Return to EV

(Check out the new links for photos)

Okay, sorry for that last cliffhanger. Yes, I’d had some time to be away and reflect, and was hoping that I’d feel differently about EV when I got back, but that wasn’t the case. And, on Thursday morning, we were called to a meeting before work to essentially learn that we were a) not going to be on a rotating schedule and would never have weekend days off, and b) losing our every-other week Wednesday off. Neither of these stipulations are in our contract, but the Teacher’s Handbook we’d gotten that supposedly answered a lot of our questions--before we signed our contracts--states that our shift would change monthly (between a M-F, Th-Su, or Sat-Tu schedule), and that anyone on a weekend shift would have Wednesdays off to compensate for working weekends, which are super busy and preclude one’s visiting with outside people on normal schedules or going to cultural events that only happen on weekends or pursuing personal extracurricular activities that…happen on weekends.

Now, it’s painfully clear that our program is understaffed and that there aren’t enough people to teach and perform in the way that they think we ought to. So, yes, we need that other day (okay, what we really need is for them to hire more people, but they’ve approved three, which won’t help enough to make a difference). But we weren’t offered any compensation for it, and their not following through on things they said they’d do/provide and asking for us to give, give, give and be patient, patient, patient, flexible, flexible, flexible when they don’t have their act together is all too typical.

All the people in leadership positions in the One Day Program got together for two long meetings to discuss what we should do, as we’re all at the end of our ropes and are offended and angry at the lack of respect the above changes to our disadvantage (among other things) show. We pooled our grievances and suggestions, compiled a formal document of same, and requested a meeting with the Director of Education and the HR Head Teacher. Basically, we were told that they weren’t violating anything in our contract and that they had to do what was best for the program (and we KNOW the time they’re taking from us won’t be enough to make a difference—especially because we can’t use time well here, as there’s no support for anything we do). Apparently taking decent care of their staff isn’t part of the plan. They offered a couple of baby carrots to appease people, and some have a small amount of renewed optimism, but I’m totally unconvinced that anything will get better.

So I’m now thinking in terms of when I’ll be leaving, as it just isn’t worth my time to stick around and wait to see what they’re going to screw up or what mess they’re going to leave us with next. Don’t start asking me for details, because I don’t have any yet. I’ll probably be here through October so that I’ll get my flight here (not return) reimbursed, get the paid week of vacation in early October and have time to organize what I’m doing next (probably travel before returning home. There are TONS of other teaching opportunities here, but I’m missing performance and most likely won’t go that route). There are all kinds of contractual things to consider, like the “annual leave allowance” that’s deducted from our pay each month and won’t be returned if we leave early (about $120/month), so I’m gonna take those leave days, and my sick days, and my vacation days…but it’s all a little tricky in terms of getting the time approved, which depends on when other people are going (there are not enough weeks in the year for all the people in my program to take all their vacation days, we’ve calculated!), blah, blah, blah. But I’m gonna get my money’s worth outta them, doggonnit! Fortunately, the people who have already given notice but haven’t left yet are keeping me posted on all the technicalities they’re discovering, and I’m asking lots of questions myself.

And they’re now only getting their 40 contracted hours/week outta me and not a second more. I’m so used to working long hours--but to a worthwhile end, which isn’t in sight here. It sucks the life out of you to put energy into things that always turn out to be mediocre because there isn’t the support, time, or staff to do anything well. But there are several of us who are keeping tabs on each other and making sure we stop at 6…I’m far from the only pissed-off person here. It’s so sad that it’s come to this, because EV could have been a special place, if anything were done properly. But thank goodness for the great friends I’ve made, and the cultural stuff I have done and will do. All is not lost!

Okay, onto the fun and exciting things adventures since the Vietnam trip! Don and Double D came up on Saturday to hang out for the weekend (they had Memorial Day off, and I’m off on Mondays, so that was great—especially since I’ll never have weekends off to hang out w/Don…). We hit the pub on Saturday night, they did all kinds of fun stuff on Sunday while I worked, then we went out for a huge dinner and watched The Da Vinci Code with a transistor radio on the hill behind a drive-in movie theatre that’s a 15-minute walk from EV. We hit a local bar for a 3000cl beer and silly talk afterwards and got home super late… It doesn’t get much better than that!

We slept in on Monday and went to the pub for their attempt at burgers (a sorry affair, but ya take what you can get). They went home in the afternoon (and Double D left to go back to the States for good the following Friday), and I got in a workout to atone for the intake before that aforementioned annoying meeting.

The next day, however, I went to Bukhansan National Park for a soul-cleansing, spirit-renewing hike. I got there in two hours of mass transiting, and was chatted up (or whatever you call it when there’s minimal common language) by a guy who was heading up the same mountain. He insisted on buying my ticket (inexpensive), and then on a hat (there was no way he was letting me go without one), and indicated that he was doing the same climb that I had planned. So…we headed off. I was more interested in going it alone (and there were plenty of people around; I wasn’t intending to go off into the wilderness by myself or anything), but he was all psyched to be nice, and we didn’t talk much anyway, so what the heck. He was all excited that I worked at EV, and told all the people we encountered. 15 minutes in, he’s ready for a rest, whips out his little sitting pad (for me) and his cucumbers (not a euphemism—common hiking food) and settles down. OH NOOOOOO! I was so not going to stop often…so when we got up, I set out at a good pace and was pretty clear about not being fatigued, hoping that he’d send me off ahead. No such luck, but hey, he kept up more or less. He pointed out the way down for later, which I knew was not the route I wanted to take, so I had hope there…

The summit was a climb up rocks with thick metal cables for aid. Not US-overly safe, and you had to be fit to do it, but I never felt that I was in danger, as the cables were well-placed and ridiculously sturdy. Nonetheless, the Koreans seemed quite impressed that the little whitey girl was up there (well, I’m not really “little,” here in the land of TINY). Of course, all the Korean grandmothers and grandfathers are there, decked out in all their gear, going to all the tippety tops of everything. Hilarious. The view, as expected, was outstanding.

At that point, it was lunchtime, and Mr. Eoh (my adoptive hiking dude) insisted that I share his food, although I’d brought my own. Okay… So, the guy is a retired bank manager, has two sons, one who went to school at U. of Maryland and is now in the Phillipines, and one who is a businessman in Seoul. He and his wife live in Paju. He invited me to dinner at his home, and offered to drive me back to EV from the subway. I was trying to determine exactly what this guy was or was not after. Most likely, he’s a super nice guy who wants to be a good host to the foreign hiker who’s probably around the same age as his kids, one of whom had schooled in her country. But I had no way of reading the situation for sure and had to consider possibly less innocent intentions, though they seem unlikely. I chose the tactic of acting like I was not understanding exactly what he was saying…

We finished lunch and descended from the summit, and I mentioned the names of the temples I wanted to see on the alternate route down…and of course he decided to go with me. He made sure I saw every one, took photos of me there w/my camera, and wanted to have a beer at the end of the hike. Okay, I’m always good for a post-hike beer, and there were places right there at the end of the trail, so we did that and communicated a little more via my phrasebook. He wanted to go out for bulgogi and karaoke, but I pled that I had to get back to EV, as I’d had enough and wasn’t going god-knows-where with him.

Three days later, I had a Korean friend call him (I had his card) to invite him and his wife to EV for a tour and dinner at the pub, as I wanted to return the kindness—on my turf. She and other Korean friends all heard the story and we were together speculating on the nice guy/slime possibilities. We set the next Wednesday evening for the meeting. That night, I didn’t see him at the appointed time, so another Korean friend called him and got no answer. We headed toward the front gate (she was going home) and saw him, in a suit/tie/cologne, sans wife, and he told her that he wanted to take me off campus for dinner. Hah! Dream on, buddy. I said (via my friend) that a meeting had just been called for 8:30 and that I couldn’t leave campus, and he told her that we should then not have dinner that night, but wait until he could bring his wife (she was supposedly at church) and that I should call if I wanted to go hiking. Yeah. So, I don’t think I’ll be hearing from him! Stupid man. Disappointing, though, because I wanted him to be just a super nice guy who brought his super nice wife and we could have a super simple conversation about our hiking adventures over beers. Not. Good story, though, eh? I’ve gotten good mileage out of it here, anyway!

Let’s see…a few of our dancers have been giving dance classes (in the floor-covering-over-cement studio) and I’ve been able to get to a couple, which are great. Anne took me out to a fabulous dinner at a cushy restaurant in Heyri for a belated birthday celebration and to hear of each other’s travels (she’d been to Paris). We had a dessert-and-coffee with some of the artists from Heyri on another night, and it was great to meet real artists of all varieties who actually appreciated that we were performers.

Last Monday and Tuesday I went to Suwon to see Hwaseong Fortress and Hwaseonhaenggung (palace grounds) and the Korean Folk Village, and had dinner with Don (on base at a Chili’s—we had bacon cheese burgers and frozen margaritas!!!) and spent the night in between. Suwon is the capital of Gyeonggi province, and also where the EV headquarters are. The fortress, a World Heritage site, was originally built between 1794 and 1796 during the reign of much-liked King Jeongjo. It is made of earth and stone blocks, is 5.7k long, and almost all of it has been carefully restored. There are lots of command posts and observation points of all varieties and cool views of the city. It’s sort of a long, stretched-out city park with a serious dose of history. The palace grounds are a cool series of courtyards in a walled complex. Lots of rooms were set up with furniture, scenes or artifacts.

The Korean Folk Village, a half-hour shuttle ride from the Suwon train station, was SO COOL! All kinds of traditional houses from different parts of the country, schools, shrines, market, furnishings, tools, gardens, animals, museums, artisans, performances and even a tiny amusement park in a beautiful setting. I spent 5 ½ hours power sight-seeing and still didn’t get to everything. I’m psyched to go back and spend a full day, complete with time to hang out and read a book, as there were lots of great picnic/resting spots. I went on a holiday, and it was busy but not crazy, so on a normal weekday it must be really peaceful. Yay!

Thursday night (June 8th), after our soccer game (we tied the Canadian team), we had a spontaneous party when we discovered that the pub was already closed, which turned into a late night of screaming show tunes. Yes, we’re starved for performance… Hopefully our summer season will provide a little creative satisfaction. I’m in a quartet that will be performing on the street and in a short “show” that is supposed to happen once or twice daily (I’ll believe it when it happens). At least we’re developing some of our own material…if they give us enough time (IF), we can come up with decent stuff.

Friday after work I hung out with two friends who are equally upset with this place but who are going to try to stick it out for financial reasons. We basically tried to cheer ourselves up with vacation plans for a few hours…at least I’m not alone…

Saturday was a day of RAIN. We’re getting a taste of what the rainy season (starting in late June) will be like, and it ain’t gonna be pretty… The park was still busy. I hit the pub at night, as the World Cup was on and there was a Jaegermeister event…ooof. Today, Sunday, looks like more rain, and I’ll hopefully crash and do some travel strategizing tonight.

Tidbits: this past Thursday, my watch started going nuts. It’s a digital triathlon watch and stores 2 times, and I have both East Coast US and Korea, with the latter actually displayed. I checked the time at some point that night, and my watch was on US time. I tried to set it back to Korea time, but it would only display “time 1,” which was US. So I ended up switching “time 1” to Korea time and “time 2” to US time so that the Korea time would be displayed again. On Friday night, however, I looked at my wrist and saw US time again, and this time the watch would only display “time 2,” still US. So I’ve switched it back. So far it’s holding… A sign???

A commonly heard bird here is the cuckoo (I haven’t seen one yet). They sound exactly like you’d think they would. Oh, life’s little ironies.

Onward and upward…
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