Holidays in Hanguk

We had our first major snow in Daejeon about a month or so ago, so I thought it would be appropriate to have a post chalk full with holiday updates.

My students were implausibly enthralled with the snow, almost as if they had not seen it before (and I know they have all seen it many times before).  Sure, a lot of snow fell in a short period of time-almost as if the Snow Gods themselves just crapped it all on us at once-but I was more like, "oh, cool...snow" whereas my students were like, "OH MY GOD!!! This is INCREDIBLE!!! WOOOOOW!"  One of my students came up behind me while I was at my desk.  She alternated between my ears whispering "snow" each time for about 10 times total.

So, needless to say, they were a little excited.

I'm going to reveal my Midwestern roots a little bit here and talk about the winter weather:  it's not a lot different than it is back home.  Unfortunately, that's not a good thing because I absolutely hate winter in the Midwest.  We have had some pretty mild days, but also some deathly cold days.  There was snow on the ground for a week before a cold rain washed most of it away.  Since then, it has snowed regularly and we've only had a few days without snow on the ground.  If I could, I would just spend all of my time in the jimjilbangs (public baths and saunas) until the winter is over.  Though, I will say that snow does make winter mildly bearable for me.

About two months ago, I started to feel a little emotionally isolated and depressed.  This feeling lasted about a week straight and then off and on for about a week or two afterwards.  This was not a special occurence by any means, because this happens whenever anyone lives abroad.  At first, one rides a long-lasting high (2-3 months) because everything is so new and exciting, but then after that one hits the low that I previously described.  Some people feel homesick, others get depressed, while still others question the meaning of "it all".  After the major low, one comes back up to level out somewhere between the initial high and the subsequent low (meaning, one becomes more or less "normalized" to life in the foreign country).  Even though I knew the low was coming and was conscious of it, there was nothing I could do to stop it.

What is nice is that all of my friends and I went through the "major low" together.  I was sure to bring it up with friends to let them know that it's just something that we naturally go through when living in a new place/culture and to make them aware that we are all going through it together. 

What sucks is that this low hit us when winter was starting.  My friend commented that it wouldn't be nearly as bad if, say, we were hitting the low in the spring or summer, but alas... as they say in one of my favorite literature series, A Song of Ice and Fire, winter is coming.

Now that I'm "leveling out", I've been able to enjoy my experience here again...albeit still with the existential questions because I'm always questioning the meanings of my existence (duh!).  The only thing that I can complain about is how far I live away from everything.  It takes me 40-60 minutes by bus to reach downtown, which is not only where the majority of my friends live, but is also where most of the fun, shopping, and general events take place.  It can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but it's not really all that bad as long as I have a chance to plan ahead.

We had a couple of Thanksgiving celebrations a couple months ago.  The bigger celebration was made up of people that have been in Daejeon for at least a year already.  I befriended a handful of them at a welcome party they held for us back in late August.  There was tons of food...two turkeys, three types of stuffing, two types of gravy, mashed potatoes, different salads, mac & cheese...the list goes on.  I prepared a beet salad with a walnut/garlic/orange juice sauce.  The sauce was really good, but the beets didn't have too much flavor.  The next party was a more intimate affair between my close friends.  I met up in the morning with my friends Liz and Kate to do some last-minute cooking before going to our friend, Daniel's, apartment.  I ended up making a roasted squash/caramelized onion puree that was a topping for baguette slices (plus ricotta cheese).  Others brought chicken pot pie, banana bread, pumpkin pie, sweet potato casserole, mac & cheese, and bread...plus I made some mulled wine.  Mmm-mmm!  There were about 7 or 8 of us total.  We spent the entire afternoon eating and enjoying each other's company.

About a month ago I ran my first race.  It was a 10k, and all the money went towards a charity that supports research on multiple sclerosis.  I ran it with a few friends.  After the race, most people went to a buffet style Indian restaurant to chow down.  After the restaurant, there was an after-party at a popular foreigner bar where they held poker and dart tournaments.  It was a great day! 

December 19th marked the Presidential Election Day in Korea.  Unlike us in the States, they take the day off from school and work to vote.  With that in mind, one of our friends planned a Holiday Party the night before at her apartment.  It was a potluck and ugly sweater party.  I cooked a stuffing and roasted potatoes.  It was a great time with about 30 people from my orientation. 

On December 22nd, we had a pub crawl for all the foreigners in the city. In reality, only a relatively small amount of foreigners come out for it, but the invitation is extended to everyone.  I played a part in organizing it, and I was told that if I'm staying for a second year I would be in charge of organizing the entire thing next time.  We (about 15-20 of us) ate at an Italian restaurant called Bon Bon.  Then we went to 11 different clubs and bars after that.  I would say the group was at its largest by around the 5th or 6th bar.  We probably had 50-60 people at that point.  The deal is that we assign our group a specific number of a specific drink at each bar.  So, for example: 2 Jagerbombs at the 2nd bar, 3 whiskey shots at the 3rd bar, 4 foreign beers at the 4th bar, etc.  Only our group as a collective has to complete the drink selection, not every single person.  After we left each club or bar, we sang a song to the tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas", which detailed our itinerary for the night as well as the drink selections.  You can probably put it together from there.  This is an annual event that has been done for the last 3 years.  This was the 4th year, and I hope to be a part of the 5th!

For New Year's Eve, we went to Seoul.  We arrived in Seoul around 7:30 p.m. and arrived at our hostel a little after 8:00 p.m.  After meeting up with everyone we went out for a quick bite and then started bar and club hopping.  Around 4:30 a.m. we went to a restaurant/brewery to have a relaxed beer together.  Then around 5:30 a.m. we started looking for a noraebang (karaoke) to go to.  It took four tries (I guess they were all full or did not have rooms large enough to accomodate our group), but we finally found one.  We belted out tunes until about 8:00 a.m., and at that time, some people had a hankering for Taco Bell.  A couple hours later, after we went back to our hostel and packed, five of us went out to brunch together.  All in all, one of the best, if not the best, New Year's Eve I've ever had.  I just wish I had gone to sleep at some point, because I felt like crap later the next day.

My actual winter vacation begins in the middle of February.  I'm planning on going to Vietnam for two weeks with Daniel.  We are flying in and out of Hanoi, and plan on traveling up and down the country.  From now (middle of January) until then, I'm going to be teaching only a couple of classes in the afternoon.  That means I'll have a lot more free time on my hand, which I will welcome with open arms.  Unfortunately, it's still cold as hell outside, so it's not like I'll be going hiking or biking.  I'll probably learn how to sew or something like that (I do honestly need to sew some buttons on my coat and sew a hole in my workout bag...I already got my $1 sewing kit!)  I'll also probably continue to exercise, catch up on some reading, and explore my area a little bit more.  I also might look into starting to do yoga again and practicing mindfulness (basically, meditating).  Just a matter of motivaaaaaation.

Well, it has been a great holiday season, and now I'm looking forward to some much needed R&R.

Torrential Busan

On the subway, I got a call from the hostel.  The guy on the other end of the phone had a very odd way of speaking in English.  Definitely not the typical Korean accent I hear when my students speak English, for example.  It's really hard to describe his voice, but it was tonally high and slightly nasally.  His tone would often shift somewhat wildly like a pubescent teenager dealing with a cracking voice.  He was also constantly addressing me as "man" as in "That's cool, man".  More on this guy in a little bit.

As we exited the subway and approached our hostel, we were simultaneously becoming more entrenched in what I would describe as a decadent party area:  every establishment was a bar,  blaring loud music from all directions, flyers everywhere, and everyone dressed to the nines.  It actually bared an exact resemblance to the party area in my city. 

Like everywhere else, the music was blaring in our hostel as we walked in.  It was just barely after setting our bags down that the woman working the front desk asked if we wanted a beer.  Daniel and I gave each other a look as I said, "Well, first I think we'd like to check in...we have reservations..."  She said, "OK, let me call the owner."  Not a minute later did this stylishly dressed Korean come stumbling up to us, "Hey, man!  My name is Tiger!"  Ah, we had spoken on the phone with THIS guy.  He had clearly been drinking since his voice was now also slightly slurred. "Yea, man!  You guys are the last ones checking in tonight!" 

As he was checking us in, a man approaching middle age creepily came up next to us.  He eventually introduced himself.  He was a marketing consultant from Nicaragua working for Tiger.  I would've never guessed! 

To our simultaneous dismay and delight, Tiger informed us that the actual hostel was a ways away and we could get there by taxi within 10 minutes.  So we left together to get a taxi.  As he lead us out back into the decadent party streets, he was clearly a bit stumbly.  We passed some foreigners that exclaimed, "Hey Tiger!  What's up?!"  Tiger responded by saying, "Not now, man!  I have to take care of my guests!" 

We got to the street and he said, "Let's cross right here!"  I looked both ways and there was oncoming traffic coming from one direction moving at an alarming pace.  Tiger brazenly, but cooly, walked across the street while we hurried our sober selves with luggage in tow.

Our "hostel" was actually just one apartment in what looked to be very expensive resort apartments (the buildings were next to the sea).  The apartment was actually really really big:  it had three bathrooms, several bedrooms, and a huge common area.  It was probably one of the most comfortable hostel stays I have ever had.

The Spanish man working at our hostel was incredibly nice and helpful.  He pointed out tons of points of interest on a map, and was completely honest concerning which ones were worth a visit and which weren't. 

Busan is the second largest city in South Korea.  It sits on the Southeast coast and from what I would guess, most of South Korea's exports and imports flow through its ports.  Of course, seafood populates the restaurants and markets like the people populate the city.  It is also worth noting that the people of Busan are known for their rougher behavior and way of speaking (at least compared to the rest of the Koreans). 

Once Daniel woke up, we decided on a loose itinerary based on the information we were given by our Spanish friend.  Unfortunately, rain was planned for the entire day and no sooner did we leave our hostel/apartment than it started raining.  We went through a park that overlooked a major part of the city and then to a modern history museum practically right next door.  Then, giving in to the fact that it probably was not going to stop raining anytime soon, we elected to spend the rest of the afternoon in a public bath. 

We spent an hour and a half in the bath/sauna area of SpaDay before we decided to explore the facilities a bit more.  What we found a humongous area that was almost like a mini-mall.  The hall from the public bath/sauna area led to a huge open space where people were just lounging around on heated floors, on sofas, then in another room on recliners watching TV and DVDs.  There was even a restaurant and cafe.  There were tons of "special rooms" promising different sensations..."the wave room", "the electron room".  I kind of felt like I was in a cult because everyone was wearing the same garb and it seemed like we were our own community completely cut off from the outside world.  I would love to go again when I make it back to Busan!

After meeting up with our friend, Helen, and eating dinner by a crowded ice ring, we headed back to our hostel to get ready for Halloween.  As we were headed back, we were slammed with a deluge from the skies.  I don't think I have ever expierenced rain that heavy before...and it only lasted two minutes.  We got completely soaked!

Unfortunately, the firework display that was part of our wanting to come to Busan in the first place was canceled due to the rain; but we were still ready to celebrate Halloween!  We got in our costumes and started drinking with the other temporary residents of our hostel.  Despite a bit of drama (not really worth expending the energy to explain it), we left the hostel/apartment to go to the hostel/bar where we had first checked in.  People were meeting up there to head to a club together.  Unfortunately, were late arriving and everyone had already left.  We had to get a hold of the one and only Tiger to get directions to the club.  We eventually made it.  The club was definitely a bit more posh than what I am used to.  The decorations were great, and some of the DJing was pretty cool.  One DJ started his set in a drag racing outfit and pretended to play videogames as a videogame was projected onto the wall behind him.  After that he went into a remix of the Ghostbusters' theme song.  However, the drink prices were a bit steep for our pockets, so we elected to leave and ended up at an Irish bar with a bunch of foreigners.  We did some dancing and had some cocktails.  Then we moved back to the area in which our hostel/bar was located.  There was a huge gathering of foreigners dressed in costume in the middle of the streets (streets not so much for cars as for pedestrians)...probably roughly 300 foreigners.  I actually recognized many people from my EPIK orientation whom we also hung out with in Namhae over Chuseok weekend.  It was nice (drunkenly) catching up with them.  We went to a couple other bars in the area before heading back home around 4:30 a.m.

Our friend, Helen, was convinced she was going to stay out later and tried taking pictures of the directions back to the hostel using the camera on her phone.  I couldn't stop laughing because all of the pictures she was taking (she took 14) were awful.  I said, "Helen, you are NEVER going to make it home with these God-awful pictures."  So I was able to convince her to come back to the hostel with us.

The next morning was absolutely gorgeous.  If only the previous day had been anything like that!  We decided to take a walk along the cliffs of the ocean and enjoy the sun before heading back to Daejeon.

Chuseok or Oktoberfest? Both!

At the beginning of October, we had a 5 day weekend for Chuseok.  Chuseok is very similar to our Thanksgiving in that Koreans celebrate it by having a big feast with their family to honor their ancestors as well as to celebrate the harvest.  Hilariously enough, we decided to celebrate it by not only not celebrating it the way Koreans do, but by celebrating a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT HOLIDAY.  That is, the German holiday known as Oktoberfest.

How in the hell can this be?  How did we celebrate a German holiday in South Korea?  Well, just stop yelling at me for a second and I'll tell you.  Now, I know it sounds pretty insane that there was a gigantic Oktoberfest celebration in South Korea, but South Korea actually has (or had, rather) a special relationship with Germany in the 1960s. South Korea sent nurses and miners to Germany for an international labor contract. Once their contract was fulfilled, many elected to stay in Germany. Some of those that returned built a "German Village" on Namhae island. The houses in this "German Village" are modeled after some German architecture.  In addition, there are actually a handful of native Germans that live in the village.

A big group of us from Daejeon (16 in all, 14 from my orientation) decided to join a tour to Namhae through a Korean company.  Namhae is an island off the southern coast of South Korea.

Our tour bus picked us up in Daejeon at 11:30 p.m. on the Friday night of the Chuseok weekend, and I had volunteered to be the Daejeon leader and make sure we had everyone accounted for on the bus.  We were on the bus an hour or two before we got to the next pick-up in Daegu.  When we pulled up to the meeting spot in Daegu, it was quite the bacchanalian scene.  There were about 50 or 60 people my age all drinking, shouting, and falling about the place.  A far cry from our cool and collected group of Daejonites.  For whatever reason, we had to wait for the other bus from Seoul to come to the meeting spot before proceeding, so that meant an hour and a half of waiting.  I went out of the bus to mingle only to be met by drunken revelers.  As I was talking to the leader of the Daegu group, a girl came up to me and with greatly slurred speech said, "Heeeyyy, what's your naaaame?"   Soon afterward, a very drunk Irishman came up to me and put his arm around me.  Most of what he said to me made very little sense but I thought it best to entertain the man with the fantasy that I was actively engaged in his abstract train of thought.  After he walked away from me (he clearly realized there was no way he could get through to me), a couple of the girls from our group came up to me and said, "Was that guy crazy or something?"  I said, "No, just Irish."  Little did I know that this would become a common theme throughout the next four days.

The tour was terribly unorganized from the start. First off, they had me in charge of one of the four buses, so that should tell you something. Since I had volunteered to be in charge of the Daejeon group, one of the organizers called me to ask me to be in charge of the entire bus.  As I mentioned earlier, we had to stay in Daegu waiting for the Seoul bus.  During that time, one of the organizers called me and asked me where were.  When I said, "We're still in Daegu waiting for the Seoul" bus he said, "What?  The bus drivers were not supposed to wait for the Seoul bus." 

We finally got into Namhae around 7:00 a.m. on Saturday morning and immediately went for a hike.  Not the greatest activity after only a couple hours of sleep, but it was well worth it.  At the end of the hike was a buddhist temple from which one could view one of the most spectacularly breath-taking views I've ever seen (pictures above!).  Unfortunately we were rushed for time, and so we didn't stay very long at the temple. 

After we got back to the buses, we got checked into our pension.  We slept "ondol" style, which means that we were provided blankets to sleep on a heated floor.  It was surprisingly comfortable, though I must say my back suffered for it after a few nights.

Once we checked in, we immediately changed and high tailed it to the beach.  The water was freezing, but we managed to take a much needed nap in the sun.  In fact, I fell into such a deep sleep that when one of my friends woke me up to ask me a question, I for the life of me could not understand what she was saying.  She repeated herself two or three times and finally just gave up.  I think I went back to sleep.  While others decided to play soccer or frisbee, some were setting up tents (electing to camp on the beach rather than sleep in the pensions).

Quite a while later we decided to eat dinner.  We were walking around looking for a place (a lot of places were closed as a result of the holiday...one BIG thing that the organizers didn't take into account).  We finally found a spot, and lo and behold, there was another group from our tour that was already eating there.  Eventually, as we finished our food and soju, the restaurant was absolutely filled with people from our tour group. 

After dinnner, everyone congregated on the beach to build a bonfire and shoot off fireworks (a lot of fireworks in fact).  It was nice talking to several people and hearing their stories of how they decided to come to Korea.  I'm not sure if I've ever been around a bonfire on a beach before, but it was a great experience.

The next morning we ate a delicious breakfast provided by the tour (one thing for which they were well organized).  After that we checked out and made our way to a different part of the island for our last three nights.  We stopped at some famous rice terraces for about an hour or so.  When we were getting back on the bus from the rice terraces, the organizers came to the realization that there were NO restaurants open in the town we were headed towards (how one does not take this into account in prior planning is beyond me).  That's not true, though.  There was one restaurant that was open and it is basically the McDonalds of South Korea.  A fast food chain called Lotteria.  As bus leader, I was asked to take the orders for my bus and collect the money.  It doesn't sound that bad, but it actually was pretty stressful. 

We had an amazing view from our part of the new pension, as well as a big open deck space.  Therefore, our are got chosen as the unofficial party spot for the night.  I wasn't in a particularly social mood (not a bad mood per se, but my introversive need to re-charge myself by being alone definitely took over at this point).  Apparently, the Irish were the last ones up drinking until about 4:00 a.m.  From what I know, this happened almost every night, hah!

On Monday we went kayaking in the afternoon.  We had the option to choose kayaking, fishing, or hanging out on a yacht.  Most people elected to go kayaking.  There was a group that went in the morning and our kayaking guide told us that many of them had still been drunk from the night before and couldn't steer their kayaks properly.  I thought that was hilarious.  We kayaked to a beach on a different island.  Luckily the waters weren't too rough at all, so it was pretty easy to navigate. 

On our last full day there there was an Oktoberfest celebration.  Walking into the German Village itself was a surreal experience.  It was almost like wanting into a different country.  There were several Oktoberfest-style tents with food and drink booths.  Copies of old newspaper clippings documenting the relationship between Germany and Korea were on the walls.  They were serving Paulaner beer, which is a pretty wonderful German brewery.  A nice change from the cheap lager beer I've been drinking so far in Korea.  They had a main stage area where most of the big events were taking place. They had a beer carrying contest and a beer drinking contest, both of which had heavy participation from our ranks.  Later on, they had bands play, people sang karaoke, and to top off the night there was a DJ.  The first band that played was a Korean Polka band, complete with yodeling.  One of my friends commented, "It's absolutely insane that the first live music we're seeing in Korea is a Korean Polka band."  I couldn't agree more! 

Despite the chaotic organization, this was a great first trip in Korea, and it was spent with some of my favorite people that I have met so far.

Daejeon Style

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in over a month!  I guess I have been relatively busy (and not at the same time).  I have two trips to talk about, but I will save those for separate posts.  This one will be relegated to random updates.

My students continue to make me laugh and smile.  My favorite "Korean-students-say-the-damndest-things" moment was during a lesson about the seasons and weather.  We got on the topic of building snowmen.  One of my students pointed out to me that in Korea, they build their snowmen in two sections.  I then jokingly adopted an exaggerated and condescending sort of smugness to my tone and facial expression to tell them that, "In the US, we build our snowmen in three sections!"  At this comment, one of my students grabbed his head with both his hands and agonizingly exclaimed, "Agghh!!!  CULTURE SHOCK!!!"

I also want to share an anecdote from one of my friends.  A couple weeks ago, his classes were having speaking tests.  When he walked into one of the classes that week, he boldly proclaimed, "Alright!  Speaking tests!"  Unsurprisingly, the class remained completely silent...except for student in the back who yelled, "WHAT THE FUCK?!?!" My friend apparently collapsed to the floor in a fit of laughter.

A few weeks ago, there was an International Food & Wine Festival in my city.  A group of us went together and met up here and there with other teachers with whom we are friends.  We came there thinking that we might be dropping some serious cash to pay for glasses of wine (from France, Italy, Spain, etc.)  But, lo and behold, all it cost was a measly 3,000 won, which is equivalent to about $3.  Considering that, I really had to consciously pace myself and take some breaks lest I end up passed out in some gutter (juuuuust kiddin'!) 

We had a splendid time!  There were absolutely toooons of vendors (not to mention people).  The funniest moment was when a very drunk middle-aged Korean woman came up to our group.  She looked at us and she asked, in a very thick and drunk accent, "Where are you frooooom?"  We said our respective countries and then she looked at me.  "Americaaaaaa?  Beaaaaard!"  It was at this time that my friend pointed out my chest hair protruding from my shirt's collar (as per usual) and the woman decided to tug on it a bit.  She then pointed at me and exclaimed, "Mr. Monkey!  Mr. Monkey!"  That was about the extent of our interaction.  When she was leaving I called after her, "Please marry me!  Be my Mrs. Monkey!" but she didn't seem to hear (or care). 

Work has been really easy for me lately.  Two weeks ago, I gave my students study time for the entire week in preparation for mid-terms.  This was at the suggestion of my head co-teacher.  Last week we had mid-terms, and now this week the juniors are taking speaking tests while the sophomores are gone on a trip (for Monday and Tuesday).  The teachers had various extracuricular activities planned for mid-terms week.  On Monday evening, I went out with my head co-teacher and the other sophomore teachers to dinner and drinks.  On Tuesday, we took a field trip to some mountains 45 minutes outside of Daejeon.  We hiked, ate, drank, and then went to noraebang (what we call karaoke).  It was pretty hilarious to see my drunk co-teachers (some of them over 50 years old) singing Korean songs.  English teacher meetings (as they call them) have somewhat of a flow to them.  Everyone eats and drinks over small talk (although the focus is definitely on eating at this point).  Then after most people are done eating and everyone has a pretty good buzz going, the oldest teacher and/or the head of the department will say something to everyone.  Usually this involves just thanking everyone for coming and how wonderful it is to spend time together outside of school.  Then after a little bit the real fun begins.  The boozed up teachers start giving oratories topically centered on school affairs such as how to improve students' abilities (like listening comprehension), the culture of the department/school and why it needs to improve or change, etc.  Disagreements and compromises abound!

I am now taking Korean classes.  Unfortunately, they are only once a week, but I'm taking them with about 20 other teachers from my orientation.  I'm getting better at reading Korean phonetically, but I don't usually understand what the sounds coming from my mouth actually mean.  However, the fact that the alphabet is so logical and the sounds rarely change makes it a lot easier than what I would imagine learning English would be like.

I'm definitely getting more settled into life here.  Besides taking Korean lessons, I'm also exercising at a gym 4 or 5 days a week.  I am hiking a lot on the weekends, whether with co-teachers or friends.  Meeting with friends for drinks and meals.  Hopefully, I will get a bike before it starts getting too cold.  There are bike paths for miles and miles along the rivers that go through my city.  In fact, you can take a bike path all the way to Seoul.  Other than that, after a long creative dry spell, I'm riding a creative high and writing a bunch of music on guitar. 

Lastly, I named this post after a song called "Gangnam Style" by a Korean pop (affectionately shortened to K-Pop) singer named Psy.  This song is a worldwide hit and has over 500,000,000 views on YouTube.  This song plays everywhere all of the time in Korea.  To be honest, I'm getting quite sick of it.  I think that Koreans believe this song will spread interest in Korean culture, but unfortunately my impression is that many people in the West treat Psy and his song as a joke.  Nonetheless, it is a catchy song!  Psy is kind of an anomaly in the K-Pop world.  He is not nearly as manufactured by the music industry as the other K-Pop artists.  He doesn't have the good looks that the others have.  Also, he doesn't have the typical squeaky clean image (he was arrested on drug charges about 10 years ago).  Finally, the subject matter in his songs are quite a bit different.  "Gangnam Style" is a satire of the materialistic lifestyles of the affluent in Korea.  More specifically, Gangnam is the name of a very rich neighborhood in Seoul.  Enjoy!

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