Take Out Food in Korea

When I first experienced take out food with some fellow teachers at my school, I thought it was odd that the delivery person brought the food in hard plastic bowls with metal cutlery. The first thing I thought to myself was that I did not want to pay extra for the metal spoon and hard plastic bowls that the food was in. However, I soon realized that the bowl and cutlery were not for garbage like it would have been in Canada. It turns out that the bowls, plates and utensils that were given to us for our meal were not for us to keep or throw away, but to be returned to the restaurant.

After a brief explanation from my colleagues, I was amazemed to learn that the delivery guy  has make two trip to one location when someone orders food. The first to deliver the food, the second to pick up the plates, bowls and cutlery. Wow! I thought to myself.   This created a lot of work for the deivery person, but also went along way to reducing waste. I heard that Korea is a green country, and I am impressed with the way they do delivery.

The delivery guy may not pick the remains up on the same day, but sometimes the day after. This morning when I was leaving my house for work, I noticed that my neighbor left their take out dishes by their door. It was too early for them to have ordered food that morning, so it must have been from the previous night. After eating a take out meal, the procedure is to leave all the dishes by the door. Someone will eventually come and pick them up.

Corporal Punishment

Officially, corporal punishment has been banned in South Korean schools for a few years, however, it does still continue to a certain extent. I have not seen any students hit with sticks, but I have seen ear twisting, head smacking and exercise types of punishments. Here is a wikipedia link I found regarding the governmental standards that one could use in South Korea concerning the stick size that a teacher must use to hit their students( Corporal Punishment Standards). Accoding to this source, only a few provinces have adopted this ban, but it does not seem to include Gyeongsangnam-do (the province where I'm employed). 

Today, during my period 3 lesson, two students came in about 15 minutes late. My co-teacher gave them a short lecture in Korean, and then told them to get on their knees with their hands up in the air. When their shoulders got tired from holding their hands over their heads they would lower them for a few seconds until my co-teacher would give them hell for lowering their hands. They would let out grunts but obey by raising their hands over their heads again. This went on for about 10 minutes until they got into the plank position. If anyone has taken a yoga class, they're probably familiar with this position.  It can be a challenge to stay in plank for even a minute. These students stayed another 5 minutes or so trying to maintain the position. They did not do a very good job at it reverting between planks, downward dog, and completely resting on their hands and knees with head down trying to relieve the pain. However, they would rise up again and do the whole process over again until my co-teach thought that they had enough. This all occurred while the lesson continued. The demeanours of the students was still happy. They were smiling and even participating within the lesson by yelling out answers when they were asked to do so.

Juk Sung and My Schools Garden

This afternoon I was introduced to the school garden at Hacheong middle school. There are many types of leafy greens. After lunch a saw a couple of teachers come in with bags of salad. I asked them about it and they told me I can pick as much as I would like from the school garden. I tried finding the garden right after they told me in excitment but I could not locate it. Luckly, one of the teachers offered to bring me there after one of their classes. I just returned from picking a variety of greens that I plan on eating tonight. I only wanted a little bit of salad but one of the woman at the garden kept filling up my bag for me. Now I have greens that will easily last for the week. Fresh and organic!

This morning I was also given a big bag of Juk Sung (baby bamboo). One of the students had brought them in for the teachers. I will be going home after school today with a lot of nutritious and delicious vegetables. Supper will be yummy tonght!

Bamboo Garden

Yesterday I had the good fortune of visiting the Bamboo garden in Hacheong. I was accompanied by Mr. Seo and Mr. Lee, the gym and math teachers. They took me for a hike through the mountain which is full of bamboo trees. There were also many baby bamboo trees called Juk Sung. The baby bamboo trees are eddible and they are in season. I wish I had pictures showing the beauty of the landscape, trees and general environment. From the top of the mountain, there is a wonderful view of the Korean sea. The sea is surrounded by mountains with many little islands in view. This region is famous for its bamboo. All the mountains here are covered with it. There is also a mixture of palm and pine trees which I thought was abit odd. There must be a meeting of climates in this region. The palm trees do not get very big here, and no they do not have coconuts.

On the way there, we stopped at a beautiful canola garden. However, being a Canadian who has crossed through the prairies, it is nothing in comparison, yet still beautiful. The other two teachers were taking pictures, but I did not have my camera with me. I only found out this morning that it still works. It turned on for about two minutes before dying. It needs new bateries which I will get this weekend in Gohyeon. HomePlus should have a good selection.

Korean Age

A persons age in Korea is a little different than it is in Canada. That is, when someone is born in Korea, they are automatically 1 year old. Four days later, they turn 2. This means that in Korea, I would be 32 years old instead of 30 years old like I am in Canada. I wonder if the world statistics take this into their calculations when they are determining the average life expectancy for a given country. On wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy), the mean life expectancy at birth for Koreans is 80.00 years. They rank 19th overall. Canada's mean life expectancy at birth is 80.54 years. They are ranked 11th. My questions is whether these statistics take into consideration the way that age is calculated here. If I was to subtract two years from the South Korean mean age, they only ranks 45th place behind Czech Republic.

In Korea, it is very important to know someones age. It is often the first question that someone will ask when they first meet. It lets them know how to address the other person. An elder person should be talked to in a different manner than a younger person. There is a sort of hierarchical system that is derived from Confucism. I don't fully understand it yet, but I'm sure I will learn a lot about it throughout the year. Depending on a persons age, different words will be used to adress them. This makes it quite difficult for foreigners because they are simply trying to learn how to greet. I greet everyone the same. I try and use the most respected way of doing so. That means that my elder do not get offended. This also means that I would be giving younsters more respect than they would be use too, but I do not think that would be doing them any harm. Its better than the other way around.

New Friend in Hacheong

I finally found another foreigner in Hacheong. We met up last night and had a few beers together. He arrived at the beginning of the semester which was March 1st. I came in a month later after the semester had already begun. He's teaching at the Hacheong Elementary school while I am at Hacheong middle school. He is a great guy and was really easy to talk too. He enjoys watching chess videos and is currently trying to up his game. That was great news because I am a chess fanatic. I cannot get enough chess. I love playing, watching and studying the game. Perhaps I will study chess with him sometime. The only problem with that is neither of us have a chess board. Perhaps they sell them in Gohyeun. If not, I know that they could be found in Busan. Busan is the nearest metropolis and the second largest city in Korea next to Seoul. I have not been there yet, but I plan on making a trip there in the next couple of weeks. Luckly, there is a direct bus from Gohyeun. I heard mixed messages about how long it takes exaclty. The word on the street is that by bus it can take up to two hours. From other sources it only take 40-60 minutes. I guess I will find out when I finally make the trip.

Korea has a great transportation system throughout the country. The wait time for buses and/or trains is minimal. In Geoje, I heard that the transportation system was not develop, but as I soon found out, that was not entirely true. For someone who is used to Seoul or Busan, I would have to agree that buses do not come as frequently but for my standard, they are still frequent. Every 30 minutes, a bus goes to Hacheong from Gohyeun or leaves Hacheong to Gohyun. The bus stop is also a 3 minute walk from my house. I believe the last bus that leaves Goyheun to Hacheong is at 11:00PM. After that, a cab has to be taken to get back home. Fortunately, cabs a really cheap in Korea. At the same time, I probably will not stay out late many times a month. There will be the odd time or occassion that I do have a late night in Goyheun or Okpo, but the frequency will probably be minimal.

I found out this morning that it only takes around 20 minutes to get to Okpo from Hacheong. I originally thought it would take 35 minutes but that is via the Gohyeun route. It turns out, I can transfer in Yeoncho. From there, buses come every 5 minutes. This is great news because I was thinking that I would not visit Okpo as often because it was too far. There are a lot of foreigners in Okpo and foreigner groups. I don't think I will get lonely if I just put myself out there. So far, even though I do not know many people, my social life has been pretty active. Every week there is some sort of activity. The last two night I went out and it was great. Yesterday I was a bit tired because of all the soju and beer, but today I am feeling better. I only drank a few beers with David but I still managed to make it home by 9:30PM. Tonight I might stay in if nothing comes up, and I would not mind that. However, if something does come up, I will not hesitate to participate in the activity. That's it for now!

Volleyball, Sushi, and Kareoke

Yesterday after school, all the teachers got together and played volleyball in the gym. My team got off to a slow start losing the first two games but winning the last. It was a great bonding experience and keeps the school teachers tight. This is a weekly event. I was suppose to teach an after school class at 3:30, which is when we play volleyball, but they changed my after school class to thurdays. It was very kind of them to change my schedule like that. The teachers are all very welcoming and want to make sure I can participate in their activities.

After getting our heart rates up, we went to eat sushi at a restaurant by the sea. There were so many new types of food that I have never tasted. This included raw octopus, raw clams, raw fish, crabs, snails, urchins, and other types of food that were not familiar to me. I proudly say that I try every single item and for the most part they were all pretty good. The raw clams were very different than any thing I ever experienced. They were hard and crunchy. At first I didn't know if there was bone or if I was supposed to eat the whole piece of clam that I put in my mouth. It turned out that those types of clam were hard and everything was to be eaten. After eating many raw types of seafood, a fish soup was brought to the table. Everyone serve themselves from the big bowl into personal sized ones. My vice-principal served mine and gave me two fish heads. I think fish head is supposed to be one of the best parts. I ate all the meat that I could get from those heads. This was also served with rice and kimchi. There has not been one day in Korea so far that I have not eaten Kimchi.

There were also many bottles of soju (korean alcohol) and I had many glasses with the vice-principal. Keep in mind the glasses are the size of a shot. That is about one ounze. By the time we left the restaurant, the vice-principals face was glowing red. I think that may be a tipycal experience for many Asian people. I heard from one source that Asian peeple have a different gene that does not allow them to process alcohol the same way western people can. Maybe this explains why they get so red and hot.

The vice-principal was having so much fun, that he brought myself and two other teachers to a kareoke bar. Koreans seem to like singing. There we drank beers, sang and even danced together. In Korea, kareoke is different than it is in Canada. Here a group rents a room and sings with those people in their private room.  Another group of people would get their own private room. Our room came with a platter of fruit. I don't know if someone ordered it or if all rooms come with fruit. I initially thought it was a strange mix with beers, but it turns out that beer and fruit is not a bad mix. 

I sang a few English songs, and the other teachers sang Korean songs. The math teacher sang gangnam style. It is perhaps the most famous song in Korea. After that, the night was over and I was home by 10:30PM. A lot of activity but ended at a good time. Waking up and going to school the next day was no problem. Thats all for now!

My original hunch was that I was the only teacher in Hacheong, but it turns out there are two of us. Thanks to the Geoje Teachers Facebook group, I was able to find the other teacher here. In actuality, he found me. He is now my first facebook friend ever.  So far it has been really helpful. I posted on the general forum and found some useful information pertaining to where people hangout and how to meet others. The other foreigner wants to meet up tonight, but it turns out that I have volleyball with the teachers from my school and then we go out for dinner together. Wednesdays are awesome! I really enjoy eating out with Koreans. They sure know how to have a feast. I cannot say there is anything like it back home. Long dinners with soju (a stronger for of alcohol), beer and when you think the food is all done, they come with the main course. I have not eaten meat for years before coming to Korea, but those standards are put on hold for the time being. It would be possible to be vegetarian here, but I would miss out on many social and cultural experiences. I want to experience the Korean life style and this for the most part includes eating meet. Even though they eat a lot of meat, the portions of meat within a given meal are not that big. They are much bigger back in Canada or the States.


I have worked in schools back in Canada and there is nothing that resembles the comradery that  I have seen in Korean public schools. I went out with a few teachers yesterday after my language exchange with the Korean teacher. It was amazing! I had an hour of Korean-English language exchange and then went out for Ta Galbi which is chicken ribs. Korean style of eating is much different than back home. Here, everyone eats from the same pot that the food was cooked in. It's all about sharing the food. Most meals seem to be shared here with the exception of meals at the school cafeteria. For those, everyone gets a tray and gets their own food from a buffet style set up. Today was tuna Bibim Bap. It literally means mix with rice. Bibim (mix) and pap is (rice), but it is pronounced bap. I might have many facts that are off, but that is my understanding so far.

My arrival

The first week has come and gone like a gust of wind. Within my first week, there have been so many new experiences. This includes eating new foods, being surrounded by a new language, living in a new country and learning the local customs. Where I am living is pretty rural. I have not seen another foreigner here yet, and I'm not sure I will (at least not in Hacheong). There might be one teacher at the elementary school near by, but that is the only other place where there might be someone. I 'm teaching at a middle school within the public system and know there is no foreign teacher at the high school right next door. For those who are thinking of coming to Geoje, beware that you may end up in a really rural area. This generally applies to those who are working for the public school system. There are many teachers in Gohyun though. I will meet people there once I get facebook and join the Geoje facebook group. I'm around 20 minutes by bus from Gohyun in a small town or may I say village. Buses come every 30 minutes to and from Hacheong to Gohyun, so I have to be a bit aware of the time when I decide to leave for the bus stop.


In school, Korean's do not wear shoes (at least not at mine), they bring a pair of slippers to wear. I do not know if it is to perserve the floors or because they have some other understanding about feet, floors and/or dirt. Another thing that I discovered early was that proper  bed sheets are hard to find. I have a single bed, and made the obvious assumption that I need single sized bed sheets. Unfortunately, after buying sheets at Home Plus for a single bed, they did not even come close to fitting my bed. The only reason for this occurance that I could think of is that Korean beds are smaller than American ones. This would make a single sized Korean bed quite small, but I am not sure this is the case. I will have to find out and repost about that. I also learned that Korean teachers, staff and students work hard and long hours. Some teachers and staff stay until 9:00PM. Many students are at school until 9:00PM as well. It is very competitive here so they need to work hard if they are to be at the top of the food chain in the job market later on. It can be very difficult for some of these students because they spend many hours studying in school, after school and then sometimes on the weekends. I started my classes today asking the students what they did on the weekend and one student told me they spent their Saturday in a hogwan. A hogwon is a school where students go either after school or on the weekends. They can be expensive, but education seems to be highly valued in Korea. There are no hogwons in my town, but I believe there are many in Gohyun.


Unfortunately, I don't have batteries for my camera, and actually don't know if my camera even works (actually my girlfriends camera). When I figure that out, I will post some pictures.