2) XO, the Es
what binds us together is more than what separates us. -terry tempest williams
you might think that living with people you can barely talk to might be difficult. there are clearly moments when the language barrier or challenge of co-habitation are trying for me, but all in all, i feel incredibly fortunate to have been placed here with the E family. their name would be translated to english as Lee, but i think you should know that their actual name in korean is E.
we live in a 3 bedroom apartment on the first floor. this is our building, it is in a complex with 6 buildings just like it:
i am the only one in this apartment that has a bed. everyone else sleeps on yo-s (mats on the floor that are usually rolled up in the morning)...this is what my room looks like:
my host father manages a company called EM, which stands for Environmental MicroOrganisms. EM is a company that is based out of an organic farm about 15 minutes away from seogwipo. they have the farm and also a line of organic shampoo, conditioner, soap and cleaning products that are sold all over korea. EM also does some sort of consulting but i can't quite tell what it is. he is a jolly round man who makes people laugh a lot. he clearly loves his family and also loves science and his work. my favorite is when we go out to eat bulgogi (beef grilled right in front of you) and he is constantly picking up different pieces of meat and asking his children what part of the cow it is. he is always calling their family "science family".
my host mother is also a very loving woman who is extremely busy. she is in graduate school in jeju-city, which is an hour away, and does private tutoring in our living room at night. she and i get along great. i love how she is always running in and out of our house saying "bye-eee" or "see you later" or "have a good time"...she a great mother and a great host mother. she doesn't nag me too much but helps me when i need it.
Un-gung and G-hoon are my host siblings. Un-gung is one of my students and a pretty typical 12 year old girl. She and her mom squabble quite a bit and she really wants a cell phone. She takes ballet so sometimes we practice together. G-hoon is the most shy of all the Es but I think we get along okay. He is some sort of science genius at the age of 10 and is always jetting off to some sort of special science tutor or test. He is pretty typical 10 year old boy i.e. he got out the english-korean electronic dictionary the other day and translated the korean word for poop. the english translation was excrement. the dictionary has an audio feature and i could hear him pressing play over and over again as the dictionary said "excrement" "excrement" "excrement" in its robotic voice. i chose to ignore this action but had a good giggle with myself about how 10 year old boys like the same things everywhere in the world.
one night i was sitting in the living room chatting on my laptop with my actual mom. my host mom was sitting next to me and saw that my mom wrote "XOXO" at the end of her message. She asked me what it was. I explained that in english x o means kiss hug. well, everyone in the living room really took a liking to this phrase and made Xs and Os with their fingers saying X O X O outloud as they gestured. now whenever anyone leaves our house we say X O X O. i really like it. i really like them.
not to sound cheesy, really, at all, but these people have affirmed with the most solid of affirmations that relationships are build on so many foundations. when venturing to korea i was most nervous about the homestay. co-habitaiton is not one of my strengths and remains a challenge here, but at least i am facing this challenge with the XOing, jolly, round, loving Es. we can only talk so much, but we can laugh a lot and know each other with out knowing every detail. our foundation is of love and respect, same as my family and friends at home, it is just founded in different ways.
you might think that living with people you can barely talk to might be difficult. there are clearly moments when the language barrier or challenge of co-habitation are trying for me, but all in all, i feel incredibly fortunate to have been placed here with the E family. their name would be translated to english as Lee, but i think you should know that their actual name in korean is E.
we live in a 3 bedroom apartment on the first floor. this is our building, it is in a complex with 6 buildings just like it:
i am the only one in this apartment that has a bed. everyone else sleeps on yo-s (mats on the floor that are usually rolled up in the morning)...this is what my room looks like:
my host father manages a company called EM, which stands for Environmental MicroOrganisms. EM is a company that is based out of an organic farm about 15 minutes away from seogwipo. they have the farm and also a line of organic shampoo, conditioner, soap and cleaning products that are sold all over korea. EM also does some sort of consulting but i can't quite tell what it is. he is a jolly round man who makes people laugh a lot. he clearly loves his family and also loves science and his work. my favorite is when we go out to eat bulgogi (beef grilled right in front of you) and he is constantly picking up different pieces of meat and asking his children what part of the cow it is. he is always calling their family "science family".
my host mother is also a very loving woman who is extremely busy. she is in graduate school in jeju-city, which is an hour away, and does private tutoring in our living room at night. she and i get along great. i love how she is always running in and out of our house saying "bye-eee" or "see you later" or "have a good time"...she a great mother and a great host mother. she doesn't nag me too much but helps me when i need it.
Un-gung and G-hoon are my host siblings. Un-gung is one of my students and a pretty typical 12 year old girl. She and her mom squabble quite a bit and she really wants a cell phone. She takes ballet so sometimes we practice together. G-hoon is the most shy of all the Es but I think we get along okay. He is some sort of science genius at the age of 10 and is always jetting off to some sort of special science tutor or test. He is pretty typical 10 year old boy i.e. he got out the english-korean electronic dictionary the other day and translated the korean word for poop. the english translation was excrement. the dictionary has an audio feature and i could hear him pressing play over and over again as the dictionary said "excrement" "excrement" "excrement" in its robotic voice. i chose to ignore this action but had a good giggle with myself about how 10 year old boys like the same things everywhere in the world.
one night i was sitting in the living room chatting on my laptop with my actual mom. my host mom was sitting next to me and saw that my mom wrote "XOXO" at the end of her message. She asked me what it was. I explained that in english x o means kiss hug. well, everyone in the living room really took a liking to this phrase and made Xs and Os with their fingers saying X O X O outloud as they gestured. now whenever anyone leaves our house we say X O X O. i really like it. i really like them.
not to sound cheesy, really, at all, but these people have affirmed with the most solid of affirmations that relationships are build on so many foundations. when venturing to korea i was most nervous about the homestay. co-habitaiton is not one of my strengths and remains a challenge here, but at least i am facing this challenge with the XOing, jolly, round, loving Es. we can only talk so much, but we can laugh a lot and know each other with out knowing every detail. our foundation is of love and respect, same as my family and friends at home, it is just founded in different ways.
posted by Kate B. at 6:21 PM
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