On the Subway

I would want to shake my hand too.

A few weeks ago Sarah and I were on the subway. It was around 9 am and rush hour(s) was over so the subway was not too crowded. We are standing towards the back of the car chatting when I notice a group of about 7 teenaged boys at the other end of the car. They are talking and looking over at us and slowly begin to creep down the car towards us. After some shoving and such they end up at the other end of the car a few feet behind Sarah and I. Now, in Korea it is pretty much socially acceptable to stare shamelessly at people. So I have no problem obviously staring at this group of boys through this whole interaction. I watch them play a few rounds of rock/paper/scissor (this method is used frequently to make decisions in Korea) and someone is chosen. One boy emerges from the group and walks towards us then hurries back. He is pushed out of the circle again in our direction. His friends are all in the background watching and laughing. He finally makes it up to me, eyes darting around trying to avoid contact with me, and sticks out his hand for me to shake. I oblige and shake his hand. No words come out of his mouth or mine. He quickly turns around and is welcomed back to his friends with pats to the back and hi-fives. I could not help but laugh and continue to stare at them, just to make them feel uncomfortable. It worked and they got off at the next station.

This whole situation was comical to me. They were not being rude in anyway. They were driven by shear curiosity.

Changgyeonggung Palace

Try saying that word 10 times fast (or even once at all)! I went to this palace on Sunday afternoon. It was another windy and cool day but the sun was out. Perfect weather for a walk around a palace. This palace is basically right in the middle of the city. It was only a 10 minute walk from the subway station! We don't have palaces in the US and if we did I doubt they would be right in the city.

This palace was built in the late 1400s by King Seongjong because the original palace was just too crowded. Then the Japanese came over and basically took control of it for quite some time. They destroyed it once, then rebuilt it. Then it burned down and was rebuilt again. Then in 1907 was destroyed again and replaced by a zoo and botanical garden. Then in 1983 the Korean government began to restore it to its original state (sans the garden and zoo).

I wondered around the grounds for a few hours. The grounds were beautiful and there was a lot to see. Here are my highlights.

There were 5 or 6 phone booths randomly placed around the palace. Weird.

This photo is crooked. Oops.

Contemporary Art Museum

Greetings all! I admit, I have been entirely negligent about posting. Forgive me.

First of all my actual job, teaching, is off to a nice start. I am finally learning my students names and trying to build up a little rapport with each class. Some students have a tendency to think they can just do whatever they want when a native english teacher is teaching. They can be really disrespectful and take advantage of that fact that you don't know what they are saying when they speak in Korean (which is not allowed in class). I have been trying to get to know my students personally by asking about their hobbies and such. They also like to ask me all kinds of questions about my love life, eating habits and family. I don't mind answering. I do this in the hopes that they might be inclined to be more respectful of a teacher who they like and feel cares about them and is interested in them a people. We will see if it works.

One of my favorite things is when I get new student. Unless they already have an English name I get to choose one for them (well, they choose but I give them the options)!! I have named a Paul, Chris and Calvin. They are already 3 of my favorite students.

Today we went to the National Museum of Contemporary Art. It is not far from where we live and was free so why not. The weather today was what I call "a Seattle day" because it was overcast, looking like it could possibly rain, windy and mildly cold. Totally like a fall day in Seattle.

Anyways, when we got out of the subway we went to find the shuttle bus to the museum. Once we exited the unusually quiet subway area the street above was oddly deserted as well. There was hardly another person around. The wind was strong today, we could just hear it howling as we made our way to the shuttle. We eventually got on a train that took us to the museum. We were literally the only people on the train. There was also a tram to the museum but we decided we would probably freeze to death if we took it. Well, on our train ride we saw one lone person bravely riding it in the freezing howling wind. I seriously felt like I was in the Twilight Zone or something. We made it to the museum and it was very interesting and fun to spend the afternoon looking at art. I wish I could take photos of the art inside but no such luck.

Naturally the order of these photos is messed up, but I'll explain best as I can.

Out front of the entrance. Not getting very far guys.
These are two of my coworkers. Amy is waving and Deborah is trudging on forward.
There was an outdoor sculpture garden. This is part of it.

And here we have more out door sculpture. (Thats the tram in the background)
This dude was set up with some serious speakers and stuff. He sang and his arms and mouth moved. It sounded really cool actually mostly because you could also hear the wind sailing through the bridge in the background and the water falling.
See what I mean! No people!

On our way back we were just about to sit down and wait in the bitter cold and wind for the train back toward the subway when a lady drives up and offers us a ride! Sweet! We totally took it!

A Wedding!

Not mine, don't worry.

Today us teachers were chatting before classes and Arthur, the only male teacher, walks into the room. He recently became engaged so we were asking him how his future wife was doing and when the weeding will be. Then he darts out of the room and comes back with wedding invitations for us in hand!! Ah! How exciting! We are all invited to his wedding! I am so excited about this. Seriously.

So the initial excitement dies down and we realize we have nothing to wear to such an occasion. I brought like 1/16 of my wardrobe to Korea so I KNOW I will have to buy something. Koreans typically dress very well even for mundane activities like grocery shopping, so I am a little intimidated by their formal wear. I tried to ask some of my students for advice but I think my question was lost in translation. I was told first by a a student to wear a white gown (I think they thought I was getting married) then I was told to wear a suit (not sure where that came from, maybe Korean women wear suits). So basically they were no help.

Also finding sizes that fit my body type might be a challenge here in Korea. I have noticed the ladies are quite slim over here. Now I'm not that big, some in the states would say I'm a slim woman, but I'm not in the states anymore. When I stand next to a Korean lady I appear nearly obese. Hum. Looks like I might need to find Korea's plus size stores.

Despite all that I know I'll find something fabulous! The wedding is in April, Easter Sunday to be exact! I cant wait to tell you all about it.

My Address

A-Class Academy
1099-2 Daelim Plaza Bld. 5F
Sanbon-dong, Gunpo-Si
Gyeonggi-Do, South Korea

That is it! Send me something if you want!!

Going to the Doctor

So the other day I notice a cut on my hand, no big deal right? Well it turned into a big deal when it started to hurt and look, um well, not right. So I think I can just heal it myself. You know a little tea tree oil and a band-aid that should do the trick. The situation was not getting any better so I start to look up "hand infection" online to see what else I could do. Everything online was saying "go immediately to a doctor ...untreated infection can lead to AMPUTATION...". So now I'm freaking out a little and thinking I need a doctor ASAP.

But there was a little problem with that simple solution.

I don't have my medical card yet and I don't speak Korean so its not like I can just waltz into any doctors office or an ER. What to do, what to do?! I did not know so I called another teacher that I work with and she says I should Sione (my school's director) and ask him what to do. So I'm thinking "great, this is going to be awkward." But whatever if a little awkwardness is what I have to do to keep my hand so be it! So Sione said someone could take me to a doctor in the morning! Great!

So the next day Sione tells me that MS (another director type at my school) is going to take me. Off we go to the doctor. We get there and next thing I know it is me, MS, the Doctor and a nurse. The doctor has my hand and is talking to MS in Korean. I have no idea what is going on. Then the nurse starts to bring in needles and knives and scissor looking things. Shoot, this is getting serious. MS says a few things to me in English, but I dont know what is happening. At this point I decided to shut my eyes because, well, I don't know but I knew watching would not make me feel any better. I hear some Korean speaking, I feel a needle go into my hand and the doctor says "pain injection". Yea, pain is right. I feel poking prodding and hear more Korean and I am still confused. Then they lead me into another room and the doctor says something to MS, he laughs a little and looks away and leaves the room. Then the nurse says to me "injection, buttox" and I realize why MS was laughing. So the nurse gives me a shot, of what I do not know. The doctor comes back and bandages my hand and we are on our way.

Oh yes, it gets even more awkward! They also gave me some mystery pills to take. Well, MS did not know how to tell me what to do with said pills in English so he has to bring in another one of my coworkers to help translate!

See the nice bandage they gave me! I don't know what is going on underneath there but I guess I have to go back tomorrow to make sure they don't need to amputate .
These are the mystery pills. I hope it works!

East Sea

This past weekend myself and the other native teachers took a trip with some of our Korean friends to the East Sea. We all had Monday off of work because it was a national holiday. No one was sure what holiday it was exactly but none the less we all welcomed an extra day in our weekend! Our Korean friends are Jin, KyungMin and JongYun. They know much more about Korea and all that it has to offer waygooks (foreigners) like us so we left the details of the weekend up to them.

Saturday night we set off in two cars, where to the foreigners did not know. We all piled in the cars and I learn quickly that driving in Korea forces you into two extremes. First is that Korea has some of the most heinous traffic, it can take an hour to driver less than a mile in some areas (no joke, we experienced this). Second, the moment Korean drivers break free from the constraints of traffic they are suddenly competing in some sort of NASCAR meets mario kart race resulting in high-speeds, quick stops and frequent near death experiences. I cheated death many times this weekend.

We arrive at our hotel late Saturday night. They had rented a nice condo type room on some mountain about 3 hours from Sanbon (where we live). We made bulgogi, which is BBQ meat with side dishes and ate together on the floor (Korean style). We drank soju and played games into the early morning hours until we all passed out. A good time was had by all and a good start to our mystery weekend.

We woke up the next morning and our friends informed us we will be doing some sight seeing and staying at a new hotel that night. So we packed up and headed out. We had no idea our friends has planned a full on sightseeing trip around the east side of Korea, but hey bring it on!

So Away we go! First stop is a traditional lunch of bibimbap. This is a bowl of rice with an egg veggies and red chili paste. You mix it all up and have lots of side dishes to choose from. This was my first taste of this unique rice dish. I told Jin who was sitting next to me this and she quickly took charge of my dish mixing up all the ingredients, pouring in the chili paste and offering different side dishes to me. Koreans are always willing to show you how its done which I don't mind at all. The bibimbap was alright, not my favorite Korean dish but it was fun to eat.

If you dont already know, in Korea you almost always sit on the floor, share most things communal style and some if not all of the meal is prepared in front of you. I think that these features add a lot to the dinning experience. Everybody is trying things and talking about how it tastes, someone is offering a bit of this, someone else is pouring you something to drink, food is steaming in front of you, its quite fun and makes even an unfamiliar crown feel like a family.

With full bellies we set off to tackle the sights of East Sea! We soon arrived at a Buddhist Temple. We walked up to the grounds, in the bitter cold, and looked around. Jin and I went in and, um, prayed (?) to a magnificent Buddha statue. I also drank this water that is supposed to make you live for over a hundred years. We will see how that works out. The grounds were truly magnificent. There was lingering snow covering the grounds and a river that ran adjacent. The river was partially frozen with some water flowing creating both a beautiful visual and audio.

And away we went again. A few more hours of driving and we fell out of our cars to warmer weather and the sound of the ocean. We are informed that we are stopping at a fish market to pick up fresh sashimi for dinner! Yum! The town we were in reminded me of Lincoln City or Newport. Cute, small and full of families. The market was a intense place. Live octopus, fish of every kind and crab all trying to flip, flop and crawl away from their temporary cages. Vendors shouting prices (I assume), men, women and children milling about and pointing to their live selection. After your selection a vendor would grab the fish snap its neck, slice the guts out and fillet it right in front of you. You know its fresh! It was a sight!! The thing I found most interesting was that the market did not smell the least bit fishy. Not sure how the Koreans manage that but they do.

After a quick drive we arrived at another Buddhist Temple. This one is over looking the ocean. We all had a good look around and posed for a picture with a tree that was growing in the shape of a "V". Again, breath taking view but this time of the ocean. It was much colder at the Temple so we had some traditional ginger tea to warm up. Delicious.

A short while later we were at our new hotel, this one had a view of the ocean. We ate our wonderful sashimi on the floor of the hotel. We were all pretty wiped out at this point and after a few soju shots and cups do beer we piled onto our "yos" and went to sleep. (In some Korean hotels there is no furniture or beds in the rooms so they give you mats and blankets called yos to sleep on, on the floor. We all felt like we were at summer camp because all the girls, 6 of us, slept together and the boys were in the other room. Definitely a bonding experience.)

"Hey, look out the window." Was the first thing I heard the next morning, so I abided and peaked out. White, I saw white everywhere. It had snowed heavily that night and there was a good 6 inches of snow on the ground. Again it was a magnificent sight to see snow covering the beach and everything surrounding. We knew this was going to negatively impact out travel home so we ate a breakfast of ramen style noodles and hit the road. The drive from the hotel area to the main road was wonderful. There were few cars and we drove past frozen lakes, snow covered hills and through canopies of white trees.

Then we hit traffic. T R A F F I C. We inched down the interstate for 5 or 6 hours until we had gone barely 20 miles and we were in dire need of some food. Praise heaven for that stop because someone had a brilliant idea at this point. One of the boys suggested that we wait out the traffic at a jimjilbang and get on the road later when the traffic has died down. So we all went. A jimjilbang is a Korea spa, basically. They are very popular, cheap and open 24/7. You go in and use the sauna, ice room , PC room, watch a movie, shower and have some snacks and tea. We came out feeling relaxed and ready to tango with the traffic again. We finally made it home in the wee hours of Monday morning.

It was unfortunate because normally none of us have to work till 2:30 at the earliest but our boss Sarah wanted to take us all to lunch before our staff meeting, at 12:30. Good morning sunshine the weekend is over!

The photos got a little messed up, but you can figure it out!