Kamsahamnida to arigato

After I'd finally said my goodbyes in Daegu, I dragged my bursting-at-the-seams luggage on a KTX and headed to Seoul. Fortunately, I was able to leave my bags at Annie's house while I spent the afternoon wandering around Itaewon. The market area is near an American military base and is full of multiculturalism. I found this shop with gorgeous dresses--many of them representing various ethnic styles. It felt like a dream until the salesclerk asked me when the party was, and I had to confess there was no party. I went to a small Turkish restaurant and tried a sweet Turkish drink called sekal with cinnamon topping. Mashisoyo!

I bought a new bag for my trip. It seemed to be the right move. I didn't want to get charged an arm and a leg for an overweight bag. And I knew that when I went to Japan I would want to do at least a little shopping.

In the evening, I met my friends at a buffet restaurant Jong selected in Sadang. It was a delicious way to transition from thinking about Korean cuisine to thinking about Japanese and American cuisine--a little bit of everything. Mostly I enjoyed being with my Korean friends with a new understanding of the foreigner lifestyle. Jackson, Jong, Raeann and Annie joined us for dinner. Then Bill and Juyoung came out for drinks afterward. We played Gong, gong, chil and reminisced. Bill shared about his recent experiences in Australia. I talked about my time in Korea and my plans in Japan. International travel is so much fun!

When I arrived in Narita airport, the crowds of foreigners with different mother tongues stimulated me as I waited in the immigration line. I kept wanting to ask, "Where are you from?"

The immigration officer questioned me briefly and let me pass. I bowed in habit and muttered, "Kamsahamnida!" then quickly realized I was no longer in Korea. I caught myself several times all day, and I'm gradually switching my kamsahamnidas to arigatos.

After I passed all the immigration and customs tests, Eriko's smiling face and waving arms greeted me immediately. We embraced--my mind full of surrealism. It took me ten minutes to realize that she was just the same. She always laughs when I laugh, oos when I "oooo," and ahs when I "ahhh..." It's pretty funny! My old Japanese friend is just the same.

We didn't do much yesterday because I was pretty tired from all of the busy packing and planning, but we did go out to a sushi-go-round restaurant last night. "Ouishi!" "Mashisoyo!" "Delicious!"

Goodbye Korea

I'm writing at a cafe next to my departure gate in Incheon Airport. Seemed like an appropriate time to take a few minutes and close out my blog in Korea. My last week has been a bit of a whirlwind, so I haven't found time to write.

Packing my bags, canceling my cell phone, training the new teacher, saying my goodbyes. These things take time. I suppose the string of goodbyes started last weekend with the bachelorette party, which was so much fun! I have to admit I was pretty nervous about it. Eli and Elise warned me that MingKi and I might be coerced into doing somewhat embarrassing tasks. Fortunately, we didn't do anything by ourselves, so it was less intimidating and more lighthearted fun. The details are better to be saved in my memory or more personal diary. What happens at Korean bachelorette parties stays in Korea!

Needless to say, I felt so loved by it all. I have my first stash of lingerie and an envelope of notes from my friends to show for it. On Sunday morning, Eli and Tharine got up in front of the church, described me with adjectives from each letter of my name and shared a list of memories. I teared up and shed a few as the congregation prayed over me.

On Monday, I thoroughly enjoyed teaching. I don't know why, but I just had a huge joy about doing it. I'm going to miss my students. On Tuesday, I was too busy with report cards, training Elina, and teaching to get emotional at all. Kind of strange, huh?

Monday evening, my host family gathered around the kitchen table for cake, chop che and goodbyes. JiHye and JiMin bought me small gifts--a pink Mickey Mouse sweatshirt, black purse the size of a human fist, a headband, and a facewash. (To be honest, gifts had started to become daunting at this point because my bag appeared to be bursting at the seems.) They both wrote me letters. Each apologized for not spending more time with me. While I sometimes wished we'd spent more time together, the apology seemed awkward and out of place to me. Afterall, JiMin gave up her bedroom for me, and JiHye got me out of several pickles during my stay. JiMin's letter included a great deal of browbeating. She cried a lot. I told her not to feel bad about our small friendship. I appreciated it anyway. I couldn't cry during the goodbye.

Then when everyone went to sleep I did cry. It was the only time I've really cried during this whole week. My manager said yesterday that I seemed happy to go. I cried as I was thinking about this:

JiMin really wants to come to the U.S. for high school, but she always says it's impossible because there's no money. I think about the way I felt in college as I started to meet so many international students. Particularly, the three close Japanese friends I had two years ago. Saying goodbye seemed so final. Sure, we'd say, "O maybe I'll see you again someday," but inside, we were saying goodbye for good.

As a senior in college, one of my professors really encouraged us to do the things in life that we really want to do. I knew instantly that my thing to do was to travel. So I did it! Somehow, by the grace of God, I flew across the globe to Korea and lived her for nearly 8 months. Today, I'm flying to Japan, and one of those very close Japanese friends is going to pick me up from the airport. How cool is that! I'm so thankful for my time in Korea.

And I have more hope that I'll see people again. It's not impossible. The world is only getting smaller and smaller.

Well, this is kind of ramshackled entry, but my plane is beginning to board, and I think I should get on. Maybe I'll write about Japan next.

Friendly competition

Amidst my small shopping spree last week, I pieced together a cute ensemble for my bachelorette party in Daegu. (It's coming this weekend!) But when I opened my closet last Saturday evening, my eyes settled on the purple top and black belt anyway. I couldn't resist. On a girly impulse, I dolled up in my new clothes and put on my new shiny black shoes I purchased off the internet to match.

The shoes, which were ordered on Thursday night, showed up Saturday afternoon at the hogwan. My high school students were kind enough to inform me that I would need a "band" for my feet and stockings. We went to a pharmacy at the end of class to get a band, which I discovered meant a simple band aid. What an idea: Pre-bandaging feet to prevent future blisters. Unfortunately, the shoes wound up being a waste of 8 bucks, even when I covered my achilles with band-aids. By the time I'd made it from Jilyang all the way out to my friend's apartment, my feel were already killing me! I already hated the shoes. Note to self: Don't buy shoes off the internet for 8 bucks. Yes, they were cheap, cute and quick to deliver, but so not worth it.

On Saturday night, Eli, Elise, Vanessa and I went to this pub called "The Bus." Part of the restaurant/bar was an actual bus. I thought this was pretty funny because I ride the bus a lot in Daegu, but I would never have considered it a hip place to go hang out. On the contrary, it's usually dull, dirty and has a tendency to cause motion sickness. I thought maybe hanging out at "The Bus" would change all this, but it didn't.

We had a good time there though. Brandon brought along one of his Korean friends from work named Eston, who brought along another Korean girl named Suji. Suji was as quite as can be (shy to use her English I think,) but Eston was the life of the party.

At some point in the middle of our fun and games, an arm wrestling match was proposed between Eston and Vanessa. (I've been trying to recall the events that led up to the match, but I really can't remember for the life of me.) Anyway, you might think an arm wrestling contest between a man and a woman is no contest, but you don't know this woman. Vanessa grew up on a farm in Oklahoma, played basketball through high school, worked for UPS part time, and is currently training to run a marathon. She has the biggest arms I've ever seen on a woman in real life.

I remember alerting Eston to her agriculture background, and he responded with a thoroughly made-up story about how he also grew up on a farm and used to sleep with the cows. Haha! Before the match, I heard Elise whisper to Vanessa, "Be careful. Guys are fragile."

Vanessa won after what I'm pretty sure was a fairly fake struggle. She won twice. Eston was in disbelief and kept saying her name over and over again all night in a friendly rivalry sort of way. In jest, he arranged for a rematch in one month on April 13th.

I've never been very good at competition. I don't mean that I'm not competitive, although I'd like to make that excuse. Nick never lets me. I just mean I'm not good at competition. I rarely win at games. But I enjoy watching.

On Sunday night, I taught "spoons" to MinWoo, JiHey and SoRi (Minwoo's friend, not to be confused with "sorry," though it sounds quite similar.) We played the first few rounds with the spoons on the table in front of us, and I did fairly well as the others got a handle on the game. Then, we started placing the spoons around the room instead--all three spoons in different spots.

Eventually, Minwoo and SoRi began to find interesting hiding spots. A couple of times they hid one behind the kimchi refrigerator, and we had to fish around blindly with our hands to find it. In one of my final rounds, I raced after the same spoon as SoRi and wound up in a tug-of-war for about 30 seconds. (Ok. Immature. But I wanted to stay in the game!) I succeeded, but we ended up calling it a no point.

Later when I was out, SoRi hid both spoons behind the refrigerator, which was clearly furthest away from JiHey.

"They are forming a guild," said JiHey, recalling her Korean SAT vocab.

Fortunately, she was the first to attain four of a kind and got a head start, but unfortunately, MinWoo and SoRi had too much of an advantage. JiHey chased after MinWoo and put him in a headlock to keep him away from the spoon! I was rolling with laughter and big sister understanding!

It was probably one of the best times I've had with my Korean family.

Music and fashion

This week, I took a leisurely dip into two aspects of Korean pop culture--fashion and pop music.

CN Blue's new song called something like...way-toe-ria, meaning "Alone" seems to have become a hit overnight. (That's probably not the case. It's just how it seemed to me.) On Saturday night, Eli and Elise couldn't get it out of their heads, so Eli downloaded it as a ringtone on her phone just to clue me in. Ten minutes later, the song played on the radio in the cafe where we were.

"They actually play instruments," commented Elise. That's actually pretty remarkable considering that most Kpop groups are singer-dancer combos these days. The song reminded me of Maroon 5 because of it's pop vocals and catchy feel, and I was quite surprised to find that it caught me. I couldn't stop singing it either!

On Monday, my elementary students wanted to play it on youtube. On Tuesday, several middle school students hovered over a cell phone for a singalong before class. By Tuesday night, I downloaded it myself. Today, SuJung translated the lyrics for me. It's a story about a man who feel alone because his lover appears to be always thinking about another guy. "Sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad tonight! Casami apa!" (My heart hurts!)

In addition to my Kpop confession, I have to admit that on more than one occasion I've envied the Korean eye for fashion. (And that's something because anyone who knows me knows I don't have an eye for fashion.) Appearance matters in Korea, and while I think the idea to be relatively shallow, I really like dressing up for no reason other than to look nice. Some of the styles I've been hesitant to take part in because I know they have no place back in Iowa or on my body for that matter. For instance, if I remember correctly mini skirts and 4-inch heels have been either out or on their way out for some time now.

But others I just can't resist. For example, I found the feminine grunge combo-look of the flannel button down coupled with a black leather belt and skinny jeans to be quite adorable. Although, when I tried it on in a cheap clothes shop last night, I couldn't help but think, "this would look so much better if I were Korean." I bought it anyway! A small part of me fears that I will feel ridiculous wearing it in Iowa.

Ok: Confession. I've probably spent more money on fashion in Korea in the past 8 months than during the past four years of my life combined. Maybe it's because I'm making money finally. Or maybe it's because shopping overseas is kind of a fun adventure or because it's not hard to find a good deal with so many markets and cheap shops. In college, I scarcely shopped. There's nowhere to shop in Iowa and nothing to buy. (Ok, I'm hyperbolizing, but in comparison Korea, it's a fact!)

Throughout the past 8 months, I've bought 2 purses for 10 bucks, 3 pairs of jeans, about 8 to 10 shirts, 6 pairs of shoes (if I count a pair of cheap boots that broke after one month and the sneakers I needed to work out at the gym,) two belts, one coat, two scarves, one hat, a pair of mittens and a pair of gloves and several pairs of earrings and socks. Of course, it's not uncommon for a shirt at a market to cost 5 bucks. Do I feel guilty? Yes! At this very moment, I'm wondering if I should even post this at all, but the truth is shopping in Korea is so much fun!

A lot of the natives shop on the internet. I know Jihey does it that way, and SuJung often shops in her spare time at work. Unfortunately, a couple of purchases showed up this week looking and fitting pretty differently than she'd imagined, but she's had plenty of success, too. Shopping online is cheap. There are no shipping costs, and items arrive within only a few days! Tonight, we looked at shoes online. SuJung couldn't believe my ability to write off beautiful heels over 6 cm.

"I can't walk in them," I told her. She helped me find a pair of 3 cm heels for 8 bucks.

Yesterday it snowed. Today I went outside without a coat on.

Annie comes to Daegu and shaboo, shaboo

A couple of years ago, my friend Diana and I drove to Chicago to say goodbye to two international friends--Claire from Taiwan and Annie from Korea. The four of us spent a day walking around Chicago during the Christmas bustle complete with a fresh snow fall. Then we said our goodbyes. I really can't remember if there were tears or not.These are the sorts of people you think you'll never see again, but only God knew we would. On Saturday, Annie from Korea came to visit me in Daegu.

Despite not having seen or spoken in years, I realized that Annie is a great conversationalist, and we had a great time together. She could only afford one day, so we tried to make the most of it. I met her at the train station at 8 a.m. I almost didn't recognize her at first. Not sure if it's the hairstyle or just the maturity level but definitely different than I remembered. I asked her what she wanted to do, and she said, "Well, I just want to see your life here in Daegu." How nice to have someone take interest in my simple life!

So we went out for coffee and caught up on life. Annie just graduated with her degree in Applied Mathematics from Eewha Women's University in Seoul, which, as I discovered later from my student's reactions, is one of the most prestigious universities in Korea. We talked about career plans as we sipped coffee and culture shock as we walked around downtown. Then, we reminisced about our lives at UNI.

On the way to Jilyang, we stopped by Youngdae, where Annie showed me her favorite game at an arcade. It was one of those machines with three big colored buttons for each player, and several games to choose from. One of them included catching pieces of fruit and meat on a kebab skewer. Another involved opening toilet lids, lowering toilet seats, and sitting dummies down on the pot. The first player to successfully sit their row of dummies on toilet seats wins! I was so tickled by the creativity. I think I might have made a spectacle of myself with my laughter except that nobody really goes to an arcade in the morning.

Next, we shopped around at a small store with cheap jewelry, clothes, and stationary stuff. I purchased several items, including a pair of earrings that say "yes" on one earring and "no" on the other. (Works well for 20 questions!)

We ate lunch at a small pasta restaurant, and I had lasagne for the first time since I've come to Korea. ( Don't worry, Mom. It was nothing like your lasagne. I'll still be plenty ready for lasagne when I come home.)

Annie came to my class in the afternoon, and I was able to incorporate her into a game for the students. I think it was pretty cool for them to see an example of a Korean girl with excellent speaking skills. After class, I showed her some pictures from the past few years on my computer. Then, we took a taxi to the bus terminal and said goodbye for a couple of weeks. It turns out I'll be able to stay at her place on my way out of Korea.

As for the rest of my Saturday night, I met up with Eli and Elise for dinner, who've definitely made me feel a valuable member of their foreigner gang. It's hard for me to describe how valuable yet priceless their friendship has been and still is. They will definitely be my most difficult goodbye. We talked and hung out at a coffee shop for a bit, but I couldn't keep myself out late like I had before. I'm not used to waking up at 6:30 a.m. anymore. So I got home a little after 11.

On Sunday, I went out for shaboo shaboo with some friends. I heard about shaboo shaboo through Raeann and Jong. It's one of Raeann's favorite Korean foods. Then Annie said it was one of Diana's, too. Thought I'd better give it a shot. It's fun to find that there's more I haven't done in Korea.

Preferences

On Tuesday, the Kim family Korean lunch menu included a super delicious yellow croaker--a tender fish with a buttery, salty taste. I devoured the swimmer. Practically licked the bones dry before I even touched my rice. Hyunsuk was impressed. Americans like salty things, I explained. I'm sure she felt as if she got a bull's eye with that dish.

I came home at 9 p.m. after seven straight hours of class that evening, and saw two plates of omerice (omelet over mixed rice) on the table for me and Jimin. I like omerice, so I dug in hungrily only to discover that anchovies were mixed in with my rice. Er! Doesn't she know by now that I don't like anchovies? I thought. I picked at the egg part but couldn't bring myself to stomach another spoon full of anchovy-mixed-rice. I made myself a toasted PB and J instead. It took me quite a while before I figured out that her anchovy idea was probably a direct response to my comment about salty fish. Suddenly, I felt terrible about my inward rash reaction.

Wednesday's lunch menu was kimbob. (If you don't know kimbob, just think california roll with Korean insides like radish, crab meat, egg, and greens.) Generally, I like kimbob. I'm sure an attempt to recover from the flop of the omerice. The only problem is the kimbob was stuffed with that cheap individually-wrapped cheese singles, which anyone who really knows me knows that it's one of the only foods that I can't stand. The way it flips and flops like a flat piece of fat grosses me out, and I've never been real impressed with the flavor either. What could I do? I tried to eat a few pieces, but wound up picking the cheese parts out with my chopsticks for the rest. Hyunsuk couldn't help but notice,..."Sally, cheese...no?"

How could I explain? Last time, she made kimbob with cheese--it was the good cheese--the real kind--in my book, and it was delicious. "ummm...no, Mian hamnida." (I'm sorry.)

In one of my classes, we've been reading a story called "Mice and Beans." It's about this Latina grandma, Rosa Maria, who prepares a birthday party for her grand daughter, Little Catalina. But as she runs errands, cleans the house and cooks a special meal, little mice keep stealing things from her, even the mousetraps she sets for them. It's a fun story with lots of beautiful pictures and several Spanish phrases such as "no importa," "feliz cumpleanos," "frijoles," and "enchiladas." I thought it was the perfect opportunity for me to introduce a different pallet of flavors to my students.

I was out of salsa though, so I planned to go to E-Mart this week, but somehow the distance kept me from ever wanting to bad enough. (For the most part, I've enjoyed the public transportation, but I'm finally missing the convenience of a car and of my life in Iowa, when everything I need is just a five minute trip away.) Due to some recent schedule changes, I had extra time this afternoon and decided to make salsa myself. The mart had everything I needed, except the green chiles, which I discovered was an important ingredient. The final product smelled delicious, but tasted...well...not bad. I made another batch of those cheesy enchiladas and set out the food for my students, proclaiming a celebration for Little Catalina's birthday.

The smell of the fresh salsa consumed the classroom air. To me, it was a lovely aroma, but I think I saw one of the girls hold her nose at first. They tried the enchiladas...and ate them politely, but I can't pretend they liked 'em. Never got a clear reaction, but I'm pretty sure the girls were struggling with each bite. Boys eat most anything, but I don't think it was their thing either. Don't get me wrong! They were delicious by my standards. I tried to resist feeling unappreciated and offended, but I felt it anyway. I'd spent a good chunk of my afternoon preparing a new experience for my sheltered students, but they didn't seem to enjoy it like I wanted them to.

I came home today, feeling a little bit down. Not a great day for me. When I opened the door to the apartment, I cringed at the unfamiliar and awful smell that's been reeking up the kitchen for days. The refrigerator, which I opened to store the leftovers, let out even more unusual fumes. Then, without laughing, I realized the irony. My aversion to anchovies should not and does not diminish my appreciation of Hyunsuk's effort to please me with salty fish. Why did I take it so personally that they didn't like the smell of the salsa or the taste of the enchilada? My students' distaste for salsa and enchiladas hurt because of the effort I made to impress them with something special. At 12, they may not yet be mature enough to appreciate my effort anyway, but... well,... maybe I can appreciate my own effort.

Maybe I will tomorrow when I eat the leftovers.

I actually thanked God this week that it's okay to have preferences. Differences are not matters of right and wrong. They're just differences.

And speaking of differences, ideas about cleanliness and sanitation are so different here. I'm not kidding. Two full plates of that cheese kimbob sat out for more than 24 hours covered only by seran wrap. Then this afternoon, I saw JiMin frying up the kimbob with a little oil like it was no matter at all. I mean,...it's common knowledge in the states that cheese must be refrigerated. (Then again, not sure individual slices are really cheese at all.) Maybe it's ok when it's fried. But the truth is food that we always refrigerate gets left out all the time to be eaten later in this house. It reminds me of the time my room mate made fun of me when I absentmindedly served Nick a slice of pizza from the night before. She called me "hon," which always made me feel like a child. Was it really that bad? I'll have to tell her when I get home that people do it all the time in Korea, and I've never once gotten sick because of it. The Korean table is set so that everyone sticks their utensils in the bowl or dish, then take the food to their mouths and back into the public side dishes.

I was concerned about some expired cream cheese in the refrigerator the other day, and alerted Hyunsuk about it. She smelled it, then sampled it, and then assured me it was okay.

On the other hand, floors are sacred. The other day I went downstairs in sock feet to see a friend out, and Hyunsuk and Moxanim gawked loudly and laughed like it was the strangest thing. Sure, it's not the most sensible thing in the world to walk around in sock feet, but it's not really a problem either, right? Well, Moxanim rushed into the other room and found some slippers for me to wear. I rushed to the doorway and waved goodbye to my friends, and when I turned around, he insisted that I put on the slippers to walk back up to the apartment.

On the other hand,

Queen Kim Yuna gets the gold

I first heard Kim Yu-Na's name during my first week in Korea. My English camp students were required to report about a famous Korean person, and one of my students picked Kim Yu-Na. I actually remember asking, "Who is Kim Yu-Na?"

Yesterday, as I watched an online clip of Kim Yu-Na performing her free style program, I honestly thought to myself, "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." I remember being struck with a similar feeling when I watched a group of older dancers perform a lyrical routine for the finale at one of my dance recitals years ago. At the time, I couldn't imagine anything in all creation being more graceful and stunning than dance.

Kim Yuna was the word on the street all day long yesterday. Kim Yuna and her gold medal and new world record score of 228.56 for women's figure skating at the Olympics...though "Kim" and "Yuna" were the only two words I could understand on the street. I'm not kidding. I heard her name at least ten times on the bus last night as I rode downtown for Bible study. I did a Kim Yuna impression in the break room much to the amusement of my coworker, SuJung. We talked about Kim Yuna in my classes and had engaging discussions about the difficulty of figure skating versus speed skating.

One of my American friends, who has been in Korea for years, kind of chuckles at how proud Koreans are of her because, she says, Kim Yuna trained in Canada. Then again, I heard about an American woman in the ice dancing competition, who was representing Georgia, despite having never been to the country and barely completing citizenship requirements with enough time to compete. The lines of nationalism at the Olympics are being blurred everyday as our world gets smaller. If you ask me, Koreans have plenty to be proud of. She is Korean. And she's a wonderful artist and athlete.

In the Korea Times:

"With the gold medal, Kim became the first female skater ever to achieve the sport's grand slam - winning the titles from the World Grand Prix Final, Four Continents Championships, World Championships and Winter Olympics ."

What always shocks me about the Olympics is how young the athletes often are! Kim Yuna is 19 years old.

I have to confess I don't even know for sure how the US is doing. I can't get a feed from NBC in Korea, so I have to download each event individually, which I know isn't super good for my hard drive. And I haven't taken much time to read the headlines until right now. O ok...8 golds, 13 silvers and 13 bronze.

I do know that one of my students used the words "Apolo Ohno" and "loser" in the same sentence the other day. Christi said Koreans detest Ohno because he supposedly caused a Korean skater to get disqualified during the Salt Lake City Olympics and unrightfully brought home the gold medal. (Interesting tidbit, I suppose.) According to FOX, he's the most rivaled athlete in South Korea. Having witnessed Korean national pride first hand, this doesn't surprise me. Plus, Ohno is half-Japanese. It only takes about ten minutes worth of Japan-related conversation with a Korean over the age of 20 to figure out how they feel about Japan.

Anyway, to be honest, I don't even know the names of our major athletes this year. I know of Apolo Ohno as well as Meryl Davis and Charlie White in the ice dancing championships. I know of Kim Yuna, Lee Jung Soo and Mo Tae Bum. And when I saw Kim Yuna choke up after a perfect performance on Friday, I felt really happy for her!