Culture Terror: Amanda Eats Beondegi

Hidden away in the small, seemingly harmless town of Yeoju is a group of mysterious, and reportedly boisterous expats known as the "Yeoju Crew".

The Crew is a super exclusive society into which one must be initiated by performing the following tasks:

1) Physically living in Yeoju, or one of the surrounding towns
2) Playing nice with the other members of the Crew (failure to comply with this rule may result in your being ostracized from the (Facebook) group).  
3) Taking shots of Soju and perhaps enjoying the occasional alcoholic beverage

And the infamous number four....

4) Eating Beondegi, that is, steamed or boiled silkworms that have been seasoned and canned (Koreans really enjoy them as a snack, you can easily find them anywhere you go)

I was doing pretty well with the Crew until I finally hit number four last night. This blog post also could have been titled: How a Small, Ineffectual Dead Bug Almost Sent Amanda Packing Back to America. I don't really tell many people this because it's sort of strange, but I have a serious fear of eating bugs (that I can see, I know I know they are on all my vegetables) and even things that have multiple legs, especially if they have eyes that can stare back at me. I pretty much won't eat crab or lobster for this reason.

In the past it was easy to simply refuse to eat foods that freaked me out, but it was a bit unavoidable last night when members of the crew were holding forks with beondegi on them inches from my face. For about eight minutes and fifty seconds (I know this time because there is a video which I may choose to post a clip of later), I squirmed, squealed, sweated, and otherwise almost cried as I contemplated my impending fate. Peopled tried to offer words of encouragement: "It tastes like roast beef!" "It's like eating a peanut!" "Just f*cking get it over with!" most of which was useless in my near nervous break down state.

Finally though, after a couple shots of Soju, a count down, and what might have been a panic induced blackout... I ate it.  It took one bite, felt something squish, swallowed, took another shot of Soju, and wolfed down some french fries that were sitting on the table in front of me. Now that the task is complete, I will never again touch a beondgi.

Though I should probably thank the Crew since now I have truly conquered my worst fear and experienced serious not-for-your-average-tourist Korean culture. I will proudly announce to the world: I, Amanda Segal, who feels terror in the presence of tiny harmless bugs, ate one of those suckers. How does my stomach acid feel, biatch? 

Yeah, see those gross brown larva looking things...I ate one. Ew, I can barely even look at this picture right now.

Prepare Your Birthday Suit: A Night at the Jimjilbbang (Culture Shocks #2)

Through a quick search on the internet I discovered that pretty much everyone whose ever visited South Korea and been to a Jimjilbbang, that is, a Korean "spa", has an “oh-em-gee! I went to the spa and everyone was naked!” blog post, but in the interest of giving a more thorough, and hopefully more culturally insightful description of this traditional gathering place, I’m going to recount my own experience.

I apologize. Let me back track. Korean “spas” are not what you picture when you think of spas in the United States. Spas in the States are temporary escapes where you slip on a robe, lie down on a table for about an hour, and awkwardly squirm when you turn over so the masseuse doesn’t see your butt. Afterward you might get a nice facial or your nails done, but nothing crazy. It’s a few hours of restful bliss before you leave and return to the less glamorous outside world. For most, it’s something you’ll do once a year if you’re lucky, if you ever even go at all. For Koreans though, the spa isn’t so much a brief escape from life as it is an essential part of it. 

You can still use Jacuzzis and get massages, facials, etc, at Korean spas, but you can also eat, play, nap, or even spend the night there, as they are open 24/7. They are huge facilities with many rooms and gathering halls in addition to the “spa” itself. Last weekend I went to my first Jimjilbbang, called Garden 5, because my friends and I wanted to spend the night in Seoul. It was located inside an absolutely enormous building complex that also housed a wedding hall (for Koreans there is no such thing as a “destination wedding”, only wedding halls). We arrived around 11 pm. Once inside I handed the receptionist 8,000 won (less than $8), took off my shoes, and headed upstairs.

I admit that at first I was a little shocked by the completely unabashed crowd of naked women and children brushing their teeth, taking showers, sitting in saunas, and lounging in Jacuzzis (I should probably note here that although the facilities are family friendly and for both genders, the actual “spa” portions are separate for men and women). I tried not to giggle as I peeled off my clothes and stuck them into my locker. After about ten minutes though I got used to it, in fact, I quite liked getting to spend a few hours hanging out in my birthday suit. It reminded me that at least among friends (and strangers who you will never see again) nudity isn’t the all-embarrassing, terrible thing many Americans make it out to be.

Koreans come to spas with their friends and their families. It’s common for people to work and study late, so even children can be found hanging out late into the night with their parents. Lots of men who work late will just spend the night at jimjilbbang instead of going home. I find it hard to imagine hanging out naked in the spa area with any members of my family, but for Koreans it’s beside the point. In a culture that values cleanliness, it’s a great way to relax, bond, and distress. Community is also high valued. People tend to go out in groups; in fact, it's difficult to find restaurants where you can order a dish that doesn't call for multiple diners. I'll do a post on Korean eating later, but I will say that if you're a big germ-a-phobe, or don't like to share, Korea might not be the place for you. 

Anyway, back to the spa. It’s not weird, and at least in my case I didn’t feel like people were staring (though I’ve heard sometimes they do, might be worse when you’re a foreigner; in general appearance is very important in Korea), Personally I think it’s much better than any alternative I ever had for hanging out with my friends in high school! There were four enormous, almost pool sized Jacuzzis, each with a slightly varied temperature (which was displayed on a digital screen), so if one was too hot and the other was too cold, the next would be just right!

What actually blew my mind more than anything was the 97 degrees Celsius sauna! That was not a typo: 97 degrees CELSIUS. That is 206 degrees Fahrenheit! I actually saw a woman sitting in there for about a minute. I have no idea how you can do that without protective clothing. I stuck my hand through the door out of curiosity, and yes, it was exactly like sticking my hand in an oven. There were lots of warning signs on the front of it, but they were all in Korean…and I’m still not sure what to make of it. Definitely fits the old, “beauty is pain” moniker.

While I was not adventurous enough for the oven sauna I did opt for a body scrub. I’m not sure how to put it delicately so I’ll just paint a picture for you. The last time I got a body scrub I was on a cruise in Europe. The woman was wearing a crisp white uniform and I was lying down on a nice plushy massage table, covered by a towel. The scrub was a part of relatively gentle, full body massage. Sounds nice right? Well in Korea, they really don’t like dead skin. This time I was splayed out naked on a slippery pink table being man handled by a half-naked Korean masseuse wearing scratchy wet glove. It’s okay if you’re laughing right now cause I am too.

Instead of rinsing off in the shower afterward the masseuse just dumped buckets of water on me like I was a wet dog. It was kind of gross watching brown clumps of my own dead skin running off the table. This scrub was definitely more for beauty than for pleasure. For the first five minutes or so I was desperately trying to suppress my laughter. I guess it’s true what they say about humans being incredibly adaptable, because after all was said and done, I have to say, I don’t think my skin ever felt better!

But the experience didn’t end there. Once we were ready to go to bed we put on what looked like military issue pajamas. I’m not sure if you absolutely have to wear them, but everyone does, and it makes it so you don’t have to bring your own. In most jimjilbbangs people sleep on thin mattress pads on the floor in a big common area. It’s usually pretty loud and noisy, and the lights are almost always on…if you come here you’ll quickly learn that Koreans don’t value their sleep as much as most people. 

However this particular spa had a “movie” room, that is, a giant room that had a large screen and was filled with lazy boy chairs! It was the only room with the lights off where virtually everyone was sleeping. So I separated from my friends and plopped down a chair between two snoring Korean men. Not the best sleep I ever had, but better than staying up all night wandering the streets of Seoul (the last bus to Yeoju is around 10pm I think). It was extremely difficult not to laugh when I first entered...seriously, imagine walking into a huge dark room filled with nothing by stretched out lazy boys and listening to a harmony of softly snoring Korean men (there were probably women too but it was hard to see).

 Another thing to note here is that not all jimjilbbangs are as nice as the one I went to; as with anywhere you go, if you decide to ever try out a Korean spa you should look into its reputation first. I was lucky to be guided by two friends who have been living here for a while already. Though for some people the experience is too much, too fast, too soon, I found it to be a great introduction to Korean life…now I feel like I could pretty much do anything and not feel uncomfortable…at least 50 people in Seoul have seen me naked now anyway right? Might as well bring on the rest of the adventures. I’m sure some of you reading this right now think I’m totally nuts, but I didn’t travel over 6,000 miles sit squarely in my comfort zone! When life hands you dinner party material, get to it! So that begs the question, if you came to visit, would you join me at the jimjilbbang? I’d love to know what you think.

On another note, I should probably start a list of restaurants in Seoul/ Gyeonggido (the surrounding province) that you should go to if you visit! First on the list is Mies Container in Seoul. I think CNN or something did an article on it, saying it was like “Hooters for women” because they like to hire “masculine men” but it is way classier and has way better food than Hooters ever would. There’s always a line out the door (of men and women!) but it moved quickly. In the interest of not wasting any time however, we drank a small bottle of raspberry flavored wine with ice while waiting. I don’t know the Korean name for it, but it’s great! I wouldn’t drink it by itself, but with some crushed ice it tastes like an alcoholic raspberry slushy.

Once inside, the place had a great atmosphere and I guess what you’d call an “industrial chic” design. In most Korean restaurants you sit on the floor or they have an “eat and go” kind of vibe, but this one was more western in its “sit on a chair-relax and sip your wine-and hang for a while” vibe. Truth be told I didn’t think the guys were particularly manly, but we ordered the Salad Pasta (a salad with pasta in it) and their Garlic and Bacon cheese pan which was to die for! Seriously, it was a large pan of delicious cheese smothered in garlic and bacon, which you ate by dipping it into maple syrup; that’s right, no bread, no crackers, all cheese. Yum. It’s also quite an odd dish to see in Seoul since most Koreans don’t like or eat cheese. 

We did have a funny interaction with the guy who was taking our order. He was wearing a head, sweat band thing with a Republican elephant button attached to it. We asked if he knew what that symbol meant and he said no (he didn’t really speak any English), so my friend finally managed to explain what it was through hand gestures and yelling “George Bush! not Obama!”, so he promptly took it off and thanked us.

Stayed tune for my next post: Big Girl Things Part Deuce: Amanda Buys a Motor Bike. That’s right folks, I’m gonna have 50cc's of pure street cred.  

Yeoju

My friend Morgan pointed out that the Yeoju wikipedia page is severely lacking, so while exploring today I took some pictures of the town for everyone to see. One of my biggest regrets from living in Padova, Italy was not actually taking any good photos of Padova! I think I got so used to living there that I forgot about that kind of thing. To avoid the same remorse, I decided to take some pictures of Yeoju while I still don't mind feeling like a tourist/ crazy foreigner (though I'll probably always look like a crazy foreigner, or ""waygook", to people who live here).

This the view when you leave my apartment complex. Not sure what that funky building on the right is, it might be a love motel. For those who don't know, many Koreans live at home until they're married, so if they are in need of some cuddle time with their significant other they can rent a room at a love motel (for a night or by the hour). I've heard they aren't always as sketchy as one might imagine, but a lot of them are themed!

FamilyMart is like the 7 Eleven of Korea, even though they also have 7 Elevens...it's also very curious that most big chain stores in Korea have English or pseudo-French-sounding names even though no one here really speaks any English...A for effort I guess?

 I live about a mile from the downtown, so here's a nice view from my walk today. More big girl news: I didn't even get lost!

 Up until the 1960s Korea had an agricultural economy and culture which is still very much active today. There are rice paddies everywhere around here, even next to highways! This may seem silly, and hard to tell from the picture, but they are such a lovely shade of green! I think they make the landscape look very pretty, a literal "sea of green".

Across the highway you can see more agriculture. They grow a lot of corn as well as various fruits and vegetables I think. Towards my school, which is farther from the downtown, you can see much bigger growing areas...I'm not sure if it's right to call them farms. Either way it's nice to see where my food is coming from! This might also sound strange but food here actually smells, and not in a bad way, it's just not overly sanitized like the food we eat in America. To me at least, the local vegetables I've bought here have had a little more of a distinct taste.

This is the Yeongil pavilion. It used to be an entrance way of sorts to the town office which has now been moved. It's in a park about halfway between my apartment and the main downtown area. The best part of the pavilion however is this:

After hiking up the long stairway to the pavilion I was rewarded with this view! And this one:

 

That's the opposite side of the river, my school is a bit beyond those buildings I think. 

 

Those are the stairs I went up to get to the pavilion, though it sort of looks like a flat path from this angle. Once you go down the stairs and out of the park you're pretty close to the main shopping/dining area in Yeoju.

The best thing about the river is the long running/walking path that runs along it. Finally, some good motivation to get back into shape!!

Here's a cute little street I found while shopping. I like it because those stands sell fresh tempura vegetables! Smells soooo good. you need some smell-ivision right here.

This is the pedestrian street. There are tons of shops there, and every five days is market day when the vendors fill the street with temporary kiosks. The street is lined with arches that are a bit hard to see with the glare from the sun.

I'm sure I'll post some more pictures of Yeoju when I get to know the town a little better, but perhaps for now I should help out the town's wikipedia page...

Dear New York, Please Take Notes (A Love Letter to the Seoul metro)

Way less scary than it looks. Plus digital maps will plan trips for you!

Despite having arrived in Korea only a mere 48 hours before, I decided to join my friend Julia on Saturday and venture into Seoul proper. The funny thing is, I feel like I can’t even begin to discuss Seoul without first discussing the subway system. While some of you might be snoring already, after having grown up next to New York City, which has one of the world’s least tourist-friendly subway systems, my jaw nearly dropped when I saw the pristine, mind bogglingly efficient complex that is the Seoul subway. 

 

Riding the subway in New York during the summer time is like riding through a filthy sauna. By contrast, though it was still a bit warm once you reached the Seoul underground, the stations themselves are spotless. While waiting you can watch the television screens, which not only count down the time until the next train, but even have a cute little image at the bottom of the screen that shows you where the approaching train is on the map. 

See the little train at the bottom?! I'm easily amused...

The railway itself is blocked by a glass wall with sliding doors, much you like see when getting on an airport tram. Though the walls are in place under depressing circumstances (to prevent suicides), they make it so that the train doors always stop in the same spot, so you can line up accordingly before the train arrives. This may not mean much to anyone who doesn’t live in a big city, but to anyone who has ever played the where-is-the-train-going-to-stop-so-I-don’t-have-to-awkwardly-push-to-the-nearest-door-game would highly appreciate this convenience. 

What efficiency looks like.

It's hard to get truly lost. There are digital “foreigner maps” that will determine your route and tell you which trains to take if you can't find your way. As you navigate the long corridors, signs for each subway line don’t just give you arbitrary directions (*cough*Boston*cough*), it gives the end destination for each train and the next stop along that route. Most signs also list major (read: tourist) destinations along that route. Once in the car, the station names are clearly displayed in English and Korean on television screens as you arrive; it even tells you which side to get out on!  

Digital map with advertisement for Spiderman, which you can see in 4D here!!! I'll get to that later.

Of course, my favorite thing about the train interiors is the fact that I can actually reach the bars you’re supposed to hold onto while riding. No more standing on the tops of my toes to avoid falling over every time the train stops! Once you get out, a lot of the major station stops also have great places to shop (if you’re looking for cheap stuff that is). Ten-dollar shoes that don’t just look like something my grandma would wear? Don’t mind if I do!

My size!

One comical aspect about the subway however is the emergency videos. As you walk through the stations you’ll see containers holding gas or smoke masks that one is supposed to use in case of a fire or other emergency…though with thousands of people riding the subway at a time I don’t think a cupboard full of masks will do much. The videos are super dramatic and filled with shoddy special effects showing cartoon-esque explosions and even wounded riders. I guess they make good in-ride entertainment.

Cause ya know...if there's a fire or major disaster you'll just stop to grab a mask...

South Korean transportation in general puts American public transportation to shame (though I'm not sure that's hard to do). Taxis here are really cheap and quick (though drivers sometimes watch TV screens while they drive) and buses run like trains, leaving on the dot. Even in Yeoju where I live, a “rural” town of about 70,000 people, you can see taxis all over the place, at least in the downtown. If not, call one and it will be where ever you are in five minutes or less. My hometown in New Jersey is in one of the most densely populated areas in the United States and we don’t have anything close to that.

Though Americans are known to work hard, I feel that the transportation here reflects the insanely driven Korean work ethic. They need efficient transportation, cause they don’t have time to deal with late buses and taxis that never show. As my friend here pointed out, even though Korea only established a modern economy about 60 years ago, they built up Samsung, now the second largest electronics maker in the world, in addition to many other internationally renowned companies. This is certainly a product of their work ethic and efficiency.

In other news, I started doing some teaching today, though I’m still in the training phase. I’m still not sure how well a lot of the students understand me but I really enjoy interacting with them. My co-teacher loves to dance and is clearly very popular with his students, so I think I’m becoming popular by association (in addition to the foreigner thing). During lunch they blast K-Pop over the loud speakers, and I mean blast it. You can hear it all over the campus, even outdoors. I don’t know how the students refrain from breaking into spontaneous dance parties.

The Aparment (aka Come Visit Me Maybe)

So for my friends and family at home, this is what you'll get if you come to stay with me! As I said before, my living situation is extremely unusual. I am ridiculously lucky. I've been told by other teachers that their apartments are about the size of my living room...for anyone in Korea reading this...feel free to come hang out/ crash here whenever you want! 


I will note three drawbacks:

1) My apartment is a bit far from both the downtown and my school, so I've had to seriously start considering the option of buying a motor scooter or vespa...this would be great if I weren't aware of the fact that cab drivers watch TV while driving...no kidding. I won't just be looking both ways, but every which way.

2) The other day my co-teacher warned me that my elevator was dangerous, but I didn't really get what he meant, I thought maybe he just didn't like them (I don't either). But then today I was bringing up boxes of stuff that I bought and realized that the doors on the elevator don't have sensors!!! While trying to grab boxes they actually closed on me and didn't open after they hit me! Thankfully it didn't hurt too much, it's kind of a dinky elevator, but next time I think I'll just sweat it up the stairs.

3) I probably won't have an apartment this big or nice again...ever. 

Anyways, here it is! Starting from when you walk in:

There's a little weird little foyer when you enter.

I turned the closet in the entry way into my shoe closet.

The living room. That couch is not comfortable...at all.

Living room from the other side, the kitchen area is behind the glass.

The balcony for the living room and my room are connected.

Now you've got the 360. The hallway leads to the other two rooms.

The kitchen...come visit and I'll throw you a dinner party! I'm lucky to have a full stove and oven.

To the right behind the glass doors of the kitchen is a "second kitchen"! Really it's just some cabinets and two burners but it's crazy! Might be for cooking things with a strong aroma? Further to the left behind the glass is the washing machine but it's creepy so I didn't take a picture of it.

?

My room! It's to the right if you're facing the living room balcony, it's not in the hallway with the other two rooms.

From the other side...you can see the little hall in front of my bathroom.

 Bathroom...it's actually a sweet deal considering for most teachers in Korea the bathroom is the shower, there's no divider.

One of the other bedrooms. I'll take suggestions on what to do with it.

Second bathroom, even has a tub!

Eating in Korea and other Culture Shocks

--> Those who knew me before the age of 14 can attest to the fact that I was once a very picky eater. My diet consisted mostly of frozen chicken nuggets, spaghetti, and Kraft Mac n’ Cheese. Although my tastes have expanded greatly since then, there are still some foods that I’ve always been hesitant to try, particularly in the seafood arena. So I don’t know if it was the jet lag, the head spinning amount of new things to process, or the four shots of Soju (it's the staple Korean liquor, it's about as strong as watered down vodka and tastes like it too), but in the last 24 hours I’ve eaten, and rather enjoyed, both pig bone soup and intestines…of what animal do you ask? I don’t know, their innards were about noodle sized and tucked away in a massive plate of seafood, so perhaps a fish?

Pig bone soup (Gamjatang in Korean) was actually my first meal in Korea so I was eating it unawares but I’m glad I did because it is AMAZING. In fact, I think I might be hard pressed to find something I like more. Pork is pork right? I didn’t enjoy the intestines as much but it wasn’t because of the taste, because honestly, at least the ones I had didn’t taste like much without soy sauce. They kind of look and taste like plain ramen noodles, only a little more squishy... 

Gamjatang, just add rice.

So I want to do a series of posts on Culture Shocks since I know I’ll encountering a lot of that. Though I should note that I think the term “culture shock” has a bit too much of a negative connotation for me. While I expect to have uncomfortable, frustrating moments, as I said before, that’s kind of why I am here…to be shocked and surprised. I certainly shocked my co-workers in return, who politely mentioned at the dinner table that they thought westerns were taller. I admit, the change in the height bell curve here has been nice for me. I’m still short; it’s just less obvious.

So onto actual culture shocks: I already mentioned the shoe thing, so I think they next thing would be introductory conversations. I mentioned how some students came in asking me questions that might raise some eyebrows for teachers in the States: How old are you? Do you have a boyfriend? But in Korea this helps them determine your social status and how they should treat you. While I’m still not sure how I feel about the emphasis on status yet, I think it’s interesting that these seemingly personal questions are accompanied by a shy disposition. When I answered the students’ questions they basically giggled and ran away. I asked a teacher in the room if I had embarrassed the students and she replied that they are just shy.

Though I find the disconnect between such forward questions and the shy attitudes a bit hard to understand, I am certainly feeling some shyness in the reverse. Many of the teachers who speak English have been very friendly in speaking with me and offering to show me around when they have the time. I am excited to speak with them and want to establish connections with them, but I admit I find it difficult to ask an older person about their age and if they are married (granted the latter is pretty much a given), even though this is a big factor in determining your relationship with that person.

I find it almost painfully embarrassing to ask an older person about their age and marital status like I’m conducting a census, since I’ve been taught my whole life that it’s extremely impolite to do so. It’s not that you have to ask people how old they are or ask personal questions, but it shows an understanding of their cultural emphasis on status and hierarchy. Even a few years of age can make a big difference in the way people treat you. I’m trying to rid myself of the fear that I will encounter the one Korean person who is offended when I ask them about their age.

On my first day I got to attend the school’s 42^nd birthday ceremony. For the most part it was a lot of people making speeches that I couldn’t understand, but at the end the kids put on a sort of talent show. It was like a battle of the bands meets dance competition. Between school, work, and more school I have no idea when students in Korea find the time to be so awesome.

The students put on some fantastic musical performances, including a great rendition of one of my favorite American songs, Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” I’m devastated I didn’t have a camera to record the dance performances. A few groups of boys danced to K-Pop songs, which turned out to be like a live version of America’s Best Dance Crew. If you don’t get that reference, then it reminded me of the time I went to a Backstreet Boys concert in sixth grade. That not ringing a bell either? Then imagine a group of high school or middle school boys emulating these guys, cause that’s what they were doing, and the girls were screaming like they were the real thing:

Korean K-pop band U Kiss. Note: the students dancing were dressed like this.

 And the girls who danced were trying to move it like these girls:

The girls were not dressed like this, they wore their school uniforms.

I think this is the group another teacher told me the girls were dancing to. EVERYONE listens to K-pop, young and old. I'd post music videos but the internet connection I'm stealing is too slow. You can Youtube them easily though. During the ceremony, I found it interesting that the boys’ dance moves were noticeable more energetic than the girls’. They were all talented, but the boys flailed and shimmied while the girls kept their limbs controlled and close to their bodies, often repeating the same moves. It seemed like a clear demonstration of the different behavioral expectations for boys and girls in Korea. Though all students tend to be shy on some level, the boys seem more forward and confident than the girls, who’ve probably been taught to be more reserved and demure. 

After the ceremony I went to a dinner hosted by the school’s Chairman for all of the teachers. Teaching is a highly respected profession in Korea; being a teacher here is akin to being a doctor or lawyer in the States. My school in particular is one of the best in the area, almost the equivalent of a private school in the US, so the teachers have a lot of school pride…which they exhibit in the form of loud toasts and shots of Soju. After giving a toast (of which there were many), the teacher giving the speech would shout “Yeogang!” (the name of the school) and everyone would respond by shouting the Korean word for “for”, to emphasize that the toast is “For Yeogang.” Even just sipping after each toast, I still managed to drink four shots of Soju. I’ll save the “drinking-in-Korea” post for another time.

In big girl news, I finally figured out how to turn on my hot water (to save energy you turn it off and on)…don’t make fun, this would have been an easy task if my control panel wasn’t in Korean:

What I'm working with...I have no idea what most of those buttons do.

Planning Ahead

--> Note: I wrote this before coming to Korea, but I still wanted to share it.

In typical fashion my parents dropped me off at the airport much too early, leaving me time to work on one last pre-Korea post (okay, perhaps I have taken to this blogging thing).  I felt I had to mention the fact that while looking at a suggested packing list from my recruiter the other day I came across an item that, while I had thought about it, I hadn’t considered it part of the “packing list.” It basically said, if you have plans for after Korea, start thinking about and preparing for them now…. excuse me while I go make some room in my suitcase for emotional baggage.

If you’re like me, a recent college graduate looking to enjoy his/her twenties, but a little uncertain about what is next, seeing things like that might send you into a bit of a tizzy. Clearly it’s a valid statement, especially for anyone looking to apply for grad school when they get back from abroad, but for me I see this trip as being a little more indefinite, and I am hopeful that if I work hard and make connections, I might have a better idea of what I want to do when I leave. For some, teaching English abroad is an interlude between college and the “real world”, but for me this is an entry way into the “real world”, an opportunity that will give me skills that one day might help me actually land that dream job or help me figure out what that “dream job” even is…

While putting my deeply personal fear of what’s next out on the internet is uncomfortable for me, I’m writing this for myself as much as for the many other post grads I’ve talked to, even those who appear to have it altogether, that are struggling. Hopefully this resonates with anyone who feels anywhere from mildly, to completely and utterly stuck, lost, or confused. Though I always wanted to travel around Asia, I never thought taking a job in South Korea would feel like a more viable job options, or even a better career move, than staying in the States. 

My fellow classmates and I stepped out into the world in the midst of a seemingly endless economic crisis, and I know a lot of people who are not where they’d thought they’d be four years ago, myself included. The adults reading this are probably thinking “duh”, but I think a lot of us have been led to believe, or at least have felt, that by the time you graduate college you are supposed to know who you are, what you want, and how to get it. That may sound silly, but people don’t tell you often that it’s a life long process of figuring it out, and wondering if you’re even doing it right. Doesn’t exactly make a great message for a commencement speech.

I’m just going to be out with it. This probably isn’t universal, but I certainly don’t think I’m alone in feeling that if you graduated from college and are not going into finance, consulting, advertising, Law/Medical School, or at the very least TFA, then you are doing something wrong. I should probably thank my parents for constantly reminding me that despite being a little unorthodox, I do in fact have a “real job.” I tend to think of it like another study abroad experience, but in actuality, I will be living on my own, on a salary, and navigating the same complexities one faces with their first “real job”, except I’ll be adding a dash of language barrier and a pinch of culture shock. I will be teaching at a public high school, just like if I applied to be a teacher in the States. 

I think sometimes we all need a little reminder that the paths to success are varied and can be as interesting as you make them. In my experience, you have to play by the rules, but there’s always a little room for rebellion. Though it may be hard to come home and find that my friends/peers are a little farther ahead financially or in their careers than me, what is best for them isn’t necessarily best for me. I am trying to start measuring my success in experiences gained and things learned, as well as goals met.

My serious long-term goals are pretty much the same as everyone else’s: a career, a family, a house, and a car (or two). But lately I’ve been trying to rethink my attitude toward the future. If it hasn’t been made clear already, I totally sympathize with those who have mini, internal meltdowns when they start thinking too hard about what’s next. I’m already headed down a windy and adventurous road to my long-term goals, and I’ve decided it’s high time to stick to my guns and stop worrying about what every last “Top 10 Things You Must Do to be Successful and Happy” article has to say about my future. So here for everyone to see is a short list of things I want to accomplish in Korea:

            1) Learn Korean

            2) Backpack through at least one country by myself (sorry mom)

            3) Meet lots of interesting people

            4) Run a half-marathon 

I’m putting up this list to one, hold myself accountable, and two, prove that short term goals are just as important and as fulfilling as long term ones. I don’t want to get so caught up in worrying about the future that I overlook the looooonnnggg stretch of ten, twenty, thirty years in between. I’m not saying to one shouldn’t plan ahead at all, it is important, but it is also important to leave room for the unexpected. I think if you continuously make the effort to be a better person, educate yourself, meet new people, and try new things, you may find success that is better than anything you could have planned. Hopefully if I am reading this twenty years from now, no matter where I am, I can at least say that I tried my hardest and had a good time doing it. 

And thus begins my trip to South Korea. Day 1.  

Minute 1 in Korea: Stop Calling Maybe

You're probably scratching your head over this post title, so I'll explain. First, I thought it was more attention grabbing than "South Korea Day 1" and two, after flying over 6000 miles and stumbling my way through a few basic Korean phrases, I got into the cab to go to my school and the first song that came on the radio was "Call Me Maybe." Not that I wanted to escape that song (yes, I love it)...but I didn't think that I would have no choice in the matter. Carly Rae, you have clearly outdone yourself.

People here keep asking for my first impressions but it's kind of hard to say since while they certainly have western conveniences, in a lot of ways things are very different and it seems to be coming at me all at once. For example, I keep forgetting to take my shoes off before entering buildings, including my classroom and restaurants. However, being someone who is generally adverse to footwear and likes to wear flip flops until it snows, I think I will get to used to this tradition very quickly.

The thing that struck me most while driving to Yeoju is the sheer amount of HUGE housing developments that can be seen cropping up literally every mile. I don't mean a couple of houses, I mean like 6 to 8 massive apartment complexes clustered together in a sea of identical towers. It's very surreal looking. It's made even more surreal by the semi-perpetual haze, which hails from China, hanging over the buildings...maybe it's time to start looking into renewable resources? Right now I am on the school computer, but I will try to upload pictures next week when I get my Wi-Fi set up in my apartment. Here's a picture of the buildings I took from my phone while in the cab to Yeoju...not the best picture but you get the idea.

New high rises being built. And that's not Seoul!

Yeoju is about an hour from Seoul and is a little more rural than I imagined but it does have a sizable downtown area with anything you would ever need, including a Dunkin' Donuts! Apparently Koreans really like sweet coffee drinks (vanilla lattes, macchiatos, etc). There is also a nice river flowing through the town. My apartment is absolutely, almost unnecessarily, huge. It has three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a living room, full kitchen, and two balcony areas. I do not mean to complain! My situation is extremely unusual and most foreign teachers have very small apartments. However, it is a bit overwhelming considering I've never lived totally by myself before, and it feels a tiny bit creepy with all of those empty rooms.

On the upside, I have lots of room for those who want to come visit! And lots of room for entertaining so I don't have to hang out by myself. A word of advice for anyone thinking about moving to Korea to teach: use the Arrival Store! It's a service that delivers basic apartment necessities, like bath towels, bed stuff, converters, etc. The can deliver to your apartment or school, which is seriously convenient when you arrive at 4pm, immediately get taken out to dinner, and have no real time to unpack (that's pretty standard).  They also got me a cell phone with a contract even though I think I technically need my alien card first, which I probably won't have for another month. My co-teacher likes to joke about how I am alien, like ET.

So far I love my school. My co-teacher is super friendly and very helpful! The language barrier hasn't been too much of a problem since he helps translate for me. I am trying to pick up Korean phrases here and there, but I think because I am the token "foreign English teacher" I am just supposed to speak English anyway. Right now I am actually at school, but I have time to write this since it is the school's anniversary and there is no class. Just a ceremony in the afternoon, which I am really excited for because all of the kids dance to K-pop and do other performances (K-pop is Korean pop for those who don't know. I'm sure I'll do a post on it eventually but you should definitely Google some K-Pop music videos). Though it may go without saying, school is a very big deal here, so school celebrations are very common.

Now I'm sure once I have to start teaching classes the humor of it will wear off, but right now I'm pretty much at celebrity status. No joke, the kids cheer, clap, and giggle when I talk. Even when I just say "Hello." In the hour I've been here many have come to the office to ask me questions. Two boys just came in asking if I had a boyfriend and which one of them I thought was more handsome. I told them I would choose after class; whoever was better behaved I would consider more handsome.

I'm not sure if the students totally understand me but it's nice that they all smile anyway. They are all super shy! It's kind of cute (then again, it might be less cute when I'm actually trying to teach them and get them to speak in English). When I answer their questions they all giggle. Though their questions might seem forward, I've been told that in Korea it's common to ask personal questions when you first meet people. I'm trying to devise clever answers for awkward questions students might ask.

I also met with the principle this morning who was very nice. My co-teacher had to translate and he asked me if I could play an instrument or sing. I told them I can sing, but hopefully that doesn't mean I'll have to do it in front of an audience. Worse comes to worst, I'll bust out my shower edition of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." Anyway, I was also informed that I am the first female foreign teacher they've ever hired, they have always preferred males in the past. I definitely got the impression that my performance will determine if they hire another female foreign teacher...well, challenge accepted!

It's weird to be giving up-to-the-minute blog updates but I think I'm stuck at my desk until noon. It's the same feeling that even though I said goodbye to lots of people when I left, 14 hours later I turned on my phone, went on Facebook, and pretty much resumed the same interactions I was having before I left the States. Even though I'm certainly facing some culture shock right now, after hearing "Call Me Maybe" on the radio, it still feels like the world is pretty small! I had another more sappy-sentimental post for my first day that I wrote before arriving but it's currently stuck on my laptop, so you'll have another "Day 1" post to look forward too.

Where in the world...?

So I decided to post this handy dandy map of Asia for those of you who don't know where Korea is exactly. Yes everyone knows it is in Asia, but if you haven't looked at a map lately, Asia is pretty big.

So there it is! And while I know everyone loves to make Kim Jong-Il jokes (especially after looking at this blog: http://kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com/) I hope people realize that I am going to South Korea, and not North Korea. I plan to steer clear of the DMZ. However I do plan to visit China, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, and Australia. At least that is the goal for when my contract is up in February, but we shall see!

If you want to get really specific, here is the Google map of Yeoju, you can see it's pretty close to the big cluster of cities that surround Seoul.

Not There Yet

For those of you who haven't heard, or are simply living under a rock, I am moving to South Korea on Wednesday to teach English! I'll be living in a town called Yeoju about an hour from Seoul. I am starting this blog which hopefully, unlike my Italy blog that only lasted about two weeks, will actually turn into a real account of my experiences abroad and any other opinions, thoughts, etc I feel like expressing. I went back the other day to look at my Padova blog and really wished I had written more! It reminded me of lots of things I had forgotten. Welp, we'll see how long this new found motivation for blogging lasts. As for you, my readers, I hope you enjoy it!

Now for some frequently asked questions.

1) Do you speak Korean?

Nope. But I bought Rosetta Stone and have sworn to myself that I will make an effort to become at least conversationally fluent. Something about being able to say "I speak Korean" when I am not Korean seems pretty badass....and perhaps might interest a future employer.

2) Are you nervous/ excited?

Excited, yes. Nervous? Less so. I realize that I will experience a fair amount of culture shock and awkward/stressful/baffling moments, but I think after transferring colleges and studying abroad twice, I'm used to the idea of things being uncomfortable for a while. It's hard to avoid cliches here when I say that is a great opportunity to learn a lot, because as someone told me, no matter how much I try to prepare, I will "be surprised in Korea...over and over again." Some people may find this stressful, but I enjoy traveling and getting to know new cultures enough that I feel it will it compensate for any negative experiences.

3) Why South Korea?

It has pretty much always been a dream of mine to travel around and/or live in Asia. I took an Intro to Asian Art course sophomore year and I am pretty much dying to see every temple in the Eastern hemisphere. I fully admit that I also want to go because it seems exotic and like a real chance to experience things I've truly never seen/done/heard/eaten/tried.

Now not that anyone has asked, but packing is going miserably. I'm a tad sentimental and want to drag along some things I know I shouldn't, hence I am writing this blog instead of packing! Hope that you all will be entertained by my procrastination!