Freedom!

What freedom am I talking about you ask? Naked freedom. Yup I got naked in front of a bunch of people. Don't worry, Mom, it wasn't because of a night of drinking soju. It was because I went to a Korean public bath. You see, Koreans love their spas, saunas and massage rubs. So they have these jimjilbongs (spa and sauna) houses all over. You go to your respected sex section, get naked and enjoy hot pools and even hotter saunas.

Being an average North American, getting naked in front of strangers was not high on my list. But after hearing so many people here rant and rave about the sauna experience, my thinking changed. Thankfully, my friend Carely-who is a jimjilbong expert-was kind enough to take me to experience my first naked spa experience. We went to the new water park area called the Ocean Resort (see the site) and it was perhaps the fanciest thing I've seen in Korea. Modern, clean, and cheap.

The only thing I can say is "What took me so long?". The water was wonderful, the sauna was hot, the massage jets in the pools were fabulous. I was there with a whole bunch of naked ajumas (old woman) who could give two craps about my body. They were loving the pools too. It was wonderful and freeing.

The great thing about the Ocean's waters is that they help in:

"Aging prevention, eliminating germs and detoxification, treatments against female discharge, neuralgia and headache, skin care, stress relief, enhanced blood circulation.The waves of body heat from the yellow earth provide warmth and cleanness for building children’s character and especially great for students who are preparing for exams."

The waters are also great for "women's secretions and infertility".

Yup, thats right, only females who have discarge and secretion problems benefit. Nice to know where I can go next time I have 'issues'! Benefits and all, it was pretty fun, and definately different experience. Now I just have to convince Ed to go!

Our Weekend

Happy Valentine's Day (or Man's Day here in Korea). As usual, things are done a bit differently here, just to spice up the every day lives. Apparently Valentine's Day is just too big of a holiday for everyone to celebrate all at once, so the Koreans split it up into two. The men get to celebrate on the 14th, meaning they get the gifts this time around. Ed got chocolate. The ladies get our day in March. Its called White Day. We are trying to assimilate to the Korean life style as much as possible, so I will have to wait until that glorious day for my present (in other words Ed has another month to buy me something really good).

So this weekend, our friends Nikki and Kerry came over for a short visit. We talked and ate some good food, meaning Kim Bab Nara (like Korean fast food). We also took them to experience the foreigner crowd here in Yeosu. Our standard night here in Yeosu begins at the batting cages. Its a great place just to sit outside and enjoy a soju or two. Kerry enjoyed the cages quite a bit, although he questioned the ball speed and accuracy. Ed had much fortune with the crane game, winning the best prize ever. A Multi-Whistle. This Multi-Whistle is not only a whistle, but a compass, thermometer, magnifying glass, flashlight, mirror, lightning protector, frost bite preventor, and fashion statement. Only in Korea can you find such awesome things. If you want one, just let us know, and send about $20. Ed will try to win one for you out of the machines.

Our next stop is the bar Elle Lui. The bar staff there is cool, atmosphere is respectable, and they actually allow foreigners. We grabbed a booth with our other friends Dave and Megan and sat down to enjoy each other's company. There were a couple of other foreigners there, and overall it usually is a nice friendly crowd to go have a drink with. This night, we had the pleasure of meeting up with our 'old friend'. This is the following account of what happened:

Old friend came over to our booth and stared at us for a few seconds. We stared back.


OF: "Hey, are you guys new?"
US: "Ummm...."

Before we can answer,

OF: "Well, I'll learn all about you guys when I come back and join you."

We didn't invite him to join. But a few minutes later OF was back, and I had the pleasure of sitting next to him. He turns and stares at me.


OF: "Are you new?"
ME: "Ummm, we've actually met about four times."
OF: "Really?! Well I never forget a face."
Kerry: "Well, you've forgotten her's about four times."

OF doesn't really get the dig. Turns and goes around the table asking the same question. We have all met him about three or four times each. Megan is the only one who says she is new to Yeosu (she has been here for six months and has met OF before).

OF real excited now: "Well I knew I've never seen her before (pointing towards Megan). She is new!"
US: "Yup. She is."

Long story short, this went on for about 2 hours, with only a short break from him when he got up to use the bathroom only to fall flat on his face along the way. Overall, OF guessed that Nikki was valedictorian of her class (she wasn't), told me I have upper middle class hair (it must have been the two inch roots that let him know that one), and learned that Kerry was almost a genius in Chemistry (or something of that nature). In the end he didn't really get the picture, until he got up to go to the bathroom and we all got up with him to leave. He didn't know that we were leaving, but I don't think anyone felt bad about not telling him. I mean its not like he will remember us anyways.

We ending the night with the trusty KookSu from Down Town Grandma's tent, getting officially welcomed to "Yeosu! The Global City" by the drunken teenage English/Korean representative, and being told not to smoke in the cab when we told the drive where we wanted to go (none of us smoke). It was an interesting, but classic Yeosu night.

School's Over...for some that is

Ed and I had our last week of classes for this semester this week. It is now followed by our 'Spring Vacation'. Yup, we did just have our 'Winter Vacation' last week. But that was winter break. Now it is spring.

This week of teaching was pretty pointless. I showed Transformers about 15 times. Ed tried to teach, but was met with extreme protests and swearing. So he gave up too and showed movies all week. I give him credit though, he tried. I asked my co-teacher if I should teach, she just said show movies. So that is what I did.

Yesterday was Ed's students' graduation. Not knowing what the Korean graduation was like, he asked his co-teacher if it was a formal event. She rolled her eyes at him like "Are you seriously asking me this". So he dressed up in a suit and tie, because he now knew it was a formal event.

Well in true Korean style, he and about 5 other teachers dressed up. The rest were in jeans. So like any other event, it might be formal, but if you want to wear jeans and a t-shirt that's okay too. I said to Ed that it was good he dressed up because then it shows that he cares.

Anyways, apparently Korean graduations are just as boring as American ones. A bunch of speeches, kids talking through out the entire thing, cell phones going off. The one thing Ed said that was pretty impressive was the five minute chant of "Yes We Can!" after his principal said something about Obama, then followed by the above phrase. I guess Koreans believe that Obama can change something for them too, and are pretty excited about it. So if there is any doubt at all, y'all can just come over to Buyeong Yogo where the positive thinking about another countries president is abundant!

I didn't go to my graduation. I was told I could stay in my English lab because graduation was going to be on TV. I no longer have a working TV in my lab, but I stayed in the lab just the same.

Overall Korean graduation doesn't seem like it is as big of a deal as it is back home. Then again, I wasn't invited to any grad parties, so I'm not that sure.

For our spring break, we have no plans as of yet. Our friends Nikki and Kerry are coming for a visit tomorrow. I'm hoping to actually leave the apartment this break, so we shall see if that happens. So until later!

Night at Hobak

Last night, Ed and I got together with some friends. The plan was to check out a Korean night club here in Yeosu called Hobak (or as we non Koreans call it Pumpkin Night Club).

I've heard rumors that night clubs here in Korea are a bit different. I found out that the rumors are true. Here is an account of our night. At no point is anything in here exaggerated or made up. This all really happened.

So we show up at Pumpkin, and they show us to a table. Now normally, you go to a club and you pay a cover, order some drinks and then dance right? Well for some reason, things work a bit differently here.

We had to negotiate our table. Yup, like we were buying a car. The whole process took like 15 minutes. They wanted us to 'buy' three tables, then buy more beer. We were all happy at one table, and buying beer but apparently that wasn't an option. Long, difficult, story short, we got to all stay at our table, pay 10 bucks each and got 9 beers for free. It helps to be stubborn and not 'know' the language sometimes.

While we were negotiating, I keep seeing the staff grabbing girls and pulling them into the back. I asked what was going on, and was told that they were being grabbed for "Booking". Booking apparently involves ladies who come to the club with out a male. These ladies are deemed open season when it comes to guys at a club; no difference than at home right? Wrong. If a guy sees a 'single' lady, then he can ask the manager to "Book" her. That means the manager goes and gets the woman, drags her in the back room for a meeting. Now I'm not sure what happens in the back room, but I can only imagine. I think the club advertises it as a free dating service; the girls generally don't have to pay for anything if they are open to booking, and apparently the men have to pay for this service. Not every girl is open, but I believe they ask them when they come into the club if they want to be 'Booked'. Where does this service come from and why is still legal? I guess the girls have a choice, but by the amount of dragging I saw I can say they must not have that much of a choice.

Okay, so that's not even the crazy part. About a half hour after being there, all the ladies rush the stage. Not wanting to miss out, I rushed it too. I was thinking that perhaps there would be some nice prizes or free drinks. I was wrong. Out comes a dancer. A male one. With NO clothes on! I guess this chain of night clubs is known for having male naked dancers. This wasn't a strip club, mind you, just a dance club. But this one offers male nakedness. I was shocked to say the least, but I would be lying if it wasn't the greatest thing ever. The guys I was with were grossed out at the flapping, I mean dancing; but hey, I've been to plenty of night clubs where girls suddenly get naked. It was about time for a change of scenery if you know what I mean, no matter how disturbing it might have been. It was an experience that was most unexpected, but absolutely wonderful because once again Korea surprises me with its randomness.

Other than that, there wasn't too much strangeness. They kept playing slow songs and everyone would vacate the dance floor. But that didn't stop them. It was overall a good, strange night. I'm not sure if I'll head back to Pumpkin anytime soon; unless that is I have a bachelorette party to attend.

On a side note, our friends Dave and Meg took us to the best street food tent in Yeosu. This lady pretty much has a restaurant set up in the back of her truck. She makes the best noodle soup I've had here. Her fried mandu are awesome too. We have eaten there about 4 times in the past two weeks. She now 'knows' us and our orders. We don't even have to say anything anymore. This stop has become the highlight of our night in most cases.

Spoon Fed

Last night, Ed, Wendy, Megan, Dave and I went out for drinks. Ed and I found a 'new' bar that we want to convert into the next foreigner experience. I'm not sure it will happen because of two reasons:

1. Its far from downtown; but not that far


2. I'm not entirely convinced they want a whole bunch of rowdy, drunk waygookins hanging out there.

What I am sure of is that there are plenty of food places near by that LOVE waygooks (us). After drinking a few rounds, we decided that we were pretty hungry. So we went looking for some food. In that area there is mainly seafood restaurants, but there are some sam gyup sal (bbq) places located here and there. Dave and Ed were the main deciders of where we should have our midnight snack; and boy did they choose well.

I don't know what the place was called, but I'll go back at any point just because the ajuma (or emu--older sister which is what she preferred to be called) was sooo completely nice. Our meal consisted of some nice side dishes, a lot of 'pancakes' and some delicious, spicy as all hell, chicken soup dish. It was amazing, all for 25,000 won--which is cheap for what we ate, trust me!

The best part of the evening, however, was not the food, but rather how we ate the food. The woman fed us. I'm not talking Korean 'fed' where they cook the food for you. I'm talking fed us, as in put the food in our mouths. It was wonderful. It reminded me that of why Koreans are so wonderful. I mean, do you know any American restaurants that will feed you, unless your a baby? Well here, we are the babies. I can't say that I mind that much. It is a wonderful feeling, sometimes, to give up all 'power' to be fed. And did I mention that she fed us oysters??? Oh yeah. I'm in love with Korean restaurants.

Happy Birthday to Dad!!

It's Dad's turn! I'm not going to reveal his age, but it's his birthday today. Thanks Joe for the pictures!

Ed and I are going to enjoy some Korean birthday cake in your honor! Much Love!

Video Fixed

Okay, so the video might be fixed. I've reposted it here for your viewing pleasure. It was a simple fix, that I was unable to do because Ed didn't tell me how to switch the youtube site over from Korean to English (which was just a quick button push, but I had no idea because, well I don't read Korean). Now, everything should be working. Hopefully. Let me know if it isn't.

Happy Birthday Grampy!

Today is my Great-Grandfather's 98th birthday. I don't think he reads this, but for those of you who do, and will see him soon, wish him a happy birthday from Ed and I.

Gramp is the studly dude in the back row, second from the right. This is his high school yearbook photo taken in 1928.

And here is a picture of Gramp with Indy (Thanks Dad!).

Sooo Happy Birthday Grampy!!!

Boredom

B-butt sitting. That is what Ed and I have been doing
O- organizing our apartment. We cleaned everything, but now it is dirty again
R-red eyes from watching/staring at the computer all day long
E-excitement when someone actually calls us to do something
D-desire to be any where except for our apartment
O- outside, where I should be, but instead I am sitting on my butt
M-movie watching. I'm now an illegal movie pirate. Shhh don't tell.

Now I realize why people work winter camps and take month long vacations here during this two month break. I know, I'm complaining about not working, you all can hate me later, but both Ed and my brains have turned to mush.

That's my post for today.

PS: Thank you Meg for being my one 'follower'!!! You made my day!