Lessons I have learned so far in my homestay (most of which I had been warned about previously):

1. Saying "maybe" after everything you say or request goes a very long way. Koreans bust out the "maybes" like it is their job. For example, "Maybe later I will go and meet my ETA friend for Dunkin Donuts". This is usually a good way to test the waters when you are unsure if something is okay or not.

2. Just because someone tells you what you are going to be doing that day, does not mean that it will actually happen. In fact, it may be very far from what actually happens. Two examples: 1) This morning I told my mother that "Maybe I will go take a rest after breakfast (translation: Why am I up so freakin early when I have absolutely nothing to do today). My mom's response, "Maybe we can walk to the river so that next time you want to go on a walk you can go alone." Okay, I can put of my nap for a 10 minute walk to the river. I throw on some jeans (because all of my shorts are in the laundry) and flip flops and grab my big purse, ready for my casual stroll to the river. I later find out that in fact we are going on a 4 mile walk to and up and down the river in like 95% humidity. And of course I had to act like I was having fun the whole time. 2) My friend Kate told me a story today about how the other day she thought she was going with her co-teacher to get her cell phone and set up her bank out. Someone called the house for her to come down and meet them. She went downstairs only to find her Vice Principal and his daughter who then proceeded to take her on an hour car ride to see a temple, and then out for food. I'm pretty sure we would call that kidnapping in the US.

3. The Korean words for "very delicious", "thank you", and "it's okay" can pretty much get you through most awkward, language-barrier situations.


Also, here are some more funny anecdotes from my fellow ETA's.

"Anyway, here is a little tale from the first night of the great ETA diaspora. after eating at a western (read "western") restaurant with my vp, co-teach, head teach, hs mom and bro, and a whole host of unidentifiable others, my hs mom drove me home in her orange kia morning, and i attempted to make conversation. of course, by attempted i mean failed, and by conversation i mean hand gestures. so as i was trying to feel out her english ability, i started off with real simple statements like, "i like your car." this seemed to go over well, so the rest of the time in the car was spent talking about the car. i told her that i drive i rearry small car at home too, and that i love to drive rearry small cars. my hs mom just nodded the whole way and finally, as we pulled up to the apt complex, slammed on the brakes, turned to me, and said "small cars are good for fucking." me: wide-eyed. her (as if i didnt speak her language or something): "small cars very very good for fucking." needless to say i just nodded and left it at that. (i mean, to each his own.) but later that night, as i was asking my younger bro to spell out his name for me, he dictated it as he wrote "park sang-moon." fact: in korea, fucking is parking. (let this be a lesson to you all, especially you ___, and your saucy ideas for your unsuspecting students."

"So this morning before I went to school, my host mom decided to use Google translator to communicate with me (since no one in the family can really speak English).
She was trying to say something like, "After school, come home and eat bread and relax." Google translator said, "Come home to eat and fuck.""