Howdy

Hi all. It's been harder and harder to find time to write, but you're not missing too much at the moment. I've established my teaching routine and not much happens in Gurye. I will say that teaching is a good experience and would recommend everyone to try it (at least for a little while).
One of the most difficult things for an American teacher in Korea to understand is simple communication. The most natural sentence for us may as well be Klingon to them. I've learned that teachers should avoid using prepositions like the plague and keep sentences to the bare minimum. That's subject, verb, and object if absolutely necessary. Of course there are schools in bigger cities in which students have more exposure to Americans, but in my situation, I have reverted to a five year old conversationalist. Thus far, my students know that I do in fact, appreciate food and I am happy to see them.
On an anthropological tangent, it is interesting to see the differences in the Korean and American psyche. I did not realize that Americans are extremely ideological people. For us, principle often dictates our behavior. Koreans appear to have much more need to have a tangible result for their actions. This is evidenced by the importance of gift giving, proper appearance, and material incentives. You respect people by giving them gifts and always looking your best. The same is basically true for Americans except they tend to add a few steps to that process. Many people in Korea give money to Buddist monasteries in a clean exchange for happiness and ascention to heaven. Most Americans would view such a transparent exchange as superficial. They provide money for churches in the name of God's work, which is a more roundabout way of achieving happiness and ascention to heaven. I guess the bottom line is that both cultures appreciate most of the same things and have the same goals, but Koreans seem to be more open about it. Like I said, a tangent.
Communicating in Gurye has gotten a little easier. I can convey simple messages such as "I would like to buy this coffee/trinket/cookie." However, many of the other teachers mistake survival Korean for intelligent conversation. More have been asking me for my opinion on the election in America and they actually expect Korean from me. "Obama 촣아해요" (I like Obama) is all they will get from me in the end. The looks of disappointment in their eyes has become more motivation from me to learn more complicated Korean, though I think they'll just have to settle for "I like Obama." Many people are very interested in learning about Americans, though America is still the country everyone loves to hate. I think I can equate their disdain for America to America's disdain for France. It's harmless but important to address sooner rather than later. Hopefully I can leave a somewhat positive image of Americans to the students, though I have to improve my Korean soon.