It has taken forever, but all the photos are now here. There are over 700 pictures, since both Amber and I took pictures with both of our cameras. I hope that you enjoy looking at some of them. They include everything from the hotel, to Seoul Tower, cool looking signs, and the War Museum of Korea.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
A Couple of Funny Stories
These were some of the stories that I didn't remember until I started talking about the trip to some friends. The first two relate to our hotel. So Amber and I were sitting in our room watching TV when she asked me to throw her the hotel book. She was trying to looking something up, when she started to realize that the "handbook" was written like some sort of government document. It had all sorts of rules and regulations done like you would see a bill in Congress (section 1, article 3, line 6 type). The rules were pretty standard until you got to the section that covered ways of being refused service from the hotel. One such way was to bring in food and try to cook it yourself in one of the rooms... that be a stretch since there was no stove or cook top, but still, we all know that people have used lighters and propane tanks to cook ramen before. Our favorite rule by far was the fact that you could be turned down a stay at the hotel if there was bad weather, a natural disaster, or an "Act of God". I think its the first time I have ever seen the term "act of God" written in a manual of rules.
The next story is both funny and kind of bizarrely sick also. When you got up to the 9th floor where we were staying, there were two hallways, one that led to our room, and then the opposite hall that led to more rooms. Well, early one morning I heard a whole bunch of pounding and the sound of a drill. I thought nothing of it after that and ignored it until we got back to the hotel around 7 pm that night. It turns out, that the hotel had actually built a set of doors that blocked off the other hallway -- when we got back to our floor we realized that there were doors there now, and that they were half open. Well, obviously out of curiosity, we peered down the hall and saw a whole bunch of Korea businessmen with fancy suits at the new "penthouse" wing. These men were being ushered into one of the rooms while a young Korean woman (maybe in her 20s) went and closed off the hallway. The whole time we heard loud voices and giggling women. We can't say for sure, but we are pretty certain that the hotel built a penthouse so that these businessmen could be visited by some Korean hookers... you don't see that very often in a hotel stay.
One of the other funny events to take place on the trip, was one night we were getting off the subway and decided to use the elevator to get to the surface. We got into the elevator, and then so did at least 9 other people... we were packed in there like anchovies in a can. Two more ladies decided to join the party, and by that time we had run out of room in the elevator. The doors closed, and the mechanical death box began to move upwards. We got roughly a foot off the ground when our steel coffin stopped moving and started back down. The elevator began beeping, and one of the old Korean men, pushed the two "newer" ladies off the elevator and yelled at them in Korea... my American translation of the entire event was this old guy saying, "goddamn it, bitches get off the elevator so we can leave"... I have no proof that he said that, but from his tone, I can tell you he wasn't a happy camper.
One final story had to do with two girls we saw in Seoul who definitely had some interesting clothing. The first young lady came sauntering down the street with some of the shortest shorts I have ever seen (mind you, it was 25 degrees out), makeup caked on her face, and overall just dressed like, if I may quote Amber, "a hoochie". Come to think of it, she may have been one of the "working girls" attached to that business convention...
The other fashion disaster was more comical. On our way to the KTX station to return home, we saw this girl walking the street with a young man. The girl was dressed rather nicely, except for the fact that she had a short jacket on and you could not see the bottom of her skirt. You could only see her legs. In fact, when she started walking, her jacket would part and you could still not see her skirt, but instead could see the tops of her thigh-highs... Amber and I are still not sure if she just was wearing the smallest skirt in recorded history or if she was actually walking around without a bottom on. Did I mention it was still below 30 degrees out?
The next story is both funny and kind of bizarrely sick also. When you got up to the 9th floor where we were staying, there were two hallways, one that led to our room, and then the opposite hall that led to more rooms. Well, early one morning I heard a whole bunch of pounding and the sound of a drill. I thought nothing of it after that and ignored it until we got back to the hotel around 7 pm that night. It turns out, that the hotel had actually built a set of doors that blocked off the other hallway -- when we got back to our floor we realized that there were doors there now, and that they were half open. Well, obviously out of curiosity, we peered down the hall and saw a whole bunch of Korea businessmen with fancy suits at the new "penthouse" wing. These men were being ushered into one of the rooms while a young Korean woman (maybe in her 20s) went and closed off the hallway. The whole time we heard loud voices and giggling women. We can't say for sure, but we are pretty certain that the hotel built a penthouse so that these businessmen could be visited by some Korean hookers... you don't see that very often in a hotel stay.
One of the other funny events to take place on the trip, was one night we were getting off the subway and decided to use the elevator to get to the surface. We got into the elevator, and then so did at least 9 other people... we were packed in there like anchovies in a can. Two more ladies decided to join the party, and by that time we had run out of room in the elevator. The doors closed, and the mechanical death box began to move upwards. We got roughly a foot off the ground when our steel coffin stopped moving and started back down. The elevator began beeping, and one of the old Korean men, pushed the two "newer" ladies off the elevator and yelled at them in Korea... my American translation of the entire event was this old guy saying, "goddamn it, bitches get off the elevator so we can leave"... I have no proof that he said that, but from his tone, I can tell you he wasn't a happy camper.
One final story had to do with two girls we saw in Seoul who definitely had some interesting clothing. The first young lady came sauntering down the street with some of the shortest shorts I have ever seen (mind you, it was 25 degrees out), makeup caked on her face, and overall just dressed like, if I may quote Amber, "a hoochie". Come to think of it, she may have been one of the "working girls" attached to that business convention...
The other fashion disaster was more comical. On our way to the KTX station to return home, we saw this girl walking the street with a young man. The girl was dressed rather nicely, except for the fact that she had a short jacket on and you could not see the bottom of her skirt. You could only see her legs. In fact, when she started walking, her jacket would part and you could still not see her skirt, but instead could see the tops of her thigh-highs... Amber and I are still not sure if she just was wearing the smallest skirt in recorded history or if she was actually walking around without a bottom on. Did I mention it was still below 30 degrees out?
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Reunification of Korea
This is an interesting topic that I have been reading much about and talking to other people who have lived in Korea for an extended period of time. There was an article in the Korean newspaper the other day about how the "reunification minister" has been working on a plan to reunite the South and the North to form one country again. They have even gone as far as talking about how the transition would be paid for and who will lead the union of the two countries. The South Korean Government even went as far as to bring in the old East German President and leader of the reunification of Germany to ask his advice and opinion on merging the two nations.
I mention this for a couple of reasons. For starters, I am a social studies teacher and I just find it to be fascinating, but more importantly is the way in which it is being talked about. The papers that I have read and the things I have heard have been phrased where it is not a question of "if" the countries will reunite, but a question of "when". The paper talks in a such a way as all of the things that they are working on are actually formalities and that it will happen next week. They also act as though there is no major differences in the two countries. For example, I have been told that the North Koreans refuse to use any English assimilated words in their language, so in essence, they speak an old form of Korean. The South Koreans on the other hand use English words in their language and have assimilated other aspects of western culture into their own.
Some people seem to be unaware that the countries have been separated for a long long time, both have their own capitals, their own borders, and are separated by a protected, mine-infested defense border. Even the ads for the DMZ tours list it as the "only separated country in the entire world"... which is wrong on a couple of levels. For starters, they are in fact separate countries and not "separated" like a married couple looking for counseling. Second, by their definition, Sudan is now in the same boat since they voted to split the country.
The last and most surprising aspect of this whole thing is that the South Korean citizens also believe that the reunification is going to happen sooner than later. In fact, many young South Koreans believe that they are one country and in fact some maps who the two nations as one (and I am not talking about maps from the pre-war times). I am all for peace and stability and the reunification of the country, even though its not my country, but what I find interesting is how its considered to be a finished deal. As nice as it sounds, the North has its own government, and it will not be that simple to bring two warring nations together.
Just something to think about
I mention this for a couple of reasons. For starters, I am a social studies teacher and I just find it to be fascinating, but more importantly is the way in which it is being talked about. The papers that I have read and the things I have heard have been phrased where it is not a question of "if" the countries will reunite, but a question of "when". The paper talks in a such a way as all of the things that they are working on are actually formalities and that it will happen next week. They also act as though there is no major differences in the two countries. For example, I have been told that the North Koreans refuse to use any English assimilated words in their language, so in essence, they speak an old form of Korean. The South Koreans on the other hand use English words in their language and have assimilated other aspects of western culture into their own.
Some people seem to be unaware that the countries have been separated for a long long time, both have their own capitals, their own borders, and are separated by a protected, mine-infested defense border. Even the ads for the DMZ tours list it as the "only separated country in the entire world"... which is wrong on a couple of levels. For starters, they are in fact separate countries and not "separated" like a married couple looking for counseling. Second, by their definition, Sudan is now in the same boat since they voted to split the country.
The last and most surprising aspect of this whole thing is that the South Korean citizens also believe that the reunification is going to happen sooner than later. In fact, many young South Koreans believe that they are one country and in fact some maps who the two nations as one (and I am not talking about maps from the pre-war times). I am all for peace and stability and the reunification of the country, even though its not my country, but what I find interesting is how its considered to be a finished deal. As nice as it sounds, the North has its own government, and it will not be that simple to bring two warring nations together.
Just something to think about
Teaching ESL
I have learned a very important lesson since I have started teaching ESL. I now can fully understand why they consider English to be such a difficult language to learn. Not only do we have funny ways of pronouncing words, and crazy rules like "i after e except after c" but we also have words in our language that by definition mean one thing, but can be used completely out of context. A prime example of this came when I was trying to explain to some students what a wagon was. I had shown them a picture and then explained what they are used for, and then lo and behold, we get into the text and the story is using the word wagon as a "wagon-cart" meaning a hot dog stand. And I was like, (stop reading now if you don't like foul-language) "son of a bitch". Its hard enough to try and learn a foreign language, never mind when that said language starts using words in ways that one would never expect if you did not speak English natively. I have gotten a new appreciation for anyone trying to learn English, because it is very very difficult to do.
Another thing in regards to ESL and English is the fact that in Korea you will see things in English, but it will not be grammatically correct. For example, we got an ad for the DMZ tours, and it was rife with grammatical errors, like failing to put a "s" on certain words or by leaving out articles where they need to be. So its very tough for a Korean student trying to learn English when he or she sees things written in English in their own country, but they are done incorrectly.
Another interesting thing is that our Korean students have no troubles pronouncing English words, but have a difficult remembering them or understanding the definition of it. I attribute this success in pronunciation to the fact that they are not use to the rules of English that make a native-speaker question how a word is pronounced. For example, when looking at the word phone, one might expect it would begin with an "f", but the Koreans do not have that predisposed notion, and therefore just pronounce it as they would see it or write it as it sounds. It is just something that I see here that is so strange to me, yet interesting at the same time.
Another thing in regards to ESL and English is the fact that in Korea you will see things in English, but it will not be grammatically correct. For example, we got an ad for the DMZ tours, and it was rife with grammatical errors, like failing to put a "s" on certain words or by leaving out articles where they need to be. So its very tough for a Korean student trying to learn English when he or she sees things written in English in their own country, but they are done incorrectly.
Another interesting thing is that our Korean students have no troubles pronouncing English words, but have a difficult remembering them or understanding the definition of it. I attribute this success in pronunciation to the fact that they are not use to the rules of English that make a native-speaker question how a word is pronounced. For example, when looking at the word phone, one might expect it would begin with an "f", but the Koreans do not have that predisposed notion, and therefore just pronounce it as they would see it or write it as it sounds. It is just something that I see here that is so strange to me, yet interesting at the same time.
Pregnancy -- A Long Over-due Post
Before you get too far into the title, no this does not involve us. This post is actually about an interesting trend that we had seen here in Korea. It was about 2 months ago, when we went across the street to the mall and we just decided to walk around. While at the mall, I swear that we saw a good 30 women that were pregnant at least. They were everywhere. We started to wonder if the government was paying people to give birth or if they were obsessed with trying to produce little ones.
It turns out that we were not completely off about it. Turns out, that Korea does have a very low birth rate and a rapidly aging population that it is trying to turn around by making it more of an incentive to have kids. We also learned from a friend of ours, that once a Korean woman gets married its almost expected that she produce children... in fact, it is considered an issue of the bedroom variety if the woman does not get pregnant on the honeymoon. That's definitely a lot of pressure placed on the couple when your entire family is expecting that you produce kids right off the bat. We have also noticed that the women tend to have kids that are very close in age, so if you see a lady with a 1 or 2 year old child, there is an above average chance that she is pregnant with another child. I personally find it amazing since I would say it be quite expensive to raise a child in this country, and I am sometimes shocked with how often you see pregnant women here.
After this Seoul trip, I realized that the only thing that the Koreans have more of than cellphones, is babies.
It turns out that we were not completely off about it. Turns out, that Korea does have a very low birth rate and a rapidly aging population that it is trying to turn around by making it more of an incentive to have kids. We also learned from a friend of ours, that once a Korean woman gets married its almost expected that she produce children... in fact, it is considered an issue of the bedroom variety if the woman does not get pregnant on the honeymoon. That's definitely a lot of pressure placed on the couple when your entire family is expecting that you produce kids right off the bat. We have also noticed that the women tend to have kids that are very close in age, so if you see a lady with a 1 or 2 year old child, there is an above average chance that she is pregnant with another child. I personally find it amazing since I would say it be quite expensive to raise a child in this country, and I am sometimes shocked with how often you see pregnant women here.
After this Seoul trip, I realized that the only thing that the Koreans have more of than cellphones, is babies.
Thanksgiving Seoul Trip Part 5: The Hotel
It is quite interesting how easy it is to forget you're in a foreign country when you are living on a school campus or staying in a hotel. There are times when I forget that I live in Korea when I am working at school or laying in my bed because I only hear English and see all Americans around me... that immediately changes when you leave campus.
The same goes for the hotel we stayed at. We stayed at a Holiday Inn, in Seoul, and it was a great place. It was a very western hotel, with a king-size bed and actual western plugs that you didn't need a conversion plug for... which is funny since I am use to seeing the Korean plugs around here now a days. The place had a wonderful lobby, quite possibly the fastest revolving door, which almost took of my heals, and it was nicely decorated for Christmas. The other neat thing about our room was that it lacked free wi-fi, but had a computer in the room that you could use free of charge and it got the internet. Since we didn't have many English channels, we used the computer as a TV and watched shows off of that. I would definitely stay there again if the price was right.
I write this post because of the strange feeling you get when you are staying inside a very nice hotel room and the shades are shut... it honestly felt like I was back in the US. The only difference was that once you left the hotel, you saw Korean citizens and almost all the signs were in Korean. It is funny to walk around and see signs for the new LG DIOS, which is a specially designed fridge for Koreans because it allows you to keep your goods in it, along with a nice lower half used entirely for kimchi... because they eat it like its going out of style.
It is the little things that you miss when you are outside of your own home country.
The same goes for the hotel we stayed at. We stayed at a Holiday Inn, in Seoul, and it was a great place. It was a very western hotel, with a king-size bed and actual western plugs that you didn't need a conversion plug for... which is funny since I am use to seeing the Korean plugs around here now a days. The place had a wonderful lobby, quite possibly the fastest revolving door, which almost took of my heals, and it was nicely decorated for Christmas. The other neat thing about our room was that it lacked free wi-fi, but had a computer in the room that you could use free of charge and it got the internet. Since we didn't have many English channels, we used the computer as a TV and watched shows off of that. I would definitely stay there again if the price was right.
I write this post because of the strange feeling you get when you are staying inside a very nice hotel room and the shades are shut... it honestly felt like I was back in the US. The only difference was that once you left the hotel, you saw Korean citizens and almost all the signs were in Korean. It is funny to walk around and see signs for the new LG DIOS, which is a specially designed fridge for Koreans because it allows you to keep your goods in it, along with a nice lower half used entirely for kimchi... because they eat it like its going out of style.
It is the little things that you miss when you are outside of your own home country.
Thanksgiving Seoul Trip Part 4: Transportation
It was surprisingly easy to get around during our trip to Seoul. We took a cab from the school to the KTX station in Daegu. The KTX is a commuter train that travels all around Korea and is one of the best ways to travel. It moves pretty fast, roughly 300km/hr, and we managed to make it up to Seoul in about 2 hours and back from Seoul in roughly the same amount of time. Once we arrived in Seoul, we exited the KTX station and looked for a cab. Once we managed to get one, Amber told him where we were going and he seemed quite confused. Instead of looking at the information in Korean, he kept looking at the English words and not understanding (Amber had purposely put it in both languages so that our cab driver would understand, but that seemed confusing to him). He finally realized where we were going and said "oh... Holiday Hotel", instead of Holiday Inn. Luckily, we made it to our destination, checked in, and got ready for dinner. There are roughly 9 different subway lines that litter Seoul, and we were located between two of them, the 4 and the 6 lines. Our first night, we decided to use the 4 line, only to realize that it would have been much simpler to use the 6 line to get to where we were going. By the end of the trip, we were more than capable of traversing the subway lines without any real problems... the key is to just know where you are going and how to get there once you leave the subway, because using the subway map makes it a lot easier to get from line to line.
The KTX train is very nice and I thought it was cool. It was fun to sit and look out the window as you passed by some really large hills and mountains and could see these little "villages", more like tiny towns, that would pop up and then disappear as fast as they arrived. Some of these places seemed so small, yet they had enormous buildings, which was pretty cool. That it one thing in Korea that is pretty neat, their architectural designs. You will see all sorts of interesting shapes and colors, and plenty of buildings with huge glass windows. They have some of the coolest building designs that I have ever seen. You got to see all those things while riding the train, and it was rather comfortable. The only mishap was the fact that we had temporarily gotten off at the wrong station, but luckily made it back onto the train before it left. I would definitely take the train again because of its convenience, speed, and comfort.
The one funny thing about the train is that it functions much more like a subway in the sense that it stops only for a few minutes at the stations. You actually have to get up out of your seats and head to the doors just to stand there before you exit or else there's a good chance that you wont make it off the train at your stop. Other than that, its a perfect mode of transportation.
The KTX train is very nice and I thought it was cool. It was fun to sit and look out the window as you passed by some really large hills and mountains and could see these little "villages", more like tiny towns, that would pop up and then disappear as fast as they arrived. Some of these places seemed so small, yet they had enormous buildings, which was pretty cool. That it one thing in Korea that is pretty neat, their architectural designs. You will see all sorts of interesting shapes and colors, and plenty of buildings with huge glass windows. They have some of the coolest building designs that I have ever seen. You got to see all those things while riding the train, and it was rather comfortable. The only mishap was the fact that we had temporarily gotten off at the wrong station, but luckily made it back onto the train before it left. I would definitely take the train again because of its convenience, speed, and comfort.
The one funny thing about the train is that it functions much more like a subway in the sense that it stops only for a few minutes at the stations. You actually have to get up out of your seats and head to the doors just to stand there before you exit or else there's a good chance that you wont make it off the train at your stop. Other than that, its a perfect mode of transportation.
Thanksgiving Seoul Trip Part 3: The Sights
Aside from shopping, we visited two of Seoul's more interesting places, Seoul Tower and the Korea War Museum. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of trying to visit both places in the same day, and in hindsight, it would have been better to see them on different days. Seoul Tower is a large tower on top of a mountain in Seoul. There are a couple ways to get up there, you can walk it, drive up, or take the cable cars to the top of the mountain. We decided it be fun to take the cable cars to the top of the mountain... and we were right. This came after a good 30 minute trek around the area to figure out how to get up to the cable cars, since our directions that came from the company themselves were wrong. You buy your tickets from this little area and then wait in line to get on the cable car. When we were going up, the car was completely packed, which was good because it prevented me from being able to see down (I know that if I could see the ground it would have made me sick.) Once we got to the top, we had to walk up these wooden steps, but it was worth it when we made it up there. From the mountaintop, you could see all of Seoul and it was really amazing. You could walk around the area up top and see the tower and (go inside if you wanted to pay to go to the top). Around there tower were some restaurants along with two displays. The first display was a bunch of locks and notes that were set up to look like a Christmas tree. The other area was also made of locks and notes, but this time they were shaped like hearts. We took pictures of the heart-shaped benches and the giant silver heart that was made up of different phrases about love.
Once we finished with Seoul Tower, we took the cars back down the mountain and set off for food. We got lost looking for On The Border, but we instead ate at another Mexican restaurant. Once we had gorged ourselves on food, we headed for the Korea War Memorial. I was picturing a memorial similar to those in Washington DC, but this was much more than that. This memorial had an outside area along with a full museum. The outside had a giant reflecting pool with fountains and in the far corner had a full-size ship and plane that had been used (unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see them because of the darkness). Amber and I went inside and realized that we could see the whole museum for free, and we decided to venture around the building. This museum covered more than just the Korean War, but pretty much covered all of Korean history. The very bottom floor had information from the early Korean civilizations, and slowly progressed as you made the rounds.
The museum had wooden boats, weapons, clothing, castles, art, and just about anything else you could imagine. Each section covered a different aspect of history, such as the Middle Ages, and then entering into modern time. It was really neat to see all the different clothing and guns, along with the uniforms from all the troops involved in any combat missions that Korea had been involved with. They even had areas where it was meant to transport you back in time and show you what a refuge village would have looked like. I had an amazing time there and it was probably one of the best parts of the entire trip. Amber enjoyed it also, though she would say that my "inner geek" was showing at times... I said that I wasn't a geek, but a history teacher who loved seeing all this history. I would definitely recommend for anyone to go and see the museum because it was well worth it.
Once we finished with Seoul Tower, we took the cars back down the mountain and set off for food. We got lost looking for On The Border, but we instead ate at another Mexican restaurant. Once we had gorged ourselves on food, we headed for the Korea War Memorial. I was picturing a memorial similar to those in Washington DC, but this was much more than that. This memorial had an outside area along with a full museum. The outside had a giant reflecting pool with fountains and in the far corner had a full-size ship and plane that had been used (unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see them because of the darkness). Amber and I went inside and realized that we could see the whole museum for free, and we decided to venture around the building. This museum covered more than just the Korean War, but pretty much covered all of Korean history. The very bottom floor had information from the early Korean civilizations, and slowly progressed as you made the rounds.
The museum had wooden boats, weapons, clothing, castles, art, and just about anything else you could imagine. Each section covered a different aspect of history, such as the Middle Ages, and then entering into modern time. It was really neat to see all the different clothing and guns, along with the uniforms from all the troops involved in any combat missions that Korea had been involved with. They even had areas where it was meant to transport you back in time and show you what a refuge village would have looked like. I had an amazing time there and it was probably one of the best parts of the entire trip. Amber enjoyed it also, though she would say that my "inner geek" was showing at times... I said that I wasn't a geek, but a history teacher who loved seeing all this history. I would definitely recommend for anyone to go and see the museum because it was well worth it.
Thanksgiving Seoul Trip part 2: food
Aside from the sights and sounds of Seoul, it was also nice to eat some Western foods while we were there. Our first night we had pizza from this nice little pizza place in Itaewon. They had many styles to choose from and it was half-way decent. I had a "white" pizza, which would have been so much better if there was some garlic on it, but it was good none the less. The following day we started off with McDonalds for breakfast, since that's a pretty good way to begin the day. We then went back to Itaewon to do some shopping, which is for a future post, and we stopped at Taco Bell. Taco Bell might not be the best food in the world, but when you are halfway around the world and are craving something you are use to, Taco Bell isn't too bad. My favorite meal of that day was from this little pub that we found on the road aptly named, "International Restaurant Street" -- the restaurant was this little place with only about 7 tables, but the food was awesome. Amber had a grilled chicken Caesar salad, and I had a burger which was titled, "the ambulance". The ambulance was a slab of beef, with lettuce and tomato, a hash brown, and a sunny-side-up egg -- the combination might sound weird, but it was surprisingly very tasty and the items all went well together.
The following day we walked around some more and had another wonderful breakfast at McDonalds. This time, we tried to find On The Border, but failed so we returned to Itaewon and ate lunch at this place called Tomo Tio, which was a great little Mexican restaurant. Amber had a quesadilla and I had a burrito, and both items were very good. They had these chips that tasted like the noodles from a Chinese restaurant and they were really good with the salsa and guacamole. All in all, the food that we ate on our trip to Seoul was very good and it was fun to try out different restaurants along with visiting some of our old American staples that we do not get to experience in Daegu Korea. More to come on other topics...
The following day we walked around some more and had another wonderful breakfast at McDonalds. This time, we tried to find On The Border, but failed so we returned to Itaewon and ate lunch at this place called Tomo Tio, which was a great little Mexican restaurant. Amber had a quesadilla and I had a burrito, and both items were very good. They had these chips that tasted like the noodles from a Chinese restaurant and they were really good with the salsa and guacamole. All in all, the food that we ate on our trip to Seoul was very good and it was fun to try out different restaurants along with visiting some of our old American staples that we do not get to experience in Daegu Korea. More to come on other topics...
Thanksgiving Seoul Trip part 1: cell phones and elderly women
So Amber and I just got back from Seoul and I thought that I would write about one huge thing that I noticed... people's obsessions with cell phones. Now I know what you are thinking, that Americans are also obsessed with cell phones, and I totally agree, but I have never seen anything truly like this before. We would be walking around Seoul, and you would see these people on the sidewalk walking really really slow, and the first thought is, "I know what they are doing"... texting or chatting or facebooking or whatever. That is annoying, but not nearly as annoying as when it happens in the subway or on the way getting on or off the subway. No joke, we would be standing on the subway and almost everyone on the train would have their phone out... they would be talking on it, watching a movie on it, texting, or using facebook, and so many other things... and be warned, its not like America were its people up until about their 50s doing it, oh no, its this entire country. You will be on the train and looking at this 70 year old woman sitting there and all the sudden she whips out a phone and starts surfing the net and you're like "does it ever end here". I swear that we must have seen 10,000 cell phones over the course of 3 days up there. And its fine if you want to chat or whatever on your phone, but dont take up space and make it impossible for others to get anywhere... its very hard walking up the stairs when the 4 people ahead of you all have their damn phones out walking half the speed of smell.
Which leads me to the next step, the elderly women of Seoul. I always assumed, apparently wrongly, that as one gets older they are a little more friendly and more into enjoying life... well this weekend changed that. While traversing Seoul, Amber and I must have been bumped into and assaulted by 3 dozen old Korean ladies. These little old ladies who look so sweet, are vicious... they know where they are going and they want to get there as fast as possible and they will push, walk around, and even channel their "inner NFL fullback" and just drop their shoulders and try to plow right into you. Just for reference, its not just to foreigners, they will do that to anyone that stands in their way.
So if you combine the things, you get slowed down by everyone on their phones only to get pushed, shoved, and rammed into by little old ladies on a mission to get to their location. Life is fun, more Seoul blogs to come soon, plus pictures.
Which leads me to the next step, the elderly women of Seoul. I always assumed, apparently wrongly, that as one gets older they are a little more friendly and more into enjoying life... well this weekend changed that. While traversing Seoul, Amber and I must have been bumped into and assaulted by 3 dozen old Korean ladies. These little old ladies who look so sweet, are vicious... they know where they are going and they want to get there as fast as possible and they will push, walk around, and even channel their "inner NFL fullback" and just drop their shoulders and try to plow right into you. Just for reference, its not just to foreigners, they will do that to anyone that stands in their way.
So if you combine the things, you get slowed down by everyone on their phones only to get pushed, shoved, and rammed into by little old ladies on a mission to get to their location. Life is fun, more Seoul blogs to come soon, plus pictures.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Love is...
Sorry our updates have been so sporadic; I’d like to blame it on being busy (which we are) but I think it honestly has to do with us being addicted to Criminal Minds. We started watching the show this summer, and when we got to Korea we began our obsession. I am not ashamed to admit that we have and do spend copious amounts of hours with our eyes glued to the television where Dr. Reed and Derek Morgan (and of course all the other cast members) send us to another world filled with behavioral analysis. I have been thinking about giving up the world of teaching since I am super awesome at guessing who done it. Genius right? I love this show for many reasons, the cast, Derek Morgan’s smile, Derek Morgan’s teeth, Derek Morgan’s eyes, Derek Morgan’s body….see where I’m going with this? Once you’re married, you can look and admire but not touch. It’s like the Metropolitan museum, I’m on top of current things
Anywho, sorry for the rambling, I guess some things never change. Though, lately I’ve been giving serious thought to seeing if I have ADD. I’ve always joked that I had it, but I’m beginning to honestly believe it’s a real possibility. I’m not ashamed to admit that I cannot focus on anything; I don’t thin I would have ever seen a doctor if not for how it interfers with my teaching. It’s so frustrating when a teacher, or even my favorite, when the prinicpial discusses something with me and I am unable to hear them do to the ten thousand thoughts running through my mind. I can’t tell you what it’s like when I walk away from a conversation, going “What?” I guess I understand my students better though. So, now that I’ve whined about myself I will move on to life.
Life has been great here, yet totally different. I don’t know why Jason and I assumed that when we got married it would be peanut butter and jelly (peaches and cream were way too clichéd). Marriage is work…. You have to figure out yourself and your partner. It’s no longer just about what I want. For some unthinkable reason Jason does not just say yes to everything I say (like the IPod touch 32GB I’d like). You have to actually be the support system to your spouse as well as yourself. I can honestly say that on some days it’s exhausting after “school mode” from 6am to 5 pm. I guess what makes a marriage special are those few moments where it all just clicks. When you’re laying on the couch, burping, scratching your butt, and that person just looks at you and says in all seriousness “I love you”. There are days that I find myself absolutely revolting and for someone unknown reason my husband loves me nonetheless. All I can say, is that since I’ve left the States (January 2011) I feel like I’ve learned so much about myself and about my relationships with other people. I have such better appreciation for all I have and it’s so humbling to see other parts of the world where people have nothing (literally nothing) and they still greet you with a huge grin.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that our lives have changed in many ways and will continue to do so but we are both grateful to all the people we have in our lives supporting us through everything.
Anywho, sorry for the rambling, I guess some things never change. Though, lately I’ve been giving serious thought to seeing if I have ADD. I’ve always joked that I had it, but I’m beginning to honestly believe it’s a real possibility. I’m not ashamed to admit that I cannot focus on anything; I don’t thin I would have ever seen a doctor if not for how it interfers with my teaching. It’s so frustrating when a teacher, or even my favorite, when the prinicpial discusses something with me and I am unable to hear them do to the ten thousand thoughts running through my mind. I can’t tell you what it’s like when I walk away from a conversation, going “What?” I guess I understand my students better though. So, now that I’ve whined about myself I will move on to life.
Life has been great here, yet totally different. I don’t know why Jason and I assumed that when we got married it would be peanut butter and jelly (peaches and cream were way too clichéd). Marriage is work…. You have to figure out yourself and your partner. It’s no longer just about what I want. For some unthinkable reason Jason does not just say yes to everything I say (like the IPod touch 32GB I’d like). You have to actually be the support system to your spouse as well as yourself. I can honestly say that on some days it’s exhausting after “school mode” from 6am to 5 pm. I guess what makes a marriage special are those few moments where it all just clicks. When you’re laying on the couch, burping, scratching your butt, and that person just looks at you and says in all seriousness “I love you”. There are days that I find myself absolutely revolting and for someone unknown reason my husband loves me nonetheless. All I can say, is that since I’ve left the States (January 2011) I feel like I’ve learned so much about myself and about my relationships with other people. I have such better appreciation for all I have and it’s so humbling to see other parts of the world where people have nothing (literally nothing) and they still greet you with a huge grin.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that our lives have changed in many ways and will continue to do so but we are both grateful to all the people we have in our lives supporting us through everything.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Our McDonald's Saga
Since we arrived in Korea I have struggled with the food; Jason on the other hand gets excited to see whole baby squid for lunch. The upside to me being a picky eater is the loss of twenty or so pounds which has made me feel great. I have managed this by eating some protein and lots of fruits and vegetables. I have almost completely taken carbs out of my diet. On those days that I just need something else we get a pizza or go to the local Lotteria and eat. Well, I have had just slightly too much pizza recently, probably due to it being a perfect companion to the football game on the tv, but alas I digress. So, we have attempted, multiple times to go to McDonald's.
The first time we went to McDonald's it was at 5pm on a Sunday. We got into the taxi with our destination written on a piece of paper in both English and Korean. I happily greeted the cab driver and said to him "Chilsung" to which he just stared at me. I thought, hmmm..... perhaps he didn't hear me? So I said it louder, to which he looked more confused. I gave my best konglish (Korean/English combination) mixture of "McDonaldsa" to which he just looked annoyed. So instead of saying "I don't know where you're going" he pulled away from the curb, whipped out his phone and began rapid firing in Korean. After a five minute conversation between him and someone with directions to McDonald's he threw the piece of paper back at me and told me that the one I wanted was in "Manchondong" and not in "Chilsung". I of course nodded solemnly to show him that he was absolutely correct and I was just a stupid American. We then proceeded to sit in traffic for about 10 minutes (apparently we should have realized that when a cab says they had a hard time getting to you due to traffic, we should have just said anneyo to McDonald's). We then arrived at McDoanld's and enjoyed the wonderful deliciousness of it's offerings.
You probably think the story ends there right? Think again. We felt like McDonald's again this weekend. Apparently we had forgotten that 5 o'clock was a bad time to go out in a taxi. The taxi driver arrived and I told him "Seoseongeo Homeplusa" which was where the McDonald's, I thought, was located. He whipped us off and we settled in for the drive which I "knew" to be about ten minutes. I should also state that I only had 22,000 won in my wallet and Jason had zero. We once again hit traffic and I thought "Gee the cab will cost a little more because of this". Was that the understatement of the year. After us traveling for a half hour, Jason asks, as we're on the highway, "Where are we going?" All I could do was shrug, since I obviously had no idea. I was also having a slight panic attack since I was watching the taxi meter go up and up and up. I began looking at my watch thinking "Well if I don't have enough money for the cab I could give them my watch. Then I was like, well I really like my watch, maybe Jason's instead?" We drove past the Daegu gun range and stadium and past many other things I had never seen. Finally we arrived at our destination and I gave over my 22,000 won (I didn't need to part with my watch). The cab driver says happily, "Homeplusa" and I'm like "yep, here is my money just let me leave".
I stomped my away across the street muttering, "I just had to have some McDonald's". Jason being ever helpful says, "You just had to have McDonald's didn't you?" I glare, huff and continue towards the store. Just as I begin to contemplate pushing someone into the way of a cab I see the little golden arches in the window and I feel relief, God does love me!!!! We go in, and first hit the atm so we have money to get home from wherever the hell we are. We pass some Indian men who stare at me because that's what all Indian men do to me for some reason. Then we get to McDonald's after walking the store for ten minutes.
I say to the lady two double cheeseburgers please and she puts in two sets (a set consists of fries, a drink, and a sandwich) then she says "for here?" and I'm like no, two sandwiches for me. She raises her eyebrows in surprise, and I sigh and say, one double cheeseburger set (damn koreans and their weight conciousness). We get our food and I say more ketchup please (we have two packets and she, ever gracious, gives me one more). We grab our food and three ketchup packages and go and sit down. As we do, three Indian guys set nearby and begin to do the creeper stare on me. We eat, bitch about the cab ride and overall just enjoy our time together. Before I know it, the coke and fry combination has gotten to me and a belch exits my mouth. I hastily cover my mouth and mutter "excuse me" but not before I see that all three Indian guys are staring and shock and laughing. All I can do is smile and wave thinking, "Yep, that's me, welcome to the show".
Once we finished eating we attempted to leave the HomePlus and we got lost, but not before passing yet another group of Indian guys who of course, stared at me. We finally made it to a taxi and I said, "This better not be the same guy". We get in and I say "Bongmu-dong" and the taxi driver says, "What?". So I say again, "Bongmu-dong" with an emphasis on the mu and a grunt in my voice and as expected he says "Ah, Bongmu-dong". Then he looks confused as he tried to (what I assume) think of where it is. I tried every local area I could think of: Palgongsong, Yeongcheon, Airport, Esiapolis, Leports and nothing worked. He had no clue where we going. This took about ten minutes for us to mutually realize; but it took me the same amount of time to realize he was charging me for this!!! So, then I knew we were not leaving that cab since I now already owed him five bucks. Eventually he gets our school security guard on the phone who tells him where to go and we make it home 40 minutes later and another 20,000 won.
The next day, we were talking to a local coffee shop owner; we were telling him this story. He responds with, "Why did you just go to Manchondong? It's only two kilometers down the road." At that point I wanted to smash my head into a table in defeat. All of this for some fries and a cheeseburger:)
The first time we went to McDonald's it was at 5pm on a Sunday. We got into the taxi with our destination written on a piece of paper in both English and Korean. I happily greeted the cab driver and said to him "Chilsung" to which he just stared at me. I thought, hmmm..... perhaps he didn't hear me? So I said it louder, to which he looked more confused. I gave my best konglish (Korean/English combination) mixture of "McDonaldsa" to which he just looked annoyed. So instead of saying "I don't know where you're going" he pulled away from the curb, whipped out his phone and began rapid firing in Korean. After a five minute conversation between him and someone with directions to McDonald's he threw the piece of paper back at me and told me that the one I wanted was in "Manchondong" and not in "Chilsung". I of course nodded solemnly to show him that he was absolutely correct and I was just a stupid American. We then proceeded to sit in traffic for about 10 minutes (apparently we should have realized that when a cab says they had a hard time getting to you due to traffic, we should have just said anneyo to McDonald's). We then arrived at McDoanld's and enjoyed the wonderful deliciousness of it's offerings.
You probably think the story ends there right? Think again. We felt like McDonald's again this weekend. Apparently we had forgotten that 5 o'clock was a bad time to go out in a taxi. The taxi driver arrived and I told him "Seoseongeo Homeplusa" which was where the McDonald's, I thought, was located. He whipped us off and we settled in for the drive which I "knew" to be about ten minutes. I should also state that I only had 22,000 won in my wallet and Jason had zero. We once again hit traffic and I thought "Gee the cab will cost a little more because of this". Was that the understatement of the year. After us traveling for a half hour, Jason asks, as we're on the highway, "Where are we going?" All I could do was shrug, since I obviously had no idea. I was also having a slight panic attack since I was watching the taxi meter go up and up and up. I began looking at my watch thinking "Well if I don't have enough money for the cab I could give them my watch. Then I was like, well I really like my watch, maybe Jason's instead?" We drove past the Daegu gun range and stadium and past many other things I had never seen. Finally we arrived at our destination and I gave over my 22,000 won (I didn't need to part with my watch). The cab driver says happily, "Homeplusa" and I'm like "yep, here is my money just let me leave".
I stomped my away across the street muttering, "I just had to have some McDonald's". Jason being ever helpful says, "You just had to have McDonald's didn't you?" I glare, huff and continue towards the store. Just as I begin to contemplate pushing someone into the way of a cab I see the little golden arches in the window and I feel relief, God does love me!!!! We go in, and first hit the atm so we have money to get home from wherever the hell we are. We pass some Indian men who stare at me because that's what all Indian men do to me for some reason. Then we get to McDonald's after walking the store for ten minutes.
I say to the lady two double cheeseburgers please and she puts in two sets (a set consists of fries, a drink, and a sandwich) then she says "for here?" and I'm like no, two sandwiches for me. She raises her eyebrows in surprise, and I sigh and say, one double cheeseburger set (damn koreans and their weight conciousness). We get our food and I say more ketchup please (we have two packets and she, ever gracious, gives me one more). We grab our food and three ketchup packages and go and sit down. As we do, three Indian guys set nearby and begin to do the creeper stare on me. We eat, bitch about the cab ride and overall just enjoy our time together. Before I know it, the coke and fry combination has gotten to me and a belch exits my mouth. I hastily cover my mouth and mutter "excuse me" but not before I see that all three Indian guys are staring and shock and laughing. All I can do is smile and wave thinking, "Yep, that's me, welcome to the show".
Once we finished eating we attempted to leave the HomePlus and we got lost, but not before passing yet another group of Indian guys who of course, stared at me. We finally made it to a taxi and I said, "This better not be the same guy". We get in and I say "Bongmu-dong" and the taxi driver says, "What?". So I say again, "Bongmu-dong" with an emphasis on the mu and a grunt in my voice and as expected he says "Ah, Bongmu-dong". Then he looks confused as he tried to (what I assume) think of where it is. I tried every local area I could think of: Palgongsong, Yeongcheon, Airport, Esiapolis, Leports and nothing worked. He had no clue where we going. This took about ten minutes for us to mutually realize; but it took me the same amount of time to realize he was charging me for this!!! So, then I knew we were not leaving that cab since I now already owed him five bucks. Eventually he gets our school security guard on the phone who tells him where to go and we make it home 40 minutes later and another 20,000 won.
The next day, we were talking to a local coffee shop owner; we were telling him this story. He responds with, "Why did you just go to Manchondong? It's only two kilometers down the road." At that point I wanted to smash my head into a table in defeat. All of this for some fries and a cheeseburger:)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
What an interesting event
Today Amber and I went to our classrooms to do some work and then after spending 5 hours in the school building, we went across the street to the Lotte Mall to eat lunch. We went to the Lotteria, which as I have mentioned is Korean McDonalds. We are just sitting there eating and noticing how many Korean women either are pregnant or have recently just given birth (which is going to be a future post), when Amber starts laughing. I turn around and there are these three Korean people (a husband and wife and their 20-something daughter; their daughter has a short skirt on and heels which will become relevant later in this story). In order to understand this, I need to explain how the place is set up. The mall has a series of connected restaurants that they consider to be the food court. Lotteria and the place next door each have their own entrance to the outside area, plus they have a door that connects them... the door is a sliding door that is electronic and opens when you press the button. These three are on the Lotteria side of the door, so they came through the Lotteria main entrance and are trying to get next door... so they are facing the other restaurant and have their backs to us. They stood there for a good 2 minutes pressing the button and nothing happened. Instead of walking around the 10 feet to the main door, they continue to try to get the sliding door to open.
I had turned around once to see what Amber was laughing at and I too chuckled because it was funny watching them stand there. I then turned back around to take a drink and a good 30 seconds passed. I turned back around to the door to see if they were still there, and I am then greeted by this sight. I have turned around to see that the daughter with the skirt, had lifted up her skirt to the point that I can now see her butt and what underwear she has on. The girl essentially completely flashed me just so that she could itch her behind... I have never quite seen that before, but all I could do was say "dear god" and turn back around to my food... sometimes things like that happen here and the only thing that you can say is "only in Korea".
I had turned around once to see what Amber was laughing at and I too chuckled because it was funny watching them stand there. I then turned back around to take a drink and a good 30 seconds passed. I turned back around to the door to see if they were still there, and I am then greeted by this sight. I have turned around to see that the daughter with the skirt, had lifted up her skirt to the point that I can now see her butt and what underwear she has on. The girl essentially completely flashed me just so that she could itch her behind... I have never quite seen that before, but all I could do was say "dear god" and turn back around to my food... sometimes things like that happen here and the only thing that you can say is "only in Korea".
Our Chinese Food Trip
Last night we decided that we would attempt to get to an American Chinese restaurant that is in the city of Daegu. One of the problems with living in a large city like this one is that you need to rely on mass transit to get to different places and that can often take a decent amount of time. Amber and I decided to invite our friend and fellow teacher, Samantha, to accompany us on our trip. The trip started with us boarding the bus in order to get to the subway. The bus was super crowded and we had to stand up... at which point I informed Samantha (after she had begun to talk loudly on the bus) that it was not a good idea because it upset the Koreans (they don't like people talking loudly on the bus). We traveled along and finally got to the subway entrance. We boarded our subway and traveled along the way looking for the transfer station... where we were suppose to make a train shift. When we got to the transfer mark, we exited the station and began to walk around looking for the restaurant. Along our way, we found "dog alley" which is a row of pet shops that all sell dogs... I may have mentioned earlier that in Korea, they like making commercial areas sell all the same things, so you will see a pet shop alley, a cell phone alley, etc. The dogs were so incredibly cute, especially one of the miniature dogs that was wearing a tiny green vest. It was at this point we realized that there was no restaurant in sight... I then made the comment, I don't even see the bank... it was at that point that Amber realized we had gotten off at the wrong spot since we did not transfer trains.
We went back to the station, switched trains, and finally got to the right location. The next issue became trying to find this place. We walked in one direction and found nothing... so we decided to go the other way... still no place. Eventually we stopped for directions at a chicken place and found out where to go. Our directions were fine up until the point where it said to leave the station and walk 200 meters south... we neither had a tape measure or a compass, so we had issues figuring out which direction and distance that would be. After an hour and thirty minutes, we arrived at the restaurant only to find out that it was closed for the holiday... At this point we were so hungry that we tried to find a new place to eat at. I said "how about Japanese" and we stopped at the place only to realize that the place had no English menus, and that it was a Japanese restaurant with a Korean waitress who had no idea what the menus said because she did not read Japanese.
We finally settled on a Korean BBQ place and had a nice meal. On our way home we decided to stop for ice cream only to realize that place was closed too... it was one of those days, but we did have a fun time regardless of the issues.
We went back to the station, switched trains, and finally got to the right location. The next issue became trying to find this place. We walked in one direction and found nothing... so we decided to go the other way... still no place. Eventually we stopped for directions at a chicken place and found out where to go. Our directions were fine up until the point where it said to leave the station and walk 200 meters south... we neither had a tape measure or a compass, so we had issues figuring out which direction and distance that would be. After an hour and thirty minutes, we arrived at the restaurant only to find out that it was closed for the holiday... At this point we were so hungry that we tried to find a new place to eat at. I said "how about Japanese" and we stopped at the place only to realize that the place had no English menus, and that it was a Japanese restaurant with a Korean waitress who had no idea what the menus said because she did not read Japanese.
We finally settled on a Korean BBQ place and had a nice meal. On our way home we decided to stop for ice cream only to realize that place was closed too... it was one of those days, but we did have a fun time regardless of the issues.
Our Place
This one has been long overdue, but I have finally gotten a chance to write about our place here in Korea. While we are working in Korea, we will be living on the campus of DIS -- this makes life very easy. All of our meals are covered while here and it is great for work because we just have to walk a short distance, across campus, to our classroom buildings. Amber and I live on the fifth floor of the dorms, which is only occupied by married couples with our without children. Up here, we have two different rooms... we have our bedroom and we have another room that is set up as our living room. Our bedroom has a king size bed, a bathroom with glass shower, and a "balcony" which is a glass-enclosed area that is sealed off from elements and has sliding glass windows that can open up with screens... so we can have fresh air.
Our living room has a coffee table, a leather couch, a microwave, and a refrigerator. It also has the same bathroom and balcony set-up as in our bedroom. The living room is perfect for sports... especially for the NFL... which we now can watch because of the NFL gamepass. The room has all that you need, a fridge, a microwave, and its own bathroom which is perfect because they are all within close proximity to one another.
The campus is made up of the dorm building, the library, the gym, the kindergarten building, and the large school building. Dorm life here at DIS is very much like college life, and that is just fine for a pair of recent college grads trying to start a teaching career.
When you look at the pictures you might notice that Amber has all of her nail polish... all 35 bottles of it. Those bottles are arranged pretty much in a color-coordinated system and set in two nice lines.
Our living room has a coffee table, a leather couch, a microwave, and a refrigerator. It also has the same bathroom and balcony set-up as in our bedroom. The living room is perfect for sports... especially for the NFL... which we now can watch because of the NFL gamepass. The room has all that you need, a fridge, a microwave, and its own bathroom which is perfect because they are all within close proximity to one another.
The campus is made up of the dorm building, the library, the gym, the kindergarten building, and the large school building. Dorm life here at DIS is very much like college life, and that is just fine for a pair of recent college grads trying to start a teaching career.
When you look at the pictures you might notice that Amber has all of her nail polish... all 35 bottles of it. Those bottles are arranged pretty much in a color-coordinated system and set in two nice lines.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The Butterfly Museum
Today I accompanied the DIS science club up to the Daegu Butterfly Museum which is a short 10 minute or so walk from our school. The museum is located along side the giant lake near the school. The lake, which I took pictures of, has wake boarding, paddle-boats, a walking path around it, and various courts and sitting areas. It is nice and cool up there due to the breezes off the water and there is plenty to do... especially to see the butterfly museum.
The museum is in two piece. It has the actual museum area which has all kinds of butterflies that have died and have been put into stasis in glass cages. There were butterflies there that I had never seen before with some of the most amazing colors I have seen... some of them had markings like you would see on a tree, and others had these bright, bright blue wings that looked like they had been painted. I have seen some of the biggest bugs ever while I have been here in Korea, and these butterflies were no different... I was also able to take pictures of some of the other bugs that they had in the museum.
Once we had exhausted the tour of the "dead" bugs, we went to the other area that had live butterflies inside a green house. These butterflies floated and flew around you as you walked the rock path around the green house. The butterflies were really fun to watch and I managed to snap a couple of pictures of them when they landed on plants... I also took plenty of pictures of the flowers and plants within the greenhouse... that had some of the best colors that I had ever seen.
All in all, I had an excellent time tagging along on the science, after-school field trip. I felt like I took some amazing pictures and I am happy to know that I can go up there when I want and spend more time taking a look at the different species of butterflies here in Korea.
The museum is in two piece. It has the actual museum area which has all kinds of butterflies that have died and have been put into stasis in glass cages. There were butterflies there that I had never seen before with some of the most amazing colors I have seen... some of them had markings like you would see on a tree, and others had these bright, bright blue wings that looked like they had been painted. I have seen some of the biggest bugs ever while I have been here in Korea, and these butterflies were no different... I was also able to take pictures of some of the other bugs that they had in the museum.
Once we had exhausted the tour of the "dead" bugs, we went to the other area that had live butterflies inside a green house. These butterflies floated and flew around you as you walked the rock path around the green house. The butterflies were really fun to watch and I managed to snap a couple of pictures of them when they landed on plants... I also took plenty of pictures of the flowers and plants within the greenhouse... that had some of the best colors that I had ever seen.
All in all, I had an excellent time tagging along on the science, after-school field trip. I felt like I took some amazing pictures and I am happy to know that I can go up there when I want and spend more time taking a look at the different species of butterflies here in Korea.
IAAF World Track Championships
The IAAF World Track Championships were held in Daegu, Korea this year, and I was lucky enough to be able to attend them. We took a school trip to the Daegu Stadium (originally built for the World Cup) where the events were being held. The stadium is massive and very, very cool. It would be really amazing to see a soccer game in this stadium because of the closeness to the field and the massive screens that show you the field.
The day that we went, it was incredibly warm. The heat index, I was told, was 98 degrees and it was miserably humid out. I drank 2 water bottles, an energy drink, and my entire big water bottle that day... and I was still thirsty. Luckily, I did not get burned due to my neat little visor (see pictures) and the massive amount of suntan lotion I had on. We had excellent seats, almost on top of the field, and the area to our right was where the athletes would walk up in order to change and talk to the international press, so that was how I managed to get some great pictures of the athletes.
The day we went, we watched the women's javelin, the men's shot-put, the women's high jump, the men's long jump, and a plethora of races. It was also really cool to see the man they call "blade runner". He runs for Jamaica, and he has no legs below the knees... instead he has the running blades that he uses to race... I am amazed that he still competes like that and I couldn't help but to cheer. I was also able to see the runner, Caster Semenya, who has had disputes a couple of times due to her gender... she is considered a hermaphrodite, and some question her the legally of allowing her to race against women.
The last big event that day was when some of the South Korean team came and sat down only 2 seats away from where I was sitting. The ladies sitting there allowed me to take their pictures and even posed for them... which was really cool. All in all, aside from the heat, the trip was excellent and I am so glad that I was lucky enough to get to go and see the World Championships of track.
The day that we went, it was incredibly warm. The heat index, I was told, was 98 degrees and it was miserably humid out. I drank 2 water bottles, an energy drink, and my entire big water bottle that day... and I was still thirsty. Luckily, I did not get burned due to my neat little visor (see pictures) and the massive amount of suntan lotion I had on. We had excellent seats, almost on top of the field, and the area to our right was where the athletes would walk up in order to change and talk to the international press, so that was how I managed to get some great pictures of the athletes.
The day we went, we watched the women's javelin, the men's shot-put, the women's high jump, the men's long jump, and a plethora of races. It was also really cool to see the man they call "blade runner". He runs for Jamaica, and he has no legs below the knees... instead he has the running blades that he uses to race... I am amazed that he still competes like that and I couldn't help but to cheer. I was also able to see the runner, Caster Semenya, who has had disputes a couple of times due to her gender... she is considered a hermaphrodite, and some question her the legally of allowing her to race against women.
The last big event that day was when some of the South Korean team came and sat down only 2 seats away from where I was sitting. The ladies sitting there allowed me to take their pictures and even posed for them... which was really cool. All in all, aside from the heat, the trip was excellent and I am so glad that I was lucky enough to get to go and see the World Championships of track.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Korean Driving
Back at home in the States, people often complain about how people drive... it is almost a bodily function at this point -- if you ask someone how their day went you here, "well I went to work, and did this and that, and oh by the way I got stuck behind the worst driver ever". The other common thing is to blame an entire state for how they drive. Such things as, "New Yorkers can't drive" "people from Los Angeles are always in traffic" and then you get the "Massholes". I have not seen anything quite as unique as when I got to Korea.
In Korea, people will park ANYWHERE!!! If you're walking down the street, its not uncommon to see people just pull up on the sidewalk and park their car there. I saw a guy back all the way down a major street, in the "bike lane" and then pull onto a curb just to park there. People will park in the middle of an intersection or at the very least just stop randomly in the middle and choose not to move. Last night, on our way back from Pizza School, we saw this guy who was parked more than halfway in front of a side street, and he seemed to have no intention of moving. I have also seen people just back out into the major streets of traffic without looking.
The one other thing that is different, and the only place I have seen it done is in Atlantic City, is the streets are set up to only go in one direction. There are certain, designated places to make left turns on, and there are areas where you can make u-turns in order to go in the opposite direction.
My last little piece to my driving talk was actually a funny story. Amber and I were going to immigration for fingerprints, and we got into the cab to head to the office. When we got into the car, I noticed that the cab's gas light was on, and assumed that we would run out of gas before making it to immigration. Turns out we didn't run out of gas because the car was actually outfitted with natural gas or some other type of fuel and so the gaslight meant nothing... I didn't find that part out until days later, and spent the whole cab ride thinking... "if we run out of gas, do we have to pay for this ride"?
In Korea, people will park ANYWHERE!!! If you're walking down the street, its not uncommon to see people just pull up on the sidewalk and park their car there. I saw a guy back all the way down a major street, in the "bike lane" and then pull onto a curb just to park there. People will park in the middle of an intersection or at the very least just stop randomly in the middle and choose not to move. Last night, on our way back from Pizza School, we saw this guy who was parked more than halfway in front of a side street, and he seemed to have no intention of moving. I have also seen people just back out into the major streets of traffic without looking.
The one other thing that is different, and the only place I have seen it done is in Atlantic City, is the streets are set up to only go in one direction. There are certain, designated places to make left turns on, and there are areas where you can make u-turns in order to go in the opposite direction.
My last little piece to my driving talk was actually a funny story. Amber and I were going to immigration for fingerprints, and we got into the cab to head to the office. When we got into the car, I noticed that the cab's gas light was on, and assumed that we would run out of gas before making it to immigration. Turns out we didn't run out of gas because the car was actually outfitted with natural gas or some other type of fuel and so the gaslight meant nothing... I didn't find that part out until days later, and spent the whole cab ride thinking... "if we run out of gas, do we have to pay for this ride"?
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Korean Pop
I was recently introduced to Korean Pop the other day by Amber... and I have never seen anything like that in my life. I recognize that American music, bands, groups, and singers, all use sex to sell things... I also recognize that our everyday culture uses sex all the time to sell things (just look at Victoria Secret). But I have never quite seen anything until I came to Korea. In Korea, you will see scantily clad 20-somethings, dancing and singing to sell just about any product. I was watching tv one day and you had all these girls singing and dancing (all in Korean by the way) and I would have assumed it was for a club or a movie or something... no it was for a computer. You walk around the city and you see posters of a girl wearing low-rise jeans and a top (no bigger than a bra) and she is trying to see you a bottle of alcohol. The best, which I have not seen with my own eyes yet, is that the electronic stores hear use girls in mini-skirts, boots (like uggs), and leg warms to prance around outside during the winter to sell electronics and get people inside.
You might be wondering what this has to do with Korean Pop, or Kpop for short. I mention the above story, because these music videos are like watching Korean porn... if its a girl group, its a bunch (I am talking more than 7 in most cases) of girls (all dressed seductively) dancing around to music. In some cases, its like having 8 Britney Spears bouncing around the room. This is not exactly different than at home, but one thing that is different is that there really are no lead singers -- all the girls or guys take turns singing, and the video does not show one girl more than that others. The only way to describe it, beyond seeing it, is to picture the Spice Girls or Backstreet Boys, double their group sizes, and have them all sing.
(This is a picture of 2ne1, which is relatively small for a Kpop band)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISEoXdHb4W4&feature=fvst - Video of 2ne1
The Korean Sunset
The one interesting thing about Korea, so far, is that you do not often see the sun. When I say that you don't "see" it, I mean that you know the sun is up and shining, but that it is blocked by the heavy cloud cover or by the giant fog clouds that hang over the city and the hills that surround the school. I only mention this because I thought it was amazing to actually see the sun one day, and to see the sun set.
I mentioned that it was amazing to see the sun, and there's actually a story behind that. We were hear almost a week and it was either raining or cloudy or the sky was full of fog, so much so that you could only sense that the sun was there. We had recently eaten dinner at the Muffin Tree, the little coffee shop behind the school, and it had just poured a few minutes earlier. It was at that point when we were headed back to the dorms and I looked up and was like "holy crap, its the sun... its been a whole week since I have seen it". I have never quite had that feeling before, but it seemed so foreign to actually see the little yellow object floating in the sky.
That is why I started snapping photos of the sunset the other night. Amber and I were sitting in bed and I happened to look at our window shades and all you could see was the bright orange glow coming from behind them. I decided to open the windows and lean out of the balcony to snap some pictures of the sun and the surrounding areas. I must have stood out there for 15 minutes looking at how truly beautiful the sky was. I decided I would share those pictures with all of you... they claim that a picture is worth a thousand words, but I don't think any picture can adequately explain or show the true emotions of actually seeing it yourself... but enjoy.
I mentioned that it was amazing to see the sun, and there's actually a story behind that. We were hear almost a week and it was either raining or cloudy or the sky was full of fog, so much so that you could only sense that the sun was there. We had recently eaten dinner at the Muffin Tree, the little coffee shop behind the school, and it had just poured a few minutes earlier. It was at that point when we were headed back to the dorms and I looked up and was like "holy crap, its the sun... its been a whole week since I have seen it". I have never quite had that feeling before, but it seemed so foreign to actually see the little yellow object floating in the sky.
That is why I started snapping photos of the sunset the other night. Amber and I were sitting in bed and I happened to look at our window shades and all you could see was the bright orange glow coming from behind them. I decided to open the windows and lean out of the balcony to snap some pictures of the sun and the surrounding areas. I must have stood out there for 15 minutes looking at how truly beautiful the sky was. I decided I would share those pictures with all of you... they claim that a picture is worth a thousand words, but I don't think any picture can adequately explain or show the true emotions of actually seeing it yourself... but enjoy.
Our Sunday Walk
It was the final Sunday before the start of school, and Amber and I decided to take a walk around the area. We went with a fellow teacher, Liane, and walked the area close to the school. The plan was to go up to this monastery that is close by, but it turns out the the path we took didn't lead to the building... even though we could see it from where we were standing. In the process of looking for it, I did take some pictures that stood out to me. A couple pictures were of these cave like areas that looked like old ruins... too dark to traverse inside, we decided to just take pictures of them, and then move on. I also took some pictures of the little park area right near the school. The park has a couple of benches, some stone objects (as seen in the picture), and a little trickling brook that runs down the middle of it. When we were struggling to find the monastery, we stumbled upon a tiny farm that had rows and rows of red chilies, some of which were 5 or 6 inches long. I took a picture of them mostly because I was amazed by the size and the sheer amount of them being grown. I now know why most food here is so spicy, because they throw a ton of peppers into them.
The other photo I took was of the new apartment complex being built right near the school. The project started in May and they are nearly complete with the buildings... or so it seems. One thing to understand, is that Korean buildings go up really fast because they work 7 days a week and they work in teams... so you will see people working at all hours of the night. The picture is a testament to how fast they can constructed buildings here. The complex... coming from the architectural designs, looks like it is going to be a massive area of buildings, green trees, and water areas. I hope that construction is completed before I leave so that I can take pictures of the final situation.
The other photo I took was of the new apartment complex being built right near the school. The project started in May and they are nearly complete with the buildings... or so it seems. One thing to understand, is that Korean buildings go up really fast because they work 7 days a week and they work in teams... so you will see people working at all hours of the night. The picture is a testament to how fast they can constructed buildings here. The complex... coming from the architectural designs, looks like it is going to be a massive area of buildings, green trees, and water areas. I hope that construction is completed before I leave so that I can take pictures of the final situation.
First Days of School
So far, school has gone very well. I am getting re-acclimated to teaching and am getting use to teaching English (for the first time). I have really enjoyed my classes so far, and I am starting to enjoy teaching 6th and 7th grade students... something I have never done before-- the closest I have gotten is coaching kids in those grades. I do have to say that it has been a series of long days so far. Amber and I get up at 6am and usually do not get back to our room to 5:30 or 6pm because of working on school stuff and then eating dinner. I am definitely looking forward to the weekend. The one tough night is on Wednesday, because we have to do study hall duty and be up until 11pm. Normally that wouldn't be late, except, the other night I was asleep by 8pm... so 11pm is a stretch right now.
Teaching has really been no different than my experiences at Portland High. On Monday I begin teaching my after school class on American Popular Culture, so I am looking forward to that. I am very fortunate to be enjoying the teaching aspect, to really like my students, and to have found so many fellow teachers that I have become close to. I know that this should be an excellent year, and I look forward to all the long days in the classroom.
Teaching has really been no different than my experiences at Portland High. On Monday I begin teaching my after school class on American Popular Culture, so I am looking forward to that. I am very fortunate to be enjoying the teaching aspect, to really like my students, and to have found so many fellow teachers that I have become close to. I know that this should be an excellent year, and I look forward to all the long days in the classroom.
Monday, August 15, 2011
The Korean Market
My new adventure came on Saturday when Amber, Ryann, and myself went to one of the Korean outdoor markets. In order to get there from the school, we had to take a bus ride to the subway, and then take the subway to the market. The three of us walked from the school around the corner (pretty much) to the bus stop... the only problem was that the local Korean school behind our school just got out from weekend classes. The bus stop was packed with kids, and as a general rule, you just push your way onto the buses here in Korea. Our bus made a crowded NYC bus look empty. So many people were standing up and were on the bus, that the driver would stop at places to let people off, and scream "no room" to people waiting to board the bus.
Following our "sardine" bus trip, we departed to the subway. In Korea, the bus passes also work the subway, so we just scanned our cards and then got on the subway... the station is super clean and makes the NYC system look terrible. We rode the first train, I believe, about 7 or 8 stops, and then had to get off and transfer to another train... the system here is in the shape of a giant X, with the transfer stop in the middle.
We finally got off the subway, approached daylight again, and walked the streets to the market. It is very common here to see older ladies or men selling fruit, veggies, or other items right on the sidewalks. They had everything from nuts, to fruit, to veggies, to very fresh fish. At one point we passed a butcher shop that I could see the guys cutting the meat and you could see into their freezer and see the hanging hunks of cow, also known as a frozen meatsicle.
When we got to the market, we walked around, and went through the center "covered, inside market" to get to the center of the market, which is open air (it is hard to explain how its set up). We walked around the market in search of dried fruits and nuts for Amber's trail mix. On our way, we had a Korean "pancake" that was made of dough, cinnamon, and nuts. The thing was piping hot, and so tasty that i could have eaten 10 of them. The market was full of little shops, stands, and food that it was overwhelming at points. One of the more upsetting parts was when we saw the dogs and cats in cages... presumably for meat because some people eat it here and because they were housed next to the chickens. These were (see the picture) not ugly, ragged dogs but little puppies that looked like they should be in a pet shop. That really upset me, being a dog lover, and so we quickly went in a different direction.
We got to the dried fruit stand, and Amber bought some pineapple and nuts; Ryann also bought some fruit and nuts... I only say that because I did not buy anything, but asked instead if I could take a picture of this little stand area. The woman agreed, and then gave me a free, "gift" bag of peanuts -- this was no cheap, airline bag of nuts, but it was a good size. We could not decide if it was because she liked I took a picture or if she liked me and my appearance. In Korea, white men who are relatively thin are considered "very handsome" (I am not kidding) and its not uncommon for me to see people stare and smile at me or have people call me handsome. But either way, I got a free bag of peanuts out of it and enjoyed my time in the market, aside from the dogs.
I did chuckle when I noticed that they were selling a large dufflebag that had the NYPD logo and name on it.
Following our "sardine" bus trip, we departed to the subway. In Korea, the bus passes also work the subway, so we just scanned our cards and then got on the subway... the station is super clean and makes the NYC system look terrible. We rode the first train, I believe, about 7 or 8 stops, and then had to get off and transfer to another train... the system here is in the shape of a giant X, with the transfer stop in the middle.
We finally got off the subway, approached daylight again, and walked the streets to the market. It is very common here to see older ladies or men selling fruit, veggies, or other items right on the sidewalks. They had everything from nuts, to fruit, to veggies, to very fresh fish. At one point we passed a butcher shop that I could see the guys cutting the meat and you could see into their freezer and see the hanging hunks of cow, also known as a frozen meatsicle.
When we got to the market, we walked around, and went through the center "covered, inside market" to get to the center of the market, which is open air (it is hard to explain how its set up). We walked around the market in search of dried fruits and nuts for Amber's trail mix. On our way, we had a Korean "pancake" that was made of dough, cinnamon, and nuts. The thing was piping hot, and so tasty that i could have eaten 10 of them. The market was full of little shops, stands, and food that it was overwhelming at points. One of the more upsetting parts was when we saw the dogs and cats in cages... presumably for meat because some people eat it here and because they were housed next to the chickens. These were (see the picture) not ugly, ragged dogs but little puppies that looked like they should be in a pet shop. That really upset me, being a dog lover, and so we quickly went in a different direction.
We got to the dried fruit stand, and Amber bought some pineapple and nuts; Ryann also bought some fruit and nuts... I only say that because I did not buy anything, but asked instead if I could take a picture of this little stand area. The woman agreed, and then gave me a free, "gift" bag of peanuts -- this was no cheap, airline bag of nuts, but it was a good size. We could not decide if it was because she liked I took a picture or if she liked me and my appearance. In Korea, white men who are relatively thin are considered "very handsome" (I am not kidding) and its not uncommon for me to see people stare and smile at me or have people call me handsome. But either way, I got a free bag of peanuts out of it and enjoyed my time in the market, aside from the dogs.
I did chuckle when I noticed that they were selling a large dufflebag that had the NYPD logo and name on it.
Donghwasa Temple and Daegu Stadium
This post is a little late, but last Friday we went on a "new-teacher-field-trip" to the Donghwasa Temple and to the Daegu Stadium, which will be hosting the IAAF track championship. We hoped into the van with four other teachers, our headmaster, and Jack one of the office staff, who did all the driving. Our first stop was to the Temple which is located within a national park. We arrived at the Temple, parked the car, and then climbed the flights of granite stairs up to a flat area where the temple was located. The Temple was a large building (see attached photos) that had a symbol on it that resembled a swastika, but not tilted on its side. Our were allowed to go inside of the Temple, but not allowed to take any pictures... which made me sad because it was so beautiful inside. I called it the Korean version of the Sistine Chapel because the ceiling was all painted. They also had little statues, that looked like buddhas, with peoples names on it and a prayer... apparently you pay for that (just like how you could pay to have a roof tile placed with your name on it on top of the Temple). They also had a giant stone statue of a praying man along with some statues of a lion and a flower. We left there and went to a lower section which had more little prayer buildings along with a stone fountain that I took a drink from (with the help of Jack's instructions on how to do it).
Following the Temple, we drove down to the Daegu Stadium, which was used as the World Cup Soccer Stadium for the 2002 World Cup. It is now being used to host the IAAF Track Championships, so members of the world's Olympic teams will be coming to Daegu to compete. The stadium, I found, was very cool and amazing to look at and take pictures of. The building had all country flags around it and the inside reminded me a little bit of a baseball stadium. I made the comment that I could not imagine entering the stadium to the cheer of a crowd that big.
When we were finished walking around and inside the stadium we went to lunch at Outback. but since there was a 20 minute wait, we ventured into the Underground Mall, which I at first thought was a subway tunnel (because you only saw an escalator going down). The mail had plenty of shops and was really cool to walk around in... it was there where I took a picture of a poster with the backsides of two naked models... "only in Korea" could you see something like that. Outback in Korea has all the same foods, but they are just much more expensive... so a steak there was $33, compared to the $19.99 or less you would pay back in the States. The trip allowed us to explore the city, get to know some of our equally new faculty members, and have some good quality fun time.
Following the Temple, we drove down to the Daegu Stadium, which was used as the World Cup Soccer Stadium for the 2002 World Cup. It is now being used to host the IAAF Track Championships, so members of the world's Olympic teams will be coming to Daegu to compete. The stadium, I found, was very cool and amazing to look at and take pictures of. The building had all country flags around it and the inside reminded me a little bit of a baseball stadium. I made the comment that I could not imagine entering the stadium to the cheer of a crowd that big.
When we were finished walking around and inside the stadium we went to lunch at Outback. but since there was a 20 minute wait, we ventured into the Underground Mall, which I at first thought was a subway tunnel (because you only saw an escalator going down). The mail had plenty of shops and was really cool to walk around in... it was there where I took a picture of a poster with the backsides of two naked models... "only in Korea" could you see something like that. Outback in Korea has all the same foods, but they are just much more expensive... so a steak there was $33, compared to the $19.99 or less you would pay back in the States. The trip allowed us to explore the city, get to know some of our equally new faculty members, and have some good quality fun time.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Korean Physical part 2... the results
Like promised, we returned to Fatima Hospital on Friday to get our results. We wandered into the International Wing, and were told to wait until the doctor could see us. Amber went in and was done in two seconds... I was in there for closer to 5 minutes. When it was my turn, I sat down and the doctor asked how I was doing... he then pulled up my EKG document and proceeded to ask if I had any chest pain, any chest issues, or if I wore a pace-maker (interesting enough, I noticed that on the EKG results it said "possible pace-maker or reflection") I responded with, "no pain, and no I don't have a pace-maker. Why? Do I have some heart problems?". He looked again at the scan, then at me, then at my chest x-ray, and proceeded to tell me he thought it was a machine mistake and I was fine. We then had our documents prepared, stamped, and sent in for our alien card.
The most interesting part of the whole trip was how you pretty much heard everyone say, "looks fine, all set" at the end of every little doctor meetings. I assume I am healthy... at the very least, I am Korean healthy according to their doctors.
The most interesting part of the whole trip was how you pretty much heard everyone say, "looks fine, all set" at the end of every little doctor meetings. I assume I am healthy... at the very least, I am Korean healthy according to their doctors.
Korean Physical
As part of our employment here at DIS and to live in Korea, we needed to have a physical done in order to get our alien cards (or nice little ids that allow us to go to the doctors here). So we took a taxi to Fatima hospital, here in Daegu Korea, and headed for the International Wing (which is more like an office than a wing, but I digress). We waited in the office for roughly 30 minutes after having our height, weight, and blood pressure taken -- then, one by one, we went to see the international doctor, who was a very nice Korean doctor who spoke English. This meeting consisted of him asking if I had any pain, any physical issues, and then laying down so that he could listen to my heart, lungs, and check my internal organs.
Once we had all been "felt up", we went with our Korean-Student-Translators, who were students in the area that spoke both Korean and English, which was very very helpful. We attempted to go to the dentist office, but were told there would be a 20 minute wait, so we instead went to get blood draw and give a urine sample. Anyone who knows me knows I hate needles, so I had to look away and think happy thoughts while they took my blood. I then had the nice Korean nurse tell me (through a translator) that I had to pee in the "Hello Kitty" cup, up to the "Kitty's eyes". That is where I met the Korean squat pot, or modern hole in the ground that I had to pee over. Once I met the "kitty requirement", we were off to the EKG test, which was pretty normal, and then to the eye and ear doctors.
The ear doctor looked in both ears, asked if I had any pain, discharge, or ringing, and then told me I was all set. The eye doctor was a little more rigorous, which consisted of reading off numbers from the eye chart, getting air blown into my eyes from the machine, and then reading numbers out of a book to check for color-blindness.
We then returned to the dentist, which took me 30 seconds and consisted of listening too "you have a little plaque, brush harder, all set". Our final trip was to the chest x-ray area, where I stood against a machine with my shirt lifted,and waited the 2 seconds it took to take a picture. We then were told to come back in three days to get our results.
Once we had all been "felt up", we went with our Korean-Student-Translators, who were students in the area that spoke both Korean and English, which was very very helpful. We attempted to go to the dentist office, but were told there would be a 20 minute wait, so we instead went to get blood draw and give a urine sample. Anyone who knows me knows I hate needles, so I had to look away and think happy thoughts while they took my blood. I then had the nice Korean nurse tell me (through a translator) that I had to pee in the "Hello Kitty" cup, up to the "Kitty's eyes". That is where I met the Korean squat pot, or modern hole in the ground that I had to pee over. Once I met the "kitty requirement", we were off to the EKG test, which was pretty normal, and then to the eye and ear doctors.
The ear doctor looked in both ears, asked if I had any pain, discharge, or ringing, and then told me I was all set. The eye doctor was a little more rigorous, which consisted of reading off numbers from the eye chart, getting air blown into my eyes from the machine, and then reading numbers out of a book to check for color-blindness.
We then returned to the dentist, which took me 30 seconds and consisted of listening too "you have a little plaque, brush harder, all set". Our final trip was to the chest x-ray area, where I stood against a machine with my shirt lifted,and waited the 2 seconds it took to take a picture. We then were told to come back in three days to get our results.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Koreans and Major League Baseball
This is going to be a short post, but there is an funny thing that many Koreans will do in regards to American baseball. In the U.S. many people are obsessed with sports and religiously follow their sports teams. You have your Yankees fans and your Sox fans and every other MLB team has its followers. In Korea, they are also obsessed with baseball... in the few bars that I have gone to, the TVs all had Korean baseball on them. The Koreans also have a number of Major League Baseball stores where you can buy shirts, shoes, and hats with the team logos on them (for a nice $33 I can get a new Yankees hat). I do have to say that they have different, and more unique hats than we do have in Maine, so it was cool to see some of the different hats that I had never seen before.
My point of this whole thing, is that many Koreans will wear baseball hats and shirts not because they like the teams or the sport, but because they like the look of the items. I saw a girl yesterday wearing a Montreal Expos hat and thought to myself, I wonder if she knows they aren't a team anymore. I also saw the ultimate contradiction, which if I knew how to say "can I take your picture" I would do so, but I have seen two guys now (in separate locations) to be wearing a Red Sox hat, and a Yankees shirt... every time I see that I start to laugh and wonder if they know how that would not be tolerated in the United States.
The last thing in regards to the MLB is that the Koreans like to "support" teams that have Korean players on them. So when Chan Ho Park played for the Dodgers, everyone had Dodger clothing, and now you see a lot of Cleveland Indian stuff because Shin-Soo Choo plays for them and he's Korean.
Its just one of those different, cultural things than we see in America and its also funny to witness it and point it out.
My point of this whole thing, is that many Koreans will wear baseball hats and shirts not because they like the teams or the sport, but because they like the look of the items. I saw a girl yesterday wearing a Montreal Expos hat and thought to myself, I wonder if she knows they aren't a team anymore. I also saw the ultimate contradiction, which if I knew how to say "can I take your picture" I would do so, but I have seen two guys now (in separate locations) to be wearing a Red Sox hat, and a Yankees shirt... every time I see that I start to laugh and wonder if they know how that would not be tolerated in the United States.
The last thing in regards to the MLB is that the Koreans like to "support" teams that have Korean players on them. So when Chan Ho Park played for the Dodgers, everyone had Dodger clothing, and now you see a lot of Cleveland Indian stuff because Shin-Soo Choo plays for them and he's Korean.
Its just one of those different, cultural things than we see in America and its also funny to witness it and point it out.
My trip to Costco
Yesterday Amber and I went to Costco, which if you were wondering, yes we do have those in the U.S. and its pretty much just a giant wholesale club like BJ's or Sam's Club. Like many stores in Korea, they are on multiple levels connected by flat-ramp escalators that bring you and your cart to the next level... the neat thing is that your cart has magnets on it, which connect to the ramp so that it doesn't move and then when you reach the end, the lip of the escalator separates the magnets from the ramp. That was a really neat thing when I first saw it.
The items that Costco sells are pretty much the same as in the States except for one interesting thing that I saw. They had small, kid-like cookbooks that were geared for certain types of "name-brand" ingredients. So one of the books was all kinds of recipes for Land-o-Lakes butter; another was for Dole Pineapple; and a third one was Quaker Oatmeal. This was pretty neat, but was not as interesting as the food court area.
So to order food in the food court, you went to one window and ordered and paid for your food; the lady then gave you a receipt that you took to the next window where you got your food... in our case we ordered a pizza, brought the receipt over, and in less than 60 seconds got our pizza. This was the relatively normal part of the food court... the more interesting thing was that the area uses "real" silverware instead of plastic, and that they had large bins filled with onions. The bins had hand cranks and you would watch almost every Korean customer fill a plate full of onions and then cover it with ketchup, mustard, or both, and then sit there and eat it... so people would eat a full plate of only onions, mustard, and ketchup... I have never seen anything like that and it wasn't just a few people, it was most of them.
It was just something that was so odd, yet fascinating to watch. I wish that I had taken my camera.
The items that Costco sells are pretty much the same as in the States except for one interesting thing that I saw. They had small, kid-like cookbooks that were geared for certain types of "name-brand" ingredients. So one of the books was all kinds of recipes for Land-o-Lakes butter; another was for Dole Pineapple; and a third one was Quaker Oatmeal. This was pretty neat, but was not as interesting as the food court area.
So to order food in the food court, you went to one window and ordered and paid for your food; the lady then gave you a receipt that you took to the next window where you got your food... in our case we ordered a pizza, brought the receipt over, and in less than 60 seconds got our pizza. This was the relatively normal part of the food court... the more interesting thing was that the area uses "real" silverware instead of plastic, and that they had large bins filled with onions. The bins had hand cranks and you would watch almost every Korean customer fill a plate full of onions and then cover it with ketchup, mustard, or both, and then sit there and eat it... so people would eat a full plate of only onions, mustard, and ketchup... I have never seen anything like that and it wasn't just a few people, it was most of them.
It was just something that was so odd, yet fascinating to watch. I wish that I had taken my camera.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Part of Daegu and Korean Barbecue.
Last night we decided to walk around the section of Daegu near the school as we headed to eat dinner at a Korean barbecue place. The city area is very clean with plenty of neat little shops and restaurants (granted most of them are in Korean). One interesting thing about restaurants in Daegu is that they will have the store name and then a picture of an animal, which is meant to show what type of meat that is being served... in other words a sign with a pig means that pork is being served here.
(Food Sign)
I decided to take my camera with me and just take pictures of things here that I would find interesting, such as:
(Korean Gas Station)
(Korean Street Sign)
(very fresh garlic)
(Korean fire station and Korean post office)
(Korean Barbecue)
(A good old fashioned Coke bottle in both English and Korean)
(Food Sign)
I decided to take my camera with me and just take pictures of things here that I would find interesting, such as:
(Korean Gas Station)
(Korean Street Sign)
(very fresh garlic)
(Korean fire station and Korean post office)
(Korean Barbecue)
(A good old fashioned Coke bottle in both English and Korean)
The School In Pictures
Here are some of the pictures from the school and around the area.
Amber's Classroom
The Student lockers with electronic key-pads
The mountains around the school and "Korean Hollywood".
Its a very nice compound and scenic area around the school.
Amber's Classroom
The Student lockers with electronic key-pads
The mountains around the school and "Korean Hollywood".
Its a very nice compound and scenic area around the school.
Interesting Differences Between the U.S. and Korea
Traveling to another state to work is one thing, but traveling to another country puts things into perspective and really shows how different cultures are.
The most startling difference, coming from Maine, is the temperature. It is regularly in the 100s or near that with heavy humidity. It also, lately, has rained at least once a day for roughly 20 minutes.
One of the first things that you notice here is that Koreans do not heat or cool their hallways... so with the temperatures approaching and passing 100 degrees, you sweat doing anything... especially walking down the halls. Every room and classroom is air conditioned, but other than that you are "exposed to the elements". Another unique thing about Korean is that their doors open in both directions, so instead of the door saying pull, you could decide to pull it open or push it open... it all depends on what you want to do.
It is also interesting to walk around Daegu because there is not too much diversity here... with most of the people being Korean. So being a white American, people tend to stop and look at you or watch you as you walk around the city... in some cases, people look shocked to see a white person walking around. Having said that, there is no problem with that and people are all very kind and often say hello, nod, or smile at you as you walk around.
Korean also has really cheap cigarettes, to the tune of 2500 won, or roughly $2.50usd... and lots of people smoke here. Gasoline is sold in liters and not gallons (making it very expensive compared to the U.S.) and they have very interesting water fountains... you do not drink the tap water here, so the fountains have a regular mouth piece, but also include a hot and cold "tap" (like a sink) which you can fill things like water bottles up with.
Other things that are different is that construction here goes really quickly, mostly because they work 7 days a week, and its not uncommon to see people working on buildings at 4am or at 10pm.
Also, unlike most of the U.S., Korea relies a lot on mass transit. So its easy to take buses or cabs anywhere. We took a 30min cab ride downtown and it cost only $10.
I could go on and on about the differences, but I think everyone gets the point. The one obvious thing is that we are no longer in the States, so its important for us to respect the Korean culture and way of life -- if you do that, then people will respect you for it here.
The most startling difference, coming from Maine, is the temperature. It is regularly in the 100s or near that with heavy humidity. It also, lately, has rained at least once a day for roughly 20 minutes.
One of the first things that you notice here is that Koreans do not heat or cool their hallways... so with the temperatures approaching and passing 100 degrees, you sweat doing anything... especially walking down the halls. Every room and classroom is air conditioned, but other than that you are "exposed to the elements". Another unique thing about Korean is that their doors open in both directions, so instead of the door saying pull, you could decide to pull it open or push it open... it all depends on what you want to do.
It is also interesting to walk around Daegu because there is not too much diversity here... with most of the people being Korean. So being a white American, people tend to stop and look at you or watch you as you walk around the city... in some cases, people look shocked to see a white person walking around. Having said that, there is no problem with that and people are all very kind and often say hello, nod, or smile at you as you walk around.
Korean also has really cheap cigarettes, to the tune of 2500 won, or roughly $2.50usd... and lots of people smoke here. Gasoline is sold in liters and not gallons (making it very expensive compared to the U.S.) and they have very interesting water fountains... you do not drink the tap water here, so the fountains have a regular mouth piece, but also include a hot and cold "tap" (like a sink) which you can fill things like water bottles up with.
Other things that are different is that construction here goes really quickly, mostly because they work 7 days a week, and its not uncommon to see people working on buildings at 4am or at 10pm.
Also, unlike most of the U.S., Korea relies a lot on mass transit. So its easy to take buses or cabs anywhere. We took a 30min cab ride downtown and it cost only $10.
I could go on and on about the differences, but I think everyone gets the point. The one obvious thing is that we are no longer in the States, so its important for us to respect the Korean culture and way of life -- if you do that, then people will respect you for it here.
Traveling to Korea
So the adventure for Amber and I began on July 31st, 2011. Our family dropped us off at the Portland Airport and after some interesting events with airport security (they stopped one of our bags for "excessive liquids", because of nail polish, and then let it go)we waited for the plane. I had never flown, as an adult (only as a 2 year old kid) I was quite nervous about it all... in the end, I luckily did not throw up, but I sure felt like I would... The flight to Washington Dulles was not the greatest, but after that things went smooth.
We arrived at Dulles, and began to search for Korean Air (quite possibly the best airline in the world) only to get to the counter and be informed that we could not sit together because we did not arrive the necessary three hours early... mind you our plane from Maine only landed 20 minutes before this. In the end, the lady at Korean Air was very nice, and after some minor seat adjustments allowed us to sit together.
(Here is Amber sitting in Dulles)
and then there was the Fox News Store... which I could not help but take a picture of.
We had a rather short stop in Washington D.C. and then we boarded the plane for Seoul, South Korea. The flight attendants on Korean Air were excellent, we had a decent amount of space (nothing like first-class and their chairs that turn into beds) but it was nice. Every seat had its own TV which you could use to watch movies, shoes, play games, check flight information (like where the hell the plane was) and even listen to cds or the radio -- this helped make the 13.5 hour ride semi-enjoyable. I managed to watch "Unknown", "The Lincoln Lawyer", "Sucker Punch", and "Red Riding Hood" and still have 5 plus hours to go.
The food was very good, I even tried to traditional Korean lunch on the plane. They served us snacks, lunch, dinner, and some other foods. You could also buy things from the duty-free store, such as $2200 dollar bottles of boozes, jewelry, and perfumes.
We finally landed in Seoul and had to make it through customs and immigration in order to find our bags. We rather easily found the luggage, and made it to the new Korean Air Counter were we had to re-check our bags. That was easy except for security stopping both of Amber's bags because she had too many hair-sprays and we had to more them to other cases and then into her carry-on bag.
We had yet another lay-over, and then boarded the plane to Daegu. The flight only lasted roughly an hour and we got to our rooms at 9:30pm, the following day (in comparison to when we left.
We arrived at Dulles, and began to search for Korean Air (quite possibly the best airline in the world) only to get to the counter and be informed that we could not sit together because we did not arrive the necessary three hours early... mind you our plane from Maine only landed 20 minutes before this. In the end, the lady at Korean Air was very nice, and after some minor seat adjustments allowed us to sit together.
(Here is Amber sitting in Dulles)
and then there was the Fox News Store... which I could not help but take a picture of.
We had a rather short stop in Washington D.C. and then we boarded the plane for Seoul, South Korea. The flight attendants on Korean Air were excellent, we had a decent amount of space (nothing like first-class and their chairs that turn into beds) but it was nice. Every seat had its own TV which you could use to watch movies, shoes, play games, check flight information (like where the hell the plane was) and even listen to cds or the radio -- this helped make the 13.5 hour ride semi-enjoyable. I managed to watch "Unknown", "The Lincoln Lawyer", "Sucker Punch", and "Red Riding Hood" and still have 5 plus hours to go.
The food was very good, I even tried to traditional Korean lunch on the plane. They served us snacks, lunch, dinner, and some other foods. You could also buy things from the duty-free store, such as $2200 dollar bottles of boozes, jewelry, and perfumes.
We finally landed in Seoul and had to make it through customs and immigration in order to find our bags. We rather easily found the luggage, and made it to the new Korean Air Counter were we had to re-check our bags. That was easy except for security stopping both of Amber's bags because she had too many hair-sprays and we had to more them to other cases and then into her carry-on bag.
We had yet another lay-over, and then boarded the plane to Daegu. The flight only lasted roughly an hour and we got to our rooms at 9:30pm, the following day (in comparison to when we left.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
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