Army Lessons
by Leanndra Padgett, ETA ’14-’15 When I began learning Korean, little did I expect that I would need to know the sentence, “저는, 군대에서, 군인에게 영어를 가르칠 거예요,” or “I will teach English to soldiers at the army.” But after moving to Hwacheon, a South Korean town close to the northern border, it has become an essential phrase which I have often repeated. The middle school where I teach has an agreement with the military police wherein the middle and high school foreign teachers lead a weekly English class at a local base. In exchange, soldiers tutor our students. Every Thursday, a fellow native English teacher and I walk to the base, which is only about five minutes from my homestay. As we approach the gate, the guards say “Hello!” wave and smile at us before raising the barrier. Then we eat a slightly awkward dinner in the dining hall that is known for quantity over quality. We usually sit at the officials’ table, and the younger guys who we teach are either quite friendly or ignore us completely (usually indicating whether they plan to attend or skip our class that particular week). After eating copious amounts of the rice, greasy fried chicken and kimchi that we have generously been offered, we walk to the conference room that doubles as our classroom. Once the officials clear out, the students make their way in. I have never quite understood how the participant selection process works, but I know that some are there by choice while others are under a type of obligation to attend our class. Different soldiers come each week, but after several months, we have our regulars who keep the visitors and new students on track. There’s Shawn[1. Names have been changed.] who is highly motivated because he will move to Australia soon. He often stays behind after class to ask questions about living abroad. Then there’s Doug, who spoke English while living in the Philippines and has the skills of a native speaker. We rely on him and a couple of others to help translate when our lessons are misunderstood. Others come and go but by now, we have worked with many of the men of this division. Eating army meals, walking through the base and interacting with soldiers gives us, young foreigners teaching soldiers close to our own age, a blurry view of the world of the ROK army. Before Hwacheon, I never envisioned that my time in Korea would include glimpses into such a world, but it has, resulting in unique memories and unexpected lessons. I have been most surprised, not by the discovery that soldiers are just ordinary people, but by the realization that ordinary people are soldiers. South Korea’s compulsory service regulations mean that every Korean man will serve in the army by age 35. While there are career soldiers, many of these men (if not the majority) are just recent high school graduates and college kids fulfilling their national duty. As I consider the danger and solemnity of their roles, I am shaken to think that every one of my rambunctious middle school boys, every one of my adorable male host cousins – every Korean man – will serve in active duty. I understand why my host mom once said that she was happy to have only daughters. While they have various motivations and causes for doing so, all American soldiers choose to enlist. For Korean men, it is a predetermined course; they must join, just as they must attend grade school. This leads to a unique combination of people from all walks of life, many of whom are not individuals that I would peg as soldiers. They are just ordinary people in a situation of conflict, patriotism and camouflage. Even after months of living here, I am still surprised and affected by the mingling of the military world and the Korean Mayberry that is Hwacheon. For instance, one day a few weeks into my grant year, I heard what I assumed was a train roaring by my school, only to wonder how I had missed seeing the train station before. Looking out the school window, past the soccer field and convenience store, I saw tank after tank charging down the main street. It’s just not what I expected in this town with only one traffic light. Then again, I didn’t expect to find a combination stationary and army supply store either. Colorful stickers and notebooks are shelved next to camouflage jackets and army paraphernalia. But no one in Hwacheon seems to question this unlikely combination. Locals know that you have to get to the bus station early on weekends in order to reserve a seat to or from Hwacheon before the soldiers take them all. I have made the rookie mistake of showing up too late and missed my ride because there were so many soldiers going or coming from their weekend vacation. Daily I see mothers, fathers and girlfriends making the most of their beloved soldiers’ time off, as they walk the streets hand in hand. While in no way does the village feel occupied or in conflict, the military presence is strong here. Hwacheon seems to be, not a military town full of ordinary people, but an ordinary town full of the military. Perhaps the most poignant demonstration of this was a moonlight festival that I attended. It was held at an elementary school a few kilometers north of my town, and a few kilometers south of the DMZ. A fellow native English teacher had invited the foreigners in the community to come participate in her school’s festival. There were carnival games, cups of odeng [2. Odeng is a fish cake on a stick, often sold as street or festival food.] and other traditional foods, group aerobics, field day competitions and a concert put on by students and their teachers – who were also soldiers. I had expected to have fun and see something new, but had not anticipated to be
Three Poems
by Sam Moser, ETA ’14-’16 seoul station i stepped in and said “Hi.” “Seo-eui Elementary School.” And she said “So-wi Elementary?” I said “Seo-eui” again and she said “Seo-wi?” I said no you see “Seo—eui.” She laughed and repeated “Seo-wi.” “Sorry.” I leaned in “Seo—“ Big Breath and “—EUI.” “—hwi.” I smiled and said “Seoul Station, please.” dear coffee dear coffee metronome of life i swear all oaths upon thee may your caffeinated currents outlive Styx and may when i die Priam place a truffle on my mouth and pour a latte to the dust august moon full and wise august moon full and wise like a vagabond priestess flicked holy water at them, purple and smooth, from her crystal aspergillum across the young night and down blessing the lovers who kissed under umbrellas and the ugly frogs too
Gemma’s Fat Girl’s Food Guide
If you have lived in Seoul as a foreigner, chances are you have heard of the fabulous website, A Fat Girl’s Food Guide to Eating in Korea, written and run by British expat Gemma Wardle. The site has a wealth of helpful reviews of foreign food restaurants in Seoul, recipes, and places to buy hard-to-find ingredients. Gemma’s website won the 2014 K-Blog Award in the “Best Food Blog” category, and she has written for or been featured in a number of media outlets including the Korea Times. I had the honor of sitting down with Gemma last week at Ikovox Coffee in Itaewon. Gemma is an Itaewon local, and as I wandered the narrow streets lined with quirky foreign food spots–a mac and cheese cafe, a pub advertising fish and chips, kebab and falafel, a Bulgarian restaurant–it made sense why she would be drawn to this neighborhood. Gemma is warm and wonderful to talk with, the kind of engaging friend always game for great food and stories. She has high standards; she sent back her drink when the barista brought it out in a to-go cup even though we were clearly sticking around. And she is incredibly helpful. At one point she stopped and asked me, like a friendly tour guide to Seoul’s foreign food world, “Is there anything you are looking for I can direct you to?” “Hmmmmmm….. for me personally, I miss salads, and fresh fruit for smoothies…” “You just have to shop around,” she advised. “I usually find that one supermarket will be good for cheap vegetables, and one will be good for cheap fruit. You just have to keep an eye out, and you’ll find them!” Morgan: So what first brought you to Korea, and how did you get started food blogging? Gemma: I first came to Korea over seven years now. One of my friends who I had lived with in Australia was over here teaching. I wanted to travel more, so I came here. I have been teaching more or less ever since. I started the blog about three and a half years ago now because I had so much information about food, and it seemed like my friends were always asking me the same questions over and over again. “You can buy this in Korea?” “You can really make teas in Korea?” I didn’t really have any ambitions at first. But then the blog really gained momentum and became much bigger than I ever thought it would. Since your blog has gotten so big, what has it been like? Do you ever have people recognize you on the street? Hmmmmm… that has only happened two or three times. Once someone sent over a drink though! That was pretty cool. I think my blog is memorable because of the name, and I just have a lot of content as well. How do you chose the restaurants you review? And when you go in to review a restaurant, what would you say you are looking for? What do you pay attention to? I keep a list of places I want to review–places that friends mention or new places I see in this neighborhood. I keep an ear to the ground. Sometimes I am just craving something, or sometimes I am invited to try something on the house. The places I review I have to either really love, or there has to be something special or different about them. For example, because there are so many pizza places, for me to review a pizza place, it has to be really, really good. Whereas if you are the only Bulgarian restaurant in town, I just have to like it. I can be a lot more forgiving. I don’t write negative reviews. I critique individual dishes, but on the whole I want to blog to be positive. I think that adds a lot to your blog that it is so positive. And it has a lot of good content! One thing that is hard about being a foreigner in Korea is finding shops where you can buy good ingredients for cooking and baking. You have some suggestions on your website, but I was wondering if you could tell me some of the top places that you go to shop for ingredients? Costco. Once a month we go to Costco, because it is very cheap for dairy products. And then I shop weekly at my local Korean grocery store for fruits and vegetables. And the foreign food mart in Itaewon as well. If you were to characterize the changes you have seen in foreign food in Korea during your time here–food fads that have come and gone–what have you noticed? Oh, the changes have been insane… I remember several years ago when Paris Baguette started selling little chicken tender wraps, which were like some of my favorites at home. That was exciting. And then more and more products over time came–quinoa and chia seeds. There is nothing you can’t get now. Before there were things you couldn’t get, but now it is a very small list. And if you can’t get it, you can make it. Are there any food from back home that you really miss, or are really hard to find? I miss parsnips. I even bought seeds, but I haven’t planted them yet. Oh, and rhubarb. And “American” Chinese food, covered in batter and fried…. That sounds amazing… So most of the reviews you do are for foreign foods. Have you thought about reviewing Korean restaurants? I never reviewed Korean restaurants in the beginning because so many other people were already doing it. And it’s not hard to find Korean food–it’s everywhere. I do like Korean food. But I eat mostly foreign food. So you do a lot of cooking for yourself? I read somewhere you do a diet, “raw ‘til 4”? Yes, I only eat raw food until four, but now I am not as strict with it. I always make a green smoothie