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.
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