FLAIR

On Christmas Eve, some of my co-workers and I went out to dinner and then to a local bar called “Flair Bar.” No, the flair does not refer to obnoxious buttons on the waitstaff’s uniforms, but I suppose more so the literal meaning of style of the bar. I soon found out this entails shows put on by the bar staff, otherwise known as choreographed dances as well as Tom Cruise style cocktail shows.






The girls, unfortunately were not as into it. Note the girl in the hat...these are basically stuffed animals that you wear on your head and are extremely common in Korea.



If you are unfamiliar with the phenomenon that is K-Pop, that was just a small taste of it. Here are pictures of some of the favorites, the Wonder Girls and 2pm




If the pictures do not explain it all, K-Pop is a genre of contrived pop bands that can best be compared to The Spice Girls or N'Sync...on speed. Every Korean loves K-Pop and it is absolutely everywhere. The music crosses gender, age, and class. It unifies the nation that is South Korea; no one can resist these sassy pop groups.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

What better way to start off the week than receiving a random present from one of my students? He just walked up to me and handed me a calendar, saying, “here teacher, a calendar,” and wandered back to his seat. This act was not that surprising to me considering that during break time, a handful of kids always come straight to my desk to offer me food. I mean, it would be rude to decline, right? One of the guidelines for eating here in Korea is sharing with everyone, which works out really well for people like myself and Beth Rahn, constantly asking “can I try that?”
Besides sharing food with me, there are a number of other quirks that my students have such as the obsession with creating love matches between people within the academy. For example, my one co-worker and I have shared a lot of the same students because we teach similar levels. Because he is male, automatically he is my boyfriend, according to them. Moreover, him and I get off work early on Fridays. I usually will wait for him at his door so we can walk out together (keep in mind this is before most of the students have left). Some of our mutual students saw me waiting and literally went nuts...in their minds he had pretty much given me a promise ring.
This week, they have apparently gotten sick of saying that I love my co-worker and moved onto someone else. My student, Cleo, said in class today, “Jamie teacher loves (mumble mumble).” I finally deciphered the words to be Carl Flint, who is an evil American character who hit a dolphin with his boat in the story that we’re currently reading (implications about Americans? not so sure). I laughed out loud and thought that it was so completely clever that every time we discussed the character during our reading comprehension section, I referred to him as my husband. This was one joke that they laughed at. Most other jokes fall on deaf ears. Joking toward the class is simply a way to entertain myself...in other words....I crack myself up quite often.

Sardines

The public transportation system is pretty nice here; clean, easy and relatively efficient. I hadn't experienced the subway during peak rush hour until this weekend. It is pure insanity. As the train approached, we were essentially herded into the car, bouncing off everyone around us. I was able to get my arm up to take a picture:



This does not even capture how packed it was. I could not stop laughing the entire time we were on the train because it was the strangest feeling being so close to all these people. At one point my feet were not on the ground, I was suspended, wedged in between two people. All of us joked about not having to walk to work, but instead just floating there with the crowd. It doesn't really leave you with much choice as to where you're going. I would imagine people many times are forced to get off the train simply because the 20 people surrounding them carried them out.

Finding Nemo

On Saturday I went to Noryangjin fish market in Seoul which is basically 66,000 square meters of fresh seafood, mostly live. As we walked on the overpass, I knew we were close as the smell became more and more potent. The odor was no where near as bad as I had expected, though. We obviously left smelling like seafood, but since it was so cold outside, and inside the market for that matter, I was not overwhelmed with fishiness. I have no idea how you would choose between the vendors; each row had about 15 different stands, all selling the same type of sea creature. This is the view from above:




Anything that lives underwater, right at your fingertips.






Picking a live fish to have killed in front of you really takes shopping for food to a whole new level. The vendors will basically just throw the flailing fish onto a scale and whack it with a stick that has a hook on the end. Kind of savage, but interesting to watch. I couldn't help but scream "Oh my god!" each time that I watched this. The vendors would then mock me by saying "oh my goddd" in a squeaky annoying voice. I tried to contain my ditz comments, but it just came out, like tourettes.

Some of the fish were already dead, like this monkfish whose entire internal organs are exposed. Apparently you are supposed to eat the whole fish including the guts?




The most jarring image was this shark head. The seller flipped it over to show us the teeth, probably because he read from my face that I was totally stunned. It literally gave me chills up my spine.



I sampled some raw squid before we headed out; salty, chewy, and slimy...interesting.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

This weekend I went to Daehongo in Seoul with some friends. The area has all sorts of theaters and art galleries throughout. We decided to go to a show described as a "romantic comedy" in a little theater we stumbled across. Judging from some of the Korean media I have been exposed to, I knew the show was going to be entertaining. Did it live up to my expectations? Indeed. The plot revolved around a woman who was unhappy with her seemingly abusive husband so she and her pigtailed maid devise a plan to kill the husband by poisoning him. The maid presents a man to pretend to be the husband as a cover for their crime (it was obviously the same actor just with nerdy glasses on). Long, complicated story short, they kill the husband along with his flamboyantly gay friend--not really sure what the flamboyance added to the plot but it provided for a good laugh. And what's a "romantic comedy" without a twist at the end? Turns out the maid, husband, and gay friend were all in cahoots to take the main character for everything she had. And wait...another twist! Jokes on the 3 criminals because the main character was an undercover police officer. All in Korean, I was able to make up corny dialogue in my head. The acting was so over the top though that I was able to decipher the story line. The best part was the special effects. Whenever there would be any kind of fight scene, the lights would flicker and house music would come through the speakers. I never thought I'd see a play where the producer found a way to include Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up" as part of the score. At one point, they used a strobe light and basically just busted out a party. I think the term romantic comedy got lost in translation. Love, lust, greed, and murder all in the confines of this living room set.




The seats were quite uncomfortable and we were sort of caged in to this box seating area. No one over 5'9" allowed.



This image does not really capture the space but I literally could not move my arm back enough to take a better picture.

One of the main theaters is going to be showing "Grease." I can't even begin to imagine how amazing that will be. I will be purchasing my tickets very soon.

Some odds and ends

Even though I have not been here for very long, I have picked up on many Korean habits, inclinations, and overall cultural differences that have kept me on my toes since arriving.

1. No concept of space order or personal space.
First of all, lines do not exist. Well, they exist in the sense that sometimes whatever waiting area one may be in is so narrow that a “line” is formed. However, there is no differentiation between the first and the last person in line. If you feel like going, you do. It’s completely incredible to observe. The first time I experienced this phenomenon was my first day in Seoul, waiting in “line” to buy something. As I’m about to pull out my wallet, some woman waltzes right in front of me and places her items on the conveyor belt. I was dumbfounded. At the time I thought it was disrespectful, and specifically directed at me because I am clearly a foreigner. Turns out, cutting lines does not discriminate. It happens to anyone and everyone. It is so very much the norm, though, that the madness is the method. Everyone gets a turn and you don’t hear any moaning or groaning about cutting. It works. The next spacial issue is a complete disregard of personal space. If you’re in someone’s way, you will just get pushed aside, sans excuse me, pardon me, etc. Trying to get off the subway is practically a death wish. People pushing you to the left, to the right. I was trying to get off of an extremely packed subway car when I suddenly felt a harsh pounding against my hip. I looked down only to see a 4 1/2 foot old woman trying to shove me aside. Guess what I did? That’s right, I shoved her right back...it is survival of the fittest in this place.

2. Heated floors.
Koreans seem to do a lot of things right, and their method of heating is definitely one of them. The heat comes through the floors. Not so convenient when you are my training roommate, Sophie, and myself, trying to figure out how to work the heat. Because there was no instrument blowing hot air into the room, we couldn’t hear the heat being turned on. We ran around our hotel room, like the blind leading the blind, trying to find where this mysterious hot air was coming from, assured that we had pressed the correct button. We later came home to a hot room: what? where’s it coming from (while taking our shoes off) ahhh, the floors! Genius. The method is actually very efficient: I have kept my room on the lowest setting at 45 degrees Celsius, turning it off occasionally, and my room has been cozy and warm. It also seems to promote my system of trying on clothes and leaving them on the ground. They feel like they’re fresh out of the dryer. Who doesn’t love that?

3. Extreme customer service.
Having worked in sales for years, I can appreciate good customer service. It does annoy me at times, but I prefer help over being ignored. Being here, all I want when walking into a store is to be left alone. There is literally one salesperson every square foot. Inch toward one rack, a lady is on top of you, trying to force a coat on your back. All I can do is say “Anio, Anio” (no), shake my head and hands violently, and hope they back off. I haven’t had much luck in that department.

4. Personal questions.
Some of the questions I have gotten from my students include:
How old are you?
Are you married? Why not?
Are you rich?
Keep in mind this is all within a day or two of meeting the kids. And no, it is not one of those “kids say the darndest things” situations. These are actually commonly asked questions among Koreans. In the US, we would be inclined to avoid asking as well as answering any of these quandaries. Asking age is most common because this is the way to distinguish how the person should be addressed. In Korea, you only bow to your elders, and it is considered inappropriate to bow to people who are “below” you. So for instance, it would be appropriate for my students to bow to me, but not me to them. The rich question has been directed at me because Koreans generalize all Americans to be wealthy. When I told them that in Chicago, I see many more homeless people than in Incheon or Seoul, they were shocked. By the way, I have seen maybe 3 homeless people since I have been here.

5. Germophobic discrepancies.
If you read earlier, you most likely saw the pictures and stories about swine flu paranoia. The swine flu makes the cleanliness and germ fixation very salient, but other instances of a clean-obsessed culture include the fact that Koreans wouldn’t dream of stepping foot into someone’s home, and many restaurants, without removing their shoes first. Additionally, Koreans refuse to touch their food with their hands. To any of my friends who know how I eat understand how this “hands are not meant to be utensils” rule is very burdensome to me. On the other hand, the neurosis is inconsistent. Food cannot be touched, but it is all shared. People double dip, lick their chopsticks, stick them back into the dish, and so on. At dinner for two, most of the time the server will give just one mug with water for the two to share. I just recently found out that most restaurants clean the dishes with cold water instead of hot...who even knows if they use soap. Diverging practices about germs, all wrapped into one big weird custom of cleanliness. My germophobe of a brother would die.

For your viewing pleasure...

I went up to my rooftop yesterday to get some pictures of Incheon. Here they are






Pretty amazing, if I do say so myself

I walked around and snapped some pictures as well. Most of these are of the square which is just an area in the center of this part of Incheon filled with basic life essentials: food, alcohol, coffee, and karaoke.






Ooh look even a swanky night club (I think)



These are just some night views of the square from when my coworkers and I went out last night

Guess Who

One of the most entertaining aspects of my new job are the names of the children. They obviously have Korean names, but upon beginning class at Chungdahm, they are instructed to choose an “English” name, just as someone named Joe would go by Jose in Spanish class. Because the Korean to English translation is no where near as simple as English to Spanish, the kids can basically choose any name they want. The winner of the best name choice goes to Elvis. On top of that, I started to notice a strange theme within the name choices. I have several Sallys and Harrys, two Dianes, two Glorias, Cindy, Susan, Lucy, to name a few. These names are not uncommon, but they are definitely not the most popular within that generation. I mean really, when was the last time you met a 9 year old named Harry? or Gloria? Other than that...I saw a pattern: does anyone else think that these sound like the names of the characters from the game, Guess Who? I think that every student at my school thought, hmm, what should I name myself? Let me just look at this popular Hasbro game to pick out the appropriate name. Either that or a trendy name book from 1970.

CRIBS: Korean Edition

So, this is kind of embarrassing that I took a video of myself filming my apartment. It was originally intended for my parents and sister to see because I knew they were curious. I didn't realize videos couldn't be attached to emails...whoops. I decided what the hell and put it up for everyone to see. So anyway, here is my apartment in Incheon.
Warning: if you tend to be envious of really sweet cribs, you probably should stay away from this

Smooth Sailing

I got through my first day of teaching without a hitch, for the most part. Training really built the classroom experience up to be something that it is not. I was under the impression that if I didn’t prepare, I would be running around like a chicken with my head cut off. No. Turns out, not surprisingly, I overprepared. Somewhere between Chicago and here I forgot how comfortable I feel around kids. I decided to put my foot down at the beginning to ensure no problem kids. Let me tell you, I really know how to lay down the law.
In my first class, the kids began to warm up toward the end and really became responsive and enthusiastic. My second class, I had no such luck. Apparently, the older the kids, the more difficult it becomes. We’re talking 6th graders, here...yea, what a pain. In their defense, I would not be too keen on sitting through more class in addition to public school from 740-1040 pm. Students in Korea usually go to 4 or 5 academies (such as CDI--my employer) after school. Their schedule runs something similar to this: wake up at 6am, go to public school at 7am-230pm, return home for lunch, then go to academy or institute classes (like English class, math and science class, etc.) until 10 or 1030 pm. They then return home and do homework. The average grammar school Korean student gets around 4 hours of sleep! Oh and by the way, this is 6-7 days a week. If I don’t get 8 hours of sleep I am a miserable waste of life. So, I am trying to keep their stressful and exhausting lives in mind when in the classroom.
The branch that I am working at seems great so far. My two bosses are extremely kind and laid back. The first thing my branch manager said to me was “do you drink? good, do you eat meat? good.” Sounds like my kind of man. They are throwing me a welcome party on Friday so I will be able to get to know my coworkers a little better. Also, most branches work on the weekends, but Mark, my boss, vetoed that. So no weekend work, plus I don’t have an evening class on Fridays, meaning I am off early. Things are really looking up for me....I’m making millions, remember.
I do not currently have internet in my apartment, so this is being written from a nearby coffee shop where I get a wireless connection. I have gone to a coffee shop every day since I’ve been here to get my internet fix and maintain my sanity. I am a fiend for the world wide web. I will write and post pictures about the city I am in, Incheon, and my apartment soon.

Mommy, Look What I Did!

Not to worry, I passed my Chungdahm Institute official training. After completing the final tests and final mocks for the classes I am going to be teaching, I signed my life away, so to speak, to a branch in Incheon-Namdong. I guess you could say I have a real job, that is a strange realization. When I come back to the states I will tell prospective employers that my last salary was millions/month (leave out the currency). It was sad leaving everyone from training. Most people that are in Seoul are going to try to get together tonight for a celebration, so hopefully we will all be able to keep in touch.

My roommate, Sophie, and I before leaving (notice the sad bus in the background). As she would say, see you in a few.

감사합니다-giving and More Masks

Happy Thanksgiving! With training, we didn't have much time to even recognize, let alone celebrate Thanksgiving. My roommate and I were just going to grab something, but I was persuaded to go to a Korean bbq a few blocks from the subway so that we could actually have some sort of meal. It ended up being really delicious, marinaded beef and thick strips of pork. Korean bbq basically never gets old because it is always different. The side dishes are ever changing and delicious.

I've had a number of different types of foods, so why I keep choosing to only document barbeque is beyond me. It's hard to remember, and in many cases not at all socially appropriate to whip out my camera. Although, I'm sort of past that point.
I went to a spa-type place the other day to buy some nailpolish and ended up going a little crazy; throwing all sorts of crap I don't need into my basket. I go up to the counter to find out my total was 12,000 KRW, which is about $11! Whoa, I have never spent that little of money anywhere. Plus, the woman behind the counter loaded my bag with all sorts of sample goodies, one of which just read "mask" on the front. Thinking it was some sort of mud mask, I opened it, and found it to be another creepy mask...

My roommate prompted me to pose this way saying that I would look "asian" in doing so. I cannot take credit for her artistic genius. PS check out the sweet vintage sweatshirt I snatched at the subway.
Seoul is said to be one of the most expensive cities in the world, next to London, New York, and Tokyo. But I have to say, I have not found that to be the case at all. Apparently the real estate is really the only pricing that is inflated. Food, clothes, alcohol, toiletries, etc are all priced extremely reasonably. I ordered a bowl of bibambap for lunch the other day which is a compilation of seaweed, rice, fried egg, mushroom, sprouts and all sorts of goodies. It was under 3 USD.

This is not my image, hence the copyright logo in the corner, but just to visualize how much food we are actually talking about here. Grocery stores are not readily available, so most people, in Seoul at least, eat out for the majority of their meals which most likely explains why it is so cheap. Plus, no sales tax, and no tipping, what a steal!

Ride on the Swine Train

Today was the first official day of training where we actually got into the "meat and potatoes," if you will, of the material. It's a lot to take in at once. We have to do a lot of mock teaching and lessons tomorrow. Normally I would be a bit nervous about presenting due to my tendency to break out in hives when faced with a nerve-wracking situation. Anyone who witnessed my breakdown when having to ask a formal date a few years back knows the situation, and it is not pretty. However, with my handy-dandy H1N1 mask, most of my face will be covered!

So chic, I know. It's actually not even embarrassing to wear because it is extremely common to wear the mask. Koreans are particularly concerned about being around westerners because there was an outbreak within Chungdahm--the company I work for. Before Chungdahm, there had been only 3 known cases of swine flu in South Korea. One girl working for Chungdahm contracted the virus in the US, came here, and basically presented the epidemic to the country. Still, there have only been about 45 reported cases of SI. I have noticed a number of Koreans covering their mouths while passing us. Since we are germ-infested freaks, Chungdahm has set a protocol for us to follow including avoiding the stairs, and only taking the elevator that fits 4 people at a time. Rationale? No idea. Since there is about 60 of us training at once, you can imagine how long it takes us to get to the 4th floor. Another Swine avoidance technique is to break us trainees up into small groups in different rooms. Therefore, if someone contracted H1N1, theoretically only those 5 or 6 people in the room would have to be quarantined along with the sick person. The fact that many of us are staying in the same hotel, though, sort of defeats the purpose. Can you say paranoia?

Four people/ride=inefficiency. The elevator is smart too. Once a fifth person comes in, it beeps and refuses to go up!

Egg Roll

I forgot to bring my camera around with me yesterday, so if you're more of a visual person, skip this post. No pics, sorry! Anyway, yesterday I met a few other guys in my program to go around with. One of the guys is a Korean adoptee and apparently came to Korea this summer for a Korean adoption program. While he was here in August, he befriended some locals, one of which, Joon, took us around a bit. We went to the Han river during the day and then to dinner at a local place. We sat upstairs, where we were instructed to take off our shoes, put them in garbage bags, and sit on small pillows. The ceiling could not have been higher than 6 feet and the loft setup actually made it reminiscent of bunk beds, in my opinion. The walls were full of marker writing, some Korean, some English, some Chinese. I obviously jumped right on that... "Chi-town represent" what? embarrassing....
Joon ordered the food for us. The first course was something that is translated literally as "egg roll." However, it was much like a long--about 3 feet, in fact--omelette filled with cheese and kimchi. (Jackie, you would like the half that was just cheese!) They brought it out on a wooden washboard, which was quite interesting. I had my first taste of Soju which is a Korean rice-based whiskey, an alcohol drank throughout the country and often--almost every meal. It tastes like watered down vodka, really. Joon taught us a variety of drinking games that they commonly play when out for a meal which took us a while to figure out. The customary way to take a shot is to pour the glass over your head after you drink the shot to show that you finished it. I followed suit and ended up with some wet hair. Today was the first day of training and the medical exam. We have to wear surgical masks the entire time during training, it's painful. The paranoia about swine flu is rampant. Apparently training is supposed to be pretty intense, so I may not have too many updates within the next week. I'll try and snap a picture of all of us with our masks...pretty cute. The trainer said that the masks are "cool because we look like superheroes." I'm not sure what super hero wears that kind of mask.

I've Got Seoul

After a crunchy 14-hour plane flight, I have finally arrived in Seoul. Although I was quite miserable in my coach seat fit for a 12-year old, and vying to be one of the lucky few in the premium/first class, it could have been worse. A personal TV screen was attached to each seat with a wide range of movies, TV shows, and special programming. Needless to say, I watched 4 movies, and at least 3 episodes of House. A young woman sitting a seat away from me was from Seoul and had been in Chicago for business. We struck up a conversation for a while, and as we were landing, she gave me her business card and told me to call her if I ever wanted her to show me around. She also offered to help me find my bus to the City Air Terminal. How refreshing!
I was a bit worried about actually getting to the hotel. However, the signs in the airport and, well, basically everywhere, are all in English. Additionally, the people here are more than willing to help. I didn't even have to ask, only to look confused, when a number of people asked where I was going, and directed me toward where I needed to be.
My roommate arrived at the hotel soon after I did, and we attempted to fight off the jet lag to stay up until 9...wooo party animals, I know. The next morning we ate an "American style" breakfast downstairs in the bar, which was a strange atmosphere to be in at 8 in the morning. The selection consisted of some sort of mixed rice, eggs, hot dogs, and frosted flakes. The only milk available was whole milk.
My roommate and two guys we met in our program then decided to venture out on the streets of Seoul. It is an attractive city that, on the main streets, looks like any other big city.




Keeping in mind, also, that our hotel is not in Central Seoul, which is apparently where the real bright and shining lights of the city are. I am in no place at this time to brave the subway system...there are barely even street signs. I will definitely need someone to advise me, if not full on hold my hand through that.

The exceptions to the rules of this being a somewhat average city are:
1) motorcycles and vespas can drive on the side walks
2) Cars park on the sidewalks as well (although I am not sure if it is legal as there are many cement stumps throughout the sidewalks seemingly to stop cars from driving on them
3) Ambulances and Police cars drive with the traffic, even when their lights are on...no one stops.
4) The shopping is organized on the streets by theme. In other words, one block will be full of various coffee shops, the next furniture stores, the next clothing, and so on. Seems like it would be nice for consumer choice, although I don't know how the companies withstand all that competition.
5) The side streets are a whole new world, narrow and crowded with more mom and pop shops, and food and street vendors. I snapped some pictures of the streets we walked down






We stopped for lunch at a Korean barbeque on one of the side streets. Thankfully, one of the guys we were with spoke Korean. We left the talking/ordering up to him. The server gave us an assortment of side dishes called "bonchon" along with raw beef or pork that is meant to be grilled yourself in a small pit in the center of the table. Check out this spread, delicious!

Korean bbq is choice; full of flavor, spice and variety.

We had grand plans to go out to a karaoke bar later that night, but by the time 7:00 pm rolled around, everyone pretty much had hit a brick wall. A long day of walking combined with jet lag equals an early night in.