Tidbits

Food At Work: It must be universal that the workplace always has food. In the states, it's the ubiquitous box of donuts or a homemade baked good (which no one ever asks where it came from, who made it, or what exactly it is, though it's always gone by lunchtime). Here in Seoul, I am given food at work more days than not. And there's always a very specific reason, more so than just wanting to get a half-eaten sheet cake out of your house. For example, someone brought in snacks for everyone when her dad died; someone else passed out bananas after being named salesperson of the month; the president ordered cakes* and juice boxes for everyone when a new publication was launched; and I'm still not sure why we ate croissants one day.

*"Cake" is used in the loosest sense here. Also, these are not chocolate flakes, but dried bean curd flakes. I learned this the hard way.

 

 

 

Practically A Man: Last month, Leo started preschool on the base where we live. He loves it, especially snack time. He is apparently the first to collect his plate and cup and be seated at the table to be served. One of his teachers took this cute picture of him playing. So sweet, but I think the caption may actually be making fun of me, as I called repeatedly during his first week to make sure he was adjusting well, not biting anyone, knew that I missed him, knew that I was coming to pick him up soon, etc.

 

Subway Gawking: I love riding the subway for the people-watching opportunities. On my way into work in the mornings, which is around 7:15 a.m., many riders often smell, well, boozy. However, this makes them sleepy and allows me to stare, and sometimes take a picture. This guy's hat reads, "Bring on Fabulous." Awesome.

Summertime: The eight days or so were great, but now spring is apparently over. Either way, the warm weather is wonderful and we love being outside more.

 



 

Hello, Kitty: Although she's technically from Japan, Hello Kitty is super popular here. Much to Eri's delight, we ventured to Seoul's Hello Kitty Cafe one morning.

Awe, It's True! We do love it here. So far, so good in Seoul.

Cherry Blossom Time

 

 

Spring is finally here, which starts when the cherry blossom trees bloom for just a few short weeks. This is so exciting because although this winter was by all accounts "mild," I found it very long and very, very cold, but more so, because the cherry blossoms blooming is such an iconic event that I've never seen before. The company I work for has a tradition of all the employees gathering one morning to walk around and see the blossoms, and then inexplicably eat a breakfast of ox-tail soup before heading back to the office. Seeing the blossoms with 40-some Koreans was definitely the way to do it.

The whole group! (I'm the white one, just right of center.)

Lovely.

Breakfast of champions. (I just had rice.)

Happy Easter! / 행복한 부활절!

As Eri explained to her Grandpa Booboo, "Lot of countries have the Easter bunny," including Korea. So we cebrated the day, and I did not share with her the NPR piece I heard about the other Korea farming rabbits for food.

We went to a very crowded, rather aggressive Easter egg hunt on the army base where we live. Eri and Leo made carrot cake cupcakes to look like little egg-filled baskets. And, the Easter bunny left a few gifts and hid eggs in our home, where our children didn't have to compete with other parents to get them.

 



 

Got their game faces on.

Crackin' eggs.

Prior to go-time, Eri told me she had a strategy:
to run with her knees up, just like her dad taught her. So cute.

Yum.

We are still waiting for our household goods to arrive
 (a recurring theme in my blog posts, I know), so the Easter
bunny left chairs instead of baskets this year.

My job in Korea

I've started working as an editor at a Koren publishing company called Times Core, which primarily produces four weekly newspapers in English for Korean children (elementary through high school) as well as a dozen other periodic publications -- all with the goal of helping Korean students learn English.

My job is twofold: one part as a journalist, editing content to ensure it's gramatically and mechanically accurate, and the other part as a native-English speaker, makng sure it doesn't sound like a foreigner wrote it.

I am the only non-Asian, native-English speaker on staff, and from what I can tell, the only one employed in the whole building and its hundreds of employees. It's really interesting.

The staff of Times Core pretty much all speaks at least some English, with the writers and other editors of course speaking the most fluently. All of the stories are written in English, but the day-to-day logistics are conducted in Korean. And because the only thing I know in Korean is "thank you," I don't go to any meetings, and I don't answer an office phone or email account. It's awesome.

Having moved here from Brazil after nearly three years of Portuguese, I am very sympathetic to the non-native speaker. Working here, though, I realize just how complicated English is.

Real doozies include: "in," "on," "to," "for," by," and the like.
For example:
"I saw that in TV." Wrong.
"I saw that on TV."
OK, so, "I read that on a book."
Nope, "I read that in a book."
We get "on" a bike and "in" a car, but not vice versa.

English also has lots of phrases, expressions or colloquialisms that have a non-literal meaning, or that may be accurate, but we just don't say.
For example:
"Put to sleep" is used for when an animal is euthanized, not for putting a child to bed.
While "lover" may be technically correct, it's probably better to use "his wife" when the target audience is 5 to 8 year olds.

I'm sure this is very frustrating and confusing, but it makes me feel like I'm helping not only the staff here, but also Korean students, and that's rewarding.

I work on the eighth floor of this high rise.

Koreans are very formal, so at work they call me
"Ms. Brye Ann Steeves." I tell them I go by just Brye
(and sometimes Bree or Brynne), so that's all they put on my nameplate.

Apparently God has office space here as does an architectural
firm and I think a dermatologist, among many others.

I like seeing my name among all the Korean ones!

But it can be tough, too.
My computer is all in Korean and I don't know what ANY of these
characters mean. So, I count. Eight icons to the right and
two down on the drop down menu is how I turn on the editing feature.

Sure, why not.

Another big part of the experience is riding the subway to and from work.
I've seen people become intwined with each other by their headphones and manage
to free themselves while still texting. I've seen people walk into closed doors and
step on, or even sit on, other people because they were texting. None of these things seems to
be a big deal, but there is subway etiquette ...

No subway lovin'.

No puking.

And don't even think about having a snack.