...

a woman mad for the mango that is red.

after a rather unproductive morning (well, i did download season one of mad men, that's somewhat productive), i got my rear in gear and sat in a park full of little old men and wrote out some postcards.  if you don't get one, it's cuz i either do not love you or because i do not have your address.  it was a lovely afternoon, sunny with a slight briskness, the leaves changing colors before my eyes.  it felt like i was home, actually.  that's the thing about being here; on the surface, things seem so different, but when you get down to it, it's really not a whole new world.  the air is still cold in the fall, the leaves still change colors, chestnuts are still roasted on the sidewalk (except here they shell them for you!).  the thing that is different is that it is korean.  people look and sound different than me, but we are still all people, so it's not that different.  im starting to settle into this korean life.

i made my way to my school a bit later in order to get paid for my training.  400,000 won came in and 300,000 won went out to the lad whose apartment i am taking over.  he took the place over from another ybm teacher two years ago.  said teacher had furnished the place quite nicely and charged my guy 300,000 won.  so essentially, it was just paying him for what he paid awhile ago.  (although the won was likely to have been worth a helluva lot more two years ago)  me and my teacher buddy made our way to the post office in order to send off my postcards and some of his gear.  we came back to the love shack, where i had packed up three of my suitcases and a couple garment bags full of my stuff.  we grabbed a taxi and made our way to my new apartment.  it's not as tacky as i remembered it being.  it will look quite nice with the pussycat touch.  we discussed the ins and outs of the apartment over a beer, such as how to break in if i lose my key.  hopefully that will not be necessary, as it would only be necessary if i was drunk, and it does not appear to be the simplest of feats, especially if one was a bit shnockered up.

i made my way home by bus, and as i was crossing jongno samga, i felt this sudden sense of ease and bliss all rolled into one.  i realized that i am living in korea and living successfully.  i would be lying if i said i was surviving here.  i am somewhere between surviving and thriving.  i will only be able to say that i am thriving once i have learned a bit more korean and can say that this is my new home.  but it feels good to be settling in, making a new life here.  it's strange, but i find some comfort in this life, even though i generally do not know what is going on around me.  i like it here.

i met up with carla and we headed out for some dinner of kimbap and bibimbap.  we managed to get the tuna kimbap tonight, but they still put some bloody ham in there.  ham seems to come in every kimbap i order.  a fellow teacher dropped by the restaurant and joined us for dinner.  she told us about a grocery store in the bottom of the lotte department store.  carla and i made that our mission for the evening.  i have made several unsuccessful attempts to find said grocery store, but now that i knew it was there, we were hell bent on finding it.  we wandered down that way and found lotte.  we took the exit that the teacher had told us about, walking past the krispy kreme and lotteria, right into the bag department.  i was looking for my lancel bag to show carla, but suddenly, we stumbled upon the food section!  i decided that we should turn back to look at my child made of leather, and then we headed back to the food.  it is a lovely store, very ritzy and expensive.  they do have an extensive foreign foods section, so i will be able to buy nutella, bonne maman, and skippy or jiff peanut butter when i so feel inclined to do so.  they have a box of 55 packets of quaker instant oatmeal for 29,000 won (about 24 USD).  is that expensive?  how much is a box of oatmeal at home?  i really want to know this, someone let me know.  they also have french wine, which is about 400 times the amount that anyone would pay in france.  clearly i will be drinking more soju than beaujolais while i am here.  

carla and i made our way back towards our hotel, stopping for some pictures of the jongno tower, all lit up in the night sky.  we stopped for dessert at red mango, my new favorite korean obsession.  it is a frozen yogurt place, but we are not talking american frozen yogurt that tastes more like ice cream than real yogurt.  this is like you took yogurt from the refrigerator and froze it, but somehow kept it whippy so that it can have the consistency of soft serve.  you put a few toppings on it and it is delicious.  i would take a bath in red mango yogurt, it is that good.  red mango is what inspired pinkberry.  i have never had pinkberry, but i am going to go ahead and assume that red mango is better.

woohoo only a couple more nights at the love motel!

a woman on a mission...

when i awoke this morning, my first thought was, 'wow, i love having a week free from class.'  my next thought was, 'ok i have to buy a winter coat.'  and that mission was to begin in itaewon, also known to many as 'foreign town.'  i made my way by subway, hoping that the land of foreigners would yield some foreign sized clothing.

i was rudely mistaken when i arrived in a relatively seedy area of town, faced with what seemed to be an endless array of cheap and dingy thrift stores.  i tried on a coat and a dress in one shop, but neither screamed 'buy me.'  i really hate shopping with a purpose.  i hate having to search for a certain piece of clothing, knowing that i NEED a coat because i did not bring one, as the coat i would have brought has a ripped lining, buttons falling off, and absolutely NEEDS to be retired.  i prefer to wander about a store, waiting for a piece of clothing to say, 'hello, kendra, you will die if you do not buy me.'

no clothing spoke to me in itaewon.  i did, however, get plenty of weird looks from korean people, along with all the foreigners, who wondered, exactly, what this other foreigner was doing in the foreign part of town.  i went into a paris baguette, bought a pastry and a small loaf of bread, wandered around a bit more, and then made my way home.

while on the subway, i noticed something quite unusual for me.  i was not playing flirty eyes with anyone in the subway.  if i made eye contact with someone, it was because they were staring at the nearly six foot tall american girl, curious as to who she was and what she is doing in their land of short people.  i do not actively search out a cute male subject to entertain myself with while i pass from stop to stop.  i say that this is quite an unusual occurrence for me because the 'flirty eyes' game was a game i played twice daily while in paris, once in the morning on the way to work, and again on the way home from work.  i played flirty eyes with the same guy for two or three mornings in a row last year.  i was quite disappointed that i had made eye contact with this man during my last week of work.  had this happened earlier, i would have made sure to time my mornings just perfectly so as to increase my odds of getting something more out of this game.  desolee, i just had to reminisce about my french life for a bit.  i just do not think that i will find any korean man whom i find so utterly attractive that i have to make a game out of it.  i also think that korean people are not really into eye contact.  so perhaps, if i have my way, i will end up with some western dude to play flirty eyes with.  i will keep you posted.

after a lovely meal of paris baguette bread and american skippy peanut butter, along with way too many cookies and not enough carrots, i decided that i was quite tired and wanted to take a little siesta.  i napped for a bit, but was awoken by some construction men with a penchant for a nail gun.  i have heard said nail gun far too many times, many of those times being when i am sleeping.  bloody hell.

i got up and decided to continue with my quest for a coat.  i opted to stay close to where i live, having not been in the mood for an hour's trek on the subway.  i went into a couple stores before i passed by a store that i had noted the other day.  there had been a really beautiful bright yellow coat in the window, one that made me say, 'wow that is cute!' to the friend i was with.  i picked out said yellow coat, not really sure what size i actually needed.  i found the biggest size of it that i could get, along with the biggest sizes of a couple other coats.  they were all too small, but the girls in the store went in the back to get a bigger size, after i made a couple feeble attempts to explain that i was too big for their tiny clothes.  one coat fit quite well and it was quite cute, so i opted to allow myself to claim victory and purchase it.  the coat may not have spoken to me (in english, at least), but i did get a really good vibe from the store and the FOUR girls who helped me pick out the coat.  i paid for my coat, and as the girl handed me my bag, she handed me a free umbrella.  i am now the proud of owner of a white umbrella with a bunch of purple flowers on it.  what doesn't scream CUTE about that?

i walked back to the love shack, feeling quite proud of my accomplishment.  i had no translator, spoke no korean (i have a few words down for food in korean, but i have yet to learn shopping terms), and really had no idea what was going on most of the time.  but i do believe that i can shop nearly anywhere, regardless of a language barrier.  

on a similar shopping related topic, i need to take this opportunity to describe how many counterfeit products i see here.  if you have been a follower of my previous blogs, you know that i hated every counterfeit good i saw in paris.  seoul is another story.  i see counterfeit northface jackets here, forchrissakes!  i have seen 'black face' and 'one face' next to the little arching northface logo.  i will not buy any brand name item here unless it is from a real store.  the lancel bag i have picked out is real (and real expensive).  whatever clothes or other bags i purchase here will be brand-less.  i cannot and will not run around this town with fake gucci or coach or chanel.

that would be sacrilege.  (and that says a lot, coming from little miss agnostic/atheist)

and now i would like to shift from talking about conspicuous consumption to talking about how some people in seoul are just trying to get by.  whenever i cross jongno samga to go towards insadong, i see the same little old lady, crouched over, holding a small basket of packs of gum, just begging for someone to buy a pack to help her survive.  there are a lot of similar elderly people trying to make a go of it by selling street food.  it really is quite sad.  and it really is quite sad/disgusting how much money one can make in seoul because they are a native speaker of english.  i was talking to a korean friend a couple days ago and she asked if i thought it was fair that someone with relatively few qualifications, besides having graduated from college and being a native speaker of english, could come to korea and make a significant chunk of money, while people who probably are much more qualified than me will continue to struggle to get by.  i replied by saying that i thought it was incredibly unfair, but that i probably would be in the same boat as her and many other koreans if i had stayed and faced the struggling economy in the states.  you have to go where there is work.  and work (and the money that will come along with it) is in korea.  we don't need a whole slew of esl teachers in america, but they do need them in korea.  it's all supply and demand.  and while the demand is high, us americans (and brits and canadians and aussies and kiwis) will continue to milk the system and make our way.  so no, it is not really fair that i can come to korea fresh out of college and make and save a good bit of money, and yes, i do feel bad when i see grandmothers trying to sell packs of gum at busy intersections in order to survive.  but i do feel that it is necessary to be strategic in your life choices.  this is applied economics at its finest.  supply and demand, baby.  you just gotta make sure that you are in demand.  

on a lighter note, i move into my new place on saturday, which means i have to take the next two hours to pack up most of my life into a few suitcases, so that i can take a bunch of stuff over tomorrow or wednesday.  yaaaaaaaay i get to leave the love shack soon!  

photos because i love you.

i have allowed myself to be a tourist. for one day only.

i very much played tourist today.  carla and i decided to make our way to a temple near our hotel, and on our way, we stopped by the jongno tower.  the jongno tower is what we look for when we are lost in our neighborhood.  we rode up to the top, had a gander, and rode the elevator back down.  onward to the temple!  on the way, we passed by the us embassy, and as would be expected, it was surrounded by guards.  (but not the cute french kind that i was used to...)  we eventually found the entrance to the temple and wandered around that area for a couple hours.  it was tourist central.  it was funny to see that chinese people really do go everywhere in the world and really do take pictures of everything with everyone's camera.  the temple was quite nice, but we eventually became really hungry.  we opted to forgo the simmering maggots and dried octopus in favor of, um, spicier korean food.  armed with our lonely planet language guide and my notebook filled with korean food words, we tried our hands at a korean-only restaurant.  i really am quite proud of our success.  i ordered a spicy tofu stew and kimbap (korean sushi) for myself and a bibimbap for carla.  it was more or less correct, with the less being that the kimbap had ham in it and the bibimbap was cold rather than hot.  but frankly, i am very pleased with our skills, as there were no pictures to point at and absolutely no english writing.  just bloody hangul that we have no idea how to read...yet.  (i did steal a copy of the menu, though, so now i know exactly how kimbap and bibimbap look in hangul.  sweet!)

after we consumed our delicious food, we headed to a bank next to our school.  i needed to take out some cash and figured that it would be a good time to withdraw a lot of won, as the dollar is strong and i get a lot more won for the buck.  i was rudely surprised when, after putting my card in and entering my pin and saying how much won i wanted, the machine spit out my card (whew) and a receipt that said something in korean.  no won, however, was spit out.  i stood there confused, waiting for something to happen.  luckily there was a clerk working at a desk (on a sunday, weird), so i asked him for help.  he tried three more times to get money to come out from my card, but every time, the same thing.  as our internet was down most of the day, i opted to grab my computer and book it to starbucks.  let me say, i hate starbucks and i hate it even more in korea because a cup of coffee is expensive as fuck.  we're talking simple coffee, nothing fancy, is 3000 won.  i shouldnt complain cuz the exchange rate is great, but i can get a better cup at ediya coffee for a third less.  but anyway, i went there to do some research on this bank issue.  apparently korean atms only take korean cards.  bloody hell.  i talked to my korean lifesaver, oah, and she said to go to a subway station or convenience store to take out cash.  and sure enough, we made our way to the 7/11 and i pulled out 300,000 won (only like 200 USD).  we wandered about insadong and eventually found our way back to the hotel.

a couple hours passed (as did another bout of bathtub laundry) and carla and i met up with oah and her friend, bora (which sounds more like pourra).  we headed to a japanese-esque place for noodles.  carla and i wound up with insanely spicy bowls of noodles and seafood.  now i like spicy, but this was painful.  i felt like i was on the verge of tears at a couple points in time.  oh, and when i stood up, i hit my head on the ceiling.  this country was not designed by tall people.

after our fire-y hell-in-my-mouth dinner, we made our way to the seoul tower.  it is a really beautiful tower, although it did remind me somewhat of ET.  im not quite sure why.  we were able to see a lovely night view of seoul, all lit up.  after we got down from the tower, we wandered to a patio near it in order to get some clear outside pictures.  surrounding this patio is a fence that is covered in padlocks.  apparently young couples come to the seoul tower, say some romantic words (and write them on a padlock), and then lock the lock and throw away the key, sealing in their love forever.  how sweet.  i guess they've never heard of bolt cutters.  sure they will seal their love in forever...

after the tower, we headed back to lower ground and into a red mango, a delicious frozen yogurt store, which is what pinkberry originated from.  there is a red mango near our school and carla and i have decided that we will go there every night.  we had frozen yogurt with fruit and almonds and a few froot loops.  oh the tastes that will take you back to childhood, even if you are tasting those flavors in korea.

and now i am home, not really wanting to go to sleep, not really needing to go to sleep, as i have this whole next week free.  i will buy a winter coat, hopefully, tomorrow.  seoul is getting chilly and my measly northface will not much longer suffice.  i will go to itaewon, which i hear is like a whole nother world within seoul.  it is where a lot of foreigners hang out, and where foreigners are, there are bigger sized clothes and shoes.  in the states, i am tall, but not exactly a big person.  here, i am a giant.  i think i could put oah and bora together and still not have a kendra.  and the funny thing is, these girls eat.  a lot!

good night sunshine~

after a not so successful nap yesterday evening, i met up with carla, another newbie teacher to search for groceries.  we headed to lotte mart, which is kind of like a korean walmart, but with more food and not sleazy like walmart.  and lotte mart confirms the two words that i associate with korean culture: cute and chaotic.  it is cute because korean people are cute and because there are loads of hello kitty and snoopy products.  it is chaotic because korean people are chaotic.  they are chaotic when they walk down the street and cross roads, frantically trotting across, running into you and never apologizing (they just don't do that here, it's not them being rude, they just don't do it).  they are chaotic when they drive.  and they are chaotic when they are put in control of a lotte mart shopping cart, fully equipped with wheels that spin in all directions.  it is one thing to have a korean coming at you in heels while crossing a street, but when they are armed with a cart in a relatively confined space, well, that's just a different story.  

carla and i managed to make our way through lotte mart, sampling random drinks as we passed through.  we sampled a delicious wine/beer drink from a very sweet korean girl who spoke excellent english.  we took her picture because she was cute.  (again, cute, just like hello kitty...)  i didn't pick up anything too weird, but i did buy some orange juice that i thought would be delicious, but was rather sad to deem as rather disgusting this morning.  after this adventure, we made our way home, put our groceries away, and made our way down insadong for a late-night korean dinner.  we opted for a green onion and seafood pancake.  i had this a week ago and found it rather tasty.  it was the perfect size for two and we managed to chow it all down.

this brings me to a point that i must address about the food in korea.  it is really delicious and i haven't disliked much of anything so far.  BUT one sometimes has to just grit one's teeth and swallow what was put in one's mouth.  this seafood pancake is delicious, but it has pieces of squid in it, with the squid pieces being in the form of calamari-esque bits, as well as tentacles.  im not sure about you, but im not one to want to eat sucker-covered tentacles, especially when they are white and purple.  yet this is at least the third time i have eaten tentacles since i have been here.  i put it in my mouth, chew a bit, and try not to think about the feeling that the suckers have against my tongue...

ok let's bring it back to today, saturday.  i began my day with a bit of satc, a couple skype calls to the states, and a nice carmen electra aerobic striptease workout.  i have a fair number of workout dvds in my suitcase, so i opted to bring one out and get down.  after working my buns, i got cleaned up and met my friend, oah.  we stopped for lunch at a cute korean place (again, cute and korean...).  i had this fish cutlet thing, which essentially is like classier fishsticks.  it somewhat took me back to the good old days in the eagle river elementary school, eating lunch in the gym, not wanting to sit across from ben cisneros, hoping that lunch would soon be over...alas, i digress.  after lunch, we did the most depressing activity i have done since i have been in seoul.  

shoe shopping.  depressing, you ask?  if you had a size 11 foot in a sea of size 5, 6, or 7 feet, you would be depressed, too.  i am a giant american in the land of tiny koreans.  oah is one of those tiny koreans.  and she has tiny korean feet that fit into tiny korean shoes.  i found a pair of tall grey leather boots that i am dying to own, if only they made big kid sizes.  without much luck there, we walked to lotte, a big department store, quite similar to galeries lafayette in paris.  i wanted to show oah the lancel bag that i will be purchasing once i earn enough won in a few months.  i have been coveting this bag for a year, ever since i first saw it's beautiful craftsmanship in paris last year.  i wanted to see it again and i wanted to see how many won i would be dropping on it.  we'll just leave it at 'a lot.'  but i will save up 'a lot' and purchase this little baby.  if you question my spending this much on a bag, i will say, 'have you seen the desktop on my computer?'

it is a lancel ad.

after lotte, we opted to get some tea and relax for a bit.  tea ended up being an americano for me and an oreo shake for oah, along with pastries that apparently just come with the drinks.  this tea shop was beautiful, with all kinds of tables surrounded by comfy couches.  pairs of girls sat everywhere, drinking their ice creamy concoctions, eating waffles covered with ice cream and fruit, smoking cigarettes like it is going out of style.  i asked oah if it would be appropriate to go to such an establishment to study.  she said it would be ok.  i also asked if it would be ok to bring a macbook in to write.  she said yes, and that i would also be looked curiously at as cute because 1, im clearly foreign, and 2, i have a mac and apparently macs are really expensive in korea.  score two points for me with the koreans.

after our pseudo tea-time, we made our way back to my hood to a street made of piano keys.  i will post pictures later, but it is like walking on a big piano.  neato frito.  we walked near this little stream, which essentially is meant for lovers to walk near.  oh well, perhaps when i have a korean boyfriend.  

speaking of which, i saw an extremely attractive korean man today.  he was working in the shoe department of lotte.  i think dating him would be ideal for me.  i could learn korean and he could order me big-girl shoes.

after our romantic walk by the stream, we made our way to dinner, opting for sushi.  now, i love sushi.  but the koreans put a unique spin on sushi, even the japanese kind.  (see, there is kimbap, which is korean sushi, and then there is japanese sushi, which is not kimbap, but along the lines.)  i ordered a spicy roll, and was greeted with a spicy roll, but topped with what i do believe was ketchup and chunks of tuna.  it was really a delicious roll, but the taste of ketchup just gave it a somewhat cheap taste.  heinz and sushi do not mix well for me.  i tried to pick off as much of the red goo as i could, trying to salvage perfectly good sushi from the horrors of ketchup.  funny how i normally consider ketchup to be my favorite condiment...

i am going to go shopping this week.  the korean won sucks compared to the dollar.  i checked the exchange rate today.  one usd is about 1400 korea won, essentially what used to be 1.40 usd.  i am going to hedge a bit and pull out a couple hundred dollars worth of cash on monday.  all i hope is that the won eventually gets stronger and that i can wire a lot back and have it actually mean something.  (speaking of exchange rates, the euro is getting super low.  1.26 usd to the euro.  that's sick.  i was paying 1.50 usd for one freaking euro last year.  bloody hell.)

i am really quite tired.  i think i will turn in somewhat early and hope that i am not rudely awoken up by the sounds of headboards slamming against my wall...

you can just call me macgyver

before i left training tonight, i started talking with a fellow teacher about our plans for the evening.  i mentioned how i thought i would go home and use shampoo or body wash to hand wash a few things.  he told me the method that he had used when he first got to seoul.  it requires a bathtub and detergent.  he showed me a close place that has cheap laundry detergent, we chatted a bit, and then i came home to begin my mission.

i filled the tub up with water and soap (and some body wash, too, because it smells nice and it comes with the room.  oh, wait, it's called 'body soap' here) and threw in my clothes.  i said fuck it and decided to wash pretty much everything that was dirty, including jeans.  i threw on the 'leslie' playlist and started dancing in my tub, taking care to not fall down and break myself.  it actually worked quite well, and it was really a bit of a workout mixing all that water and soap around, not to mention wringing all of the water out.  my room is now covered with drying laundry.  it isn't exactly cold out, but it is not the temperature where one needs AC on, yet mine is on to aid in the drying process.

after i did my laundry, i met up with another new teacher.  neither of us speak korean.  we decided to go out for dinner and figure out how to eat together.  we went to a place i went last saturday that i knew had pictures and some english.  we managed to order bibimbap, but we ended up with the cold kind (we wanted the hot stuff).  but it was still delicious, as well as deliciously cheap, so we were happy.  it was a lovely little dinner and we gave each other a high-five as we left, proud of ourselves for ordering food and not ending up with a big pile of dog meat.  (she doesn't eat meat, either.  score, another veg.)  

one thing that i was talking about with my korean friend last weekend is that no matter how dumb i may think i seem, korean people will find it cute.  as long as i try and dont pretend that i really know what the fuck is going on, i should be ok and they should find me adorable.  our waitress, a darling middle-aged woman, certainly found us quite hello kitty-esque.

oh the things that would not fly in america...

in order for me to work in korea, i needed to cut through rolls and rolls of red tape in order to get a visa.  now that i am here, there are still more rolls to deal with.  and today, i started cutting.  i had to get a health check in order for  immigration to realize that i am not a coked-out, color-blind psycho with an irregular heartbeat and a good case of TB.  now, when one thinks of a health check in america, one would imagine going to a doctor and having one person just do the whole deal.  well, friends, we are in korea, and korea is not america.  here we go...

i taught two classes this morning and then had a three hour break.  my supervisor took me to a korean medical center.  once i was all checked in, he left.  and then the games began.  i was first directed to a locker room, where i put on a baby pink gown (actually quite similar to my williams sonoma apron...oh how i felt right at home!) and some very chic black rubber sandals, which, of course, were about four sizes too small.  i was then given a plastic cup with lid and a plastic test tube and directed to go pee in the cup and then pour some into the test tube.  check.  next, i went into a room filled with ottomans and many-a-korean sitting on said ottomans.  i sat by a tall british man, who, like me, look disillusioned and confused, although this was about his fifth health check in korea (he's been teaching here the last several years).  a small korean lady called my name and checked my vision.  score.  then she took my height and weight.  easy enough.  then i had my blood drawn.  next, i waited on the ottomans in order to get a chest x-ray.   this little korean man takes me into the room and positions me just so.  he takes the picture, comes back in, and basically scolds me for not having taken off my bra.  ok ok, this is legit, but i was not thinking i would be getting any x-rays when i was stripping down.  alas, i ran out to the locker room, stripped further down, and went back.  i assumed the position and was in and out in a minute.  next came the REAL fun.  the ekg.  i went into a room and laid down on a bed, having to keep my feet off the side because it was too short.  a woman put some clamps around my ankles and wrists, and then took about five suction cups, pulled my gown open, and put them all over my chest.  i do believe that i have only experienced a couple things in life that were more mortifying than having suction cups all over my tits.  sexay.  i actually still had sucker marks when i finally was able to go get dressed.  after the ekg, i met with a female doctor and she asked me a couple questions.  i probably could have done heroin or meth and she would have loved me.  i walked in and immediately, 'ohhhh you are like model, so tall.'  and after i left, 'oh you so beautiful!'  yeah yeah stop touching me, let me put on my clothes.

so that is how i spent one hour of my day today.  there are several things that i would have preferred to fill that time with...shopping, sleeping, having a lobotomy.  

i walked back to the love shack, stopping by the 7/11 for some lunch food.  i didnt feel like going out and opted for a nice big can of fruit, along with what i thought to be hard-boiled eggs.  after a bit of confusion with the hotel manager about my key (you have to turn your key in every time you leave...he thought that i was staying in the room of a different teacher, and alas, had no idea where my key was), i headed upstairs for some relaxation and lunch.  i cracked open an egg, ready to douse it in salt and dig in.  i really quite enjoy a nice, deep yellow yolk, covered in salt and, perhaps, butter.  upon cracking the egg, i noticed that it appeared a bit, uh, darker than normal.  i rinsed off the shell in my sink (which drains into a hole in the bathroom floor - yup, bathrooms here are weird.  no shower curtains, sometimes no tub.  the apartment i will be living in has a shower head attached to the wall and a big drain in the middle of the floor.  it is weird as all hell.).  anyway, i took a bite of egg, thinking i should give it a try.  it tasted like egg-flavored jello.  brown egg-flavored jello.  (lost your appetite yet?)  i managed to get the first bite down, but then opted to toss that one, along with the unpeeled egg, well knowing that if i continued to eat it, i would soon be seeing it in my toilet.  the trash seemed like a better option.  i did not feel it necessary to discover the color of the yolk...

i woke up early this morning with a new state of mind...

today is a good day.  first off, i slept for six hours straight.  i had to be at work at ten to 7, so it was somewhat nice to have to be up so early.  jetlag was my alarm clock!  after getting ready, i went down to the ediya for coffee.  and i ordered coffee.  in korean!  when i was leaving, the barista asked me, 'ybm teacher?' and i said yes.  keep said girl in mind...

work was quite easy today, just observing five classes.  i took lunch with a fellow teacher.  we went to a korean place near our hotel and i must say, it was the most unique experience.  these koreans have their act together.  my friend said something in korean about how i dont eat meat, we sat down, and within two minutes, we had four side dishes, two bowls of rice, and two steaming pots of korean stew.  when one is sick, eat korean food.  it is full of chili pepper and garlic, my two best friends.  i had this tofu stew with a cooked egg, all floating together in a bright red chili broth.  we were in and out within twenty minutes.  the food is so good that one cannot just eat slowly.  you mow it down and then move on.  we walked a bit and found some pastries, not quite french, but pastries, nonetheless.  there is a very unique french influence here.  i have yet to find french-town, though.

i observed my last class and i must say, there are several very cute british-english speaking males at my school, one of whom i observed.  i think these will be some fun chaps to have as coworkers.

i may have found an apartment.  one of the chaps is leaving in ten or so days, so i might be able to get some fully-furnished digs.  i go to check it out tomorrow.  i hope i will love it and decide that it will be my new home.

i left school a bit ago, threw on my ipod, and strolled home.  as i passed by the ediya coffee, my barista saw me, smiled, and gave a little bow.  i smiled and waved.  i have a pseudo-friend.  baller, yo.  it almost feels like paris, in that i can walk across the street and have someone recognize my english speaking face.  now if only i can find a cute french boulanger...

i get by with a little help from my friends.

i would like to take this opportunity to thank my friends for helping me through my move to korea.  it is a whole different world, one that is taking some getting used to.  so whether you have read my whining via AIM or my blog, thank you.  i have had the pleasure of talking with some of you when i wake up at 3 am, jet-lagged as all hell.  so i say, kamsa hamnida.

this morning, a couple of you had the pleasure of talking to me at 3 am.  i was kind of nervous to start my training today, so i couldn't sleep very well.  i actually had a dream that a crazy girl was chasing me, forcing me to do things for her so that she could kill other people.  if i didnt do the things, she would kill me.  it was really odd.  i tried to fall back asleep, but ended up finally saying fuck it around 6 and got up and did a yoga video.  i was getting ready for work and seemed to be feeling ok about everything, but then i just lost it.  i had an hour before i had to be at school and i was sobbing, trying desperately to calm down so that i could put on mascara.  eventually i did pull myself together.  i stopped for a coffee before work.  even ordering a coffee is a challenge here, a challenge that you must take with a grain of salt and not feel embarrassed about sounding like you are completely incompetent.  i speak limited korean with a french accent.  so kopei (coffee) just comes out like korean eurotrash.

my training was fine.  there are three other people in my session and they all seem very nice.  it was ridiculously hard to stay focused after awhile, however, as the rooms were really hot and everyone was really jet-lagged.  but we trudged through it and eventually it was time to call it a day.  two of my coworkers are staying at the love hotel, so i agreed to meet one of them to go in search of a grocery store.  

i have a friend.

sweet.

we ended up wandering about for a few hours, exploring a new part of the city (new for me, at least, he has been to korea several times...and he's korean american, so that makes things easier when trying to figure out what korean script means) and eating kimbap (korean sushi).  today was the first time that i felt like i might actually be able to find a place to fit in here.  the first couple days of being here have been hard.  i dont speak the language yet and i feel like a random being, adrift in a sea of knowing koreans.  today i did not feel so hopeless about living in seoul.  today i actually felt excited about being here!

we did eventually find a grocery store.  it was so much fun.  i always love grocery shopping in foreign stores, as it is really hard to know exactly what you are buying.  the products look different, the language is always an issue, and a lot of the time, you just have to hope for the best.  i always just hope that i dont end up with some meat-filled concoction.  

it's bed time for me now.  wow, 9:30 pm.  good lord how old am i?

my close encounter in the love hotel

after a very rough morning (unfortunately, not the kind of rough that comes from a fun night), i let my culture shock get the best of me.  i said fuck it and came home and took a nap.  i needed to let myself just be and really feel like myself.  so the best way for me to feel like myself is to get naked and sleep.  i slept for a couple hours, but i kept hearing this weird noise in the hall.  i figured it was just a cleaning lady doing her duties.  wow was i wrong.

all of a sudden, my door popped open and the little korean man from the front desk charges into my room.  good thing i had my blanket wrapped all around me.  once he realized that i was still there, he apologized all over the place, yet he still proceeded to come and put a sticker on my tv that says 'tv, dvd' in english and korean.  clearly in a love hotel, the desk clerk has seen it all.  he apologized again and again and left.  oh the peachy fun i get myself into.

i eventually did put on clothes and went out to explore for a bit.  now, i like to think that i am quite adventurous, but honestly, today was not one of those days.  i told myself that i needed to get out for at least an hour.  i took my korean books with, deciding that i needed to learn something, too.  i wandered about for awhile and actually bumped into someone from madison.  i got his contact info and kept on wandering.  i felt a bit bad when i ran into him cuz i was (and still am) so out of it.  i needed to just be in a relatively quiet place where i didnt have to feel too overwhelmed.  i walked a bit and found some outdoor seating by this big tower.  i took out my korean books and made myself learn six of the vowel characters.  i then walked home, wondering what i would be able to order for dinner.  not feeling too adventurous, i stopped into the 7/11 by my hotel and picked up some cereal, milk, yogurt, and fruit.  and bowls and spoons.  i have yet to discover where to buy groceries here, so until i do, it's either struggle at a korean place, order something from an american chain, or do my best deciphering what i can at convenience stores.

one odd thing that i have noticed while wandering around is that i keep smelling pot.  now, korea is very much a quote-unquote drug-free society, yet i have smelled marijuana at least three times in the last two days.  perhaps it is some crazy korean food that smells like weed, but im pretty sure there are some deviant teens smoking the ganj.  oh those rascals.

when culture shock gets the best of you, blame the malaria pills.

toto, i dont think we’re in kansas anymore. nor anywhere near it. and on the other side of the world, things are different, making my life hard and making me question my life’s choices. and the thing that is really hard about being in a completely new place is that any little thing can set off a tailspin frenzy of emotions, forcing me to revert to an ethnocentric self (me? thinking america is the best country out there? clearly i am not in a balanced state of mind...). 

one such small thing that has caused my day to start off on a really pleasant note is my lack of communication with the outside world. it will be a week or two before i get a phone, and the internet at my hotel is hit or miss. up until this morning, quite pleasantly, it has been a hit. today it is very much amiss, causing me to search for alternate modes of communication, desperately awaiting the day that i can move into a real apartment and have internet that i can somewhat have control over. 

and another thing, i need a motherfucking closet. before me sit four large suitcases with their contents half strewn about the floor, half shoved and crumpled back into their somewhat designated home. i like to think of myself as an organized person, yet in this state, i question if i am really some crazy ocd person who needs everything in its proper place. (at this point, dear readers, feel free to discontinue reading forever, if you no longer wish to sort through my personal psychoses.)

i like to think of myself as being a relatively even-keel kind of gal, generally being quite calm and laid-back. i was actually asked several times before i left for korea how i managed to remain so calm about this big future life change. perhaps i was just avoiding the chaos that i am now encountering. all i can say is that i hope that all of these ups and downs (damn that fucking W culture shock curve) are worth it and make me a better, stronger person, as right now, i would be rather content curling into a ball, listening to some damien rice, and crying myself to sleep.

so now i say, ‘fuck you jetlag, fuck you internet not working, fuck you malaria pills for making me crazy.’ when life gets you down, blame the malaria pills. and then find a starbucks that has properly functioning internet.

day uno.

i have officially been living in seoul for over 24 hours and i have not yet died. congratulations, pussycat. i have, however, felt out of place, retarded, and at times, helpless. while i was in the shower this morning, i heard my phone ring. i assumed that it was a mistake and made no sudden effort to answer it. (by the way, i did not cause a small flood in my shower, yet it was quite weird to shower sans a shower curtain. i do realize that i am alone in my hotel room, but my shower was lacking a sense of privacy. privacy from what, i am not sure, yet i now am beginning to understand the oddities and paranoia that comes with being an american, such as feeling uneasy about taking a shower without a curtain.)

the phone rang an hour or so later. i took a deep breath and hoped that when i answered, an english speaking voice would be on the other end. ‘checkout, checkout’ was all i heard. ‘no, i want to stay for a week or more. i will come down.’ ‘come down?’ ‘yes, come down to the desk.’ (sigh) i went to the desk, armed with the phone numbers of two korean friends and my australian supervisor, ready to make a call in order to have someone translate for me. luckily there was an elderly korean man who knew some english and i was able to tell him that i would be staying for a few more days. suddenly the front desk man said, ‘ybm teacher?’ and i said, ‘yes!’ with a large smile on my face. apparently at this hotel, you are either looking to get laid for a couple hours or you are a lonely teacher looking for a place to crash for a few days before a real apartment has been found. (on an aside, while i was waiting for the english speaking guy to come out, a businessman and his woman rented a room. he made sure to buy two toothbrushes from the front desk man. condoms are free. toothbrushes are not.)

i met up with my korean friend, oah, at 2 this afternoon. i cannot tell you how good it felt to see someone i knew. it has finally hit me that i am not in america anymore and that i will not be seeing my friends or family for at least a year (unless all of you fabulous people decide to come get your own dose of seoul). and the fact that i am really jet-lagged and constantly tired does not help. ‘fatigue makes cowards of us all’ was once uttered by a friend, and i repeatedly remind myself of this fact when im tired and begin to hate on my life (and those around me).

i met oah outside of my school and we wandered around a bit before settling down for some real korean food. i ate bibimbap (be proud of me, i actually spelled that correctly the first time), a mixture of rice and vegetables that you put chili sauce on. we also got this big korean pancake with green onions and squid. i quite enjoy squid. i am eating with chopsticks. i am not very good at it, but oah said, ‘oh don’t worry, we think it’s cute when foreigners can’t use chopsticks.’ well, i guess that i can suck at everything korean and still have koreans think im darling. like hello kitty, i guess...

after lunch, i went to one place i hate when i am in america, yet always end up at when i am in foreign countries. yes, star-fucking-bucks. it is so sickeningly american, but that makes it so refreshing when you are not in america. and hell, i needed a cup of coffee jolted with a shot of espresso to keep me sane and prevent a migraine. coffee is kopei, basically pronounced just like coffee with a p replacing the f sound. yes, i am learning. slowly.

i bought a korean workbook. i have decided that i need to spend an hour a day studying this crazy language if i want to stand a chance getting by on my own. otherwise, all i will be saying is, ‘it’s all korean to me...’

i also bought an iron. (this is korea and my rumpled clothes will not do.) stores here are really unique. in america, we buy an iron from a target-like store, selecting one from about ten potential options. we pick it out on our own, almost always without help from a sales clerk. in korea, you go into a building with teeny little stalls, each owned by a particular person and generally specializing in one type of product. im not sure what oah said to the iron man, but i ended up paying about thirty bucks for an iron. i hope it is a good one. are irons generally that much in the states?

the rest of the day was spent wandering about, people watching and window shopping. there are certain words that are universal. among them are gucci, vuitton, and dior. i felt a sudden comfort after seeing a large shopping center with these names. i opted to not go in, at least not quite yet. but after that first paycheck...watch out.

it is really odd being a tall foreigner in a sea of short korean people. it wasn’t always too obvious, but i did notice several people looking at me, curious as to why this weird westerner was in their land. actually, i found myself looking at other western people in the same manner, wondering if, perhaps, they were fellow teachers that i would be soon meeting them at my school. it’s entertaining when you meet eyes with a fellow expat, knowing that both of you are wondering what the other is doing in seoul.

oah helped me get a subway pass. as always, the koreans stick to being cute, even when it comes to subway passes. i now have a small plastic rectangular van gogh subway pass. it is on a little elastic strap that will be attached to my phone once i get one. i also used the subway and buses today. it is not hard, quite similar to paris, but knowing the correct stop to get off will always prove to be rather challenging. i have learned a few more words in korean and have even used them out on real korean people. i say kamsa hamnida and they look at me with this amazed look. i will learn this language, even if i don’t find it to be overly pretty. this is my quirky language. french is my pretty one.

and after a lovely dinner of korean noodles, i am now in my love room, forcing myself to stay awake for two more hours (watch out, until 10 pm) so as to avoid prolonging my jetlag. i guess this would be a good time to start on that korean workbook...anyong!

sex in korea

i have been in korea for just over twelve hours and it appears that i already have a theme: SEX. (no, mother, im not getting any.) and here is my tale...it does not begin so tantalizingly scandalous. desolée.

my supervisor met me about an hour after my plane landed. as i was rather jet-lagged and one could call me more or less retarded, i did not realize that i had to fill out a stupid entry card, nor did i know where to pick up said card, and as i approached the immigration worker, i was informed that i had to go pick up and fill out this card in the most obvious of locations. said immigration worker must have felt that i was more along the retarded lines. no using the jet-lag excuse with him.

after i stood in line for another twenty five minutes, i made it through customs and went to find my luggage. i walked through the declaration place, only to be met with suspicious glances after i said, “no, i’m not declaring anything.” when one walks through the declaration area with four large suitcases and has nothing to declare, interrogating looks can only be expected. i more or less scurried through, hoping and praying (to whom im not sure) that no one would stop me and have to go through my stuff. whew. nothing. i met my supervisor, found our bus, and made our way into the city. 

as it was a friday night, it took rather long to get into town. this was nice, as i was able to get a lot of information about the city and school from my supervisor. he brought me to my hotel, which is where the sex part began. now, in america, people go to hotels to have affairs. in korea, people go to ‘love hotels’ to just have sex. sure, there are probably some affairs involved in these establishments, but as most young people live with their parents until they are married, they need a place to have sex. and the love hotel comes into place. a couple will rent a room for an hour or two (or maybe three or four) to have their hot and wild sex. an english teacher’s school will rent a said room for a week or two so that said teacher can have a place to rest her weary bones. 

my love room is rather simple, yet with more amenities than one would expect a room-built-for-sex to have. as i plunked into bed last night, however, i did find myself quivering at the thought of sleeping in love fluids. the bed is quite hard, making me realize why people come in, get the job done, and leave. i did get a lovely little gift, a small box of condoms, on the table next to my bed. it is a lovely box with a drawing of a korean-looking woman in a purple bandeau bra, holding a dove on her finger while standing by an open window, overlooking a grassy field. the actual condoms have writing in korean. haha this is my first korean souvenir!

i woke up at 3:22 am. i checked my email. a korean friend of mine whom i will meet later today had emailed me with plans. she had said that she hoped i had a nice dream on my first night in korea. i know i dreamt, although the only dreams i can remember are 1) someone identifying me as an atheist and being proud of it, and 2) someone burning down part of my grandma’s house. funny how i had no hot sex dreams...

i fell back asleep until 7:30 and felt that would be ok to start getting off my jet-lag. so i turned on my tv to see what korean tv is like. flipping through the channels, i found that everything was (big surprise here) in korean. it’s interesting, though, most stations have the audio in korean, but they also have subtitles in korean script. i found a couple stations that have english lessons. and then i hit the motherload. free korean porn. call me a teenager, but i definitely giggled a little. and yes, i did watch for a couple minutes. they certainly do it the same way in korea.

i began my task of unpacking my life. as i tired of listening to korean, i started flipping through the channels again. i watched a bit of a french movie, dubbed into english, of course. it was not magnifique, so i went up one channel and hit the motherload of sex: SEX AND THE CITY. in english. and it was the episode where carrie has bad jackrabbit sex. even though i am 7,000 miles away (it might be more, i really have no idea), my life can still have some sense of normalcy. 

and as for now, i will try not to contract any diseases as i take a shower/bath...there is no shower curtain, i could easily create a flood. and then who knows...i’m in korea.

HOLY SHIT IM IN KOREA!