Apologies aside, I am safe and sound in Seoul. I arrived not only after months of delay, but also after spending more hours delayed in airports than actually traveling. However, one might conjecture it was worth the wait because somehow the gods smiled upon my poor soul and I flew the 13 hours here first-class from San Francisco.
There is so much to tell, so to create a "reader-friendly" blog, scroll for headings of topics you might be interested in.
My Apartment:
is located on the 10th floor of a 20 floor building that is literally a stone's throw from the Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul. It was fully furnished when I got here which means a bed, table, chairs, tv, tv stand, bathroom, shower, laundry washer (no dryers in Korea), a gas range stovetop, a small convection oven and basic cookingware.
The tv gets basic channels, nothing fancy. This translates into: I have turned it on twice since I have been here and once was to see if they were broadcasting the Inauguration. TV in Korean, while entertaining in its own right, just isn't the same. I have a magnificent view of the apartment building next to me and off to the side is a pretty neat view of Jamshil-dong, my neighborhood.
My bed came with a comforter that says "Cozy Room" on it, and I'm doing my best to make it so. Also, to anyone who will listen, I will sing the praises of the heated floors here in Korea. They are without a doubt the best thing to happen to mankind since Michael Bolton.* My toes are never cold anymore, which actually was an issue for me and it's incredibly efficient and affordable. My co-worker, Bethany, lives up on the 12th floor and her aparto is exactly the same as mine but with a view of the apartment building on the other side of us. All in all, I am really happy with my aparto, and with each day that I return from work, it's starting to feel more and more like "home."
My Neighborhood:
is called Jamshil-dong and we are directly east of the Olympic Stadium/Park. The street that I live on is internationally themed with different flags from all over the world displayed in the median. There are also Olympic themed statues and art sculptures close to me.
Behind my aparto is a little maze of streets that harbor a slew of restaurants, bars, clubs, stores, boutiques and an outdoor market.
Each day I walk home through the market and I see something new. You can buy anything you could want fresh from vegetables and fruits to poultry, seaweed, fish and octopus. And then you turn the corner and find such western wonders as Outback Steakhouse, McDonald's, Coldstone and Baskin Robbin. Every few hundred feet there is a clothing store or a shoe boutique that serves as a friendly reminder of my skinny wallet.The Subway:
is amazing. Public transportation in Korea vs. America is like comparing ER with and without George Clooney (Korea being on the side of George). I live about 5 minutes from the nearest subway station, Sincheon, which is on a line that goes in a loop around the city and connects to every one of the other 8 subway lines. The subway is extremely navigable, reliable, affordable and I love it. I was nervous at first, but after using it more than once, anyone can become a pro. It costs about 900 won per ride, which is roughly 60 cents. I’ve been down to Cheongju to visit Phil a few times by bus. There is a bus station across the street from the Gambyeon subway station, which is just 3 stops away from me. The bus costs W6000 ($4.50) each way and it runs about every 20 minutes. The highway reserves the center lanes of traffic for buses so the trip is never impeded by traffic congestion.
My school:
is named Elite Education Institute.
It is a new branch of the larger Elite web that has sites in such cities as Bangkok, Ankara, Tokyo, and a slew of branches in California, Texas and even Canada. Elite is famous for SAT preparation tutoring in both the states and here in S.Korea. Since we are a new branch, there have a few speed bumps getting started, but the winter intensive session is almost over and the next semester will begin soon. The students I am teaching now are between the ages of 7 and 15 and they are non-stop entertainment. I really don't feel like I'm "working" at work because my job basically is to speak to these kids in English, and besides that they are both hilarious and eager. I have a class of boys in which one, Jason, quite the hooligan, asked me to be his girlfriend and when I call on him to answer questions he just smiles and says "teacher! so pretty!" when he doesn't know the answer. After I told him I wouldn’t give him answers on a test, he broke up with me. Another boy, Matthew, has twice now brought in pastries for me, once when he was late for class and again when he hadn't done his homework. I’m not quite sure if he actually thought that bribing an American with tasty treats would work.
There is another teacher with me here and she started only a week before I did. Her name is Bethany and she is from the Chicago area. She is extremely nice and we get along great. It’s really nice to know that I’m not the only struggling American here and to have a partner in my Korean adventures.
Sample of one of my students' writing:
This student will remain anonymous, but this story brought more than a few smiles to my face and I'm sure you will have a similar reaction.
There were 25 people who want to go to space. 1 test 5 person out. 2 test 7 people was out. 3 test 2 people was out. 4 test 5 people out. Last test 3 people was out. There were 3 people left. In the Bangkok there has spaceman. Today was spaceman go to space. They go into spaceshuttle. 1 man was very important. 2 man is important. 3 man is not important but good.
When it was started they were hard to stand. It was almost space. 1 man saw out winder was fire. When they go to space they don’t believe that they come to space, but when they were out, 1 man died so 2 man do very important and 3 man do importent thing.
They called another people and do, not importent thing. When it was over they were almost in the Earth. When they come Earth they saw 1 more time fire. They go ground and people cheerd.
The food:
Like public transportation, is done right, all the time. I loved Korean food before I came here and now I love it so much we’re getting married. There are so many types of Korean food and it would be hard to describe them all, so here are a few of my favorites.
Kimchi is fermented/pickled vegetables, usually cabbage and flavored with red chiles. There are many different kinds, all with varying vegetables, spices and tastes. It is served with almost every dish here. Koreans are big on side dishes; there are about 3-5 small side dishes that come with every meal in a restaurant. Another favorite food is galbi. Galbi is also referred to as Korean barbeque. It can be beef, pork or chicken and the restaurants have little grilles or hot slabs on which to cook your meat in the middle of the tables. The meat itself is marinated and the meal is typically served with about 70 thousand side dishes. That’s an exaggeration, but it comes with dipping sauces, slices of garlic that you can grill and eat, vegetables, kimchi, seaweed, tofu, fried bread, leaves of lettuce and much more. It’s almost like Korean fajitas. You take a piece of the grilled meat, put it on a leaf of lettuce, add whatever side dishes you want and fold the leaf over the bite and enjoy. I apologize for not having pictures of it, but when I do, I will post them. It’s a really fun meal with friends. Lastly, another go-to favorite that is both cheap and delicious (insert distasteful joke here) is mandu. Mandu are little dumplings stuffed with beef or pork or kimchi or vegetables. They are very similar to pierogi or potstickers.
Things I miss about the States:
-Walking on the right side. Even though most Koreans just go wherever, however, whenever they want, if there was a shadow of a governing principle here, people walk on the left side. Sense of “personal space” here is quite different than in the States and there are no qualms about bumping into people, shoving them out of your way on the subway or playing sidewalk showdown.** I’m pretty sure everything except tackling is accepted here.
-Chipotle.
-Simply put, being able to communicate with other people. It’s very difficult to communicate effectively because of the language barrier. I am slowly learning simple things like how to order in a restaurant and how to ask for the bathroom, but each time I interact with someone who doesn’t speak English it becomes an issue of how much I am willing to play a tiring and and oftentimes unsuccessful game of Charades.
-Not being stared at. There are very few Americans in South Korea and the people here are not accustomed to seeing white people. More than once I have been stopped because of my light eyes and hair. Sometimes kids come up to me and say things like, “Hi! Bye! What time is it?” just to show how much English they know. Once when I was walking home an old woman came out of a furniture shop and stopped me and just pointed at my face, astonished at my light eyes. She kept saying, “pretty eye! Pretty eye!” And then she had her husband take a picture of us with his cell phone. I have also played peekaboo with a youngster in the mall while I was eating. Children stare unabashedly at foreigners, it was novel at first and now it's just annoying.
-Lunchmeat.
-Cheese. (yes, separate from lunchmeat. Feta and mozzarella, 2 of my favorite things in the world, besides 35 cent wing/4 dollar pitcher night at Legends,*** are very rare and expensive.)
-Obedience to traffic laws and pedestrians having the right of way.
-Taco Bell.
-Wearing sweats in public. Literally everyone here is always dressed to impress. Women are always wearing heels and carrying designer handbags. I don’t think men here have ever heard of “jeans and a t-shirt,” and there are more than 3 men who live in my neighborhood who I’ve seen carrying Louis-Vuitton manbags. Even mothers at the supermarket with babies A: have no baby weight from being pregnant and B: are wearing 4-inch heels.
-My friends and family. (1, 2, 3... aawww.) When plans were demolished to join Phil in Cheongju, I don’t think I realized how difficult it would be to make friends in a city full of people who don’t speak your language. I have managed to visit Phil in CJ three times since I’ve been here, which has been really fun. But my hopes are high for when Sarah comes to join me, which should be pretty soon!
In conclusion, I really miss everyone who is reading this blog and if by confusion you are reading this and I don’t know who you are, if I did know you, I probably would miss you too. Please update me with how you all are doing. I really miss seeing everyone!
* Underappreciated pop-star of the late 80’s, early 90’s. Arguably his best contribution to humanity is the smash hit of 1990, “How Can We Be Lovers (If We Can’t Be Friends)?”
** Sidewalk showdown is mode of amusement, popular among myself and Bryan Stanistreet. Simply walk at someone instead of avoiding his/her path and see who yields first. Different tactics create varying degrees of entertainment. Head down and a fast pace is the most boring. Direct eye contact and a leisurely saunter offers many different reactions. Absolutely try this at home.
*** Probably the best-kept secret at Notre Dame, aside from if the Irish Guard wear boxers under their kilts, every Tuesday night Legends runs a special: 35 cent wings and 4 dollar pitchers of domestic beer. Hop to it, young'uns.
