What Life is Really Like...

Okay,

So I saw this video on one of my friends webpages and thought it was pretty funny, as well as a pretty accurate representation of our life here in S. Korea. It is a rap song, but watch it and you will be amused. And yes, those crazy visor hats are worn by every Korean, especially when exercising (when I'm walking to school, I get passed by what I call "Invisible People" because they have these hats on and are covered from head to toe--including head shields and gloves--so you can't see any part of their skin. I will try to get a picture for you all).

http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=QjBfy_HVoSM.

Also I figured that you might want to know what they are saying, so here is a little vocabulary lesson:
Waygook- foreigner
Kam sa hamida- Thank you
Anyong haseyo- hello

Enjoy!

A Day With The Lee's

Lee Children (L-R, Daughter 2, Son, Daughter 1)

This past Tuesday, Ed and I were taken on a tour of Yeosu by a very nice family, the Lees. They have three children, of whom I will refer to as Daughter No. 1, Daughter No. 2, and Son (they told us their names, but I have since forgotten--or should I say I forgot 5 minutes after meeting them). Daughters No 1 and No 2 are middle school students, and speak English quite well. So they were our translators for the day. How do we know the Lees?? Ed works with Mama Lee (who is also an English teacher), but our main communication through out the day was with Daughters. They took us to several places (pictures below) and took many pictures of Ed and I because our camera battery died.

Ed and I on Odongdo Island (resting!)

Lee Family (son, Daughter 2, Daughter 1, Mama Lee, Papa Lee)

Ed and I walking up many hills on Odongdo Island (notice the hair--sweaty and very sexy--and yes we had to be "arm in arm")

The end of Yeosu (yes, we were made to pose that way)

The Lee Family at M. Beach (I have no idea what the name of the beach was except that it started with a M)

Ed and I (hey we are matchy/matchy; very cool for Korea)

Thats Odongdo Island in the background.

General S. (again I have forgotten the name, but he is very famous for kicking Japan's ass in the 16th century).

Hey! Is that Ed and Jen??

Jinnamgwan Hall (National Treasure 304). Ed and I actually found this place the day before. We did the tour and everything. But we didn't tell the Lees because we didn't want to be rude. So we did the whole thing again, hoping that one of the volunteers wouldn't tell them that we were there the day before.

It seemed to work.

Dolson Bridge

I think Papa Lee just wanted a picture of my butt.

Ahhh, last picture of the day. Can't you see the happiness in all of our faces?? It was a very happy, but long day!

They also took us to our first "seafood" restaurant here. It was very expensive, and a very generous offer, and I can honestly say that I tried some stuff; but I'm not sure if I want seafood again. Because of battery issues, I was unable to capture the "essence" of this meal, so let me describe it for you.

Raw fish, cooked shrimp, cooked upper octopus (not the legs), some caviar (maybe??), more raw fish, stinky raw fish, fried sweet potato (which son ate a ton of--damn him!), some fried bony fish, surprise fish, and salad (when I say salad, I mean shredded cabbage and three cucumber slices, of which Ed and I fought over). Of course, Ed had to 'try' everything first before I would even pick it up. The Daughters thought I was funny. The parents maybe thought I was rude; but hell, I'm not putting octopus into my mouth with out knowing that that I might throw up afterwards.

Mom and Dad, you would be proud--all I needed to try things was Ed saying, "Its okay", then a 'really' look from me, followed by an exasperated, "Just eat it, Jen!" from Ed. So I did. I won't pretend that I tried everything, but I tried more than enough for me.

I absolutely refused to eat the octopus tentacles wrapped on the stick (like a corn dog-except without the corn or the hot dog--they must have the octopus wrap its legs around the chopsticks when it is alive, then kill it so the tentacles stay). I also did not try the fish head with 1/2 inch teeth and nostrils. I was told later by my co-teachers that it probably was a very "expensive and wonderful fish", but I'm sorry I'm not eating fish head. Thanks for the offer, but no. It had very big teeth and nostrils (I could over look the eyes and the large cheeks). The Lees seemed to understand. So they made Ed eat it (ha! sucka! you need to be a wussy, rude, foreigner girl who says "diet" a lot so they don't make you eat large fish head with teeth--and yes he made an ewww face).

When I told my co-teachers at work about it, they were proud of me for even going in. I had earlier expressed how "scared" I was to try seafood because it was "prepared differently than home" in an attempt to forewarn them that I might not be as open to eat the fish options here as a normal person (you can not say I won't try it here--they don't understand that expression and just make you try it anyways). So because of my bravery, I must now eat Bone soup (yup that's what it is, no explanation needed) and what ever dish my co-teachers throw at me. I actually think that they believe I'm funny because I have food issues. I've gotten away with not eating things so far because, "It is prepared differently at home.", "I didn't recognize it.", and "I am not sure how to eat it." But now, they are on to my scheme and show me how to eat everything. So I guess I will be enjoying a lot more Korean food. Yippee.

I quote, "The Best Chuseok Ever!"

Hey everyone,


Ed and I have been pretty busy lately, and are very much looking forward to a relaxing weekend. But I figured you would be interested in reading about what we have been up to. Its a long post, so grab a coffee (or hot chocolate) if you want!

First of all, last weekend was Chuseok (pronounced chew-sock) which is the Korean version of Thanksgiving. After hearing about it, I think it is more like a combination of Thanksgiving and the Day of the Dead, but either way here is what the Koreans do. They usually have about four days off to go back to their home "town". This means big cities like Seoul and Busan clear out. Everyone heads to Grandma's house. Once at Grandma's, the women start cooking. The men sit and watch (they offer no help what-so-ever, thus the reason why many women here HATE Chuseok). They eat tons of food. Then visit their ancestors graves, where they leave food, say prayers (and maybe a hello too!), and then clear out of there to eat more food. The kiddos get presents (like money), the men get drunk, and the women get headaches. Very similar to our version of Thanksgiving, right? Okay so now you are Chuseok experts. So what do the foreigners do for Chuseok??

Ed and I went to a nearby city named Gwangyang to visit our friends, Kerry and Nikki. Gwangyang is a relatively new city because of its massive shipping ports. Ships from all over the world dock here, so the foreigner population is quite diverse (a good thing for Korea). Anyways, we saw a movie (Nick Cage in Bangkok something--it actually wasn't that bad), and went back to Kerry and Nik's place to get ready for pot luck dinner!! We went to a small bar where we had the most fabulous food. Jerk Chicken, Subs, Pasta salad. It was extremely delicious.

The next day we met up with some of their friends (Wendy and Alfia) and set out on a mission to find a local river with some water holes into which you can jump. Well, we had a general idea as to where to find the river, but we needed to take a bus there. About two hours later (the bus ride itself only took maybe 40 minutes--cost $4 for both Ed and I--but it took so long because we had to wait), the bus dropped us off in this tiny, tiny town. Fortunately for us, there was a woman on the bus who spoke English and asked if she could help us.

Now let me remind you--this is a serious holiday day--family time. Anyways, we get off the bus, and she runs to her house to get her father. Instead the whole family comes down to meet us (and many, many other children too-the word had gotten out that there were some waygooks in town-one of them black-gasp-and in like 30 seconds the whole village was out to look at us). We tell them that we wanted to go swimming, and they say that it is too far to walk. So "dad" goes and gets his pickup truck, "mom" runs and grabs us food, and we pile in to head up the mountain.

"Dad" brings us all the way to the top of this road/mountain, where there is the most beautiful temple I've seen. It is nestled into the mountain, with the river running along the side. Vivid colors, vivid people. It was great. Meanwhile, "dad" is kind of freaking out because it is a long walk back to the bus stop and is worried that we can't make it back to the stop (mind you it was downhill and pretty straight). We finally convinced him that we would be okay, so he left.

So really long story, not so short, we find the watering hole, eat some wonderful fruit that "mom" gave us and had a really great time.

The next day, Ed and I headed back to Yeosu to get ready for our "Tour of Yeosu" with the Lee family. That is another post (with more pictures--yeah!!). I hope you enjoy the pictures. Remember to check out the link to the right of the page--there are more "Chuseok" photos there!


Ummm yeah...this is for sale at our local supermarket. When did Vermont become famous for its curry and why wasn't I told about it!?

Best Korean Lunch Ever!!

Today I had the best Korean school lunch yet. I don't even think a lunch like this back home would excite me so much.

Corn Dogs!!!!

Yes, corn dogs. I can honestly say that I never craved a corn dog in America. Now I can't wait until the next Corn Dog Day. There was no fish, nothing I couldn't identify, nothing I had to make a face at in "curiosity". Just the glorious Corn Dog. It was wonderful. Ahhh. Just thinking about it now makes me almost want to cry because I know that it will be a long time until Corn Dog Day comes and visits me again. I will have to try to eat the normal Korean lunch, which up until today haven't really been that bad. Now they will just pale in comparison; my heart always longing for the Corn Dog. Its like I'm transported back to the days at Taft when Taco Day or Pizza Day would elicit extreme and utter excitement (almost to the point of jumping up and down--which I almost did today). Oh well....hopefully Corn Dog Day comes soon.

Anyways, I have some more photos for you all. Some are below, but most are at the linked site to the right.
I really have no idea what it says, but I had a friend write this comment. I feel it is accurate:

"Congratulations for making it this far. You are lucky that we, the Korean population, have eaten all of the wild life and therefore you are currently not in danger... unless of course someone has said something to irritate our hostile neighbours to the north... by which case you, lucky stander on the mountain, will be the first to feel their wrath."

Our Apartments (or Aptu in Korean)View of our Neighborhood

Rice Fields (or fields of something)

Yeosu Sea!

Another picture of Yeosu Sea!

Manseongni Beach where "The black sand on the beach has high radiation heat of far infrared rays expanding the capillary vessels to help blood circulation and accelerate secretion of sweat" (Yeosu Travel Guide and City Map).

Later that night at the same beach, there was infrared, glow and the dark algae. Perhaps because of high radiation, or just glow in the dark algae. Either way it was pretty damn cool

Well that's all for today. I have much more to tell, but I am trying to spread it out over a course of a few posts; sort of a new one every couple of days. So don't worry...you will have plenty to read at work!

Later!

A boy named Sue

This week, being our second week with our classes, and second time meeting them, Ed and I decided to give them English nicknames (or rather let them choose). We have some very original names, Selena being the most popular among the girls and Tom among the boys, we did have some interesting choices.

Of course, boys being boys, I also had a lot of Rambo's, James Bond's, David Beckhams ("Teacher, David Beckham very handsome. I handsome too. David Beckham" one stated pointing to himself), and even an X-Man. So if some disaster happens here, I'm protected by the many super heroes that are apparently now learning English in my classroom.

My favorite names picked were Rainbow and Purple. Rainbow and Purple are two very intense looking boys who, with the most amount of pride, chose these two names. All I say is if you want to be a Rainbow or a Purple-go for it.

Although the title suggests that there was also a boy who picked the name Sue, it did not actually happen, yet the girls do love the name (I had many fight over who go to be Sue in my classes). Ed actually had more of the gender bending names than I did.

He has many Jacks, Johns, and Toms. All of these names were chosen by girls with full knowledge that they are indeed boys names. Apparently there is some sort of pride to have a different name, so here if you choose a boy's English name and you are a girl, all the more you stand out. Of course, some of these girls (and boys) are just full on admirers of the people who have their chosen name (Tom Cruise is very handsome, as well as David Beckham, and well Tyra Banks has quite a following with my girls too); so its a good thing to be called after the person who you admire, even if it is the wrong gender name. And even in Korea, sometimes a girl just wants to be a boy (and vice versa).

So the long and the short of it, if you ever had the inclination to name your child something off the wall crazy, but would never actually do it in reality, well now you can. Just give any Korean student a list of crazy names, like the Hulk or Terminator (yes real choices) and they will pick one they like. All you have to tell them is that it is a beautiful sounding name or a name of someone famous in America. So Johnny Cash--a boy named Sue is quite the possibility here. Not because he needed to be tough. But maybe because it is just a beautiful name.