...it goes 'thunk'. That's a good indicator that the mattress is too thin. It's about an inch an a half of low-density foam rubber. Fortunately, I can deal with a 'firm' mattress, so it doesn't actually hurt me to sleep on it. However, I'll bet that there are plenty of student accustomed to real, soft mattress and are getting killer backaches. I was going to buy a foam pad thing here, but the one that I found at the open market was 60 kilowon(I just make that up- 1 kilowon = 1ooo won) so I didn't buy it. However, I did get a massive pillow-almost too big- for 6 kilowon. Pillowcases were also inordinately expensive so I'm using one of my too-small undershirts. It does the job.
Also, the chairs here are plain wood. No padding.
People reading this blog might get the impression(from my complaining) that I'm dissatisfied. I'm not- I'm really content here. Some Koreans and people I've met seem surprised that I'm happy and don't have any issues to gripe about. I think this is just part of the Korean culture of humility. I've met a friend here who shall remain nameless (but who is probably reading this) that is kind of my insider guide to Handong. She speaks perfect English, being an ethnically Korean citizen of Canada. She gives me the inside knowledge of what HGU is really like. She's had a hard time here (being a Korean, but not having grown up here) so I think she tends to overstate the problems. She once asked me if I was enjoying HGU, I replied in the affirmative. She said "really?"
For anyone reading this who is contemplating coming to HGU- do it. It's a brand new experience. I like to think that I'm more open minded and 'culturally sensitive' than most Americans, so this a great experience for me because I didn't bring any cultural baggage. If you arrive at HGU having never left the US before and expecting everything to be just like the US except the language, you'll have major culture shock and be miserable. Some people think that the US is "the" developed country and any country must mimic the US to be developed. Why would someone think that? Korea's culture is very different, yet in many ways it is more developed than the US. For example, nationwide WiFi. That's right, pretty much the whole country has WiFi coverage that anyone can access for a modest fee. So my advice is this: Come to Handong prepared to live in a completely different culture. If you're willing to temporarily forgo your American oddities in favor of learning Korea's, you'll have a great experience.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
First day of classes
Yesterday was the first day of classes, and it went reasonably well. I had four classes- Intercultural Studies, American and British Literature, Statics, and Marriage and Enrichment. Intercultural Studies will be interesting- it's with the boisterous black man, and I feel like I need to be sedate just to cancel out his undue enthusiasm. American and British literature shouldn't be too bad- I'm the one native english speaker in the class, so I feel like I have a leg up there. Statics is going to be very, very difficult. I am taking it as an attempt- I didn't know when I decided to come that it is a calculus based class- and I haven't had any calculus. I am going to rely heavily on the other LETU students in the class for this one. Marriage and Enrichment will have a lot of good interesting material in it- if I can manage to stay awake. Aside from the gems of humor from the teacher(he got engaged on the first date), it was pretty boring. Hopefully the other 16 weeks will have less monologue and more discussion.
I have one other class- although whether or not it will actually be a class it not yet determined. It's a higher-level engineering class called "Reinforced Concrete Engineering" which a dork like me thought would be really neat to take. I signed up for it, apparently Handong has never heard of prerequisites, 'cause I got in. I went to talk to the professor and shared my misgivings about being able to do the classwork, but also expressed my topical interest. He was very nice, encouraged me to come to class and decide for myself if I could handle it. He let me have a look at the book he uses. I certainly am not qualified to take the class, but I think I'll give it a shot nonetheless. If I find that I can't hack it, I will simply audit the class, which means to sit in on it and do my best to learn the material without taking tests or turning in work.
My sleep schedule is a bit off at the moment- it's 3:49AM here and I just woke up. Last night I didn't get to sleep until almost 2AM- night-owl roommates and heat. I had a class at 8:30, so I didn't get all that much sleep, and I was running low on sleep reserves anyway. Today my last class finished about 6. I came back, ate some dinner*, watched an episode of Top Gear and decided to read. I don't have any homework yet. Reading turned into sleeping- so I went to bed around 8:00 I guess. I ought to go back to bed, I suppose. Goodnight!
*There was a welcome dinner for the International Church two nights ago with chicken(American style!) and pizza(American style!). They had lots of leftovers, we were encouraged to take some home. This is what I've been eating recently, rather than going to the dining hall.
P.S. It's 90% humidity right now. GOOD LORD it's so humid!
I have one other class- although whether or not it will actually be a class it not yet determined. It's a higher-level engineering class called "Reinforced Concrete Engineering" which a dork like me thought would be really neat to take. I signed up for it, apparently Handong has never heard of prerequisites, 'cause I got in. I went to talk to the professor and shared my misgivings about being able to do the classwork, but also expressed my topical interest. He was very nice, encouraged me to come to class and decide for myself if I could handle it. He let me have a look at the book he uses. I certainly am not qualified to take the class, but I think I'll give it a shot nonetheless. If I find that I can't hack it, I will simply audit the class, which means to sit in on it and do my best to learn the material without taking tests or turning in work.
My sleep schedule is a bit off at the moment- it's 3:49AM here and I just woke up. Last night I didn't get to sleep until almost 2AM- night-owl roommates and heat. I had a class at 8:30, so I didn't get all that much sleep, and I was running low on sleep reserves anyway. Today my last class finished about 6. I came back, ate some dinner*, watched an episode of Top Gear and decided to read. I don't have any homework yet. Reading turned into sleeping- so I went to bed around 8:00 I guess. I ought to go back to bed, I suppose. Goodnight!
*There was a welcome dinner for the International Church two nights ago with chicken(American style!) and pizza(American style!). They had lots of leftovers, we were encouraged to take some home. This is what I've been eating recently, rather than going to the dining hall.
P.S. It's 90% humidity right now. GOOD LORD it's so humid!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
I just installed Skype
Call me up sometime. My Skype name is ned.funnell.
I'm moved into the new dorm, I-House. I have one Vietnamese roommate and two Korean roommates(one of which is yet to appear). Tomorrow I will go to Handong International Church for the first time. Classes start on Monday. It should be interesting! I went downtown to buy some bedding today- all I walked away with was a pillow(and no pillowcase) because it was expensive at the place I found in the open market. I'll go to the 6-story department store tomorrow and try again. Everything else is cheap, so I guess something has to be expensive.
I also need to straighten out my course registration stuff- two of the courses that I was expecting to take are full (American/British Literature and Intercultural communication). The latter was replaced easily enough with Intercultural Studies. The guy who teaches it is a riot- he gave a lecture during out orientation about culture shock. He's very energetic and for the most part, the antithesis of most Koreans- loud, obnoxious, and provocative.
I don't think any of the classes that are offered for English language will transfer to LETU for my literature elective- so I'd really like to get into that Am/Brit lit class.
Anyway, it's late here. Goodnight.
I'm moved into the new dorm, I-House. I have one Vietnamese roommate and two Korean roommates(one of which is yet to appear). Tomorrow I will go to Handong International Church for the first time. Classes start on Monday. It should be interesting! I went downtown to buy some bedding today- all I walked away with was a pillow(and no pillowcase) because it was expensive at the place I found in the open market. I'll go to the 6-story department store tomorrow and try again. Everything else is cheap, so I guess something has to be expensive.
I also need to straighten out my course registration stuff- two of the courses that I was expecting to take are full (American/British Literature and Intercultural communication). The latter was replaced easily enough with Intercultural Studies. The guy who teaches it is a riot- he gave a lecture during out orientation about culture shock. He's very energetic and for the most part, the antithesis of most Koreans- loud, obnoxious, and provocative.
I don't think any of the classes that are offered for English language will transfer to LETU for my literature elective- so I'd really like to get into that Am/Brit lit class.
Anyway, it's late here. Goodnight.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Orientation
Today concluded the second day of orientation. There are about 15 students in the orientation group, it includes any new international students; this includes transfers and freshmen as well as exchange students like me. So far we've just gone over guidelines and talked about culture shock, taken campus tours, etc. Everybody else had to take English and Korean language placement tests, but the exchange students don't have to as we're only here one semester. Handong is pretty nice. It's not the same as LeTourneau in some ways- LETU is kind of neurotic about landscaping and maintenance- everything is always really nice(except for Tyler hall bathrooms). Handong is the opposite- they don't maintain and clean their buildings as fanatically as LETU does. The dorm that I'm in is pretty darn messy. Apparently the school doesn't require students to clean the rooms before they leave, nor do they clean them before new students move in. That was kind of a shock the first night. The rooms are small, especially for 4 people each! Their grounds crew might be on vacation for the summer, as the grass is all overgrown and unkempt. However, this is not yet the school year- maybe they clean up a lot at the beginning of the semester.
Another odd thing- I was expecting more English speaking- I assumed that since there was the "30% of your classes must be in English", graduation requirement, most students would be proficient in English. Not true. Broken English passes as good enough here just because they don't have the 'real thing' to practice with. The best English language education they can get here isn't very good just because there aren't enough native English speakers to polish off their skills. It's the same as foreign languages in America- in my high school everyone had to take 2 Spanish classes to graduate. Did any of us speak Spanish? Not a chance- not even comprehension. There were no Spanish speakers at my high school, just white people that 'spoke' Spanish.
Also, I've been told that the school's international program is kind of segregated from the school, just as a de facto thing. Because nobody speaks English well, none of the student organizations, clubs, etc will work for international students. I've been told that in general, the international students just keep to themselves and vice versa with the Koreans. There are certainly efforts made- there is a whole section of student government dedicated to international everything, an international student council, international cafe, and a whole international dorm building. The fact of the matter is that the school can't force the whole 7900 Korean students to give a hoot about the 100 international students. Koreans will befriend international students, but we were warned today that sometimes they will try to be your friend just for the purpose of practicing English.
Handong is definately a Christian school, but according to some of the gossip I've heard, they have trouble with discipline. Students will go off-campus on the weekend and get wasted. Apparently they don't require a statement of faith from their students, as I'm told thats some students are openly Muslim and tend to make trouble in Bible class. My down-to-earth Canadian-born Korean tour guide estimated that 30% of the students are actually practicing, honest Christians. That doesn't mean that 70% of the students are troublemakers- most students are fine. It seems to me that the school has many rules but does not stand by them. Smoking is allowed only in designated spaces, but the school doesn't enforce this rule and students smoke wherever they please. I've heard of students making all sorts of trouble, an apparently the school doesn't expel them- then the troublemakers breed more troublemakers, and the problems appears to have snowballed. There are no slackers, though- all students take 18-23 credits every semester, all were in the top 5% of their class, and all got over a 1400 of 1600 on the SAT.
Schools are generally bigger here, HGU is considered small at 8000. I think that since the schools are bigger, they're fewer between, so HGU is sort of the only school in the area and students will come here just because it's a good school and not because, or even in spite of, it being a Christian school.
That sounds like a list of bad things, but really when someone is given an expectation of sweetness and light, all they will notice are the flaws. HGU really is putting in a huge effort to earn that middle 'G' for global. HGU is a good school, and I'm glad to be here. I'm sure my opinions will be revised and changed as the school year goes on.
P.S. Even halfway across the world, cafeteria food hasn't changed. It doesn't help when you don't know what it is that they're serving, either!
I'm not taking pictures because my AA charger doesn't take 220V, I need to find someone with an AA charger so I can recharge my camera batteries before they're actually out. Here's a picture of the dorm room(they're all the same).
Another odd thing- I was expecting more English speaking- I assumed that since there was the "30% of your classes must be in English", graduation requirement, most students would be proficient in English. Not true. Broken English passes as good enough here just because they don't have the 'real thing' to practice with. The best English language education they can get here isn't very good just because there aren't enough native English speakers to polish off their skills. It's the same as foreign languages in America- in my high school everyone had to take 2 Spanish classes to graduate. Did any of us speak Spanish? Not a chance- not even comprehension. There were no Spanish speakers at my high school, just white people that 'spoke' Spanish.
Also, I've been told that the school's international program is kind of segregated from the school, just as a de facto thing. Because nobody speaks English well, none of the student organizations, clubs, etc will work for international students. I've been told that in general, the international students just keep to themselves and vice versa with the Koreans. There are certainly efforts made- there is a whole section of student government dedicated to international everything, an international student council, international cafe, and a whole international dorm building. The fact of the matter is that the school can't force the whole 7900 Korean students to give a hoot about the 100 international students. Koreans will befriend international students, but we were warned today that sometimes they will try to be your friend just for the purpose of practicing English.
Handong is definately a Christian school, but according to some of the gossip I've heard, they have trouble with discipline. Students will go off-campus on the weekend and get wasted. Apparently they don't require a statement of faith from their students, as I'm told thats some students are openly Muslim and tend to make trouble in Bible class. My down-to-earth Canadian-born Korean tour guide estimated that 30% of the students are actually practicing, honest Christians. That doesn't mean that 70% of the students are troublemakers- most students are fine. It seems to me that the school has many rules but does not stand by them. Smoking is allowed only in designated spaces, but the school doesn't enforce this rule and students smoke wherever they please. I've heard of students making all sorts of trouble, an apparently the school doesn't expel them- then the troublemakers breed more troublemakers, and the problems appears to have snowballed. There are no slackers, though- all students take 18-23 credits every semester, all were in the top 5% of their class, and all got over a 1400 of 1600 on the SAT.
Schools are generally bigger here, HGU is considered small at 8000. I think that since the schools are bigger, they're fewer between, so HGU is sort of the only school in the area and students will come here just because it's a good school and not because, or even in spite of, it being a Christian school.
That sounds like a list of bad things, but really when someone is given an expectation of sweetness and light, all they will notice are the flaws. HGU really is putting in a huge effort to earn that middle 'G' for global. HGU is a good school, and I'm glad to be here. I'm sure my opinions will be revised and changed as the school year goes on.
P.S. Even halfway across the world, cafeteria food hasn't changed. It doesn't help when you don't know what it is that they're serving, either!
I'm not taking pictures because my AA charger doesn't take 220V, I need to find someone with an AA charger so I can recharge my camera batteries before they're actually out. Here's a picture of the dorm room(they're all the same).
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Turned down startling job offer
So I met with the job offer guy today. The one that offered me a job was actually a middleman, and he asked me how much I was going to give him for "hooking me up" after we agreed to meet. I talked to my friend here(a Hatian, been in Korea for 2 years) and he seemed to think it was normal. This made be feel uncomfortable, but I figured it just might be the way things work here and the normal way of doing business. Since he was actually offering a service- he was negotiating the deal with the school and translating because the language school's bossman didn't speak much English. (?!?)
He asked me to meet him in a little slot of time I had before I had to be back for lunch with the orientation group. It was only about half an hour long. He had the school bossman drive out and we didn't get started until 20 minutes before I had to go- and things went slowly because everything went through translation. It was at this point that they told me that the promised 2.2 million won/month was actually $2332 not "around $2500", and that I'd only actually get paid that much if I did a mid-day session as well. Also they didn't have a client for the second morning period so I wouldn't teach that(yet) so it would actually only be 1.5 million won per month- that is, $1590- although he gave me $1700 as an estimated conversion. I also asked if I were allowed to teach as employment on my student visa- I was told in more words that 'everybody does it'. That's probably true, and if that were the only sticking point with this job it probably wouldn't have been a problem. I also learned that I'd have to miss team meetings on Wednesday night (like Cornerstones at LETU) and it was farther away from campus than I though. And the kicker- to formally teach English in Korea you should have a degree. They asked me to tell the students that I had a degree. I think I'm very qualified to teach English(reading so much finally pays off) but I can't tell people that I have a degree when I don't.
At this point I decided it was more or less a crap deal. As far as the 'commission', a kickback by any other name is still as wrong. I could tell that this whole operation is kind of shady. I don't mind teaching English, and I don't see a problem getting paid for services rendered- but I just couldn't live with all of the demands. This deal might have worked out if I weren't in school- but school is the priority and I won't sacrifice my education and experience in school just to be a millionaire in won.
He asked me to meet him in a little slot of time I had before I had to be back for lunch with the orientation group. It was only about half an hour long. He had the school bossman drive out and we didn't get started until 20 minutes before I had to go- and things went slowly because everything went through translation. It was at this point that they told me that the promised 2.2 million won/month was actually $2332 not "around $2500", and that I'd only actually get paid that much if I did a mid-day session as well. Also they didn't have a client for the second morning period so I wouldn't teach that(yet) so it would actually only be 1.5 million won per month- that is, $1590- although he gave me $1700 as an estimated conversion. I also asked if I were allowed to teach as employment on my student visa- I was told in more words that 'everybody does it'. That's probably true, and if that were the only sticking point with this job it probably wouldn't have been a problem. I also learned that I'd have to miss team meetings on Wednesday night (like Cornerstones at LETU) and it was farther away from campus than I though. And the kicker- to formally teach English in Korea you should have a degree. They asked me to tell the students that I had a degree. I think I'm very qualified to teach English(reading so much finally pays off) but I can't tell people that I have a degree when I don't.
At this point I decided it was more or less a crap deal. As far as the 'commission', a kickback by any other name is still as wrong. I could tell that this whole operation is kind of shady. I don't mind teaching English, and I don't see a problem getting paid for services rendered- but I just couldn't live with all of the demands. This deal might have worked out if I weren't in school- but school is the priority and I won't sacrifice my education and experience in school just to be a millionaire in won.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Startling job offer
Being a native speaker of english, I caught some attention from a man here in Korea who wants me to teach students proper english. It is an amazing job offer for several reasons- I get a free off-campus apartment, it pays around $2500 per month for 25 hours per week, or $25/hour- also with an opportunity to work extra for "high management"people who need to speak proper english(supposedly $$$). However, it has drawbacks: I have to live off-campus. I was/am rather looking forward to living on campus- meeting lots of new people, living in a community with people from all over the world, fellowship with the people I live with, etc. I would have to commute. I am told that the apartment is easy to get to from the Handong bus, and that the apartment is 3 minutes by cab to the place I'll be working. I'd walk anyway and save the cab fare. I'd have to get up early- the first teaching session starts at 6:40 in the morning, meaning I'd have to be up at least by 6:00, then two hours of teaching before I go to the bus stop and off to school. I'd stay at school until whenever the bus schedule would require that I leave for my next teaching session starting at 6:40, lasting until 9:40. I'd have to be in bed by 10:00 to get 8 hours of sleep. So I'd only be at school from around 9AM to 6PM. Plenty of time for classes, but I am going to need to study hard with Joe Carroll for Statics, and if I took this, I would have to ask him to work around my schedule else do it alone(e.g. fail). I am very tempted by this offer, but I know so little about it. What if it turns out that teaching english is terrible? $2500 per month is nothing to be turned down hastily. The guy really wants me, he wants me even to push back my departing flight so that I could stay longer(not likely). He even told me he'd have someone drive me to the airport (5 hours) for free if I'd change my flight. I would really like to take this, but I'm just not sure. I need to see how it fits into my schedule, as the job's schedule is completely unchangable(apparently). My earliest class is at 10:00AM and my last ends at 6:00. I think I could do it- I'm just not sure if I want to. I get the feeling that it will add stress to what I was counting on to be a relaxing, no-worries learning experience. On the other hand, the dorms here just aren't the same(not as nice as LETU, and 4 people to a fairly small room). Living off-campus would be nice. My friend here in Korea who I trust a bit recommended me to the job guy and suggests that I do it, so I'm confident that it's a legitimate offer- it's just a bit demanding.
I'm just not sure. I will give it to God and let him decide.
Edit Nov 12, 2007: See update. Wasn't so legit after all.
For reference, my schedule:
Monday, Thursday - American and Brit Lit from 10:00-11:15. Statics from 1:45-3:00. Marriage and Enrichment from 4:45-6:00.
Tuesday, Friday - Intercultural Communication from 11:30-12:45.
That's it.
I'm just not sure. I will give it to God and let him decide.
Edit Nov 12, 2007: See update. Wasn't so legit after all.
For reference, my schedule:
Monday, Thursday - American and Brit Lit from 10:00-11:15. Statics from 1:45-3:00. Marriage and Enrichment from 4:45-6:00.
Tuesday, Friday - Intercultural Communication from 11:30-12:45.
That's it.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Arrived at Handong
I arrived at Handong today. After: the 19-hour layover in Kuala Lumpur, the 7.5 hour flight to Seoul, the 4 hour wait for the bus, the 5 hour bus to Pohang, the 1 hour wait for the HGU bus, then about an hour between the bus ride and checking in. I'm safe and sound, if a bit frazzled. I haven't showered in 48+ hours. Come to think of it, why am I posting to my blog before showering? Shower time.
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