Two Months to Go!

I haven't posted in ages, but that's because I haven't wanted to be a negative Nelly. My work situation has been extremely frustrating over the past four months, but with the addition of a new foreign coworker things are looking up (at least a little).

My parents did come for a visit in late May and early June, in which I took off four days of work and there were two national holidays, so I had time to travel around Korea (Incheon to Seoul to Busan to Jeju to Mokpo to Gwangju to Incheon). I had a good time traveling, though Jeju was frustrating because of its public transportation system. In that time I took a plane, trains, subways, buses, ferries, taxis, and my former roommate's mother's private car. I was able to see a lot of the country and visit several places I had not been before, which was quite fun. However, on my return to work my problems there began.

During the two day summer vacation (which made a four day long weekend), I took the chance to travel internationally to Japan. I flew into Osaka since it was much cheaper to fly there than Tokyo, and spent the night in a hotel near Osaka Castle. The next day I explored Osaka Castle and the Umeda underground shopping district, which was really fun. I felt like an idiot since I only knew two words of Japanese and couldn't read a lick of it, but other than that it was great. I then took an overnight bus to Tokyo, where a friend from high school who I hadn't seen in five years greeted me and took me all around the city. We went to a famous shrine and to several different districts in Tokyo, at one point meeting up with another friend of mine, a mutual friend from high school, for the entirety of her half hour break in the day's schedule. I took another overnight bus back to Osaka and spent the morning in Umeda again before flying back to Korea. It was a short but lovely (and expensive, considering the Won to Yen conversion rate) trip. I kind of wish I had done my year abroad teaching in Japan!

I still have some vacation left, and I'm excited to explore other places in Korea that I haven't had the chance to see yet. I still need to go on a DMZ tour and I want to go to the other major cities. Chuseok is also coming up, and with it hopefully a chance to hike Gwangju's famous mountain, Mudeung.

What I'm really excited for, though, is what I have planned for after Korea. I'll be departing Korea for Uganda to visit a friend of mine doing a Fulbright there, and from Uganda I'll be heading to London to visit a friend studying at a university in Oxford. After that I'll be going to New York to see a few friends before finally ending up at my parents' house for the holidays. Everything for 2013 is TBD, but I'm hopeful that I will find something great!

Half Way Mark

I've now been in Korea a bit over six months, reaching the half way mark of my time here. Time has been going by quite quickly.

I was so glad to see winter change into spring with warmer temperatures that make traveling more enjoyable. I have been getting out of Gwangju and have made another trip to Seoul (to meet up with my third cousin on her spring break travel-study trip), to Daejeon (several times) to see a high school friend who is a hagwon teacher there, and to Muju to participate in an Easter retreat.

I rode my first cable car up a mountain in Muju, which had a wonderful view that reminded me a bit of Costa Rica and the mountains there, although those mountains were covered in coffee plantations. I got to spend the night in the mountain resort, which was beautifully (and strangely) designed with a Swiss architecture look on the outside. For everything (food, transportation, cable car, room in the resort) it was only 30,000 Won, and you can't beat that with a stick.

I've spent several days in Daejeon with my high school friend Inga, who was two years above me. It's been great to reconnect with her as I haven't seen her in five or six years. We've spent some quality time in Costco (the one in Daejeon is the closest one to me), the last time purchasing the making of a delicious stew that we made as our first attempt, which turned out pretty well. I've also seen her area of the city, with some shopping and a park along with a free concert right outside her apartment building.

Seoul with my cousin was incredible. We went to Gyeongbokgung, Insadong, Myeongdong, and Itaewan. I'm hoping to visit all of those spots again. Gyeongbokgung was of course amazing with its Joseon Dynasty recreations. In Myeongdong we found a great rooftop tea and alcohol cafe (?), from which we enjoyed the afternoon. Itaewan was quite crowded (and I'm sure I've never seen so many other foreigners in all my time in Korea), but we found a great neighborhood-type bar and later a dance club. The only difficulty was finding a taxi back to the hotel, but luckily we eventually caught one.

Travel has been great; work, on the other hand, not so much. In the last two months, three teachers (out of seven) have quit, including the other foreign teacher, leaving me all by my lonesome as a non-Korean speaker. We've hired two more teachers (just hired the second one this week, after several weeks of trying to combine classes and working ridiculous hours), but now most of the teachers are men. Korea is still very patriarchal, meaning that the two women teachers, myself and a Korean teacher, have to do a lot of work that the men don't do, such as taking out the youngest children to wait for the bus (which means we don't get that ten-minute break like the rest of them). It's very annoying. The newest teacher, who kind of speaks English, was telling me how he regretted meeting and marrying his wife (do I need to know that, especially when I've just met you?) and telling me how I need to eat a variety of food (yes, I'm an adult, I can feed myself, thank you), and asking me if I wash my clothes by myself (no, I have to have my friends help me; I've been washing my own clothes by myself since I was 14, thanks). Honestly, why is he so strange? Someone who moves halfway around the world at a young age is capable of doing basic things on their own. Really.

Here are some pictures of Gyeongbokgung:

Valentine's Day

I’ve now been in Korea a bit over three months. Three months spent here have felt longer than my time in Costa Rica (although it’s been about the same amount), and I find myself much more nostalgic for my friends and my language.

It’s not that I don’t like Korea, because I do. However, I am finding it quite difficult to live in a place where I have only the most basic grasp on the language. It is my hope that taking Korean classes will alleviate the language isolation I face in my everyday interactions with Koreans. I have a strong desire to be able to communicate with the people around me. Though English is the medium (for the most part, anyway) in my job, it isn’t enough. I want to be able to ask a random person on the street for directions and understand their response. I have had enough of the silent stage of language learning.

Though many of the Korean holidays differ from those celebrated in the US, Valentine’s Day is one of the few that doesn’t. They celebrate it slightly differently here (women give chocolate to men), because they have a corresponding holiday called White Day in March (men give candy to women). It’s really strange to be in a country with sometimes vastly different holidays, so I am always thankful to have something familiar going on.

Seoul!

How refreshing it was to go to Seoul yesterday. Not only was it fantastic to meet up with two high school friends in their “hometown”, but it was also great to be in a place where I don’t draw stares from most everyone. Apart from a few small children, I did not garner any unusual attention. *sigh* If only it were like that in my part of Korea.

While in Seoul I was able to enjoy my first time at a pet cafe, Cafe Paws, which houses several small and medium sized dogs of various breeds. I did have to pay 6500 Won for a small hot chocolate, but the fun I had with the dogs, one of who slept in my lap almost the entire time, made the price worth it. There is a pet cafe that has cats in my neck of the woods (more or less) that I will have to try out soon.
I also went to COEX, a GINORMOUS shopping mall in the middle of the city. I had fun with Sun Joo walking around, browsing in the shops, and eating at Mix and Bake, a casual Italian restaurant. I was glad to have Sun Joo with me as I would have been completely lost once inside the mall. Luckily she was familiar with it and could easily find her way around.

It was shocking to have clerks speak English to me and to see many other foreigners. I couldn’t help myself; I had to stare at foreigners in pairs and small groups. Even though I didn’t have anyone speaking English to me and didn’t see other foreigners with any regularity in Mexico or Costa Rica, I didn’t feel as isolated by language (duh, since I can speak Spanish) and people didn’t just stare at me (openly, at least). Here I might as well be dressed up as Big Bird; I think I might actually draw fewer stares that way. I have never been as aware of how most parts of the US are different than homogenous countries. I would never be able to tell that someone was a foreigner in the US, and certainly not by looking at them.

Christmas time!

It is the time for Christmas music! I have to say, since I am living alone here in Korea, I haven’t been feeling very festive this Christmas season (especially since Christmas is a one day holiday here in Korea and is on a Sunday this year, allowing for 0 days off work). However, after DJing the Christmas card and ornament making for the youngest hagwon students on Friday and then attending a little Christmas get together yesterday and finally actually singing Christmas songs at church today, I am in the Christmas spirit. It is past time for me to find and play my favorite Christmas album (Alabama Christmas, 1985, of course). I’m usually listening to it by mid-November at the latest, but the move through me off my usual timeline (not to mention the fact that American Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated in Korea—why would it be?—so I didn’t have a Christmas season marker). 

It’s been busy at the hagwon since the elementary students started a new quarter on the first. Many students and classes have been added and my hours teaching increased. I got news this Friday that my hours will increase again starting January 2^nd with the beginning of winter vacation additional classes; if I have to teach one of the additional classes every day it will max out my contractual hours without putting me over (so no extra pay for the 1-1.5 extra hours of work day). 

Speaking of pay (or lack thereof), I have still yet to be paid, though I am due in this coming Tuesday. I’m quite excited to have money to buy necessary things such as food, cleaning supplies, and furniture. A rice cooker, bedside table, Swiffer, and meat are but a few items on my list. Since I’ve noticed mold growing in my entryway this is good timing to be able to purchase bleach and a scrub brush that will be designated for mold only. I’m also thinking of getting some kind of dehumidifier for the entryway to prevent a repeat of this lovely plant (fungal?) life in my apartment.

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is only a week away. With Christmas comes Christmas break for students in the States, many of whom are returning home, even to places as far away as Korea. This is lucky for me because it gives me a chance to get together with some of my Korean friends who are studying in the US. I already have a planned get together in Seoul and am hoping for another in Jeju. Hurray for get-away weekends with old friends!

Bulgogi traditional meal

Traditional appetizers

Bulgogi Brothers, the restaurant

Bulgogi before it is cooked

What you use to wrap the bulgogi

Side dishes

Rice porridge

Salad

More side dishes

Seoul Trip

I still don’t have the promised table and chair. It’s getting kind of ridiculous at this point because I’ve been here for more than three weeks. The boss, along with promising me a table and chair, has promised to take me to the Immigration Office but won’t nail down a date and time. I may end up going by myself since they have turned over the necessary paperwork to me. I need to get my ARC to enroll in health insurance and to set up a bank account and get a check card. I’m hoping to kill two birds with one stone by allowing the boss to drive me; I am hoping that he will bring the table and chair directly to my apartment when he comes to pick me up. Good luck to me.

I went to Seoul and saw Yea Jin, which was a lot of fun. I arrived on Saturday a bit before noon and went to meet her after her orthodontist appointment, which entailed traveling on the subway by myself. However, the subway travel was incredibly easy and English-friendly and very clean. I give it an A. In comparison, NYC would get a C for ease of use for non-English speakers and cleanliness. Once we found each other she told me that her parents were in town and were going to take us to lunch. It was great to see her parents, too, but I wasn’t dressed appropriately at all! They took us to Blooming Garden, a “contemporary Italian” restaurant, which was somewhat fancy (and expensive). I had on jeans and a sweatshirt and had my big duffel/backpack of stuff for the weekend. Awkward.

Afterwards, we were going to go to the palaces but it was so late in the afternoon already when we arrived at her apartment that we changed our plans. Instead of taking a long-ish subway trip up to the palaces when it would be dark soon, we walked to Gangnam downtown area, not far from Yea Jin’s place. First we purchased movie tickets online for Moneyball, which was an excellent movie, but since they have assigned seats in movie theaters there was only one spot in the back left for two people. We snapped it up only to realize as we were walking into the theater that we had actually purchased a couple box! The back row was couple boxes: red velvet-looking love seat-like spaces with privacy sides built in and no armrests in between. It was pretty hilarious and also convenient since we were sharing a tub of popcorn (so good!). Before going to the theater in Gangnam we walked around, took pictures in a fancy picture booth where you could then decorate the pictures, and ate at Sabuken (?), a Japanese restaurant. I had fried fish and she had pork cutlet. Both came with shredded cabbage, rice, miso soup, and some other side dishes. I wasn’t a fan of the cabbage or the miso soup (which was different than the miso soup I’ve had in the past), but it was still a good dinner. I’m getting used to steel chopsticks again.

The next day we slept in (or Yea Jin did, at least) after going to bed in the wee hours of the morning. I ventured out to buy breakfast at a Paris Baguette Café to take to the apartment and watched TV while Yea Jin got ready. She then convinced me to put on some makeup, which she then added to after admitting watching American makeup Youtube videos (something she has in common with my sister). We went to church (in Korean) and she translated the service for me. After the service was over we examined our bulletins and found out that there had been an English language service at the same time (doh!). We were then going to go to the palaces but it was raining, so we decided to go to lunch first. We went to Bulgogi Brothers and had some bolgogi along with many side dishes and two traditional Korean soups. I’m not a fan of most side dishes and appetizers since they are so spicy, but I did like the lotus (never before have I seen it, but that’s what the vegetable name translated to in English), which tasted kind of like licorice, and the white kimchi was okay. The bolgogi was quite good and not at all spicy. The first soup was a red soup and was spicy and the second soup was a wheat noodle soup that you put vinegar and a type of mustard into, so it was sour. We then had a cold tea that is good for your stomach and bad breath. I thought it tasted like medicine (you know, the sickly sweet kid liquid medicine), but it wasn’t bad.

By the time we finished lunch it was 3:30 and we learned that the palaces closed at 4, so we didn’t go. We went back to Yea Jin’s and rested (she took a nap, I read), and then we went to Apujeong downtown after a quick stop at the bus terminal to purchase my return ticket. We walked around and saw many cute stores and boutiques and then took a taxi to Hak Saggori to go to Butterfingers Pancakes, a chain restaurant that serves Western (more American, maybe) breakfast. I had some delicious pancakes, hash browns, and bacon while Yea Jin had seasoned potatoes and an omelet. After returning to Yea Jin’s apartment we again went to bed in the wee hours of the morning. However, I had to get up at 6:30 to make my 8:00 AM bus back to Gwangju (to be back at work by 2 PM), so it was a long day Monday.

We’re hoping to meet up in Busan (where she’ll be after today, since her internship will end), but I only have the weekends free and won’t have any money until after the 20^th. We’ll see if it actually happens.