The Johnson's Take on Korea Part 1

My family is here!!!!

So far we have had only one small disaster. I thought I booked them in a Hotel just down the street from me, but really they are across town. It's turned out OK because it's an area we want to hang out in anyway, but it is making for some early mornings for me the bros (who are staying in a co-workers apt.) to get over the to rents.

Highlights so far:
Saw the Nutcracker on Christmas Day
Randomly selected a Korean restaurant that had the whole family sitting on the floor for their first meal here. Thank god the young waiter spoke English.
Eat at California Pizza Kitchen for dinner
Went to the DMZ
Wondered around a palace in the middle of the city
Dinner "party" in my apartment

Of course hundreds of pictures are being taken. Here is one:I call it "The Johnson Family for a United Korea"

Merry Christmas!!!

Some of you have seen this already, but for those who haven't:

I now eagerly await my first phone "date" with Madge, the arrival of my family!!! and Santa Claus of course.

Enjoy your holiday!!!!

The Obligatory Work "Holiday" Party

Well, it wasn't an official "holiday" company party, but similar embarrassing shenanigans happened. The biggest difference in Korea is that the shenanigans are highly encouraged, required actually, and preplanned.

We went to a dinner party Saturday night which was for all the schools owned by our principle and her husband. Only two of approximately ten tables were filled with "whiteies", so we were already a spectacle of course. We were told when we were invited that we would be expected to represent our school by singing a song in front of everyone. The general drill is have one person sing a song and have the co-workers snapping in the background. I was the lucky elected representative for our particular group, but was assured that it wasn't a big deal. I was not so reassured, however, when my boss called me Saturday afternoon to check on what I would be singing.... I went with "Material Girl" as it's simple and a classic. It won me / us a lamp and a blender...not bad! One of our Korean staff members got second place which is $200. Because we all stood up behind her, we got half the money. Some might say that a big part of her winning was the fact that one of my fellow teachers and I went to dance right in front of the judges table (after being pushed in that direction by our boss). Who would have guess right? ;)

Most groups looked like us up there, but some were in costume and had choreography. I felt like I was at a camp talent show. Amazing.

Drama, drama, drama

So the Gingerbread Man show went off if minimal hitches. The kids were cute even when I needed to whisper their cues to them from off stage and the parents seemed content. The real highlight of this whole endeavor were the costume catalogs. Sadly, a picture of a picture is not that great, but these are still worth taking a look at:

Keep in mind that in every picture the kid on the left is a boy.




Gay Cowboy?



Soldier and Mermaid...makes sense to me.






OK, I find this one just plain creepy.


And everyone's favorite character, the cellphone. Complete with flap down front and send button on the butt.



Pictures of my kids from the show and more of the catalog are also posted now.

Saftey in the Subway

Sorry...I've been lacking in my posts again. Here is something to think about:

How would you feel seeing this in every subway station?
(I highly encourage clicking on the picture to see an enlarged version. It's worth the close up on this one.)

I like to think that Koreans are just like boy scouts....always prepared for anything. Of course, in any given subway station there are usually at least 200 people walking around and only one of these little displays. If anything were to happen it would be like being on the Titanic. Women and children first I hope....

It's probably more likely to be trampled to death in the event of an emergency then be harmed by the emergency itself. I'm actually worried about being trampled on a semi daily basis around here.

Groceries

I know this is not all that exciting, but sometimes it's the everyday stuff that is what is really interesting. This is not one of those cases....but I still want you think that it could be.

Now that I've been here for three months (92 days..yikes!) I'm already falling into a slump of a comfort zone. One effort to keep things fresh is buying one new thing every time I go to the grocery store. So far the big winner is a honey ginger tea. Sadly, I can't credit my "sense of adventure" on this find, people were drinking it at school. I still count it though. Basically it's just a jar of honey with ginger chopped up in it. You just spoon some into a cup and add hot water. Careful not to swallow the big bits of ginger! One of the Korean helper teachers also made a similar tea, but with apples. Good stuff. I'm thinking there is a little more to it then just putting the ingredient in the honey, not totally sure though. So is this a Korean thing or are people at home drinking this and I just didn't know about it?

Other winners so far: frozen won tons, candied peanuts, "cupcakes" that were more like sponge cake

Also, the grocery store that I go to most often for milk and produce is pretty small and I'm in there probably two times a week. I can't imagine what the people that work there think of me, but today when I checked out with two types of cereal the guy at the cash register told me I had too much. He was just teasing, but I'm sure he sees me as a walking stereotype...at least I didn't buy any cheese along with all my cereal!

Last "interesting" tidbit about grocery shopping: In the smaller stores you have to pay for the plastic bags to take your stuff home. You also do all the bagging yourself. And true to Korean form, there is very little concern for personal space in line. Last time I was there I was unloading the small basket I had of items and the cashier had already started to ring up my food. A guy came up with three things and stood in front of me and put his things down! He was totally aware that I was in the middle of checking out too...unbelievable.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Yes, I know I'm more then a week early, but Kid's College doesn't really care what day Thanksgiving really is. Besides, for most of the people in my office this is over a month late.

The Thanksgiving celebration at school was really more just a place holder for the November party day. You should take into account that on months without major US holidays we have things like Pajama Day or Ladies and Gentlemen Day (more info on this when the day comes around). The celebration consisted of the kids bringing in food from different countries around the world. Let me tell you, I looked at my heaping plate of spaghetti, chips and salsa and fried chicken and couldn't help but think of home. =)

The only activity the school had planed was eating food (which is authentic enough in it's own right I guess). The only cultural info I instilled in my children is that fact that we usually eat turkey on Thanksgiving. They also made a turkey by tracing their hands on different pieces of colored paper and fanning the hands out behind a turkey body I copied out of a book. Good times.

Perhaps the most entertaining thing about the day was the fact that my class was assigened "American" food. When they came in this morning they all said "Teacher, teacher! Mi Guk food!" (Mi Guk = American) I had to teach them American. I've been telling them all this time that I'm American, but they didn't know what that was. Oops! The American food spread consisted of fried chicken, sandwiches, pizza and Egg McMuffins from McDelivery (that's right, McDonalds delivers here...classy.)

Also, the cold snap has hit here. The past two days have hovered around 32. So yes, it does get cold in South Korea, but word on the street is that is abnormal for this early in the winter season. It should hang in the low 50's a little longer. Here's hoping!!!

Ever heard of DJ Shadow?

Yeah, me either...but that didn't stop me from jumping on the band wagon to go see him last night.

I've never been to see a DJ before, and I've got to say that standing in a dark over crowded room listening to house music is not really my thing.

Highlight: He played "Handelbars" by the Flobots. The crowd responded very well to Joe's trumpet solo. =)

Happy Pepero Day!

11/11 is declared pepero day because the all the ones look like the pepero cookies (think chocolate covered pretzel rods but with a wafer or bread stick like cookie). I'm pretty sure the day was created by the Lotte franchise seeing as how they make every variety of the cookies that flooded the Mini-Stops and Seven Elevens for the past week. Many cookies were exchanged throughout the day, leaving the kids running ramped on sugar highs and teachers crashing from sugar lows.

Highlight of the day -reading the following on one of the cookie packages:
"Pepero day which is so special to declare true heart for someone is loved a lot of People."

Korea in Color

So the paper announced that the prime time for fall colors would last for exactly 15 days (October 28 through November 11). I finally got a chance to go see them in person this weekend. Kyle was also itching to take some pictures, so we made it into a picture hike.

One fun Korean anecdote*
We saw a middle aged man a little ways down the mountain side high up in a tree and small group of people standing around watching and yelling at him (in a friendly way). He was picking "Korean kiwi". Did you know there are largish berry sized kiwi out there!?! That's good stuff my friends. The people who were hanging at the top of the path wouldn't let us leave until they gave us some. Koreans can be so nice sometimes.

Obama-rama!

Witnessing such a historic event was pretty cool. Sadly, I'm pretty well stuck in an expat bubble where I only have real contact with Americans and Canadians. I am happy to report that everyone I know over here is pretty excited about the Obama victory.

It was interesting to experience election day half way across the world. While everyone at home was staying up late to watch the results, my co-workers and I all had our computers up so that we could check the counts during our break times. Of course the Americans were a little more excited about the constant updates, but I was surprised at the level of interest from the Canadians. I would say most of the Canadians in my office have a working knowledge of American politics, some more so then myself. They say they have always been aware of the candidates in our elections. It kind of makes me feel like an idiot that I have no idea who their country's leader is, let alone when their election is, or who is running.

As I said before, I haven't had a chance to really get a Korean's take on the election. However, when we were all gathered around one computer listening to Obama's acceptance speech streaming form a computer our Korean supervisor walked in. When she realized what we were listening to she said "Oh, Obama. Yay!"

There was a moment in the office on Wednesday that I don't think I will ever forget. At one point Obama said "for those huddled around radios in forgotten corners of the world" (or something like that) and we all cheered. At the same time that the election results started to sink in, I also was hit with jsut how far away I am. It gave me goose bumps just to hear his voice. It's a very exciting time. We all keep talking about how historic this is and how proud we are to be around to see it happen (Americans and Canadians alike). If I have one regret from coming to Korea, it's that it kept me from being in Grant Park on the evening of November 4, 2008. I am so jealous of all of you who were there.

Happy Halloween!

Even though Halloween is not a holiday celebrated in Korea, we celebrated it at school since it is celebrated in English speaking countries. For a country that doesn't celebrate Halloween the kids sure were able to come up with some great costumes:
I've uploaded plenty of other pictures from the big day and Thursday when we carved a pumpkin. Other events on our schedule were making faces for the adorable felt pumpkin bags shown here, face painting, trick-or-treating (which consisted of the kids walking into the hall and getting a handful of candy from a box) a hunted house in the gym (which was traumatizing for all the kids) and a magic show. Good times were had by all.

I also just posted a bunch of pictures I took with my new camera. I am very content with my purchase. =)

Techno Mart

I had my first Techno Mart experience today and must say it was a bit mind boggling.

First, it's 9 floors of electronics. Anything and everything you could ever hope for. I had a camera and phone on my list of things to get. One of my co-workers offered to come along to help me out. I said that I might just go to see what they have first and compare prices and then go back when I made a choice, but he informed me that that's not how it works. This place is 9 floors of individual counters run by different people and each one selling anything you want within a certain genre. You go in knowing what you want and what it should cost and then you check around at a few of the counters to see who has the best price. Nothing is set either. Plenty of bargaining can also be done. I do not understand how everyone in this place can be making any money...but I guess it works.

I ended up with a Nikon D40 (anyone who knows cameras knows that this is an old model, but it's cheaper and perfect for a beginner SLR photographer like me) and cell phone. It's like Christmas!!!

One hilarious anecdote...(at least I find it hilarious)...while we were setting up our cell phones (Maranda and I did it at the same time) the sales man was talking with Chris. For some reason he asked how old we were. He then processed to turn to Chris and say something while gesturing at what I thought were his eyebrows. He kept talking while squinting his entire face in an extremely exaggerated way and then patted his forehead. He pointed at me and then did it again. Then he stated that Korean girls do not have this. Now at the time I took this to mean he was saying that I had deep wrinkles in my forehead and that Korean woman my age do not. It is possible that he just meant that white women speak with more expression in our faces. No matter what, it was a very entertaining trying to figure out what he was trying to tell us.

Travel Plans

Last week of July - climb Mount Fuji and check out a few other things Japan has to offer

As of September - a month or two (or 4 if I really feel like it and money holds out) running around Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

There, it's in writing, so I can't chicken out now.

Maranda is in on all these plans too, so I won't be alone...no worries. =)

Travel tips are welcome!!!

4 Wheeler Wonderland

Good times were had this weekend in Gangchon. Emily is about to head out of here at the end of the month and it was her idea to go out there this weekend and rent some AVTs. It was a BEAUTIFUL fall day. We were able to go through the town and up into the mountains a little bit. The trails that we found kept coming to dead ends, but we managed to use up our two hours pretty well. I wish I had had more of a chance to take pictures of some of the trails though...steep and rocky = good fun. Unfortunaly it's not the optimal opportunity to be shot pictures when gripping the breaks with all your strength.

We stayed in a pension (motel) for $12 each, bus ticket $14 both ways, ate a huge dinner of dak-galbi for $16, went to the carnival, the noraebang and had a rooftop bon fire. Yep, we had ourselves a nice little weekend.

Lastly, my co-workers are always talking about a lack of safety concerns in this country. I believe that this video of one of the carnival rides proves that point. Plus, they were totally picking on the white people...not fair.

Cats

The Musical

That's right, just got home from seeing Cats done entirely in Korean. Amazing.
Everything I expected out of a production of Cats. Actually, the dance seems a little lame at points, but I was entirely pleased with all the singing. Go figure. Favorite parts:

1. At one point there was some kind of joke was said on stage and the entire theater laughed. Maranda and I just looked at each other and then started laughing. Classic.

2. Two cats did break dancing windmills on stage during the final bows. Fantastic!

Highlights of the Past Week

In chronological order:
Tuesday 10/7/08
First cheeseburger = Burger King on my way home from work (walk by it everyday)
Was really hoping that the Korean version of the Whopper and french fries would be a little off so I wouldn't be tempted to go back...not such luck. But the thought of spending over $7 on a "value" meal has done the trick so far.

Wednesday 10/8/08
Joined the gym that is a 5 minute walk from my apartment and subsequently took a yoga class in Korean. Good times, and looking forward to more. They have one of those belted jiggly machines. Honest to god.

Thursday 10/9/08
Spent most of the night writing a drama script for my kindergarten class based on The Gingerbread Man. More stories based on this will be "hitting the airwaves" in the near future I'm sure.

Friday 10/11/08
First free language class!!! Awesome. I'm going with Maranda and Carolyn. There are about 20 other people in the class. I now "know" the 10 basic vowels and 14 simple consonants.
They had also changed the art exhibit since we'd been there to sign up and I saw this little gem entitled "Straight from the Horses Mouth":
(look closely, you can also click on it to enlarge)

Also, went to "the mall" for the first time. Saw "Mama Mia" because it was one of the only things playing in English. I'm sorry, because I know some of you reading this enjoyed that movie, but it is the absolute worst movie I have ever seen in a theater. At least I got popcorn.


Saturday 10/11/08
Finally went to check out the weekend market at the end of my street. Bought produce and saw some very interesting things:
1. A chipmunk in a small cage with a hamster wheel. I could have a chipmunk as a pet if I want!
2. Some great t-shirts. Mainly Konglish (broken English) themed. One said "Minnesota" with Snoopy sleeping on top of the print, so random (*side note: I'm pretty sure I've seen some Minnesota Twins World Series hoodies being worn. My guess is because it looks so close the "Twins" baseball team here.) As one the said "Who the fuck are the Rolling Stones?" I've seen kids with the f-bomb on their shirts too.

As, went to the wedding...see post below.
Sunday 10/12/08
I got a bike!!!
I feel like Mary Poppins when I ride it...not sure why. It's got a basket, a bell and the word "elegance" on the frame. How cool am I? I'm going to be taking it everywhere!

p.s. - i bought it off of a co-worker, so I had no control over the "elegance" factor.

Monday 10/13/08
Spent 12 hours at school today, but now my class will have the most beautiful "Jolly Phonics" flashcards your eyes have ever seen.

So that's the day to day around here. Not all that exciting I know, but I'm pretty sure at least I will enjoy reading this in a few years.

Wedding Bells Are Ringing

No, not for me. Don't freak out.

I went to our principal/school owner/ big big boss lady's son's wedding tonight. A very interesting experience...here are highlights:

1. It was an arranged marriage!!!

2. It was held in the Lotte Hotel ballroom which would be similar to having it at the Ritz in NYC. Crazy big and crazy fancy.

3. The ceremony and reception where in the same place. We walked in to the room and sat at our table right away.

4. There was a walk way that lead up to a stage where the ceremony took place. The bride wore a white western style dress and groom wore a tux.

5. No wedding party.

6. Both sets of parents wore Hanbok (traditional dress).

7. Both moms walked in together and lit some candles to start the ceremony

8. Dad gave bride away.

9. A guy with a sparkly pink tie did all the talking for the ceremony. The bride and groom both said "yes" once. Not a tear was shed.

10. The processional and recessional were our traditional wedding marches.

11. They had two or three photographers and camera men on the stage at all times, plus people who acted as "guides" constantly fixing her dress and repositioning them on stage. Totally distracting, but I bet they will have some beautiful pictures I guess.

12. As soon as they walked out the first course was served. Family pictures were all taken while we were eating.

13. About half way through dinner they reentered in Hanbok lead by two of our students (boy and girl) acting as flower "kids". These children were picked simply because our boss thought they were the cutest. The little girl was Erica from my class, and yes, she is the cutest.

14. The bride and groom then went to each table to say hello. By the time they got through all the tables most people were done eating and leaving. The wedding started at 6:00 and we were out of there with full stomachs by 7:30. Now that is efficient.

Wandering Observations 2

What better way to spend a lazy Sunday morning then sharing gross generalizations about the Korean culture? Here we go:

1. Boyfriends are whipped! (Wha-pah!!!)
This statement is based on a few observations:
a) They are often found carrying a girl's purse on their shoulder even though the bag is small and girly and the lady friend is walking with him with nothing in her hands.
b) They are easily persuaded into what we have deemed as "couple dressing". On the weekends it's easy to spot couples out on dates because they are dressed exactly the same. Minimally it requires his/hers shirts and similar pants, but sometimes you get matching hats too. The truly dedicated are identical down to the shoes. At Lotte World (the Disney World rip off) they sell little animal ears and couples would be wearing the same ear headbands. What I really want to know is who is initiating this dressing the phenomenon....for all I know the guy calls his gf and says "I'm taking you to Lotte World today. Wear your red polo shirt, dark jeans and pumas."

2. They are very skin contentious/ afraid of the sun here.
When hiking the women's skin is always completely covered, no matter how hot it is outside. It is very common for them to wear gloves while they are out walking around. I believe I have already mentioned the visor situation, but they are really crazy. We had a party this weekend where everyone wore one...pictures will be posted soon. The visors really are incredible....

3. Along the same line....they love to exfoliate.
I had my first trip to the jjimjilbang (bath house) and it's now one of my favorite places. The place I went was a women only house (but they can be co-ed) and really was one big room with showers, 4 hot tubs of varying temperatures and "treatments" in them, two different saunas (dry and damp), a cold pool and scrubbing stations. Yes, scrubbing stations. The general protocol is when you walk in you shower to get all the dirty off your body (and they women do a pretty serious and graphic job of washing off before getting in the pools). You sit in what ever pool you want for awhile and then when your skin is ready you go to a scrubbing station which consists of a short stool, basin of water, removable shower head, soap and a mirror. You bring your own scrubbing cloth and you sit down and go at it. I swear these women would sit there for 30 mins and scrubbing their skin. Usually you sit next to a friend and talk the whole time and help scrub each other's backs. I spent an hour and a half in this room and it was magical. Next time I plan on getting an hour and forty five minute massage...can't wait!

On an other note, I finally met up with Laura (my old roommate Emily's friend who's been living here for almost two years and talked me through some stuff before I came over here). I went out with her and Key for dinner and general wondering around the Sangsu stop. We ended up at a place called Dr. Fish (or something like that). It's a coffee shop, but the main attraction is the pools of fish that like to eat dead skin. While you enjoy your drink you sit with your feet in the water and have fish nibble on you. It was messed up, and I loved every minute of it. I'm just sorry I didn't have my camera with me to take a picture.

Solo Hike

Might be the best day yet. I went out on a hike all by myself today. I ended up back at a park that I've been to already, but it really didn't matter since I didn't take any of the same paths really. Before I said it was impossible to be completely alone in Seoul, but today I got pretty close. Every chance I got I took the path less taken and it made all the difference (yeah, I said it). I often found myself wandering along narrow dirt trails deep in the woods of the hillside with no one in sight. It was amazing! The added bonus of being alone was that I could stop whenever I wanted to rest, eat or read. Every time I found a great quite place I took advantage. I took a lot of pit stops by babbling brooks with little waterfalls and "look out" rocks, but I think my favorite was this glorious tree that was growing out of the side of the hill. It's very thick trunk started to grow basically parallel to the ground about 4 feet up. I was able to walk across it like a balance beam and sit very comfortably in the Y of the branches. I could have stayed there all day.

Even with all the pit stops I got a good work out seeing as how I was in the park for about 6 hours. I made a few friends too. One forty something dude said hi to me and when I responded with a friendly hello he took that as a cue to take my hand and lead me over to his friends and introduce me as his new girlfriend. I promptly told him I had to get going in the opposite direction. I also got my butt groped by some lady behind me going up a flight of stairs because I had some pine needles on my pants. After she picked the dirt off she just kept sweeping for what seemed to be a completely unnecessary amount. And yet, in each encounter I never really felt like what was happening was totally inappropriate. They were just being friendly.

But the icing on the cake was on my way home. As I was walking out of the park gate a little girl out with her mom and baby sister gave me a big smile and said hello with her mom looking on proudly. This is not at all an uncommon occurrence, but this girl actually went beyond the hello to ask how I was doing and tried to have a conversation. I would say she was about five or six so I pulled out all the kindy conversation topics. It didn't last long, but the mom seemed very proud and happy. They ended up walking behind me on my way to the subway and when I stopped to get one of the amazing fried pancakes filled with melted brown sugar (fifty cents at the sidewalk vendor) they pasted me and stopped at the flower guy next to where I was. We made eye contact as I went by again so I said hello agian and the mom handed me a potted mum plant. I got potted flowers for talking to her kid for three minutes... I love Koreans.