Korean Food Culture and the Unnamed One

So, the first month here at The School has finally come to an end. It was hectic and confusing with more to learn in a short period of time than I've ever experienced, both during and outside of work.

Like I might have mentioned, the challenges began on the first day, when we taught 7 hours of class after our brief training: sitting in on 2 hours of classes taught by new teachers. We picked up where substitute teachers had left off, found out days later that we needed to have completed a syllabus within three days and submitted it to our managers, that we needed a name tag (and still don't have one) and just winged it from beginning to end. Over the month, we've learned that most teachers wing it in SLE (Speaking, Listeneing, Expression) classes, because there is no homework to assign and because there are few lesson plans to complete (The School recommends working out of the textbook). But at first, we had put a lot of pressure on ourselves.

After settling into our routine a bit, we've voluntarily thrown a wrench into the works. We've rescued / adopted / begun fostering a puppy. The funny thing is that to explain our reasoning, I have to start with Korea's food culture.

Korea's food culture has changed dramatically since the country began to develop rapidly in the 1980s. Nowadays, young Koreans eat yougurt for breakfast, a sandwich or spicy chicken dish for lunch (often with rice, of course), and something similar for dinner. And always with kimchi, a spicy appetizer of pickled cabbage. Costco is busy, the E-Mart department store used to be owned by Wal-Mart, Starbucks is absolutely everywhere (although declining sales have caused it to shut some stores) and pizza is a big hit. Jon and I have even found some of our favourites - a certain kind of granola, a specific type of yougurt - more available in shops here than at home.

But not all Koreans have changed their dietary habits. We sampled dried minnows in E-Mart last weekend, I knawed on chicken neck when out to dinner with a student, and I've begun to realize that kimchi is omnipresent. Universally linked to celebration, some foods are eaten at a certain time of year. This past week, from July 28 to 30, marked the three hottest days of the year. The appropriate food for this fest? Dog. Mixed breed only, please.

Conveniently, we met our little mutt on the first day of this festival. One month old and weighing under 800g, he had been brought into one of Jon's classes in a plastic bag by Kiddo, a student. Puppy had been a gift between a couple he knew. The couple soonafter broke up and Kiddo was charged with finding a home for the little guy. Not exactly an animal person, Kiddo was en route from picking him up and on his way to the gym, where he was going to put the pup in a locker while he worked out. Yikes!

So, after class, Jon brought Kiddo and the pup to our apartment. He handed me the puppy, all smiles, and asked me a few times, "What do you think?" I was confused until Kiddo walked into the kitchen with a food dish and some kibble. Clearly, we were keeping him.

We have since done all the new-parent things: taking lots of pictures, telling all our students about it, and waking up in the night to calm the crying little guy. We've also realized some constraints that we face - work being far from the most major concern. With broken up shifts, our jobs are actually quite good for this sort of situation, with one or two hours between 3-hour teaching blocks. Neither should our desire to travel be a problem: with lots of teachers living nearby and some sorely missing their own animals, we have volunteer dog-sitters. There are also pet hotels nearby which, although a bit expensive, might be a great option for when we take a longer vacation.

Now that both his body and his voice have begun to grow (within days we've seen lots of change) our most major concern is our living quarters, and whether this is suitable for an energetic dog.

Living in a nice little studio apartment, we have a lot of space for a little pup. By the time he is full-grown, our flat will be relatively small. We have yet to find whether we can keep an animal in the building, although students have suggested that quiet pets are tolerated. I'm not so certain that we'll qualify.

So now we have to make a difficult decision - and soon. Option 1: we find him a home with a dog-friendly family very quickly so that he can adjust to a new living situation at a young age. We will be lonely without him, but free to move around and keep our cash from the pet hotels. Option 2: we follow through with our commitment to keep the dog and stick close to home (for the mostpart). We get a barking collar for him to reduce his barking while we're at work, and bring him home with us to Canada, which should be no problem - $30 plus proof of rabies shots in English is all we need.

Will let you know what we choose to do ... advice and recommendations are welcome!!!