Strange markings

It began at the start of summer, when the layers of clothing began to shed. When we moved from five layers to four, to three to two, and now, at the height of summer, the lightest material passable for appropriate for work clothing.  I noticed one of my students had strange markings on her shoulder. I began counting, one dot, two, three. There were 18 dots in total.  Two square boxes of 9 dots a piece. I began to inspect all of my children. Almost everyone of them had it.
"What are these markings?" I asked my Korean co-workers.
It was explained, that these markings were a new form of a vaccination.  Previous to this currently used vaccination, the out-dated one, left a scar on the shoulder.  This newer vaccination was created to avoid that permanent scarring.  It is said, that the markings will fade with years.
Now, I was even more confused.  Where was my scar I wondered? I'd had all my shots as a child, and even more shots before I left for traveling the world. My family were not one of the anti-vaccine families, so why was it that all of my international friends had scars on their arms, and I didn't nor did any of my American friends. But no one could tell me even what vaccine it was, that is until recently. I follow a blog called, Ask a Korean.
Basically, people write him their questions and he answers them.  Very useful site for questions regarding Korean culture.  He explained, that this vaccine is the BCG vaccine, and for some reason Americans do not receive it.
Evidently, we are one out of two countries in the world that do not recommend it for children. (The Netherlands is the other) Tuberculosis (TB)  kills more people in the world than any other infection. Currently, it infects 1.6 billion people, about one-third of the world's population.  But the vaccine, that is used, does not protect against the kind that is the true killer, which is the millary TB. The TB vaccine is good at protecting against the severe form of disease found in young children (called "miliary" TB), but not as good at protecting against the lung infection commonly found in adolescents and adults. Because miliary TB is very uncommon in the United States, we do not use the TB vaccine. (Info found here)

  So, my question has been answered. And now, if you made it to the end of this spiel, you are more educated, that when you clicked open my page.  Aren't you glad you visited today?

Living transiently

I wrote a post a few years past about how since our high school graduation, Kyle and I have lived quite nomadically, living in the same city, state, house, or country for no more than two years in a row.  Starting in college:
'01- Texas Tech
'03- College internship in Orlando, Florida working for the Mouse at Walt Disney World.
'04- UT (Hook 'em) You know the game, studying hard getting those valuable BS's.
Fal '05- Italy study abroad program- AMAZING and Europe Travel
"06- Austin and San Antonio- Yep, we lived in both cities that year.
'07- Chile (teaching English, our first taste of it. I'm kinda surprised we kept teaching after wards)
'08- San Antonio, and a few months in Seattle with my aunt
'09- present- off and on living and teaching in South Korea

We've lived our life in such a manner for a few reasons, one being that we like adventure. We're young, and we're lucky enough not to have ropes hitching us to anyone location.  There's something so thrilling about visiting a new place.  It's kind of like being a child again, feeling aware of the entire world around you rather than just walking through it like a ghost.  Every smell, every building, every expression, every sound is novel and titillating.  When you travel, your senses flicker to life, where they had been bored into monotony before.  Life is full of flavor both fascinating, and disgusting.  There's a lot to be said about traveling, living abroad, and seeing the world.
But with everything in life there are downsides as well; nothing is perfection.  Even Italian cream cake, which might seem flawless, isn't perfect for every meal.  If you eat too much of it, you bound not to hold a very pleasing figure for very long.  Our lives, although arguably very exciting, (and lets be honest about excitements, not all are the positive kinds), has definite pitfalls.  One of those pitfalls being the transiency of it all.   Nothing is permanent.  No one is permanent. When purchasing items, it's necessary to consider whether it will be sold, given away, consumed or shipped at the end of the year. You make friends only with the clear understanding, that at the end of the year, sometimes longer, you'll say goodbye, and most of the time forever.  When I first got to Korea, I made some fantastic friends.  Several of those friends have remained here in Korea during the duration of my time here, but our time together is dwindling.  I've said goodbye at this point countless times; so many times that it no longer really throws me for a loop.  People come in Korea, and people go.  That is the how the transient life works. You make friends, they leave, you make more friends, they leave or you leave, and the cycle continues.  Its laboriously frustrating, and painful.  When I make friends, generally, its because the person adds something special to my life, and when they leave, they take their specialty away.  A friend of mine left his weekend.  She's been my most constant, and definitely one of my best friends I've made in this crazy country.  We've kept each other sane.  And now my sanity has sashayed out the door, and I'm left feeling sad about the non-permanence of it all.  We all make decisions in life which lead us down a specific path.  I don't regret the life we've chosen, but it's not always as romantic as it might seem to outsiders and some days I just want normalcy. But then again, I travel partially to escape the normal because its monotony is uninspiring.  As with so many aspects of life, its a double edged sword, but I guess thats what makes life thrilling, or exhausting, depending on your mood or perspective.

On a more positive note, the friends we make and leave behind, generally make travel easier. Those friends who have come in and out of my life also have couches we might one day crash on.  So to all of my friends who have spun through the revolving door of nomadic travels, remember, that where ever I am, you always have a couch, if not a bed to crash upon, and I one day hope in either of our travels, I pray I have the pleasure of seeing you again.

Living in an International Community

Living abroad in a completely, and by all sense of the word, foreign country is an experience, challenging and exciting. However living with an international group adds an even more interesting twist on this not so conventional situation. As I have mentioned before, I work at an English camp. Many teachers who come to Korea work at either private institutions or public schools, but my school is entirely different, unique one might be so bold to say. There are four floors, well maybe five if you include the basement. There are classes and offices on the first and second floors. The third floor is living quarters for the students who are staying for the week, referred to as "the hotel" by the students. The fourth floor is where the staff live, both the Korean staff who are in charge of discipline whom we call the "guardian angles" and the English staff (non-Korean). When I taught English in Chile the volunteers consisted primarily of Americans. There were a few Aussies and Canadians scattered throughout, but the large majority by far were Americans. At this school, however that is not the case. There isn't a strong majority on any nationality. We consist of 5 Americans, 6 Canadians, until recently 5 from the UK, their numbers are down after the departure of a couple who ended their contract, 2 South Africans and 2 Kiwis (New Zealanders). And although we all share the same language, there are some differences in culture among some of the groups. This bowl of culturally mixed fruits could in some instance be a recipe for an outrageous fruit bomb. ( How do you like the silly metaphor which makes no sense?) But surprisingly, there has yet to be an explosion, or even two much spoilage. In fact, I would say, that considering that we live in such tight quarters, working, living, and spending our spare time together, it is miraculous that we get along so well. One of the reasons I was drawn to writing this post was to pass on not only some of the new an interesting things I have learned through living here, but also the different uses of English from the different countries.

Do you recognize this flag? Can you name the country it represents?

If you can, you are better educated than I am. The first day here, one of the teachers had this flag drawn on his nametag.
"What flag is that?" I asked
"Why does no one recognize this flag? It's the English flag?" he responded light-heartedly, but flabbergasted by our lack of knowledge about his country's flag.

So there you have it, that is the flag of England. Are you confused? I was. I always thought the English flag looked like this:Nope, this is the Union flag, often referred to as the Union Jack. This flag represents the United Kingdom. Maybe I didn't pay attention in geography, I take that back, I know I didn't pay enough attention in geography, but I don't remember going over the difference between the UK and England. In my mind, they were the same. I thought it strange that there were several names to refer to the same place, but I had never really questioned it before coming to live with Brits.
Ok, so here is the difference.
England is not the United Kingdom. England is a country in the United Kingdom. I realize that some of you may be thinking at this point, "man is she dense, of course England and the United Kingdom are two different things" but I am hoping that for those of you who were unclear about this as I was, this will help explain things a bit better. England is shown below in Green.
The United Kingdom, however includes, Wales (not spelled with an 'H' as I had previously thought), Scotland, and Northern Ireland (not Ireland). I didn't know there was a division between Northern Ireland and Ireland and I have even visited the country. Of course I had heard about the IRA, but like I said, I didn't pay enough attention in geography obviously. So the United Kingdom is a unitary state made up of four countries which are all run by the same government, Parliament. Queen Elizabeth is still considered head of state, however she is more of an icon than an actual ruler. But however iconic she is, she is still head of state of the 53 Common Wealth countries including, but not limited to Canada, Oceania (Australia, and New Zealand), South Africa, the Bahamas, etc.
Great Brittan is not the same as England, nor as the United Kingdom, rather it refers to the Eastern Island where England, Wales and Scotland reside. It also includes some of the surrounding smaller islands. I find it all very confusing.
One of the Brits (anyone in the UK can be referred to as British however it suggested that you not call an Irishman a Brit) is from Wales. Welsh and English are the two languages spoken in this small country.

Okay, enough of the England, UK, Great Britain lesson. If you are still interested in learning about the complexities of this unique grouping, I suggest you click here.

On to the interesting terminology of the English language. Before I start however, I would like to point out that everyone of the countries represented here is under the common wealth besides the USA. That means that much of the terminology for these countries is the same. Ex: "the lu" is used in both South Africa and in England. Therefore the category for British terminology will be unproptionately large.

UK termonology
Uni- (pronounced 'You knee') refers to University. It is confusing for other countries when Americans talk about 'college' because college to them is something entirely different than a university. It is equivalent to a prep school before University.

well- this adjective is used in many different contexts that we might use 'so' or 'very' or 'really' in place of. "that is well funny" "she is well fit" (fit in this context means HOT or attractive)

sorted- "I've got it all sorted" - a problem has been sorted out.

can't be bothered- I can't remember if I used this phrase before coming to Korea, but it is a phrase I use all the time now, and that everyone seems to use with regularity. Another version of this phrase is "I can't be asked" Ex: "I can't be bothered to work out today." Basically admitting to laziness hence why I use it all the time.

get on- "get along with" is our equivalent. "How do you get on with her?"

geezer/bloke/mate- all a term referring to a friend or guy.

knob- "He's such a knob!" This was used when speaking about Hugh Grant. Arrogant, stupid, slow.

torch- a flashlight, not a stick with flames which is what I though the first time.

bumbershoot- I love this word!! Umbrella!!

zebra crossing- pedestrian walk way.

swimming costume- yep, a swim suite, but this sounds so much funnier.

vitamin- only the pronunciation is different, but it is significantly different. "Vee ta men"

"bum a fag"- have a cigarette

"cheekie beer"- I still don't fully understand this term. But for example, we sat down mid- afternoon to have a beer while waiting for a friend and they said that because it was in the afternoon it was "cheekie." Like we were doing something we oughtn't.

"up the duff"- pregnant

"you alrigh" (notice the lack of a 't') used as a greeting in replace of "how are you?" The first time one of the American girls heard this phrase asked to her, she didn't really understand and said, "yeah, I'm fine" with a little attitude.

rubbish bin- trash can

lergie- a lougie (a snot ball) or a sickness like a cold. "I had a little lergie"

football- a word we seem to fight over all of the time. Soccer is the term we use and is the word we teach since we use "American English" to teach.

zed- "Z" the last letter in the alphabet! They have a different name

H- the pronunciation is like the 'h' is hate, but with a ch at the end. It sounds like Hach.

duvet- (french pronunciation, no 't') a comforter, as in the big fluffy blanket on your bed. In a conversation with someone about the "comforter" I was requesting the other person was very confused because a comforter to them meant a pacifier. Why would I need a pacifier? Some days, no one can understand anything!

South African terminology

bokke- (pronounced "boy key") male term like "dude"

bruv- like "bro"

hey- asked at the end of a sentence like the Canadian "eh?" It's a nice day out hey?

shame- this is used all the time by South Africans. Me: "I am feeling sick today." SA: " shame. I hope you feel better." Me: "That kid doesn't have all of his marbles." SA: "Shame."

courgette- a zucchini

pom- a derogatory term for the British.

New Zealand

Kiwi- ( a New Zealander)

sweet as- came from "sweet as pie" but is shortened to "sweet as." They would say this in response to something they like. "That is sweet as"

mauri- their natives.

Canada

The obvious: eh? - which I have to say is addictive and I sometimes catch myself saying eh? at the end of sentences.

Are you aware that Canada still uses British spelling? I wasn't until recently, but because they are common wealth they follow the spelling of the Queen more so than America.
colour
favourite

They also use the word zed rather than zee as we do in America.

USA

Things I am made fun of for saying:
"yall"- obvious one
"rambunctious"- they said they have this word, but it wouldn't be used unless you were writing a serious paper.
"the wave"- evidently everyone else in the world calls it the "Mexican Wave" because it was first done by Mexicans at a world cup soccer game.