Korean Adventures

Time is tickin away...

2011-02-13T20:26:00.003+09:00

I feel so pressed for time! Only 2 weeks left and I still need to go to Japan! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~

I might even be going by myself! None of my friends are prepared to go... and I'm leaving too soon to wait for them.

I'm nervous, but going is better than not going!

Fighting! 회팅!

Jenni's Visit

2011-01-21T19:18:00.000+09:00

So finally a friend came to visit! :D It was so nice to be able to share my life here and my experience here with a friend from home.

The adventure started off not so good (only for me). I had some money stolen from me on the bus to the airport... but it's my own fault. I left my bag "unattended" with an envelope of cash. ㅠ.ㅠ I would like to think I'm not usually that stupid...

The next step in our adventure was Kyung-ju! We went to the old capital to see all the historical sites and do a temple stay. (A "temple stay" is where you stay overnight at a Buddhist temple and experience the life of the monk there to help you understand their religion.) We saw the tombs that look like mountains, beautiful architecture, and then I introduced Jenni to the strangeness of Korean food! ㅋㅋ (hehe)

We did a temple stay together in Kyung-ju at Golgulsa. However, it was a little strange. Even though they had monks who could speak fluent English... nothing was really explained to us! We were told WHAT to do, but not WHY. I really thought the point of the "temple stay" was to help us understand Buddhism better...

There was one point during the temple stay that we thought we might be in hell because we were walking VEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY SLOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWLYYYYYYY down a hill (that would only take us about 7 min normally) at 5 am when it was freakin freezing out. It took us at least 30 minutes. Painful. (And remember, we had no idea WHY we were doing it.)

It was until MUCH later (actually, one of the last things we did during the temple stay) at the Tea Ceremony that we could ask questions and were explained why they do certain things. I think that's a little backwards... but that happens often enough in Korea.

Well, we got back to Daegu safely enough. And partied. ^^ Dinner, board game room, karaoke room, a Korean bar and a Korean club!

I don't know which Jenni loved more... the karaoke room or the board game room. haha

The next day, our last day in Daegu, we did some local sites. The market, shopping and Dr. Fish! The fish eat your feet. It takes a little getting used to at first.

Sunday we headed up to Seoul! You could stay in Seoul for a week and still not see everything. So we tried to hit up the big ones. But first! Relaxing.

Masks are a great way to relax. Our hostel was also tops, so it was easy to feel comfortable there.

After we were all rested up, we headed out to the palaces! Gyungbokgung was our first stop. The weather was sooooo cold (and I, honestly, was soooooo sick) but we managed to have a great time!

The palace guard was there!

Don't we make a great couple? :D

Next stop was the Korean culture museum! It sounds boring, but it's actually very interesting because of all the folk statues they have, and unique pieces.

A must-do in Korea is getting your nails done. They have the best kind of "nail art" here. It's a little expensive, but worth it if you want to feel like a Korean. ^.* We got "couple nails." The same style, but different colors.

It was also really fun showing Jenni the food in Korea. It really is so different! So taking her to the restaurants and the grocery stores was a great experience. Needless to say, she LOVED the dried squid! haha. Can't you tell?

We were also able to make it to Seoul's art museum. Chagall was there, which was a wonderful surprise! However, we both thought it was kinda strange that there was no "Asian art" in the Seoul art museum!

After a long day of shopping, we treated ourselves to a nice show. The "Nanta" performance is really famous in Korea. It's kinda like the "Blue Man Group" with it's rhythm and storyline. ^^

On our last day before heading to the airport, we finally went to a Korean jjimjilbang! (Or, bathhouse.) We went to the best one in Seoul, called "Dragon Hill." It took Jenni a little getting used to, what with the being naked in public and all... hehe. But it really is a nice experience! I also had Jenni do the "body scrub." Basically, an old Korean woman in her underwear scrubs you down with the most abrasive cloth she can find until your skin is clean, new and bright red. haha.

So we definitely felt fresh after that. Jenni told me that her favorite parts of Korea were: the board game room, the karaoke room, the jjimjilbang, and the heated (ondol) floors. ^^ Those are my favorites too!

So after a too-quick week, we said good-bye. But not for long! I'm following soon... (too soon.)

Subbing

2011-01-11T20:19:00.000+09:00

I got to work at a university today! My friend was sick and needed a substitute for her class at her university. ^^

Obviously, it was only temporary, but it was so nice! It was a really great change from teaching little children. Honestly, the college students' levels were lower than my 2nd graders... but their participation was so much better!

It really revived in me my desire to teach at a university level. Even if I never actually become a professor... I would like to teach people that age. It's more comfortable for me. I don't have such a "bubbly" personality that little children find appealing, so at times, drawing out the kids to learn and have fun can be difficult.

I really hope I can work with teaching adult students in the future...!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T01:43:00.002+09:00

I literally "rang" in the New Year in Seoul. ^^

In Korea, it's a Buddhist tradition that you ring giant bells on the new year to "wake up" the world. I like the sentiment. It makes me think of creation singing praise to God. So for the new year all around Korea people are ringing humongous bells in the temples all at the same time. And we STILL couldn't hear the sound. :( Too much shouting. haha

We were in a very crowded area of Seoul for the event. Kinda like the "Times Square" of Seoul. Before the event the streets were closed off and police buses lined the sides. You could see police everywhere in preparation for crowd-control. (Or so I thought.)

When it event was over, of course everyone tried to leave at once. So the crowd became a mob. And the police did nothing. They stood there on the side watching people get pushed and shoved and carried. They only smiled and laughed about it. Useless! Worse than useless! (Like the "net neutrality" bill...)

BUT despite that (and the frigid temperatures) I had a wonderful time in Seoul~ and the thought that I will be back home soon cheers me even more.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T09:41:00.000+09:00

My Christmas in Korea:

My Charlie Brown Christmas tree and dollar-store decorations

Decorating the tree!

The finished product, complete with Christmas candles

Even better at night

Christmas eve get-together with friends at a "game room"

The punishment for losing the game was getting "bopped" by a stranger (hehe)

Merry Christmas from Korea!

Love and miss you all

Strep Throat

2010-12-07T20:20:00.000+09:00

After two months of being sick, the doctors have FINALLY figured out what's wrong with me.

I've had strep throat.

I never heard of a doctor NOT being able to diagnose that on the first go-around.

You know what the doctor said to me the FIRST time I came in (after not being able to talk for 2 days)? "Your tonsils are fine, but your throat is infected. It's not serious."

I couldn't talk when I visited him. That's not serious? Wow.

Props to public health care for being cheap. What sucks is that the doctor sees you for 5 minutes. If you're lucky.

Thank God they finally figured out what was wrong!

Thanksgiving: Take 2

2010-11-27T03:25:00.001+09:00

Thanksgiving meal at church again this year. Always a pleasure to have a little taste of home with my "Korean family." ^^

Bonus: I got to have some even BETTER thanksgiving food in a real home with my friend and former co-worker Nancy! Yay!

Her husband is from FL, so even though she's Canadian they pulled off American thanksgiving American-style. = YUM

They even had candied yams... the one thing my church thanksgiving was missing. hehe

It's a little sad that this will be my last Thanksgiving in Korea, but then I remember all the joys of American living... ;)

This year (and this moment) I'm thankful for:

-friends that are stand-in family

-candied yams

-being able to live so "extravagantly" in Korea

-being able to travel on a whim

-friends from home that miss me

-my mistakes not coming back to bite me in the butt

-God's faithfulness, love and grace

~*~

For my classroom celebration, I had the kids make hand-turkeys. It was SO cute. ^^ Not only had they never seen a turkey before in their lives, but they were not aware of the "hand-turkey" Thanksgiving tradition. I had a lot of fun teaching them how to do it. It's nice to pass on the tradition. ;) Ahhh... nostalgia.

Kyung-ju visit

2010-11-01T16:55:00.000+09:00

Kyung-ju: Old Korean capital city back when there was a King. Obviously one of the oldest cities in Korea, and also one of the most rural. It has famous temples, farms, and old tombs. A very interesting place to visit. ^^

Hong Sung's family lives in Kyung-ju and he grew up there, so he invited me out to tour the sites. When we got to Kyung-ju one of the first things we did was eat! :D We had ssam-bap: meat wrapped in lettuce with a ton of side dishes... as you can see. haha

In the restaurant there were all these cute miniatures of traditional Korean "village life." A lot of the scenes had cows in them, since they were considered part of the family way back when you depended on them for your life. Since Kyung-ju is still very rural, we saw a whole bunch of cows. ^^ There were also fun game scenes depicted as well.

All these old people are playing yut-nol-i, a traditional Korean game. I'll teach you how to play when I'm back. ^^

After eating, we visited a park. Or what I thought was a park. It's actually a huge cemetery where all the old royalty is buried. See those mounds? Those are tombs.

The tombs were all different sizes. It all depended on how important you were. They're like the pyramids, except more natural. And I don't think it took thousands of slaves to make them.

Across from the graveyard was another graveyard, except bigger and more spread out. This one was definitely like a park. People were playing and eating and flying kites! An old man was selling kites he had made, and it was the perfect weather for it. Since I am the year of the tiger and this year is also the year of the tiger, I thought it was pretty cool that I could have my own "special" kite.

The tombs are about 2 inches high. And that man is just veeeeeeeeeeeery small. hehe

After the tombs, we stopped by one of the most famous temples in Korea: Bulguksa. At the entrance gate they have these huge statues on either side. They're the guarding gods, making sure the temple remains safe from evil spirits. They are definitely formidable-looking!

Temples in Korea usually have the same architecture, like churches in America. But every once in a while you come across one that has a unique quality; just like our famous churches in the world. They're special for some reason. Bulgulsa is special because it houses some of Korea's "national treasures," and is a World Heritage site.

I do like the architecture. It's unique and something I wont get to see back in the States.

After our adventures, we headed back to Hong Sung's home to eat with his family. His mom had made a special bulgogi just for my visit! One of my favorite Korean foods is bulgogi. ^^

Kyung-ju is completely different from Daegu. I was going to compare it to going from the city of Chicago out to the suburbs where my relatives live... but that's not even close enough. Kyung-ju is very refreshing; everything is natural and clean. A huge difference from the city smells of Daegu!

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T20:18:00.000+09:00

Last year we were able to have a Halloween party at our apt... this year, we're all in different places and it makes me sad.

Also, I'm not able to participate this year due to being really sick from something the doctors keep saying "isn't serious."

Happy Halloween yall

Andong Mask Festival

2010-10-20T13:06:00.004+09:00

On the weekend of Oct 3rd, soon after my China trip, I was able to go to the Andong Mask Festival! Andong is one of the oldest cities in South Korea, and is seen as the cultural center of all the old traditions.

The most famous of the Korean masks, the Ha-hwae-tal

Andong is also famous for it's jim-dalk! (Or stewed marinated chicken with noodles and veggies)

Soooooooooooo yummy!

We were also able to make the traditional masks that we saw in the performances!

This is the traditional woman's mask, the gak-shi-tal.

Hong-sung's is the traditional man's mask

The kids were doing a performance of the Korean mask dance

Then we saw the real one later on!

All the performers were men, as per tradition.

They also had village totems up with people writing and tying their wishes to the strings around them

Our wishes

Hong-sung and I had a great time at the Andong Mask Festival and I was so grateful to have such a great tour guide!

Our haunted hotel in China

2010-10-15T00:03:00.001+09:00

Late flight into Beijing. Angry taxi driver kicked us out because he didn't know where the hotel was... and then we were forced back into the taxi by the airport taxi guy who insisted the driver could find it.

Anyway, we finally get there and find that the hotel is empty, creepy, and haunted.

This is our story:

Beijing, China

2010-10-05T23:38:00.002+09:00

The best thing about Beijing was sleeping on the Great Wall. With a bunch of foreign English teachers (like us), from Korea (like us), mostly from Daegu (like us).

What're the chances, right??? haha

The second best thing was the Summer Palace. It is HUGE. We didn't know how huge it was until we got there and realized that we weren't even going to cover half in the few hours we had. We hardly covered a quarter! And they have a map... but they don't have any signs, so you just kinda hafta guess where you are all the time. haha. I thought the most amazing thing was that it was all built for one woman. She had it practically all to herself. THAT was an amazing thought. If I had a "garden palace" that size... wow. Jeeeeeeeeaaaaalous!

The third great thing was the shopping. Beijing's markets are fantastic! You really can find "name brand" stuff there for less than $10. Bargaining was an absolute must, and usually it

worked out pretty well.

The best thing I got was a warm Abercrombie jacket for $15!

The Forbidden City was also pretty amazing. It had a lot of things to see on the side, so it was possible to get lost in it! A lot of areas looked the same too, with maybe one or two defining features. I think I was expecting it to be a little more "forbidding," but I'll take what I can get from one of the most historical sites in the East.

Beijing was not my favorite, but it was definitely different enough to warrant going.

Hong Kong: The Low-down

2010-09-30T14:14:00.003+09:00

Traveling with people is always tricky. Traveling with people you don't know is even more so. Traveling with people you know can also be surprising.

As for the places, Hong Kong was really nice. Such a difference from Korea! The culture was mixed... and I saw so many interracial couples I almost didn't know what to do with myself! People actually spoke English and were so helpful! The public transportation system was so easy that by our second day there we felt comfortable with it. And their system is really extensive! There's no place you can't go, by bus, subway or ferry! Truly incredible. ^^

The sites in Hong Kong were really cool. Tall mountains with equally tall buildings on top of them. (yeah, that's right Korea... they BUILT on their mountains!) The view of Hong Kong harbor was really amazing, as was the architecture there. My favorite place to see it that way was from Victoria Peak. It's one of the "hot spots" in Hong Kong and I could see why, with its view and nature all wrapped into one. It was a really modern city with a lot of natural charm.

Thanks to my dad I was also able to go to Hong Kong Disneyland! :D It was fun and short; we finished it in about 5 hours. It's just the basic "Magic Kingdom," but they added their own "Hong Kong" twist. For example, some of the Lion King show was in Cantonese, and they had a "Tarzan" tree house instead of Robinson Crusoe. I'm really glad I got to go; I think Disney is truly magical. ^^

A kind of seedy underside of Hong Kong was the immigrants. They were mostly Indians and Nigerians. I don't know much about the politics of it all or the reasons why so many immigrants were there, but the area they lived in was stereotypically low-income with a lot loitering about and trying to scam any tourist that walked by. It was a little frustrating at times because the hostel we stayed at was in the middle of that area, so it felt a little skeazy and dangerous.

Hong Kong is also famous for its shopping. Although I'm not exactly sure why because it's all freakin expensive stuff. I have to say though, that the markets are definitely worth going to! They were fun, cheap and had lots of knock-offs. haha

Anyway, all in all I really enjoyed Hong Kong. I would even consider living there for awhile!

Next topic: Beijing

What a trip...

2010-09-27T09:39:00.003+09:00

So much to say. SO much happened.

Pictures soon with details. ^^

One thought, though: I'm VERY homesick after that.

Next up: Andong (안동) for the mask festival, and then Kyung-ju (경주) for the historical sites!

Going to China!

2010-09-07T21:36:00.001+09:00

So for Chuseok (추석 - Korean Thanksgiving) we have a few days off. My old roomie, Tharine, and I are going to China together!

First stop: Hong Kong, then on to Beijing!

I'm very excited. ^^

However... went to get my visa processed today and they said it would be returned to me the 17th. I leave for Seoul that very night and for Hong Kong the next day! Yikes!

I'm praying it gets here in time...

Success!

2010-08-30T12:46:00.001+09:00

I ordered food in Korean on the phone without the help of anyone else. And it came, too.

I'm so proud of myself. hehe

Back to School

2010-08-24T18:44:00.003+09:00

First day of the new semester today! I was actually excited about it because I already did my freaking out yesterday when I thought we had classes. I was totally unprepared and in "vacation" mode. Thank you Lord for that one day of preparation! It's amazing the difference it makes.

In my preparation though, I realized once again just how much effort teachers put into EVERYTHING. (Or I guess should put into everything.) I mean, to stimulate the students you need to have things on the walls for them to look at and learn from. Whether it's a "word wall" with vocabulary they're supposed to be remembering, or class rules, or art that they did in the chapter... organizing all that takes a whole lot longer than I ever thought!

There's also the enormous amount of mental/emotional energy that goes into teaching. You need to be OVERLY positive to balance out the negatives to encourage them. You need to try to smile as much as possible. You need to remember to be fair and enforce your rules all the time (...I tend to get a little lax when I'm tired). You need to make the kids feel safe and comfortable so they can interact with each other and you in a healthy way. You need to discipline positively... not out of anger or frustration (definitely made that mistake before)!

...And the list just goes on and on. (On top of all THAT--you also need to teach them things! haha)

But those are things I need to try to remember every moment of every class. They're things I WANT to do! I WANT to be the best teacher I can! Not just a "good" teacher... I want to continue to improve.

It's made me realize that I don't want to be this unprepared when it comes to teaching theology.

SO... I'm looking into getting a teaching certificate! Preferably Christian. Preferably for "Higher education"/college. So far, not too many options. They must have something, though, right? They can't just expect me to finish my masters and jump right into being a professor without any idea as to the best ways to get the concepts across clearly to the students, right?

...Oh, wait... They do that ALL THE TIME. (haha)

Anyway, please pray for my new year that I can be a good example of God's love to the students and also a good teacher.

Love and miss you all!

Thailand Highlights

2010-08-20T10:12:00.005+09:00

To see more:

Thailand and Thailand Cont.

My Life in Daegu

2010-08-18T16:07:00.005+09:00

(Click here to check it out!)

Moving Day

2010-08-12T11:17:00.003+09:00

Eli left this morning... and now back to packing.

I forgot how overwhelming moving is! My first move into Centro Palace, I didn't have NEAR this much stuff. Since I've lived here a year, I've bought all my major items (bed, desk, dresser). It makes a big difference.

I can't imagine what would've happened if I hadn't had to buy them, though. There's no way the school would've given anything to me! As it is, I had a hard enough time getting them to pay the key money to the landlord of my new place (even though it's in my contract)! Sheesh. Well, in the end they worked it out. No key money, more rent money.

As of now, my chest is going to explode with all this stress!!!

In Korea again

2010-08-10T21:30:00.000+09:00

Thailand trip over. Back in Daegu once more... with food poisoning. Stupid Smoothie King. I didn't even know you could get food poisoning from a SMOOTHIE! Just goes to show... you never know what evil is lurking around the corner. (haha)

Sad thing is: I'll miss Eli's "going away" party because I'm too busy throwing up... and I had to post-pone some of my packing because I have no energy.

Good thing is: I saw Oppa (Jin)! hehe. It was dumb that all I could do was lay down and talk with him... but it was so good having him around again. ^^

So Thailand was incredible... so many stories to tell! And of course, I need to sort through my pictures, post them and write about my experience to share with all you my loved ones. hehe. A thoroughly daunting task, especially with the move on my mind. Well, it'll happen eventually.

Here's a teaser though!

Mmm... I miss the food already...

Off to Thailand!

2010-07-23T16:25:00.000+09:00

Yay summer adventures!

Eli and I are off to Thailand and I couldn't be more excited! From what I've heard from so many other friends that have made it there... it's very adventurous. hehe. All their pictures boast of riding elephants, petting tigers, eating delicious food, and really having an amazing time!

So tomorrow we head to Seoul for the day and then early Sunday is our flight. We're flying into Chiang Mai first (to see Eli's fam) and then down to Phuket for the second half of our vacation and some relaxing.

Not sure if I'll be able to update while I'm there, so I guess I'll save most of it for when I come back and sort through my pictures. (I already know that's going to take me forever!)

We're avoiding Bangkok altogether because of the drama that was happening there recently... so pray for safe travels!

Apartment Found!

2010-07-21T16:21:00.002+09:00

All that apartment hunting finally paid off! I have 2 apartments I can choose from... one is in the area I already live in, the other is in a different area not too far away.

Even though I want to take a day to think about it, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the one already in my area. It's just more convenient that way. I already know the school bus here, and the driver is expecting me too. And I pretty much know the shops/downtown area.

So even though the place in my area may be missing a few nice things the other had (clothing rack, big fridge)... I think all-in-all it's a better choice.

Signing the contract comes next! Let's just pray my school doesn't come up with any bullshit complaints. (I-goo!)

MudFest / Birthday

2010-07-20T22:44:00.004+09:00

MudFest and my birthday were incredibly fun with my roomies and Suzanne. They made it so much better than I could've expected or hoped for!

I was even sung happy brithday in Afrikaans! How awesome is that???

Funny, ridiculous, frustrating thing was the "mud rides" there. They shut them down early after we stood in line for over 2 hours! So we didn't really get to ride anything! The only thing we rode was something we begged to go on / snuck on to. haha. Fun... but not fun. More like unbelievable!

My birthday dinner was delicious! Like with Jin last year, we had the grilled fresh seafood. (It really make a difference having seafood buy the ocean you know they caught it in!) So delicious! Then afterwards we got a cake, and celebrated my birthday with drinks and card games on the beach.

Absolutely PERFECT.

We also did have a few surprise visitors while we were playing... random drunk foreigners and Koreans. haha. We did have a few guys that stopped by though, and were "normal" in general respects. They taught us a Korean "Kings" game, and definitely made the night more interesting! We played pretty much the rest of the night. hehe

Yay birthdays!

The only thing I didn't really enjoy (again) was the bus ride. Drunk foreigners are drunk foreigners no matter where you go. Yuck.

Last Korean World Cup game

2010-06-27T22:24:00.004+09:00

Eli and I went to the Daegu World Cup Stadium for the World Cup game vs. Uruguay. It was way better than we expected! The stadium was huge and the people were so excited and friendly! The guys we sat next to gave us blow-up clappers to cheer with!

...and the guy in front of us was really enjoying his Soju. haha.

Drinking straight out of the bottle man! geeeeeez...

However, it was pretty incredible to once again see how strong Korean spirit is when they're together. It's infectious!

At the beginning of the game they also played the Korean National Anthem, and it was really beautiful and amazing to see the Koreans singing it at the top of their lungs.

I've never seen so many people so gathered for and excited about a game they're not even at!!! Koreans are amazing!

Count of Monte Cristo

2010-06-26T14:17:00.007+09:00

Last night I went to a musical performed by Keimyung University (게명대) Arts program in their Student Arts Center. It was amazing! I haven't been to a musical since Chicago, and I had forgotten how much I loved them.

Their singing was INCREDIBLE. The stage effects were also very creative-- especially the prison scenes. I wish I could've taken pictures during the performance!

Sooo... only downside was that it was in Korean. (Of course. hehe) But there's a LOT you can pick up from body language and tone of voice, etc. You'd be surprised! Thankfully, when I wasn't exactly sure what was going on my friend Hong-sung helped me out.

At the end of the show a pretty amazing thing happened: half of the people in the theater whipped out their cameras to record the actors "finale," when they come out and bow and sing all together. It was like it was an "unwritten rule" for them that it was ok because they ALL did it at the same time! It was crazy. (Just another example of Korean's funny uniformity--hehe).

Anyway, even though mine was a little delayed, I tried to do the same thing:

"Fan Death" is REAL?

2010-06-24T14:51:00.005+09:00

Ok, so when I first heard about "fan death" I thought it was completely ridiculous. Seriously? Death-by-fan? And not like a hand-held fan like the type used by Jackie Chan to kick some guys butt... but those fun osculating fans that you used to speak into when you were a lil kid to hear your voice change into a robot's.

"How," you may ask? Well, the fan creates a vortex and sucks out all the oxygen and then you suffocate. That is, if you leave it on in a room and close all the windows and doors.

~OR~ (equally as crazy) Since you breathe through your skin, and the fan blows on your body... the fast moving air from the fan makes skin-breathing difficult and you suffocate that way. One friend even explained that when you get goosebumps your pores close up and you can't breathe through your skin, and fans give you goosebumps. Hence, death.

Since America is one of the most advanced countries in the world scientifically, etc, and it has never been mentioned there... I passed this off for utter nonsense and complete (albeit, hilarious) urban legend.

However, today something changed my mind. This article. Along with this pamphlet by the United States EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).

Basically, a section in there states that when you use a fan in temperatures above 99 degrees F, you are more likely to get heat exhaustion or a heat stroke, due to the cooling effect with your evaporating sweat and the circulation of hot air. If you don't have a window or a door open, your room becomes like an oven and you get hyperthermia.

After I saw the facts, I realized I had the "Korean Derangement Syndrome." I didn't think I was one of "those kinds" of foreigners... but so many of the things in Korea that seem odd to me or "mis-practiced" (like their dentistry--seriously, what kind of dentists don't check for cavities???), I'd just write off as ridiculous.

Well, my opinion has changed--a little. Why not completely? Because there are other factors than besides just the fan. Like the persons age, and if they have any other medical conditions that could be aggravated by intense heat.

Korea's own prove this point (from Wiki):

Dr. John Linton at Yonsei's Severance Hospital, who attended medical school at Yonsei University, is licensed to practice medicine in South Korea:^[2]

There are several things that could be causing the fan deaths, things like pulmonary embolisms, cerebrovascular accidents or arrhythmia. There is little scientific evidence to support that a fan alone can kill you if you are using it in a sealed room. Although it is a common belief among Koreans, there are other explainable reasons for why these deaths are happening.

Dr. Lee Yoon-song is a professor at Seoul National University's medical school and works with the school's Institute of Scientific Investigation. He has conducted autopsies on some of the people who have been described in Korean media as having succumbed to fan death:

When someone's body temperature drops below 35 degrees, they do start to lose judgment ability. So if someone was hiking and later found dead, that could be part of the reason. But we can't really apply this to fan accidents. I found most of the victims already had some sort of disease like heart problems or serious alcoholism. So hypothermia is not the main reason for death, but it may contribute.

So there you have it, folks. It's real. And extremely rare.

Armored Vehicle Accident

2010-06-24T13:48:00.003+09:00

When I first came to Korea, while I was trying to navigate my way through culture shock and understanding Koreans, I learned about the Armored Vehicle Accident.

During a training exercise, two Korean girls were killed. They were run over by tanks. Sounds horrible, right?

It happened during a time when Koreans were resenting US involvement in South Korea. So... not good timing at all.

When I heard this story, all I learned was how irresponsible the US Military was and how Koreans still resented the Military for killing those two girls. I, also, was angry at the Military for their obvious negligence... and a little sickened at the thought of being run over by a TANK--of all things.

Today, I read an article from the other side. I hadn't realized how one-sided what I heard was until I read this!

Basically, it explains how it was a horrible coincidence. The mountain road was narrow, there was no shoulder to walk on, the tanks have blind-spots while driving, and the radio headsets weren't working to hear the warnings of other soldiers.

Sometimes when you hear about a tragedy it's easy to only hear the side of the victim... but I guess some horrible happenings are just really bad accidents.

World Cup Fever

2010-06-23T08:46:00.008+09:00

*cheering* Dae-ha-min-gook! Fighting!
(meaning "Republic of Korea")

So with their last game against Nigeria, Korea tied and made it into the finals! This game was much better than their last disappointment against Argentina (where they make men as big as monsters).

Yay Korea! ^^

Speaking of cheers... Koreans have SO MANY organized cheers for their team. It's really cool, actually. Especially when you're in the middle of a big crowd in Seoul shouting and cheering for their team to win! Even if you don't understand all that's being said... you definitely get the general idea. The great part is that if you wear a red shirt and cheer just as loudly, they make you feel like one of them! ^^ We were definitely cheering along!

Korea fighting! Go Korea!

(This video includes the official Korean chant sung by pop stars with an "official" dance that is so wonderfully demonstrated. Enjoy!)

Summertiiiiiiiiiiime

2010-06-08T10:55:00.005+09:00

I love summer! However, it sometimes seems like Koreans don't. hehe.

They're always fully clothed to protect themselves from the sun... and they really do carry around those umbrellas.

(Found a picture! hehe)

Korean Sizes

2010-05-30T23:47:00.000+09:00

Things in Korea are smaller than in America. Starting with the cars, all the way down to the kitchen counters which aren't even to my waist.

Here is an lovely example we found for your enjoyment:

It's about 2 feet shorter than me! hehe.

Forever 21 in Seoul

2010-05-25T23:53:00.001+09:00

We visited the Myung-dong Forever 21 in Seoul for a little taste of home. This is what we got along with our "made in China" clothing...

(For those of you unsure of what they're doing, the staff/employees of Forever 21 are bowing and thanking the customers coming in and out for shopping there.)

JUMP!

2010-05-24T09:54:00.003+09:00

For our long weekend, during Buddha's birthday, we decided to go to Seoul!

We stayed at Windflower Guesthouse by Hyae-hwa... and it was ok. We did wait a bit too long to book it, so all the "nice" hostels were already taken. I don't think I'd recommend Windflower for a long stay. Even three nights was too long. The set-up of the rooms is pretty bad... we had to walk through a "mixed" room where 4 people were sleeping, to get to our "private 4 person" room. They hated it. We didn't exactly like it either.

ANYWAY~ besides the sleeping arrangements, our time was pretty fantastic! We went to Everland on Friday (which was the craziest idea we've had in a while), and then went shopping on Saturday and watched JUMP!

It's a comedic martial arts performance. Basically, the best slap-stick humor you'd ever see! ^^ Afterwards, we bought this poster and lined up for their autographs. Assa! hehe

The show is about this martial arts family, and the boy the grandfather brings home to marry the granddaughter.

...And the drunk uncle. hehe. I don't know how he managed to act like that! It was incredible!

--More pictures on Everland coming soon--

Family Holidays

2010-05-05T10:20:00.003+09:00

Today is "Children's Day" and this Saturday is "Parent's Day" here in Korea.

They really celebrate family here because the kids treat Children's Day like Christmas! They get all these gifts from their parents and grandparents, and their parents spend the whole day with them! (Which is rare in Korea, especially for fathers.) The families go to amusement parks, movies, and zoos to play. The day before Children's Day, public schools have a Sports day (similar to the American "Field Day") with races and small, fun competitions. The parents come and watch and cheer their child on.

I just recently learned how "Children's Day" started in Korea. Apparently a man named Bang Jeong-hwan, who wrote childrens' books, wrote "An Open Letter to Adults." In the letter he asked adults to "speak to children with respect, and speak softly." One translation of Bang Jeong-hwan's letter says:

"Children are the future of our nation. Let's show respect for children. Children who grow up with ridicule and contempt from others will become people who disrespect others, while children who grow up with respect from others will become people who respect others in turn."

I think Korea, more than most nations, realizes the value of their children. The mothers especially help their children in whatever way they can. They would probably even walk over glass!

I'm glad the kids have a day to relax with their family and just play like kids are supposed to... even if it's only one day. Sometimes I think the value that's placed on the kids can be too much pressure, since they're expected to succeed in all they do.

I think being a kid in Korea is hard, so this one day is like a breath of fresh air!

Korean professional dancing

2010-04-28T08:43:00.003+09:00

I was lucky enough to stumble across this YouTube video teaching you how to do the dance to 2PM's latest song, "Without U." (2PM is a famous Korean band with two English speakers and pretty good songs) Here's the original video so you can see how it looks when the professionals do it. ㅋㅋ ^.~

Try it out!

Life in Korea

2010-04-14T23:33:00.002+09:00

I stumbled across these cartoons that completely explain my experiences in Korea!
That definitely happened my first few months here! The trucks that go around selling things sound like they're giving govt announcements... It's really hard to believe they're only selling fruits.

This was really funny to me because it's SO true. Koreans wait right at the doors of the elevator or subway to get on/off. I have no idea why.

Cherry Blossom Festival

2010-04-13T15:29:00.006+09:00

At my roomie Tharine's suggestion we went to Jinhae (진해시) to see the Cherry Blossom Festival. Cherry blossoms come out in the spring and watching them bloom is pretty amazing. In about a week or two Korea goes from bare brown trees to green buds and white blossoms everywhere! It's definitely something worth seeing. Everyone goes out even if it's still a little chilly because you can feel the change.

So there's mountains (of course) in Jinhae and a beautiful walking bridge with cherry blossom trees planted all along the sides of it. The brochures call it "romantic." haha. Either way it was pretty. As like everywhere else in Korea, there were a lot of street vendors there. We got some cotton candy and some yut (엿), also called "pumpkin caramels" in English. The yut is kinda like taffy, but not as soft. And it comes in many different varieties. We bought it cause the Korean with us (ie. my roomie Eli) loves it. hehe. It's pretty tough on the teeth though.

There's also this great view of Jinhae from a tower near the downtown area, but to get up you either have to take a cable car or climb 365 steps. The line for the cable car was sooooooooooo long; it was ridiculous! So we definitely opted for the steps. Even though there are a lot of steps, honestly it's not as bad as climbing an actual mountain! In other words, it was do-able. ^^
To sum it up: It was a nice day to walk around and enjoy the fresh air with my best friends here in Korea.

Korean Movies

2010-04-12T18:10:00.002+09:00

Recently I've been watching more Korean movies on top of the Korean dramas. I think the culture difference really comes out most in some of these. I find that there are whole situations I just don't understand!

I watched the Korean drama "Coffee Prince." It's a very good show, but Korean reactions to situations are so different!

For instance, the two main characters meet through a misunderstanding. In America, a person will do just about anything to clear up that mistake or misunderstanding! In Korea, however, they just sort of freak out inside their heads at the misunderstanding (and don't say anything much out loud~~)! They don't really try to make the effort to clear it up! Weeeeeeeeirrrrrd...

In the Korean movie "He Was Cool," the two main characters HATE each other! (That's a common theme in Korean love stories as well.) And a strange thing in Korean movies that when someone tells you to do something (even if they're a complete stranger), you do it! Even if it's ridiculous or crazy, or they're wrong! Especially if they're older than you. In America, that would almost never happen. If someone tells you to do something (ESPECIALLY if they're a stranger), you usually ask "why?" It's so strange!

The same kind of situation happens in "My Sassy Girl." The main character helps this drunk girl and people make the mistake of thinking they're together... he tries to clear up the misunderstanding, but not very hard! On top of it, they don't really like each other and she orders him around and is always making him do embarrassing things! Things NO American man would EVER put up with. And then he ends up falling in love with her, and she with him. That would never happen in America either! If a girl humiliates a guy, and if a guy acts really weak like that... they would have no respect for each other. It's strange!

Another common theme is "waiting." In all three shows above there was some sort of "waiting" happening between the two main characters. For YEARS! In Coffee Prince, he waits for her for 2 years; in "He Was Cool," she waits for him for 1 year; and in "My Sassy Girl," he waits for her for 3 years! In the shows, in all that time their feelings have never changed for each other. And in all that time, they never contacted each other or anything! ...And they still love each other?

Cultural differences that are shown in movies like this really make me look hard around me to see what reflects reality.

I'll let you know what I see...

HAPPY EASTER!

2010-04-04T18:48:00.004+09:00

Happy Easter everyone! The weather is starting to warm up a little bit! (A little.) The sun is also starting to shine earlier in the day. ^^

In Korea it seems that Easter is similar to Christmas. Christians celebrate it, but not the culture. There's not really any Easter candy and hardly any Easter decorations. BUT apparently it is Korean Christian tradition to decorate eggs!

At my school for the last two days I showed the Veggie Tales "An Easter Carol" to introduce the idea of Easter and give everyone a day off from work. They enjoyed it, but I was a little surprised at how many children didn't know what Easter was! In America there's hardly a kid who wouldn't know. Such a big culture difference...

Easter one year ago is when I first came to Dong-shin Church... and met Jin! Yay for 1 year anniversaries!

1 Year!

2010-04-01T07:30:00.002+09:00

Today is my one year anniversary in Korea!

This time one year ago, I was working my first overwhelming day in Korea. I slept in a moldy, cold apartment empty of food or belongings. In the morning I went to my run-down academy, met my interesting co-workers, and realized my job was just as unorganized as I was.

One year later, I find that I am staying ANOTHER year. I'm living in a much nicer place with much dearer friends that I met at church.

Thank you, Lord, for protecting me and getting me through this year!

Good-bye Sally!

2010-03-24T11:07:00.002+09:00

One of our dear friends, Sally from Iowa, is leaving us to get married in the States. We were able to throw her a Bachelorette Party (along with Mingki) before she left!

Here's a few fun pictures from the event...

New Job (Again)

2010-03-01T10:58:00.002+09:00

As many of you know, I have had to change jobs again. Hopefully, God-willing this is the last time. I will be here another year, and have a better position than before! I am working at a private Christian elementary school as an English teacher with my roommate.

It's a little outside of the city, so it can be difficult to get to... but other than that stress (and the fact that classes start so early in the morning!), it's a better place to be. I feel like my work actually matters since I am at a real school and not an academy parents force their children to attend. I have walls I can decorate and crafts to give the kids, as well as a TV to show video clips or presentations.

I have grades 2, 4 and 6... and even though I feel the responsibility of teaching children... I can't wait till I'm teaching adults/college students. That's still my dream.

Having to sign up for another year has created a few future problems. My roomies are both finished in August, and so is our lease for the apt. I will have to find a new place by myself for about 7 months. I'm already anxious about it... but God has done so much for me so far. I'm sure He's big enough to handle this too.

Trusting God has been a struggle... but then I realize how independent I'm NOT in this foreign country with a different language and culture... and I turn to Him all over again. I'm just praying that I use this next year here wisely.

Korean dancing!

2010-02-24T23:49:00.003+09:00

Snowboarding!

2010-02-20T19:36:00.003+09:00

It's something I never thought I'd do. That's for sure. It looks too hard and too dangerous. Anyone that knows me knows I'm not really a risk-taker... I don't mind thrills but I don't like getting hurt.

Well, this opportunity was too good to pass up! Apparently everyone goes snowboarding and skiing in the winter since there are so many mountains and ski resorts. And it's so cheap! Less than $100 for the bus ride, clothes and equipment rental! So I decided to go snowboarding because only the old people were skiing... and I had already gone skiing. I did want to try something new.

Let's see... it was REALLY hard. I got frustrated. I had to kinda teach myself. A few friends showed me how to start... but from there I was on my own. And there's A LOT to learn from there. I was really sore too! My legs were shaking. haha. But it was also pretty cool. I could see why you would enjoy it after getting used to it.

I looked at getting a lesson, but since they would have to speak English... it would have to be a 1-1 private lesson. That's a lot more expensive... about $200. Yikes! So, I decided to save my money and learn the hard way.

I was able to go twice this winter and I really enjoyed it! I only hope that I don't forget it all by next winter. ^^

Korean Children's Story

2010-02-04T15:12:00.002+09:00

Today I learned something new about Korean culture! I told my students to write me a short story about a tiger for their homework. One of the kids wrote a slightly confusing one... It was confusing because it wasn't the whole story! In an effort to understand, I asked my Korean teachers for help. They explained that he was trying to tell a famous Korean Children's story!

It's called The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon. Cute and slightly strange, because it's not like the children's stories I grew up on at all! ㅋㅋ

Dr. Fish

2010-01-24T19:58:00.001+09:00

My first time experiencing this famous Korean foot soak. It's called "Dr. Fish." Apparently the fish eat the impurities off your feet! Although, it's not exactly proven since many people think they just nibble at the salt on top of your skin. It's definitely an interesting experience though! And tickles like hell! ^^

You go into this "cafe" and buy some coffee or tea along with your "foot soak." Then whenever you're ready you go over to the other side of the cafe where they have these pools of water. You wash your feet, sit on your pillow and then stick your feet into the water! At first, it's unbearably ticklish!!! Then... you get used to it. And it starts to feel kinda good. ㅋㅋ

Summary of FL

2010-01-05T17:39:00.002+09:00

1. Weather was wonderful and I love FL sunsets and walks in general

2. Shopping is wonderful... except when you have to do a bunch of it in a week...

3. Friendships are complicated! (But worth it)

4. I really do miss American food. There wasn't enough time to eat all I wanted to.

5. It was really hard leaving home, and I cried... but being back here isn't so horrible.

***One thing I regret is having to sleep. I tried not to, but my body wouldn't listen.

****And I hate jet lag.

Home...

2009-12-26T22:16:00.002+09:00

is great. It's like I never left.

But Korea's great too... It's weird.

I'm LOVING this!!!

STRESS

2009-12-23T16:24:00.002+09:00

Today, the day before I leave, very few things went right.

I tried to transfer money to my account back in the US and it didn't work. I thought I had dealt with that problem weeks ago with calls and visits to the bank already! Well, it was happening again... so I spent all morning on the phone with Citibank trying to figure out why it wasn't working with a Korean woman who spoke so quietly I could hardly hear her!

The most frustrating part wasn't even that. It was the fact that they had NO IDEA why it wasn't working. They told me "oh, it's because of this!" and we did something different and it STILL didn't work, so then they'd say, "oh, it's because of that!" and we did it all over again. I was on hold for 30 minutes, and then they called me back three times only to say we have no idea why it's not working. Actually, the reason they came up with in the end is that you can't send money to yourself, so that's why it's not working. Which is complete BULLSHIT.

Because of that I was late going downtown to meet my friends for lunch (and didn't even get to eat with them!), and because of that I was late taking my dog to the Animal Hospital for boarding, and because of that I was late to work and had to pay for an expensive taxi to avoid being MORE late.

And I didn't get to eat lunch.

The only thing that went right was that when I was downtown I was able to get my friends the presents I was looking for.

I JUST WANT TO GO HOME...! Ugh.

Gift

2009-12-20T19:46:00.003+09:00

The man I am helping learn English wanted to give my parents and I a gift.

So he decided to ask his friend the artist (one of the most famous calligraphers in Korea) to make something for us.

This is a Korean fan. The letters he printed on there are in Chinese... but they say "Man should do the will of God." Apparently since Chinese was the language of the educated, that's what most calligraphers write in.

He also made one for me! This one is in Korean. It says "Happiness is in my chest!" It was really cool. I was only sad that I didn't actually get to see him make them.

I'll Be Home for Christmas!

2009-12-17T17:24:00.002+09:00

With only one more week to go before I'm HOME... I can't stop thinking about it. It's weird being in a culture that doesn't celebrate Christmas.

PEOPLE here celebrate Christmas... but the culture doesn't. There's a few decorations up in some stores, and one or two major streets have lights on them... but it's SO not the same. It makes me REALLY miss America. And so glad I'm going there soon!

I've been sinking a little into culture shock once again. (Not sure if that's possible...?) But getting definitely homesick with each passing day, and less tolerant of things I don't understand in Korea.

The first thing I'm going to do (besides see my best friends and family) is go to Best Buy and get my freakin computer fixed! I tried to figure out the process of getting it fixed overseas... WOW. It sucks. I'd have to pay for all the costs and then they'd pay me back in about 2 months. Yuck. I'm just praying they can get it fixed before I leave!

And then the next thing I'm going to do is go shopping at a drug store for necessities... that are in ENGLISH! And then I'm going to have something amazing for dinner. And then grocery shopping. And then Christmas.

Ugh... I am so homesick... I can hardly wait!

Apsan Round 2

2009-12-07T21:16:00.003+09:00

So I climbed Apsan back in the summer with Jin, and it was warm and beautiful then.

Well, my roomies wanted to go get some fresh air... and we knew it was cold, however we thought we'd warm up as soon as we started hiking.
\Basically what happened is we took the cable car up, walked around for about 30 minutes, and took the cable car back down.

Yes, Tharine found "snow" up on the mountain. I guess we shouldn't be surprised... it is technically winter...

We were FREEZING. The wind really does it to ya...

We did bring Noona though! She loved the mountain hiking... but was definitely shivering the whole time. We weren't sure if it was just from cold, or being scared, or excited about her first time out!
We did have a fun time! But next time we decide to go hiking in the winter, we're wearing everything we've got!!!

Church Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T21:07:00.003+09:00

I really missed having Thanksgiving in America. Our church did make a great substitue though! It was a big Thanksgiving meal after the service the weekend before actual Thanksgiving.

We all got together and bought turkeys and mashed potatoes and corn and baked beans and bread and salad and cranberry sauce... However, fun little fact: (Most) Koreans hate turkey. Its too "gamey" for them! Needless to say, the turkeys were very difficult to find because of this.

We had a lot of set-up and cooking the day of. Trying to make sure we have enough for everyone to eat! And informing people in both English and Korean... haha. That was also my first time tearing apart a turkey with my bear hands! (Or, "carving" the turkey... haha)

Our kitchen crew was fun and I loved seeing everyone enjoy our delicious food! I am definitely having "real" Thanksgiving food when I go home though... ㅋㅋ

Food...

2009-11-17T16:23:00.002+09:00

So I have a little over a month till I will be back in America again! And besides my family and friends, all I can think about is food. hehe. I really miss the variety of America!

Here is a short list of things I will DEFINITELY eat during my short 10-day trip:

Planet Smoothie
Ben & Jerrys
Mexican food (REAL chips and dip, and quesadillas!)
Lasagna
Banana bread
American Chinese take-out! (specifically: Orange chicken and Pad thai)
Meatballs
FRESH veggies! (No more fermented kimchi)

...And that's just a short list off the top of my head. I'm sure when I go home there will be plenty more. ^^

I can't wait!

A Scary Experience

2009-11-15T16:30:00.003+09:00

There's a Korean proverb that says "Men are wolves." It's true.

A few nights ago I was out with my coworker and other friends at one of our favorite hang-outs, and had one more drink than I should've. But I was with friends so I figured it was ok.

There was also a friend of theirs that was there. They really talked him up and they trusted him, so I trusted him. When we all parted ways, they had him walk me home because he lived close by me.

Well, walking home was fine up until the point where he started to get too friendly. When we got to my apt he got WAY too friendly. He wasn't listening to "no" or anything that sounded like it.

Thankfully I was able to eventually get him to leave but not after being sufficently traumatized.

That will not happen again and I definitely plan to be more careful in the future. I am not trusting people--specifically men--that I don't know. My friend Jin was pissed that I didn't call the police... and has now given me their number. ^^ Let's just hope I never have to use it.

To my girl friends... please be careful! To my guy friends... please help protect us!

Thoughts

2009-11-13T20:09:00.002+09:00

A few things about Korea and me living here:

1. I've eaten more tofu in my life here in Korea than I ever thought I would. Ever.

2. This is the most excited and motivated I've ever been about learning a language... and I'm actually not bad at it!!!

3. I really do like teaching. But only sometimes do I like teaching kids.

4. I don't like Korean bosses. Or older Korean men in general...

5. I like listening to Korean pop music! Never thought I'd admit it, but I do.

Halloweeeeeeeeeeeen

2009-11-02T16:38:00.002+09:00

Since it was two of our dear friends birthdays, we decided to throw a party for Halloween! However, it ended up having to be on Friday night the 30th instead of the 31st... no matter how fun it was, I am never throwing a party on a Friday night after I finish work at 10 pm again.

Koreans don't really celebrate Halloween. It's definitely a Western holiday (and South Africans don't celebrate it either!). There was only one costume shop in the whole of Daegu that had some decorations and outfits. However, since they were the only supplier... they could charge whatever the hell they wanted. :( Needless to say, we made do with tons of black trash bags and candles. haha.

We did have some pretty great drinks though. And enough snacks to last us into next week!

But people's costume's were fantastic! And it was great giving everyone a reason to dress up and have fun with us!

Me, Tharine, and Eli

Church Retreat

2009-10-16T20:58:00.003+09:00

We had a church retreat for a night. Not a whole weekend... just a night. And it was exhausting! But fun. However, I felt really burned out by it. Us girls (Tharine, Eli and I) volunteered to do the food... so we had to get up extra early. And we had to skip out on part of the service to start lunch.

It felt like it all went too fast and was too hectic. My favorite part was the campfire we had when we first got there. That was the only time we could all relax.

I now feel really sympathetic to the people who are ALWAYS the ones putting things together in the church. You don't get to sit back and enjoy!

Chusuk / Jeju Island!

2009-10-08T16:17:00.005+09:00

My friends and I made a last minute decision for our long Holiday weekend (Korean Thanksgiving) to go to Jeju Island! It's Korea's vacation spot... kinda like America's Florida.

Eli, me, Sally and Tharine in the airport
(our friend Rob is taking the picture)

It was a little stressful catching our flight because we thought we weren't going to make it... even though it was at 2 pm. hehe. (We had missed our train to the airport...)

We arrived in Jeju safe and sound! But not sure where to go/what to do seeing as we hadn't planned the trip. Yay for spontaneity!

With the help of friends back home and their wonderful internet access, we found a place to stay that was nice and in the middle of the best part of the island! Close to the beach and other interesting attractions. We loved the name too: "Sugar Beach."

Since we couldn't rent a car or scooters for lack of an international driving license (and none of us even WANTING to drive in Korea)... we took taxis everywhere. Sadly, that trip caused my dislike for taxis to grow considerably. But we still had fun together!

While there we visited what everyone said was the most beautiful side of the island. Waterfalls, "hot springs," beautiful scenery, fun mazes and delicious food! The beach was wonderful as well even though our stop there was short-lived (due to a taxi).

It was a great trip and I definitely want to go back again! There's so much to do there... Coastal bike rides, hiking the local mountain/volcano, multiple beautiful beaches, and caves to explore! I'm praying the winter months go by quickly. I'm already ready for summer again!

Korean Thanksgiving (추석) Pt. 1

2009-10-05T19:20:00.002+09:00

Some friends and I went to Jeju Island (Korea's Florida) over the holiday weekend (more on that later)... which isn't exactly what Korean Thanksgiving is about. But most of our Korean friends were busy doing family rituals for the holiday.

A friend from church, Brandon, put together a CLIP about what they do for the family rituals and I thought it was definitely worth sharing. So please, check it out if you want to understand/see a bit more about Korean culture.

---
Note: The egg shaped mounds of grass are their graves. They are shaped that way because traditionally they believe in reincarnation, and the egg-shape of the earth symbolizes re-birth.

First Birthday Party

2009-09-19T22:51:00.000+09:00

Apparently first birthday's are a big deal here in Korea. It's like a mini-wedding. Or a Bar-Mitzpha. Or a Quincenaera. First birthday's here are called "Dol"s. They're a big deal because babies didn't use to make it to 1 year. The daughter of our Pastor (Andy) and his wife (Hyun-jin) was turning 1! So we had a perfect chance to see what all the fuss was about.

Sienna and her mother looked like Princesses! They were all dressed up for the occasion.

The decorations were pretty elaborate too.
Sienna will never be so spoiled again in all her life! haha

Father and daughter, the perfect combination.

One of the things they do at a baby's first birthday is foretell their future. It's tradition that the baby is shown a tray of various things and the child picks one out to see what their life will be like.

On the tray their was:
Microphone - she'll be an entertainer
Money - she will be wealthy
String - for long life
Computer mouse - she'll be a computer major
Pencil - she'll be a scholar
Bowl of rice - she'll have her needs met (food, shelter...)

Being shown most of them and having no interest, Sienna chose the microphone! She'll be an entertainer! I'm almost surprised they didn't put a Bible on the tray though... ^^

We all had a great time dressing up and celebrating Hyun-jin and baby Sienna--who is a baby no more! I love birthdays. <3

Death in the "family"

2009-09-14T01:58:00.000+09:00

Babo died last night. He had "distemper" and the last stage was seizures. We woke up to him barking uncontrollably and seizing, and there was nothing we could do for him except try to keep his body from flailing everywhere... So we wrapped him in a blanket and made him as comfortable as possible and watched him die.

It was so strange. I've never seen the life in something leave it... I've never seen something alive become lifeless. It was strange. And sad. It seems to happen so quickly...

House Party!

2009-09-13T10:26:00.003+09:00

On Saturday we had our official House Warming Party! We invited all the people we loved to come spend the night with us celebrating our new home in Korea. ^^ S.J. and Gloria brought their Wii, and later the guys came up with group games for us to play together! The party was so fun!

Here are some pictures from the night:

S.J. playing the Wii... everyone else chowing down^^

Spending time with Joo-hyung before the party got too crazy

Minkey & Hyun-jin playing the Wii!
They were definitely the most entertaining to watch... hehe

We had champagne for a roommate toast to celebrate our new "life" together! :D

Eli, Tharine, and me <3

Puppies!

2009-09-11T01:02:00.003+09:00

So a few weekends ago, the three of us girls decided we'd been thinking about getting a dog long enough. Our friend volunteers at the local dog shelter, so we decided to stop by and see what there was to see.

There was an overabundance of shitzues and poodles... both of which I hate. (I'm sorry, but I'm into cute dogs. hehe) But there were a few cute ones! There was a large puppy we called One-Eye (for reasons you can guess) that we wanted to take, but the lady said that he would grow to be bigger than a Jindo (which is the white Korean dog as large as a Great Dane)... so we decided it wouldn't be the wisest thing to do.

So we decided on one... and then another! We were talked into it. ^^;

Both are mixes. The boy, Ba-bo (Korean for "silly"), is a Pomeranian mix--and I don't like those dogs either... but he's cute. The girl, Noo-na (it means "older sister," it's what Korean guys call an older sister or older female friend), is a Che-something. We couldn't understand the lady.

As of right now, they are both sick. Babo is very sick... and the vets don't seem to be very good here. People in Korea definitely think of their dogs as toys instead of living things. ~.~

New Apartment!

2009-09-04T00:46:00.004+09:00

The new apt is everything I could have hoped for and more. *^^* I love living with Eli and Tharine!

Here are some pictures of our place for your viewing pleasure:

Living room with a wall of window <3

Our giant kitchen!
Complete with an oven AND a washer... hehe

My room! 2 walls of windows <3

We have the most amazing view overlooking the
Southwest side of Daegu and the mountain range

There are two more bedrooms besides. We're right next to downtown and in a safe area. I don't mind spending another year under these conditions. ^^

Starting now...

2009-08-28T15:18:00.004+09:00

I have signed a new contract with a different school. So, that means I am here for another year. Obviously, this is both good and bad... It means another year away from friends and family back home. But it also means a little more time to make money. I guess that all-in-all it's ok because I'm not exactly sure where I would go after here anyway. I know I want to go back to Grad school... I just have no idea where. Or which subject I want to study more in depth.

I found out I wont be able to go home for Christmas, too. That about broke my heart because I've been set on the idea forever. BUT I think I will be able to go home sometime during the winter... *hopefully.*

So I start my new job Sept 1st, and I'm a little nervous but excited too.

I'm also officially moving into my new apt this weekend! I've already got a ton of stuff at the new place and only need to move the other half. I also have a gym membership in my building! I feel like I actually have a life here... it's strange. But I'm so excited to live with the girls from my church!

*ALSO* my Korean studies are going pretty well! So... hopefully I can learn enough to use it in America...?

Busan Trip!

2009-08-25T15:17:00.001+09:00

This past weekend I went to Busan... for the first time. All summer. haha. Here's a little review:

The famous Hyundae beach in Busan packed with people, but mostly umbrellas
(Because Koreans don't like the sun)

This is how people go to the beach in Korea. In their clothes. They get in the water this way too.

Korean lifeguards! Pretty much all male. ^^

Old Korean ladies on the beach trying to avoid the sun.
These sun umbrellas are everywhere in Korea.

Our lunch! It's called "Mung-gae" in Korean, but it's basically sea urchins. Yum...

I had a great time with my roomies! And the best parts of the trip were not photographed! hehe

Church Picnic!

2009-08-17T12:01:00.003+09:00

I love church picnics and I really miss them. It makes me nostalgic for the days when I was just a lil girl and my church did the huge picnic/potluck-everybody-bring-a-ton-of-food thing. *sigh* Those were the days. This time my roomies and I were apart of the "bring food" group. We were in charge of... salads! Yay! lol. Not the most exciting, I know. But I think we did a pretty good job.

Our favorite was a fruit salad. Tharine cut up most of the fruit, and I mixed the delicious "coating"... vanilla pudding powder with pineapple juice from the can! It tasted SO delicious...! I wasn't too thrilled about having to make a pasta salad though. Especially since Korea is very limited on what kind of dressing you can find. I like the things that GO in pasta salad, but cold pasta is just SO not appealing to me. Or apparently to most people, I think, considering how much left there always is!

Well we actually grilled out at this park on the side of a mountain... and it was beautiful. I think I'm definitely getting spoiled by all the natural beauty around here.

I am enjoying my new church family a lot, and I hope this just keeps on.

Keepin' Busy

2009-08-09T11:50:00.003+09:00

Sometimes it feels like all there is to do now is stay busy. And wait.

Wait for a change of residence. Wait for a change of jobs. Wait for opportunities to come my way.

I'm trying to keep myself busy with my amazing friends from church and soon-to-be roomies. It helps (but I still miss Jin).

Tharine (one of my new roomies) stayed over for a few days this past weekend since she's inbetween places to live at the moment. We can't move into our new place for another week, and her school let her go at the beginning of the month. And since the schools usually control the housing... yeah, you're homeless. I think both Tharine and I are really happy that we're going to "own" our own place. If something happens to our job, we'll still have a home.

The other really nice thing is that Tharine and I will have this place the whole next year we have our contracts! However... Eli's (my other roomie) is finished next year... She's not sure what she'll do yet.

It's definitely nice because more and more this church and its people are becoming a family to me. Even though I know it's not permanent here, I don't feel like I'm drifting... and that's nice.

It's so double-sided because I love traveling to new places and seeing/experience new things... but I miss having a home. A stable place where the people have known you for years and love you and want you around. I guess right now home is still Florida... with my parents there and some of my dearest friends... I guess it will be for awhile. I just still need to figure out how to feel "at home" in a foreign land. I think I'm learning...

Good-bye Dear Friend

2009-08-05T11:21:00.003+09:00

Jin left today.

R.I.P
4.26.09-8.05.09

Traveling everywhere together
Doing everything together
Understanding what the hell is going on around me

The Lying Buddha

2009-08-01T12:45:00.000+09:00

At the end of July we had a much-needed vacation! Jin's family was kind enough to invite me to their trip to Baek-A mountain, which is a few hours southwest of Daegu. They were going to spend a few days in a cabin mountain.

This is our beautiful cabin in the woods!

Our cabin was split into two. The four of us on one side and another family on the other... the other family was fairly large and loud too!

On Thursday afternoon we took a tour of the countryside. We stopped by a bee farm and watched them add to the hives. There was a small convenience store with a kind old man! He built the wooden house and the store it was attached to. It was pretty awesome! It reminded me of a house you would see in Maine.

The people in the area were so nice too! They were very talkative, and gave us some of their Indian corn (ock-su-su) from their side-of-the-road gar

While we were in the area, we visited a few of the famous Buddha sites. This place was the "land of a 1000 Buddhas." Roughly. There were SO many! The myth for this area was that angels came down and were making all these Buddhas in one night, but the rooster crowd to signal daybreak and scared them all off. So most of them were left unfinished. Really interesting, but I wonder what the real story is.

This plant was used by women to paint their nails! If you crush up the flower it stains your fingers really easily. Jin's mom demonstrated for me. ^^

After MUCH hiking we finally reached the famous "Lying Buddha." It's the largest Buddha in Asia(?). But it's laying down... if I remember correctly it fell over because its base is too small. And in actuality there are two Buddhas stuck together... and they're actually carved into a bigger slab. Which I'm sure contributes to it being difficult to erect.

They have extra Buddha statues lying around every where! There really is no shortage of them.

The view from the top by the Lying Buddha was really amazing. There were both rolling hills and mountains everywhere. The weather was near perfect too... not too hot and a cool breeze at the top. I still remember Jin trying to catch dragonflies with his hat like an 8 year old... hehe.

Some of the Buddhas were definitely old.

This one reminded me of "The Thinker" statue.

I'm not exactly sure what kind of Buddha this is. I've never seen one in such a "come hither" pose. haha.

We took a break in the middle of the day on Sunday when we were seeing the "Dolman" stones. "Dol" means stone... So we were seeing "stone men." But the name is deceiving.

Basically all they are are large stones that don't belong there in the region. They were cut to build something, but that something was either never accomplished or so completely destroyed that they can't figure out what it used to be.

This is the largest dolman stone.

Apparently it has a hole in the top that looks like a vagina hole. The myth goes that if you throw a rock into it (and you're single) you will get married. If you miss the hole, you'll never get married. OR it could also mean that if you get your rock into the hole you'll have a boy for your first baby.

I got one in after the 4th try. Which either means I'll have to wait a helluva long time to get married... or I'll have 3 girls and a boy. haha.

If you can see the difference between the two pictures... congrats! You've found my rock.

It was a great trip with Jin's family. They really made me feel at home! It was nice being with a family again since I miss my own...

"I lift up my eyes to the hills..."

2009-07-27T11:31:00.004+09:00

Jin took me on a day trip the weekend after my birthday. It was a surprise, so I had no idea where we were going. (I love surprises!) We had to take an early morning bus about an hour outside of the city and then transfer buses and ride for another half hour. It was a little complicated and it was so nice for Jin to take care of it all!

The morning mist was beautiful around the mountains...
Jin and I on our way to the largest women's Buddhist temple and college.

There was this beautiful path on our way up to the temple. It was quiet and peaceful and we were the only ones there that early in the day.

Entrance to the temple. We couldn't take any pictures of monks/nuns, so we had to stick to buildings and scenery.

The view from inside the temple grounds.

The main temple and oldest temple on the grounds. They were having a kids camp, and teaching the kids how to meditate and what to say. (That's what the posters are for)

Mats you kneel on to pray.

Buddha surrounded by individual carvings of all his different disciples. What I don't understand is how they know who is who or how many he even has. Especially since there are so many different Buddhas!

Either way, they're pretty cool looking. It might have taken a VERY long time to get these done...

Guardian angels that used to be outside the temple walls guarding it. Now they're inside the medicine Buddha's hut. Nobody knows why. (Seriously, I asked)

The medicine Buddha.

Another temple where the Buddha is surrounded by his disciples. Not sure why they're bigger though. Maybe they were kings and princes? Kinda hard to say.

The large temple grounds. This area started the college for women to learn the Buddhist ways.

It was actually a pretty amazing temple experience because while we were there a foreigner came up to us and gave us fruit. But she was dressed in the Buddhist monk clothing! A little while later we were able to sit down and talk with her. She explained how she had ended up in Korea studying Buddhism at the women's college. She also explained a lot of Buddhism that I had been wondering about.

Apparently there has always been a disagreement between the monks who think practice is more important, and the monks who think theology (or theory) is more important. To me, it sounded a lot like Christianity in that respect! She explained the tradition of the robes, the shaving their heads, and the different temples.

Religions are surprisingly the same sometimes. However, the biggest difference is that Buddha did not claim to be God. He doesn't save people from themselves or their sin. He only teaches people how to be separated from the world. How to remove yourself enough from it that you can rise above the human conditions of sickness, suffering and death. And there are many Buddhas. There is only one Christ.

However, there are similarities between how the two religions react to each other. Buddhism is split into many different sects... just like Christianity. Some disciples say one things is better, another says some other thing is more important... just like us. It makes me wonder what the difference is there. I wish there was some. Didn't Christ Himself pray for our unity?

We hiked deeper into the mountains to see some "marbles" from the bodies of departed Buddhist monks. When the Buddhists burned their leader after death, they started finding marbles that had formed from their body. Supposedly one body had as many as 300 marbles! (How somebody lives with 300 marbles in their bones, I will never know.) The more marbles you had, the holier you were.

Sadly, we were disappointed. The marbles were hidden inside the mountain and the only thing at the top of the mountain were more temples reserved for the truly devout Buddhist.

Seeing all the temples and alters built to Buddha and mountain gods made me think of David's psalm (121): "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth."

I remember learning in class that David is talking about being surrounded by the idols and temples that were always at the tops of mountains. He was seeing all these, and thinking about the LORD and the difference between Him and the idols that people worship. I think I am starting to understand more how David felt. These mountains surround the city... and there are temples on every one of them. So where does my help come from when surrounded by all this?

It comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Birthday - Part 2

2009-07-23T12:33:00.000+09:00

On Saturday night after going hiking with Jin, I met up with Christine and a few of her friends for Indian food! There's a popular Indian food restaurant up by one of the universities called "Maya." It was the first time I had actually sat down to eat Indian food at an Indian restaurant! (The owners and employees were Indian too!) It was delicious! Spicy... but delicious.

There were 3 different types of curry dishes... all so good! And there was yogurt to add to them if they were too spicy... I definitely made use of it! There was a dumpling filled with veggies and you dipped it in mint sauce, but it was WAY too spicy for me! There wasn't really a way to tone it down either. Oh well. But there was nan! YUM! There was butter, garlic and veggie nan. Melt-in-your-mouth good. There was also a very strange round piece of dough for dessert. It was a little too sweet to enjoy though. It was covered in a sugary-syrupy paste. Bleh.

Then Sunday I celebrated with all my friends! The plan was to go to a pastry shop, buy a cake, then go to the dessert/smoothie shop next door. It turned out to be fantastic! There was a little confusion with all our orders at the smoothie shop (called "Can More"--I dunno why), and they even ran out of some fruit juices. Which was so tragic! But it all worked out.

These are some great girl friends from Church (and Women's Bible Study)! We took up a good amount of the place with all the people we had...! Whoops. haha

Jin's high school friend "Kenny" was able to come too! He goes to my church as well, and it's great running into him every Sunday! His birthday gift to me was so thoughtful too! ...It was a Kid's poster to help them learn the Korean alphabet! Absolutely perfect. Jin and Kenny were pretty funny that night... and oh so chatty.

It was fantastic having my close friends there... My birthday started out rough, but they definitely knew how to take care of a homesick-culture shocked-23-year-old girl. :)

(Needless to say I REALLY miss the smoothie places back home... *sigh* Planet Smoothie... Jamba Juice... I hear them calling my name!)

All in all it ened up being a pretty great birthday weekend. I am so thankful for all of my friends who made it so special... <3

My Birthday

2009-07-20T15:52:00.003+09:00

My birthday was both good and bad.

On the day of, I was incredibly homesick. I cried the night before. I cried the day of. I opened my parents' card... cried some more. I even cried at work. I could hardly help it. Ugh. My boss was nice about it, and he tried to cheer me up with a gift, a pep talk and a cake. I really appreciated it.

After work Brendan took me to the hooka bar and cheered me up a little. It's definitely a nice setting in there. Low lighting, cushions to relax on, and relaxing music. Pretty fun!

My birthday weekend was 10x better than my actual birth-day. On Saturday Jin took me hiking! We explored a good part of a mountain close by. I can actually see it from where I work! The hike absolutely KILLED me though. haha. These mountains here are so steep! Maine is going to be cake by the time I'm done here.

Steep path/steps up the mountain!

Yeah... it was pretty windy up there. But the view was beautiful!

More events from my birthday weekend to come later...!

Mud Fest!

2009-07-12T23:09:00.003+09:00

1. Muddy
2. Cloudy
3. Rainy
4. Monsoon-y
5. Drunk people-y
6. Ridiculous house party
7. Still Fun

Even though Mud Fest was all those things, Jin and I still had a good time. We made the most of the weather by walking around and exploring the rest of the beach-side town after they closed rides down because of the rain. We did a few things before it started raining, too. I "made" a mud/clay pot too! When it's delivered, I'll take pictures and post them on here. We also played a few shooting games and other arcade games at a little Korean amusement park. It was kinda like the run-down ones you see all the time in America.

The two things I would probably change next time though are the housing situation and transportation. For this first time, it's ok because I didn't know enough to organize it myself. However, next time I think taking a train will be just fine. Especially since almost everyone on the bus was drunk on the way to the beach at 8 in the morning. And a 3-4 hour bus ride with drunk people is not the best way to travel, let me tell you.

The house itself was good... and it was nice to be in a house even though everyone was crowding in. But I forgot how drunk people have no sense of decency or courtesy for other people. Jin and I would leave the house to come back and find some drunk person crashing on our stuff. Yuck. Drunk people also don't know how to close doors when people are sleeping. Sheesh. The house party went till 4am (at least), which was to be expected... but still, next time I think I'll go camping and just wash myself off in the ocean. It's not like I took a shower in that nasty bathroom anyway. (What is also a mystery to me is how couples could go into that nasty bathroom to do nasty things... it's the size of a very small closet!)

Anyway, the ride back was not bad. We left early due to a monsoon warning and them kicking everyone out of the water. But the waves were fantastic to watch! (I did feel bad for the lifeguards though... there was more than one hungover/drunk foreign skinny dipper. The ones I saw were all male, and I think I've had my fill of white butts for awhile.) But the bus ride back did take 2 hours longer than normal... mostly due to the heavy rain. It was kind of tedious, but I still enjoyed it overall because of Jin's company.

Maybe I'll go back next year...

4th of July

2009-07-08T17:48:00.000+09:00

The 4th of July just wasn’t the same here in Korea.

It rained. There were no fireworks. The BBQs and beach trips were canceled. The baseball game I went to with church friends was rained out.

All-in-all, my 4th of July sucked.

I missed America, my home, and my friends so much!

That feeling hasn’t really left all this week. Especially with my birthday approaching.

I want to go home!

A Proud Moment

2009-07-06T10:24:00.003+09:00

Yesterday I ordered delivery for the first time here in Korea!!!

I wasn't completely on my own, which was a good thing. Jin was there to help and coach me! He taught me what to say and how to order, what their responses might be... etc.

It's a little difficult because even though I know what to say to order... I'm not exactly sure what they're saying back to me. (Eek!) So potentially that could cause problems. But Jin encouraged me to just hang up if it happens. hehe.

So we did a few practice runs with Jin being the "delivery guy," and then the moment of truth came. I was so nervous! But I called the store... and after a little while (and one call-back) our food was on its way! Success!

Needless to say, I feel like I might be able to survive at least partially on my own in this country. ;)

Death

2009-06-24T01:02:00.004+09:00

So the trip to Seoul ended very sadly...

Jin's grandfather died. Later that week he invited me to the funeral.

I was supposed to dress up more... but I didn't realize and wore black with jeans. But apparently it was forgiven because I'm a waegook (foreigner). I bought some white chrysanthemums for the funeral because in Eurpoe and Asian countries, that is the flower that symbolizes death. Which takes me a second to get used to because in America chrysanthemums symbolize happiness and Mother's Day...

So they don't have funeral parlors here. They have a special wing of the hospital where they host the wake. The family stays up for 3 days and doesn't sleep (or tries really hard not to). They stay in the receiving room with the coffin, and the food on the alter to provided to sustain the spirit. The son and the grandson wear special black coats with yellow bands on the arms to symbolize that they are the immediate family of the one who died. The women wear black traditional Korean garments.

Whenever anyone comes in, they sign into the guest book, writing their name vertically in huge letters like you would if you were writing Chinese. Then you take off your shoes and go into the recieving room where the spirit and the family are residing for 3 days. Koreans bow and pray to their ancestors for the person who has passed away--but since I'm a Christian, Jin said it would be ok if I just prayed to God for his grandfather. Then you turn to the family, get down on your knees, and do a traditional bow with your forhead on your hands and your hands to the floor. The family does this back to you as thanks and respect.

It's very formal, yet personal. It's like you're interacting with the family and sharing their grief for that moment together.

Then you go into the dining room, which is a fairly large room with tables set up in the traditional floor style. You eat little side dishes, drink and talk. It's a little hall that the family rents out which is connected to where the family is staying. I wanted to take pictures... but I'm sure it would have been less than appropriate to be sure.

Family members that can't make it send these HUGE displays of flowers with their condolences written in Chinese (which is more formal since it was the language of Kings). When I say huge... I mean huge. They were taller than me. They are like those advertizement signs you see people holding for a huge sale going on at the store down the street. But they were so beautiful. Mostly white, with dashes of color and lillies. I thought that was interesting because lillies symbolize life... and I saw life among all the death.

I enjoyed meeting Jin's family... but I wish it could have been under better circumstances. I felt very honored to be included in such an intimate Korean family tradition. But I do hope I don't have to go to another one again. Death is a sad thing to be sure.

Seoul!

2009-06-22T01:31:00.004+09:00

So my first trip to Seoul went rather well. The ending was sad... but that's another story.

Here are the highlights from my weekend in Seoul:

A palace tour! I'm pointing at a map in front of the site showing all the historic places in Seoul

The inside of the main palace where the King sat. The background is on all their 10,000 won bills

This is the palace. It's not really that small. It's quite huge, actually.

Part of the King's "Secret Garden" (isn't that AWESOME?)
It's a pool that symbolizes the connection/meeting of earth (symbolized by the square pool of water), sky or heaven (symbolized by the round island of trees in the middle), and man (symbolized by the two feet of the building sticking into the water).

The Korean Cultural Museum. VERY cool. Too many awesome pictures to post on here.

Korean culture borrows a lot from the Chinese. So these Chinese Zodiac statues were outside of the Korean Cultural Museum. I'm a Tiger.

Then later that night we saw a traditional Korean performance which showcased the different traditional outfits, instruments, and dances! It was incredible! Sadly, there was no photography allowed during the performance. I felt like I was at Disney.

Ahh... on Sunday we found a treat! Something we'd BOTH been craving since leaving the States! COLDSTONE ICE CREAM!

The best surprise, however, was going to the traditional market in Seoul and getting a Korean name stamp. All Koreans have one. They use it to sign their name on important documents like a King or something. So... I now have one with my name in Korean!

My name in Korean. And yes, those are Tigers. How awesome is that?

All in all... good first trip to Seoul.

...

2009-06-18T00:51:00.000+09:00

I think I'm experiencing culture shock.

More Food... More Fun

2009-06-08T01:46:00.004+09:00

So this past weekend included more food and shopping downtown! Jin decided to be brave and try something new for lunch and got a sweet pumpkin sandwich... and let me try some! It actually wasn't too bad!

Then we filled our Saturday with shopping! *For him* At a shoe store I was so impressed by a certain display of Gortex hiking shoes...

Which turned out to be fake! UGH! The nerve...

Soon after, Jin forced me to take a picture with some Korean historical reinactors--which I'm glad he did cause it was pretty funny! I just wish I knew who they were supposed to be...

Then for dinner we stopped by a Korean BBQ place. Delish! They had a salad bar that came with the meal (which, btw, are NOTHING like American salad bars). Well, at this salad bar... they had banana pudding! I was super excited, until I saw this:

This slimy, jello-y, milky white substance... is NOT pudding. And it barely tasted like bananas.

I tried to explain this to Jin, but to no avail. He's a stubborn Korean that will not accept the Western truth. haha.

On Sunday Jin introduced me to another strange and slightly disgusting phemonena in Korea called a snowcone sundae. When he first told me about snowcones here, I was excited because they're fun for the summertime! However, this is what he actually meant:

Ingredients include: Vanilla softserve ice cream, milky snowcone ice-flakes, red beans, cornflakes, small pieces of pineapple and peaches (?), and balls of rice cake rolled in powdered sugar. YUM!

We did see a funny sight from the store though! It had started to rain just a bit outside, and apparently a few girls didn't have their umbrellas with them. ^^ (Koreans do tend to pull out their umbrellas at the slightest sprinkle of rain...)

Conclusion: Good weekend! (Strange food and all!)

Food!

2009-05-31T18:30:00.004+09:00

Recently, I've had a few new experiences with food.

There's a place by my work called "2900" and they boast that everything on their menu is less than 3,000 won. (Which it isn't.) But it's not bad for how cheap it actually is! Jin and I went because they advertised Korean curry... but apparently they had run out of it for the day. So... I got "omu rice" (오무라이스)--which is basically a rice omelet with some chicken on the side. And Jin got "deop-bob" (덮밥) which was a bit like fried rice, with veggies and meat.

Then yesterday, Jin took me to this Korean flea market! It was pretty amazing and so funny because all I could think of was my mom and how she would've loved it. haha.

But there was this guy at the entrance by the food tents, and he was making this "snack." It looked like a feathery cookie! It's called "kkool-tae-rae" and means "bunch of honey." Jin said it used to be a favorite snack of the king. I was curious, so I went over and the guy (with Jin translating) explained to me how he made it. I had forgotten my camera so I couldn't film it and I was so upset with myself because this was so cool! BUT being the resourceful person I am, I found it on youtube!

Step 1: takes a small ball of dough and throws it into this big bucket of cornstarch
Step 2: molds the dough into a small donut shape
Step 3: heats up the dough with his body heat so it's malliable (otherwise it's as hard as a rock!)
Step 4: then--almost like magic--twists the dough and doubles it so many times over!
Step 5: breaks the thousands of little feathery strings into smaller chunks
Step 6: fills it with a honey/nut mix that tastes almost like a sweet peanut butter!

Yum! ^^

Ups and Downs

2009-05-27T22:13:00.002+09:00

Work has been a little bit of a rollercoaster lately.

Teaching has been great--the usual good points and not-so-good points. However, making the textbooks for the school as been a pain in the neck. Or something else. Ugh.

First, we edit the Reading and Listening sections for the month. Then we record them at the studio (which is a tedious 3 to 4 hours). Then we edit the Speaking and Writing sections for the month. We rewrite the sample reading for the Speaking and Writing parts, and create a whole new grammar section. Yikes! The deadlines are pretty close together... we only have about one week for the R/L and two weeks for the S/W.

What's especially hard is going from writing the books on our "breaks" from teaching, to teaching classes and dealing with the kids. On one hand, it's good to write the material we're teaching... on the other hand, we don't have much say on what goes into the material! So we see the flaws while teaching, but can't edit it much... Frustrating to say the least. What is also very frustrating is that some of the students in the level can't do the what their level books say they should be able to do. *sigh*

So when I did the books pretty slowly last month, my boss called me in and "nicely" asked me why. I expressed my frustrations but I don't think I quite made myself clear. Or it didn't quite translate. I don't know. After giving it another month to try the books out, next month I have the option of only teaching if I want. Hmm... it's tempting. But the conversation ended on a testy note... working slowly makes it seem like I don't care about my work. Bah.

I care about teaching the kids, not about freakin English grammar.

Festival Frenzy

2009-05-24T21:35:00.003+09:00

So that's the story folks. All that practice for the festival down the drain. As Jin says... "Welcome to Korea." Ha.

Good news: They were stressing us out, so if we had gone anyway... it would've not been very good.

More good news: I'll do the performance for a party in 2 weeks, so I'll eventually get to do it!

Bad news: All dressed up and no where to dance.

2nd Frustration

2009-05-14T22:10:00.002+09:00

Ok... one more thing I do NOT like about the Korean "private education" system:

If you belong in a level 3 class, but you're in Middle School... they will stick you with the rest of the other Middle School kids who are in level 8 JUST because it would be "shameful" or "embarrassing" for you to be in the level with the kids who are 7 years younger than you. Where you belong.

UGH.

On the one hand, I feel bad for them... it's their parents who are doing this to them, and they don't have much say. On the other hand, the freakin hogwon should grow some balls and politely say "Sir, your child is not English-savvy." Humph. I wish.

Teaching is like...

2009-05-12T16:40:00.003+09:00

Even though I really do enjoy teaching... teaching English has it's own set of difficulties. Which, once I get past how cute the kids can be, are quickly made apparent. Sometimes teaching is like playing charades. Except more frustrating. Mostly because it's even more important that you understand what they kids are trying to say because you're trying to help them. Class the other day went something like this:

Kid 1: Teacher, what is [hand gesture relating to fighting]?
Me: Fighting?
Kid 1: No, teacher. [Another hand gesture--not as clear this time]
Me: Um... bully?
**Kid 2 now jumps in**
Kid 2: No, teacher! Like at baseball... [dances around crazy] when music plays!
Me: Dancing?
Kid 1: [Frustrated sigh] NO, teacher! This! [Runs down the middle of the classroom]
Me: Running? Playing? Soccer?
Kids 1 and 2: No...
Me: [Absolutely confused and not sure what the heck they are talking about.]

Yeah, I definitely need to learn Korean. Which, on that note, I'm getting "private lessons!" haha. Jin is helping me learn the alphabet, and Brendan downloaded Rossetta Stone Korean onto my computer. So... hopefully I'll catch on quick...

Favorite class

2009-05-05T00:44:00.004+09:00

I know you're not supposed to have favorites, but it's really hard not to with these kids. They're just so good and cute! They're my Level 3-ers. They're just learning how to make paragraph stories and complete sentences, and use words like "happy" and "baseball" and "school" a lot. haha.

Here's a little example of how good they are...

I pulled out my camera and they started yelling for "jumping pictures." haha. Well, how can you say no to faces like these?

Rachel in the front, Sally next to her, Dean spreading his arms wide (their english names, of course)

Danny is my rambunctious student... he's the one on the table. (But he's a really good kid)

Teacher and students!

Tomorrow is a Korean holiday called "Children's Day" and kids get gifts from their parents! Well, my gift to my students was a game day! (Mostly because they were so good and finished their work early!) So here's a little snippit of me teaching them "Go Fish."

The 14th

2009-05-04T00:08:00.002+09:00

So Jin told me that the 14th of every month is "special" and marked by some couples holiday... that merchants made up, of course! (And I thought America was bad...)

Well, I was definitely intrigued by this... especially since Jin couldn't remember what the days were marked by. Needless to say, I decided to do a little research on my own and this is what I've found:

	May 14th	"Rose Day" ★ On this day, couples exchange roses.
	June 14th	"Kiss Day" ★ Kiss everyone you meet on this day.
	July 14th	"Silver Day" ★ On this day, people exchange silver accessories.
	August 14th	"Green Day" ★ On this day, couples seek nature and relax while singles drink Soju to drown their loneliness.
	September 14th	"Photo Day" ★ On this day, take a picture together with your significant other in a romantic place and put it in a special place to look at.
	October 14th	"Wine Day" ★ On this day, enjoy wine with someone special.
	November 14th	"Movie Day" ★ On this day, couples go to watch a movie at the cinema.
	December 14th	"Hug Day" ★ On this day, couples hug each other in the winter to chase away the cold.

These are in addition to the more popular ones, being: Valentines Day (Feb 14th), White Day (March 14th) and Black Day (April 14th).

V-day differs a little here. The girls get the guys things--like chocolate. And then White Day is when the guys get the girls things--like candles and candy. Then Black Day is for all the single people! They get together and eat black noodles, called Jjajangmyeon, and drink soju to down their sorrows and comfort each other for having been single a whole 2 months. Apparently that's rare here?

Bulgogi!

2009-05-03T22:06:00.004+09:00

Yesterday, I finally had bulgogi! It's the most "famous" dish that Koreans have... it's their Korean BBQ. Marinated grilled beef. Yum!

I begged Jin to take me to get some real Korean food so he could explain things to me, so on Saturday we searched for an hour to find a place that had what we were looking for! We had to wander all around downtown (and almost gave up completely!) before we found a hole-in-the-wall place tucked into a back corner down an alley. It was definitely an experience.

This is almost the complete spread of what we had for lunch. It was pretty amazing too! You order one main dish and you get 15 side dishes "for free!" Which is how they do it here. In the middle you can see the bulgogi on the grill plate. Then in the little tins is the rice. Directly left of the rice is one kind of kimchi--we were served two different kinds. Neither of which I'd had before! But Jin couldn't tell me what plants they were made from. Apparently it wasn't the typical cabbage though.

Then there's the spicy tofu soup that is commonly served and which I never eat. haha. Jin tried it and even his mouth was on fire! --Which tells me that if I want to live, I will never eat that.

Next to the soup by the bulgogi is the dipping sauce, which is mainly onions and soy sauce. Other things in the picture that you can't really see are: diced mushrooms, spicy pickled radishes and spicy cucumbers (both of which Jin "gave a bath" for me so I could eat them! haha), and deep fried peppers...which are not spicy except if you eat the puffy end.

In the back of this picture is the cooked ham smothered in ketchup, then there's a better shot of the spicy cucumbers. There's also the different kind of kimchi along with some acorn noodles... which were slippery and slightly strange. Then on the bottom right is chopped up dried squid in red bean sauce, and that was actually good! Kinda difficult with the texture... but all in all not bad. But the red sauce with the jalepenoes floating around in it I definitely did not touch!

The meal was definitely an adventure in and of itself. And, again, it was perfect to have a friend there to help me out! I'm finding that I enjoy this culture so much more when I can learn what is going on!

First Bible Study!

2009-05-02T22:21:00.002+09:00

On Friday night I got together with the women from my church for the first time so we could introduce each other and get to know one another better... and it was so great!

Right before I met up with the girls, I was feeling pretty nervous. A whole bunch of new people that I had to get to know--some of which already know each other--and then figure out a way to lead/teach them... yikes! Definitely made me feel slightly pressured.

But I am still very excited about it all! Still feel pressured a bit... but, not necessarily in a bad way. And I am so excited to get to know these women better! They are all so beautiful and different! I know they're going to challenge me through all of this, and I'm looking forward to it.

Please pray for us!

(Btw, we are calling ourselves DOEs. "Daughters of Eve." hehe. Cool name, eh?)

Update: Seomun Market

2009-05-02T21:14:00.003+09:00

So I went back to Seomun with my very own tour guide! My Korean friend Jin offered to take me and I conveniently left out the fact that I had already been just so I could have someone that actually knows what they're talking about. And it was so worth it!

I'm sure I wore Jin out with my million questions... but I learned so much!

For example:

There this small fish that they cook pretty inhumanely. They have two ways of doing it too. Either they put it into a blender while it's still alive and squirming, and blend it into a sticky jelly pulp. Or they boil it alive in water (but wait, it gets better!) and then throw tofu in there. Which, in case you didn't know, gets hotter than the water... but the fish don't know that. So, when the fish feel the water getting hotter, they burrow into the tofu--only to be burned alive. Then when the soup is done, they take out the tofu and chop it up... and you can see burrowed bits of fish inside the tofu. Nice, huh?

Also (I think it's the same small fish)-- this fish is "commonly" used as a male enhancement drug. hehe.

There was also this root that looks similar to a yam on the outside and is roughly the same size as well, but inside it has holes! Apparently it's a lotus root. I was definitely surprised since the lotus flower doesn't seem big enough to have such a large root! But tis true.

While at the market I tried a dried jujube! The taste was familiar, but I couldn't place it... and then Jin pointed out that it tasted like ketchup! Which hit the nail right on the head.

I also tried a dried and "candied" persimmon. Which, apparently we do have in America even though I've never heard of the fruit in my life! At first, it was a strange texture... chewy and mushy at the same time... but then as I ate it, I realized I was really enjoying it! Yum dried fruit! The actually fruit itself when not dried kinda looks like a tomato to me...

The last thing I tried was some black bean tofu. It looked like normal tofu, except with some black specks. However, I think it tasted better than normal tofu! (But that doesn't mean I'm going to eat more of it...)

We also explored more of the seafood section and the animal section. This culture defintely has an affinity towards seafood! Squid, octupus and fish are everywhere in all shapes, sizes and textures!

Dried sting ray.... I can't believe they actually eat these!

Fish on a stick... yum.

Dried octopus, anyone?

The animal section... with the live hares for eating, the dead quails for eating, the live chickens for eating, and the live... puppies for eating? Hmm... (I will say that Jin swares they're not for eating, but I dunno.)

All in all it was a fantastically productive trip! I learned much more than this... but it's all I can remember off the top of my head. Other things I kinda remember include: chinese herbal medicine, bottom-of-the-pan rice cakes, grilled seaweed, and pickled shrimp.

Let's just say that having a Korean friend to explain things is definitely a blessing.

Seomun Market

2009-04-27T12:15:00.003+09:00

Last weekend I went to Seomun Market for the first time with Christine and Brendan. It's definitely an experience! They sell everything and anything you could ever want. I was definitely on the hunt for a pan... maybe sheets... and a plant or two!

We definitely saw some interesting things in our wanderings...

Picking out veggies for our cookout!

Eek! Fresh squid! They were everywhere...

Even worse... gigantic fresh octopus soaking in a broth of some sort... yuck.

It was such a beautiful day for a market run!

It was a very productive trip! I got a beautiful purple orchid and some veggies. However, the saddest part of the trip was the animal section... I should've taken a picture of it... They had the cutest puppies for sale... to eat. I wanted to take one home. Unfortunately, not only do I not have any money... but pets are not allowed in my building. *sigh*

Samduk sol!

2009-04-22T01:34:00.007+09:00

For dinner one night, my friend and coworker Nicole took me to have my first Korean dinner done right! It's called samduck sol (pronounced sam-duck-sol). It's pork, and you cook it over a grill in the middle of your table! It comes with sides you're supposed to eat it with/on.

First, you cook the pork. It comes in strips and you have to cut it with scissors when it's been cooked enough. Then you put the pork in the lettuce leaf, with rice, a red bean paste, bean sprouts, kimchi, garlic (roasted if you want), and onions soaked in soy sauce with a lil wasabi on the side. You roll it into the lettuce leaf and shove it all in your mouth! It's actually pretty delicious.

However... one thing was not so delicious. Apparently a much-loved side dish here is bundaegi. Basically, it's cooked silk worm larve. And you just pop them into your mouth. Yep, you eat them. When the lady first brought them out... I was so naieve and was like "oh, what's this? Do we put this in the leaf too?" haha. Thankfully, I took a closer second look. And noticed they had legs. Ew.

Also, I realized that I took a video of the Buddhist prayers and forgot to post it! So here it is:

Church Update:

2009-04-21T20:53:00.002+09:00

I went to church this past Sunday with my friend and coworker Brendan. On our way there, I saw another foreigner come out of the building next to mine. We commented on it cause we didn't know there were any other English speakers living close to us! When we got to the church... the guy was there! It was such a funny "coincidence" that we introduced ourselves. Later, the church was doing a scavenger hunt of sorts and we were on the same team! It was fun, and he reminds me so much of an old friend from home. So yeah, pretty awesome to have a cool Christian neighbor right next door!

But this time around at chuch was funny because even though it's only my second time there... people that I had met the week before were excited to see me, and were glad I was there. It was interesting that I could start feeling comfortable there so quickly. It's definitely because the people are opening up to me first!

The pastor's wife, "Jenna" --her english name, approached me again about the Women's Bible study. She talked to me about getting it together and leading it. She had already talked to the girls about their interest, and apparently everyone is highly interested and we already have 11 girls willing to do this! Wow. God is really putting this together. Now, if only I could catch up. I have about a month and a half to get to know the girls, and hang out with them... then they want to start having the actual bible studies the first week of June. I'm excited to get to know these girls... and I can only pray that God shows me how to challenge them and bring them closer to Him.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-17T16:36:00.003+09:00

I know this is a little late, but I wanted to relate my first church experience since so many have asked about it.

My church experience was interesting. I prayed that God would make it perfectly clear which church I should go to, so I can get involved right away. I didn't want to be left hanging too long in a foreign country, especially only knowing people who aren't Christians and who go out drinking every weekend. And it's not like in Chicago where I could spend time looking around for a good church to be involved in. There are very few English services around these parts!

Through websites and Korean coworkers I found a few churches that had English serivces. Of those few, less were close to me. After calling around and getting no luck in checking out their English service information... I called the number for Dongshin Presbyterian Church's English service contact. The guy who answered the phone was a Kiwi named Karl, and told me a bit about the church and then asked about my church background, etc. When I brought up that I had gone to Moody, Karl excitedly stated that the pastor for the English church had too! I finished the conversation feeling like God was leading me to where I should be.

On Easter Sunday, I got lost on my way to the church. That was to be expected a bit... but I got more lost than I thought I would. The directions weren't that clear to begin with, and then my sense of direction was a bit thrown off. After a few failed attempts, I was finally frustrated enough to pray. Soon after, a Korean that spoke perfect English came up to me and asked "Are you lost?" I was astonished and relieved! I asked him if he knew where the church was, and come to find out he had gone there as a child! Him and his friend kindly directed me to the church, and we talked along the way.

I finally arrived just as the sermon was starting, said "hi" to Karl and took a seat. The service took place on the 5th floor of the Activity center for a very large Korean Presbyterian church. There was a good mix of foriegners and Koreans, but everyone spoke English. Come to find out later, there was also many other new people going to church for Easter Sunday! Another thing that was a pretty awesome surprise was that halfway into the sermon, the guy that helped me and his friend came into the service and sat down in front of me!

After church, I met a whole bunch of people... more than I remember now. I talked to the guys that helped me and the pastor for awhile. The talk with the pastor was at first overwhelming, because I told him I would like to know more about the church and being involved; and since he knew I was from Moody... he really laid it on me!

Even though it was overwhelming, and much different than I expected... I still feel like that's where I should be. I mostly feel this way because of conviction and the fact that their needs match my abilities/what I want to do! They have need of a Theology bible study, starting a Women's group, and help with Children's church. haha. However, I need to actually get to know the church members... and that means opening up. Which I'm not the best at in the beginning.

I need to step outside of my fears and insecurities to open myself up to this church to love and grow with them! Eek! And even though I'm excited to get involved, I still feel so inadequate to help at all. What keeps playing over in my head is when Paul says that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness... I pray this comes true!

Gatbawi Buddha

2009-04-16T12:50:00.011+09:00

The hike this past Saturday was amazing! Brutal... but amazing. haha. My coworker was right when he said it was the "stair master from hell."

The trip started off around 10am Saturday morning with an hour long bus ride. Their buses are really nice compared to Chicago's! The cherry blossoms have been coming out for the past month as well... so there were some very beautiful parts of the hike.

The entrance of the hike with some beautiful cherry blossom trees!

Right before you start up the trail (and on through the trail at certain points, as I came to find out later), there are piles of rocks. The rocks are wishes or prayers and you have to balance them on top of the other rocks... and you want to balance them on the highest point so your prayers are closer to Heaven. Or Buddha. Not really sure which one.

My prayer balancing on the highest point I could get.

A ways up the hike we came to a temple area. Before you go up to the temple, there's an alter to Buddha. Incense was burning and water was flowing by the statue. People were there lighting candles for prayers, kneeling on the mats to pray, and worshiping Buddha's statue. It actually reminded me of a strange mix of Catholicism and Islam.

They take off their shoes before they step on the mats to pray

Statue of Buddha and alter area

There were a few different temples. One was to the mountain god - usually depicted as a tiger or an old man, and the other is the main temple where the monks pray. This beautiful bridge connected the two temples.

Temple of the mountain god

Pagoda and bell "tower" for the temple

Bell which they ring once a day for the main prayer

Beautiful hand painted artwork was everywhere; this is from the bell "tower"

Everyone tries to get a sip (or fill their water bottles) of temple mountain spring water that's been blessed by Buddha. It flows out of the mouth of the turtle.

Vats of kimchi soaking on the roof of the temple kitchen

These are the hardcore uneven steps that kicked our butts

As we neared the top we started seeing people selling candles, and gifts for Buddha

The view from one of the resting areas maybe halfway up

When we neared the top, we started seeing these beautiful temple lanters!

The lanterns had Buddhas holding lotus' and standing in Buddha positions

The prayer area at the top of the mountain.

The lanters that covered the ceiling had the prayers of people tied to the ends

Me and the huge Buddha with a stone on its head: it's one of the oldest in all Asia!

Once we had finally reach our goal with making it to the Buddha and the temple at the top of the mountain, we had to make our way back down again. That was definitely the most trecherous part of the trip! (At least for the first half of the way down.) We hadn't realized how steep it had been getting... so we were definitely off balance for the way down. Gravity works, let me tell you. What was the most confusing though was that we kept seeing people with dress clothes/shoes and very old people making their way up the mountain! How they did it I will never know...

Making our way slowly back down the mountain

Me with a monk!

We finally reached the end of our hike with much relief. Our legs were definitely shaking! On our way down we passed by the monk that I have a picture with, and he was so friendly! It was funny cause the only two things he knew how to say were "hi" and "I love you..." haha. Our bus ride home felt long, but we felt both tired and accomplish from the day. I can't wait to do more!

Old vs. New

2009-04-13T13:30:00.005+09:00

As promised, here are pictures of my previous place as opposed to my new one.

This was my studio:

Dirty front door area with a small dresser/TV

Bed area directly to the left of the doorway

Small kitchen area on the left, even smaller bathroom area on the right

Nasty mold area behind furniture. It was spread across the wall.

Now, my new place! It was too big for pictures, so enjoy the tour:

First Week

2009-04-09T02:18:00.002+09:00

Hey Friends and Family!

I'm now completely moved into my new place, and it's so much nicer than the one before. First of all, no mold! (Or "no moss" as my landlady says. haha) It also has room separate rooms! I have a bedroom, a living space/kitchen, a small "office" type room... and best of all a bathroom with a shower! The faucet is still really low, but at least now I can wash my hair with both hands. haha.

Moving day was pretty interesting. My landlady showed me my new apt, then took me up to her "office"/place where she "sometimes sleeps" and asked if I wanted her TV or microwave... Needless to say, I was confused. Then she kept insisting that I take one (or both)? After a bit of a difficult interchange, we sort of communicated: I would rather have the microwave if I had to choose one. So I think I traded my supposed TV for her microwave. lol. However, I came to find out later that my Director has already paid for me to have a TV!? Very confusing. But I don't regret my decision. It's more difficult than you think to live without a microwave.

She was very helpful though! And very kind and patient with me and the language barrier. She also told me that she bought me a new mattress and frame, a new washer, and a new gas burner! (Not sure why though...) The only thing I'm missing now is a dresser... I'm getting a little tired of living out of my suitcase!

My coworkers have been so helpful though! They've taken me shopping, showed me what a few different foods were, and helped me find my way around a bit. Now all I have to do is remember these things... I'm planning on hiking Mt. "Pogwonsan" this weekend with a few of them. Apparently the mountain we're going to has the tallest standing Buddha at the top holding a lotus, along with one of the oldest medicine Buddha with a stone on it's head. I'm excited for the hike! Finally some outdoor events. There's also salsa dancing, taught by a foreign teacher, and Korean classes at the local YMCA (within walking distance from me!), so I have plenty of options for things to do.

Also: praise God, I've found a church! I actually haven't been there yet, but I do believe this is the one that God wants me to be involved with. It's only a few subway stops away, and has an English service. It's called Dongshin Presbyterian Church. I called the contact number, talked to Karl (an Austrailian), and told him a little about myself and asked about the church... and found that the pastor when to Moody as well!!! I am definitely going there this Sunday and am very excited to meet the congregation. Apparently the church itself is pretty large, but the English service has only 20 foreigners and 40 Koreans. I think that's a good amount for me. :)

So a few interesting cultural differences I've found:

1. They wallpaper everything. The ceiling. The walls. Every corner and crag. I think they would wallpaper the floor if they could. lol.

2. They have something called PC rooms and DVD rooms.

PC rooms are exactly what they sound like-- large rooms full of computers with games and Internet on them. They're generally dark, and smokey (you can smoke inside here)--kinda like a bar. Yuck. But apparently Koreans (especially Korean teenagers) spend hours upon hours here! They have really comfy computer chairs and they serve food (generally snacks like fried squid and octopus).

DVD rooms are a little more sketchy. They are what they sound like and a little bit more. Since Koreans live with their parents until they're married, and even somtimes after, they don't get much "alone time" with their significant other. So, they'll go to a DVD room, rent a movie, lay/sit on the bed/couch and spend some "quality time" together. I was actually a little shocked when I heard about that... I mean, they're everywhere! So it's a pretty common thing.

3. They're not kidding about taking off your shoes before you enter a house. They have something called "shoe closets" next to the entrance, and the rest of the floor is raised except for the "shoe area."

4. They have these delicious rice patty pancakes that they fill with a brown sugar and cinnomin combindation and fry called hodduck (pronounced ho-duck...except really fast and like a Korean. haha). Yum!

5. Street vendors sell everything and usually sell the best things. i.e. Strawberries, socks, hodduck, chamwae (pronounced cham-b-way. it's a Korean melon -it's yellow), blankets, cell phones, subway cards, etc.

A few especially good things: Today I got my physical in order to get my Alien Registration card, which I should be getting in a few weeks. And I also got internet today! Yay! That means I have a landline, too. Still working on the cell phone... but should have that in the next few days. Yay for communication skill!

Skype is up and running for sure now.

First Few Days

2009-04-08T20:46:00.002+09:00

I got into Daegu safely. The cab driver who picked me up was a little crazy. Didn't speak any english, drove like a bat out of hell and didn't have any seat belts in the back seat (which is apparently not normal). My first impression of Korea was cloudy/foggy and very mountainous. The city is pretty much like Chicago with buildings crammed close to each other... but there's not as much diversity in the architecture.

My first night in my apt was cold. Apparently they haven't turned on the gas yet, so the heat doesn't work, the stove doesn't work and the hot water isn't hot. I also don't have a phone yet, or internet or TV connection. But they say it wont take long to set those up. My room is more like a studio... I took some pictures so when I get internet set up at my apt I'll put them up. (For now I'm using the school's computer.) The bed, TV and dresser are in the main room, the bathroom is a tiny separate room. It's a lot like the bathrooms in Greece with the toilet, shower and sink all in the same area and no separation. The kitchen is in a separate space too, along with the washing machine. Apparently they don't do driers here... they line dry everything!

I have pretty good cabinet space, but there's nothing in them like I thought there would be. So i have to find a few dishes, etc. Also, I have a little mini-fridge... so that's going to be interesting too. Kinda like being back in the dorm again. haha. There's also mold growing on the wall in a huge patch... so I told them I was allergic to it and it would make me sick if they left it. They don't know how to clean it though so they're going to cover it with another layer of wallpaper! Oh brother. All the walls need to be cleaned actually... But the apt is similar to some studios I've seen in Chicago. And there were no sheets on the bed and the bed is as hard as a rock. Did I mention it was cold? I miss home!!!

It's a little frustrating not being able to read/understand most things here... but I'm at the school learning about my class schedule and who I'll be working with and the curriculum... so that's really exciting! I'm planning to see my friend Christine tonight as well.

Oh, the flight over was SO long. And I realized I don't mind flying alone usually, but flying alone internationally sucks. I exchanged some won in Seoul, but haven't been able to find a calling card yet. I'm hoping to soon. Brian (one of my bosses/coworkers) is showing me around a bit, and as well as some of the other teachers... So it seems like I'll be pretty busy for awhile!

Preparations!

2009-03-23T15:21:00.003+09:00

I just received my flight plans. It goes something like this:

Pheonix to San Fran = 2 hours
San Fran to Seoul = 12.5 hours
Seoul to Busan = 1 hour
+ van ride from Busan to Daegu = 1 hour

Grand total = 16.5 hours

Dang yo. I'm definitely going to need prayer to make it through that ride AND still be chipper enough to meet my Director at the school.

One other thing... I don't have my apartment address yet. Nor do I know if they even have an apartment for me yet. Good news is my Visa will reach me by tomorrow, and I will be leaving for Phoenix this Wednesday!