Things that are weird in korea

So, the past couple of blogs have been pretty heavy on all the adventures and mishaps of being me in korea. I thought I’d take a minute to make this one a little different and share with you all The Things that are Weird in Korea. You’ve read about the craft-matic toilets and the periodic in-home loudspeaker announcements. and you can see the dye job on the dogs here to your right. Well here’s some more oddities for your enjoyment…

1. the garbage
so, they’re pretty keen in their garbage collection over here – they’ve got a special system for all your trash needs. The kick of it is, you can’t throw any food products in the regular trash. There is special composting-style trash bins for the food-y stuff. And it’s actually illegal here to dump food in the trash as there is some kind of fine associated with such a transgression. But it’s unclear how breaking that law would be prosecuted. And this, in the land of *no* traffic laws where policemen are simply window dressing (see “driving a car in korea”).

So after a week or so of dumping food scraps into a Tupperware bowl on the counter, that got *nasty*. Not a very good system. A friend suggested that we store it in the freezer so as not to let the food get rotten and smelly. So, now we dump the frozen food every few days . it’s a far better scenario. Even if we do have to keep food scraps in the freezer.

and as for recycling, well it took us a minute to realize that there is a recycling center in our apartment complex, but it’s only open from 6-9 am. And it consists of a large storage-type space run by two guys who always yell at me for putting the soju bottles in the wrong place.

2. driving in korea
there are, apparently, no traffic laws to speak of. I may have mentioned how everyone is constantly running red lights. Cabbies especially enjoy it right in front of the police station near our house. In fact, this might be the most dangerous city ever for us pedestrians. Not only to cars simply not stop for you when you’re crossing the street, they actually speed up, attempting to squash you with their very small tires. Walking across the street is definitely like george with the frogger game in manhattan. Eye contact simply does not matter. Not at all.

3. funny, funny things on signs and t-shirts.
I’m sure most of you have been to www.engrish.com. Everywhere you turn there are new and fascinating ways that the English language has been manipulated to sell a variety of products. My favorite is a sign in the window of the New York Hot Dog & Coffee Shop near our house. The place where they sell you a half a cup of coffee with a big smile. Jim says it’s because they’re optimists in this country. They think this sort of thing is a “glass half full” sort of situation. I think it’s a crime. But anyway, please enjoy the sign which I have posted here for your enjoyment. The text is below…for men who are made from beef 100%.

“New York Hot Dog the health of men today who are made from beef 100% and apprehend a little calorie is secured without it makes and constructs using an individual steam term fleshiness of the feature is also softer.”

Indeed. Please discuss.


A few more funny pics for your entertainment.



4. appliances that talk to you
this is a phenomenon that is actually quite pleasant, and in fact, a nice change from the buzzing and beeping of American appliances. See, instead of that annoying buzz when your wash cycle is through, our washing machine plays a lovely little tune that lasts for a few minutes. It seems to say “hello, thank you for washing your clothes in me. I’d just like to let you know that your clothes are now finished with their washing experience. Please do come and get them soon. Thank you. The management.” As lacey clarke suggested, perhaps my apartment is always talking to me because it’s just like “WASSUP??!! Why you always walkin’ around in me?”

And some miscellaneous info

For the yogis in the audience: Went to yoga again on Friday. It’s cool. I still have no idea what they’re saying but I am starting to get the Korean numbers down. (they use both Korean and Chinese numbers here—I got the Chinese, but Korean is more difficult). I’ve decided that physical activity in korea is definitely *not* gentle in any way. Yoga here involves a lot of punching your muscles to get them to warm up and swing your arms around a lot. At a certain point, we were sitting cross-legged and she had us roll over our feet so that we would then be on our knees and able to move into frog. Right. So as I rolled over my feet, about 18 bones all cracked at once. Which was a little disconcerting. And then, she wanted us in frog. As many of you know, frog is a pretty intense posture. And I’m pretty set on knowing where my sweet spot is—how to get just the right balance of intensity and good opening. Well, my teacher comes over to me, puts her hands on my hips and pushes me down with some serious force so that my hips are touching the ground while my feet are still in frog. Riiiiiight. I think it was the yelps of pain that clued her in to the so not ok-ness of the adjustment. Hellew. Not so gentle over here. Not so much

The end of another week. Had some parent-teacher conferences yesterday. Very interesting to meet the folks of my kids. Everyone was very sweet, though one parent is concerned that, as a foreign teacher, I’m just not hard enough on her kid. Perhaps I should hit him more, she suggested. Right.

Should be getting some more pictures up on flickr tonight and tomorrow. Check it out. Sending love out to you all.

Very pushca, very trade.

catie

***a note on the "disgruntled states of america" picture...when we went to the folk museum, there was this huge collection of money from all over the globe, from all sorts of different years. very cool. and suddenly, after looking at rubles from 1965 and bhat from 1982, i find this. a fake $3 bill with clinton's face on it. i have no idea what the hell this is or why it was in a serious collection of money. perhaps someone thinks it's real. i really don't know.

light at the end

For the first time since I arrived, I feel like there is space. I feel like I have space to breathe, to feel, and to see the beauty of this experience in Korea. It’s been crazy to have so much fear and frustration clouding me these past few weeks. I felt like I was out of my own body, like nothing was real or even remotely familiar, even my own emotions and reactions. So strange to be so stripped of everything that is familiar and comfortable. It is certainly one of the main reasons that I made this journey, and though it’s not at all easy, there are so many gifts in the challenges that I am experiencing.

Many people have told me that this adventure would bring me closer to myself that I have ever been. That when you venture into another world where the language and food and culture and street signs are all strange and new, there isn’t much standing between you and, well, you. I was chatting with Anne last week, and as I was explaining my state of mind to her, we both, nearly simultaneously, used the word “raw” to describe this experience. Having lived abroad herself at different times, she got it immediately. Nothing that once was is. Every day is a new exercise in starting over and letting go.

Letting go. Letting go. Letting go.

Last week, during a particularly hard moment for me, Jim got out the I Ching. Settlement was the principle we found. On a path that is so bizarre and comedic and truly spectacularly *not* what I have ever experienced, how do I find the feeling of settlement? And as someone who has spent so much time bouncing and moving and occupying myself with so many things, how can I find the space to settle? So many gifts in this experience. So many.

But this week was better. School was a little easier. I’m finding that I am truly in love with all my kids. They are sweet and funny and silly. I stumbled on the Gwangju Marathon Club and made some friends while running around the track on Thursday. I’ll hopefully start running with them once or twice a week in the evenings. They’re definitely extreme—15 k to half-marathon courses each Sunday—but the weekday runs are manageable. Just 5k. It’s awesome to meet new people and perhaps learn some Korean while running around this crazy city. I was also able to get a slight schedule change so that my Friday classes end at 6:40. So, I was able to make it to the yoga studio near my house. Went to an hour-long class. Totally different, clearly, and definitely couldn’t understand a word that was spoken, but it was fantastic. To be in a room of Korean ladies, doing bizarre yoga poses and being bathed in the language. Finally a bit of a routine seems to be emerging in my life.

Some fun and exciting and strange tales:

The trip to the doctor
The proverbial straw last Friday, after a very long and emotional week, was my bizarre trip to the Korean doctor. And Ear, Nose & Throat specialist, to be precise. I was feeling pretty crappy, and being the sweet, thoughtful boy that he is, Jim mentioned to our bosses that I had a sore throat. Of course, as they do here, they wanted to take me to the doctor. Which I’m not really into, as you know when you go to the MD in the states with a sore throat, they just tell you to go home. But, I thought maybe I’d get out of my evening class. So, here’s the scenario: I teach at 6:40. It was 6:25. I go rushing out of the building with my boss to the doctor’s across the street. We take a number at the office. A bell rings, and I get taken to the other side of this glass wall where I am seated in a chair that’s kind of like a dentist’s chair. In front of me is a wide array of strangely advanced ENT equipment, complete with video screens. The doctor sticks some kind of camera down my throat, and there right on the TV are my tonsils. He takes a few pictures. Two minutes later, I’m taken to another chair while he looks at the photos and asks me a couple of questions (he speaks some English).

He tells me that I will be getting an injection to make my throat feel better. “um, ok,” I stammer. “But what *is* it?” feeling rather apprehensive about said injection, and being the subborn public health kids that I am, AND being rather sensitive to what kinds of drogas go in my body, I was a little confused when they couldn’t tell me the name of what they wanted to inject me with. And when they all stared at me like I was crazy when I asked the question. The name? or the medicine? My boss was thoroughly confused by me. I finally get out of them that it’s a steroid that will help my throat pain. So, feeling a little like I just wanted to appease them and get out of there (stupid reason) and knowing that it would probably not kill me as I’m not really allergic to anything (reasonable reason), I agreed to the injection. At this point it’s like 6:38. I am taken by a nurse who lies me face down on a low table, pulls up my skirt, smacks me on the butt a couple of times and gives me the injection. I stand up a little dazed and look to my right. There, on the floor, is a cardboard box (I kid you not) with all the medical waste in it. Bloody gauze, syringes, etc. etc. etc. WTF? Yes, indeed. WTF? No sharps containers up in this piece, I assume.

So, then we leave to go down to the pharmacy to get my medication. Which costs about $2 for 8 packets of 4 pills. Now, I assume my boss knows what this all is since he had the scrip and he can read Korean. We get outside, and again, I ask, so, what is this? And again, he looks at me crazy-like. He says, you know, you’re the first person who has ever asked what the medicine is. WHAT? Right. So apparently, in Korea, you just take what the MD gives you b/c that’s what they say to do. Right. I explain to my boss the experience of going to the MD in the states, from the three weeks to an appointment, to the doctor-patient relationship, to the state of health care insurance, etc. He is rightfully blown away. “The doctor gives you information in the US? This is expected?” yeah. In fact, it’s demanded. He is blown away.

And in my state of being that week, this experience sent me into a total tail spin. But now, of course, it is comedy. Pure comedy. I am laughing right now. I apparently have a lot to learn about health care in Korea…
Trip to Sinji Beach
Last weekend we took a trip with all the teachers from school and our bosses to this little beach about 2.5 hours south of us. Took the school bus. It was a blast. As I’ve been dying to get out in the sun, jim and I opted to stay on the beach while everyone went to eat lunch, figuring that lunch with 12 people in korea would take at least two hours. And it did. They guys had been playing soccer with this big group of Korean guys on weekend holiday from Mokpo Maritime University. Super cute, well tanned, toned bodied Korean boys running up and down the beach playing soccer, throwing each other in the ocean and generally being boys. Not only was it good for jim to be able to get some of his boy-ness into the beach experience, it was a lovely thing to watch for an hour After a while, they took an interest in the kids from me-guk (America), and we made some friends. Turns out one guy is from Gwangju. He taught Jim the rules to the card game we’ve been trying to play (Kododi). Now we’re obsessed with the game and can’t stop playing. The beach was gorgeous for about 3 hours. Then, somehow the temperature dropped 20 degrees and the planned overnight stay was cut short. It was great to get out of the city, though.

Last night
We managed to get downtown to sit in a café all day and do some work—me for school, jim with his writing. Decided we’d make a night of it and call up some friends from school and our new Korean friends. Ended up having a fab time with everyone. Our Korean friends are great. One is a girl who is a digital animator and teaches at a university here. We met her through one of the teaches at school. The other works at this electronics store in the city. She was helping us look for an electronic dictionary one day. When I introduced her to Jim, she said, oh! Like Jim Jarmusch! I love his movies. What? So cool. She’s great. I’m excited to get to know some Korean folks in Gwangju. We definitely stayed out late, watched a birthday party next to us go from lots of fun to not so much fun when I hit the bathroom on our way out to find the poor bday girl hanging over the toilet with her friends hovering around her. Awesome. Apparently, the stat that Koreans are the biggest binge drinkers in the world just might be true…

And so, the end to another week. Gearing up for parent teacher conferences next Saturday. Feeling good about starting another week. Getting my bearings again and hoping for more space to breathe.

Sending love across the pond.

catie

stepping out

Sigh. A very long couple of weeks. Working very hard. Feeling overwhelmed by being here more often than not. It’s a challenge. All of it. I think I’ve been ignoring how hard it really is. And eventually, something has to break, right? So, in the midst of all that is wonderful about this experience, there are things that are hard. Really hard. I think more than anything, the shift in my community has been the toughest. I’ve met great people and Jim is, of course, a wonderful partner in this adventure, but my life in SF is missed, for sure. And working as much as I am leaves little room for balance. I haven’t really been exercising at all, so there isn’t a point of release each day. And we all know I’m prone to stress and impatience. Yoga is my salvation, and I can’t figure out how to make time for it.

This week has been better. I’m feeling more connected to why I’m here, more aware of where my impatience and frustration is really coming from, and more settled in the idea that this is, in fact, my life for the time being, so I may as well figure out how to make it work for me. I got up Tuesday morning and managed to go running for a bit before work. I found a track not too far from my house. So, I think with a little ingenuity I can swing some morning exercise to change my life a little.

Onward and upward, right?

So, more about the adventure. Two weekends ago, I went for a long walk around the city on my own. As I was leaving our apartment, I was bopping along with my ipod on, and an older Korean man kept trying to talk to me. As I got to the corner, he and I stopped to talk. He’s a retired teacher eager to hang out with English-speakers. He was super sweet and wanted to take Jim and I out for Chinese food. Haven’t called him yet, but we hope to soon.

I headed off to my destination, which I wasn’t really too sure of, and when I got off the train, I walked right past this beautiful photo exhibit of May 18th photos (see my post from May 24th). Stopped to take those in, took a few photos and went on my way (you can see the photos from this day and many, many others at http://www.flickr.com/photos/catiemagee/). I was headed to a park that I could see on my very disney-like map of the city. There isn’t really a street-grid like map of Gwangju that we’ve been able to find. The only map we have is this tourist-type thing that involves a sort of cartoonish version of the city with many building landmarks. Nothing—I mean nothing—is remotely to scale, so we have definitely walked hours thinking it would take 20 minutes to get somewhere. But I digress.

I was headed to a park, which I obviously couldn’t find with my Disney map. I was getting ready to cross the street when I looked up and saw this temple-like place up a small street. When I got to the entrance, there was obviously a serious operation behind the main gate. Just as I was about to walk on, not sure if I could go in, a man came running out speaking English to me and asking me to come in and take a tour with him. So, suddenly I was swept up by a man named Oh who sat me down and gave me the history of the Hyanggyo that I had just entered.

A Hyanggyo is a public school established during the Chosun dynasty in Korea to foster Confucianism by the government. The Hyanggyo is both a school and a Confucian shrine. The one in Gwangju also has classes in Chinese calligraphy. (I managed to snag some discarded calligraphy practice sheets that now adorn the walls of our little apartment.) The space was beautiful. I know very little about Confucianism. Oh was very helpful and kind and took me on a wonderful tour of the property. There was school field trip going on, so I had fun being the token English-speaker and playing with the kids. [And an added bonus—the weekend before, when Jim and I had visited one of the May 18th memorial museums, we had been given a beautiful hardcover photography book by a kind man who seemed to work at the museum. We thanked him profusely and went on our way. While at the Hyanggyo, I stepped outside with Oh, and he began speaking with a man who had been walking up the street to the institution at the same time as me. He looked so familiar. But why on earth would anyone in this city look familiar? I know about 10 people here, and hardly any Koreans. As he spoke to Oh, I realized it was the man who had given us the book! Turns out he used to be the principal of the Hyanggygo. Small city…]

Oh was heading out to attend a lecture, and I asked if he could show me the way to the park I had been trying to find when I stumbled on the Hyanggyo. He led me up to the park and showed me around a bit. We parted ways, and I set out to explore the hilltop park. It was a wooded area with lots of typical gazebo-like picnic structures everywhere and little benches lining the sloped hillside. I could see tons of older men gathered at the top of the hill. Seeing as there were no ladies anywhere and I definitely can’t manage a nonchalant, undercover vibe here, I decided not to explore. Or so I thought.

I walked around the other way. Met an old man who wanted me to come sit and talk with him for a while. He had three gold teeth and some sweet orange shades. Clearly we couldn’t get too far seeing as I have no idea what anyone ever says to me. But with some rather elaborate hand gestures, one of which actually involved him moving his hands out from his crotch, pantomiming giving birth to a baby, I realized he was asking me how many kids I have. It was wildly hysterical to watch this 70 year-old man with rockin’ shades and pimp teeth trying to show me what the hell he was talking about.

I walked around the corner after taking a great photo with him, and stumbled on the gaggle of men that I had thought I was trying to avoid. I was definitely a little nervous, not knowing what they would think of me intruding on their space. But then I looked down and saw that they were playing the same card game I had learned the week before. “Kododi?” I asked. A man smiled. No, something else. But they were definitely down with me being there and taking some shots. Super cool old dudes playing cards, drinking water (of all things) and betting coins on this crazy card game. [Jim and I played at home last weekend, and definitely have a piece of paper that says “Official Made-up Rules” since we have no idea how the hell this crazy game actually keeps score.]

I hung out with the old dudes for a while longer and then made my way out of the park. One the main steps to the park I fell into another huge crowd of old men. Everyone, sitting, spitting, smoking, talking, chilling out in plastic chairs outside of cars. Just hanging out. They were definitely fascinated by the girl from Me-gu (America).

Managed to finally get myself downtown where I had planned to have a late afternoon tea on Art Street. Found some nice little shops with traditional Korean/Buddhist gear for Jim’s birthday, and hit up the lovely tea shop I had been salivating over the last time I wandered down the street.

Art Street has tons of galleries and traditional artisans, peppered with small, intimate tea shops that serve lovely tea on lovely plates in lovely cups to their patrons. After a long say of walking, a kind woman led me to this gorgeous little sanctuary in the back of the store. I sat down, sun streaming through the open door, a small kitchen with walls lined with tea cups and bowls and pots. The most delicious green tea was served to me in this gorgeous pale green teapot and cup. Traditional style—loose tea in the pot (one with the handle on the side that juts out horizontally), steep for a few minutes and pour through a strainer into a bowl to avoid the bitterness green tea can take on when steeped too long. Then, from the bowl into the tiny tea cup that sat upon a beautiful round wooden coaster of sorts. All served on top of a lovely crisp cotton mat. Truly lovely. A sweet reward after a long day. I finished this great article I was reading about the train line between Beijing and Lhasa that recently opened (Jim and I have been plotting about a possible trip to Tibet at some point…), and I headed home. An epic day.

Wow. So much to tell! And that was two weekends ago! Since then, Jim turned 30, we discovered the crazy Gwangju Folk Museum that has life-size replicas of traditional Korean life [alà the Arizona Historical Society museum in Tucson that has showed us “Arizona’s dynamic past” as kids, complete with a replica of a copper mine and a stagecoach. Definitely the best field trip in grade school. My favorite bits of Korean history trivia I picked up—1) sometimes, after a man and woman were married (by arrangement, of course), the woman was required to remain at her home for 1-3 years for “training” to be a trustworthy, dutiful wife, waiting for her husband to come get her; and 2) Koreans are very dedicated to their shamanistic ways—exorcisms being the most common aspect of that tradition and the Buddhism that took root in Korea, despite the force of Confucianism to keep it down, found its strongest followers among the peasants and took on many of the shamanistic and traditional beliefs of the people. Fascinating.] And we had another round of live octopus and fabulous sashimi followed by a silly hour of singing in the nori bong (karaoke bar with private rooms)—“easy lover” and “shot through the heart” rule!

But I’ll tell you about that all later. This is plenty to keep you interested for now. Do check out the pics on Flickr. I’m still getting them all named, but you’ll be able to follow most of them based on the blog tales.

Much love to all of you.

Feeling better after a day off for Korean Memorial Day and ready for the weekend. Looks like we may all head to the beach! Finally!

xoxo

catie