I need to go home and drop off a key for the internet guy to come. I was a little peeved. I wish they would have told me the night before when they had talked to the guy, but nonetheless, I jumped in a taxi and ran back home.


I debated bringing my computer with me for this short run home, but decided I should bring it so I could check one last time if it was working. I also tried to explain to my director that the internet guy needed to know the problem was with the IP address for my computer, not the internet connection. I'm pretty sure she didn't tell him. So, I got home and quickly tried plugging the internet in...nada. I put my computer on my bed and decided I needed to just chill for a bit. So, in attempt to put my legs out in front of me, I leaned a little too much on my computer and heard a "pop." My heart immediately dropped. I opened the computer to find a huge spider like crack on the glass (not the LCD). My immediate thoughts, "eeeeeeee...it's ok...it's ok...Natalee, only 4 hours north of you there are children starving, people dying from cureable diseases, people's homes being washed away in this heavy heavy rain, and a whole nation is being oppressed by a man named Kim Jong Il." Putting it in perspective like that really helped, but it was still beyond frustrating.


So, I came back to school, but not before I almost forgot to leave the key for the internet guy...the whole purpose for this visit. I got back to school feeling pretty low. My students were so sweet though. They would say, "teacher, it's ok, look at my cell phone" showing me their cell phone that's screen was completely shattered. Or one student just patted my back for like 30 seconds saying, "teacha, it's ok...it's ok.."


Finally I was on my way home and apparently the internet guy had called and said it was a really easy fix that my landlord could do. He just needed to change the IP address for the apartment and enter the information into the computer. So, the landlord met me at the door when I got back. He came in, he seemed nice, but still very Korean in his actions...a little pushy, trying to do everything so quickly, didn't speak a lick of English, and I'm pretty sure he'd never seen an Apple computer before...and maybe he'd never seen a computer before? But I knew I was in trouble when I look over and see he had only succeeded to magnify the font on the computer to about 250%. I tried calling Yogita and having her explain it to him in Korean but he wasn't listening to her and ended up just hanging up the phone. This was beyond frustrating. He spent 40 minutes in my apartment messing with the display and lighting settings, and I kept saying, "change the IP address," and then we would just stare at each other and recognize that large language wall between us.


He finally left, and I tried for another half hour to fix it myself, while talking to my coworker Jemal. But Jemal decided he needed to come look at it on Wednesday afternoon. Tuesday ended..the internet not fixed and the computer screen broken, so I went to bed feeling hungry, frustrated, and homesick. On Wednesday morning, I think my students were pretty concerned for me..I must have looked pretty war torned because my adult students said, "oh..um..are you sick?" and then I semi broke down and just told them about the computer screen, the internet problem, the frustrations with the landlord, and how I hadn't talked to my mom or anyone else for that matter in over a week and was feeling pretty lonely...I didn't cry, but I could feel the ducts filling up. They really care about me, even though we have this language barrier, I could feel their sympathy and concern for me. Those students really kept me encouraged all week..whenever I walk in that classroom, it feels so comfortable and homey.


Wednesday afternoon Jemal spent his whole break trying to fix my internet issue, but we concluded this was something the landlord needed to fix..but since that was such a success the night before, we decided we needed to get the internet company to just come directly when I was home. Unfortunately, they couldn't come until Friday afternoon, so I had to survive another few days with no internet. Finally Friday came and so did the internet guy. It took maybe 5 minutes, and the internet was back up...unfortunately, he couldn't perform a miracle and fix my broken computer screen as well.


I know this story doesn't sound like it would create such a terrible week, and it probably really isn't that big of deal to anyone else, but in the moment, it was difficult to be in this country where businesses don't really do their best to please their customers, and people "want" to help, but just aren't very proactive about doing anything. I really could go on and on about this ordeal and about how not having internet would have changed this whole experience of living in a foreign country, but let's get to the good stuff.


Let's start with Monday before chaotic Tuesday began. My 4pm class of elementary students finally finished their book. They didn't just finish it, they killed it. They are so good at English. I feel like when I'm in that class, I'm in an elementary class in the U.S. So, in the book, one of the questions was "Have you ever eaten Ravioli?" They were all so curious about Ravioli. So, for the finishing the book party I decided to get some frozen ravioli from base and introduce these kids to some good eatin. They LOVED it! When I was cleaning up, they came into the teacher's lounge and asked for a bag to bring home to "show their mom, dad, sister, and cousins," I was like, "but Charlie, you have two raviolis left." They somehow made it work.

Oh Sharon, my English All-Star:

Getting in touch with my Italian side.


Of course my morning class contributed to the humorous moments of the week. On Tuesday we were talking about things we've tried, and someone asks the class, "have you ever tried drugs?" Not surprisingly Mrs. Nam says, "I have." Mrs. Nam, what a daredevil! Turns out she misunderstood and reneged on her confession...I'm still skeptical.

Also, in that class, there is a newer student who is about my age and is very serious about studying English. Anyways, we were all talking and one of the questions in the book was, "who was the last person you kissed?" I felt like it was a little too personal so I edited "kissed" out and replaced it with "hugged." One of the ladies asked the guy, "When did you last hug your mother?" His response: "I've never." Everybody let out a little gasp and then the "mothers" in the room turn to me and say, "You say his homework is hug his mother." I totally agreed, but he came in the next day and said he couldn't do it...it's too strange to hug her now that he's grown. All the "mothers" were disappointed and demanded he be punished...I didn't punish him.

During one of the company classes this week, I walked in and one of the students says to me, "Teacher, you are dressed to kill me." My response, "Jim 1)It's "You're dressed to kill." 2) Who taught you this? and 3) You are a married man! :) :) :)

I had been waiting for Thursday to come for awhile. According the Lunar Calendar (whatever that means) July 14 was supposed to be the hottest day of the year. Here in Korea we celebrate 3 of the hottest days of the year by eating a hot bowl of Sumgyetong (boiled chicken soup) and watermelon. So, after our company class on Thursday, we were able to eat in the company's cafeteria and participate in this tradition. They say Sumgyetong gives you special amount of energy and improves your skin...I did notice that my workout that day was abnormally awesome and I was complimented by a Korean on my appearance the next day..I guess it really works..Asia's best kept secret.

I couldn't have wanted a weekend to come more than I wanted this one. I just needed to unwind from the absurdity of the week. On Saturday, I went to see Harry Potter 7 part 2 with one of my favorite students! Her name is Seul Gi, which means "wisdom" in Korean. She is so sweet, she's 17 and just recently moved to Gunsan. So we saw Harry Potter in the afternoon, did some shopping, and hung out at a coffee shop for most of Saturday evening.

It's funny because I was a little nervous that her mom and dad would think it's weird that this 2o something foreigner wanted to see a movie with their daughter since they've never met me, but it was the total opposite. We were talking and her mom called her, Seul Gi laughed and said, "my mother says she loves you!" I'm telling you, people love English here and they love foreigners. It was sweet.

On Sunday after church, I had plans with a couple girls from my company class. They semi invited themselves over the week before, but I was excited to have guests. I haven't really entertained people in my apartment since it's a little tight in my one roomer. But, they came on over and I cooked up some of the frozen ravioli that I had, did my best at attempting my mother's amazing bruschetta, made a quick tossed salad, and threw some chicken, noodles, and (canned) alfredo sauce together for the second Italian feast of the week!

If you notice it's a little smoky in the background, it could be that I burned the rest of the bruschetta...I'm not my mother yet.

So, we ate, played this awesome game that I will surely bring back to the U.S. with me, and it was a really good night! I forgot how much I enjoy having people over and playing games, even if there is a pretty large language barrier...food and games break all sorts of barriers :)

And there you have it. I know it was a little lengthy, but that's how my week felt..lengthy. Hope you are doing well and enjoying the summer heat, remember sunscreen or as we call it in Korea, suncream!