i love you, now get married

I went to an amazing dinner this evening, with the staff from my smaller school.  It was a welcoming & goodbye dinner due to some staff changes (including myself).  It was absolutely wonderful.  Although, I couldn't understand 95% of what was being said, I could decipher the idea of what was being said and just immensily enjoyed the sparadic broken korean/english conversations. 

Soju is a staple at any event in Korea.  It is pretty much the liquid version of rice or kimsh'i.  To give you an idea of what soju looks & tastes like, think: 100x stronger than vodka.  Anyway, it is customary for the new person to pour soju for the principal (or any business leader), and then he will pour your soju, you clink your glasses.  And, well, let the drinking begin.  Interestingly the younger person turns away from the older person while drinking it, in a mannerism that looks like you are trying to conceal that you are drinking, is the best way I can describe it. The other rule of soju is that someone else always pours your soju for you and vice versa.   Anyway, it was such a wonderful dinner, with such wonderful food and wonderful company, and I truly felt priviledged to be included in this part of Korean culture.  "wonderful" and "amazing" are inadequate adjectives in this case, but my brain is on a bit of soju. 

My principal at this event got really drunk, and I was kind of impressed with myself that I was able to decipher 'slurring' korean from regular korean!  Of course, that should go without speaking that he was drunk, since multiple people were pouring soju for him and with him.  My principal has only spoken ONE sentence to me prior to this event, and you should be impressed, I am now up to a whopping 4 sentences AND he even sang about 4 lines of a korean song to me and made someone translate.  He was a pretty good singer and that is no joke!

Dear Dan: Please skip the next paragraph.



SO:  My first day of school his only question for me was, "Are you married".  That was it.  Nothing more.  My response was "not yet".  Tonight when I was pouring his soju for him he says, "I hope you get married soon", that was it! I said, "yes, me too".    Then, after he had about 15 more shots of soju he comes over and says, "I Love you".   Then, proceeded to sing me a song, through rough translation that goes something like, "i was in love with you and that was 20 years ago, and can no longer be, because I am with someone else".  Then when we were leaving he said his forth sentence which was, "I love you too".  In the midst of all this talk about marriage they all wanted to know why I haven't been proposed marriage to and "does he want to marry you?"  But just to complete the picture, my principal is close to 70 years old.

Anyway, the dinner lasted about 3 hours and that was just getting warmed up!  They all then went out after for more soju and probably karoke.  I was so tired, and with the way that these men were getting drunker and drunker and really pushing the soju, I knew it was probably dangerous to stay out longer (also it is only Wednesday night!!) and I have to work tomorrow.   In Korea, it is perfectly okay to get sloppy drunk with your coworkers, superiors and everyone else.  Whatever is said and/or seen stays there and in no way will they take it back to work.  In the US if you got really drunk and got a little mouthy with your boss, it would effect your job on some level, but not here. 

There were about 20 of us in this room.  Those metal things are where you cook the meat and veggies yourself.  Their specialty was duck.

Here is a picture of the spread.  Beautiful isn't it?  It was so delicious.

carnival pictures

Ulsan Beach has a lot of these incredibly old carnival games and rides.  Just stuff you really don't see around much these days.  There are booths set up along for punching bag games and sledge hammer games.  Most of it is incredibly old and rusting, but adds so much character to the area.  Anyway, please enjoy a couple of photos of these games and another You Tube video, so you can also hear the music.

YouTube:      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01XA13L5M8E

my munchkin apartment....

the palace

my iddy, bitty kitchen....

my iddy bitty bed.....

my iddy bitty table....

Of course, you know that these photos are completely staged.  My junk is shifted from one side of the room to the other to give the appearance of cleanliness.  It is surprisingly difficult to keep a small space clean!  I love it though.  Aside from the odd smell that occasionally dominates, it is not too shabby.  It is quickly becoming my sanctuary.

of course now there is you tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps4qf-EZPBA

I took this video today, messing around on my camera.  Please excuse the poor quality.  Rest assured, the camera man was let go! I just purchased my camera last night, and since the directions are in Korean, I am still learning it's functions by hit & miss.  That aside, thought this would give a pretty good taste of the area.  This is in the market that is just around the corner from me.  It is great, because no matter how much I describe things, I just can't quite give my surroundings the right words to really get what I am seeing, hearing, smelling & tasting across.  Please notice the motorcycle with one small child sitting in front and another one behind the driver w/ no helmets on.  I tell you it makes me crazy!

enjoy.....

some photos

This is the street that has the hairspray/sock store!

Just a neat sign.  It looks like an arrow, but there was nothing significant it was pointing to.

One of many seemingly random gardens, that are spattered between buildings.

Just a neat view from a hilltop.

Outside my school.

Not really sure why I took this photo.  :)

More of those random gardens.

Outside my school.

big fruit, small coffee & who am i to not mention traffic, again?

Today I saw a Korean kid (maybe 19 or 20) wearing a shirt that read, "UP YOURS".  It was kind of enduring in a weird way.  He looked like such a nice kid too, so his shirt really was not doing him any favors.  If there was a kid in the states wearing a shirt like that, you know he would probably be a complete hellion, trouble maker, so I am unsure why I find a Korean kid wearing it to be kind of adorable.  Part of me wonders if he knew what his shirt meant, or if he thought it was just a neat looking shirt.  Kind of like American kids getting Chinese symbol tattoos, that they think say something like, "love prevails" but it really says, "you stink".

In Korea, you can only buy bananas by the stalk.  None of this mamby-pamby stuff, of breaking it down to 3, 4 or 6 bananas.  If you want bananas here, you are buying 20.   Same with strawberries.  They don't come in those small containers that I am used to, with maybe 8-15.  Here they come in containers of about 30 or 40!  Even at the street vendor stands, you can't purchase these items in "normal" quantities.  I don't know why yet.  Tomorrow I am going to the Korean girl's coffee shop, so I will try to get the skinny on the mass quantities of fruit.

Oppositely so, beverages here are very tiny.  When my coteachers gives me a cup of coffee, it is about 2 tablespoons worth.  Even if they are using a normal sized coffee cup, it is only filled up less than half way.  What gets me is that the choice coffee here, is this individual instant pack stuff that is full of both sugar and cream.  It has to have at least a tablespoon of sugar alone in it, so when you get 2 tablespoons of water, to one tablespoon of coffee, to one tablespoon of sugar---well you can imagine how pleasant it is!   I started bringing my own coffee cup to one of my schools, because the coffee they serve is in these small little paper cups (the kind a dentist might give you to rinse), and then I take it to my desk and dump it in a normal sized coffee cup and top it off with water.

Now back to the traffic:  I saw my first motorcycle wreck yesterday.  It literally happened in the exact intersection that I had crossed over, less than 30 seconds prior.  At first, I thought it was a trash cart that people pull around here, because all this 'trash' went flying, but as it turned out it was motorcycle parts.  Fortunately he was wearing a helmet and he was alive, because he was moving his upper body.  I am sure one of his legs broke though, because it looked like the bike smashed one of them and had it pinned pretty good.  It was really scary to witness though, and unfortunately I don't think it will be the last. 

Today I experienced what they call "dynamic korea".  I went to school and my classes were cancelled.  But I didn't know they were not going to happen, until nobody showed up.  So today was officially "desk warming".  I sat in my classroom without talking to a soul for 8 hours straight.  It was not fun at all.  Nobody knew why my coteacher or the students did not come to class, or at least they weren't able to communicate with me, which I am sure is what happened.  I had to double check my schedule a few times to make sure I was supposed to be at this particular school today, as I started getting worried that I had my days mixed up.

This weekend I am buying a camera!!   I am stupidly excited.  I will start posting pictures of my neighborhood and everything else very soon.

the rules of the road: "we dont' need no stinkin' rules"

I went to a dinner party at a couple from New Zealand's apartment.  All the guests were American, which turned out to be approximately 15.  It was sooooooo refreshing to be in a room full of what I know to be "normal".  It was pot luck style with only western food.  It was heaven.  Although I love Korean food dearly, I welcomed the seaweed & rice free meal.  It was also nice being in a room full of people that I could not only understand, but also read all the body language without question.  Does that make sense?  I think being in another culture, it is a double wammy of not being able to speak or understand the language, but also being constantly confused by body language.  I don't think I ever realized how dependant I was on body language until I was completely immersed in this culture.  I know a lot of you are far more well travelled then I am, but it is kind of an epiphany for me.

Anyway, back to the dinner party:  There was a girl who walked in and said, in an exasperated tone, "So get this, I was hit by a car AGAIN today!".  Which, my first question was, "AGAIN??"  I have met more people who have been hit by cars in Korea.  In fact, I have only heard of one or two people in my life, ever being hit by cars, prior to coming to Korea.  Initially I was surprised that so many people here have been hit by cars, but after experiencing the real Korea for a few weeks now, I am now surprised that more people are not hit by cars.  My biggest goal for my stay in Korea is to NOT get hit by a car.  I know my goal should be something like, "educate and touch the lives of the children", but nope, not mine.  It is to safely cross the street.

Another reason I don't want to get hit by a car here is because when you do get hit by one, depending on the severity of the situation one of two things will happen:  If you are conscious, and don't appear to be mortally bleeding, they will simply stop, make sure you're not dead or dying and then drive off.  Two:  if your case is a little more severe, they might pick you up, possibly causing you more injury, throw you in their vehicle and drop you off at the hospital (which is better, I guess, than taking you somewhere to hide the evidence).  I suppose the gesture is nice, but I for one, would rather have trained medical professional move my dying body off the street and transport me to the hospital. 

My current favorite activity in Korea is to sit in coffee shops and watch what is going on outside.  It is the perfect alone activity, while enjoying a GOOD cup of coffee and not the instant stuff I am drinking at home.  I am such a coffee snob now, that I even turn my nose up at my home brew.    The other day I was in one of these shops at a busy intersection.  I saw 2 motorcycles drive by w/ 2 passengers.  One was a dad, who had a helmet on, with 1 child of about 3 years in front of him and a child of about 7 behind him (both w/out helmets).  There was another with 3 teenage boys, all without helmets.   There are tons of scooters & motorcycles here and not surprisingly so, a high amount of motorcycle death & injuries.  At this particular intersection, as with most intersections in Korea, it does not matter who has the STOP sign or the YIELD sign.  What matters is who is aggressive enough to nose out into traffic first, causing everyone else to stop.  Those are pretty much the rules of the road.  It even applies to red lights on occasion.  It is madness here.  Okay, I will stop blogging about the traffic here.  I am just shocked on a daily basis.

Oh wait, I have one more thing to say:  On facebook, one of my "friends" posted today, "No, it does not make me feel better that my Taxi driver is watching T.V."  I died laughing, because the night my taxi was going 140 in a 65, he was watching T.V. too.  It was awful.  But, that just adds one more element of excitement to it all (personally not my flavor of excitement).  Now, I will stop.

The boys here like to beat the crap out of each other.  They are constantly practicing Taekwondo and knife fighting.  We were forewarned that we would be taking away more razor blades than we ever imagined.  And, I didn't believe it, but it is true.  These kids whip out razor blades on each other to practice their knife fighting skills.  What gets me about this behavior, in typical kid fashion, is that they are surprised that someone got hurt.  Seriously????  How did you not think kicking someone in the face w/ your foot would NOT give them a black eye?   Today, one kid was on the ground with a massive bloody nose due to the effects of taekwondo, with blood pouring all over his pants & the floor.  My co-teacher just shrugged her shoulders, like it was no big deal.  I guess she is a little more used to this behavior then I am.

hello and, um hello again (just in case i missed you the first time)

Today after work, in between buses, I decided to stop into this little coffee shop that I have been walking past the last couple of weeks.  Figured since it was right at the peak of rush hour, and chances are any bus i would get on, I would be packed in like a sardine. It was so lovely inside, with Nora Jones playing the background (and I will refrain from getting sentimental about how Nora Jones reminds of Dan, and kind of makes me sad), but anyway, I asked for a coffee, but they didn't serve drip coffee, so I then decided on a Latte.  It was kind of cute, but she said they didn't have lattes but then asked if a "cafe latte" was okay.  I affirmed that a cafe latte was just fine.  Anyway, I was just sitting there watching the world go by and about 15 minutes in, the girl behind the counter asked if I liked it.  I told her it was the best cafe latte I have ever had.  (I KNOW I say that whatever I am having at the moment is the best I have ever had, but this one really was true.  It was amazing.)  She then told me that was the first one that she has ever made.  I was really surprised by that, and told her that she has natural talent for it.

We then started talking for about an hour about Korea, travelling, and everything in between. It was wonderful because I asked her some questions that I have been curious about.  For one, you don't have to wear socks all the time, like I thought!  How happy am I? Well, kind of sad too, because I didn't pack ANY of my sandals.   I also found out that I have been saying "hello" when I walk into a store and "hello" when I leave a store!  (Oooooops!).  To say hello it is, "Anneyong Haseyo" to say Goodbye it is, "anneyong he Kaseyo".  I also asked if I could practice a few Korean phrases on her to see if she could understand me, and to my delight she could.  I guess "phrases" is stretching it a bit, but I can say:   right, left, go straight, stop right here please, take me here please, hello, goodbye, nice to meet you and thank you. 

They want to practice their English, so I told her that we can make a deal that when I come in, I will teach them a few new English phrases in exchange for them teaching me a few new Korean phrases.  I am only at this bus stop 3 times a week, so I am going to make it a point to go in there once or twice a week after work.

I was also at a bus stop earlier today and this woman was trying to talk to me.  I sheepishly shrugged and pointed to my ears, trying to say that i don't understand.  Anyway, she kept talking louder and louder and slower to me.  In a way it was kind of comical, but it also started getting a little uncomfortable after about 10 minutes of it.  I felt bad that I didn't understand, and was really wanting that bus to hurry up and get there.

When I go to that coffee shop next week, a good phrase to learn is, "I'm sorry, but I don't speak Korean".  I have been approached on numerous occasions with the slow & loud talk, so it would be nice to be able to say something back, rather then pointing at my ears.

Speaking of loud talking, I stopped in the grocery store after the coffee shop and I was down the spice aisle and walked past this flustered Scottish woman trying to find chicken bouillon cubes.  It was kind of funny really, because she is holding up some chicken breasts, shaking the package at the clerk and saying "CUBE" "SQUARE" incredibly loud to her.  The store clerks had the look in their eyes that I had at the bus stop earlier.  I stopped and asked if she was looking for chicken bouillion, because ironically enough, it was on my shopping list.  I told her where it was and the store clerks were very thankful for the rescue on that.  I can't imagine what the clerks thought she was trying to say and wondering why she is shaking her chicken at them like that.  Anyway, that woman had only been in Korea for about 5 days, so I could sympathize with the deer in the headlights, frantic, oh my god I am in Korean look.  I am actually glad that I am no longer in that phase---the initial freak out phase.  I am still clueless most of the time, but my bearings are getting somewhat straight and I am able to walk into more and more situations with a bit more confidence than I was that first couple of weeks.

I say "hello" about 300 times a day (literally) in a relatively short period of time.  Not the Anneyong Haseyo version either.  At school when I walk anywhere there are waves upon waves of little "hellos" coming at me from all directions.  It is really cute.  I try to make all my Hellos sound like it was not the 100th time I just said hello in the last 50 feets.  Again, I was forwarned that "hello" is probably the only word most of them know, so they LOVE to practice on me all day long.  Some of them will throw in a "hi" for good measure too.  Also if you ask any Korean kid how they are doing, they will always give you a blanket, robotic answer of, "I am fine".  I am trying to change that up in class a bit, and give them other options, but for now, they are all fine.

on the good

I am certain I mentioned that I LOVE my neighborhood before, but I can't resist mentioning it again:  I LOVE my neighborhood.  It is great, because there are so many twists and turns and pockets of interesting all around me.  On my walk home from school, I will take a different route each time, just to see where i will end up.  There are endless curvy streets, full of all sorts of shops and stands.  There was a store that I passed that sells, and I kid you not, socks & hairspray & lotion.  That was it.  Life's essentials.  There are also numerous stands selling all kinds of vegetables, from some sort of lettuce that tastes like butter lettuce, but it is not the butter lettuce I am used to.  It is more of a cross between spinach and lettuce I guess.  Anyway,  other stands sell leeks, onions in every variety, turnips, carrots and everything else that is in season.

It is just something I am not used to.  Being able to walk about a block over and have an endless supply of small little stores.  It makes shopping such a unique excursion...such a pleasant excursion.  It is so vastly different from going to the MEGA Marts a few miles away, to where shopping becomes this 'errand' that you have to get done.  It is so much more leisure for me now.  That on my way home I can meander into a small mom and pop shop to get a staple or two and the whole process was about 2 minutes, and then I am back on my path.  Just a very different experience and puts you in a very different frame of mind.  I can't wait until I get visitors, so I can show them around.

Random thought: At school, in the women's bathroom, the toilets are those squat toilets.....that are shaped like slippers.  It is like camping, but you're doing it in your nice work clothes.  It can be a little dangerous.  :)
Yes, I just blogged about toilets.  Sorry.

The English language is a challenge.  I have been dissecting my language so intently for a few weeks now, that I am starting to get confused by it.  I want to say, "JUST CUZ" to so many questions.  I don't know why there is a "their, they're and there" "where" & "wear".  The answer is "just cuz".  What about "watch" & "watch" or "hear" & "here" or "hair" & "hare".  Why are there words that are used as nouns AND verbs?  Why is "i before e, except after c" a rule, but it is not always a rule? It is only a rule, most of the time?  Don't worry, I don't say, "just cuz" to any of the questions, but I think it.  And if I was to say it, I would say, "The answer is just because" since we are trying to teach them to use complete sentences, and well, "cuz" is not really a word.  :)

One thing I am grateful for is, that I already know this language.  I would truly hate to learn it, with all of its obscure intricacies.  I guess I should also be grateful that someone is willing to set me up in their country with a great little apartment & give me a job with all expenses paid because I have, in endless supply, something that they want.  In some ways I feel fortunate that I am a native speaker of a language that so many people want to learn, and will pay you well for some of the knowledge.

 

tid bits

For the record:  I have NO idea how to make my blog settings change to English.  I have tried multiple times, but alas, I have had zero luck.  I am going to start taking Korean classes, so I will hopefully be able to translate the page.

Learning random bits of information about Korean Culture as I go along.  For instance, you eat your rice with a spoon, not chopsticks (I was corrected).  Your rice should be at your left and your soup at your right (I was corrected).  Koreans use metal chopsticks, not wooden ones like China & Japan.  I noticed that they use metal chopsticks, but I just assumed it was cafeteria specific, which is where I have been eating 98% of my meals thus far.

I need to now talk more about the bus drivers.  I swear these people are on a mission to make your life miserable.  Today, I was not even up the steps before he put pedal to the medal, making me almost lose balance, tripping to the back of the bus (was quite the sight).  I then frantically found an "oh sh**" handle and nearly dislocated my shoulder in the process.  Then when I went to step off the bus, I twisted my knee, because he started driving before my other foot was off the step.  Fortunately this is not behavior that is geared towards foreigner's, because in the bus world, we are all the same color, young and old alike.  I have started viewing this intense, aggressive driving as some sort of outlet for a culture that is otherwise so nice & accommodating in every other situation.

So today was a much better day of teaching then the past few days.  Yesterday was very intense and I thought I was about to lose my mind.  Today, I rearranged the room a bit to make it flow nicer and then separated the boys out by placing them in between the girls.  I hate to punish the girls, because they are all very good and respectful, but unfortunately you put 2 elementary boys together who really have no interest, like or respect for me---well, you can imagine how crazy the class was.  One of my classes didn't show up today, and, well, to be honest, I was grateful.  I decided not to inquire about it, just in case (that sounds awful, I know).

In conclusion:  Tomorrow is Friday.  I am so relieved!  I am going to sleep in on Saturday, relax and then start the new week fresh. 

Goodbye for now!

ohhhh school....

So it has been a an eye opening week.  Or maybe a confusing, eye-crossing week is more like it.  I just show up at school, and I just hope I am in the right place at the right time.  Having a bit of a hiccup with the start of school, trying to connect to the children.  Right now, aside from the few super sweet kids, have not had much luck.  One week under my belt--hope things start looking up!

On the plus side in my personal life, I finally have internet in my apt.  I officially have a "green card" and aside from hearing Cheech & Chong in my head whenever I say "green card", it has proven to be incredibly liberating.