Getting to meet my co-teacher's family

September 24, 2009

Both of my co-teachers (Anne and Christina) are extremely nice and hospitable, and are usually looking out for me and my well-being over here in Korea. I really don’t think that I could ask for much better co-teachers as I hear horror stories from other native teachers like myself. However, Anne and Christina have almost taken me under their wings and have invited me into their lives with such embracing arms. Take for example the following:

Christina’s husband, whose English name is Lion (he chose Lion because his favorite baseball team is the Samsung Lions, hah) apparently really wanted to meet me and “practice his English.” So he had invited me out to baseball game in Seoul with him. However, due to the teams that were playing (his team wasn’t playing apparently), he no longer wanted to go, haha. Christina then invited me over to her house (well, actually her mom’s house because that’s where she’s living right now because of her 1-year old baby boy) to meet her family. I had no opposition to this.

We take the subway from Bugae down like 7-8 stops to where her mom lives, and we literally just have to walk like a minute from the subway stop to the apartment complex (talk about easy and convenient). Once we get off the elevator and start walking towards her door, I see her mom outside the door, cleaning some food in like a plastic bowl. Interesting. Her mom doesn’t speak any English, of course, but is the nicest Korean grandmother ever, haha. We then go inside the apartment, and find her baby (his name translates into “Kind”) asleep on the floor in her bedroom. The cutest thing I’d seen in a long time! Christina and I then just sit in the living and talk about life for awhile, waiting for her husband to get home. Her husband, Lion, works for the court in Seoul, and while I tried to ask him a few times what exactly he does in the court, I never got a straight answer, haha. Anyways, Lion’s English is probably on par with Christina’s, which is far better than I was expecting when I first got over here. Lion also apparently served in the US Army for close to three years in an area called Yongsan (I think that’s in/near Seoul). Anyways, the three of us just continue talking, and I almost feel like I’ve known them for far longer than just the one month I’ve been here. It was an eerie feeling almost.

The baby, “Kind”, decides to wake up, and started crying the first time he saw me, haha. Great! He finally warmed-up to me after like 30 minutes of scoping me out, and by the time we went to dinner, he wasn’t afraid to touch me, hah.

All of us (Christina, Christina’s mom, Lion, “Kind” AND Christina’s very preggers sister who also can speak good English) go to a traditional Korean BBQ restaurant for dinner. While there are literally thousands of this type of restaurant everywhere in Korea, each one is unique and prepares its meats in a slightly different way, which makes each dining experience different. Lion and I shared a few beers and bottle or two of soju (he informed me that since he works for the government he drinks a lot, haha) while thoroughly enjoying our bulgogi and kalbi, and kimchi of course. We finish off the meal with some very spicy ice-noodles (you’ll have to try some when you come over).

After dinner, we head back to her mom’s house and literally just sit on the living room floor and play with “Kind.” They even call me “Uncle Davis” (sorry Alli  ). It was by far one of the most fun nights I’d had since coming to Korea. While I’m half-way across the world from my family back in North Carolina, I felt like I was part of Christina’s family here in Incheon, and it made me feel soooo much better about missing home.