Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ya-ta Boy]

T'is the season for 'celebrating a new school year' around here. We've had the going away parties for teachers transferring out and the welcome the new teachers party for the ones transferring in. I thought that did it for a while. Wrong again.

Wednesday morning about 10 I heard I was 'invited' to eat lunch with half the teachers. Fine. When? In about an hour. What about my class at 1:10? It's been moved. You won't have to teach it. OK again. We roll out and end up at a fish restaurant. I don't do fish. End up with a ketchup doused salad for lunch. Haven't seen one of those in years. Hope it's twice as long till I see another one.

About 10 this morning Mr. Head Teacher comes over and asks if I have a promise with the middle school teachers. I said yes, some kind of business meeting with you and them. He said just me. Then he said they'll pick me up at 12:50. I said 12:50? That's 20 minutes before my class. He said he'd check on it. Comes back to tell me it's been moved up to 12:15.

Anyway, at 12:15 I'm picked up by the Head Teacher, Principal and Vice Principal. I ask where we're going for lunch. We're going to eat traditional Korean food for lunch. I say fine. Can you narrow that down any? We're going to eat black pig. I ask if that is the black pig from Jeju-do that is fed strange things. Why yes, it is. Oh good. I've never eaten that before. (I prefer not to dwell on what 'strange things' really means. I have a delicate stomach.)

We arrive at a very nice looking upscale place out on the edge of town, tucked away on a side road I had never been down. I didn't know my little burg had an upscale place. But this one definitely is. Traditional architecture but new and very well kept up. Ya-ta Boy is kind of impressed.

In the parking lot are 4 women teachers. For this to happen, the entire middle school schedule has been thrown into a turmoil to suit my eating schedule. I guess it pays to be a two-banner kind of guy.

The sign by the door said something like Traditional Temple Cultural and Health Food. Being a gentlemanly sort, I'm next to last in the door. Only Suck-You is behind me. (He will later get a post all his own.) I get my shoes off and stashed in the box and am last in the door of the little room. I'm pointed to a cushion between the Principal and an ajumma. I sit down.

And she stands up and scurries to the other end of the room. Mrs. Shin, the only real English-speaker, says Mrs. Kim is scared to sit beside me because she can't speak any English and is afraid she'll be a boring 'dinner companion'. I gesture to Mrs. Kim to get her chubby buns back over beside me. There are only 8 of us, so there isn't a lot to choose from. She reluctantly returns.

I spend my lunch jollying her. She's right. She can't speak English, but she's fairly funny and cooks a mean roast garlic slice. Suck-You, the Head Teacher calls her the Woman Head Teacher. I say she looks like a strong woman. She rolls on the floor in semi-hysterics. It turns out she is a country girl and I am a country boy.

At the end, she insists that I ride back to work in her car. I ask if she is a Best Driver. This was a prize-winning question in her book. She now wants to take me to lunch again. The Boy has clicked again.

Note: When Koreans avoid sitting beside you on the subway/bus, it could be because they hate the sight, smell and sound of you. It's possible. It's far more likely they are like Mrs. Kim the middle school Korean teacher--terrified of maybe being asked to speak a foreign language in an uncomfortable situation. IOW, it might not really be about YOU. Think about that the next time it happens.

PS: The food was OK. Kind of high end ��걉��.

[SOOHWA101]

I enjoy your stories! They are not only amusing, but they have a point.

[rapier]

[coolsage]

Ya-ta boy teacher: So much for your fifteen minutes of fame. Looks like you're back in the trenches with the rest of us chalk-stained wretches, eating inedible food with uninteresting people.

[SirFink]

[animalbirdfish]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Some people are ignoring the sign:

DON'T FEED THE TROLLS

[flotsam]

I liked the story as well.

I am a city boy, so my fables tend to be laced with a bit more sarcasm, but this one isn't too preachy, is refreshing for old-timers and is useful for newbies.

And I agree, 3% is charitable for a comment like that.

[Cohiba]

SNORE

[cruisemonkey]

[laogaiguk]

[mindmetoo]

[laogaiguk]

[Ya-ta Boy]

[ilovebdt]