Come On In

Dear neighbors,
What if it was a more serious problem?

I know I say this a lot, but I really don't have much to say. Last week was very low key and nothing except my 6 month anniversary with Korea happened. I can't even remember the funny things my students said. Anyways, here we go:

Last week, I was home for my lunch break and I was cooking clam chowder soup in the microwave. I was so excited Emart (like Walmart) got this big order of "Healthy Choice" soup and I was all over that. So, I was pretty excited for this particular lunch. As soon as it beeped, I took it out of the microwave. Then, like an idiot, I stuck my face right up near the soup and tried to take a big whiff. Unfortunately, at that same moment the soup "popped" (like some sort of hot air bubble or something). It "popped" all over my face and it was soooooo hot. My initial reaction was a scream (it wasn't like a murder scream but my tone got up there). My second thought was, "what if my neighbors heard and they come over to see if everything is ok..how am I going to explain this to them?" Initially, I was hoping that wouldn't happen, but then time passed and no one came. I thought, "Well, what if someone was trying to 'nap' me, as Jemal would say." (It's short for kidnap) Needless to say, my neighbors disappointed me this past week. But don't worry mom, the neighborhood is perfectly safe and if I ever got in trouble I would yell "119!" This is Korea's version of 911.

Exactly 6 months from last Saturday, I left 877 White Oaks Drive to start this adventure. So, in celebration, I decided to rearrange my apartment. Then as I was rearranging, I was thinking how I don't think I've ever posted pictures of my apartment. So, I had some "before" pictures and a few "after" pictures. I'm sorry it's probably not as clean as it should be, and I don't think these pictures really capture the "tinyness" of this apartment.

A few things have been done to the APT. Pictures, lamps, decorations, have been added, thanks to my most lovely sister. Although it's small, it really does feel like home. So, come on in, stay awhile, and do as the Asians do and take those shoes off at the door.

*The kitchen is to the right. I promise you, that stack of dishes is clean. The bathroom is to the left. Notice the shower shoes, you will realize the deep need for those in a second. Technically this picture is an "after" picture, but nothing has really changed.

And here's the loo. Notice the location of the shower head and lack of location of the bathtub. That's right, it gets pretty soggy in there, thus the need for the shower shoes.
Here's the "Before" of the frig and the "living room/office"The "after" which is now the "living room/Lily's bedroom."
And this is the "after" of the fridge. If you made the frig, you should feel honored, if you didn't, it's probably because we once took a picture together and I looked horrendous and I couldn't stand looking at the picture for a whole year, no hard feelings.

This is the "before" of the bedroom. When I first moved in, they said my bed was a three person bed.
The "after" of the "bedroom"
And lastly, the "after" of the bedroom/office/changing room.

So, I'm now officially on the other side of this year-long journey. On Sunday, I was talking to Mr. Oh and he says, "well, now you understand the yellow people's culture?" I'm not sure if that was a diss to himself, but I said, "yeah, I think I'm really understand the 'yellow people'." And he says, "Six more months, you will understand us more."

I thought I would feel happier about being over half way done, but this place definitely doesn't seem as "foreign" anymore and I can tell it's going to be much harder to leave than I anticipated.

I hoped you enjoyed your virtual tour of my home! Happy Tuesday! Until next week...

My St. Patty's Day Blunder

Dear Mom,
I've loved everything you sent me. Except for that one thing that made me look like such a goober.

Hello all! I've decided to sit down on this Tuesday early evening and write yet another blog. "But Natalee, you work every evening from 4 to 9 with no breaks!" Me: "My 6 oclock class was canceled!" YES! This feeling brings me back to the FCS snow days! Now if I could only sit around my house, drink hot chocolate, make a snowman, and dare my mom to drive us into town.

Anyhow, last week was an o.k. week. I felt like I watched hours and hours of the devastation in Japan. It's been very interesting being so close to Japan and it's put me on edge a little bit. On Tuesday last week, the sirens went off right as I was watching a story on CNN about how to survive a tsunami. It turns out that it was a monthly drill of "what to do during an air strike from North Korea." (Don't ask me what you're supposed to do. My plan is to hunker down in my market.) But I heard the sirens and I was ready to run up the small "mountain" behind my market.

Last week, on Monday, they celebrated White Day here in Korea. This is very similar to Valentine's Day, but this time the man is supposed to give the women some sort of candy (preferably fruit candy)...come on Korea...your women don't want fruit candy, they want chocolate in as many forms as possible.

Then came Thursday, which was also St. Patrick's Day. I was so excited. A couple years ago I bought this over sized green sweatshirt specifically for this day. Across the front it says, "IRISH" in huge white letters. I had also been anticipating it because my mom sent me these gold and green "chocolate" coins, and I was so excited to give them to all my students. I told them on Wednesday that I had a surprise for them the next day.

The day came. I wore the sweatshirt. I passed out 2 coins to each of the students in my adult class AND the other adult class across the way and told them about St. Patrick's Day and about these delicious gold and green coins. They said, "this chocolate is very thin" and I said, "yeah, that's how they are, you have to pull back the foil." I was a little surprised that no one tried the "chocolate" at first, so we kept talking. About 15 minutes later, I noticed Mrs. Ko really struggling with her "chocolate." So while Mr. Che was talking about something I tried opening one of the "chocolates" myself. Well, it turned out it was really just a plastic gold and green coin with a four leaf clover on it. I'm pretty sure Mr. Che asked me a question and my answer was, "oh no! It's not chocolate!" Initially Mr. Che was confused, but a few seconds later we were all cracking up and I was slightly embarrassed but glad that I didn't hand them out to the kids first. They would have had my head. And surely enough, when I told the class across the hallway that the coins were not edible, one of the students told me she knew because she tried to bite it. If only it were April Fools Day instead.

I don't know if it's because of all news about the separated families in Japan or that it's almost been 6 months since I left home, but I've been feeling a little homesick. So, the busy weekend in Seoul was welcomed with open arms.

So Saturday morning I woke up and headed to Seoul to meet some friends for one of the girl's birthday. I love Seoul. It's like going to America for a little bit. So much to do. So much diversity. So much English.

Saturday afternoon we went to a comedy martial arts show called "Jump." These people were sooooo strong and disgustingly flexible. It was very entertaining and since there were really no words, I understood the whole storyline.

Here's the group:


Saturday night we stayed at the birthday girl's friends house in Seoul. The friend and her husband just moved to Seoul from the States about 2 months ago because he got a job at the horse racing track as a judge.

So, Sunday early afternoon we were off to the races and I accomplished yet another first! The weekend before I watched the movie "Secretariat," so I was pretty pumped to go to my first horse race. We were told before that the horse races were a very dirty place. Supposedly, it was a place where old men smoke, drink and bet. And that was true. It was very crowded and people were just so engrossed in their papers and researching the horses of the day.

These ajummas aren't going to be left out of the fun.

I still can't get over the Asian squat. This must be a designated squatting area.

One time a drunk man touched my arm and said, "beautiful," and then as I was walking away, he cackled. Kind of creepy, but we were quickly ushered out of there and into the VIP room. Yes that's right. I am no longer just an ordinary citizen. I have been to the Pegasus Lounge where free cappuccinos are in abundance and the races are viewed through a clear wall at the top of the building.

You probably want to ask me, "Did you place a bet?" And yes I did. I dropped 500..no biggie.....Five hundred WON that is. (which is about 40 cents) And Lo and behold, my horse won! Thank you Stormtroop for running so fast! However, the odds that he was going to win were very high. SO, I only got about 700 won back, but it was still a victory! And I can totally see how this type of gambling is addicting and therefore destructive. It is fun to put money on a horse and then cheer like crazy when it comes around the track. The guy who was able to get us into the VIP room told me later that on a single race at this track the average amount of money brought in is 4 MILLION dollars!!!!!! Dollars..not won! My contribution to that 4 million dollars was obviously very microscopic.

Here's my winning ticket!


And they're off!


And that's all I have for ya. I hope you are doing well and that the weather is getting warmer wherever you are! God Bless!

Lily's in a Tight Spot

Dear puffy vest designers,
Thank you for creating the zip up hood and making it popular, it brings me much laughter now and then.

This is Jeung woong..one of my middle school students..English name: Dan. Preferred name: Mr. woong.
This past week was such a good week. I don't know if I was just feeling very appreciative that I didn't have to take the other foreign teacher's classes anymore or if it was my superb teaching ability...probably the first suggestion :)

Actually, I do know why it was such a great week. It's because of a boy named George. He is my new favorite thing about Korea and the cutest little Panamanien/African American/Indian boy in the whole entire world. Yogita and Jemal came back from India and brought back with them their 8 year old son who had been living in Alaska with his grandparents. He is so sweet, so well behaved, and so extremely cultured. He lived and went to school in India for a year. He is going to grow up a very rounded young man AND from the looks of things, quite the little heart breaker :) Here he is gaming it up..just like his daddy:


I foresee many lunches and dinners eaten with this little man sitting next to me.

Another possible reason for my week of many smiles was finding out another little fact about Korean cosmetics that's just so completely opposite of American cosmetics. One of the Korean teachers bought this lotion from the cosmetic store across the street and I asked to look at it and on the back it said the ingredients in English, "This contains natural tea complex, and white flower complex," WHITE FLOWER COMPLEX you ask? Yes, white flower complex. They want to make their skin white like we want to make our skin tan. In our lotion it probably says something like, "this contains a moisturizing substance and brown sugar complex." While I was explaining our obsession of being tan, she says, "Is that healthy?" At least they don't kill their cells like we do by going to tanning beds..they just lather themselves up with white flower.

Yet another reason to love last week was that this Korean man told me at church that I looked like Brooke Shields..hahaha..it made me laugh out loud and probably offended him, it was my curly hair and blue eyes...I guess we all look alike too.

And lastly, I finally captured Lily in what I find to be her most amusing past time. I think I have described this multiple times, but have never got a clear picture. Lily really enjoys wedging herself between her "bedroom" on the second floor and the top of her cage and gnawing viciously on the bars on the tiny bars that separate her from the rest of the world. Maybe this is a cry for freedom? I don't know, but I think it's really cute and quirky.

Here she is laying on her back and enjoying an afternoon "snack."


Although my week was really great and positive, Friday, Japan suffered a catastrophic earthquake that triggered a tsunami and has left thousands dead. If you are just finding out about this tragedy now, shame on you. The devastation is unreal, and this morning as I was walking to work, I could not help but picture my little coastal city of Gunsan going through what those coastal cities in Japan have just experienced. As I watch the footage, it really is strikingly similar to where I live. And it makes my heart drop a little when I compare all of the old ladies and men who stare at me every single day to the old men and women on the t.v. who have just lost their homes, spouses, children, or even their own life. However, Korea, I've been told, is a very safe place and hardly experiences earthquakes or tsunamis. Japan is our buffer. All we have to worry about is our cooky Northern nuclear neighbors.

I wondered when this tsunami happened what the older generation of Koreans thought of all this. The late 60ers and 70ers all remember when the Japanese were occupying Korea before WWII. I've heard stories of the Japanese raping the Korean women, cutting out tongues if the Koreans wouldn't speak Japanese, cutting off fingers if there was disobedience in school, and ruling, even my city of Gunsan, like it was military..people weren't allowed to leave their homes unless given permission, they were never able to visit family who lived in a town over, etc. So, today and yesterday I've been asking people about their thoughts. I talked to someone who said he really didn't feel all that bad about the tsunami because he remembers the hell the Japanese put his family through. At first I was taken back, but I don't think I can fully understand that kind of torture and I shouldn't be so quick to judge. But many other Koreans are very sympathetic to Japan right now and, I think, Korea was the first country to send rescue teams. And as for the kids, one of them said nervously, "I think nuclear gas get picked up in wind and fly west to Korea." Unlikely. But do pray for the Japanese people.

Well, I hope you remembered to turn your clock back..yay, I'm back to a 14 hour time difference! Nighty night.

The Perfect Taxi Driver

Dear Taxi drivers,
You are a creepy a bunch.

I have so much to say, and so little time to say it. Since last week, I've been working an hour later than usual because I got a class added to my schedule...dun dun dun..it's not too bad, but I feel soooo tired when I roll into Myeung San Shi Jeong around 9:30p.m.

Anyhow, my week was chalked full of activities. The two other foreign teachers went on vacation to India for a week, so I took their classes on top of some of my classes. I realized that I never want to be the ONLY foreigner in a workplace. I missed them so much! BUT the good news was that we had a holiday on Tuesday. It was a day celebrating an independence movement of Korea against the Japanese..not independence day...just a movement that ended in alot of death and failure..but these people were heroic, hence a day off of work, and a day full of SNOWBOARDING..yet another first!

I'd never snowboarded, and I'd only witnessed newbie snowboarding and the constant crashing into the ground about every 2 minutes. I was pretty nervous I was going to brake my wrists, or my arm, or my face, or leg, or both legs. But surprisingly after about an hour and 15 minutes and finally getting down the "bunny hill," things fell into place..(hehe..no pun intended). I was so thankful to have Elizabeth by my side learning along with me..I'm pretty sure we invented a new way of snowboarding that made one experienced snowboarder in our group say, "wow, I've never seen someone go down a mountain like you two just did." It was such a blast!

We went to a resort called Muju Resort. It was FREEZING and icy and probably unsafe, but we couldn't pass up the discounted tickets.

Like I said, I fell an absurd amount of times. And while my mind was completely focused on not breaking every bone in my body, situations still came up that made me say, "oh yeah, I'm in Korea." There were several times when I would be going pretty fast and then I would catch the edge of the board and would be hurled into the side of the mountain. It was always during one of the worst falls...(where my hat and sunglasses would fly off of me, and my face would be full of snow..as well as the undergarments) that someone would stop right next to me. What I expected to hear was, "Are you ok?" But what I heard more than once was, "Hello. Where are you from? What's your name? What do you do? Why did you choose Korea?" ..ok, maybe not the "why did you choose Korea," but I'm sure they would have asked that if they had more time. So, there I sat slightly discouraged from the recent fall, hair all sorts of crazy, and sunglasses and hat half way down the mountain, answering these questions to a Korean eager to practice their English.

Gotta respect their drive to learn the language, but seriously, is this the time? One of the worst falls I had was when Elizabeth and I were going down a steep part..Of course, I totally lost control and threw myself into the ground to make a dramatic stop..when I gained consciousness (totally kidding mom), I yelled to Elizabeth, "I'm not going to survive this." As soon as I said that, I hear "HELLO! WHERE ARE YOU FROM?" I didn't see anyone but then I noticed the two Koreans waving from the ski lift. My response: "really?"

It was such a great day, and it was even greater to learn something new! Here are some pics:

You were just conquered, snowboard
The group
Snowboard partner for life!

On the bus ride home, this Korean college student was talking to us and he says to me, "oh, I saw you. Your body will be sick tomorrow, you cannot work." That was a little embarrassing, but he was spot on. The next day, I felt like someone had just taken a bat to my knees, neck, wrists, and hiney.

Even though we only had a 4 day work week, it felt like the longest week I've ever had. I think taking on the Jemal's classes made things go much slower. I had to take Jemal and Yogita's company classes, so every day I would take a taxi to and from the school to the company. And while I was riding in the taxi's I've realized that I have not given the attention to taxi drivers in this blog like I should.

I've never really had too much experience with taxi drivers in the U.S. because I can read and understand the bus maps, but since I don't have that luxury here, I tend to take many cabs. In the past, I've had some weirdee taxi drivers. For example, a couple of weeks ago, Elizabeth and I were going to pick up someone from the bus station and we get in the taxi and he says, "You're from Canada?" and sounded as offended as possible we said, "no, we are Americans." And he says along with a hand gesture that signals a very busty yet skinny waisted yet oversized tushy, "mmm..I like American woman." It was one of those moments when you think, "Where's the ejection seat when you need it?" Another example was of a taxi driver that drove my sister and I from the store to home. He, too, was wanting to practice his English, however, he enjoyed the "swears" more than actual vocabulary.

But this week, I think I got a couple of cooky taxi drivers. The first one, as usual, said, "where are you from?" So, I told him I was from America, and then I asked him where he was from. He laughs, in a creepy way, and says, "North Korea." We both laughed..my laugh was a nervous laugh, and his was more of a cackle, but he was kidding...I think. The second guy was even worse. I got into taxi and quickly realized his English was much better than most taxi drivers. So, we were talking and he asks all the usual questions, "How old are you? what are you doing? what's your blood type?" BUT then he says, "Are you married?" (I should have said yes) "Are you single?" (I should have said no) "Yes, do you want a boyfriend?" ( I should have just stopped talking) "Well, I'm single...you single (laughter)." Me: "haha (nervous)..you're funny. ( what about an ejection seat?)"

But then I found hope. On the last day of the company class, I climbed into a taxi and the taxi driver simply said, "Anyeong haseyo," I told him where to go, he didn't try to talk to me, put on English music..all in the genre of the song, "My Endless Love," and took me exactly where I needed to go. Thus, I found my perfect taxi driver.

The week was full and on Friday I was pretty beat and was feeling homesick for my country's manners, culture, customs, food, and overall behavior of people. I got a little fed up with some Korean's lack of personal space, bluntness, staring, etc, BUT on Saturday I walked about a half hour to the grocery store through parts of town where kids were riding bikes, boys were playing soccer in the school yard, and old men were taking naps on their chairs outside their shops, and my love for Koreans was renewed.

I hope you are doing very well, and if you want to see a good movie, go see the "Adjustment Bureau." :)