Krista's Adventures

What a great holiday! It is the Korean Thanksgiving.... Here is a little bit about the holiday taken from Wikipedia.com



"On Chuseok there is a mass exodus of Koreans returning to their hometowns, since hometowns are not only where one was born and raised, but where the spirits of one's ancestors are enshrined. People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning. They often visit the tombs of immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors. Harvest crops are attributed to the blessing of ancestors, and Chuseok offers Koreans a unique opportunity to refresh their memory and gratitude to their ancestors. "



We got the 22-26 off, so a couple of teachers and I took the opportunity to go visit the southern tip of Korea named Busan. Here is what happened (taken straight from my journal).



9/22- Despite forecasting loads of traffic, we managed to get to Busan in a timely manner. When we first arrived we were all starving and tired. So, we got a hotel, dropped our stuff off and I ate some Dulsot Beebimbop and a mocha. We then went to "Texas Street." Despite the name, it was all Russian and Chinese shops. A lot of people thought we were Russian. Then we went back to the hotel to get ready for our big night out! The first bar was very fancy. It had red, velvet curtains that enclosed a very nice booth. Then we headed to a bar called Crossroads. This was more of my style of bar. It had 2 guys singing guitars, a harmonica and a kazoo :) They had really amazing B-52 shots. Next bar was Soul Train. We danced to a punk band and after that was over there was a DJ. Last bar was The Basement that was run by a New Yorker! His very young girlfriend is Thai and gave me her info for a vacation spot hook-up! (If anyone wants to meet me in Thailand the beginning of May 2008, let me know!) Being the old lady that I am, I went home earlier then the other ladies (around 2:30 am). Walking the couple of blocks by myself, I made a really mean face and held a pen in my hand just incase of funny business. That was the end of the first day.

9/23- This morning I had the BEST sandwich that I have had in Korea. MMMM turkey (I think), swiss, caramelized onions... heaven :) We traveled to the cultural center where we were pleasantly surprised by a student art exhibit. There were some amazing pieces. After art and coffee, we went to a northern city where we found a love motel. There were condoms dispensers and porn in the hallway! We then traveled to the Botanic Gardens. It was so beautiful! (for pics, check myspace). Very fittingly, we ended the day at the biggest Jimjillbong in Asia. It was HUGE and full of women of all ages. I feel that the people here stare less than in Seoul. The best part of the Jimjillbong was the outdoor section. There was a rose bath at a nice temperature and it was raining!

9/24- Today we woke up and went to the temple Beomeo-Sa. It was rainy and made the experience better. We walked around and did some bows. I didn't quite know the history and why I was bowing, so I stopped. I felt disrespectful to the religion. (Upon asking Buddhists, they said that it is a form of meditation and you are not necessarily supposed to be doing prayers). Afterward, we headed to Haeundae beach for a ferry tour of the coast. In the information packet, it said we will have uncontrollable joy and that we did!

9/25- This was my favorite day, despite the really rough start! I convinced everyone that it would make more sense to take our stuff out of the lockers at the current station and put them in the Beomeo-Sa station (where the temple hike is). Then, when we got there there were no lockers. Luckily there were nice workers that let us store our stuff! Then we couldn't find anything for breakfast (since it was Chuseok Day). But we eventually found it and it was an amazing hike. There were a bunch of large rocks with water streaming through them. We found the fortress entrance, hiked beyond a little bit, and tried to find small villages. My favorite part of that hike was stopping and putting our feet in the water. It reminded me of CO. On the way down Sandy got roasted Chestnuts. They are very yummy and meaty nuts! Also, that brings so much more meaning to the Christmas song :) Then we headed to Gwangalli Beach, where we got a beachfront motel. It was so amazing. I LOVE the beach. If I would ever come back to Korea (probably not though), I'd come here! At 1 am, when I couldn't sleep, I just sat on the beach until I was tired again :)

9/26- Back to life... back to reality! The bus ride took about 7 hours to get home (2 more than projected)!

Oh man, what a fantastic vacation. I learned that a little prep time to a vacation could make a huge difference in the quality. I will start roughly planning my trips before rather than winging them :) Also, I have been here 5 months now. 7 more and then CO microbrews!

Well I hope you guys are well and thanks for stopping by :) Lots of love! XOXO ~k

Hello All!

Sorry this blog has been neglected over these last two months! I have been really sick and busy for 7 weeks now. We had something called intensives all last month. Usually I have a little over two hours of break during the day. For all of last month, I have only one half hour break during the day and taught about two extra classes per day!On top of that, over the last seven weeks I have had bronchitis, sinusitis, pink eye three times AND an ear infection! It took three different doctors and three different medications to finally start making me get healthy again! BUT THANK GOD, I feel human again and I have breaks during the day again! With taking about three sick days off last week, I still managed to get overtime!

My apartment is amazing! It is really great to be able to get away from the school that I work at. Also, living out of the school I am forced to make it outside during the day! I really value my time away from the school and also enjoy my time at school more!

I feel so grateful that I met Henry! He has been so awesome during this last month (well awesome the whole time, but especially during this time)! I think I would have resorted to going home early if it wasn't for him!

Oh, I got hamsters to ease my want of a pet! One is named Lovely Nabi (butterfly) and one is named Ping Pong Pang (named by my students and Henry)! They are fun to have! I used to have to put a chopstick in their wheel during the night, but I just got a new and quiet wheel so they can work out.

The new pictures were from a traditional Korean Etiquette School. I sat in on the boys lesson. They were so naughty. While the teacher was speaking the boys were burping at each other from across the room. Then they started to full body cough (obviously on purpose) from across the room from each other. It was pretty entertaining. The teacher got a little peeved!

Okay, well not too much happened last month, seeing as I was in bed most of the time if I was not at school! Hopefully I can give more interesting blogs in the months to come :) Also, snowboarding is on the way!! Yey!

Hope you guys are all rocking the free world!

Krista

 

 

I am FINALLY updating my blog :) Last month was a big month! A lot happened! 

Well, As you can probably tell by my lack of writing, there has not been too much going on this last month. I am really in a routine here, which is nice! 

WHAT?!? I have been here for 5 weeks already? Time is flying and i only have a month under my belt :)

 Well, this week has been all about the culture lessons for me. It started off when Henry and I went to a corner store. The cashier is always SO nice and i tried to further our conversation through Henry (who speaks korean). I asked Henry how to say "how are you?" I got the weirdest look from this lady after I had asked her. So afterward, I find out that you ask "how are you?" when someone has had questionable health. It is apparently rude to ask if they are not sick haha! So, later in the week I went to my language swap with my friend Stella (she teaches me korean and I teach her english). We were talking about asking "how are you?" and she reminded me of when I first got here. She asked me "have you had lunch today?" I responded, "no, do you want to go get some?" She said "no, i ate thank you?" Apparently, the Korean equivalent to "how are you?" is to ask about the previous meal! She expected a yes/no answer and got more then she expected :)  Lastly, I have been complimented a few times here on my eye color (because it is VERY rare here, pretty much only foreigners have them). I have always responded with "kamsamneeda" or 'thank you' and got on with whatever I was doing. I guess it is rude to accept a compliment here. You are supposed to say, "no, you are beautiful." If you just accept it, it is being conceited haha! All good culture lessons to know for future reference!

 Well, I had a lil adventure tonight. I went up to the Army base near the DMZ to check out Henry's pad. Unfornuately, I got to the subway too late and got on a train that was going NO WHERE near where I live. I would take a cab, but I am 2 hours away!!! So, right now, I am in a random city at a PC Cafe because they are cheap and open all night! It is not so bad though, if I ever get in a similar situation, I am definitely doing this again :)

 This week, I have been practicing my Hangul (Korean). It actually has been so useful to know! I went to baskin robbins and was eyeing this green tea banana ice cream on the board outside. Then, when I walked in there were little table centers with the same ice cream on it. Since I don't speak korean, I was going to use that to show them what i wanted. Luckily, I was able to read the korean and found out it was a melon ice cream.... :) YEY knowing to read! THen I got a subway map that is only in korean... again good to know how to read!

 Fabulous buy of the week... A tee shirt that says "Rough or Soft. Sexury party." Haha the shirts here kill me :) Love and miss you all.  Please e-mail me and keep me updated! Ahh.... Adventures in Korea

Well Hello Again!!! Man what a great last week! We went to a place called Sokcho that is just a little south of the DMZ (demilitarized zone). It is a beach resort and was about a 4 hour bus ride there. The bus ride was super comfy and i had great company! The 'we' is referring to me, Emily, Henry, and Alicia. 

Well hello again.... only a week has passed so I wont have nearly as much to say! 

     I have officially been here for two weeks and FINALLY I feel like I am in a foreign country! When I got here, a combination of only hanging with English speakers, McDonalds and KFCs made me feel like I was still at home. But with time I have had experiences that let me know I am not at home!

 

     Well, first off I will talk about the cultural differences (which are vast)! The thing that I like the most is taking shoes off as soon as you enter a building.... maybe shoes are so popular here because you have to buy both inside and outside shoes. Also, they have different shoes for inside the house and the bathroom. The food is worlds different! Gimchi is one of the most popular foods. It is pickled cabbage and I am acquiring a taste for it. It can be a little funky. Galbi is so great. There is a picture of it on this blog. The middle of the table is where you cook the meat and wrap it in lettuce with rice, spicy chili sauce and other random fixins. Garlic is huge here... which is awesome. I keep mixing up the words hi and bye. One sales clerk came up to help and I told her "anyang gasayo" which means bye. Then tonight a sales clerk said bye and I told her "anyang hasayo" which is hi! I will figure it out eventually. The clothes are so funny here. The ones in "English" say some funny and nonsensical stuff! One shirt said "bad rabbie. one anlhudy is when there lahhe." or something like that. Oh, they get offended if you wear shirts that bear your shoulders.... yet they wear super short skirts... it is kind of backwards (compared to what I am used to). The people are not short here at all and I have seen some of the most beautiful women here. There are some cute guys here too, but unfortunately I cannot talk to most of them ha!

     The pollution is HORRIBLE here. When I flew in, I could see the brown covering the city! And that is what was making me really sick the first week here. My throat was really swollen and I was having a hard time breathing. I guess that they have "Yellow Dust" days where a yellow dust travels over from china. Those are the days you have to wear a mask so you are not breathing it in. Also, they have "Red Dust" days that gives people really bad eye infections. Gross! Oh and people ALWAYS use umbrellas here when there is precipitation because apparently the acid rain will make your hair fall out! 

 

     My best experience here was at a place called a Jimjill bong. It is a public bath. You pay 7 dollars to get in. They give you 2 towels, a locker and a pink "community room" outfit. Then you go to the locker room and strip down bare. You enter the community bath and shower before you get into a main pool. Man those Koreans scrub their skin raw! They have a range of hot baths, some of which have tea and different things in them. They also have really cold baths, seawater baths, a steam room and a dry sauna. It is so awesome and liberating... minus the stares at the naked white chick with a big chest haha. Also, it is a family thing here... a lot different then the states. 

 

     Well, onto drinking. I have been getting shit faced the last two weekends. They have this drink called soju.... an unregulated drink that tastes an awful lot like McCormick’s vodka. You just take shot after shot. It is rough, but costs 1000 won a bottle (1 dollar). But.. this last Saturday I stayed sober and didn't have enough won to get home via taxi and the subway was closed. I got the pleasure of seeing everyone so shitfaced. And in my sober state I couldn't just sit to the side and talk to anyone because they didn't speak English. That is when it started feeling like I was in a foreign country. 

 

     The next morning I came to revelation! I am not going to get shit canned anymore (at least not often). Why would I do that if I came here to travel and experience a new culture? I am going to start going on weekend trips around South Korea and learn the language. I am trying to find a Korean interested in learning English so we can do exchanges. 

 

     Last Sunday I was walking down the street on my way to a coffee shop to go to teach myself Korean. As I was walking, I actually heard a familiar language. There were other teachers walking down the street. So I said to them "it is crazy hearing people talk and actually understanding the language." Then we talked on the walk for a while and they invited me to the horseraces with them. I went and it was awesome. My horse came in second on the race that I bet on! But I didn't win anything. Then afterward we went out for traditional porridge. I have never been stared at so much... that is something I am going to have to get used to. People here have no shame about staring! 

 

   Hmmm... what else? I had a growing experience about 4 days into being here. I went to a bar with my friends, but was feeling sick. They decided to go to a dj festival. I was sick and drunk so I wanted to go home. I had to take the subway home alone (they gave me a map and money if I wanted to take a taxi). After they left, I cried in the bathroom for about 20 minutes and then some really nice chickas helped me read the map and figure out my way home. I cried the whole subway ride home and got home more then safely. I was just scared of taking the subway home alone because if I got lost, I don't speak the common language. But now I can confidently take the subway anywhere... with a little preparation before! 

 

     Oh, I got to feel racism against me for the first time in my life... which I am okay with (I will explain why after the story). We tried to go to a bar in Anyang and the bouncer put his arms in an 'X' (it means no) and said "aneeyo ("no") Koreans only!"We were not let in because we were white! Here is why I think it is good... because I now know how it feels to be discriminated against. I can empathize with people who are minorities because I kind of know what it is like. 

 

    All in all, I love it here. The people (generally) are so great! It is a safe place to live (you see kids out all hours of the night) and fun. I love you all and will update this weekly (on my Sunday)! I am 15 hours ahead. Also, I have a number you can call if you want me to get a hold of you. It is an answering machine, but I check it daily. The number is 973-810-5984. 

 

 

 

Lots of love and besos!!! Chau! 

 

 

 

Krista