Time Keeps on Ticking, Ticking....

“I got bamboozled by Korea,” says my new friend Anthony over dinner the other night.

I couldn’t agree more. Days in Korea seem to slip quickly through my hands, so that each evening I am left scratching my head and wondering where the hours have gone. Time becomes an even more baffling idea when you consider that I have become a certifiable insomniac since arriving here - like so many people, it seems. Bedtime has quickly been pushed back from midnight, to one o’clock, then two o’clock and now it seems difficult for me to pull back my sheets anytime before 4am. Jenna insists that there must be caffeine in the kimchi, but it definitely appears that some of the Korean productivity has rubbed off on the foreigners: I now found myself grocery shopping in Home Plus at 2am, reviewing class material until 3:30am, and then pulling myself groggily out of bed at 10am to hike a mountain or view a temple. As someone said to me the other day: “You either leave Korea an alcoholic, an insomniac, or a sex-addict.” Maybe being sleep-deprived isn’t so bad, after all.

There have been many changes for me in the last few weeks, and I am starting to feel somewhat settled into my new life as a “Tee-cha!” There are about 8 CDI school branches in Busan, and I changed schools two weeks ago, going from working at the smallest branch in the city to CDI headquarters, which is the largest school with over 850 students and about 16 teachers. My classrooms ballooned from four students to sixteen, and as of today, I have just a scratch of a voice left.

Keeping so many elementary school kids on task and quiet can be difficult, although the discussions and debates we have are far more animated than at my old branch, which I enjoy. My precocious students quickly become some of my favorites, although I am fast learning disciplinary tactics as well. So far they seem most frightened when I stand in the center of the room in dead silence while I wait for them to quiet down, a killer look on my face. Some of my fellow teachers have suggested using “pressure points” (placing a hand VERY firmly on a kid’s shoulder) which is undetectable by the CCTV we are constantly monitored on. This may sound bad, but most of the students are punished at school by being slapped on the hand with a ruler in front of the class (brings back memories of Mr. Roberts’ paddle at MY elementary school!)

I also finally moved into a permanent apartment last weekend, which has bettered my quality of life dramatically. Although my temporary housing was quaint, I was keen to live somewhere that didn’t involve a dark walk home through back alleys after work at night. And after seeing several roaches scurrying up the walls, I was more than ready to change locations!

My new apartment is in a very modern high-rise building called Sky SK Hub, and I am on the 18th floor with a magnificent view of the city and the nearby mountain. The studio is, of course, completely tiny but it has a REAL shower (enclosed with a door!), a large fridge and washing machine. The best part is that my building is attached to a huge store called Tesco Home Plus, which is like a Super Target with clothes, electronics, food, home supplies and everything else you can imagine. It is also connected to a large mall, with a movie theater, a food court, Dunkin Donuts, Coffee Bean and Tea, and across the sky bridge is the entrance to the subway. I literally have to step in the elevator and everything is at my fingertips. It’s so convenient and fantastic!

Things have been hectic with all the changes, trying to buy things for my apartment like silverware and bedding and most importantly, a kettle for tea. But Jenna and I have attempted to get out and about before work each day, especially since Jenna leaves soon to return to the States. Last week we spent a morning at Hurshimchung public bath, the largest jjimjilbang (bath house) in Asia, which my guidebook says is the ultimate Korean experience. These spas are a cornerstone of Korean life, frequented by both sexes where you can bathe in anything from ginseng to pine needles.

Jenna and I had read up on spa etiquette before arriving, but were still unprepared for the ritual that followed. First, you receive a key from the front desk. Then you walk up to the first set of lockers and remove your shoes. You pad barefoot farther into the locker room, where you remove all your clothes. After wrapping the key around your wrist, you follow the line of Korean women up a ramp into a cleaning area. There are rows of plastic stools, where you are supposed to sit and thoroughly cleanse yourself. Loofahs and sponges are provided, and many of the old Korean ladies were vigorously scrubbing each other’s backs and arms, while Jenna and I attempted not to dissolve into giggles (rather unsuccessfully, I think).

After twenty minutes of scrubbing, we entered a huge circular room with a domed skylight in the center. Different spas were scattered throughout, with hundreds of Korean ladies chatting quietly, soaking or doing water exercises. Jenna and I started out in the salt baths, and then moved to the grape baths. The key to the jjimjilbang is to switch back and forth from hot and cold water, which invigorates the senses. We endured the piping hot sauna, soaked in tea leaves, and had our backs pummeled by large waterfalls. Strangely wonderful, we decided at the end, and I would definitely go again.

If hours of spa soaking don't give you an idea of how serious Koreans are with personal grooming and appearances, let me just say that I think most people in this country are looks-obsessed. Koreans pick apart every minute detail of their bodies, so that it isn’t “I’m feeling fat today” but “My neck is too short” or “My nostrils are too narrow.” Our Korean friend Monica, who is absolutely tiny, often complains of her “large face.” Because her face is so large, she explains, her parents will not allow her to grow her hair long (she is twenty-four years old). Shorter hair is more flattering to her big face, she says.

It is completely baffling, and strangely reminds me of the film “Means Girls” when the three popular girls stand before a mirror, analyzing their thighs and foreheads and every other body part. “I used to think there was just fat or skinny,” Lindsay Lohan’s character narrates, "but apparantly there are a lot of things that can be wrong with your body." Monica has also explained to us about the lines and shapes Korean women aspire to create on their bodies – some of this was lost in translation, I’m sure, but it goes something like this: a woman’s chest should create an M shape; her back should be a V and so on. All this makes me think twice before leaving the house! Gotta look good for the Korean women who will undoubtedly be sizing me up on the subway.

It is hard to believe I have been here in Korea for almost 5 weeks now - somehow it feels like an eternity since I slept in my own bed or drove down the streets of Palm Desert, and yet each day in Busan flashes by in a blur. Even now, I know I must dash as I have to quickly change into my teacher clothes, catch the subway and prepare for the onslaught of students that will noisily fill my classroom in mere hours...

"To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else"
- Emily Dickinson.