A funny tale in the end
Sam – 3
Cheon – River
Po – Port
The teachers at school aren’t sure, but Samcheon Po most likely means the port of three rivers. These days, it’s little more than a name to most people here. I suppose that’s how I feel about places like Christchurch and Canterbury, Lancaster Park, and Burnham Camp Golf Club. Being here though, I try, or tried, to make sense of everything. Tried to find the method or reason or meaning behind everything. Whether it’s something physical, like the small shelters built in the mountains, or something cultural, like taking your shoes off before sitting on the floor of those shelters while eating your lunch.
In some ways, I feel like I’ve really gone beyond myself while I’ve been here. Heading off to work each day can be the dawning of a new world each moment. I see something new every day, whether it be how similar we all are as human beings, or how different. Many times, I found myself loving the exchange.
That said, being raised in 1980s Canterbury (not particularly diverse at the time), culture clashes really are a new experience every time. I must admit, when something occurs, I’m most likely to be strong willed and stick to my guns (perhaps that’s due to growing up with a 120kg behemoth for a brother :-)
I suppose, what I’m saying is, while I was seeking the meaning of everything, I wonder if I missed the point. Or the essence of what it is to come somewhere completely foreign and experience it firsthand. Or maybe I did, and I dealt with it well. Let’s put this in life’s mystery file…
Samcheon Po is a wonderful little town. And many of the people are very friendly. It’s the sort of place one walks down the street and feels very safe. I had not one issue at all in my time here. I know 8 months isn’t a long time, but it can be when your hair is dyed blond, you’ve got a goatee, wearing sharkies (these things are very foreign to Koreans outside the major cities).
I spent many a night eating chicken and having a drink with some fishermen who are great guys (I even teach some of their kids).
Mountains and the beach are all within walking distance of home. A pleasant place to be.
But isolated. Sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, even though I had a few friends, I just seemed to be separated from people whom I felt understood me. My colleagues are lovely people, but fun times at work didn’t graduate into many invites to parties or movies or coffee or walks or whatever. But that’s as much my fault. It seemed every other weekend I was off to Busan or Seoul. Perhaps the fact I was already familiar with aspects of Korea made me more flippant when I arrived and less interested in everything than the teachers at school were hoping. Mystery file again…
The students really made my days. We seem to laugh our way through 75% of the classes. I really notice how boring it is at school when English class gets cancelled. The most fun I had was hanging out in the lunch room with the kids teaching me Korean words for spoon, chair, table, fingers, head, whatever came up (most promptly forgotten).
At some point, it became more than just a job. I enjoy what I do. But the lifestyle I’ve been leading isn’t the best.
Too much downtime, too little to do. In the past 3 months, I’ve worked a grand total of sweet f*** all. I’m not complaining about that, but when you’re not working much, you need to be busy doing something else. That, most likely, was my downfall. I didn’t busy myself outside of work. In fact, if we get down to it, this update is relatively event-free because I’ve done very little lately. Or, at least, I feel like I have. Okay, I’ll try to make a list:
Work
* the tension has gone, mostly, between myself and the teachers I talk to, but those who don’t speak English (or don’t speak to me often) are a little more standoffish after the events in the past few weeks. Fair enough. After talking to a few people, it seems Koreans really do take it personally when a colleague quits. Perhaps they consider it my fault, my issues, or perhaps they feel a little powerless. Mystery...
* I’m going to miss my grade 3,4 and 5 kids. And a few 6ers. I’m not every students best friend, but I’ve tried to at least make their days a little brighter (I wasn’t a good student, so prefer to have a laugh rather than be particularly regimented)
Korea
* got away to Busan, Seoul and Shihwa to visit friends before taking off. Can’t say I saw everyone I wanted to see and said everything I wanted to say (who ever does?) but it was nice to see people. Admittedly, I dedicated a few hours to watching some rugby and wasn’t particularly sociable… (the rugby was good and my team won)
Travel
* wahoo! It’s full steam ahead! I’m hunting the best way to get to places!! I bought myself a new backpack, some tuppaware containers, and vegemite! The beginning of the essentials!!! Once I have my passport, tickets, travel visas and backpack, I think the simmering excitement is going to boil.
General life
* Observations often stream out of my head, but for this post, I think I'll leave them out of it. Mystery file, one more time :D
* I don’t really know where I’m headed. I don’t really know what’s around the corner. I don’t have many ties to anything. For a long time, that’s felt like a great way to live, and many people have told me how envious they are of that lifestyle. At some point though, I think it has all caught up with me. I may not want everything that others want (I won’t deny my desire for power, fame and money), but I suppose at some point, I stopped questioning why other people wanted things like a house, a career, a family, when I started seeing similar wants in myself.
Thanks for reading this far. Please take care, wherever and whenever you are.
Wow, this one got deep, introspective and not particularly funny. Here’s a funny story to reward those who got to the end:
I can’t find quarter cut watermelons in Korea, but when I spotted half-cut ones, I got one. Then I spent the next 2 nights gorging myself on it. Crikey they’re filling. I was inching pieces of watermelon into my mouth, just to finish the fucker, when my doorbell rang. My landlady was there to apologise for some guy smashing a window down the corridor in the middle of the night (he was drunk, loud, and kicking the crap out of a woman’s door at the time). So, to appease the general collective’s displeasure, she’d bought everyone a watermelon. Tonight, I have a watermelon to cut in to, but by crikey am I avoiding it. Okay, it was funnier with the actions and the stomach aches and “Watermelon! NOOOOOOO!!!” in my grade 4 class, but perhaps you had to be there.
Cheon – River
Po – Port
The teachers at school aren’t sure, but Samcheon Po most likely means the port of three rivers. These days, it’s little more than a name to most people here. I suppose that’s how I feel about places like Christchurch and Canterbury, Lancaster Park, and Burnham Camp Golf Club. Being here though, I try, or tried, to make sense of everything. Tried to find the method or reason or meaning behind everything. Whether it’s something physical, like the small shelters built in the mountains, or something cultural, like taking your shoes off before sitting on the floor of those shelters while eating your lunch.
In some ways, I feel like I’ve really gone beyond myself while I’ve been here. Heading off to work each day can be the dawning of a new world each moment. I see something new every day, whether it be how similar we all are as human beings, or how different. Many times, I found myself loving the exchange.
That said, being raised in 1980s Canterbury (not particularly diverse at the time), culture clashes really are a new experience every time. I must admit, when something occurs, I’m most likely to be strong willed and stick to my guns (perhaps that’s due to growing up with a 120kg behemoth for a brother :-)
I suppose, what I’m saying is, while I was seeking the meaning of everything, I wonder if I missed the point. Or the essence of what it is to come somewhere completely foreign and experience it firsthand. Or maybe I did, and I dealt with it well. Let’s put this in life’s mystery file…
Samcheon Po is a wonderful little town. And many of the people are very friendly. It’s the sort of place one walks down the street and feels very safe. I had not one issue at all in my time here. I know 8 months isn’t a long time, but it can be when your hair is dyed blond, you’ve got a goatee, wearing sharkies (these things are very foreign to Koreans outside the major cities).
I spent many a night eating chicken and having a drink with some fishermen who are great guys (I even teach some of their kids).
Mountains and the beach are all within walking distance of home. A pleasant place to be.
But isolated. Sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, even though I had a few friends, I just seemed to be separated from people whom I felt understood me. My colleagues are lovely people, but fun times at work didn’t graduate into many invites to parties or movies or coffee or walks or whatever. But that’s as much my fault. It seemed every other weekend I was off to Busan or Seoul. Perhaps the fact I was already familiar with aspects of Korea made me more flippant when I arrived and less interested in everything than the teachers at school were hoping. Mystery file again…
The students really made my days. We seem to laugh our way through 75% of the classes. I really notice how boring it is at school when English class gets cancelled. The most fun I had was hanging out in the lunch room with the kids teaching me Korean words for spoon, chair, table, fingers, head, whatever came up (most promptly forgotten).
At some point, it became more than just a job. I enjoy what I do. But the lifestyle I’ve been leading isn’t the best.
Too much downtime, too little to do. In the past 3 months, I’ve worked a grand total of sweet f*** all. I’m not complaining about that, but when you’re not working much, you need to be busy doing something else. That, most likely, was my downfall. I didn’t busy myself outside of work. In fact, if we get down to it, this update is relatively event-free because I’ve done very little lately. Or, at least, I feel like I have. Okay, I’ll try to make a list:
Work
* the tension has gone, mostly, between myself and the teachers I talk to, but those who don’t speak English (or don’t speak to me often) are a little more standoffish after the events in the past few weeks. Fair enough. After talking to a few people, it seems Koreans really do take it personally when a colleague quits. Perhaps they consider it my fault, my issues, or perhaps they feel a little powerless. Mystery...
* I’m going to miss my grade 3,4 and 5 kids. And a few 6ers. I’m not every students best friend, but I’ve tried to at least make their days a little brighter (I wasn’t a good student, so prefer to have a laugh rather than be particularly regimented)
Korea
* got away to Busan, Seoul and Shihwa to visit friends before taking off. Can’t say I saw everyone I wanted to see and said everything I wanted to say (who ever does?) but it was nice to see people. Admittedly, I dedicated a few hours to watching some rugby and wasn’t particularly sociable… (the rugby was good and my team won)
Travel
* wahoo! It’s full steam ahead! I’m hunting the best way to get to places!! I bought myself a new backpack, some tuppaware containers, and vegemite! The beginning of the essentials!!! Once I have my passport, tickets, travel visas and backpack, I think the simmering excitement is going to boil.
General life
* Observations often stream out of my head, but for this post, I think I'll leave them out of it. Mystery file, one more time :D
* I don’t really know where I’m headed. I don’t really know what’s around the corner. I don’t have many ties to anything. For a long time, that’s felt like a great way to live, and many people have told me how envious they are of that lifestyle. At some point though, I think it has all caught up with me. I may not want everything that others want (I won’t deny my desire for power, fame and money), but I suppose at some point, I stopped questioning why other people wanted things like a house, a career, a family, when I started seeing similar wants in myself.
Thanks for reading this far. Please take care, wherever and whenever you are.
Wow, this one got deep, introspective and not particularly funny. Here’s a funny story to reward those who got to the end:
I can’t find quarter cut watermelons in Korea, but when I spotted half-cut ones, I got one. Then I spent the next 2 nights gorging myself on it. Crikey they’re filling. I was inching pieces of watermelon into my mouth, just to finish the fucker, when my doorbell rang. My landlady was there to apologise for some guy smashing a window down the corridor in the middle of the night (he was drunk, loud, and kicking the crap out of a woman’s door at the time). So, to appease the general collective’s displeasure, she’d bought everyone a watermelon. Tonight, I have a watermelon to cut in to, but by crikey am I avoiding it. Okay, it was funnier with the actions and the stomach aches and “Watermelon! NOOOOOOO!!!” in my grade 4 class, but perhaps you had to be there.
posted by the Emperor Fabulous at 5:50 AM
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