lunar new year

It's the Korean New Year and so I had a four-day weekend. It was such a nice break, we did and saw a lot.

On Saturday I went into Seoul with my friend Tom. We went to the 63 Building, which is on an island on the Han River. There was an awesome aquarium with penguins, sea otters, a giant sea turtle, seals, sea lions, and doctor fish, which eat the dead skin off your fingers and feet. The 63 Building also had something called Sky Art, an art gallery on the top floor with cool art and a great view of the city. Its claim to fame is that it's apparently the highest art gallery in the world.

Then we met up with Patrick and Alex, a friend from work. Her mom and aunt are visiting from Canada and we came along as she showed them around. We had dinner in a nice Italian restaurant in Seoul and wandered around the big shopping district called Myeongdong. Alex tried her best to find a place that sold boots in my size. As you can see in the pictures, there is a lot of snow in Korea right now. My feet are big by Korean standards so it's hard/on the verge of impossible to find shoes.

On Sunday I didn't do much. But Monday Tom and I went back into Seoul to meet up with the same group. We went to Namsan, which is a mountain right in the middle of the city. It had the most adorable thing, a lookout point with thousands of "love locks" attached to the chain-link fence. There are pictures in the slideshow. It was so sweet to see Patrick and Alex add their lock to all the rest. Namsan also has Seoul Tower, which is round and has a pretty cool 360 view of the city. There was a steep and scary climb up and down the mountain. After Namsan we went to Gyeongbok Palace. I didn't see the whole thing. I'll be going back when it's warmer so I can enjoy it without freezing.

Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, ‘I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.’

Today we all went to the Korean Folk Village, about a 20 minute bus ride outside of Dongtan. It's basically a living museum that shows how life used to be in traditional Korea. It's a huge park with too much to see and do in one day, so I'm definitely going back at least a couple more times once it's warmer. It's broken up into sections with replicas of traditional houses of the different social classes (commoners, farmers) and merchant buildings (blacksmith, potter).

It was really my favorite thing so far. I wrote earlier about how Koreans today mostly live in apartment high-rises, but this is what Korea would be like now if it weren't so overpopulated. Walking around was like going back in time and there were fun performances to watch, like the Farmers' Dance, a stunt horse show, and acrobatics. There was a traditional street market and restaurants. It was like the Renaissance Fair, only Korea instead of England.

I'm so beat. I have a feeling the next three days at work will be a bit hectic, as I have to do all my grading and make report cards. Till next time, love you all!

sometimes a great notion

I feel like writing about food. I just went to a Korean place and ordered food by myself for the first time without the help of a veteran teacher. I only know how to say a couple things in Korean, but I managed! I'm so proud of myself.

Korean food is cheap. I think it's probably cheaper to eat at a Korean restaurant here than to buy groceries. Emphasis on Korean restaurant, though. Any other kind is pretty much what you'd pay for it in the states.

"Mandoo" is Korean for dumplings. "Kimbop" is Korean for sushi--athough they'd never call it that themselves, of course, because they hate the Japanese. But I have to admit kimbop and sushi do have their differences. Koreans put strange things in their rolls. Tonight, for example, my kimbop had American cheese in it! You pay more if you go to traditional Korean sit-down places where the meat is cooked fresh in front of you, but there are also really cheap ones where a huge sushi/kimbop roll is only about two bucks (2,000 won), and dumplings are only around two fifty.

Aside from Korean restaurants, the only "Western" food I've seen in my neighborhood is an Italian place. There's a Dunkin Donuts on my block, but I haven't been yet. When I was in Seoul I ate at an Indian restaurant and saw tons of American chains, like KFC and McDonalds. But in Korea you mostly find Korean restaurants. Duh.

Oh, and the pizza here. It's so cheap if you get it Korean-style. I have a Dominoes a block from me, but it costs like $30 for a whole pie, or so I've heard. I've also heard there are Papa Johns here, which is my favorite back home, so I can go on a quest for one if I get super homesick. Anyway, if you get pizza at a Korean pizza chain you can get all sorts of unique, delicious toppings (or just regular pepperoni) and it's only five bucks! Let's see, examples of Korean toppings are sweet potatoes, hot dog or sausage slices, spicy chicken, canned corn, potato wedges, and sweet creamy sauces. There's another pizza joint close to my place called Mr. Pizza, and their motto is "Love for Women," which they display on a big sign that makes me smile every day.

I've been eating food I've made for myself mostly, so any time I get a chance to go out to eat here it always makes my day. The food here is pretty damn awesome for the most part. It's one of my favorite things about Korea so far. It's funny how easily life can feel like an adventure just by trying new foods!

I should mention how strange I still find it that English is everywhere here. On signs, advertisements, products, clothing and even through loudspeakers. Butchered English, but understandable English nonetheless. I guess it still seems odd to me because in the states we don't have little Korean subtitles for everything, that would just be absurd. Yet it's not absurd here to have little English translations on most everything. I'll let you know if/when I ever get over that.

Before I go I just have to tell you how excited I am about tomorrow night after work. I'll hopefully be watching our new president being sworn in live, if I can find a way. I have a feeling it will be a very homesick moment, wishing I could be in DC and knowing I would be if I were still home. Just remember I'll be across the Earth trying my best to feel and share in the excitement with the rest of you. As cheesy as it sounds, I love America and I'm so proud of my country right now. I wish I could be there, but I have no regrets, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and a bunch of other clichés...

three weeks

We're children in nurse or lawyer or policeman or teacher costumes. When does it stop feeling like we're all just playing grown ups?

Tonight I should write about my job after two weeks in.

I love teaching, especially English. There are so many things about it that I enjoy. There's autonomy. I get to be creative when I decide how to teach lessons. It's never boring, because I have to be as animated as I can be to keep the kids from hating their lives. The other teachers are unbelievably nice. I feel like writing it here will jinx it, but I just have to say I am so lucky to be at this school.

Teaching the younger kids is so much different than teaching the teenagers. The young kids love talking to me even though they can't understand most of what I say. In broken English I tell them about where I'm from, my family, my favorite things, or whatever they want to know about. It is so awesome to see them try as hard as they can to say what they're thinking with the little bit of English they know.

The teenagers are like the complete opposite. With the little ones I can basically do nothing and they laugh and fall over whatever I say. With the older kids, it's like their voices and all their joy are held captive by puberty. They are just huge balls of awkwardness and I have to turn on my charm to the max to get them to just say a couple words about themselves or even smile. But it's so worth it when I do.

Oh, and you want to know a strange effect of teaching ESL? Now my head thinks in broken English! And I talk slower for like half an hour after work every night. It takes a bit of time to go back into normal English mode, but then again I don't think I'll ever fully be back in normal English mode until I go home because everyone around me is in the same boat.

On another note, it's the weekend! My foot and knee are feeling better, so you can all stop worrying about me. I did the smart thing and kept it wrapped in an ace bandage and walked as little as possible for the last few days.

I'm going to veg out tonight and probably most of tomorrow. I think if I do anything touristy it will be on Sunday. A couple fellow teachers told me today that I should get my touristy stuff in now while I'm still interested in doing it, because I guess later on I'll become more apathetic to the culture, start to take it for granted. I can see that happening. Things already feel so much different than they did my first night here. I'm so much more comfortable than I ever imagined possible on that very first night.

culture so far

Culture shock. After graduation I felt a culture shock transitioning from college life to the real world. I wasn't ready for that yet. I think the perfect medicine for an unexpected dose of culture shock is a planned dose of it. That's why I came here. There are so many reasons I came here.

I came here to try new things, I came here to get something out of my system. I came here to figure something out, but I don't really know what that something is. One day it will just click. That's the hope.

Anyway, back to culture shock. From the very begining and still today the biggest difference is the language. On my walk to work through Central Park--the large park in the middle of town with tennis courts, skateboarding ramps, a soccer field, a mini golf course, public restrooms, etc--I usually listen to my mp3 player. The thing I noticed about this is it makes Korea look very much like an American town (that is, if my eyes ignore the Korean writing on all the signs). It is essentially a human thing: retired men and women playing golf, little boys kicking the ball around with their dad, angsty teens skateboarding in their grungy clothes and helmets, middle-aged friends playing tennis on their lunch break.

The English lyrics to the songs on my mp3 player drown out the Korean being shouted, and I don't know the language of course but I'm pretty sure it's just things like, "Goal" or "I beat you" or "Whoa, that was a great shot, man!"

The point is, a lot of Korea is pretty familiar. But there is this ongoing list in my head of the differences.

* People spit really loudly and publicly, even pretty young women.

* About every tenth person I see is wearing a face mask, like the ones doctors wear in surgery. It is a courtesy to others, to prevent spreading illness. Or so I hear. Even a couple of my students wear one.

* Most people live in apartments. Single houses are rare. It's smart, because it's a small country and they're using as little space as possible. My town is overwhelmed with very tall apartment complexes. Each one is its own little neighborhood, with guards at the gate and shops for the residents. My apartment is in a small building, though, and I have a bunch of little shops and restaurants nearby. So I get a different Korean experience from most of the families in Dongtan, I think.

* Girls hold hands in public, which is not so weird to see. The weird thing to see is boys holding hands in public. Being gay is so much more frowned upon here than in the states, yet friendship PDA between boys is perfectly cool.

* It seems obvious but people really do bow and use two hands to give and take things from me. It's a sign of respect and I think I might be offended when I go back home and it stops happening.

They're small differences that I'm already starting to take for granted. And after the initial jolt to my system I won't really notice them again until I go back home. That's when I'll feel them in the form of reverse culture shock. It's what I'm looking forward to, and going back home to experience it is another reason I came here.

I somehow sprained or pulled something in my foot and in my knee. I went to the pharmacy to get ace bandages and the man who works there spoke perfect English. It was the first time a stranger has spoken such perfect English like that since I got here and I wanted to give him a big hug and even possibly a kiss. It's amazing to me how connected I feel just to my language.

I figured out how to take the bus to and from work. The bus stop is close to my apartment and even closer to the school. I might never walk to work again, even after my leg gets better. I'm taking it easy for the next few days, and I'll probably stay close to home this weekend and not do much walking. It sucks I'm down for the count only three weekends in, but I do have a whole year to go exploring. There's a long weekend coming up, I'll be making big plans for that. I think I'll go into Seoul and do tons of touristy things and maybe stay in one of the cheap places called "love motels." I'm sure you can figure out how it got that name.

the proper channels

The air was hot but not humid, it was the middle of summer. I was a child, and my aunt was taking me on a hike in Yellowstone.

Our hike was supposed to end at a waterfall. We reached it, and the water fell as a narrow stream, up high from a cliff and into a shallow pool that ran out as a small creek into the woods. We sat on a fallen log that stretched over the creek, our legs dangling anxiously over the rushing waters, and ate a picnic.

In my imagination it was grapes and crackers and cheese wiz; who knows now what we really ate. And our goal was so beautiful that we weren't ready to be done or turn back. We walked on and reached the next goal of the trail: a geyser with boiling hot, crystal clear blue water. Tiny orange veins of steaming sulfur flowed out from its erupting heart.

On the walk back to the car, to the left of the trail was a massive thermal lake; petrified trees rooted to the lake bed, their stumps lying above the surface like so many grave markers. To the right were living trees growing in the slope of a hill. I remember the water as a soupy rainbow of colors, it probably wasn't. I remember the slope and the trees on my right, but who knows now, there could have been a parking lot. The point is: this is a memory, but it's turned into imagination. Memories do that. The good ones are so much brighter in retrospect.

I wouldn't have known it on the day I was living it and walking through the woods, but those hours with nature turned out to be my favorite, most useful memory, the one I have looked back on for years--and still do to this day--to help myself smile, make myself relax. Every day has this potential for a new favorite memory.

Anyone reading this must have favorite memories, so you know what I mean. What does this have to do with Korea? Well, I have good days here, I have bad days. My good days here have been so good, and I get through the bad days by remembering that a good day will come again, maybe even tomorrow. And if I'm lucky I'll snag another favorite memory to store for later.

Today I had to wake up early to go get a medical exam for my Alien Registration Card. Waking up early ruins lives. Then to be poked and prodded and moved around from hospital room to hospital room like a piece of livestock wasn't a super great way to start the day. I got weighed, measured, a chest x-ray, a hearing test, a vision test, a urine test, a blood test, and a dental exam. Things did get better from there. Well, that is until my foot got sprained. But still, classes went by normally aside from the whole limping thing. The kids were well behaved and the lessons went by without a hitch. I think I was just cranky today from lack of sleep and physical pain. I'll take tons of aspirin tomorrow. I'm expecting a wonderful start to my day tomorrow - I'll be seeing my brothers and my dad on webcam. Nothing beats that.

And now for a beautiful poem!

Earth – Derek Walcott
Let the day grow on you upward
through your feet,
the vegetal knuckles,
to your knees of stone,
until by evening you are a black tree;
feel, with evening,
the swifts thicken your hair,
the new moon rising out of your forehead,
and the moonlit veins of silver
running from your armpits
like rivulets under white leaves.
Sleep, as ants
cross over your eyelids.
You have never possessed anything
as deeply as this.
This is all you have owned
from the first outcry
through forever;
you can never be dispossessed.

seoul

I don't want to write much about teaching. It's work and I don't want to think about work when I'm not there. I'll just say the first day teaching was really hard, but it has gotten easier and less overwhelming since then. And according to everyone it will continue to get even easier once I get the hang of it and get organized. This week after work I mostly went out with my coworkers to unwind. I like my schedule, working from 1-8 Monday through Thursday and from 3-10 on Fridays. The kids are nice for the most part. I get a lot of blank stares when I ask them to do things, but I guess that just comes with the job, right?

Yesterday I went into Seoul. Overall I really love Seoul, it's like the Korean London. One major difference is that while London smells like urine, Korea smells like rotten seafood garbage! Ok, so here are the pictures. I'm experimenting with the best way to post them. And by best I mean fastest. I wish I could make a slideshow to make them easier to look at, but I guess this has to do for now. I'm only posting a few because I'm exhausted and want to watch the movies I downloaded.

I didn't go into the city alone as planned, I went with a teacher I met here who works at a school near mine. I was glad to have someone showing me around for my first time because I think it would have been too confusing by myself.

I met him at the subway station and it was about an hour ride into Seoul. We ate lunch, then went on a tour of Changdeokgung Palace. It was a really pretty place, but I want to go back to see how pretty it is in spring. The only way you can see the palace is by a guided tour, and there was an English-speaking tour guide who was pretty good. It was a really cold day, the tour was outdoors and pointed out the many buildings that sprawl across the area within the palace walls.

After the palace we got out of the cold and got some hot tea in the cutest little cafe. We went to Insadong, which is a quaint artsy area of the city. There are a bunch of little art galleries in that district and we checked one out. Then we met up with a bunch of other teachers and went to bars in Itaewon and Hongdae, which is where all the foreigners and military guys hang out. It was weird to hear so many people speaking English and really weird to see so many people that looked like me again. Those parts of town are like little America.

waeguk

"Waeguk" is how Koreans say foreigner. It's what they call anyone like me who stands out in a crowd. The description below of Korean culture was included in my welcome packet from the school. In my experience so far it has proven to be dead-on. The people here seemed so rude when I was walking around in E-Mart (Korea's Wal Mart), and at first I assumed they were treating me like crap because I was a foreigner. Knowing they treat everyone like this, though, is a small comfort. I just tell myself Koreans are like New Yorkers and it helps me deal since I kind of like that New York attitude.

Also, I start teaching tomorrow so I haven't seen how the kids behave first hand, but I've spoken to a bunch of people by now about the education system and the Korean childhood and it's true that the kids take studying very seriously. The kids here go to school literally all day, first public school then private schools their parents have to pay a lot of money for. I'm teaching at one of these private schools. I've heard the public schools are so bad here that parents are forced to pay for private schools to make up for it. So anyway, after school the kids then stay up till midnight doing homework. This is not only expected, anything less is discouraged. I feel bad for the kids here, but it will be my job to make sure they have enough homework in my class to continue this perpetual cram sesh.

Korea is a very hierarchical society where one's age, sex and status have a major bearing on how others relate to you. As a Westerner, you will be immune from this sort of judgment to an extent, although Koreans who meet you will still want some information as to where on the social totem pole you fit. So questions such as "How old are you?", "Are you married?" and "What is your job?" are simply ways for Koreans to get a feeling of where in society you fit.

Koreans who have not been formally introduced to you will often ignore you and strangers will view you as a 'non-person'. This explains a lot of the pushing and shoving on the street, why Koreans will skip queues and why everyone from moped drivers to other pedestrians will behave as if you do not exist. Don't take it personally, though, as it happens to everyone.

The role of women in society is still stunted compared to the West. Women are still expected to raise the children and stay at home while the husband earns the money. Often women get less money for the same job as men, and Korea is still developing in terms of women's rights.

Society is very oriented around work and education. From an early age Koreans go to hagwon or grind schools on top of their regular education. Exhausting hours of study are a common feature of all young Koreans lives. It is vital for high school students to get into a good university as the university attended will affect the rest of their lives. There is definitely an 'old boy' network in Korea and the contacts made in university can prove very helpful in later years.

I feel myself gradually getting adjusted to being here. The fact that I have my own apartment with all my own things makes it easier, because it is like my sanctuary. I can listen to my own music here, all English lyrics. I can watch American TV shows and English-language movies and remember who I am. But always in the back of my mind I tell myself to push myself to try new things. So today when I went grocery shopping I mainly tried to stake out familiar foods, but I bought a few strange ones to try. And when I go to restaurants I try new foods without question. So far I've tried raw crab, duck, raw stingray, snails, squid. In fact, as I type this, who knows what animal(s) I'm eating for dinner in these odd yet delicious dumplings. Oh god, this is just my first week. What will this list look like in a month?

The internet has been my lifesaver this week. My friends and family are online when I need someone to talk to. My dad kept me company while I dealt with the deep-cut-in-my-foot crisis (still not healing as well as I'd like but not infected...yet). And Corey has achieved miracles with his tech advice via webcam. I'm 14 hours in the future but the internet is my ansible ;)

English speakers over here have also been life savers. I've met people from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Koreans fluent in English, and Americans from other states. As far as the other foreigners go, where we come from is different but we share this one big thing in common. They're all so different and interesting in their own ways. It's been a hell of a good time meeting all these new people.

I meant to go into the city alone this weekend to be a tourist in Seoul, tour and take pictures of a Korean palace, maybe check out an art gallery or one of the trendy neighborhoods. I had a little too much fun Friday night and spent most of Saturday recovering, but I promise myself I'll go to Seoul next weekend. I need to remind myself one of my main goals for this year is to see all the sites I want to see in Seoul, and also some major ones out of town. I have a whole year to do it in, but unlike when I lived in London I don't live so close to it all so I can probably only do one thing per weekend. One of the jobs of the people reading this blog is to push me to go be a tourist on weekends. Got that?

Ok, good. So tomorrow I'm teaching for the first time (did I mention that already?). I don't know what to expect but I've been getting "good lucks" from you all back home and so tomorrow I'll be grateful to know you're pulling for me. I also have a bit of a support system here, I've been getting tons of kind advice from veteran teachers.

I love all of you, I miss seeing your faces. But I'm having a blast and actually have two visitors to look forward to: Dad and Duwane! Alright, so now I'm off to relax before the big day. Peace!

happy new year

Today was a funny day, an interesting way to start the new year. I had an excellent New Year celebration out on the town last night. I had my first try of soju, I'll just leave it at that. Anyway, I woke up, the room spun, and after a long while it stopped and I decided to move the furniture around. I still don't like the set up much but it will be okay for now.

I had a mini crisis when the metal on the bottom of the fridge cut a huge slice out of my foot and I was bleeding all over the place. I am so squeamish and the sight of blood almost made me faint and I was worried for a bit I'd need stitches but I think it's going to be alright with just a band aid. Cross my fingers.

I ventured a tiny distance out of town today. I think it was still technically my town because the bus didn't go far, but I'm proud of myself for taking the bus. It involved talking to the bus driver, or more like sign language-ing with him. It's hard to describe how frozen the language barrier makes me feel. I just wish I could implant a Korean chip in my brain and know enough to feel comfortable and get by. I really need to start studying Korean.

Alright, I'm tired and I'm going to the school tomorrow to work on making my very first lesson plans. I'm pretty excited actually. I'm so up for the challenge. Below are thumbnails of the pictures I uploaded of my apartment. I started making a video but felt so lame as soon as I pressed record. I promised myself I wouldn't add to the dozens of apartment tours on youtube. Short captions tonight, I'm ready to watch a movie and just chill.