23.8.2006
I'm glad I took a sleeping pill. Treyce dropped me off at Rochester ariport at around 9 am; it is much smaller and calmer than the Minneapolis ariport, so I passed security and had a long wait until my flight to Chicago arrived. It was a nice short flight; a dandy man stewardess (lisp) served us beverages and told us which terminal to connect to in the Chicago ariport. The plane was small; it had only two seats on either side of the aisle and I had a row to myself.I hopped on the tram to terminal 5 in CHicago, found everything no problem and boarded the huge plane for the 13.50 hour lfight to Seoul, Korea.
The plane had three seats on either side and rows of 3? in the middle. I ended up with a window seat, which wasn't too bad, better than the middle anyway. Korean Air was the airline, so the cabin crew and pilot were, obviously, Korean. The stewardesses wore pastel blue/green blazers, khaki skirts and matching bows in their hair.
There were touch-screen monitors built into the backs of the seats; you could watch movies, listen to music, play games and check the progress of the flight with the virtual map. I watched To Kill a Mockingbird and Dirty Harry and listened to Mozart for the first half of the flight. Of course I was parched because of those cursed terrorists, but we were served beverages and I had packed food with lots of juice- grapes, tomatoes and oranges. They served two traditional Korean meals, one of which I didn't eat because I had just finished my sack lunch. For the other- I can't remember the Korean name, there were bean sprouts, seaweed, mushrooms and cabbage in a stirfry-type dish; you mixed in the rice and the hot bean paste. There was also seaweed soup, which tasted like seaweed soup, and side dishes of pickles (they had slightly different seasonings than American pickles and were not as salty) and fresh cantalope and musk melon. It was good.
For the last half of the flight, I tried to sleep. It didn't work.
At last, at last we arrived in Seoul, where I had a bit of trouble finding my luggage. I found the baggage claim and waited and waited and watched the same two suitcases go round and round and other people pull their luggage off. Finally, I walked around to the other end and there were both of my suitcases- I don't know if they simply were not loaded or if someone mistook them for their own and then just left them there, but anyway, I still had plenty of time to find my final connection. But- da-da-dum- I first had to pass through customs. We filled out customs forms on the flight and I, truthfully but stupidly, checked that I was bringing food. I told them it was just a lunch, and I had eaten everything except the turkey jerky, animal crackers and an apple. Fresh fruit is prohibited in Korea, well bringing it is, and so I was forced to part with my poor delicious apple, which I had planned to eat during the layover.
While waiting, I met another teacher who was returning to Busan after a visit home to Canada, Jeremy. He taught at one of the universities in Busan. He shared some tips and warned me not to drink too much of the local brew- they like to refill your glass, he said. He also said, since I like to write, I should check out some of the local pubs where there are occasionally scheduled poetry readings. You know I'll be there.
We boarded the plane from outside- I felt like the Beatles. It was a standard six-seater- I had an aisle seat at last. I, literally, could hardly keep my eyes open on the flight, and was glad when we were served something to drink. It seemed we had just taken off when we landed in Busan at around 9:15.
One of the other teachers met me at the airport- the phonetic spelling of her name is One-Yea. I liked her right away. She is married with two children and graduated from BYU in Hawaii. Her brother chauferred us in his enormous bus-like suburban. There was no end of adventures this day. We were driving along, and started to smell burning. It was an old car, we thought, or it was the car next to us. But as we stopped at a light, other cars began to honk. Turns out the rear left headlight was in flames. We all jumped out of the car and her brother managed to yank the headlight off and put out the fire. We waited for things to cool down and then continued to the apartments.
From what I saw of Busan as we drove, it has the crowded, busy feel of any large city. Most of the brightly-lit signs were in Korean- there are little shops and businesses almost everywhere you look; the streets are rather norrow and winding. Lots of people walk along the streets at night, but everything is well-lit so it is fairly safe.
The apartment complex is huge. Each building is 20-some stories, with nice brick walkways and park areas in between. To get into the building, you need a security card, which you hold up to a barcode reader next to the door. If you don't have one, you can ring the apartment number you want and they can let you in. Inho and his family live on the - floor (I don't know if I should say since anyone could be reading this.) Anyway, to get into the apartment itself, you slide a little cover up, type in the code and the door will unlock. It's pretty nifty.
Inho was still teaching when I arrived, so I chatted with his wife. She is really nice- she's so cute! She has shoulder-length dark brown hair, glasses and a wonderful smile. I ate some dda (all these spellings I am making up), which was some sort of rice and bean mesh that comes in a bar and you eat it cold. It reminds me of rubber cement, but tastes much better.
The three kids are ages 6, 9 and 12 and they were running around excited that someone new was coming to stay. The oldest boy is Hiram, the next is Turima (I think) and I don't remember the little girl's name. The boys take Tae Kwon Do, and Inho has a black belt. Inho also is very nice. He teaches a lot and really needed the extra help. I also ate some Korean peach, which you peel. They are large as a grapefruit, and pastel yellow in color, but don't taste too different from American peaches. They also have a water-filter system so I don't have to be concerned about the drinking water; it is drinkable, but I've heard sometimes foreigners have a hard time getting used to the water- in any country- different minerals and bacteria, I suppose.
By the time I finally was able to go to bed, I was so overtired that I couldn't get to sleep, and kept waking up. It was quite hot and I was still getting used to the thinner air. Sleep came at last, and thank goodness.
24.8.2006
Wow, I am in Korea! I got up and ate- of all things- Honeynut Cheerios. I feel a bit far away; a bit is due to tiredness from the flight, but I am now realizing the distance between me and the States. It soon passed, however; people do the same things here as in America. This is my first time, other than Florida, that I have been to a foreign country.Anyway, the apartment is very airy and spacious. There is a porch of sorts with tall windows that overlooks the city. The buildings block most of the mountains from view, but they are not close to this building so it is a decent view. There are four bedrooms; mine is the farthest on the left. Those on the left have sliding-door entrances to the porch. Mine is also connected to the next bedroom by a sliding glass door, which is a bit annoying because it lessens the privacy. The bed is nice and hard, jsut the way I like it. The three kids do not sleep in beds; they sleep on the floor in the main room and just bring out light blankets to lay on- it is still very humid, worse than Minnesota, but there are no mosquitoes, yet.
Wearing shoes in the main house is taboo; even when going onto the porch or into the restroom, people wear shoes. There are pairs of slip-on water shoes at eah of the entrances to these rooms, and allowing your feet to touch the floor seems almost to be 'unclean'. Like not washing your hands after cutting meat. It keeps the house much cleaner!
The floors are bright wooden floors, except in the kitchen area where the refridgerator, freezer and washing machine are, there it is white tile. And of course the bathrooms have different floors. The toilets- yes there are toilets- are very large for such small people; there is no high tank on top like American toilets, and the flusher is on the side. I'm sure everyone wanted to know about that.
Recycling is a big thing in this apartment complex. You have to purchasee certain bags for regular garbage which are expensive, so Inho's family separates and recycles. There is food, paper/plastic, metal, and regular old garbage. It is a good thing.
Inho's wife walked me up to the school around noon today. It only takes about 2 minutes to walk, once you wait for the elevator, which can be slow if other people are using it. It is up a hill where the sidewalk ends and the side of the street is quite pitted and uneven, and there are drains. It smells like sewer at times, which is rather gross. There are many smells here; Busan is a port city so there is lots of fish. And Koreans like fish.
The Tesol school is on the third and fourth floors of the building; I believe here is a day-care on the second floor but am not sure what is on the others. You walk into the lobby, which is just a smallish square room with bookshelves, one of those water-filter whatch-ma-thingys with the big jugs on top, a sofa and doors leading to the classrooms and office. There are three classrooms on this floor, with one large table and chairs and a whiteboard. Each room has an airconditioner; when not in use, they are turned off, which seems more practical than central air, if you don't mind the look of the thing. One of the rooms is used for computer work; there are six laptop stations where students can do listening and speaking exercises. The smallest room is for taking the TOEFL test, which is the english fluency/competency examination for highschool/college level students looking to go to an American university. It's rather like a closet.
The office is also on this floor and has bookshelves, a secretary's desk and workstations for each of the three teachers; One-yea, Hanna and I. We all wear glasses, except for the secretary Nuri (pronounced Nu-dee).
Today was simply a fun day for schools because summer vacation and summer term were ending, so there wasn't much teaching going on. I had to take over for the old instructor, who had to return to Canada due to his father's illness. Thus, there was quite a mess. I din't know which books he used or whether I needed to keep his materials and was generally confused. I ended up tossing most of it away and planning my own approach. There are lots of classes in a day; I don't remember what time they start in the morning, but they are 45 minutes each and they last until 10:45 at night. Koreans don't sleep.
I teach from roughly 3-10:45 everyday, every weekday that is; on saturdays I start at 2 and end at 7:30. There is a dinner break, and once in a while, I have an open slot of time. The system is very confusing. All of the clases are lettered and numbered, for example E6-1, M2P2 and M1B/M-1. There is a method to this, but I'm not sure what it is yet.
Being still tired and a bit overwhelmed, I left early and went back to the apartment. For supper, we had mixed brown and white rice, kimchi (which is pickled cabbage-type lettuce in a fish juice, red pepper spicy sauce) and a soup made from fermented bean paste with tofu and potatoes. It was all very good, despite how it sounds. Kimchi is water to Koreans; they eat it at most meals, even breakfast. There is also a garlic clove kimchi made in vinegar to lessen the strong flavor of garlic, but I don't like that very much; it's still too strong.
I went to bed early.
25.8.2006
Today I ventured outside. I walked around the block, basically. The entire area is part of the apartment compllex. The sidewalks are not one big slab of cement like in America; they are made of smaller interlocking bricks, more like a patio. There are many hills though, so I don't know how well I will be able to ride bike here. I do miss riding bike already. Inho and his family have bikes which I can use, but the hills... I'll have to think about it. Because we're in the middle of a large city, there aren't many trees. But the apartment complex has preserved some and has made small park areas with playgrounds and benches so there is some semblance of nature and simplicity. It is harder to see the sky here. Many women walk about with umbrellas to block the sun; it is reminiscient of parasol days and makes the busy city seem more personal. There are buses and taxis everywhere; there are also lots of cars, but there are also lots of Koreans. Public transportation is much cheaper and more accessible than in America, at least in Minnesota anyway.Last night around 9 pm, Inho's wife and I walked to E-Mart, a Korean Wal-Mart of sorts. Even this late in the evening, it was very busy. Koreans never sleep. There is everything one could need, from food to clothes to housewares, and to get to different areas, instead of stairs, there are uphill and downhill automated ramps, similar to escalators but without the steps. Some things are about the same price as in America, others are very expensive.
Tonight, the family drove up to Seoul to see their brother, so I had the house to myself. I planned to spend a quiet evening on the Internet and go to bed early, but as I was surfing, the power went out. Completely. Dead. Fortunately, the city lights were bright enough that I could see a little, so I found my cellphone and used it as a flashlight and searched and searched the entire apartment for the fuse box. I didn't find it. So I went downstairs and fetched the security guard. Neither of us could understand anything we said to each other; at last I was able to show him that the power was out. He looked for the fuse box with his nifty flashlight that worked much better than my phone, but didn't find it. (Even security guards take their shoes off in the house.) So he called someone and at last found it behind a picture on the wall. By this time it was about 1 in the morning. So much for my relaxation. It was an adventure, anyway.
26.8.2006
One of the few english books here is Harry Potter 3, so I sat outside after the rain and read for a while. There is a badminton/tennis court just in front of the building and lots of people were playing badminton. Later, the family and I walked around the complex. It was night, but well-lit. We passed the playgrounds and the park area with an artificial waterfall. For some reason, it was turned off. The playground has nice springy turf instead of cement, and feels like a very hard sponge. Inho's kids brought jump ropes. They're good; the boys have to practice with them in Tae Kwon Do.Along the way, there were some circular, stone-pillar gazebos which reminded me of the old Roman architecture- funny to see in Korea. The waterfall circulates in a small stream, which of course was turned off as well, but it is deep and there are tall square stepping stones to get across.
Near the park, there is a footpath, a strength/muscle training path paved with stone. You take your shoes off- yes, take your shoes off outside- and walk along this path which curves round in a crescent. Some of the stones are large, some are very small and close together, but none are loose; it is like walking on a mosaic. There are also wooden logs sunk half-way into the path and you step from log to log. My feet were aching by the end, but, since our shoes were at the beginning, we had to turn around and come back. It was almost painful by the end, but it was amazing, much better than any massage.
Korea is fast becoming industrialized. It is probably the cellphone capital of the world; nearly everyone, even little children, has cellphones, and they are much more advanced than the ones in the US. Too bad they won't work in the US, or at least the majority of them won't.
For supper, we had a strange- the best way I can describe it is taco- of sorts. You take a lettuce leaf, like a taco shell, put rice and vegetables and/or meat in it, add a tiny speck of fermented bean paste (VERY salty), roll it up and eat. I didn't have the meat, but the bean paste, even that little bit, gave it plenty of flavor. We also had Korean ice cream, which is more like the American slushy. Blend up some ice cubes finely, then add some red beans with juice, sweetened with a pinch of sugar, and a squirt of milk. Then mix some fresh fruit or fruit syrup and eat. It was very good. And healthy!
27.8.2006
First day of school. I wasn't nervous in the morning. I began to get nervous around noon; I had to be to school by 3. But I kept telling myself there was nothing to be nervous about and that I would be fine. And I prayed. So I was fairly calm walking into my first class, albeit I had really no idea what to teach. I quickly printed off a map of the US and of Minnesota, and a few pictures to show the students where I was from. That's it. The first class was quite long and stressful. There were three students and I don't think they understood 80% of what I said, even though I used simple terms. I don't think they've had a native-speaking teacher in a couple of months. So I used the old stand-by: hangman. There were many men hung today, many. But everyone seemed to enjoy it, having a break from the normal routine. The classes became easier; I was now equipped with a TIME magazine, TIME for kids, and we read and discussed some of the articles. I almost had some of them memorized by the end of the day.Oh yes. The toilets. A wooden door leads into the restrooms. The women's is on the third floor, which is where our office is, and the men's is on the fourth floor, where there are also a few classrooms. You enter this door, which can lock, and it leads into the main room. There is only a small sink and some cleaning supplies. A bar of soap is slimy in its container next to the hot water faucet. A pair of pink rubber cleaning gloves hangs from the wall like an udder. The walls are brick and white, unbroken except for a small window. The floor is tiled with small, dark, olive-green tiles with an octagonal fan design on each one. Two wooden doors lead to the stalls, which are raised about 6 inches from the main floor. One is difficult to lock. Inside, there are the same, tile white walls which extend from floor to ceiling, and the same floor tiles. A royal blue garbage can is tucked into a corner and contrasts with the floor. The toilet paper holders are broken; the roll sits on top or on the floor. The flushing handle and apparatus is built into the floor near the 'stool'. The 'stool' (for lack of a better word) is like a tiny bathtub in the floor; it is oval, or a rounded rectangle with a little roof at one end, like a baby carriage. It is level with the tiles; the bowl is shallow and sunk into the floor. So... you squat. Doggishly. I don't know which way you should face, but it probably doesn't matter. Ryan would have been a pro when he was younger. These toilets are very sanitary because you don't sit and you flush with your foot. Maybe Stingers should install these... End of intermission.
Back in school, I was nearly exhausted. I never realized how tiring sitting and talking could be. Of course the stress I was ignoring and suppressing had begun to surface, so by home time, I was ready for bed. We'll see what tomorrow holds.
28.8.2006
More TIME.29.8.2006
This morning Inho and I went to the immigration office to get an alien registration card. I needed a photo of myself to submit with the application, so we first went to a tiny photographer's shop. It was very cheap, under 10$ for six or seven wallet-sized prints and a mini cd of the negatives. They are quite good quality also. We took a taxi here, taxi's are extremely cheap compared to the US. One way cost around 1.50$, whereas in the US, the same distance would be aabout 10$. The taxis are quite nice; the outsides are white with a blue or green passenger indicator on top where a police siren would be. Inside, the seats are black vynal and they are very clean. From the photo shop, we walked to a bank to exchange my money and then to the subway station to get me a subway/bus card; it is a credit card that you deposit money into and then just scan it as you enter a station or bus. The subway trains are full, some people had to stand, mostly men, being polite. They look like any other subway with seats lining the walls, large windows and silver bars and handholds. There is a large screen in the middle that flashes the stops, and also a loudspeaker that wasn't very loud.The immigration office was on a beach, more like a port; there were some ships and we saw some jellyfish from the window that looked rather like ziplock bags floating beneath the water's surface. The wait was very long. We were number 86 and when we came, they were helping customer 71. So we filled out the necessary paperwork and waited. I asked about the coins. On one, there is a famous Korean gnaval captain/general named Li who only had 12-15 battleships but sank many times that of the Japanese. He never lost a battle.
Finally, the line started moving again; there had been only one official working over the lunch hour and reinforcements arrived. I was looking at teaching websites on the internet and Inho took care of the paperwork; they didn't even see me; the whole process took about a minute. A minute for over an hour of waiting. I will need to come back to get a re-entry permit because I'd like to visit Japan while I am here and maybe China, but I will choose a day where I have more time to look around at the port. Class started at 3.
This is what was served for breakfast. Keep that in mind... breakfast. Seaweed soup, just a basic water broth with seaweed and clams hardly larger than a fingernail, rice, zuccini slices basted in egg, fried fish, kimchi and another side-dish I don't remember the name of. Yikes. Of course I didn't eat all of it, never very hungry for breakfast, particularily a three course meal.
For breakfast yesterday, there was rice balls with shaved vegetables and anchovies on top. I didn't know they were anchovies; I didn't really look before I ate them and I hope they didn't have the eyes. Shiver. Eyes. 30.8.2006 Inho and his family left for Utah early this morning; I didn't even hear them. The house is very quiet. Nurdi, the secretary, is moving in today or tomorrow so I'll have a roommate to help me with all things Korean!
12.9.06
Warp ahead a week or two. Nothing much is new. Today, the three teachers and I went shopping a short ways from the house. It was raining- it rains and is cloudy quite a lot here- and we took the bus. The drivers are crazy. They stop, you jump on, and had better be paid and sitting or you take your life in your hands. It is typical big city transportation speed, but having little exposure in the agrarian outback of MN, it seemed a bit excessive. Anyway, the buses look the same as American buses with seats on either side and a door in the back. And when the bus stops, you had best be near that door and leap out or you'll have to ride the entire circuit. It was great.We were really only shopping for one of the teachers; she needed new work clothes, and so we only went to one store. I was not impressed. There were cute clothes on the mannequins, but completely different clothes on the racks. And it was rather expensive. Also, in America, there are many sizes of the same garment. Here, many times there is only one size and one unique article of clothing. I don't know if this is common in all stores or not. If I need clothes, I might hav trouble being much taller than the average Korean female.
Intermission. Someone is practicing piano and is playing the Russian sailor dance. I sit typing in my room and the deck windows are open. We can almost always hear someone practicing voice or piano round here. It's nice; reminds me of home. There is someone who is quite good a floor or two down; they play a piece Ceri used to and that is even more like home. End of intermission.
There are shops everywhere, lining the street and piled on top of each other like books in a library. I particularly noted the video game store, as it was one of the only signs I could read. We walked across the street to a little restaurant for lunch. It was delicious. We had rice, kimchi, Korean salad (which is basically shredded cabbage with some hybrid of thousand island dressing) and chilled radish. The radish was my favorite; I don't remember what they are called, but they are the long white radishes chopped into bite-sized rectangles and bathed in sauce. The sauce I think is made with vinegar or cider vinegar, sugar and water, and crushed ice is mixed in for the chill. For the main dish, the waiter brought out an enormous, wide-mouthed bowl of chicked and vegetables in dark sauce. Again, I'm not sure what the sauce was, some Asian blend of soy and spice, but it also was tasty. I didn't care much for the chicken, but the veggies were awesome. There were large slices of zuccini, carrot, green onion and potatoes, all had soaked up the sauce and were delicious with rice. They gave us aprons so we wouldn't splatter, and you just take your chopsticks and dig in. Everyone eats out of the same dishes, except for the rice. This restaurant had golden chopsticks and they were quite heavy. All of the others I've used here are metal also but they are much lighter. Before the meal, they provide moist towelletes to wipe your hands. They don't really have what we call napkins, but they have small squares of paper towel that you set your silverware on when not in use. Very sanitary. Almost eaverything was spicy and I drank almost a pitcher of water.
We didn't have much time to dally so we strolled a bit and stopped at an ice cream shop. Good grief, Koreans must have light-speed motabilisms (however you spell it). i was stuffed from lunch, but they all had ice cream, ginsing ice cream. It sounded quesionable to me. After than it was back to the bus and home and school.
p.s. The waiter was rather cute.
20.9.06
Another week gone. Last night we watched a scary scary movie. It was in Korean of course, but I could sometimes guess what was being said. I would recommend it for Bethany when she gets back, if it would ever make it to the States. Anyway, I don't think I would watch it again- too scary. Of course there were cheesy moments as in all scary flicks but it was a little different from an American movie; you didn't know quite what to expect.I've started asking my students to give me homework now, so at the end of class, they tell me a Korean word or phrase and I have to remember it for next class. So far I've learned; teacher, homework, I don't like bugs, be quiet and tuesday, among others. Some of the words are difficult to pronounce, and they laugh at me. It's hilarious. We each know what it is like becausee they say English is really hard to pronounce.
28.9.06
The Adventure of the Can Episode IIOn one of my Emart ventures, I bought several cans of vegetables and fruit. Two of them were easy-open-tops, like soda cans. One was not.
One week later... otherwise known as yesterday...
I was hungry. i decided to have spicy red pepper rice with tofu and corn after hearing about Mom's corn day. One of the cans I had bought was corn, the one that did not have an easy-open-top.
I could not find a can opener.
AUGGHHHH!
Attempt one: There appears to be only one knife in the house, and that is brother to a butter knife and might cut jello. I tried poking the top of the can and sawing the sides, but to no avail.
Attempt two: A scissors hangs from a hook above the kitchen sink. It is a thick, study pair of scissors with red handles; I've seen it used to cut kimchi leaves. So I took the scissors. And used them. A pencil-sized hole soon appeared in the top lid of the can. I drill-twisted the scissors further and the hole expanded to finger-width. I poured out the juice keeping my hand over the hole so none of the precious corn would fall into the sink.
How good the sweet yellow corn would taste, even if it was canned, I could imagine it was real. I shook the can over my bowl of rice. Nothing came out. No! What was the matter? I shook harder, tipped it upside-down, poked inside with chopsticks, shook again. And then I discovered that it was baby corn. Baby corn does not fit through small holes. I was sad. My dreams of corn were baricaded behind cold, cruel tin.
But I would not give up. I took the scissors, smashed it into the hole and yanked at the handles with almost all my might. And then I had corn. And it was good, very good.
The end.
07.10.06
Today I noticed a bright, shiny can-opener in the cupboard. Either the can-opener fairy left it, or one of my roommates noticed my corn can. You decide.At Emart, I was starving for a salad. I haven't had a good salad since I left MN. But iceberg lettuce is 2,000 won a head; that's jsut too much to spend on grass. So I explored the produce section and found some leafy green substance. It was in small but tall bunches like green onions, and it had thick broad leaves. It was only 1,000 won a bunch. So I bought some. I still don't know what it is. It has a stronger flavor than regular lettuce, and is slightly more coarse, but it makes a great salad.
10.10.06
Today on my walk, I was huffing and perspiring up the cursed hill. There are lots of cursed hills here, but this one is the most cursed. I came to the top and smiled at a Korean gentleman who was looking at me since I strive to be a polite and cheerful foreigner. This gentleman spoke conversational English and walkked and talked with me. Maybe, I thought, he would send one of his kids to the english academy for us to teach. As we came to his turn-off, he asked me if I would like to go out to eat. AUGGGHHH! Now I hate running, but just then, running sounded beautiful. But I couldn't very well be rude, so I said I would think about it. Yeah, I'd think about it. In my nightmares. He may have been a very nice man, but I'm not in the habit of accepting invitations from strangers, expecially when they are almost old enough to be my father. Ahhh. Such is the fate of the spinsterly school ma'rm. Perhaps it truly is a cursed hill.10.10.06
Later that evening... The lone knife here seems to keep disappearing. I've had to cut cucumbers with a fork, rip cabbage and tear apart green peppers by hand. So I decided to buy a sharp knife. It was no easy task. In the housewares section in Emart, I found two meat cleavers for 25,000 won each. No way was I paying that. I looked and looked, but those seemed to be the only sharp objects in the store. I gave up, reckoning that knives must be as rare in Korea as can-openers. Suddenly, I noticed another section of housewares and found a little 2,000 won gem. It has an aqua-green handle. Knives are good.I bought also a package of vegetables that looked like yellow zuccini or yellow squash, you know that summer squash that tastes so good. I thought perhaps they looked a bit different because they were Korean. Well, they weren't zuccini or squash, turns out they were carrots. Golden carrots. Some farmer must have had a Midas complex. Anyway, they taste good; they have a sweeter flavor, not quite so earthy as orange carrots. And they look pretty in salad.
14.10.06
In my endeavors to avoid the cursed hill, I walkked down a side-street. It was narrow, and made the world small. On the right was an odorous trash pile, and parked next to it was a bright new white car. It was odd.Yesterday I took some rollerblades to the running track in the apartment complex and skated for the first time in years. It was frightening. I didn't fall, but almost did once. The blades are very nice; it was like gliding over air or ice. It is hard work. My ankles were aching after the first 2 laps. 27.10.06 October Showers
I don't remember if I mentioned the shower here. It is in the bathtub like most showers. I am about 5 ft. 7, and the confounded thing sprays at about shoulder height- I have to limbo to wash my hair, or kneel down. I assume the showers are shorter because most Koreans are shorter. Well, today I went to take a shower. Lo and behold, the shower head had moved! It was now miraculously just the right height for me. Was this the Twilight Zone on opposite day? I examined the apperatus. Then I felt very stupid. It was adjustable. *sigh*
Today, I woke to my alarm. Let me tell you about my alarm. I had been using my cell phone on special occasions to wake up; I can't charge it here and I didn't want to drain the battery by using it everyday. So I just woke up when I woke up. But then, as I was cleaning and re-arranging my room one day, I discovered a watch underneath the bed. It is a man watch and I have no idea whose it is. But it has an alarm and I managed to set it. The only drawback is the snooze is only 5 minutes long. Anyway, somehow the watch skipped ahead about 45 minutes so I've been waking up earlier than usual. End of boring story.
I'm listening to the 1920's Radio Network on the internet. It's swank, baby. They play Glen Miller, Louis Armstrong (who isn't 1920's but still great) and lots of swinging tunes. It's great.
The intercom rang at about 10:30 this morning and the security guard said I had received something. I thought 'horrah, it's my camera!' So I went down and nope, it was just a letter. In Korean. The only English bit is my name. It is a great mystery. My roommate is still sleeping so the mystery will have to wait. Perhaps it is a marriage proposal from a dashing Korean prince. Perhaps I have won a million won. Perhaps Scotland Yard wants to hire me as a private detective. Only time will tell.
Tonight we're going shopping. Woo-hoo! I hate shopping but sometimes it's fun. We're veturning to Semyeon, which is a huge shopping downtown center. I need a winter coat and it is someplace other than Emart to shop!
28.10.06
I like Emart.29.10.06
You remember that mysterious letter? The one about the Korean prince? Well, it was a bill. The bloody customs charge for my camera will be close to 40$. Crazy. Ridiculous. Ludicrous. Misspelling. I delcare war on customs.Ok, the shopping trip. We took subway to Semyeon- the big shopping district. The subway is connected to a gigantic mall and we elevatored to the fourth floor to eat supper. I had rice with some kind of sauce and mixed with shredded kimchi. Delicious. And I love the Korean side dishes- they had the sweet dikon radish, two kinds of kimchi (the usual and one with the greens of the lettuce in white sauce), squid (which I don't like) and a root that no one knew the english name of. It is brown and has the cutest shape, sort of like an orange cut crossways, but with holes. It's texture is not quite as hard as a raw potato and doesn't taste as starchy. At the counter, they had a plate of chopped cinnamon (the Korean version of the breath mint). It was like chewing on bark but it was one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted- must have been real, pure cinnamon.
Shopping was not delicious. It was tedious. We walked about three blocks to a big department store and everyone was trying to help me find a winter coat. Unfortunately, winter coats weren't out yet- they won't be till later November or December. So they had me trying on sweaters, which I wasn't about to waste money on. I have never felt more claustrophobic. Even the sales people helped me try things on and told me to try this- i wanted to flee. If I could have looked by myself, I would have been fine, but with everyone, it was smothering. When I actually looked at some of the prices of the things I tried on, it was time to go. There was no way I was spending $50 on a foolish sweater when I could just wait till the coats came out.
It was nice walking home alone from the subway at midnight, although slightly chilly.
18.11.06
Zombies! Space Pirates! Link! Leon! Snow Guards! Soren! You guessed it; I got my adapter; my gamecube works! (da-da-da-dum) I played for 6 hours.Oh yeah, I also got my camera, FINALLY.
12.11.06
I thought, in my own pleasant little world, that the last shopping trip perhaps ranked as the worst ever. How wrong I was.There were so many people and i had to follow my roommate around and couldn't look for myself and didn't find much i liked and then finally bought a coat out of sheer annoyance and anger and then we had to wait an hour to get the sleeves adjusted because they were too short and then we came back and they said another 20 minutes so we had to go look at makeup and we passed another floor of clothes that she said was probably cheaper and i wanted to scream and then we waited in a cramped crowded line for 10 mins so she could get a ruddy coupon which should be mine because i bought the most and then we went back to the ooat place and had to wait more. sigh. I don't think the word 'cheap' is in my roomate's vocabulary. The coat was 200$.
The highlight of the day was pizza. Homemade pizza. I told Nuri and Hanna (my roomate) that I would play chef for a day. Hanna and I ran to Emart in the morning (ah Emart: the Walmart away from Walmart) for ingredients. They only had one type of regular yeast; the others were mixed with vanilla flavoring. Strange- must be for cakes or something, definitely yucky for pizza. Again, communication failure. I asked at least 3 times if the flour I was buying was WHEAT flour. Yes, yes, yes. NO! It was as white as Hitler. Then she was talking about middling flour and pizza flour and I was going crazy. Trying to tell ME how to make pizza dough? Like telling Tiger Woods how to hold a golf club. (I am oh so humble.) Anyway, I at last finished. It was beautiful. Red, Green and yellow peppers, fresh mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and corn. Yes, C-O-R-N. (See figure c-1 for confirmation) For some alien reason, Koreans love corn on their pizza. They also suggested sweet potatoes. Now I love sweet potatoes but never, never on pizza. Of course the crust could have been better. Nuri said to put only a little of the yeast in, and I don't think it was enough because it was rather flat. But it was crunchy and it was pizza. Pizza. I don't remember the last time I've eaten it.
26.11.06
Nothing interesting to report.02.12.06
It is getting very, very cold here; you can almost see your breath in mid-afternoon. I am all set for winter with my overpriced coat and my gloves, hat & scarf courtesy of eMart. EMart's one downfall is they don't have Stauffer's Animal Crackers. Ah, Stauffer's Animal Crackers. So crunchy, so vanilla-ey, so full of animal deliciousness, so far away...Yesterday I braved the 40 degree winter and took a walk. As I approached the apartment building from the opposite side that I left from, there were two tall, thin trees laying in the middle of the sidewalk as though they were taking a nap. If I'd had my camera, I would have snapped them. So today my camera and I went the same way, but alas, the trees had vanished.
By the way, most of my pictures are on Facebook. So if you don't have Facebook, you're missing some great action like road signs, vacuum cleaners and normal toilets. I suggest you rush right over and sign up so you can see them. They are much easier to upload, much easier. Just click on Leon on my homepage & he'll shoot you straight there. Or: www.facebook.com
Another reason to join Facebook: Play my Guess Who? game and win fabulous prizes! (well not really) Post your guesses and later I will post the answers.
Oh yes, someone in the next-door apartment is an american idol wanna-be. Every night at about 11:30-midnight, right when I go to bed, I can hear her caterwalling even through the wall. She wouldn't be bad, but like all wretched pop singers, she over-bravados and can't hold a note to save her life. When oh when will the world rediscover real music like Bach, Chopin, Linkin Park and the Beatles?
03.12.06
Very cold today, but roommate Hanna & I braved the 30 degree temp and took subway to Haeyondae (sspelling???). We met Nuri, who was there to take a Japanese proficiency test, and walked a block or so to a little Korean restaurant. This was the traditional style with mahogany-stained wooden floors. When you walk in, you take your shoes off, and step up to the main polished floor. The tables are about mid-calf height, the chairs are basically chairs with no legs and very thin cushions, but were comfortable nonetheless. I had eaten before we left and so didn't order anything. (Besides, I knew there would be plenty of tasty side-dishes so I could save some $$ and still eat!)Side Dishes:
Kimchi (of course)
Those wheely-root thingys
Anchovies (of which I did NOT partake)
Shredded radish and seaweed
Grass with sesame seeds
And... radish kimchi! Mmm-mmm-mmm. Big, square, fermented chunks of I-still-don't-know-the-name-of-it radish in spicy red pepper sauce. Sounds wretched, doesn't it? I had to ask for seconds.
Aubrey might be part Korean, I think. Everyone eats out of everyone else's dish and shares the side-dishes and slurps and smacks their lips and generally lacks 'western' table manners altogether.
There is, however, one taboo at table, explained as follows. Most Korean food is spicy and promotes snot. Therefore, one would think wiping one's nose would be acceptable. Sadly, this is not the case. It is more permissible to slurp it up (ew) than to, buddha forbid, be seen with a tissue. I am a rebel through and through, and I'm surprised I haven't been thrown out of these respectable establishments yet.
After eating, we walked through the cold. I wasn't quite sure where we were going, but had the vague suspicion the beach was near. There was some sort of free concert nearby; I had to cringe several times at the off-key notes. But past the pounding disharmony was the sea. I saw it before I heard it, and almost cried. I became quite attached to the beach during my stay with the Carlsons in Florida, and though this beach was about 60 degrees cooler than those in FL, it was still an eternity of ocean and sand. I can't describe it; it feels like you're standing on the edge of the world and can sail off to wherever Reepicheep is.
Idiot moment I:
I removed my glove to pick up a seashell; I'd never seen one like it. The top looked more like stained wood than anything else, it almost matched the floor of the restaurant. The underside was sand-coated, but the typical pearly, rainbow white showed through. I bent down to wash it off in the receeding tide, and suddenly found myself in ankle-deep surf. Luckily, my Tae Kwon Do relflexes kicked in and only one of my shoes got soaked. I'm sure the other people on the beach were thinking "foolish american." So was I.
Idiot moment II:
I forgot to bring extra batteries for my cam and only got a few shots off before they died. Hanna & Nuri both had their cams so they will share their pictures with me. Check out Facebook!
11.12.06
Here are several semi-interesting and useless observations that I keep forgetting to write and that are collecting dust in my memory.Semi-interesting and Useless Observation I:
Lots of people wear surgical masks while walking outside. It's rather odd and frightening as though they'll whip out a knife & start operating- cosmetic surgery is a huge, huge business in Korea. But apparently they wear the masks to protect themselves from cold & flu germs in winter. Also, if they already have a cold, they try to prevent germs spreading by wearing the masks. Personally, I don't think it helps any.
Semi-interesting and Useless Observation II:
Korea has Spam! No, not unwanted emails from strange foreign places like Lithuania. I mean Spam, simply putrid alien meat. There's quite a large selection in E-mart.
Semi-interesting and Useless Observation III:
Er... I can't remember. I'll try again later.
Semi-interesting and Useless Observation III: (see above for I and II)
Again, to do with Japan. Many Koreans say how cruel the Japanese were, & how much they hurt Korea & suppressed Korean culture. Then they say that they are studying Japanese or want to study Japanese in school, or that they love Japanese food or manga or culture. Very odd...
17.12.06
Here are some interesting and not entirely useless facts I've been meaning to post.Interesting and not Entirely Useless Fact I:
Guns are banned in Korea. In several classes, we did a debate about gun control laws and students were surprised that average Americans can own guns. They were also surprised when I told them my dad & brothers have guns and go hunting. Apparently the only lawful firearms in Korea are owned by police or military personnel.
Interesting and not Entirely Useless Fact II:
'Korea' was originally spelt with a 'C'. But during Japan's occupation, it was changed to 'K'. Why, you ask? I shall tell you, though I'm not quite sure of the reasoning here, nor which alphabet system is used. To the Japanese, both 'J' and 'C' are forward-facing letters/characters. 'K', however, is backwards and Japan wanted to show their manliness & domination, and so cruelly forced the 'K' into 'Korea'. Again, I'm not sure which alphabet they used since there is no 'C' in the Japanese alphabet and the english 'C' & 'J' to me are facing different directions. I'll ask my students again & hopefully clear up the confusion.
Interesting and not Entirely Useless Fact III:
Christmas isn't too important here, as I said before. There is no Christmas vacation for school or work except the 25th. Most students said they would just stay home and watch a movie or go play with friends. So I've been getting my Christmas dosage by listening to tunes on the internet radio- a great classical station plays the bestest Christmas music ever. No American Idol and very, very little santa claus.
Interesting and not Entirely Useless Fact IV:
I don't remeber if I wrote about this before or not and am not about to reread all of that blathering above. So if I've said this, stop reading now. If not, read on, read on. Most Koreans don't eat dog meat. It was popular in the past and was looked on as just another animal like a pig or cow or chicken. Now, however, only old men eat in, sometimes in a stew. Nuri said she has seen a dog meat market and was sad at all the dogs in cages.
I have been reading Series of Unfortunate Events. I am on book 6; one of my students is lending it to me. They are pretty good; there are some Nonsene-type elements to his writing that are really great. One thing that is annoying though, all of his adult charcters are stupid. Some are more stupid than others, but there has not been one wise or even semi-wise adult so far. Now I am not one to dispute; there are a lot of foolish grown-ups around, but there are some good ones in the bunch. Mother Theresa, for example, or Leonardo da Vinci, or Sherlock Holmes, or Johnny Depp.
20.12.06
I am appalled. Surprised. Offended. Angered. In one of the new listening books at school- listening books are books with cds and you listen to a conversation or a class lecture and answer questions- in one of the new books- this particular book did not come with a cd so I was going to use the teacher's guide to read the conversation to the students- in this book, during one of the conversations, they take God's name in vain. I was appalled, not to mention surprised, offended and angered. I showed One-yay & asked if I could scribble it out.She seemed amused and said, "Well, maybe you could explain how som Americans are offended."
I said, "I am not reading that."
She told me to say 'goodness' or not read it at all. So I read 'goodness' and didn't mention God. The students thought it was funny because they'd never heard that expression before. So they walked out of class saying 'oh my goodness'. It was great. But I was a bit surprised also at One-yay's reaction- not that is should matter matter matter, but she is Mormon and I thoght she would be as shocked as I was- not only Americans should be offended by that. Perhaps she would consider it worse if it were swearing in Korean, I dunno. I didn't scribble it out, but tomorrow I will and I don't care what they say. So there.
21.12.06
I used permanent marker.05.01.07
It was about 1:30 am. The room was dark. I put some eyedrops in and settled under the blankets. Then, it began. A distant sound of a flute, a familiar tune from the past... It grew louder. And I remembered- it was the drowning-in-sappiness song from Titanic. I thought perhaps I am asleep and this is a nightmare. And then the singing started. It was the american-idol wanna-be, singing her Korean soul out in all her off-key splendor. It was pretty funny.07.01.07
(singing)Praise to Buddha. (end singing)Today roommate Hanna, her cousin Andy & I visited Pumossa (spelling?) temple, a ten-minute taki drive from the apartment. It was a cold day but bright and sunny. There were lots of people there, some from England, some from the middle east, some from Korea. It wasn't polite to take pictures inside the shrines, unfortunately because it was very interesting and pretty. Everything was dark wood, and the room was lit with candles and the light from the doorless doorway and the window-less window. You took your shoes off before you went in, and if you were a buddhist, you took a small square mat to kneel on. They knelt and bowed many times, the traditional Asian bowing posture. The focal point of course was Buddha, sitting in golden-calf-like ambiance. Actually there were three golden statues, the center of which was Buddha. (I don't know & my roommate didn't either who the other two were.) It was quite peaceful & smelled mysterious & oriental because of the incense burning. It would be a nice place to sit and think.
11.01.07
THE END
P.S. (random things I occasionally add as I remember)
At New Year's, many Koreans go to the beach/seaside to watch the sunrise and pray/wish for a good year. Most camp out or just stay up all night. It's not really any kind of religious thing, just more of a Korean tradition.Did I mention Koreans use metal chop-sticks?
Did I mention most Koreans shower at night?
Did I mention there are no animal crackers here?
*For those of you who have not yet ventured abroad, the Ferengi hail from rain-drenched Ferenginar and take great pride in wealth, merchandise and ears.
**The phrase, "Live long and prosper", has been uttered by members of my race since ancient times. The line first gained Earthwide recognition in the 1960's and is now a familiar phrase, particularly among sci-fi otaku.
