Kore-istmas 2010

• Well, my mom has asked me very kindly to do at least one last blog post for everyone before I leave Korea. So you can thank her for this post. This post will be about Christmas in Korea… Kore-istmas.
• My plans for Christmas day were to go to my friend Sunny’s house and spend the day with her and her sister and husband. We were going to order Christmas dinner from the army base, participate in their first ever white elephant gift exchange, drink homemade eggnog, play board games, and watch “Love Actually.” These were the plans at least.
What actually happened is that on Thursday Sunny canceled these plans. I was absolutely heartbroken at the thought of having to spend Christmas alone! I was so upset, but she said that instead we could go shopping, get dinner, and watch a movie on Christmas Eve. This unfortunately did little to console me.
That Thursday night we went out to dinner and I learned a very important difference between Christmas and Kore-istmas. For Koreans, Christmas Eve is more important than Christmas day. This is the day were couples go out to fancy dinners, shop, and stay out all night drinking / dancing / singing karaoke. Then Koreans spend all Christmas day sleeping and nursing hangovers.
So, Sunny thought she was doing me a favor by including me in her plans for Christmas Eve. She didn’t know that for westerners Christmas day is more important than Christmas Eve. (For my Korean friends, Christmas day is like your Chuseok; it’s when families get together to share a food and gifts. If you are married, Christmas Eve is the day you celebrate Christmas with one family, and then Christmas day is when you celebrate Christmas with the other family.)
• So let me share my Kore-sitmas eve experience with you. First, Sunny and I met with her sister at the COEX mall. So I put my name down on the 2 hour long wait list for the Mexican restaurant and we did some shopping. This was the first time that Sunny and her sister have ever spoken English in front of each other!!! Can you believe it?!?! They have never used English in front of each other before! I suggested that they do a once a month dinner where they speak English to each other. Sunny shook her head and said, “No. Speaking English is not good for digestion.” Hahahahah!
• After we enjoyed a fantastic Mexican dinner, her husband picked us up and we drove around town looking for a specific kind of karaoke room, nori bang, (which we never found). When we were driving around Sunny’s sister and husband would only speak Korean. Then Sunny would yell at them, “In English!!!” and they would stop talking. So, I learned that “in English” is a Korean swear word similar to “shut up!” So, when Sunny’s sister’s musical iphone app was annoying us all, I yelled “in English!” Everyone liked my use of this Korean phrase. I seem to be learning more and more Korean each day!
• As we were driving around looking for a special nori bang, we were listening to all Korean pop music. Sunny felt it was her duty as a good host to find me some English music, preferably Christmas music. So she began flipping through the radio stations and was so excited when she heard the phrase “Merry Christmas.” She quickly flipped back to the station thinking she had found an English Christmas carol, and I was in tears laughing at the situation! The song was not in English, it was in Spanish!!! So I sung “Feliz Navidad” for them as they too laughed at the situation.
• Now it is Christmas day as I write this. Today, Bonyun’s brother Babe (after Babe Ruth) and I had lunch and then he took me to Santa’s Village, I mean, Study Village. He showed me his neighborhood. This is where all of the people studying for the government exams live. Usually, when you walk down a street in Korea you find many hagwons (private academies) for children, Study Village is a neighborhood full of hagwons for adults. For example, law school and engineering hagwons. Everyone here are “Study Machines” like Babe. Their lives consist of studying, and only studying. In fact, Babe went to the hagwon Christmas morning before meeting me. That’s right, he had class even on Christmas day!!!!
• After leaving Study Village, I went and saw an improve group perform. I was really pleased because even though I didn’t have anyone to go with me, I was brave and still went by myself. It was -9C outside (the coldest Kore-istmas Eve on record for the past 30 years) so I had a lot of reasons just to go home instead of wandering around a strange neighborhood looking for an art gallery in the freezing cold. But it was well worth braving the cold weather alone. The performers were all foreigners and it was done in English, plus it was a fundraising event for refugees fleeing North Korea. So not only did I get to laugh at some improve actors, I also got to donate money to a good cause. They were pretty funny, they did a lot of the typical Whose Line is it Anyways games. So I got some good laughs, and I also made friends with the person sitting next to me and I had someone to talk to on the subway ride home. And to make a very long blog post short, that was the end of my second Kore-sitmas in Korean.

Catching up on things

• Well, I knew I need to write a quick blog entry to state some Korean experience I either forgot to post, or just didn’t have the opportunity to post yet. I want to be as caught up as possible so I can make sure to report on my upcoming trip to China. I know I didn’t post about my trip to Japan, nor my 3 weeks working with my sister in Korea, but I'm really going to try my best to make my next post a China adventure post.
• Last weekend I went to my friend Young Jae’s wedding. This wedding was not held at a wedding hall; instead, it was held in a Catholic church. Because the ceremony is much longer then the ones in a wedding hall, about half of the guests stayed in the buffet instead of going upstairs to sit though the church service. I watched the beginning of the service, then joined my co-workers at the buffet, and then went back for the end of the service. It was interesting because I was raised Catholic so seeing beer and soju at a church event was something I’ve never come across. Also, they had a great vending machine that distributed ice cream! There was no beer, soju, or ice cream vending machines at American Martyrs!!!
Normally, when someone from work gets married, my company orders one of those huge bouquets of flowers and sends them to the wedding hall. But Catholic churches don’t accept these bouquets; so instead, my office donated 4 huge bags of rice. As we were carrying the rice into the church I was thinking, “What are we going to do with this; throw it at the bride and groom?” Nope, it’s actually a donation that the church will use it to feed the poor. Pretty great huh? Way better then giving flowers!
• I saw a great show on TV the other day. It featured probably some celebrity dad and his two sons, one a toddler, the other maybe 3 years old. They were at one of my all time favorite locations in Seoul…the dog café! They showed all my favorite dogs running around as usual. The toddler was having a hard time because all of the dogs were much bigger then him. But then his dad carried him over to a woman who had brought her own tea cup sized dog to play at the café. The little toddler liked this dog, he tried to feed it a dog treat but the dog wasn’t interested in it so he tried to feed it to the lady instead. Ahahah! I was in tears I was laughing so hard! It was so damn cute and funny!
• The other night, Hye Jeong and I went Duty Free shopping. There is one whole floor of the Lotte mall that is Duty Free, and is open 24 hours! Since we are going to China this weekend, we thought we would do a little shopping.
After shopping we went for dinner at an Italian restaurant. We ordered a salad and a pizza to share. The salad was really tasty; it had a citrus dressing with slices of tomatoes and mozzarella. After we had eaten 3/4ths of our salad I noticed something very scary. It was a GUMMY!!!! “Ah, waiter, there’s a fly in my soup, no wait, make that a huge freaking spider in my salad!”
When Angela and I worked at ET Camp this summer we learned that gummy meant, SPIDER!!! That’s right, there was a huge “porch spider” as Angela and I affectionately named them after noticing so many living on our porch, in our salad.
Of course the staff apologized and took the salad off our bill. They also gave use drinks and 20% off our pizza. Maybe I should start bringing spiders to all the restaurants I go to! It’s a good way to save money on your bill! (Just kidding, you all know I like spiders so I wouldn’t kill one to put in my salad even if it means free or discounted food.)
• Tonight I went to Dongdaemon Market to do some more shopping. It was a shame I couldn’t take Angela when she was here this summer, but good thing she is coming back this winter so I can take her then. I was able to take my parents shopping here when they came to visit. My dad said, “You’ve seen one shop, you’ve seen them all.” That’s because Dondaemon Market is a bunch of malls with different tiny stalls all selling basically the same things from clothes to bags and jewelry. This is the place where you buy your knock offs and can haggle for a deal.
For example, I wanted a wallet and when I asked how much it was Saturday night, the guy said 28,000. But when I came back tonight, a Wednesday, the price was down to 18,000 and I further haggled it down to 13,000. (Note to self: on the weekend come to see what the selection is, because there are a lot of people, you are less likely to be accosted by over eager venders. Then, come back during the week when its pretty empty and go straight to the things you want and avoid browsing!)
My main goal for going to Dongdaemon Market tonight was to get a camera case to protect the lovely camera Lucas got me for my birthday. So I found a nice Chanel-style camera case that I was able to talk down to 14,000. Once I gave him the cash, he took the camera case and cut a little tag on the O to turn it into a C. Then on the zipper charm he used a pair of snippers and clipped the metal O turning it into a C as well. So now it looks just like the Chanel camera case from the Duty Free shop! Another money saving opportunity! And this one doesn’t involve spiders : )

Oh, Korea

• This is blog entry is called, “Oh Korea!” because recently I find myself saying this phrase a little too often.
• Oh Korea, why are your women afraid to grow muscles? I saw an advertisement for what looks like ace bandages, but much tighter, to put on your arms and calf muscles to prevent them from growing. I also know that it’s also quite popular to perform such surgeries as severing the calf muscle, or sculpting (removing) the thigh muscles so they are thinner. Oh Korea, why?
Dad and I were talking about a Korean TV show that pits a Korean girl pop group against professional or semi professional (college) athletes. They then compete in physical challenges whereby the Korean pop girls somehow always win!?!?! The girls in the pop group are muscle-less twigs, and yet the fit athletes always fail the challenges. Why Korea, why do you promote the anorexic look over healthy fit bodies? What must the parents of these athletes on TV think of their children? “See, if only you had less muscles you could be successful! This volleyball /swimming / softball etc. is no good for you! You’ll never get a husband with calf muscles like that! We need to sever those muscles immediately! Then you can be a winner like the girls in the pop group!”
• Oh Korea, why is it okay to dress in drag on TV, but not to be a transvestite?
I’m confused, if you are a guy it’s okay to dress in drag if you are being filmed for a TV show. However, if you dress in drag because you like the way you look, or feel, then you are just wrong and shameful! As long as you dress up to imitate someone else, it’s fine, but don’t you dare do it for your own enjoyment! It is only for the entertainment of others you sick weirdo!
This all started when I went to see Rocky Horror the musical. I was so surprised that the audience seemed to be okay with the drag issue. Then I remembered that as long as it’s for entertainment it’s fine! Put it on stage or in front of a camera, anything goes!
• Oh Korea, why do you make employees sit in ranking order at the office? I know I’ve talked about this before, but it has never really impacted me until recently. I had been working on my own for 10 months, but now I work with a team of 3 others, soon to be 4 others. Well, the configuration of chairs used to be 3 desks on the right, and 2 desks on the left. But because of this highest ranking bullshit their needed to be 3 desk on the left, and 2 desks on the right. This is because the highest manager needed to sit by the window and for some reason only one other person could be in front of him, not two. So the desks had to be disassembled and reassembled on the other size.
Now, we had to go through all this hectic moving so that we could be in ranking order. But I’ve been with this company for a year and the new employee hasn’t started yet but she will be sitting behind me. A whaaaaa? Okay, truthfully, I will let it slide because you guys thought I was leaving in October. But I gave up my desk drawers for my manager because his desk didn’t have a set. And I ordered a new set of drawers a month ago when we moved. Still, no drawers to this day, yet sitting right behind me, in an empty desk, for an employee who isn’t even here yet, are a set of drawers not in use, and I am still waiting for my drawers to arrive!!! “Oh no, you can’t have those drawers, they belong to Ms. Kim.” “Well, why couldn’t I have used them this whole month while she hasn’t been here, and when my new drawers arrive she can have those ones?” “Oh no, because those are Ms. Kim’s.” Oh Korea, your killing me here!
• Ok Korea, why are your weddings so staged? I know I’ve gone over this as well before, but the bouquet toss at a wedding is ridiculously misinterpreted. This weekend was Hui Kyung’s wedding. Just like the other weddings I’ve attended, we needed to stage a photo where the girl who is scheduled to get married next (literally the next weekend in this case) gets to catch the bouquet. And we toss it over and over again to her until we get the right picture. Nothing new here, what is new is I asked what the girl was suppose to do with the bouquet now that she has it. I was told that the bouquet is dried out and then 100 days after the wedding of her friend, she is supposed to burn the bouquet. Yup, apparently it brings good luck to the bride and groom. I asked if you the bride and groom have to be present, like it’s some big ceremony, but nope, ya just burn it on your stove or however is most convenient for you. You can call them and tell them you burned their bouquet but they don’t have to be there to get the good luck, and you don’t have to call them if you are too busy. Oh Korea, why are you so strict when it comes to some traditions, and completely nonchalant about others?
• Oh Korea, why are your dress codes so confusing? So I’ve talked a lot about short skirts and wearing high heels to go hiking, but just when I thought I had the Korean dress code figured out, my assumptions about dressing up for a wedding were wrong. I mean, weddings are a big deal in the US. We dress up for the occasion. In fact, I was scheduled to go to two weddings this month, so I borrowed two dresses from Vicki. I mean, I didn’t want to buy new dresses for these wedding, but I also know how fashionable the Koreans are so I didn’t want to wear the same clothes I wear to work. I was really surprised that my colleagues came to the wedding wearing the same clothes they normally do! Guys in the same suits, girls in the same dresses, I mean, yes, Koreans are always dressed up during the week, but I figured weddings would mean you have to dress up even more than average. Oh Korea, really, I’m puzzled by the dress codes sometimes.

Road Trip

* I know, I suck at this whole keeping up my blog regularly thing! But this week is Chuseok, Korean thanks giving, so I have the week off. Maybe this will allow me to catch up on some of the things you’ve missed. So here are the top 5 changes that have occurred recently that you’ve missed out on. (1) I am staying in Korea till January 14th. (2) Lucas was laid off from his job so one of us needs to have a job. (3) I belong to a team of 3 other people at my work so I no longer work in isolation. (4) I’ve been training for a half marathon so I’ve been running a lot lately, taking advantage of Olympic Park. (5) Because I renewed my contract to stay in Korea, I can now get a visa to go to China, I will go October 20th for 4 days with my friend Hey Jeong.
* This weekend I took a road trip with Bonyun, her husband, and her brother. We went east of Seoul about 3 ~ 4 hours to Andong. First stop was lunch at a wonderful picnic spot. You first order a tray of food and then take it to your private bungalow. Here I got to see sooooo many wonderful creatures!!! They weren’t inside our bungalow, they were outside of it and along the river. I found a praying mantis, huge grasshoppers, a rather plump caterpillar the size of a highlighter, and lots of frogs too! Bonyung got the grand prize of creature discoveries though. When she went to the bathroom she found a snake! I was sooooo jealous!
*After lunch we went for a hike up a mountain with a great view of a little peninsula town surrounded by the river. It was hot so we went down to the river and splashed around in the water for a while. Then, we drove to a really really long bridge. We also go to wonder around the mock town and fortress that they use for some of the TV historical dramas.
*Afterwards, we met with Bonyun’s Mom, Dad, and a Buddhist monk. Her parents are Buddhist so they like to take the monk out to dinner every once in a while. Once again, they were amazed at my ability to use chopsticks, because it’s always assumed that foreigners can only use forks I guess. And I in turn was amazed that the Buddhist monk was eating meat. I really think that only Buddhist in Korea eat meat. I don’t know if it is that they cannot refuse any food that is offered to them or they just interpret things differently in Korea. The next day, when we ate at the temple, we were served all vegetarian foods so maybe they are only vegetarian at the temple. So perhaps what happens outside of the temple, stays outside the temple? Or rather, what Buddha doesn’t know, won’t hurt him?
* After dinner, her parents went to stay with the monk at the temple, and we went to a traditional house. The house was built in 1663 and 14 of its rooms are rented out to people. It is advertised as an artists’ compound where they can go and listen to the earth revolve. The owner had to move the house uphill a few years ago when they dammed up the river and turned it into a lake. It’s a very serene spot he chose to move the house to. It’s tucked into the hills overlooking the lake. Many artists come here to write poetry and do calligraphy. In fact, the owner writes poetry and he gave me an autographed copy of his book of poems that were translated into both English and Japanese. He also showed me the calligraphy and art samples that some of the artists gave to him. He let me choose a piece and take it home with me!
*At the 1663 house, I got to share the American art of making s’mores. I got the marshmallows, Hershey chocolate bars, and graham crackers smuggled off the army base because they don’t sell such things in Korea. Then we used wooden chopsticks to roast our marshmallows on a small coal fire. Everyone loved the sticky, sweet treats! I even gave one to the owner and one to his wife. We also handed them out to any of the guest that came over to see what we were doing. It was I’m sure the first, and only time, s’mores have ever been made at that house.
*The next day we went to the Buddhist temple and Bonyun’s brother taught me how to bow properly to Buddha. You bow 3 times to Buddha and just once in the same fashion to the monk. So when I went to greet the monk I had just practiced with her brother in the temple so I did it correctly. When Bonyun and her husband came in a bit later to greet the monk, her dad told them to bow to the monk and they did didn't do it quite as well. So the monk was laughing and so were we because these 2 Koreans who both have Buddhist parents, and couldn't bow properly to the monk, but this foreign girl could. I guess they needn't know that I had just learned not 15 minutes prior!
*When we finished having tea at the temple, the monk gave me a beautiful stone bracelet. It is to help you keep track of how many prayers or bows you have done. I'm not too sure how to use it, I will have to ask Bonyun's brother for more clarification. Anyways, after we left, we all went to a mask museum. There were masks here not only from Korea, but around the world. It was very interesting to see differences and similarities among cultures.
*I had a great weekend. One of the hardest things about living in Korea is not having family around me. So this weekend, I really felt like a part of Bonyun’s family. I am so grateful to her and her brother for organizing and orchestrating such a great weekend for us!

Novocaine for my Seoul

• Many of you are wondering, “Renee, where have you been?” “Long time no write,” and so on. Well, my sister came to visit for 3 weeks, and then I was sick for 2 weeks after that. Must have been withdrawals from not being with my sister, since I had been with her night and day for 3 weeks, clearly I became addicted.
Anyway, this blog is not going to be an update on what my sister and I did for 3 weeks. Nor is it going to tell about my river rafting adventure or learning how to cook pajeon (Korean pancake). No, this post is about how I went to the dentist. Sounds exciting right? Well, just keep reading, it gets interesting.
Every year, all of the employees have to go for a physical exam. So, Hui Kyung and I went together to where they perform the physical exams for large companies. When we arrived, we filled out some forms and then changed into our spiffy, orange, monk-style scrubs. We are herded around through a gantlet of test with other employees in scrubs. We do blood work, urine tests, eye exams, hearing tests, and “womb tests.” Hui Kyung and the others also went for chest x-rays and mammograms, but since I get to do that at City of Hope when I get home (as part of a long term study) I opted out of those tests. No need for the extra exposure to radiation, or booby smashing.
After we finished these tests, we were presented with the option of having a dental exam, too. Knowing that I will not have health insurance, let alone dental insurance when I return home without a job, I jumped at the chance to see a dentist. Little did I know that going to the dentist in Korea is not like going to the dentist in the U.S. I got what they called “scaling” done for a little less than $40. It’s very similar to getting your teeth professionally cleaned in the US, but it’s much faster. It only takes about 5 minutes on the top and the bottom, which is a definite plus. Downside is it sounds worse then fingernails on a chalkboard!
Have you ever been so unfortunate as to be driving in the rain and have the rubber peal off of your windshield wipers and scrape along the glass? No, well I’m sure you can use your imagination and this is what was happening inside my head, for 10 minutes.
Oh wait, the story gets better. Much better! Have you ever been so unfortunate as to have a dentist drill into your tooth without giving you Novocain first? No, not that either huh? I can just hear your reaction, and oh yes, I have.
Apparently I had a small cavity on one of my back molars. So, the dentist said to me, “I suggest small pain, no shot.” My initial reaction, “I suggest you shove it!” But he kept insisting it would be a small pain. I asked, “long pain,” motioning with my hands, but he said no, “small pain.” So, foolishly I believed him and said I would try my best to endure the pain. And I did. I survived it. Thanks due in part to the dental assistant holding my arm and soothing me as best she could.
Actually, it was nothing compared to a bone marrow biopsy. No, haven’t been so unfortunate enough for that one either eh? Well, that’s far worse than having a dentist drill into your tooth without Novocain. I’m sure if it was a deep cavity I would not be saying the same thing though. Overall, I’m glad I did it. It was way cheaper then dental work in the U.S. and I can now go another year without visiting the dentist.

Random Korean-isms

* Ok, this post will be a hodgepodge of different little comments that I’ve been meaning to share with everyone. My first short story reveals the mystery of “Girl Poops.” So, if that’s kinda gross and you don’t want to hear about it, then just got right ahead on to the next * story. So, when I moved offices, Chin informed me that I no longer get to take my 2:30pm skype break to talk to my family. While I was working in close proximity to her, she had been holding me to U.S. law. So, I used to get a 10 minute break for every 4 hours I worked. Well, she said because I was moving into an area where there are other employees, I need to follow Korean law. Korean law apparently states, “work hard, work hard, work hard.” They are not given 10 minute breaks; in fact, Koreans are not supposed to take breaks at all! And now I too am not allowed to take breaks!
So, what’s the secret; how is it possible to work all day continuously without taking a break you may ask. Well, you can’t. And I don’t say this because you’re most likely not Korean; I say this because Koreans do take breaks. Hence the mystery of the ‘girl poop’ is revealed to me at last!
As a girl, before coming to Korea, I could never imagine a culture where girls sit on the toilet and read news papers, use the bidet, or talk on their cell phones while pooping in a public place. Now that I know Koreans are not allowed to take 10 minute breaks every 4 hours like I used to be allowed, I understand why girls take poop breaks at work. Though I still don’t think I will ever be able to do that.
* Lucas and I were wondering why, when we were in Japan, we saw so many girls walking with their feet turned in. I told him that girls in Korea do it too. I theorized that maybe walking that way made your butt look smaller. Because it’s not a genetic deformity, they choose to walk this way. I saw girls who would climb stairs with their feet faced forward like normal, and as soon as they are on level ground again they turn their feet back in. So I knew it was by choice, but I didn’t know why they chose to do this.
Turns out, Japanese Geishas walk this way. So, to be a more like a subservient, meek, geisha-esk girl, they walk with their feet turned in. Geishas do it to take smaller steps so that look dainty. Asides from looking retarded, I think some Korea girls do it took look like they need assistance. Maybe it will get the guy they are with to hold on to their arm and steady them as they walk like a duck in 4 inch heels. Who knows! That’s one girl mystery here I’m still working on understanding.
* Another interesting Korean-ism I learned about while living here is the importance of titles. There are some Korean-isms I’m not going to do, and one of them is always calling people by formal titles. Apparently, because I’m younger than Chin, I’m not supposed to call her by her name. I’m supposed to call her ‘sajanim.’ When I refer to her to other Koreans, I will use this title; only because it makes them visibly uncomfortable if I don’t, but when I am talking to her or emailing her, I use her name.
The other day, my two friends Dasom and Hui Kyung were told not to call each other by name because Hui Kyung is a year older then Dasom, so it’s unprofessional. HA! These girls went to grad school together, are good friends outside of work, and sit next to each other at the office, and they are not allowed to be on a first name bases with each other?!?!!? WOW!
Actually, it was even more Korean then that! They weren’t told directly not to call each other by their first names. No, nothing is ever told directly to someone. The order was given in a round about way by means of a suggestion. Like, “wouldn’t it be more professional if you called her [insert Korean title] instead, since she is a year older?” Hahahah! So Korean!
* One last little bit of random Korean facts for you. That awful T.V. show “Medium,” well, they actually show it on T.V. here too. But they don’t call it ‘Medium,’ they call it “Ghost and Crime.” I think it is because they don’t make a size medium here. They only make small and extra small, so they don’t have a word for it. Ha! Just kidding, I know medium is a homophone. Who knows why they didn’t just replace it with a word for that has a similar meaning to a medium, I guess they don’t have that type of person in their culture. Although they do have fortune tellers, and palm readers, so I would assume they would also have people who claim to take to ghosts.

Bau Haus Dog Cafe

* Like I reported in my last post, things had been a little tough for me after my parents left Seoul. I don’t belong to a team at my work so while other teams have monthly dinners together, I am left to wonder why I’m not included in their reindeer games? So, I decided to stop being sad and to do something about it. My solution was to threw my own dinner party. I had a few guests over from work and cooked dinner for them. They really enjoyed my cooking. Especially, the crustini with homemade salsa. They kept asking me for the recipe, but since I made it up I had to show them the steps I took to make it. So they learned something new.
I also learned something new from Hui Kyung. Before we ate dinner, Hui Kyung went into the restroom to wash her hands. She asked if she was supposed to use the Neutrogena face wash soap on her hands. I told her, “No, use the Korean stuff.” She started laughing, so I knew I had committed another faux pas. She was laughing because I had put soap for washing dishes in my bathroom. I couldn’t tell the difference! It’s all in Korean; soap is soap right? Since this incident I have replaced my bathroom dishwashing soap with Dove bar soap, so let’s hope future dinner guests will be spared any needless confusion.
* Speaking of needless confusion, I had a very strange dream the other day. I dreamt that I needed to pick something up to rescues it from getting wet. Well, I ended up falling out of bed rescuing this imaginary object. One minute I’m asleep in bed, the next I’m laying on the hardwood floor wondering why my knee and elbow hurt so damn much. I crawled back into bed, but I had trouble falling asleep again because of the pain, and the fact that I couldn’t stop laughing at myself.
* Guess where Vicki and I went…..the long await, world famous Bau Haus!!! It’s a dog café! And no, although Koreans do eat dogs on occasion, this café only served drinks and dog treats. This café has at all times 10 or so dogs on hand, plus some people bring their own dogs to play, too. It’s a wild scene! Dogs barking, running, biting, and scratching, it was a dog lover’s paradise! We got to cuddle every kind of dog from an Afghan to a schnauZer!
I brought dog treats from a local market but they were confiscated at the door. The dogs are only aloud to have the treats that we buy at their café. It’s also a one drink minimum per visitor. They sell smoothies, tea, and bottled beer. If you leave any drink unattended a dog might try to share it with you. The dogs own this place! The roam around the tables and bench seats visiting any guests with doggy treats available.
I spent most of my time with one big sleepy doberman pincher who loved cuddling with me. He was sleeping on me for most of the 2 hours we were there! Though other dogs came and went so I got to cuddle other dogs as well.
The dogs were pretty well behaved for the most part. We only saw a few have “accidents” that were promptly cleaned up by attentive staff. And every time a staff member called one of the dogs by name it would come running and then sit down near him or her. The dog would then sit while people posed around it for photos.
* After Vicki and I left the dog café, we went to a Mexican restaurant. All I can say is it was a very interesting take on Mexican food. I’m not saying it was bad, on the contrary, I liked the quesadilla I ordered. It just didn’t use a corn or flour tortilla like your average quesadilla. This one was made out of some kind or omelet-crêpe-potato-paddy hybrid. It was not crispy, it was fluffy with melted cheese and different types of mushrooms inside.
* After the dinner, we followed the loud cheering that was coming from the park. There was an amazing Korean band playing. They covered all English songs with the added twist of a Reggae beat, tap dancing, and beat boxing. The group was called Soundbox, and they covered songs like Beatles ‘Hey Jude’ and Radiohead ‘Freak’. All while adding interesting beat box noises or dramatic tap dancing dueling sessions between the dancer and the base player. Really interesting stuff, so creative! I think they are there ever weekend in the park so I can’t wait to go back and check them out again soon… when I get to bring Angela!!! I can’t wait for my sister to visit!!!

Out Drinkin

*So recently, both the US and Korea were in a little program called the World Cup. Heard of it? Well, here in Korea it’s a huge deal! They even keep the subways open later on the nights that Korea plays. Although, I did just learn that the subway stays open later during the week then it does on the weekend!!! Like me, you might be saying, ah waaa? That’s right, the weekends are to be spent with your family, not out drinking with your friends! Silly, that’s what week days are for!
Anyways, back to the World Cup. Vicki and I, although not huge soccer fans we are well aware of the rules of the game, so we decided to give it a go and join the fans in Gangnam. It was pouring rain and every bar we went to we were turned away. At first, I thought it was because we were foreigners and the bars were full of Koreans so no waygooks allowed! But no, some young Korean girls with their skirts up to their hoo-ha’s were turned away too so we knew there must be another explanation. Well, the deal is most places you needed to have a reservation. There is no such thing as standing room only. You can’t order a beer and stand near the bar and drink it, noooo! You have to have a seat and a table or nothing at all! Strange right? Yeah, I thought so too.
So we ended up watching the first half of the game out in the rain, under umbrellas, drinking canned beer from the GS. The game was televised on a huge TV / billboard so we got to see if just fine, although my shoes were filling with rain water. At half time we decided to start out search for a bar with an open seat once again. We finally found one! Hooray!
Now this whole “much have a table thing” seems really strange, but the deal is that most places require you to buy ‘anju’ or snack foods in addition to your beer. So you can’t just order a 30$ pitcher of beer, you have to order squid, pancakes, or French fries too. Yet, Vicki was not aware of this rule after living in Korea for 7 years so its really just a law they enforce if you are with a Korean. If it is two waygooks then they don’t bother. Trying to translate this requirement for us in addition to having to translate their menu that has no English on it would be near impossible so Vicki and I are safe as long as we are just hanging out with each other.
*Vicki and I went to a bar near my house and got really excited when we saw the following on the menu: Red Beer, Blue Beer, Purple Beer, etc. So we thought, yes! We are gonna get a picture of us drinking every color of the rainbow! This is gonna be sweet! So I ordered the purple beer and she ordered the orange beer. Oh god! It was the worst beer I have ever, and I mean ever, drank in my entire life!!! In fact, I could only have 3 sips before abandoning it and ordering a regular beer.
What makes this beer so terrible you ask? Well, it was cheap Cass, which is not all that terrible by its self, but what makes it “Red, Yellow, Blue, etc” is the addition of fruit syrup. I know it might not sound that bad, but trust me, it really is worse then you are imagining. So the “purple beer” I had was full of raspberry syrup, and the “Orange Beer” contained peach syrup.
Dear Korea, stop making your already poor quality beer even worse.

Post for June

*Well I’m sorry to say I have been slacking in my blogging activities and I have no excuse for that. All I can say is that my mother and father came to visit me in Korea recently and I did so much sight seeing with them that after they left it took a week to regain my energy. Then, another week or two to get over the depression and alienation I felt in their absence. So, here I am, back again and in brighter spirits and ready to share my interesting stories with you all once again.
My parent’s visit was much like my visit to Japan, way too much information and activities to write about. I will give a short list of the activities I shared with my parents: went to the beach, Korean National Museum, open air market, Han river boat cruise, Insadong tea house, the presidential Blue House, Gyeongbok palace, Hanok traditional village, the giant Buddha statue near Coex, and Lotte World amusement park. Hard to believe they were only here 4 full days! I think I am now officially a certified Seoul tour guide! Let me know if you would like to schedule a tour with me (within the next 4 months of course).
*In other news, I got a new desk! I’ve gone from a seat as a secretary to a seat as a sajanim, or boss. (I started using the term ‘saj’ for short, kinda close to serg. which is short for sergeant). Now I have a nice corner desk with a window right behind me! I guess maybe I have earned the right not to have someone looking over my shoulder constantly?
* I was talking to one of my friends from work, Dasom, about some of the cultural difference I have come across and she made some good observations too that I never noticed before. She said that Korea doesn’t have any drive thrus. No drive thru coffee, fast food, or in some selected states drive thru liquor stores. And yes, I have been through a drive thru liquor store in Kentucky so I know we have them in the U.S. But not here in Korea. I guess because of the limited land they have to work with, drive thrus just aren’t feasible.
She also said that Korean friends do not go to each other’s homes. This I thought was really strange. I mean, that’s what we do in the U.S. If someone is going to bridge the gap between coworker or study buddy to a friend, this transition occurs by inviting them into your home. So when I was feeling down because I had only been to 3 people’s homes in the past 8 months, she explained that that is totally normal. For Korean’s, they always just meet up outside the home at bars, restaurants, or movie theaters. They don’t invite each other over to watch movies or have a BBQ, that just isn’t done. I felt a lot better after she explained that to me.
* Dasom also helped me find a vet to get Tokey Pokey fix (and no, I don’t mean BBQed, stewed, or shish kebab) and I taught her two new English words: spay and neuter. Dasom and I walked to the local vet’s office and she talked to him for me. He seemed really surprised that I wanted to have my rabbit fixed. He does it all the time for cats and dogs, but this was his first rabbit. He said he would try. And although that statement didn’t instill a great confidence in his ability, I also knew that this was probably my best hope of finding someone to do the procedure.
Now I know what you must be thinking, why do this procedure in the first place? Well, once Tokey Pokey reached sexual maturity he started pooping and peeing everywhere! All that hard work to get him potty trained when he was a baby was wasted! I also know that I most likely cannot bring him home to the states with me. And if he is no longer potty trained, I would have a hard time finding a good home for him with a replacement mommy.
!!!!!!This is very important, please skip this next section if you are grossed out easily. Just go to the next * instead of reading further!!!!! I took him to vet today and dropped him off, hoping for the best. I returned in the afternoon with my fingers crossed that everything went well. I came into the office and the vet went into the back room and brought back Tokey Pokey’s testicles on a paper towel. He said, “Testicles,” and I said “Ohh, ohhh.” I think he registered the look of shock on my face and put the paper towel down in front of me at the reception desk and went back to go retrieve my rabbit. I was thinking to myself, “What in the hell am I suppose to do with these? Earrings? Soup?” I was so grossed out!
When he brought the box with Tokey in it I just grabbed it, thanked them, and left with both hands full so I didn’t have to worry about taking his testicles in a “to go box” with a ribbon tied around it! I know that sounds terrible but if you have been to Korea, you know it is all about presentation; they box up your left over food at restaurants and tie beautiful bows around it, so I was half expecting them to try to make me wait while they did that to Tokey’s parts.
*Ok, always end on a happy note. So I love a Korean animal TV show! I’ve told you about it in previous posts. This past show was great! There was a baby chicken and it was best friends with a cat! The cat would lay down and then the baby chick would jump on top of it and start pecking the fleas off, or pecking the ear mites etc. The cat would eventually get tired of this and get up to walk away and the baby chick would follow the cat every where it went. The owner even built a little dog house type structure for the cat and chicken to share. So cute!
Another great episode showed a mamma hen who had her chicks taken away from her. She was feeling motherly and had no one to love so she adopted some baby guinea pigs! So freaking cute! These five or so piggys would all cuddly under her like she was one of those pet store plastic igloos! And she would just sit on top of them, keeping them warm?
* Oh I almost forgot, I made a Kook Bok! Its my account of all the Korean dishes I have made so far. I'm not done with it yet, I didn't finish describing how to make the last dish, but the rest are up and available. http://www.wix.com/rbazant/Korean Kook Bok

South South Korea

• This weekend Sunny, her husband, and I went on a road trip to the southern part of the country. Sunny’s husband drove while us girls snoozed in the back seat for the 4 or 5 hour drive Friday night after work. Sunny’s husband was competing against 15 of his co-workers that weekend at a country club. Surprisinly, he won first place; even after only getting 2 hours of sleep that night. Her husband was sharing a room with 3 other guys and I think they spent to evening drinking and singing. Sunny and I on the other hand cleaned up and then went right to bed. We had a big day ahead of us and needed our rest. So no matter how many text messages she got asking for us to join the party she turned them all down.
• The next morning we were up at 7 and packed and out of the hotel before 8. Sunny drove us further south to a green tea farm. It was beautiful! Rows and rows of green tea growing on a hill side. We climbed to the top of the mountain and were rewarded with a breathtaking ocean view. Then, we made our way down the back side of the mountain, the shady side with no tea, and were rewarded once again with another 2 breathtaking views. The first was of fresh, cool, water falls. The second was of an ajima (pushy, older married Korean woman) who passed me on going down the trail in high heels. It was muddy and rocky from the waterfalls but that didn’t stop ajima! My jaw dropped! But surprisingly, she wasn’t the only Korean girl I saw hiking in heels, but she was the only one hiking faster then me.
• After a lovely lunch of seafood bimbibap we went to the next green tea farm. But not before getting our very own green tea plants! Now I can make my very own fresh green tea, I don’t even need to dry the leaves first, just take it straight from the source. At our next green tea farm I we were able to wander down the rows of bushes and found some green tea seeds. So hopefully since I can’t bring the actual plants home, I can bring some seeds and start my own plants when I get back.
Oh, I almost forgot, we also enjoyed some yummy green tea ice cream. So once I grow my plants back home, I am expecting to borrow mom’s ice cream maker and make my own green tea ice cream too!
• Next, we went to a famous Korean author’s museum. There was a really nice lotus pond and a replica setting for his book. It included homes and tools that the characters used in the book. Without knowing much about the book asides from the setting, which was the period after the war, it seemed like a Cinderella type story. Rich guy or girl falls in love a poor person of the opposite sex that works for their family. The replica village was very nicely done. You could go into the different rooms and practice using the various tools etc.
• After the author’s museum, we went to a folk village. This was not like any other Korean folk village I have been too. This one was actually a village. It was still active and in use by people who want to live a traditional life style. Sunny said that some of the houses were pensions and people pay to stay and live a “traditional Korean existence.” It was really neat to see people living, farming, like they have for decades; although they do have the addition of mechanical farm equipment like trucks and tractors. We were there before the sun set so I don’t know if they had electricity or not.
In addition to traditional homes, they also serve tourists traditional foods. One of these foods is bon-day-gee. Sunny was excited to share this dish with me. She bought a cup full and enthusiastically offered them to me. I should mention that bon-day-gee is a traditional dish from a time during the war when sources of protein were scarce. Bon-day-gee are cooked beetle larvae. Mmmmmm. And yes, I was brave enough to try it. It didn’t taste bad, and thank goodness they didn’t really pop in your mouth, just a squish. I have tactile sensitivity to any food that pops in my mouth like cherry tomatoes or fish roe.
When we were walking around the traditional village, snacking on bon-day-gee, we encountered a replica of a prisoners being punished. We got some great photos of our own form of punishment... being forced to eat bon-day-gee! Don’t worry, I am not going to have Sunny teach me how to make don-day-gee in cooking class so you are all safe from having to eat cooked larvae.
• After the traditional village, we drove to meet her husband in GwangJu. Here we had dinner together and then I boarded a bus for a 3.5 hour ride back to Seoul. Sunny and her husband live an hour away from my house on the other side of town so dropping me off at home would have been really out of the way for them. They were so nice. They helped me get my ticket, and her husband even boarded the bus with me and made sure I found my seat. So sweet of them! I slept the whole ride home. What a great weekend!

Cultural Differences

• I got a great book the other day, its called “Ugly Americans Ugly Koreans.” It has fantastic examples of how Korea and American behaviors and standards differ. It doesn’t pass any judgment, just states cases of where we differ in our expectations. For example, “Koreans tend to eat without much talking, and then get up and go. Americans tend to socialize a little, eat with moderate conversation, and then talk a great deal afterwards. Koreans are more likely to move to a new location after a meal.” It’s a really helpful for me. Plus, it confirms many of the interesting observations and generalizations I may come up with.
• I am fascinated by the cultural differences I encounter. For example, in the dressing rooms, you often have to take your shoes off before entering, and then there are a complimentary pair of high heels to wear, just incase you only had your flats with you. Also, as Melissa knows, even if you want a bigger size skirt or shirt, if you try it on and it looks good on you, the shop attendant may refuse to give you a different size. She may insist that it looks fine and will not get you a different size.
• Another difference is that if you buy a beer at the liquor store, you can pull out the folding chairs and folding table and sit down with your beer (or soju) and drink it right there in front of the store. It is so much better than drinking in a smoky bar! You can just sit out on the street drinking a beer, people watching, and enjoying snacks from the GS.
Really, in Korea, it seems like you can drink any where. My book says that public drunkenness is acceptable unlike in the states where it often holds a social stigma and may even land you jail. But here, it’s common to see businessmen dressed in fine suits staggering down the street. Or, drinking beer at the movie theater like it was a US sporting event. Which I think is a great practice by the way! Vicki and I got two beers and a bag of popcorn for less then $8 total!
Even I am guilty of drinking in public. One day Sunny and I went to TGIF and ordered dinner and long island ice teas. Unfortunately, Sunny realized after we ordered that because of a holiday schedule the last bus to her home that evening was leaving in half an hour. So we ate our meals as fast as we could. She then asked me if I though they would have “to go” containers, and I thought she was referring to our left over meals, but she wasn’t. She meant “to go” containers for our long island ice teas! Sure enough, they gave us “to go” cups with lids and straws so we could enjoy our long island ice teas on the bus ride home. Sunny then apologized for having to rush when eating our meal, and hoped my digestion would be ok. I told her it would be fine, and plus, I had “tea” to help my digestion hahah! Defiantly a funny bus ride home that night!
• Another difference here in Korea is that people like to dress up for all occasions. In fact, I don’t think I have ever seen a relaxed Korean in a t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. “You may seem some Koreans dressed more appropriately for an evening out at a fine restaurant than for a day hiking mountain trails.”
Yesterday it was pouring rain and girls were still walking around in mini skirts and open toed, high heel shoes. Rain or shine, they dress in style. This also goes for amusement parks. As my dad puts it, “You’re going to take photos when you are at the amusement park so you need to look good.” Makes sense right? This must be why the raft ride at amusement park has a huge tarp in the center that you pull over your body so you won’t get wet. I mean, you want to ride the rapids, but you also can’t get that silk skirt soaked, right?
• A lot of differences have to do with having and raising kids. An example I see often, and is stated in my book is that Korean parents are indifferent to the children disturbing others in public. “Most Koreans do not seem to be bothered in the least by children running around and making noise in public. Americans, on the other hand, think children should be strictly controlled in public by their parents.”
Oh, I also learned that when a Korean woman is pregnant she will have a lot of tangerines or oranges. I guess the fresh smell is supposed to help with the morning sickness. So, if you see a woman eating tangerines or oranges you can joke around that maybe she is pregnant.
After a woman gives birth she can go stay at a special care facility. Here, there are nurses to care for your baby 24 hours a day, and the job of the new mother is to sleep and eat. The mother can see her baby whenever she wants to, but her primary job is to take a few days to recover before being required to go back home and care for the new baby, her husband, and her household.
I think this is a great system. Maybe I should open up one of these facilities in Manhattan Beach or some other neighborhood where people can afford it. I would offer recovery yoga, facials and massages, etc. Too bad new born babies creep me out otherwise this could have been a great new business to pursue. You know me, I don’t think babies get cool till they are over a year old.
Another interesting difference I learned about is that Mothers lose their identity after having a child. I was talking to a woman who has two children and she explained to me that only at our work is she called by her name. Teachers, other parents, and even her own parents do not call her by her name. Once you become a mother you are referred to as such. So for example my mom would no longer be called Susan by her parents. They would call her “mother of my grandchild Renee.” Parents would call her “Mother of Renee,” or “Mother of Angela.”
I explained that as a teacher, I would only refer to a third party this way. So, I might say, “Nick’s mom came in to talk to me today.” Or maybe a parent referring to another parent from the same class may use this as well; “I invited Jane’s mom to help set up for the party.” But we would never directly call this person “Jane’s mom,” or “Nick’s mom.”
The woman from work said that there is now a change among some mothers because they feel they are losing their sense of self. I mean, to exist as “Susan” for the first 25 or so years of your life, and then all of a sudden, not to be called this any more, even by your own parents? I can see that this must be extremely difficult for a woman. You cease to be that person any more; your only importance now lies in your title as mother to this child. So, she said that some mothers are trying to use their real names with each other, but this is difficult to do. It’s just not customary, and breaking customs around here is frowned upon.

Not Japan but Korea

• So long time no write huh? Sorry about that! Every spare minute I had went to making my own website. That’s right! It was Allie Pippin’s idea, and Lucas’ prompting, that lead me to develop a website featuring pictures and descriptions of the activities I have participated in. Check it out if you have any free time. http://www.wix.com/rbazant/Resume_Bazant
• Well, since I have not written in so long I am afraid I must skip over the rest of my Japan trip. Really, you are just missing too many Korea stories so I can’t hold off on updating you on that. So if you are dying to know more about it please take a look at the Japan photos on my Facebook page.
• Asides from keeping busy making that website, I also have been keeping busy at the gym. Guess what Jackie, I started running again. Well, I walk for two minutes then run for 4. I do this for half an hour and burn 275 calories, twice a week. Then, I do other weight lifting and ab exercises afterwards.
I even get my friend Sunny to go with me sometimes. Although she is an expert at finding excuses not to workout with me. One time she came over to my house claiming that she didn’t have shoes to workout in so she couldn’t go. I gave her a pair of complimentary Lotte Hotel slippers to wear and told her we are going anyways! The next time she told me that we should make kimbap for our work picnic. I told her it was a great idea and we would defiantly make kimbap after we worked out! Hahaha! I won’t take any excuses from her!
• I mentioned making kimbap for my work picnic, but Sunny has been teaching me to make other Korean dishes as well. I have also made yubu chobap, and kim mu chim. Yubu chobap is actually Japanese. It’s the bean curds filled with rice. Kim mu chim is a seaweed salad with sautéed garlic stems. It is better than it sounds I promise. I have also been using my rice cooker. I love it! I will never cook rice in a pot on the stove again! If you don’t have one and you cook rice once a week or more, this is a must have item for your kitchen!
• Asides from working out and having cooking class together, Sunny and I also took a pottery class. It was my first time using a pottery wheel. It’s much harder than it looks. I needed a lot of help from the teacher, who didn’t speak any English asides from “Stop!” So, she would yell stop and take over for a bit and fix what ever I did wrong, and then hand it back over to me. It was a great experience. It will be fired and sent to my office sometime in the next week, so pictures of the final product will be available soon.
• The other weekend my friends Sai, Jay, Jay’s girlfriend, and I went to a house in the countryside. It was an artist’s compound with different cabins for showing films, displaying photography, and everyday living. It was amazing. It’s what I want to have someday. We got to enjoy a bimbibap buffet and listen to a concert by the pond. It was very special. I hope that someday I have a place similar to this and I can share it with you all as well.
• Oh, one last story before I end this blog entry (next blog will be stories of how Koreans and Americans differ). So I like to style my hair differently every day. I have short hair so I like to have fun with it. Some days I have my bangs out, sometimes they are to the side, or I may pull them back for a bump-it look. Other times I may put a headband in and wear the back wavy. Well, I get asked almost daily if I cut my hair. It’s really funny. Most of the girls at work wear their hair long and straight. Its strange, guys have really creative hair cuts and obviously spend time styling it, but the girls don’t often style their hair differently day to day like I do. So the result is… “oh, did you get a hair cut?” I just chuckle and say, “no, I just pulled it back /pined it up / let it down etc.”

Japan Day 1-2

• I know you all wanted to hear about my Japan adventure but I have been so busy every since my return I hardly had a chance to unpack. In fact, my carry on bag is still sitting in the living room area much to Tokey Pokey’s delight; jump on the bag, jump off the bag, jump on the bag, jump off the bag etc. Although it has been a while, I will try my best to remember the events that will interest you all most. I’ll leave the mushy romantic stuff to a minimum.
• So before I went to Japan I needed to get the rail pass. Apparently, you can not buy the Japan Rail Pass in Japan; it needs to be purchased through a travel agency or through JAL before you get there. So Lucas got his from a travel agency in the US and I tried calling JAL to get mine. They took down my flight information and said ‘yes’ then hung up. I had no idea what that meant. So I figured I would just figure it out at the airport. Well I went to the airport and the first person I talked to had no idea that JAL sold rail passes, not a promising start. She then asked her manager, who also had no clue. I asked if there was anyone else around that I could speak to and she pointed to a reservation desk. I walked over there and said “Rail Pass” and he pulled up a ticket with my name on it. Oh thank goodness! He had it all ready to go. So who ever I gave my info to over the phone did do something with it. I was happy to see things were going my way after all, until I hit a road block, of course! I pulled out Korean won to pay for the ticket and he said, “No, only Japanese yen or U.S. dollar.” What? I am still in Korea correct?!?! I had to take out more money from the ATM and exchange it to yen so I could get my rail pass. Long story short, I finally got the stupid pass. Which was a good thing because Lucas and I took the trains all over Japan. We went from Tokyo to Kyoto to Osaka and back again.
• Our first full day in Tokyo we went to a beautiful cherry blossom garden. I couldn’t believe our luck. These trees bloom for 2 weeks out of the year and we were there to witness it. I really can’t describe how beautiful it was. But I got some amazing photos to prove it. I really wanted to paint a picture of it though. There were so many people in the park painting.
That first day we also went to an electrons mega mall. But what I liked best was going to the fish market and beer museum. We went to the Tsukji Fish Market and found ourselves a great little shop to have sushi at. Freshest sushi I have ever had. Oh and for those of you who don’t know yet, I did start eating fish so I truly could enjoy the sushi.
After a sushi lunch, we went to the Yebisu Beer Museum. It wasn’t much of a museum although it had a few cool items like an old music box and some paintings of Japanese flappers. The good part was getting draft Yebisu beers.
• Day 2 we took the bullet rain from Tokyo to Osaka. It is unbelievably expensive! It was close to 100$ one way, for a 3 hour train trip. But it was the bullet train so I guess 3 hours was making good time compared to other trains we could have taken. Since we already bought our rail passes, we already paid for using as many trains as we wanted to for 7 days.
In Osaka we walked around a mega mall and went to a fish market as well. I saw the world’s largest edamame beans at that market! They were the size of a giants thumbs!!!
Lucas also went to and onsen, which is a bathhouse, at our hotel. I couldn’t go because I had tattoos, the sign said that I must refrain from, “drunkenness and tattooed.” So I just sat with a beer in a bubble bath and read my book in the tub while Lucas was making new friends. You need to ask him to tell that story.

Not Japan Part 2

• The other day I got a great art set from my friend Vicki (thanks again Vicki!!!!). We went together to the Andy Warhol exhibit and she brought the art set with her. It has oil pants, pastels, colored pencils, acrylics, and water colors. I can’t wait to get started on my first art project!
I can’t say I was all that inspired by the Andy Warhol exhibit, but I can see how his work has influenced pop art still being made today by other artists. I am glad that I did get to see his work in person; I had only seen photos of it in art class, oh, and in the movie Basquiat.
• I was watching that crazy Korean animal show on TV again. This time there was a man and his horse and they were sharing carrots and bowls of macoli (rice wine). Reminds me of the time Melissa was trying to give Tokey Pokey macoli, which for some strange reason he decided to drink it. It also showed a rabbit in a cute knitted sweater. Looks like I might have a new knitting project!!! Somehow I think Tokey Pokey would eat the sweater before I could even get the thing on him.
• The other day was my 10 year anniversary. This means I have been cancer free for 10 years. My friend Sai, from the Craigslist hiking club, and I went to a beautiful Buddhist temple and then to a German brewery to celebrate. It was a great day, and the best part was that there was not a crappy Korean beer in sight! No Cass or Hite at this place. The bar was called Octoberfest and they made good Wit beer served with lemon, instead of orange, but I can hardly demand perfection, I was just so happy it wasn’t Korean crap beer!
I also had some special anniversary celebrations with my girls from work. At lunch time, my friend Jae and I went for seafood rice soup and then out for tea and shared a cupcake. She had bought a chocolaty, fudgy, yummy cupcake from Paris Baguette and put large 1 and 0 candles in it for me. I got to blow out the candles and wish for another 10 years cancer free. It was so sweet of her!
My friend Hye Jung also gave me a little box of 4 different flavored cupcakes to celebrate the occasion. I was able to cut the cupcakes into 4 pieces each so that everyone who went out to dinner with me that night could have one piece of each. Sunny, Dasom, Hui Kyung, and I went out for Thai food that night after work and shared the cupcakes.
At first I was really upset that I couldn’t spend my anniversary with my family and friends from home, but my new friends here really made my anniversary special. And getting all that facebook love from my friends back home also helped me get over the fact that I am far from home and had do drop the plans I had once made for this momentous occasion.
• Now for some strange and gross stories… Vicki and I went out for lunch after we went to the Andy Warhol exhibit and we ordered a pizza to share. When they served the pizza they also gave us a bowl of what looked like apple sauce. Now, I have had honey in a bowl as a side for dipping the pizza but not apple sauce. But I thought, well, if they serve honey with pizza, why not apple sauce? Alas, as I should have known, things never taste like what I expect them to. It wasn’t apple sauce at all. Any guesses? Answer: pineapple. It had the right consistency and color of apple sauce but no, it was defiantly pineapple.
• Warning, this next story is once again about girls pooping. The other day at work I found myself in the middle of a girl-poop-sandwich!!! Let me explain that one. There are three toilets in the ladies room at work, and only the middle stall was open. Turns out that the girls in both the occupied stalls were taking their poop breaks. Hence how I came to be in the middle of a girl-poop-sandwich. One girl was flipping news paper pages, and the other one was using the bidet to wash her butt off so I was certain they were on their poop breaks. I don’t think I will ever get used to this!!!!

Not Japan Part 1

• I know everyone is expecting me to post stories about Japan but I can’t yet. I didn’t have time to write about my Korean adventures before leaving for Japan so I need to take the time to do it now before I start sharing about Japan.
• So I decided to go back and visit the facial and massage place near my house. Its only 30$ for a 2 hour pampering, and ever once in a while I needed to treat myself. This time I was more observant of my surroundings and found the various jars of what look like Plaster of Paris. So that stuff she smears on my face that feels like cupcake frosting is most likely a powdered mud or even more likely, actual plaster. This time, the face-frosting smelled like Strawberry Bubblicious Gum! Mmmmm. Once again, I feel asleep on the table, under my heated sleeping bag as I waited for my Bubblicious face-frosting to dry.
After I was done with my facial and massage, and had come back from the locker room dressed and ready to go home I was surprised to find my masseuse with a camera. Apparently, this masseuse was not the same masseuse I had visited before, and I was her first ever foreign client so she wanted to take a picture with me. Whether this was to prove that she actually had a foreign client, or because I was so beautiful (no snickering!), or because it was so rare to find a foreigner willing to put up with the Korean abuse called “a massage,” I will never know. And yes, I did take a picture with her. I only regret that I didn’t get a picture of her with my camera so I could post it on here.
• I did however get a picture of the lunch lady at my office cafeteria. I came down to lunch on April Fools Day, and she handed me a giant bag of popcorn. I was so confused, I just wanted some lunch and now I had enough popcorn to feed an army! She had to show me that I was the 176th person to get lunch that day and therefore had won the bag of popcorn. Apparently, as it was explained to me much later by Sunny, the Korean word for this type of snack is similar to the Korean word for ‘fool’ hence handing out ‘fool’ food on April Fools’ Day.
I had so much popcorn I didn’t know what to do with it all. I took computer paper and rolled it into a cone shape, stapled it, and then filled it with popcorn. Then I went around handing it out to everyone on my floor. Many of these people had never spoken to me so when I came over to their desk and handed them a cone of popcorn they were very surprised. I could only hold two cones in my hands at a time so I had to deliver the cones and then return to my desk to make more. Every time I came back, and I mean every single time, the person I had just given popcorn to walked away from their desk to share the popcorn with the other members on their team. Maybe they were assuming that I was not coming back with more popcorn for everyone? It was really strange! I would show up at someone’s desk ready to give them a cone of popcorn and they would already have a tissue with popcorn on it or a few kernels of popcorn in their hands.
Even though I handed out popcorn to everyone working on my floor, I still had more than I could eat by myself. So when the opportunity to give it all away came along, I jumped at the chance. One night after work, the office hosted another movie night. Since it is still not spring time (it snowed the other day) it was held in the basement of the office instead of on the roof like last time. So I brought my big bag of popcorn to the movie night and donated it. I was happy to be rid of it before it went bad and was wasted.
• I got the cutest ear buds ever!!!! They are little bumble bees!!! Buzz for Bazant!!! They were only 10$ and are nice and comfy in my ear holes. I got them from the Lotte bookstore when I went shopping for Lucas’ birthday presents. Of course, you go to get someone a present and you end up buying things for yourself! I did end up getting Lucas a really cool gift there.
I found a pill bottle with 100 pills for your heart. However, these pills are not really medicine. Instead, inside each pill is a blank scroll for you to write a message on. So I spent hours taking pills apart, writing little love notes, and reassembling the pills. I did this 100 times! But it was worth it, Lucas loved it. Plus, it was a unique and heartfelt gift. Awwwww, so cute!

The Inca and Rouault

* Last week, all day the light outside my window seemed very strange. The light reflecting off the building next to me was yellow. I thought that the skies would open up and it was going to be the worst storm I've ever experienced. When I went out later that afternoon I found that it wasn't a rainstorm, it was a sandstorm! The sand was blowing in from the Gobi desert. Apparently these 'yellow sand' storms are pretty common here, but this was the worst it has been in 10 years. About half of the people walking around had masks on; I kept thinking, maybe I should stop and buy one. All of the cars parked on the street have a thick layer of yellow sand on them. Reminds me of home, after a fire when it looks like its snowing ash and the cars are covered in it.
* I have a new goal of learning how to cook one new Korean dish a week. My friend Sunny is teaching me. This week we made h-oh-dak! This was Melissa's favorite dish when she came to visit. Its like a Korean churro, but circular, and the cinnamon and sugar also has peanuts and sesame seeds in it. And now I know how to make it!!! MMmmmmm!!! Also, I guess my goal has now inspired Sunny's husband, who has committed to cooking one dinner a week for her. Apparently, having a foreigner that can cook better than he can has threatened him into proving he can be a better Korean cook than me. I was thinking about joining the Korean facebook know as cafe.naver and posting instructions and my experience as a foreigner making mundane, simple, Korean foods. If I do, I will post a link so you guys can have access to my Korean recipes as well.
* Well, last weekend was officially the first day of spring, so I decided to wear some spring inspired clothes. I wore a brightly colored dress that had pinks and blues, and all day long people were commenting about how bright it was. I guess that even though it was officially spring, people aren't dressing for it yet; they are still wearing blacks, browns, and dark greens. Its almost April people, can we wear a little color?!?!
For those of you who read my blogs regularly, you probably remember what happened the last time I wore a dress to work... it started snowing. Well, you can imagine what happened when I wore my bright spring dress that day, the storm clouds came rolling in to cover up that sunshine. And once again I found myself walking home with the snow falling. I swear, that is the last time I wear a dress to work until it is summer!
** I was walking to work and I saw some cute fuzzy white face under a car. I thought oh, what an interesting looking cat, it kinda looks like those smashed faced rabbits they sell at E Mart. I turned around to see the cat hopping, of course after that I had to go back and investigate the situation further. Sure enough, it was a rabbit hiding under a parked car. I couldn't believe it! I reached into my snack bag and pulled out some carrots for him, he took them and ate them right away! I wanted to rescue him but I also couldn't be late for work because it was my boss's first day back after being in Los Angeles for a week and I knew rescuing a bunny would not be a valid excuse for her as to why I was late to work. So I promised the bunny that I would come back at lunch and if he was still there then he could come home with me.
I came back at lunch time but he was gone! I was heart broken. I felt so bad that I didn't do the right thing and rescue him. Later that afternoon it started snowing, and I mean really snowing, like blizzard conditions! I was so worried about the poor bunny! My dad said it was ok because some kid coming home from school must have seen the bunny too and brought him home with her, and not to cook for dinner, but to keep as a pet. I'm sticking with this story so don't try to tell me otherwise!
* Whenever I ask Koreans, what are you doing this weekend, they usually answer, "I am going to church." Now, I don't know if this is a standard English phrase that Koreans learn when they are studying English, or if church is just the place to be on the weekends. Is it mandatory to go to church if you are Korean? I asked my friend Vicki who has been living here for 7 years, and she told me a very interesting story about what happened when a foreigner decided to attend a Korean church. She said that the person arrived at the church and the people were very welcoming and kind to him. They then lead him to the basement of the church where all of the other "not perfect Koreans" were located. Here he sat with Koreans with down syndrome, autism, sitting in wheel chairs etc. Since he was not perfectly Korean as well, he needed to be in the basement watching the church service on closed television. When Vicki told me this story I couldn't believe it, but it is just one of those stories that is so strange you couldn't make it up.
* Lucas, get ready for one hell of a show when you come to Japan! Apparently, my dance teacher wants to show off how much she has taught me in these past few months. She is burning me a cd with the music from class, and lending me a special costume from the performance team. Oh lord!!!! She wants me to do all the belly dance routines! Hahahah!
* This weekend I went to two different museums. I went to see the Inca exhibit, and Georges Rouault. The Inca exhibit had a lot of archeology finds. They even had some of the natural made mummies on display! Amazing!!!! The mummy of the woman still had her hair and clothing intact! She also had a mummified infant with her that was equally well preserved.
The next museum I went to was at the art center. I got to see many of Rouault's oil paintings. He was famous for his paintings of clowns, and of Jesus Christ. (You can draw your own opinions from that one without my help.) We actually went to the museum to see the Monet exhibit, but the line was longer than a water ride a Disneyland during a hot summer day! No joke! The estimate was a 4 hour wait to get into the exhibit, and once in, you will have to elbow your way to get close enough to see a painting. Thank goodness I went to the Monet museum in Paris a few years ago so I didn't feel the desperate need to stand in that line to see his work, as amazing as it is. Seeing Rouault was a good alternative, since I had never seen his work in person.
* After going to the museums, I went to Itaewon to the foreign foods market. Its a bit of a black market store, where they sell foods from both Costco, and from the army base. I spent $30 on dried cherries and granola. I know, I know, but sometimes you just need to splurge on comfort foods from home. I also went out for Indian food that night.... Mmmmmm, sometimes you just gotta treat yourself! Garlic Nann!!!!
** Today, I went hiking with a group I found on Craig's List. (I love Craig's List!) The hike didn't start off to well though. I had an email from the founder of the group that said,"take the green line to the Seoul National University, exit #3 of the subway, and be at the 711 near the exit by 9am. Well, I took the green line and got off the subway at the Seoul National University of Education, found exit #3, and even found a 711. I though I was doing pretty good for myself because I was even 10 minutes early. I got myself a coffee at the 711 and waited for the group to arrive. But by 9am there was no one there. So I called the leader and he told me that I was at the wrong 711. In fact, I was at the wrong Seoul National University! I went to the Seoul National University of Education, not the Seoul National University, both of which are on the green line!!! Who does that?!?! Who gives two universities virtually the same damn name?!?!? To be fair, in Korean, the names of the universities are totally different. They are only written similarly in English.
Once I finally arrived at the correct 711 at the correct exit #3 of the correct Seoul National University, I met with 3 guys and one other girl. It was a great group! I laughed so much! It was a nice hike, not too difficult, though there was a rock climbing section at the summit that was a little daunting. After the hike we all went to a good Thai food restaurant. Unfortunately, one of the guys left his $5,000 watch in the mens room at the restaurant and by the time he realized what he had done, it was gone. I felt so bad for him, his mom gave it to him, and now someone else just inherited a great watch. He handled it so much better than I would have! I would have been on the floor crying in a fetal position!

Saint Patrick's Day Celebration

* I got my beautiful Pink Martini poster laminated. It cost more than I expected, 9,000w (like $7) but it also turned out better than I expected too. They put a matte finish on the front of the poster; I didn't even know that was possible. It looks great! The laminating machine at Alexander Science Center School never had a matte finish!
* After belly dance class, I went with my dance instructor and some of the ladies from class out to our local bar. I wanted to order a pitcher of Guinness for everyone to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, but turns out the bar doesn't serve Guinness. My my friend Sunny had told the waiter that we wanted Guinness to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day so he told the cook, so the cook walked down the street to the GS25 (like a 711) and bought me a can of Guinness. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't stop smiling, it was so sweet of her to do that for me! That right there made it the best Saint Patrick's Day ever!
Then after a few drinks my dance instructor wanted us all to go to the dance club. Thank goodness it was a Wednesday night so I could refuse to go because I having work the next morning. Melissa and I are both convinced that if I go with my instructor to a dance club I will wind up sold into white slavery. Don't laugh, it could happen! Watch the movie "Thoroughly Mollie."
* The other day I went to E-Mart, aka Korean Target, and got a potted plant for my office. I was feeling like spring was coming soon and since I don't have any sunlight at my apartment because the buildings are too close together, having an office plant was a perfect alternative. So the plant I picked was one of my all time favorites..... Mimosa!!! I remember going to Costa Rica with Ray and Melissa and finding mimosa plants for the first time and touching every mimosa I came across! When you pet the plant's leaves the leaves curl up. It is so cool!!!! I am waiting for the seeds to sprout and soon will have my very own mimosa plant.
* Like I said before, I was feeling like spring might be just around the corning, seeing how the coming weekend was officially the first day of spring and all. Well, to further get into the spirit of spring, I wore a dress to work. I had to wear a thick coat, long sleeve turtle neck, and leggings under my dress, along with knee high boots, but it still put me in a spring mood. Unfortunately, it didn't put the weather in a spring mood. What started out as a nice, clear, yet chilly day, slowly turned cold and menacing storm clouds began moving in. By the end of the workday, I found my self walking home in a snow storm. So much for spring being just around the corner!
* I got new wallpaper put up in my apartment! I was so happy, now I live in a mold free home! My old wallpaper had mold growing underneath it. This was revealed to me once Tokey Pokey ripped off a rather sizable chunk of wallpaper. I just have to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't start taking off the new wallpaper as well; so far so good! He is sticking to just eating my books and cardboard boxes.
In addition to eating anything made of paper, he is also in the habit of following my every move. He especially likes following me into the restroom and running around my feet while I brush my teeth. Well, the other day he followed Bonyun into the restroom too. The next thing I hear is her worried voice reporting that he is making noises. I told her it was ok, he does it all the time. Then she started laughing and imitating his noises, "who who who who." Tokey Pokey makes a grunting noise when he is running around, its really cute! I've never heard of a rabbit doing this before but I guess its what Korean rabbits do. As Bonyun says,"He sounds like a gorilla, who who who who!"
* I got a blender yesterday from my friend Vicki. She doesn't use it anymore so she passed it on to me. Today I tried making hummus with it. I was totally disappointed! I don't know what I did wrong but it tastes nothing like Trader Joe hummus! I blended garbanzo beans, lemon juice, garlic, and some olive oil, but it doesn't taste right. What am I doing wrong? Any one have some hummus making advice?
* This next story is really sad. And I'm sure its really going to make all my pregnant friends cry..... a husband and wife were so addicted to online gaming that they spent all of their time at the PC room and their baby died of malnutrition. I know, I didn't believe it at first, I thought it was just some urban legend Koreans told to keep their kids away from the PC rooms, but no. Its actually true. And the sadist part was in this game Prius that they were so into, they were raising an online baby. How sick is that? They cared more about their online baby then their real baby?!?! Here is a link if you want to read more about the shocking story. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/05/couple-let-baby-starve-to_n_487287

Pink Martini

• So Lucas’ birthday is coming up so I wanted to get him some tickets to see a concert he likes and have them mailed to our house to surprise him. I was looking on-line at a bunch of different bands he likes, but no one was touring in California any time soon. I did however find that Pink Martini was going to be in Seoul for the first time ever! And it was in 3 days!!! I couldn’t believe how lucky I was! If I had waited just a few days to do my concert search I would have missed them! So, I told some of the girls from my work and we were able to buy tickets!!! At first I had a really hard time justifying paying 100$ for a ticket to go see them, but since I didn’t celebrate Christmas, I figured this could be my Christmas present to myself. Every once it a while it as to be ok to treat myself.
The same day we bough out tickets, one of the girls found someone selling two tickets for 60$ each. We were lucky again, we were able to refund two of the tickets we already bought and saved 80 bucks without having to pay a cancelation fee. This sure made me feel better about buying the tickets in the first place! Then, when we showed up to get the tickets from the guy, he said he would give us another 10$ discount if we took his id to the ticket box and retrieved the tickets instead of him doing it, I guess he had already retrieved tickets that day and didn’t want to be recognized.
The concert was standing room only, which was a little strange, but it allowed for me to be 3 people away from the stage!!! I could see up the trombone player’s nose! I know that sounds kind of disgusting, but I’m just trying to prove how close I was to the musicians. Last time I saw them was at the Hollywood bowl and I had thousands of people in front of me. And to see the musicians I had to watch them on a big screen TV. Here, all I had to do was wear high heels to get a clear view of the musicians.
The concert was amazing; China Forbes has an incredible voice! And my friends even recognized one of the songs they played. Apparently, it was used for a laundry detergent commercial on Korean television. After the concert was over, the musicians stuck around to sign autographs!!! I got to meet all of them!!!! It was so great! I also had them sign a poster that I took down from the lobby. I know it could be considered stealing, but as soon as I took one other people took them too, and in a matter of minutes the walls were striped clean of posters. I’m such a bad influence, but Pink Martini said be creative with what we were to have them autograph, from arms to t-shirts, so I decided a poster from the lobby was rather creative. Anyways, here is a link to more info about the band in case you have no idea who they are…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Martini