The end is near

Wow! Twelve months, officially on the 28th of December, I have almost completed my contract. It's funny, I don't feel like I have changed much. I still feel the same apprehension and uncertainty about my future as I did when I first started this blog/adventure. I have less than three weeks left and no clue to where or what I am going to do next.


Recap: So since September I have been seeing this guy named, Jan. Together we have shared many memorable experiences. We both care very much for one another and look forward to spending a lot of time together. From cooking in his apartment to trips to Busan and Seoul, he has always managed to entertain and delight me. I didn't think that in coming to another country I would end up meeting a guy like him. Most expats are focused more on themselves and somewhat fear committing  to another person. Unfortunately, he is moving back to Belgium, his home country. On and off for the last year he has been battling with some health issues. Recently, they have become so serious and painful that he needs to go home to seek further treatment. Regardless of how it saddens me to lose him. I am supportive of what he needs to do. Plus, I am finished with my contract soon and if he feels his health is ok we plan to spend more time together outside of Korea. So on this note I am drawn to Europe to see a man I love very much.

Also recently my family has had some sudden health issues as well. My aunt Barb had an aneurysm on her heart and a faulty valve. She was extremely lucky to discover this before it exploded. She made it through the surgery and is recovering well. It is insane that a woman who has always taken such good care of her body could have passed away so suddenly. It really makes you take a step back and first of all realize how important it is to be healthy but also to realize how fragile life is. You never know when it can be cut suddenly short. I am thankful everyday to have my family alive and healthy. My dad has even said he is stepping up on precautionary measures for his health to be sure he catches anything before it becomes life threatening.

So what can I say? I did it, I made it a full year and with minimal complaints. Overall I would say this has been a great experience. I plan to hopefully come back in April 2011, but who knows what is in store for me. Now I am looking forward to some time off and seeing my family. Christmas really wouldn't be the same without being with your family. Until my next adventure this is too tall not saying goodbye, but see you soon.

Explore. Dream. Discover

      Off on a whim. I was set to discover a new world, a new adventure. Well not really. It all began with the usual questions that English teachers are forced to answer. "Where will I spend my summer vacation?" This was made equally difficult with having saved less money than anticipated for this excursion because I was planning on going camping. But yet, a friend insisted that we head to an area of the world I might not have otherwise considered visiting, the Philippines. The Philippines just seemed so uninteresting at the time. I didn't realize that they were famous for their breath-taking beaches. After some consideration of either camping alone or going to beautiful beaches I was easily persuaded to head off to this now fascinating group of islands south of Korea.

    

     The trip began as almost all trips do...with too much drinking. Now, I know my family reads this blog and I don't want them to get the impression that this is all I do in my free time. But when in Seoul do as the Koreans do and say farewell to your friends with a nice pitcher of Hite in Hongdae. Little did I know that one pitcher turned to two and so on and so forth. This ended with me rolling out of a taxi, trying to sleep on the median in the airport, and finally resting my head on the floor of Incheon International Airport waiting for the ticket counter to open. I awoke in a daze unsure of why we hadn't slept in the hotel we had PRE-BOOKED and paid for in advance (dumb decision number one of the trip).

   

     Hungry and hungover I set out on a mission to find food. So what do you think the chances are that three and a half hours away from almost everyone I know I would run into someone I knew? Well, I obviously did not think that through.  As I stumbled across the airport in search of coffee what do I hear? "Teacher!?!" ... Oh shit! Unable to process whether this was a delusion induced by repeat subjugation of my body or if I really just ran into a student at five-thirty in the morning at an airport hours away from Geochang, I managed to mutter the words, "Hey there little girl". She took one long stare at me and probably after smelling the fumes wafting from my body, she quickly turned and kept walking. I know what you are thinking, "How could you be so morally irresponsible as to model public drunkenness to one of your students?" I have two defenses to this argument. One, I was on vacation. So my actions should not be considered those of diligent teacher but rather those of a somewhat, if not at least temporarily, emotionally stunted twenty-five-year-old letting loose for a few days. Two, trust me as anyone who has lived in Korea long enough can tell you, this student has seen her fair share of inebriated teachers. If you have ever attended a teachers' dinner, they get loaded. I am talking bouncing off the walls, falling over in the street loaded, and my town is small... real small. I am sure that on more than one occasion my student has seen her teachers stumbling from the samgepsal restaurant to their favorite norea bong. If anything it just reassured my student that I am well on my way to assimilating to the Korean culture. Okay, dumb decision number two of the trip.

     So let's skip ahead. I made a jackass of myself and paid for when I realized that traveling hungover is definitely one of the worst decisions you can make. Off we went to, Hong Kong? Oh ya. I forgot to mention that we made a slight two and a half day layover in Hong Kong.  Definitely an awesome city. Beautiful skyline, friendly people, great food, tons of shopping. We didn't even do any of the super touristy sight seeing, so of course we had a blast. Besides the insane typhoon we got stuck in without umbrellas, it was business as usual. I didn't take any pictures of the typhoon because I knew I would ruin my camera if I attempted to take it out. The puddles were half way up my calves and the water was rushing down staircases and flooding the subway stations. So after a few days in Hong Kong we set off to enjoy the "relaxing" half of our trip.

We left Hong Kong early enough in the morning to catch a flight to Manila. Not necessarily the ideal destination, but a must if you want to reach the world-famous pristine beaches. During the flight, I was seated next to a nice couple who were returning home to Manila from a vacation in Hong Kong. They made it perfectly clear to me to be careful while in Manila. Such things as having your wallet sliced out of your back pocket with a razor blade are very common occurrences fir both tourists and locals. So as soon as we landed I was looking over my shoulder every five minutes just waiting to get mugged. Luckily, this experience was more an example of how warm and helpful Filipinos are to foreigners.  I never once met a Filipino that wasn't smiling and friendly. Then again Manila and most of the Philippines (the parts that are hidden behind the resorts) are unfortunately very impoverished. It is the closest I have ever experienced to observing life in a third world country.  So you have to balance both sides of the situation and be smart, but don't be overly paranoid and judgmental of the locals. After arriving in Manila, we grabbed a cab into Manila due to our four hour layover. There we had a few drinks some "American" style food and prepared ourselves with what was going to be the most horrendous twelve hours of our lives.  

Boracay to explain it.

July 24th, 2010 9:50 pm:

MY GOD! Flat out the craziest day of traveling in my life. Wake up 6:30 am, catch a taxi to the airport, fly out of Hong Kong to manila, flights change, get a random guy in manila to drive us into town, wait in a mall for four hours, get a ride back to a different airport, fly to the wrong end of the island, take a sardine can filled with travelers over an hour and 45 minutes to the right side of the island, get out, cross a rickety bridge with a support handle on only one side of the "bridge", to a boat that looks like it is going to sink, put-put in the boat in a torrential downpour to the intended side of Boracay, take a tricycle bike with three people and two huge bags to a hotel we had only heard of five minutes before we arrived to Boracay, drop my bags and grab a celebratory drink. Time= 9:50 pm, I think we may stay in Boracay. I can't do that journey two more times in a week.

Enough said.

  Actually it wasn't all insanity. Once we settled into the Blue Mango Resort and the storm passed we had an amazing experience. From snorkeling with our new friend Tom, to a romantic sunset sail, we had a blast. We even did Bacardi bombs check out the video it's insane. 

My friend Grant got scuba certified, my friend Jon met many pretty ladies and enjoyed some of the "fruits of the island", and I got a really bad cold on the second to last day I was there. ... and a massive tattoo of a tiger on my back.

 

So why would I get a tattoo in an almost third world country? Well for one, the tattoo artist was reputable. I saw two of his pieces of work on people I met on the island before deciding to get it done. Two, I had been wanting to get this tattoo for a while. The tiger represents the Chinese year of the white tiger, 2010. According to what I have been told by both Koreans and Chinese that people who are born in the year of the white tiger are supposed to have good fortune and lead very powerful lives. Now the year of 2010 represents itself to me as the year of my "rebirth".It was the year that I finally took control over my life and started living it the way I wanted it to be lived. So in a sense I was "reborn" in 2010. (Reborn as I mean it here has no religious connotation to it what so ever.) Originally, I was going to get a very meaningful expression tattooed into the stripes of the tiger, but decided against it when I saw how good the tiger looked on its own. The expression was, "A journey of a thousand miles, must begin with a single step". Despite not getting it drawn into my tattoo, I stilhoping this expression to the memories of my year in Korea, 2010. I hope that my tiger will guard and protect me from bad people and experiences, provide me strength when I need it, and continue to bring the good fortune that I have been blessed with in 2010.

Ninja Assassin

So what do you do in a town of 50,000 people when only about 30 of them speak English fluently? It is a fair question. It is easy to think that this town would be too small and boring. Honestly if you do not go out and explore, try new things, and use the creative side of your brain it would get old. In this town we have a good group of people who are always looking to do all those things. I enjoy going out and seeing the big cities, but for the most part my greatest memories were created in this little Podunk town. This is not what I expected. I definitely thought that after a few months I would be fed up. Oddly enough the most recent classic Geochang memory can all be traced back to my sister who lives in America.

Thanks to my sister and her ambition to want to start running, I have joined her as her virtual workout buddy. So every couple of weeks we update each other, via email, to how we are doing. How our bodies feel and generally just report on any new accomplishments in our quest to get in shape. This progressed into my friend Sarah and I going for regular runs along the river. From there we got the idea to start doing yoga. Luckily, one day while on a run I came across a yoga studio. So since the beginning of July we have been doing yoga 3 to 4 times a week (it isn't open during the weekend). Its great! I feel like my core is getting stronger, I have more energy and feel more positive, and best of all I am so tired by the end of the day that I just go to bed and don't waste any money or time grabbing a drink with friends. So when we finally go out on Friday we haven't been out all week. It makes it more exciting, the beer taste better, and it just makes less Geochang seem less redundant. So Friday after a long week of school and working out a big group of us met at Garten Bier. There we had these massive...well...beer..bongs? At least that is what it looked like:) We ate great thin crust pizza and talked about our plans to start an assassination game (this will be discussed more later). Next stop where else but the big "B" in the sky, Bonita! Now this is where things started to get crazy.

*Side note, at this point we had all had any where from one to three beers, some of us didn't even drink at all. So the following circumstances were less about alcohol and being drunk and more due to the fact that my group of friends is "special"*
 
That night I was excited because I had a brand new camera. So obviously I brought it out. It became apparent that I wasn't the only one that thought this. There were about four cameras out that night. So what happens when you have about four cameras and eight people. Well paparazzi wars of course!

Paparazzi War- A war of cameras in which the group is split up into two opposing teams. Each team member is given the camera of the person on the opposing team. Next, point, shoot, direct passion, basically try to evoke the craziest most absurd pictures possible from your opponent. Really there is no winner in this game because every picture gets more and more ridiculous therefore the laughing progresses into a full blown riot of preposterous fun.

The pictures started out innocent enough. The occasional peace sign accompanied by a few goofy faces. Then of course someone just had to go there. Someone needed to take to the next level. Oh boy did Peter ever do so. In a traditional display of male pattern testosterone induced showmanship, Peter (the kind hearted self proclaimed vice free guy that he is) ripped off his shirt and proclaimed something of an "oh ya!". So being that there are only two guys present one can only assume what the next reaction was...shirtless men abound we were in a vortex of full tilt uncontrollable energy. After not only making complete fools of ourselves (the pictures are proof) and irritating every unfortunate Korean that was sitting within 100 ft of us. We were kindly asked to "be quiet" a.k.a leave. So upholding the respect we have for the bar's owner, Nunna, we gladly paid our tabs and took the war to the streets. Now we should have at this point taken a moment to consider the fact that we represent the sole group of foreigners. Even if we do not all associate together at all times, to the Koreans the actions of one represent the actions and opinions of all of us. To this extent I do apologize to any of my fellow foreigners that may feel violated or misrepresented by our shenanigans. From posing on motor bikes, grabbing random Koreans to take pictures with, scaling the side of banks, and generally looking completely pissed. We managed to make our hyperactive personalities present. It really was great not too often, especially as you get older, do you get the opportunity to act like, well, a kid. After a good norea bong session (karaoke) we ended the night with drinks and songs and then separately made our way home.
*Oh and bonus I finally ran into and spoke to the Korean guy that always says hello to me. Turns out he is only 21 but whatever he was nice and his nickname is Mr. Hottie McHotterson, score!*

 

Jimjabong and experienced a sauna for myself I probably wouldn't have joined her. But boy was I glad I did.

When I went to the Jimjabong in Busan I had a nice time but it was like 4:30 a.m. when I went to the sauna and I was by myself (Jimjabongs are saunas that you can sleep in overnight). Totally different experience when you go with a friend. The sauna we went to was smaller  but plenty big enough for the amount of people there. Now let me clarify, when I say sauna I don't mean a hot room where you sit and sweat. That is just one part of the Korean sauna. A sauna in Korea is generally more like a health club. There are usually at least four pools of different temperatures. Sometimes the waters have different herbs infused into the water like ginseng, for your health and good circulation. Then there are the western style sauna hot rooms where you can sit and rest. The best part of a Korean sauna has to be the ajuma scrubbing. I admit this sounds really weird but don't knock it before you try it.

So you pay anywhere from 35,000 won to 60,000 won for an older woman (ajuma) wearing underwear to exfoliate your entire body. The best part is they not only exfoliate your whole body, they give you a deep full body massage, you wear a facial mask of mashed up cucumbers, and they clean your hair. Pretty much you come out feeling like a new woman. IT IS INCREDIBLE! Seriously the most relaxing thing I have ever done. For the rest of day after my four hour sauna adventure my reaction times were at least 4 seconds slower than normal. This picture is me relaxing in the TV lounge after changing into my sweats. The best part about the sauna is that it only cost 4 dollars to use it. Just one more reason to love this country.  We topped off the night with a fine dinner of another Asian delicacy raw beef. Our dish came with a soy/Wasabi sauce mixture and had little slices of pear mixed into the meat and then you mixed a raw egg into the whole dish and viola! It was fantastic. I never imagined raw meat could taste so good. Again this is something that, yes you could eat it in America, but you are not likely to find a restaurant that would serve it. At least not in Denver.

 

Full bellies and more great memories. We prepared for the next day...possibly the last day of our lives.

I had never heard of this game assassins before, but after a little research on the Internet I have found that they are actually quite popular. As the name hints it is game where you play assassins assigned to kill one another. You kill each other by either squirting them with a squirt gun, hit them with a water balloon, or poisoning their drink with a little piece of paper that says poison. As of 0:6:00 we are in a full scale war. The only places that we are not allowed to attack one another is on school grounds or at church.This still leaves our assassins plenty of opportunities to find us. Each of us knows where the target lives and works. With a little ingenuity it won't be hard for us to plan the attack. I have survived the first day of classes by cleverly leaving my school early to obtain my weapons which now sit at the base of my desk locked and loaded for action. If we hadn't made fools of ourselves this weekend I definitely think that after this week the Koreans in town will fear for out mental stability. So now what is left? Well I must survive the week collect my hit money and then head to Boryeng for a weekend of muddy fun. Until next time...watch your back I might just be coming for you ;)

Fighting Corea!!!!

So another weekend has passed and there are new and exciting adventures to report. Lets go back to a few weeks ago to recap where I have been and what I have done. So my typical weekend in Geochang usually consists of a Friday night out on the town, followed by a Saturday of rest and recovery, and finally a Sunday of  exploration. A couple weeks ago we went out on Friday night, which involved a nice group dinner of pig intestines, then some drinks and finally it all culminated with local Korean student population joining us for drinks at Bonita and some norae bong (karaoke). The next day followed the schedule as we all slowly made our way to Yofrutto to grab some sandwiches and smoothies, staple hangover foods in Geochang. We love to sit on their patio and recollect on the previous night's revelries. Some of us feel embarrassed others are still trying to piece it all together. It occurred to us as we sat enjoying our food, that Nunna, our friend and the owner of Bonita, had told us of a place in town that did great sushi/sashimi. Why not explore the local seafood regardless of the fact that we live at least two hours from the coast?

When we finally found the restaurant we were relieved to see that all the seafood we were going to eat was still alive inside a huge tank at the entrance of the restaurant. We should have taken that as a hint to what was going to happen later. We sat down ordered our food and prepared for the feast. The set we ordered was a series of at least 20 different seafood dishes. It said it is supposed to feed 4 -5 people, that was an understatement. The first few dishes that came out were different salads and side dishes, typical layout for any Korean meal. Then came the seafood. Now if I spoke Korean or had any idea what half the dishes were I would describe them. Unfortunately, this is one experience that you will have to do first hand. Of the dishes I can remember or at least describe this included live (that is still pulsating) penis fish. The actual Korean name for it is dog penis fish because as you can imagine the fish resembles a dog's...well....you get the picture. As we were giggling like little girls and trying all the different dishes, we started talking about how some of us still hadn't tried the live octopus.

We spoke too soon! Next up a plate of writhing octopus tentacles. Each one sticking on to anything it can grab be it a plate, another tentacle, or even your chopstick. The trick to eating the live octopus is that you must chew it very quickly and thoroughly. If you don't there is a chance that the tentacles will stick to your throat and you can possibly choke on them. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the octopus the flavor was mild and the texture was just slightly chewy. Not any worse than the intestine I had the previous night for dinner. So as the screaming from our room subsided and everyone had their take at eating the octopus we prepared for the next course. This was the one we all had been waiting for. A platter of freshly prepared sashimi. Now I don't use the term freshly prepared loosely in Korea. When I say fresh I mean it had been swimming in the water seconds before it touched our table. But how could the sahimi be any fresher than we could have hoped for? Well the "decorative" fish that the sashimi was served in turned out to be the actual fish where the meat had been cut from. Every few seconds the head and tail would flap as the poor fish gasped it last breaths. The mouth would even open and close as if to say, "please stop". If any animal activist's or members of PETA are reading this and preparing to haze me with relentless messages of hate and disdain know this, it's Korea's culture not mine and if you must know it didn't really bother me as much as I thought it would. So as our bellies filled the experiences of a truly unique culinary adventure set into our memories. These are the things that I will treasure and talk about for the rest of my life. This is only augmented by the fact that I have such an amazing group of people with whom I can enjoy it.

Now on a sadder note last weekend was the final goodbye party for my friend Graham. Graham, is an awesome individual who although teased relentlessly for his Cockney accent is a good sport and puts up with it. Especially, considering the teasing tends to come from us, less educated Americans. I could not think of a better way to send him off than the kickoff to the World Cup being celebrated in downtown Daegu. It was absolutely amazing. We joined Graham and the rest of them after their first night of celebrating for South Africa. Surprisingly enough the girls from Geochang got more into than the guys. Our South African friends, Diana and Sipe, painted their entire faces to resemble the South African flag. There was norea bong, drinking, and lots of celebrating. This is likely why, on Saturday afternoon, when we arrived our counterparts looked like death and reeked of booze. But that doesn't stop them from making the best of a weekend in Daegu.  We decided the best plan of attack would be a little rest and relaxation at a spa known for their fish that eat the dead skin off your feet. After a quick "nibble" and some tea we were off to change into our celebratory outfits for the night's Korea v. Greece game.
By the time everyone had either arrived, left, changed, and eaten we had 11 people in our group. Now thinking ahead we should have realized how difficult it was going to be to seat 11 people in one bar less than an hour away from kickoff for the Korea game. Luckily, after wandering the streets of Daegu feeling a mixture of emotions between Forest Gump looking for a seat on the bus and the Virgin Mary looking for a place to sleep we finally decided the first bar we had tried, aptly named "Beer Bar", was our best bet. This place was so uniquely Korean. In the center of the establishment was a bar top filled with ice and a copious amount of beer bottles. You were free to help yourself as you saw fit. No greater appreciation of the term "honor system" had ever been utilized in a bar. Now in America people would be pocketing beers, lying about the amount they had drank, and quite possibly drinking themselves into oblivion without the presence of an omnipotent  bartender to monitor their consumption. We had a great time painting our faces, cheering with the Koreans around us and making our Obama gloves (out of socks) for the next game, England v. USA. Needless to say Korea won and boy do the Koreans know how to celebrate. The streets were lined with Korean flags, confetti, and cars covered in signs and overflowing with people screaming the Korea Fighting song! Sarah, Laura, and few others hit the streets of Daegu and partied it up while learning the all too popular Big-Bang-Korea-Shouting-Dance on the jumbo-tron in the middle of downtown Daegu. Finally, we prepared for the highly anticipated England v. USA game. Learning from our previous experience we holed up in our bar of choice 2 hours early to ensure that we got a prime spot to watch the game. As the hours dwindled along with my energy levels my friends rallied me with a few cans of energy drinks and a shot of tequila in hopes of inducing a second wind. I will say that I gave it a good effort and the "flattering" pictures of me around 3:30am can prove it.But, after hours of screaming, celebrating, crying (not really) my body was spent and I was ready to go home. Turning to my friend I asked her if she wanted to go home? The look of relief in her eyes was priceless. No sooner had those words been spoken then we were out the door and shortly there after crashing in our swanky love motel. It is again a memory that can never be replicated, celebrating the underdog in the same their country. It makes me proud to feel like a semi adopted Korean. At least I like to think of myself that way.

So what do can one possibly do keep up the tempo after such a great couple of weekends. Well I like it best sometimes when we do little to nothing at all. This weekend was spent enjoying the slow pace of Geochang and as always trying to explore new unseen parts of the city. On Sunday we went for a walk down to the waterwheel and as it was so hot and the river looked so inviting my friend Grant and I decided to go swimming. Grant tested the waters first checking the depth and then it was my turn to get in or should I say jump. Yes I know I should be considering myself a role model to the 400 something girls at my school and yes I know in a town as small as mine word gets around fast when foreigners start jumping off of boulders into the no-swimming zone of the river. But it was so hot and it looked like so much fun. You know what I don't regret it. It was fun and I would probably do it again. So whats in store for next weekend? Well time will only tell but if the weather continues to hold up and monsoon season stays away for a little longer I think a float at Suesungdae with a big group BBQ just might be on the menu.

Teacher, you are very tall !?!

I realized that since I have been in Korea I have neglected to include life as seen from a six foot tall woman. This occurred to me when I was recalling the button I made, and later lost, at the World DJ festival.

(Again, I lost my camera but I will be updating my blog later once my 친구, friend in Korean, sends me her photos. At that point you will be able to see the button and all of its glory.)

So what did the button say? "Too Tall" and then below it in Korean it said, "정말 크고 오전", I am very tall. Simple, classic and straight to the point. I figured after multiple encounters with Koreans saying, whoa, you are very tall, I should just create a button that beat them to it. That way they knew that I realized I was tall and therefore, it created no need to continue to say it to my face. The woman who was making the buttons told me I had created the best button of the day, as her and her friend giggled while she wrote it. Koreans are just blown away that I am as tall as I am. My students gasp every time my height comes up in a lesson and I write 180cm (which is not even accurate, I am actually 182.8 cm) on the board. But in Korea height is power and prestige. Take for example the "short men are losers" incident,

"Lee Do-kyung, a Hongik University student, appeared on a popular KBS TV show 'Misuda', or 'Chatting with Beauties' on Monday and said, 'I don't like short men. Height is competitiveness these days, and I think short men are losers. Men should at least be 180 cm tall.' * This was all over the Korean media outlets*

See the full article at:
http://hanopolis.com/?articleNo=3886&story/Female-Misuda-Guest-Men-under-511-are-LOSERS

Leave it to my students to take it one step further. Apparently one of my students, after discovering I was 180 cm and obviously taller than all other teachers in the school, told every male teacher that they are a loser because they are shorter than me. It is no wonder the male teachers won't talk to me after my student single-handedly emasculated the entire teaching staff. But no complaints from this corner. I have become quite accustomed to people commenting on my height. Luckily, it is a characteristic that in most cultures is revered as beautiful. It is just something that has been exacerbated in Korea. Lets just say I haven't found a need to wear my heels in Korea as I am afraid of the reaction. It might be something along the lines of, "Oh my God Jinju! It's monster teacher!" I am sure there will be many more amusing stories to report on this topic and I will be sure to keep my followers updated. For now this is Too-Tall-in-Asia signing out :)

My new obsession and other random thoughts about materialism in Korea

So last weekend while I was at the 4th annual Seoul World DJ Festival, I saw a girl who was wearing these amazing red boots. Unfortunately, I lost my camera so I do not have a picture of her, but I can show you a picture of the boots. I recognized the logo on the back as being TOMS. TOMS is an earth friendly shoe company that donates one pair of shoes to children around the world for every pair that they sell. As soon as I returned home from the festival I was on a mission to find these boots. So my first question was where, in a country that only makes shoes up to a size 8, am I going to find these boots. First stop for anything and everything in Korea is of course, G-market.
Now if you live in Korea you are well aware of the benefits of G-market, but for those of you who do not have this amazing luxury back in the States let me break it down for you. G-market is an online...well market, that sells everything. I mean literally everything. It is like amazon.com but even better. They have picnic tables, shoes, food, TVs. The only thing that I can compare it to in the States is Walmart. The difference is that it is all online and everything gets delivered straight to your door in as little as one to two days. The other cool thing about G-market, along with many other on-line websites in Korea, is that you can pay for some things by adding the amount on to your cellphone bill, I heart Korea's creativity. Now the first time you go to this site it can be a little overwhelming. I don't recommend it to anyone who is predisposed to having seizures. It is shopping on acid. All these flashing signs and pictures. The web pages and the products available on them are grabbing your attention and then bitch slapping you into submission until you finally submit and buy something. What's funny about this site is that it is a perfect representation of the Korean-style shopping. The only thing that is missing is really loud K pop playing in the background.
Anytime that I have gone into major shopping areas in Korea, I feel the same panic that I did as a small child when I was afraid I would loose my mother in a crowd. It is terrifying and a definite culture shock. You know you have made it to the right area when you get off the subway and there is just a mass of people heading toward the incessant thump of K pop.
(Let me just mention on a side note that Koreans walking around while shopping are by far the most irritating people to walk behind. They do the "zombie crawl", which is where a couple, man and woman, woman and woman, even man and man, will walk arm in arm slowly taking in the sights and sounds of the day while zig-zagging on the walk way without any regard to the people who are behind them. They love to walk at glacial pace and then suddenly stop in the middle and stare or point at something...SOOOOOOOOOO frustrating when you are just trying to get from point A to point B)
So back to shopping...there are neon signs everywhere, the shops are built in such a way that it is just one after another after another stacked at least three stories high. On the street level there are vendors everywhere selling such things as sunglasses, purses, socks (lots of socks, but that is for a different blog), scarves, and pretty much anything you could find in the store but cheaper. In addition to the vendors who sell clothing and apparel there are tons of street vendors selling food and pirated movies. Once you have navigated your way through the crowds, around the vendors, and still have managed to retain your hearing from the deafening noise of music and girls with mega phones, you may be fortunate enough to have reached your desired destination. *warning*warning*warning* Just because you have found a store does not mean you have found a sanctuary for your senses. Once inside these stores there is either an overwhelming amount of products to choose from or you have sales girls coming up to you trying to help you shop, and it is still extremely packed with people. Just as an example of how overwhelming shopping can be, the Forever 21 in Seoul is FOUR STORIES HIGH! I had to wait for twenty minutes to get a changing room. But I am not complaining. I am simply in awe of the level of materialism that exists in a country, which twenty years ago was one of the poorest countries in the world. It is things like this that are so different to America that really make me appreciate this country. I told my friend the other day that when people ask what I like most about Korea I think I would have to say that there is always something to laugh about. How could anyone ever feel depressed in a country that is so quirky? It's great! I realized that I spend way too much wasted time on sites like Facebook and I need to spend more time blogging so that my friends and family at home can be included in these fascinating observations of the country I now call home. After rambling on and on about shopping you might be asking yourself well did you find the boots? Yes, yes I did and one day they will be mine, just not today because I am saving my money (your welcome Dad).

What it is to be twenty-five and still discovering the world

* This is a letter I wrote to my mom in response to her advice on life. I think it really summarizes my life at this point even if it is very revealing.

Thanks, I really needed this letter. I was having a bad day today and stressing out, as usual, about money. I feel like I am letting Dad down and again not following through on my commitments...The biggest issue is not just paying Dad but also having enough money to save. For the next couple of months it will be tight because if I want to use my only vacation time that I have this year, in August, I need to really buckle down and save. I have been told that if you don't use the vacation time and go away you can really burn yourself out. Plus traveling is one of the reasons I came to Korea. But obviously Dad is my first priority. I was also having a bad day because I over slept this morning and have just been generally stressed out. I think I am getting another cold (I have white spots on the back of my throat) and I just really hate it when I get these emails from Dad. It makes me feel really horrible and then I am all depressed for the rest of the day. But, being depressed doesn't solve the problem so I must put my plan into action.

Thanks for the career advice it was really helpful. I agree that I must focus on cultivating my strengths and living in the now. If I am constantly burdening myself with stress about my future career than I am not really giving my present commitments my full attention. My present commitments of course being my kids. If I really work hard everyday and give teaching my best effort I think that good things will follow. But, if I stress out and pay more attention to other things like my career, guys, or evn drinking with my friends then I will always be living in a life of arrested development.

Speaking of guys...as far as this new relationship goes I agree with you, dad, and my friends. It is important to take things slow. There is no need to rush. My guy friend last night told me I have a lot going for me and if this guy doesn't see it than it is his loss. I need to remind myself of that especially when I am feeling the need to find a relationship. When the right guy comes along he will see what I have to offer and vice versa and theoretically the relationship should just develope naturally. I really like this guy and I am sure he likes me but there are a unique set of challenges for us, like in any relationship, so we must just ride it out and determine if the relationship is worth the extra work. For now though I am going to remain focused on my wonderful kids, saving money, and most importantly enjoying this amazing time in my life. I know that one day when I am in Grandma's position and I look back at my life I will be satisfied with the choices I made and always remember the amazing people and places have visited. I don't want to look back at my life and wish I had spent more time enjoying it instead of let it all fly by. Even though Dad thinks I am "holing up" in South Korea that is not the case. I love it here and I don't want to leave because there is far too much to enjoy. For once in my life I have a great job that pays well and I finally feel like it is giving me the ability to start my life. As opposed to living pay check to pay check or even worse one bad tip to the next bad tip. I finally feel like an adult and I want to continue to show Dad and you that I am an adult by paying him back and finally breaking free of my financial dependency on him, which is painfully embarassing. I don't know when I will finally come home but I don't forsee it anywhere in the near future (that is a good thing). Who knows where life will lead me but for now I will just focus on today.

Recap

So I know I haven't been completely committed to this blog. But with good reason...I was out enjoying my first two months in Korea. To pick up on where I last left off I have met and become friends with such an amazing group of people. They have all been here for varying amounts of time ranging from four months to over four years. They come from all over the world including England, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, and even as close to me as Denver, CO. But I have to say they are all thoughtful and all of them know how to have a good time. Just recently we all went down to Busan for the weekend as a sort of last big group trip before they all start heading back home. Between the dance party in the apartment in Seomyeong to the keebabs out in front of the dance club, and finally topping off the night with a brisk dip in the ocean we created a pretty memorable final farewell for our group.
The first to leave are a really laid back couple from New Zealand, Hamish and Megan. They are getting ready to go to Japan for a couple weeks and then they plan to buy a van, fish, camp, and travel around New Zealand. The thing I remember most about them were all the card games and tournaments we played at their apartment high above Geochang.
It is sad seeing this great group of people leave, but as my friend Graham told me, "You don't stay for the people because eventually they will all be gone." On a positive note last night I met a couple of the newbies in town. Two girls named Sara and Laura are working at the Geochang Lift College, which oddly enough is the only elevator college in the world. Finally, I met Diana who is an sweet girl from South Africa. So out with the old and in with the new. The next chapter of mighty Geoochang begins!!!!!!
So to recap on exactly what I have been doing for two months I am pleased to say that it included a lot of little trips all over South Korea.
Daegu
Korea's third largest city is not much of a tourist destination but it provides plenty of the amenities that I need. Considering that it is just 5,ooo won (about $4.00) and one hour bus ride away I have visited this city the most. These trips included going to see a new movie, Chloe (overtly sexual movie that I think made the Koreans watching it with us crawl in their skin). Going out to all the fun night clubs and western eateries, this included Frogs, Holy Grill, Gorilla Burger, Commune, as well as many other bars and such that at this point have faded into a haze. I have also gone down to Daegu for shopping which ranges from the Gap, Zara (an Italian clothing store), Lotte Department store, Home Plus (a cheaper better form of Costco), and all the other random Korean side shops in between. I even dropped by Daegu one night after a crazy weekend in Seoul just to experience the KTX train ride with a couple of British friends I had just met in a hostel a few night prior. Daegu has many fond memories even though it offers the least amount of tourist attractions of any city I have been to so far.

Seoul
Korea's capital city and home to the World Cup Stadium as well as Asia's largest electronic market. Seoul is a great city because that is where most things happen such as festivals, major concerts, and it has the largest array of western restaurants. On the flip side I am not a huge fan of Seoul because it is so large. Seoul has the world's busiest subway system and it definitely feels like it when it is five o'clock and you are crammed into a subway car like one big human jello mold. No one stands supporting themselves you act as one entity just swaying back and forth as the subway moves. But I do have some great memories in Seoul. Like on New Year's Eve when Graham, Jitesh and I were running through the subway desperately trying to reach Hongdae before the clock struck midnight. It was so bitterly cold that night I think it got down to -20 Celsius. Or my last adventure to Seoul when I went to visit my Korean friend and ended up meeting some really cool people in the hostel where I was staying. Clubbing, driving around in the M5, and over all craziness for that Lunar New Year Weekend. Funny enough one of the guys I met at that hostel, Tom, was considering coming to Geochang and so he had posted something on our Geochang G.U.E.S.T facebook page. Later on I came to find out that is who recommended me as a good contact in Geochang when the new South African girl, Diana, coincidentally contacted Tom via facebook. I know small world right?

Finally, Busan...Oh Busan
By far the prettiest city in Korean that I have visited since I arrived. It picture perfect mountains back right up to the beaches. When I went sailing and looked back to the coast line all the multi-colored buildings almost resemble the Mediterranean coast, or least that is what I imagine it looks like. Tons of restaurants, bars, casinos and plenty of beautiful beaches it makes this quite the get away and fortunately for me it is only two or so hours away. I am really looking forward to the Pusan International Film Festival which in recent years has become more and more prestigious not to mention the amount of cool DJ's and live entertainment that comes in to play on the beaches until the early hours of the morning. Oh I was even able to get my hair colored and cut there, although it did take over four hours

Well plenty of things to report home. I hope everyone else is doing well. I miss you all very much. But if all goes well I am seriously considering staying another year. These are some of the best moments of my life and I don't want to ever give them up. I gaining all sorts of insights to life, teaching (although less than initially expected) girls who absolutely adore me, and living in an amazing country by myself. I think I could do this for just a little longer than expected :)



Oh this is a clip from the Winter English Camp, these are the Philippians dancing for the students. Pretty cute!


One Love,
Erin

Flying High

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Countdown one hour till departure to Seoul :

Well the time has come I am sitting in LAX, a shithole of an airport if you ask me, and I am remembering my family and friends that I have so readily left behind. It’s weird I thought I would become more anxious about leaving but all I have felt is a precious energy to leave.

My first flight from Denver to L.A. was boring and crowded I sat next to a guy my age that seemed to want little to nothing to do with me. Despite him and in celebration of my departure I ordered a cocktail. I must have synced on some weird level with the flight attendant because when I looked at my receipt I realized they charged me for two mini liquor bottles. Although the attendant was very apologetic I calmed her worries by letting her know it was no problem and I was more than happy to accept the additional bottle of booze, only because I didn’t want to cause a ruckus mid air ;)

When I de-boarded the plane I felt like one of those rats in scientific maze I had no idea which way was up. After multiple explanations that I needed to find the Tom Bradley terminal I found myself actually leaving the LAX airport to walk several minutes to find the Tom Bradley terminal down the way. Lets just say there were a lot of Asians standing in line. Naturally I thought this must be where I am suppose to stand, with the Asians who don’t speak very good English, right? Luckily, I met a little man from China. Who told me about some ice sculpture he was going to see. After a few minutes of standing in line, which I was sure was due to the “incident” this morning; he talked to a friend on the phone and quickly realized we were in the wrong line. Thank God he intervened because there was no way I was willing to risk losing my place in that godforsaken line to find out where I was actually suppose to be.

Once I got to the correct terminal I looked for a place to eat. With lady luck on my side there happened to be a little “restaurant” right next to my gate. I say restaurant so hesitantly because it was an establishment about the size of my parent’s kitchen that had a bar and microwave. Every food item that came through this place was either wrapped in plastic wrap in the cooler or it was nuked in the microwave to give it that warm home cooked feel.

I met two guys that were headed to Melbourne and we talked about each of our intended travels. We related to each other because we all had at least a thirteen-hour flight ahead of us. Now this is were I think I made my fatal mistake. With the food looking oh so appetizing, coming from a microwave I passed and instead had another cocktail. Now the last time I ate something was about five o’clock. I headed to the gate boarded the plane and waited unknowing of the pain and misery that was about to ensue.

In-Flight Mayhem:

Korean Air is a no joke airlines. This is by far the nicest airline I have ever flown. They gave me a first row seat with extra leg space, a personal monitor to watch all the free movies, music, and television I could desire, and the food oh the food. I choose to go with the traditional Korean dinner called Bibimbop (I think that is how it is spelled), which is a rice dish with beef, mushrooms, and an assortment of legumes. All of this is tossed with chili pepper sauce and sesame seed oil and then served with seaweed soup and fruit, delicious. I took my medicine that I had planned to use to help me sleep. Now it is about 1:30 am and I am just now getting my first substantial meal of the evening. Korean Air being the awesome airlines that they are offers complimentary wine with your meal. After I finished my meal I noticed I was starting to feel tired almost dizzy. I ignored it thinking it was either the medicine or actual exhaustion setting in. With my eyes closed trying to focus on the relaxing flight to Korea I started to notice that the dizziness was worsening and all of a sudden the nausea set in. Again trying to remain calm and remind myself that I am just really tired I tried to mentally push past it. Once it dawned on me that no amount of mental strength was going to subside the nausea and dizziness I went to the restroom. Now the last thing I remember was seeing spots and losing my hearing followed by me lying on the floor of the tiny bathroom with the flight attendants pounding on the door in fear of having a dead passenger on board. Lets just say that this was not the start to the thirteen-hour flight I had hoped for. For the rest of the flight I was diligently checked up on and I was even offered the care of a doctor who was on board. Regardless, the duration of my flight was miserable, plagued with nausea and the overly attendant stewardesses waking me every half hour, I was overwhelmed with happiness when we finally landed in Seoul. Lesson learned never think that by some miracle of your experience at previous college parties that you can travel over half a days time and survive on liquid meals, not smart kids not smart at all.

After a quick flight from Seoul to Busan, my recruiter greeted me at the airport. He drove me north to Geochang and was gracious enough to let me sleep during the car ride back. Then came the greetings. I was exhausted at this point and ready to go to my home. But as custom in Korean I needed to meet my teachers and tour the school first. Everyone was so happy to meet me and kept telling me that I was “so beautiful”. So I have to say it was worth it to go to the school for a little confidence booster after what seemed to be one the worst traveling experiences of my life.

I was please to see my apartment although seemingly small it was more than enough space for me. I had a relatively large bed, a full size brand new fridge, rice cooker, microwave, two burners and a brand new front-loading washing machine. Over all I thought to myself this will be a good year. Kind co-workers, a great (free) apartment, plenty of amenities and awesome friends who were soon to be discovered, what more could you really ask for?