JinJaBahng

Beth, Nash, and I went to a JinJaBahng this morning (4/3/10), which is like a communal bathing/spa-type experience. The boys/men go to one, and the girls/women go to another. There is one locker to put your shoes in, and another to put your clothes in. Then you just waltz around naked like everyone else there…hehe! As a westerner, it is somewhat awkward, but you get used to it quite quickly. There are showers for cleansing prior to getting into the hot tubs (there were three…hot, hotter, and hottest). Then you sit in front of a wash area and shampoo/condition/soap/lather/shave/whatever before leaving. I’m pretty sure there were twenty or so women and girls of all ages at the spa when we went.

….To Be Continued

The news of YBM ECC Howon firing me and the reason for it is all over school now. Both the foreign and Korean teachers are shocked. I thought Rhea had something to do with it, but I just found out she didn’t even know. One of my Korean partner teachers actually told me today that she was ashamed to be Korean. I felt really bad that she felt the need to say that, but I would be too. Words cannot express my anger to this country and its people. This is the country I spent the last five years of my life longing to live in. Little did I Know! I feel as though if I stay, I’m accepting this part of their culture.

My friend Nashly has had the last straw. She has been here the past seven months, and hasn’t had the greatest time at ECC either. She had a situation similar to mine and Rhea’s, only hers didn’t really get better within the first couple days or weeks. She dealt with it until her Korean partner teacher’s contract was up. Pay day is this coming Wednesday, which will be the first in-coming cash I’ve seen in almost nine months. After that, she will fly back home to Canada. When everyone wonders where she is, we will simply reply “Oh, she went home.” This school will have experience three runners (that I know of) in the past year.

I will say that not everyone has a hard time. Some people have a great time. But I do know that no one likes working the long hours and only get 10 days vacation (five in summer and five in winter). And most everyone I’ve talked to, that work at both public and private schools, say that public is so much better.