I think I've talked about Christianity in Korea before, but here's a recap. Christianity is fairly new here, especially when compared to Europe where my ancestors are from. So when I'm approached by Koreans, on the street or when they knock on my door, who try to lecture me/convert me to Christianity I can't help but think, 'Yes, I know about Christianity. My family is from Ireland and Italy. I'm pretty sure they have known about it for a while now.' So I usually just run away or shut the door. And they go in groups where at least one person speaks English and they will, inevitably, shove that person towards me.
Now, the rainy season has started here. A couple weeks ago I was walking back to my apartment at 10pm in the rain. You would think that given these facts I would have been safe from the Christians who wander the streets trying to convert/educate unsuspecting pedestrians. No. There I was, speed walking home to avoid me totally soaked, and what happens? I get stopped by these people!
Always, they ask "Are you busy? Can we talk to you about the Bible?" And I always say that yes, I am busy. This night I was heading back hoping to make home in time to skype with my mother. So I them that, that I was in a hurry and needed to get home to talk to my mom. Did this deter them? No. They asked to come back with me to my apartment. At this point, and this is a little sad, I literally ran away from them. There I was, with my umbrella at 10 at night, running down the street in the rain to escape these 2 ladies who wanted to educate me about the Bible.
And I do consider myself Christian. But I have very strong feelings about forcing your religion on other people. So, this is getting kind of old. Especially since they are rather forceful and very persistent when you've made it clear that you don't want to talk to them or listen to what they have to say.
Different topic. Koreans' believe in something called 'fan-death.' This is the belief that during the summer if you sleep with your fan on and your windows closed you will die. There are several theories about how this works. Here are 2: 1) the fan sucks all the air from the room or 2) the fan acts like the fan in a convection oven and takes out all the air while also making you hot so you die from dehydration.
I've talked to a couple of Koreans about this, including my tutor and they are all convinced it is true. The news reports incidents of fan death and it is one of the top 3 causes of death during the summer, along with AC explosions. Now, you might be thinking this a little illogical and no one would actually believe it. You would be wrong. Fan-death isn't a superstition. It's a fact. I've been told by several people never to sleep with my fan on and windows closed. My thoughts when I'm told this usually run along these lines, 'Well, I always sleep with my windows closed and my fans on at home. Sometimes multiple fans (gulp) and yet I'm still alive.' So, this is just one of those things that I find amusing but accept as a Korean quirk. And have learned not to talk about with Koreans.
Ok, time to change topics again. I'm currently rather annoyed with my school. I'm leaving August 13th. In September they have to give me quite a bit of money for my severance, housing deposit, flight, and last pay. My school wants me to get an international debit card so I can withdraw this money, thousands of dollars, from an ATM when I get home. You can only withdraw so much money from an ATM at a time and per-day. Plus, I would be charged international fees every time I withdrew. And I need that money in my home account as soon as possible to pay bills. So their idea really doesn't really work for me.
I even told them I would pay the transfer fee if they wire the money. Maybe that will help. I emailed the GEPIK coordinator for the area so hopefully she will be of some help. I'm tired of this type of BS and it really just makes me want to get out of here and get home. The miserable, rainy weather also isn't helping my mood.
Good news is that my students started finals today, so I'm desk warming, which, yes, is quite boring, but at least I'm not teaching. Summer camp is only a couple of weeks away, then I have 2 more weeks of desk warming before I leave. I think there are things I'm really going to miss here, like how active my social life is, my students, friends, etc, but I'm ready to get on that plane home and back to normality. And fruits. And vegetables. Anyway, that's it for today. Hope you enjoyed the stories and my complaining didn't bother you too much :)
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