Where is monk-town?

Sunday was amazingly beautiful. Clear skies and a bright sun. It's all I need. That and some good friends and mid day cocktails. We went to Itaewon, a popular foreign neighborhood for burgers and rooftop drinks. Then we went to a small pub for some darts and bloody mary's.



Then we decided to try and find this one neighborhood I had stumbled on months prior. I believe it was in February when I first found "monk-town". I had taken a wrong turn and was surrounded by monks, monk shops, monk smells, and all the trappings. Lost, I decided to stop into a store and ask for directions. When I walked in the shop I was immediately intimidated by all the monks. I was baffled. I started picking things up and pretending I was shopping. They asked me if I was Buddhist and I LIED. I LIED to a monk. A GROUP of monks. Ohhhh the karma that is sure to come. I told them I wasn't but my family was? Worst.lie.ever. Anyways, long story short I ended up buying about $40 of useless monk-stuff. It's pretty and all but I'm pretty sure I was pressured into buying it. Those monks.

I had wanted to show B this neighborhood for awhile. We found it after about an hour of roaming. We visited Jogyesa Temple and it was beautiful. Buddha's birthday is approaching and the lantern making is in full swing. The soft chanting and smell of incense was soothing. We took some pictures and tried to not stand out. Fail. One gentleman was so kind as to tell us that it is considered rude to stand in front of Buddha and not bow 3 times. Note taken. Sorry dude.






In other news, I'm looking forward to warmer weather and a couple holidays, which means no work for me :)
-C

Ceramics-uh Festival-ee

What a great weekend it was. Finally, a weekend of warm weather and sunshine. I really needed it. Friday night some coworkers and I went for bbq and screen golf. I have never played golf in my life. I think I hit the screen...once? Needless to say, I think I need some lessons.

I woke up bright and early Saturday morning to hit the mean streets of Sinsa. This neighborhood is a favorite of mine. It resembles my old stomping grounds in Chicago, filled with boutiques, designer cupcake stores, and open street cafes. I found this amazing vintage store STOCKED with awesome finds. Can't wait to spend a few hours in there. We did some shopping, ate outside in the sun, and enjoyed the people watching. Then we had to hurry to the bus terminal to get tickets out of the city.

Navigating Seoul isn't much of a problem. Navigating small towns and villages, well, it's a lot more interesting. After an hour or so long on the bus we found ourselves in Icheon. With some help from the dictionary we got a cabbie to take us to the Ceramics Festival. Korean ceramics are beautiful and a long tradition. I'd been wanting to pick up a piece to take home and thought this would be the best place to go. Also, you get a chance to get your hands dirty and make your own. Yes please!

The fest was crowded, like every event in Korea. We saw a few foreigners, but not much. We roamed the park looking at the sculptures, cherry blossoms, and walked around the water. Then we went into the downtown area and had some tasty BBQ. I talk about bbq a lot and you'd probably think I eat turkey legs for a snack. But really, the part I like best about it is all the side dishes. I like to take a lettuce leaf, put a small piece of meat on it, then add grilled kimchi, sprouts, and a little rice. It's like the perfect bite.

We got back to Seoul late and I was exhausted. It's the best feeling to have my feet ache and my head spin with new things I've seen and learned in the day.

-C

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Tomato-Tomatoe-Potato-Potatoe

Thought I'd share a few differences between cultures. There are a lot, but here are a few :)

• all gas stations are full service. some stations even have attendants wearing matching outfits and they play k pop on loud speaker. yes!
• women in khaki outfits push big carts full of yogurt drinks and flavored milks. they are everywhere, especially in the morning. you can buy a treat from her and she'll love you for it.
• public trash cans are hard to find, however the streets are pretty clean. a lot cleaner than Chicago anyways. where does the garbage go?
• the neighborhoods, mine anyways, do a great job of preparing for winter. during the fall workers cut off all the tree branches to avoid power outages. this past winter was the worst in Seoul in over 50 years. and not one power outage for me.
• friends hold hands. i seldom see couples hold hands, but girl friends are always hand in hand or arm in arm. even the guys put their arms around eachother. commarodory is abundent and as weirded out as i get when korean girls do it to me, i think it's great to see how much korean's value friendships.
• I think k pop music is so fantastic and I don't care who knows it!
• when at a restaurant, if you need something from your waitress, you push a small buzzer that sits on your table and someone is there to help you in seconds. so smart.
• if there isn't a buzzer, which is rare, or you're feeling vocal, just yell "yoguyo!" really loud and a waitress will come. it pretty much means "hey! over here!". it isn't seen as rude at all. Hopefully I break this habit before going back to the US....because THAT would never fly.
• over 75% of the calls answered by the police in Seoul are to handle people being too drunk. not because of fighting, stealing, or gun shots...because business men had a bit too much and past out on the steps.
• when a truck backs up, usually a loud BEEP BEEP BEEP goes off. well, not in Korea. anything that beeps doesn't just beep, it plays a song, classical or the national anthem. to be honest it's really annoying, but i admire their desire to take their beep's to the next level.
• you can get a student to do pretty much any assignment if a sticker is at stake. they love stickers.
• mechanical pencils are called "sharps" and kids value them like gold. they are always asking eachother how much their sharp costs. also pencil cases are a must have. they are pretty elaborate. one student even has his name engraved into his. apparently he is at the top of the pencil case chain at school.
• squatters. some restaurants and subway stations have squatter toilets. they kind of look like urinals laying down on the ground. squatter pretty much tells you how it works. me no likey.
• dvd rooms are all over the place. they are small rooms with tv's where you can watch movies. since most children live with their parents unitl their 30's, this is where they go to have alone time with their significant other. secret's out!

More to come!

-C

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Glow Bowl? Trendy? Only in Soko...

Last weekend (sorry I'm late) some coworkers went to a trendy bowling alley in Seoul. In true Seoul style, the place was decked out like a club, complete with big video screens of girls dancing in Ibiza. It's crazy some of the things that are trendy in Korea. Like cell phone charms, acid washed anything, lense-less glasses, hello kitty, and now glow bowling.

There was a 2 hour wait for a lane. We got some good kimchi jiggae (soup) and headed back when we got a text from the bowling alley telling us our lane was available. High tech stuff.

Not only where the lanes a glow with neon, but a dj was spinning in the corner and the lanes were full of young hipsters. There was even bottle service. This would never fly back in Chicago, or maybe it would if the Chi-town hipsters weren't too scared to look uncool.

Either way, we ordered drinks and food and bowled a couple games. I...am a terrible bowler. But I did manage to get one strike. Go team!

* Grant teaching me how to play the knock-out game*

* kinda look like big jawbreakers*

*don't get distracted by the scary clown faces!*

Kimchi!!!!!

Just some photos of my students. Instead of yelling "cheese" we yell "kimchi". It's the next biggest trend. Spread the word~

*Christine and Ayla, love these girls*

*My 1st graders...a handful, but cute*

*My 4th graders...working hard or doodling, either one*

Your Daughter Might Be a Psychopath.

Sentence homework from my 2nd grader, Amanda. If you can't read it, let me enlighten you.

"Ken Teacher has fleas in his hair" - poor Ken teacher

"When I put kitten in the laundry, the kitten will die" - does she speak from experience?

Crazy Talk

This weekend has been really chill. I got sick somehow and have been inside almost the whole weekend. Not fun, but I think I'm long overdue for some r&r. I teach an International class 3x a week, which is designed for students wanting to study in other countries. English is a huge part of their testing and without a good score, they won't be able to study abroad. The kids in this class are pretty great. I especially love these 2 girls that giggle and crack jokes like I would with my girlfriends. They're obsessed with the K pop boy bands and they always know the hot gossip. They keep me in the loop :)

I took home a stack of essays to grade over the weekend. I gave all the students a list of writing prompts to chose from. So far I've read about what Peter would do with 1 billion Won(korean currency), what animal Jim would be, and where Cindy would go if she had a time machine. There's some pretty funny stuff.

I started to read through an essay by one of my favorite giggle-girls and I was shocked at what I read. She told me about a secret she was afraid to tell her friends. Her secret? She was in ballet class for 5 years. I didn't really understand why this was a secret until I read further. She said that if her friends knew they would pick on her, just like the girls in the class. It wasn't because she was a bad dancer, she said she was top in the class. She said she dropped out because she was always being told she was fat. Reading that just ripped my heart in 2.

It's hard to convince a teenager of anything. And trust me, she's no where near fat. Not that it matters. I just wish she knew that what these girls are saying means nothing. High school is full of snobby, bratty, self righteous girls. I hope she sees that. It doesn't help that Koreans are so stuck on appearance. My friend Gina isn't allowed to go to family parties for the holidays, because her parents are too embarrassed of her. They think she needs to lose 20 some pounds.

Ugh...just can't believe how easily people can open their mouths and break a person's spirit. I've put all my faith into the phrase "what goes around comes around".

Now to convince my student to get back into ballet...

-C

Monday, April 12, 2010

Hana, Dul, Set!

I was really in need of a weekend out of Seoul, and I got it this past Saturday and Sunday. We headed out on a train to Jinhae, it's on the southern coast of Korea. The ride was over 5 hours long and I slept most of the way.

I was finally in Jinhae. The weather was cool and it was a bit cloudy, but the air was fresh and everywhere I looked I was surrounded by white and pink bursts of flowers. Every time the wind blew petals snowed down and covered my path. It was simply beautiful.




Like any Korean festival, there were soju tents and street food to be had. Corn dogs, cotton candy, waffles, and the treat I despise the most, bondagi. Bondagi is silk worm larva that is stewed in a sweet paste. It's absolutely disgusting. The smell of it makes my toes curl. My students tell me it melts in your mouth....ew.



They had pigs roasting on rotisserie. It was pretty tasty, even though I'm not into seeing the face of my lunch. My favorite was the waffle filled with ice cream and topped with sprinkles. (Diet starts tomorrow?)



We visited "romance bridge" as it is labelled on the tourist map. A popular drama was filmed there. It was packed with people posing and taking pictures with HUGE professional cameras. Every few steps I could hear "hana, dul, set!" which means one, two, three. It was picture mayhem! That's another thing in Korea. You must have an oversized camera with a giant lens. Forget the mini dog to fit in your purse (that trend is still alive and well here, though). I sort of felt trapped in a giant group glamour shots session or something.







We walked up the tallest tower in Jinhae. There are 365 steps and supposedly if you walk up all 365 steps, an extra year is added to your life. Sadly the top deck was closed off due to military security (the base can be seen from high up and with all the tourists, they didn't want too many pictures), so I guess I'll have to try again next year.







It was a great trip and a good little get away. Considering South Korea is the size of the state of Indiana, it's pretty easy to get around, coast to coast.



Hoping the weather warms up. Am looking forward to more baseball games and rooftop cocktails. Doing my best to keep the blog updated. I noticed today that my first 4 or so posts are missing, thanks to my original blog that got deleted. I'll try to get those back up.

I've got my cherry blossoms in between book pages under the mattress :) Just a keepsake.

-C

Monday, April 5, 2010

And another weekend in Seoul comes and goes... I'm really glad I've kept up with this blog. Just looking back on old posts, looking at pictures, it's crazy how short my memory is. Memes...

After work on Friday, all of my coworkers and I went out for dinner and noraebang. I know, I know. What is it with all this karoke? Trust me, I haven't the slightest idea either. All I know is that I've got some great black mail pictures of people getting down to "Welcome to the Jungle".




Fay, a coworker who is a riot and a half, left to go spend time with her family. So we got a new coworker. Hense, bbq dinner and soju. My Grandma Arlene emailed me something about a 12 step program when I get back...but I promise I'm not a drunk! It's seriously just a cultural difference. If an elder, like my boss, puts a shot of soju in front you, you have to drink it or it's considered rude. So I did. And I woke up with a hangover and some good stories :)



To cure the hangover, B and I headed to the Tea Shop in Insadong for tea (and homemade pecan pie). I've talked about this place before but it's definitely one of my favorite places in all of Seoul. If you're in Soko, you MUST go. We saw some crazy old tea that cost close to $40,000 USD. I don't even understand how that is possible! It looked like dead grass to me.



Easter Sunday was beautiful. I really hate hearing that the weather in Chicago is nicer than Seoul's. Come on, Chicago...the year there is an actual spring I'm somewhere that doesn't seem to be having one? Rude.

B and I went to Yoiedo, a big island close to Seoul. We rented some cruisers and biked down the trail. I haven't ridden a bike in close to a year so it was really fun to race around and ring my bell at people. I smiled so much my ears started to hurt.





There were some great fountains with kids splashing around in them. One little boy ventured a bit too far and threw a hissy fit. What would Jesus do? Probably not laugh and take a picture. So I'm not perfect.



And in the spirit of Easter, a Korean guy gave me a "Jesus Loves You" balloon! Love.



Really missed my family on Easter and am looking forward to a skype session with them soon. I've never been much of a sap, but holidays are my heart. I love everything about family get togethers, side splitting laughter, and shared stories. Joys like easter egg hunt and the kid's table will forever hold the key to my inner child. Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!



-C

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