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

Walk and Talk Group

• Work has been a bit isolating, so I decided to begin a “walk and talk” group. I sent out at email to all of the cool people I have met at work letting them know about it. Basically, it’s a walking group that meets Tuesdays and Thursdays before lunch to go walking in Olympic park. They get to practice speaking conversational English, and I get to feel a little less isolated at work. So far, the weather has made it difficult to meet consistently. Just when I thought it was the beginning of spring, and perfect for the group to start meeting, it decided to snow again!
• Squirrel!!!!!! Where? Lotte Mart!!! That’s right; they sell pet squirrels at the Lotte Mart!!!!! They cost around 100 dollars. Next time I will remember to take a picture, or maybe come home with another roommate / friend for Tokey Pokey!
• I am shocked by the Korean’s ability to multitask. I went to the restroom at work, and one of the girls was using the toilet, talking on her cell phone, and brushing her teeth all at the same time!!! Talk about using your break time efficiently!
• I am also shocked by the advice Korean doctors give to the Koreans. One of my friends went to a doctor for acne and said it gets worse after she works out. The doctor told her not to workout so hard, and that she shouldn’t sweat. Not, wash your face before and after you work out, not use this cream to clear it up, just avoid working out too hard.
I had another friend who hurt her shoulder and the doctor took an x-ray and gave her some medicine for it. Three weeks later and that x-ray and medicine has done nothing for the pain. Do you think the doctor recommended icing it daily, or any stretches for her to do; no, of course not. I keep telling her to ice it, like Angela would tell her to do, but since I’m not a doctor she won’t listen to me. She just keeps refilling the medicine that isn’t doing anything to help. Oh if only Angela was here to force her to use ice on her shoulder.
• Ok, this next sorry involves poop, so you can skip this story if you think it’s gross to talk about pooping. Everyday at work I get to take a break at around 3:30 so I can talk to my family on skype for 10 minutes. Before I talk to them, I take a quick trip to the restroom. And everyday, there is a girl in their taking her break too. She is in their reading a newspaper and pooping! Korean girls poop like guys!!!!! It’s so different from at home. Girls here actually poop in the public restroom, and not just during cases of extreme emergencies. The toilets at work are bidets so people actually save their poops till they come to work so they can use the bidet to clean their butts properly. I know, it’s really had to wrap my head around it too, girls just don’t poop in public like that, but apparently in Korea they do!
• I went hiking this weekend with the hiking club from work. Because it snowed the other day, the hiking club is still a skeleton crew, just 3 people went. Myself, one guy, and for the first time…. another girl! Hooray! I am amazed that every hike I go on is so different. This hike was different, not only because it offered a breathtaking panoramic view of Seoul, but the people I encountered on the tail were different as well. We passed people that had radios blaring. I have never come across this before on any other trail, but on this mountain, people don’t want to listen to the sounds of nature, or hold a conversation with the people they are with; no, they want to listen to their favorite radio programs or songs, and share them with all the other hikes on the tail. Another thing that sets this mountain apart was that near the peak, they have all this exercise equipment set up. Because hiking to the top of a mountain just isn’t enough for this old people, once you get up there you need to lift some weights, do some pull ups, and hula hoop with the world largest hula hoop.
After we finished our hike we went to Costco for some authentic Costco cheese pizza. It’s just like the Costco pizza back home! And, I got to take the left over slices home. They give you cardboard triangle boxes to put the slices in, and then I tied them all together and gave it a handle, creating a one of a kind Costco pizza purse. Man, I got some strange looks on the subway ride home. I mean, I already get looks because I’m a foreigner, but then I was also dressed for hiking, which is something that young people don’t really do here, let alone foreigners. Plus, I was toting a hiking pole in one hand, and a pizza purse in the other.

Get Out Of the Military Free Card

* Ok, I'm sorry for not writing sooner. I had to get a book produced before my deadline Friday so basically every waking moment was dedicated to getting that book written. Thanks again Melissa for trying to give me some book ideas. I had a book written by the deadline, thanks to Melissa and Shannon's help when they were here working in January. Problem was, it was too difficult. The jump from the writing patterns in the book they worked on to the level just prior to it was too great. So I had to take that book they worked on and push it to a higher level and write a whole new book for that level by myself by the same deadline! So needless to say, didn't have time to write my blog, nor was I doing anything that would be worth writing about. But this weekend was a holiday so I have today off from work and a weekend to relax so I will fill you in on my holiday weekend.
* So I now know why Nicolas Cage movies are so popular here in Korea! I had a theory that his simple speech patterns are easy to subtitle. But nope, its because he is married to a Korean woman. Thats right, Koreans like the fact that he is a big Hollywood star married to a Korean. Now, if I can only figure out why they like Keanu Reeves so much. Because if its not a Nicolas Cage movie on tv then it is a Keanu Reeves movie, or a Harry Potter movie. But I'm not going to complain about the Harry Potter movies every weekend. I'm just grateful for www.tvgorge.com so I can watch the shows I am missing at home for free, without commercials. In fact, Lucas canceled our cable at home, we don't need it now that we can get tv online. So if you are not using it yet, its worth checking out.
* Because I was so busy with book writing for the past two weeks, I haven't been going to belly dance class. I finally went to class on Wednesday to take a break from writing day and night. I showed up with a new hair cut and the ladies went crazy. Truthfully, I got the hair cut a while ago but hadn't been to class in so long that it looked new to them. The ladies were saying that because I got a stylish new hair cut I needed to take them out for shots. What? Why on earth should my new hair cut result in me buying soju shots for everyone in class? The reasoning was not translated for me, just the requirement was translated. So I still haven't a clue. Fortunately, I didn't bring my purse with me to dance class so I couldn't take the ladies out for drinks.
* So I'm sure you are all wondering about how the Korean's handled Kim Yu Na winning the gold in figure skating. I heard a cheer go up from the floor below me at work because they were watching it live. I however work with one of the presidents (sah-jang-nim means president) of the company so no watching TV during work hours, on-line banking, instant messaging, or any of the other liberties that people not working with sah-jang-nim get to take. Anyways, the Olympics gave me the opportunity to learn more about the military service requirements here in Korea. I know it sounds strange but bear with me here. All Korean men must do 2 years in the military. Usually guys do their two years of service before they go to college because they can not go abroad without doing time in the military. If you are going to be a doctor or psychologist then you can go to college first, and then do two years as a military doctor or psychologist. Now, for the interesting part that involves the Olympics, if you win a gold or silver medal in the Olympics then you do not have to do any time in the military! If you only win bronze you still have to do your military service!!!!!!! WOW! Talk about motivation to win the gold medal!!!! Koreans can use a gold or silver medal as a get out of the military free card!
* I spent this weekend with Hye Jung and her husband. They recently bought a new condo and I was going to visit it for the first time. So with a little internet research on my dad's part, we figured out what a good house-warming gift would be. Number one house-warming gift to give a Korean is................(drum roll).......... laundry detergent! And here I was going to get a small potted plant for them. Apparently you give plants for new businesses, not new homes! Silly me, thanks dad for helping me avoid that faux pas. The second highest rated housewarming gift is toilet paper, and in third place are paper towels. So now you know what to bring, just in case you ever get invited to a Korean house-warming party.
* Hye Jung, her husband, a friend of theirs and I went hiking together. That was the first time I have gone hiking with another girl here in Korea. This was not with our work's hiking club so that was the difference. At the starting point for our hike was a camp ground. I was so impressed with the campground facility. It had platforms to put your tent on!!! No sleeping on the dirty ground here!!! No sleeping on rocks or on a slope!!! Amazing!
I was remarking to Hye Jung how I couldn't believe how some of the old ladies we passed when we were hiking had full make up on. I was sweating so I couldn't imagine how they kept they eye liner from running! She told me it was permanent make up. That is why they have perfect lip stick and eye liner on after a 4 hour hike, its tattooed to their face!!!! That also explains one of the ladies in my dance class!!! Flawless makeup every day, no matter how hard you sweat! Still, I think I'll pass on that one.
Also an interesting part of our hike was watching a very special ceremony take place on one of the lower peaks of the mountain we were climbing. The ceremony was to ask for good fortune for a new business. At least that is what Hye Jung said it was for. All I know for sure is that one guy hiked up the mountain with a pig's head in a box on his back. The actual ceremony involved lighting incense and candles around the pigs head. Then they used their hiking polls to hang up a rope to attach flags to. Next, a guy said some stuff and all the other guys listened. Then I left, but I'm assuming that they drank all the bottles of soju they brought up with them and the pig's head. I heard eating the pig's cheeks is the best part.
I had a real hard time figuring out which picture to post with this blog. Should I show the tent platforms or the pig head ceremony? But strangers having a pig head ceremony won because its harder to imagine. If you would like to see more hiking pictures please check them out on my facebook.