귀찮다 and 미루다

I learned a pair of interesting new vocabulary the other day. This week is midterms week at my school, so I have exactly zero classes to teach, as well as eight hours a day that I can spend lesson planning. Am I lesson planning? Heh. No. I'm playing Scrabble on Facebook, reading a book (currently, The Princess Bride), or scouring my reader for blog and news updates. This doesn't mean I'm not being productive, though! Because, as I've already said, I learned a pair of interesting new vocabulary.

One of the blogs I follow is TalktomeinKorean.com, which I highly recommend as an excellent resource to learn Korean for language learners of almost any level. And on this blog, I came across the word 귀차니스트 (kwichan-iste).

Unable to find it in a dictionary (I usually use Naver), I asked my co-teacher what it meant. I received a laugh in reply. My co-teacher said it was difficult to translate, but generally, a 귀차니스트 is a person who isn't willing to do anything, even important things, due to a lack of interest or motivation. A slacker. A deadbeat. A teacher who is on Facebook instead of creating his next nifty PowerPoint presentation.

Heh. Oh, how fitting.

The word itself is a linguistic oddball, a kind-of portmanteau of 귀찮다 (kwichanta) and the Latin suffix -ist to denote a person. 귀찮다 means "troublesome, bothersome" or, when used without context, something along the lines of "I don't care to do it". It's said frivolously, like "만사가 귀찮다" ("I can't be bothered to do anything.").

You can also use this verb with a direct object: "나는 그녀를 귀찮다." ("I'm tired of her.") or "학생들을 귀찮다" ("I'm so done with my students.") Hopefully, I'll never find myself saying this latter sentence, but it's a legitimate example my co-teacher gave!

More often, it seems, the verb is used as a modifier (adjective or adverb): 귀찮은 일 (kwichaneun il) is troublesome work, and 귀찮은 존재 (kwichaneun jonjae) is an annoying person. Most importantly, there's "귀찮게 하지 마라!" (kwichanke hajimala!) "Leave me alone!"

So, I've been a bit of a 귀차니스트 this week, since without my regular routine of classes, I've succumbed to the doldrums of procrastination (미루다/miluda). I mean, I've nearly finished my book, and I've written a couple of substantial blog posts lately, but I haven't finished a single lesson plan. And the week has flown by. Already it's Thursday tomorrow, and my goal is to pump out seven lesson plans by Friday. So let's go, 화이팅! No more 귀차니즘 from this 귀차니스트.

Without a Hitch

As far as school is concerned, this week went by without a hitch. Sure, schedules were shuffled and some administrivia have still not been finished (for example, I don't have physical rosters for my classes yet), but I'm quite used to the less stringent way my school works. As long as I'm flexible, I'm fine. Regardless, my classes have been great. My second-year students remember me with at least some fondness, and the new first-year students are a lively, energetic bunch. At least two of the latter group are, I've discovered, fairly fluent in English, owing to their having lived in North America for some stretches of time. The rest fall within the normal spectrum, from being terrified of their prospects in an "English-only zone" to bursting at the seams to say anything at all in English and hope that it's correct. It's been fun on all fronts, and, though I don't mean to 자화자찬 (jahwajachan)*, or praise myself, I think I'm off to a good start.

Non-work related stuff has not been necessarily as successful. I want to find a 태권도장 (taekwondojang), or taekwondo gym, and take classes there this semester, but most -- if not all -- of the local dojangs are specifically for children. I checked one out with my host father, to no avail. I think it will prove to be more difficult than I'd thought to find a place that is not too far from home and also willing to take on a foreigner who can hardly speak Korean. We shall see. In addition, I want to begin 봉사활동 (bongsa-hwaldong), or volunteering, at a Hana center in my city this semester. Although I have contacted several people about this, I haven't yet gotten a reply.

But... 긍정적으로 생각합시다. Let's stay positive. Work is good, homestay life is good, and the weather down here -- four hours south of Seoul -- has been practically spring-like these past few days. I love it. Oh, and it's 불금 (bulgeum)**. Bring on the weekend!

*I learned this new phrase tonight when my host father carefully examined the curry meatballs he had cooked for dinner and, after a taste test, declared himself to be a great cook. My host mother then gave her two cents. Vaguely related: Happy International Women's Day! Shout-out to my 근면한 (keunmyeonhan) and 다정한 (dajeonghan) mom: hard-working and loving, like all great mothers.

**And my host parents laughed at me when I used this bit of slang this morning. You can ask the folks at TalkToMeInKorean for an explanation!

LanguageCast Hongdae

클로리스 티 & 커피에는 언어 교환. Photo by Katelyn

Language exchange! Echange linguistique! 언어 교환! Tonight, I discovered something amazing that happens every week -- multiple times a week, actually -- in Seoul: LanguageCast.

The gist of it is that dozens of people descend upon a sponsoring cafe solely to converse with other people in many different languages. There are tables designated for French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, Korean, English, Chinese, and probably more. The crowds were huge at the Hongdae location, which I attended tonight; other exchanges take place throughout the week in Gangnam and near Korea University (mostly, I gather, for English-Korean exchanges).

I was overwhelmed when I walked into Chloris Tea & Coffee and heard the babble of so much conversation in so many languages. I could tell that some Koreans, unaware that a special event was going on, were also overwhelmed and also confused. But there were also many Koreans purposefully there, helping foreigners practice Korean or practicing other languages with foreigners. I ordered a latte and headed straight for the French table, and I basically stayed there all night, reviving my rusty French with folks from Paris and Marseille (I met some French-born Koreans for the first time!) and other francophones from Korea and the US.

There was also the opportunity to practice Korean, of course, which I did. And I tried a little bit of Mandarin with a Taiwanese woman but only managed to disappoint her and severely embarrass myself.  Too many languages in my brain results in 언어를 헷갈랴요 (mixing them all up)! Yet the lingua franca seemed to be English here; the event organizers were English-speaking Koreans, anyhow. Oh! I have to mention that the organizers are the people who run TalktomeinKorean.com, the website where I self-studied Korean for a month before even arriving here. I was so surprised to see Hyunwoo, the podcast host whose photos and videos are all over the site, in person for the first time.

Overall, it's hard to describe the general 분위기 (atmosphere) of the place. It's frenetic, like a busy marketplace, but also very fun. There were so many interesting people to meet, from impressive polyglots to total beginners. Time simply flew by from 7:30-11:30 pm. For the last hour, it was very quiet and only the French table remained (even after all the actual French people had left), but I was still hooked, and I was thinking, "If only I could do this every evening!" Alas, the Hongdae meetup occurs only on Mondays, which means next Monday is actually the last chance I have to attend! 어떻게? :(

In conclusion... 오늘 레인귀즈카스트 다녔으니까 기분이 종말 좋네요! 다음 번에 다시 갈거예요. 그 때 한국말을 연습할것 같아요... 아니면 프랑스어를 또 이야기를 나눌거예요! 몹시 바라다!

(Translation: I feel great from having gone to the LanguageCast today! I'm going to go again next time. Then I'll maybe practice Korean... or converse in French again! I can't wait!)

The Last Night

Tonight is the last I'm going to spend in the United States for a while... I spent it packing and playing Settlers of Catan with my cousins. Time well spent, I think.

So now that I have about seventeen hours before I leave for the airport, it's time to go over my pre-departure to-do list. Number one... SF! I did go -- multiple times, actually -- and I got some souvenirs from the Far East Flea Market in SF's Chinatown, reportedly the best and cheapest place to buy tourist-y things. I also used my time in SF and Berkeley to prepare some cultural lessons, in a way: at the recent Giants-Dodgers game at AT&T park, I shot some short movies that I'm going to try to turn into a video lesson on baseball. (Also -- the Giants won! Woohoo!) I also interviewed some friends of mine who are students at Cal. It's for giving my future students some American college aspirations, I guess!

As for other teaching materials, I've brought along some magazines which I don't think will be terribly helpful, as they are not at a very low reading level, and they will also be outdated by the time I actually start teaching. Oh well, at least I can read them. And I also brought some Taboo cards which should make for a fun in-class activity, as long as I tweak the rules a bit to make them easier.

I finished Level 1 at TalktomeinKorean.com, and I'll spend all my plane time and the first day of Orientation doing a bit of review. The hope is that I won't be placed in a beginner-level class, even though my grammar and vocabulary is still way below intermediate.

In addition to the very useful podcast lessons on that website, I also watched (and finished!) my very first Korean drama, called Dream High. It's kind of like Smash, more like Fame (not really like Glee, I must admit). It started out pretty awful, but after three or four episodes I started to get very attached to the storylines. And while the series finale left me a bit unimpressed, I at least now have a bit more knowledge of some Korean pop stars. Also, the drama's theme song is stuck in my head.

Dream High's beautiful cast of mediocre actors

And yes, I cut my hair. In fact, I almost shaved it all off. No photos for you, though!

Lastly, I've finished packing. I really tried to pack light. One large suitcase to be checked, one small suitcase as a carry-on, and one backpack. The larger suitcase is just shy of the fifty-pound weight limit, and it is filled with nothing but clothes. The smaller one has basically everything else. Does it seem like a lot to you? I'm actually taking less with me to Korea (for one year) than I took to France (for one semester). So I think I'll be buying some more clothes while I'm over there.

Oh, one more thing... Mission Peak! I only hiked up once. Maybe I'll sneak in one more tomorrow morning... should I risk it? Haha.

Good night, moon. Next time I see you, I'll be on the other side of the world!