A mystery Sherlock Holmes could not solve

* So I was really excited that Vicki, one of the foreign teachers at the Y'z League hagwon, invited me to go see Sherlock Holmes with her this past weekend. It was to a new part of town I had never been to before so I was a little nervous but one bus ride and subway ride later I made it, and even with 10 mins to spare. I realized that once I got above ground from the subway, I had no clue where the actual theater was. I guess I just figured it would be obvious.
After scanning the skyscrapers for a while I finally settled on the skyscraper with the big tv screen on it. My powers of deduction were accurate, and after going back underground through the subway tunnels I re-emerged on the correct side of the street in front of the building that I hoped was a theater. Its not like a huge Edwards Cinema or Howard Huges center, it really was an unsuspecting skyscraper that at the base of it had a list of what seems like movie titles posted to a little plaque. The plaque was similar to what a restaurant would put out front to display its menu to passing potential customers. Now, I've been studying Korean for a few weeks and have a good handle on sounding out the characters, so I was able to read the list on the plaque and recognize names like "Abata" (Avatar) and "syol log home ja" (Sherlock Holmes) and figured this must be the right place! Only problem was the theater number followed the name of the movie and I don't know my numbers yet.
I began to walk around the lobby for further clues as to where I should go to meet Vicki for the movie. As I wondered around I realized there were two different entrances so me standing in front of one of them waiting for her wasn't going to do me any good. So I began my assent into the skyscraper by getting on the escalator. I passed many interesting places, restaurants, advertising agencies, optometry centers, but nothing that resembled a theater until I reached the 8th floor. By this time I was 10 mins late to meet Vicki and even though I had managed to find the ticket counter for the movie, I was unable to find Vicki who had already purchased my ticket for me. (This is why it is too cruel not to let foreigners have cell phones! I'm seriously considering renting one from the airport after this experience!)
Fortunately, on this floor they used the numeric symbol next to the movie titles so I learned that "syol log home ja" was on the 9th floor. I guess because the theater is in a skyscraper each floor of the theater section of the buliding features a different movie. Unfortunately, that is where my luck ran out. I made it to the 9th floor only to discover that the movie was playing in 4 different rooms and I had no clue which one Vicki was in! Additionally, theaters differ here because each ticket is assigned seating. So even though I popped my head into one of the rooms and looked around, the usher would not let me get past him without my ticket in hand. Though he did seem more than willing to just allow me to stand there in the isle and watch the movie as long as I didn't attempt to sit down.
I was deflated. I had found the right bus and subway to get there on time, had managed to locate the correct building even though I didn't know what I was looking for, and even found what floor the movie was playing, just to have to turn around and go home. Argh! I felt so stupid! Not only was I embarrassed about not finding the correct movie room, but I felt terrible that Vicki had wasted money on a ticket for me. And anyone who knows me, knows I hate wasting money; it causes me a lot of anxiety.
After I had gotten back home (after taking my time with some retail therapy, I even found a bookstore that carries a few English titles) I talked with Vicki on Skype. I explained to her what happened and she just laughed at me. She said it was alright, and she is giving me another chance to meet her for a movie this coming Saturday. Unfortunately, she has picked a different theater in a different part of town from the one I just mastered. She says she chose it because it will be closer for me, but really I think she just wants to torture me. I told her I would pay her back for the ticket I didn't get to use, but she still insists on making me try to figure out yet another theater. Wish me better luck this weekend when I go see Abata (there are no 'v' 'r' 'f' or 'z' equivalents in the Korean language so they have to be creative sometimes.)

Merry Christmas!

* It's Christmas!!! Even though I registered at the American embassy and got my foreigner's id card Santa was not informed of my change of address. He still delivered all my gift to my parents house I think. Good thing Melissa is coming to work with me in a few days! She can bring my x-mass gifts to me! Yippy skippy! I am so excited for you to get here Melissa! I hope you find a way to put my sister in your luggage and bring her too!
* All of the stores are open today. Its so strange but I guess because people have the day off from work, shops figure its a good day to stay open. Korean's seem to like the look of x-mass, the lights, trees etc, but don't really celebrate it. They decorate everything for x-mass but then don't give gifts or have family dinners. Its kind of a couples holiday here. Couples go out to dinner on x-mass eve, drink a lot because they don't have to work the next day, sleep in, and then go shopping together.
* I took some of my veggie ham I got the other night with Hye Jung to the Y'z League hagwan. This is a kind of after school program that the publishing company I work for owns. Here there are a few Yankees, Hoosiers, and Brits, and even one other vegetarian to share my lentil based synthetic ham with. She was so excited; she has been living in Korea for 7 years now and this was the first time she has come across veggie smeat. I let her keep the left overs because I still have half a slab of it at home. She was so happy that I brought faux ham for us to eat that she invited me to go see the Sherlock Holmes movie tomorrow, I'm really excited about that!
*Dinner at Y'z League was a different kind of Christmas dinner than I expected. Because the principal of the hagwan is Korean, she served all Korean foods, with the exception of the gingerbread house. Instead of turkey they served shrimp, instead of mashed potatoes they served glass noodles, instead of dinner rolls they served California rolls, and instead of fudge they served mushy bland rice cakes. Although there was little for me to eat at dinner I still appreciated the invitation this Christmas party. After dinner we played some crazy Korean game. It involved throwing four sticks on a rug and depending on which way they landed you got to move the game pieces a certain number of spaces. I have no idea how to play, I just threw the sticks when they were handed to me. (I would rather take Bunko at Brandee and Gary's any day). Half way through playing the game we noticed that it started snowing. That's right, I actually got snow on x-mass!
* At the dinner I got to meet Mike's wife and daughter. Mike is British and his wife is Korean, their daughter was sooo cute! Lucas, I don't know how you are going to do it, but I want a little Korean baby like this one. She is awesome, she uses British swear words that she learned from her daddy. For example when a little boy tried to take a tangerine from her she shouted "cock!" at him. She also totally rocks the beret! Too cute!!!!

Christmas Eve

* So this is the first time in my life that I have ever had to work on x-mass eve. Now I know what its like for my mom every year. Though I'm sure working in an office on x-mass eve might be a little different from working at the airport on x-mass eve, I'm sure there is a comparison there somewhere. I made x-mass cards for 6 of my closest friends at work last night, and walked around the office handing out those cards and sharing the maple cookies from my care package. Everyone really liked them; I liked them too. I was happy I had something x-massy to handout since I have no oven and couldn't make cookies from scratch. Later in the afternoon the gifts I ordered on-line yesterday actually arrived! I told everyone that they would have to wait to get their gifts next week, but even though I ordered it the day before I got it next day without extra shipping charges, amazing! I got Chin, Bonyun, Hye Jung, and Sunny each one of those purse hangers that Allie and I got in Japan town L.A. Everyone was really jealous of the one I had so I thought it would be a perfect gift for all the girls.
* On Saturday Bonyun and I went to Lotte World. We just went to the market to do some shopping and dinning. I bought a jacket that was last years model so it was marked down from 190,000 won to 30,000 won! A total steal! That store is ridiculous! Everything is entirely over priced, well, except the jacket I found. That was a rare find! I took a picture of the bag they put my coat in. It shows the Lotte word castle and the raccoon version of Micky and Minnie Mouse. Look really closely at the ear, thats the only way to tell its not Disney.
*In the window of one of the Lotte shops they sold robot dogs and cats that looked so life like I couldn't believe it! The shop was closed for the night so the pets were curled up in the beds and their sides actually rose and fell like they were breathing. They actually looked like read dogs and cats sleeping! Freakiest things ever!!!
* Lucas, Mike got an iphone and an egg. He says the egg only last 4 hours before you need to plug it in to charge. He also says it works great as a hand warmer, it heats up when ever its on.
* Yesterday Hye Jung and I went to what is in all likelihood the only vegetarian shop in all of Seoul. All I can say is I totally stocked up! I bought smeat balls, furkey, soy dogs, and fakin nuggets. I think I might need to buy myself a toaster oven so I can make some of these food though. Its a case of my eyes being bigger than my kitchen. I was just so excited about having access to these foods, I didn't think about how I was going to cook them. I also didn't consider my freezer size, I barely got everything in it and the door closed. And the last thing I forgot to consider was that Hye Jung drove me out to the shop, but I needed to take the subway home carrying a big bag of frozen foods. I made it just fine, I just think it is funny that I didn't consider any of these things when I was buying my veggie treats!
* I've been learning Korean. They do not have the letters 'R', 'Z', 'F', or 'V' in their alphabet. So for example the word 'coffee' is pronounced 'copy', they simply replace the letter 'F' with something similar like the letter 'P'. Well, I was listening to the song Jingle Bell Rock being played at a store I was shopping at and noticed that the letter changes needed to sing this song happened to change the meaning of it. "Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell lock.... in the crusty air."

Weekend in Ulsan Part 2

* Chin said cavities are contagious?!? Anyone else here this one? Or is this just propaganda from the Lotte gum makers? Lotte says their gum has xylitol in it which is what kills that contagious cavity germ. You are suppose to chew it after meals and before you go to bed. Apparently mothers who have cavities can infect their unborn babies, or infect their childrens' teeth by sharing a spoon or giving kisses. Really? Sounds like a scare tactic to sell more gum to me.
* So Lucas, you might run into some trouble, or at least experience some discrimination because of your shaved head. In Korean melodramas only the gangsters have shaved heads. People who are not exposed to the American culture might avoid, or be fearful of you. But here the Buddhist monks also shave their heads so you can always dress in gray and pretend to be a monk.
* At the hotel buffet their was a beautiful cake with a serving knife next to it. Although many people were eying the cake no one was willing to make the first cut into it. Although I am handicapped in the cake cutting department (as my family can attest) I cut the first slice out of this cake. Many Koreans also took pieces of this cake after I make that critical first incision. I wonder if there are studies done on this type of behavior? Who are the types of people willing to be the first to break a social norm? Are they the people who already feel like outsiders and have the least to lose by acting first? It reminds me of Catalina with Henry and Shereen. How many people wouldn't take the last brownie or slice of pizza, but as soon as I cut it into 4 pieces every list bite disappeared!
* Thanks Angela for sending the 2 Discover Magazines. I had to write some news articles for a kids TV show today. I needed to create some interesting stories for kids to read off of teleprompters. I was able to take four stories from the magazines, so thanks for helping me do my job. Now its going to be just like the Simpsons... Kidz Newz and Bart's people, "is there any room is this world for an old man and his ducks?"
* Road side stops in Korea are awesome! They are way better than a Flying J! At one of the rest stops there where musical performances, restaurants, and a childrens' playground. It makes so much sense to have a playground for the kids to go nuts in after sitting for a long car ride. Why don't we do this back home? Stick a playground at every rest area, not just a green area for dogs to run around.
* Chin and I went to may different pottery places. We even visited a pottery museum. What I think is hilarious is that we looked at a pottery display at our hotel 3 times before I saw this interesting ceramic figure. I don't know why I didn't notice it when I was looking at the display before, but I'm a little puzzled why it is in with the rest of the cup, pots, and vases. conveying
* Ok, Pokey Tokey is officially the strangest rabbit I have ever come across! Right now he is eating the goldfish crackers mom and dad sent. I try to feed him carrots, tomatoes, squash, things I know normal bunnies eat, nope, Pokey just turns his nose up at them. Cook them in my soup and he cant get enough of them! He wont eat pear but he like eating my homemade salsa. He wont eat sunflower seeds or dried corn but he will eat tofu with spring onions and soy sauce on it. Oh, and he went nuts for garlic mashed potatoes with broccoli in it. Freak!!!!

Weekend in Ulsan Part 1

* In the bathrooms of really fancy restaurants here they have special mouth wash dispensing machines. Do we have this back home, or have I just never been to a fancy enough restroom before? Is this something unique to Korea? They are all about brushing their teeth after meals so it doesn't surprise me if its something they came up with.
* H1N1 has made for some interesting safety protocols being put in place. The door knobs in the hotels have all have condoms on them. That's right, the metal door knobs have rubber covers on them. Because rubber door knobs will some how hold less germs then metal ones?
* At night Koreans turn off the headlights of their cars when they come to a red light. This is apparently considerate (not dangerous)because they are not blinding the on coming traffic or pedestrians in the cross walk. Lets just hope they always remember to turn them back on before the light turns green again.
* I went to a whale museum, well, the outside of it. I didn't pay to go in. I thought it was going to be an aquarium and show me all the different animals that live in the local ocean here.... nope! Turns out its a museum of whaling. Yea, it was a museum of the history of whaling and how practices have changed over time. I didn't feel like paying to go inside to see it. Plus their was a free whaling vessel for me to explore outside the museum. It was complete with replica crew, harpoons, and meat hooks. And right across the street from the museum are 3 or 4 restaurants that serve whale meat, so that was enough of an experience for me without having to go inside.
* Amethyst Caverns. Sounds great right? Then like me you were tricked. It was so lame!!!! It was an emptied amethyst mine that they flooded with water so they could sell tickets to boat rides to see nothing but empty mine shafts!!!! They stuck fake plants and waterfall in it just to give people something to look at I guess. Oh, I was soooooo disappointed. I should have know it was going to be lame before I even got in the mine because there was all kinds of games and rides outside. They didn't want people to feel like they wasted their time by coming out there for nothing so they set up a petting zoo, go cart track, and dragon swing so people wouldn't demand a refund. Oh what is the worst is that there a special room inside the mine where people are suppose to go and "feel the healing power of amethyst." Of course, I already mentioned that this is an empty mine and these is not more amethyst, so they set up a portable heated floor for people to sit on, and used red and blue flood lights on the wall it was lit up purple like amethyst... Ha!
* The guy who works at the front desk of my hotel picked the best English name I have ever heard. People have Korean names (obviously) and if they studied English then they usually have an English name too. Anyways, the name he picked was Shrek! How great is that!?! He works at a 4 star hotel and his name tag says Shrek on it! I asked him if I could take a picture of him because his English name was so cool, he said yes and laughed. (I would post it here but you can't really see his name tag too well)
* So what was the best part of this weekend you ask? I got to take a bubble bath at this 4 star hotel. It was my first access to a bathtub since I moved here and I took advantage of it. I had my true blood novel from Tempest, and a beer from the minibar and had a relaxing evening in the tub. Ah, it was perfect!

wet dog soup

* They serve a soup here that smells exactly like a wet dog. It is probably one the foulest smelling foods I have ever encountered and I had it ordered for me at the business dinner that Chin hosted. It was the vegetarian alternative to the Korean BBQ being served. The restaurant staff swore that there was no shrimp and no meat (asides from the huge crab claw floating in it) so I had to try it. That's right, I ate the wet dog soup. I was shocked, it tasted so much better then it smelled thank goodness!
* Lucas, I'm watching an English movie on TV and it has the dad from Fringe in it. I miss watching Fringy with you.
* Well she did it. That belly dancing instructor finally got me out of my comfort zone. It took her three classes to do it. I started out by just wearing the beaded belt and dancing with my shirt (that she forcefully)rolled up. The next lesson she had the belt and genie pants for me to wear. I put the genie pants over my regular work out pants because I still wasn't comfortable with dressing up for class. When I attended the third class she had the belt, the genie pants, and a beaded bra for me to wear. The bra was way too small so I just put it on top of my regular bra. So now she has me looking as fancy as the other students in the class. The good thing is I didn't need to buy the outfit like everyone else did. She said because I'm "foreigner, its gift."
* I got my package today! My parents, Lucas, and the Poulos family put together a care package for me. It took 20 days to get it but it was worth it. Thank you all so much!!!! The customs agent at FED Ex wouldn't release my package until I had submitted a detailed spread sheet listing all of the items in the box, why I need each item, and a website featuring a picture of the item. Then on top of that I needed to pay a tax on it too! Argh! Anyways, it was a learning experience, now we know never to send a box with a value over $150.

Human Landmine Detectors

* I decided that instead of doing a day by day I would just do more of a weekly post. At the beginning, everything here was new and exciting. But now as I become settled into my routine there are some days that are completely uninteresting and unworthy of a blog entry. So instead, I may post a daily, or maybe a weekly report, depending on how exciting or slow my week was.
* Things are nice at home now. I've got a cute, cuddly rabbit waiting for me at home and I have the internet. If you know bud the cat then you can imagine bud as a tiny rabbit and that would be Pokey Tokey. (He stands up on his hind legs, just like a little Rorey Calhoun)
* Today I went to a teacher conference at one of the universities here, there are 10 different universities in the city of Seoul. It was really interesting hearing some of the speakers talk about students motivation, and engaging students in writing. Also interesting was the rock version of the wedding song played on an electric violin. During the closing of the conference a woman came out with an electric violin and played not only the wedding march, but the song from the godfather as well. What that had to do with educating second language learners I will never know.
* Last night I woke up to the sound of rain, and this afternoon it turned to snow. Big, puffy, flakes of snow blowing all over the place as Bonyun and I tried to find the conference. The snow is not sticking, it doesn't last long on the ground. I do fear the day when the snow does start to pile up, I am not ready to start living in a winter climate.
* This week I joined a belly dancing class. Its 3 times a week for a month and the class is taught in English, although she has very limited English and it is often impossible for me to understand. She seems like a genuinely sweet woman, although she did accost me when I first met her. Without warning she lifted up my shirt and tucked it in to my bra in the front and back. I was horrified and one of the other students, a girl from New York, said "It's ok, she does that to everyone," which some how still didn't make me feel better about revealing that much of my body to strangers.
* Mike taught me that in all other Confucius societies asides from Korea, the men walk in front of the women. A woman always walks behind her man, and the Korean society started out that way too but this changed in the 1950's. Apparently, landmines from the Korean war are to blame for this change. That's right, in the 1950's women became landmine detectors. If a woman was killed that was sad but at least the breadwinner was still alive and well. A woman would not be able to get a new father to her children if anything happened to him, but a man could always get another landmine detector.