Nationalism?

I had always thought of myself as a countrpoint nationalism.  However I am coming to realise that as I leave the UK I become more nationalistic, but not in the standard manner.  i habe no interest in sports or some such, I know how good England is at sport and will expect no more.  However as far as history, politics and social structures are concerned I think I put them on a pedestal when I go abroad.  I try to stay neutral, but I think nationalism has been ingrained into me to some degree.

It is weird watching the feelings well up in my and unccomfortable at the same time.  I see other people agressively defend their nation and it's actions and I find it odd or eronious.  And yet when it comes to my own country I have similar feelings, although not quite as viciously.  Fighting these feelings is something I attempt to do.  Don;t get me wrong I know was is good and bad about the UK, but it seems difficult to accept them if someone from elsewhere presents.them instead of myself.  I guess this is just one more thing to try and work on.  Else it is not fair for me to rag on another country if I won't let them do the same to my own country.

Good News Everybody

My new co-teacher is good, that's it.  She knows what she is doing, she can discipline the kids and her teaching style works with mine.

빨리

빨리 - Faster, hurry.  It's a word used so incredibly often in Korea.  Kids say it to each other all the time.  Adults say it to kids, adults say it to adults.  One would think they are always hurrying and at times that is the case.  It quickly becomes clear that Koreans have to do things quickly because they do them inefficiently.  Yet even as people tell each other to eat quickly, they will have meals together and spen 3-4 hours at the table.  There are so many bizarre contradictions, but it's just this word.  It comes up so freaking often it can get irritating.

Why?

The 'supermarket' that I shop at is just a minute or so away from my front door to the front of the shop.  I have written about this place before but I question it's existence sometimes but mostly those that work within.  The shop itself is much, much, much smaller than supermarket anybody in the UK or the US would shop at.  This place has a selection of things, yet it is almost like an illusion.  There seems to be a variety of things on things that nobody in their right mind would want or stuff that kids crave.  As for the rest of the food, the studd I use to make meals, there is little choice and that often causes me to wander around the shop for a while attempting to come up with a meal that may be a bit different.

Now, that's just the shop itself, but it is the staff and their habits that I do not understand.  The people that work at this shop, are for the most part in their middle ages, they will likely do this job for the rest of their life or until they retire.  They work as shelf stockers and cashiers, there is also a baker and his wife who work at this shop, a great couple.  There is also, however a young woman, just shortly out of school, she is fairly good looking and by all accounts she did fairly well at school, yet she works at this shop.  Now I am not trying to make a dig at their jobs, not at all.  It is rather their work hours, I do not know what they account to.  But the shop is open from 9am to 11pm every day and from what I can tell the staff work different shifts, but it would appear that they work every day. Plus the shop never seems to have an off day.  I am well aware that most places are open every day, but occasionally places will close for the major holidays.  Today was a major holiday: Chuseok.  I am told that most everywhere was closed in the big cities today, but even today the 'supermarket' was open and most people were working.  Now I can see that most of the people that work there will work for the rest of their lives in the Korean manner of work until you drop.  But I think it is the young girl that confuses me the most.  I had thought that perhaps she was saving up to make a step into something else.  However I am told that this does not realy happen in Korea.

If you do well in school you go to University, if you don't then you get a low paid job.  Plus vocational professions are not viewed highly and people in such professions are apparently not paid well and they lack security in their jobs.  Therefore I guess the young woman may stay in Tongdosa for the rest of her life, or else she will marry and then move away.  I would ask her...perhaps, if I could.  But without one another's language I guess I shall just be left wondering.

I guess it is just the way of things here.  From my observations and what I have learnt once you are done with high school you have one of three options, the company, university or a minimum wage job.  The last option is unlikely to lead you anywhere in this country, it would look like unless you work in a big place it is unlikely that a promotion will ever be in order.  If you take university you will have many more options at the end.  As for the company route, you either enter at the bottom or you go in at the management route.  The differnece with this route is that advancement appears to be possible within the companies.

Well I am certain that I do not understand the proper subtleties of the Korean work place.  Maybe I'll gain more of an insight of it in the next three months or, maybe not.  But either way it is just something that both interests me and also causes me to feel sympathy for those that will be stuck in jobs with no way to advance or move on.  Well that's it for now.  Perhaps more of my thoughts will spew out in the next couple of days while I have a little time off, especially since I am unable to get these thoughts out when I am at work now that my blogging site is banned by gyungnam province education board... weird.

3 Months left

It's currently a holiday in Korea, it's called 추석 Chuseok.  it's basically a harvest festival.  I however have found myself not doing anything really.  But I am going to socialise mildly with some of the people in my town and otherwise put it to good use through starting up the process for applying to the PGCE and the GTP (different teaching qualifications.

The weather has become, what I would regard as much nicer.  It's still reaching high temperatures at mid day mostly, but the start and end of the day are much cooler, which suits me perfectly.  it means I can go to sleep without my air-con on.  But I do get the feeling that soon my school will confiscate the use of the air-con in my clasroom and likely before it cools down properly during the day.

I have my open class coming up in a couple of weeks, which is basically a sort of evaluation. Most Koreans prepatre immensly for these things, which is funny, because they don't prepare at all for anything else.  But I have decided I will not be taking the super worry and preparation route.  I will just teach a normal lesson, of course I will prepare, but I always do.  I am not going over the top, A because I think it is bullshit and B because I am not returning for another year here so the evaluation will have little bearing on anything.

Gifts

Korean gifts are a bit weird...well the ones that are sold in all shops around holidays are anyway.  Each national holiday all the shops put together gift selections, so generally toiletries or food goods, doesn't sound too weird yet does it?  But the weird thing is what they put in them.  For instance generally the toiletaries are not things like bath salts or skin products or such, they are something like 6 tubes of toothpaste and two bottles of bog standard shampoo.  Or if you want to go down the food route you can get a box a various types of spam, or different cooking oils.  Added to the sheer disappointment anyone who recieves these must feel they are more expensive for the person buying them, than if they were to simply pick up all the same items off the shelf in bulk.  It makes no sense to me, monetarily or in any other sense.