Homesickness

Ah, the familiar twinge of homesick. This isn’t the first time I have experienced it; nor will it be the last.

I have spent a good chunk of the last 5 years of my life living in another state (Vermont for grad school) traveling (summers in Europe, time in Central America), living in Nicaragua and now, Korea. I am very familiar with the whole packing up and leaving people behind thing. But in ways, it never gets easier. I am more practiced at it, more versed in the feelings which accompany being away from home, but it never gets any easier.

I don’t know where it came from, or what I was missing specifically. Friends, family, familiarity. I was sick of Korean food, Korea and well, life here.

I miss driving. Being able to hop in my car, turn the radio up, and just drive. Where? Anywhere; the grocery store, my friends’ houses or just around. Here, I have to walk my ass to the train and then go from there. Although public transportation is great in this country, part of my American-ness has become reliant on wanting cars to transport me to and fro.

I miss American food. I do eat it a lot (I cook for myself at home) but it isn’t the same. And, I eat Korean food everyday at school for lunch. I just want a fucking taco. Is that too much to ask?

I miss wine. Good wine; like 3 buck Chuck style. (that is Trader Joe’s wine for all you who aren’t familiar, it is delish at only $3 a bottle, seriously). I would kill for a nice, cold and crisp Pinto Grigio right about now. Wine here either tastes like shit or is overly artificially sweet. Sigh. This ain’t Italy. I would give a thumb for even Franzia at this point!

More importantly, I miss the wine+ friend combo. I rarely (actually, almost never) drank wine alone. I always had my girls around me. OMG do I miss them. You know who you are. I miss you. I love you. Come visit me. Now.

Have I said I miss my friends? I am very lucky in life and have multiple best friends. I have come to realize I am getting older, that the amount of fiercely close people I have in my life is not only uncommon, but it is very rare. I am lucky. I have talked to many, many people not only here in Korea, but in my life traveling, in Vermont and at home who have told me they wish they had the number of close friends I had or even one close friendship like I have. I have 5 people who I talk to on a regular basis. They are my rocks, and they know it. I have spent large amounts of time away from them over the past 5 years; but it hasn’t always been my fault! They have lived abroad, some live in other countries, moved to other states, went to school in other states or went traveling. Near or far, they are always there and I am always here for them. I have crossed the country and ocean for these people, and they for I. Many of which I fortunately can still have daily contact with through Facebook, texting, skype, email or calling. JenniferKelseyKristinaErinColin I fucking miss you all to pieces and love you!

I miss my family. I lived at home before leaving for Korea, and it is hard. Especially being away from my Mom. Although I get to talk to the ‘rents every other week or so, it is tough. I think what set all this homesick business off is the fact that my Dad’s 50^th Birthday was the other day and there was a party, and I wasn’t there. I skyped, talked and video chatted with everyone, but it wasn’t the same. And oh, the wave of homesickness came a-floodin’. In my experience (and most others I have talked to) it hits home hardest when there are gatherings or holidays where all your loved ones are in the same place, without you. Plus, Easter is this weekend. I will get through it, I just wish I had my Aunt Stacie’s Easter sugar cookies to console me through it! LOL.

I don’t really know what triggered it specifically, I think it was just a combination of events, but sometimes it just appears. Yesterday was rough. I had shitty classes and that on top of being homesick made it pretty bad. But, the rest of the afternoon and evening was spent in bed watching good (and bad) American TV that I hadn’t yet caught up on. It made it better. The thing about homesickness is although it often appears out of nowhere, it generally disappears randomly as well. You get more sleep, have a good meal, see your friends, talk to people back home or the shitty day you had goes away. Or, you get a package from home with lots of goodies.

And today, I got a package!! I got a care package from my Mom, Grandma and Aunt Kathy! Woo! Perfect timing! I was overjoyed to see it this morning. It was filled and stuffed to the brim! When I picked it up at the office, I knew it was gonna be good! It was freaking heavy! What did I find inside? Purple easter bunnies, Reeses eggs, Dove bunnies, Dove dark chocoloates, caramel Cadbury eggs, mint gum (tons!), Swedish Fish (one of my favorite candies), bags of Lindt truffles, Cherry Airheads, Rice Krispy treats and other goodies, two things of American Crest toothpaste to clean my teeth after all of the candy (toothpaste and gum here is weird), a new sweater and t-shirt, tons of cold/flu/cough/allergy medicine, including a bottle of Nyquil cough syrup which leaked! Thankfully it was in a plastic Ziploc, so no damage was done and only about a tablespoon or so leaked out into the bag. Hand sanitizer, lotion, EmergenC, inhalers (I have asthma and haven’t figured out an easy way to get them here), tons of magazines, a few pictures from home and tons more! I was so happy to see it this afternoon, it definitely kicked that homesick bug!! I am very thankful to have a Mom, Grandma and Aunt who love me so and spoil me as well!!

So, that is where I am at. Everyday is the same and completely different. Yesterday, 10 months felt like an eternity. I just have to remind myself why I am here (no job at home, lots of debt, want to travel through SE Asia) to get me through. And in the meantime, I have to look forward to things that will make me happy. Like this weekend, going to Seoul to be a tourist! Pretty excited. Also, hitting up a foreign/western grocer that is rumored to have pitas and taco shells! Also on the itinerary: an English bookstore and a Mexican and Greek restaurant. Should be good times. And, I will get a fucking taco.

Love you and miss you all.

K

The weekend everything went wrong

It must be Tuesday, I am updating my blog!!

I teach two classes (45 minutes each) on Tuesdays, but am here for 8 hours. You do that math. Tuesdays are my light days! Followed by Mondays and Wednesdays with 3 classes a piece (though I have an extra class that I work overtime for on Monday afternoon, but I don’t count that because I only have 6 girls and it is super easy) and Thursday and Friday are my hell days. I have extra classes after school both days (so I stay an extra hour for overtime pay, like Mondays) and have 4 classes Thursdays and 5 on Friday. I am exhausted come Friday! So, my blogging comes during the beginning of the week.

Last weekend I (and a bunch of people from orientation and Chris) ventured to Jinhae for the Cherry Blossom Festival! I was super excited for this as I have heard tons of good things about festivals in Korea (Koreans do ‘em up and are a little obsessed with them) and cherry trees in bloom are one of my most favorite things to see and photograph!!

Jinhae is on the other side of the country from myself/orientation crew, near Busan. I left Friday night on the train to go to Busan for Friday night and Chris and I planned on taking a subway, then bus, to Jinhae in the morning for a 90 or so minute trip. The rest of the gang planned on leaving Daejeon (5th biggest city in Korea, about 25 minutes from me by train) in the morning via two rented 12 passenger vans. What could go wrong?

Everything.

The morning seemed to go off without a hitch. Chris and I made the 45 minute trek on the subway to the bus station and bought a bunch of extremely health (ha) baked goods from a Korean bakery chain called Paris Baguette. It included a Cherry filled donut to get in the spirit. Well as we ate and waited for our bus and the time wore on, we realized our bus was late. Then, we waited some more, and more. Finally, 20 or so minutes later, another bus showed up. Our 11:20 bus was MIA. So, Chris showed the bus driver the tickets, he said, “neh” (yes, like a horse) it means yes, so we proceeded and settled in for the hour ride.

We kept in contact with the crew via cell phone as they were gonna pick us up at the bus station in Jinhae before heading to the festival. We were cruising along until, we weren’t. Traffic came to an utter standstill. Those Koreans like themselves a festival! Everyone was on the road to the festival The group was having the same issue from the opposite direction. After about an hour and a half (ride was supposed to be an hour) we arrived at a station and got off. But, then I saw it said Welcome to Masan. WTF, Masan?!?! We were supposed to be in Jinhae!!! I told Chris and he got back on the bus and the bus driver just kinda waved us forward with no explanation….Shit. So, we tried to ask around, but there was no ticket counter. Finally, after many fruitless attempts of miming and asking, someone pointed us down the street. Of course, the ticket window is normally down the street from the station. We walked up and were told we now had to get on a city bus to Jinhae…umm ok, whatever. So, we found the bus and also found the insane line to get on the bus. The bus was only taking on a few passengers at a time because it was full, so we decided it would be faster (though definitely NOT cheaper) to cab it to Jinhae. I was worried about the other 17 in the group getting to the station in Jinhae and having to wait for us. It would later turn out I wouldn’t have to worry about that…but more on that later.

So $20 ish later, we were in Jinhae. The drive was so long because traffic again was INSANE. But, this time we at least were surrounded by amazing and lush cherry blossoms! We got out of the cab, with all of our stuff, and called the group to see what their ETA might be. Perhaps 20 minutes out. To kill time, we hit up the festival and made a beeline for the food stalls. Korean street food: cheap, plentiful and delicious. We ate many sugary and fried deliciousneses and something known as a potato tornado that needs to make its way to the good ol’ USA. It is a spiraled potato on a skewer, fried and dipped in powdered cheese…heavenly. After eating a Korean man beckoned us over who was given palm readings. I wanted to know how much they were, but TIK, how expensive could they be? Chris said to just sit and do it. I was told I will have many problems with money, but will live a long life. Sweet. More time to pay off my student loans!!! Chris was told her will have “mountain money” and a long life, but that he has a problem with his heart and should avoid getting angry. He then said we will get married and have 3 babies; also that I want have to worry about money because I can just live off Chris’ ‘mountain money’. LOL. After about 3 minutes he indicated that he was done and that it was time to pay up: 1,000 Won each (about $1 USD). Sweet! So cheap!!! Chris handed over 2,000 Won. The man shook his head and his hands, no no no no no! Then he said, 1,000 Won, each. Ok…So, Chris tried to hand him the 2,000 Won again. Same thing happened. We went through this a few times until the man corrected his English to: 10,000 Won EACH. IE: $20 for the 3 minute shit show we just experienced. WTF?!?! I was pissed. Chris paid him. But I was fuming!! Old man scammed the shit outta us!! Chris said he would pay for me to quell my anger, but I was still angry! Oh well, TIK.

As you may have calculated, the 20 minutes that we were killing had come and gone. Then, so did an hour. Then another. And then, for good measure another one went by. Their 2 hour drive turned into a SIX hour drive!!! Thanks to bumper to bumper traffic. Our valiant drivers (Jon and Sarah) eventually arrived and somehow miraculously found parking for two 12 passenger vans and we all met up and Chris and I were finally able to drop our shit off in the van.

As a group we toured and ate some more. We took in some good old fashioned carnival games, Korean style. Including scoop up a fish, put it in a bowl with a whole that empties into a bigger bowl with little numbered stalls. The stall the fish swims into = your prize. Complete chance. That is gamblin’ if I ever saw it. They also had an interesting (and better, imo) turn on the shooting game. Shoot with a pretend rifle and instead of stuffed animals, you win booze!!! Sarah and Molly won some soju!!

We hiked up to this outlook point (about 350 stairs or so) for an amazing view of the region and all the cherry blossoms as they sun was setting. Perfection! Sunsets are one of my most favorite things in life and probably my most favorite things to photograph. So cherry blossoms + sunset + picture taking = one happy Kimberry! Also, we could see a US Navy ship. There is a base in this town and it was like Navy weekend or something as well, so there were Waygooks (foreigners) everywhere!! There were even fair-headed children roaming the land. Strange sight to see in Korea!!!

After our descent, we headed to the “Love Motel” for the night. A Love Motel is a motel in Korea you can rent for pretty cheaply; hourly or by the night. Korean unmarried couples use these motels to play Scrabble because they can’t do it at home since they live with their parents. What were you thinking they did?!?!

Oh, haha, I nearly forgot! The most exciting part of the day. It took us about 90 minutes to get to the motel (should have been maybe 15 or 20) again due to traffic, and struggled to find parking. We eventually found a spot in the garage and bailed. Navigating the streets with a 12 passenger van resulted in a few standoffs where we were literally cornered in, some crazy u-turns in the middle of streets and other crazy driving moves. When in Rome, baby, when in Rome. When we checked in, we found out the motel had parking, Jon and Chris went to go move the van. Well, they were gone for a conspicuously long amount of time…Upon arrival, Jon walks in and says to Sarah, we need to talk. FYI, when anyone starts a conversation with, “we need to talk” it isn’t ever good. But, when you are a waygook (foreigner) in Korea who has just parked a rented van, it is especially bad. Turns out, one of the windows fell out of the van and shattered. Yes, you read that correctly. So, the van had pop out windows in the back instead of sliding ones. The love motel’s garage entrance is covered with heavy rope to block cars/license plates from prying cameras. Remember, people come here to play Scrabble. Anyways, one of the ropes somehow got caught in the popped out window and then somehow, pulled the fucking window OUT of the van! If you aren’t familiar with glass, when it hits pavement, it shatters into a million pieces. We aren’t talking a small window. It was one of those big ass windows that are in huge passenger vans. Seriously? What are the odds? Shitty, probably. But, TIK, TIK. I guess I should have warned them all that when I travel, insanity ensues. Oh, well. $400 to replace the window. But, we all are splitting it. Molly and Sarah patched up the window for the ride home with tape, cardboard and plastic bags. They Mcguivered that shit up!

We had 4 rooms booked out for 17 people thanks to Sarah. We divvied up the rooms and bed/floor space and decided to immerse ourselves fully in Korean culture and eat dinner at McDonald’s. Also, our night had taken a turn for the worse and sometimes, McDona’McDs here doesn’t have fish burgers, so all I can eat on their menus are fries and ice cream. So, guess what I had for dinner? Yes, that is right. I probably wont be making a return trip anytime soon. After our lovely fluorescent-light dinner, we headed to a local corner store for Soju and beer for drinking in our hotel. Most of us were exhausted (myself included) and ended up in bed early…lame!

We left the next morning and figured how the weekend was going we may blow a tire and flip on the highway, but it turns out we got back in one piece. Thankfully. It only took about 3 hours to get home, so only a little longer than it should have. Overall, it was quite the interesting weekend. 

I will talk to you all later!

And PS: I have pictures up on FB in the album titled: Spring has Sprung in Korea from this weekend!

There's a Spring in my Step

It’s that time again….

Blog time!

Sorry I am not super frequent in updating this, sometimes there isn’t anything to update you on, or at least seems that way!

Since I left last you I have 1.) Gotten sick again (big surprise?) and 2.) Joined a gym!

I have established a pattern since arriving in Jochiwon about 6 weeks ago. I get really sick for about 7-10 days, then have 2-3 days of reduced symptoms, then pick something up again. This latest bout has come with a horrendous cough. Each time there have been varying symptoms of varying severity. The sore throat is at least gone, which is always for me, most annoying. But, the cough doesn’t sound very pretty, either! Oh well, TIK. Everyone has been sick on and off as well, at least I have that comfort.

I joined a gym! Actually joining the gym was rather difficult. I had been in once before and knew that they didn’t speak any English, I also knew how much it cost. So, I brought my cash in hand and pointed to the membership. He understood what I was getting at and then we proceeded in a thirty minute him-speaking-Korean, me-speaking-English-miming-conversation. He eventually called his brother on his cell phone to translate!! LOL! It was really funny. It worked out in the end and I am now a full fledged Korean gym membership holder. It was quite exciting. I have only been able to go a few times in the last week and a half or so due to my horrible cough and new sickness. But, it has felt so nice to get back in the gym! At home I was working out 4-5 days a week, so going nearly 5 weeks with no exercise in Korea was hard! The first workout I got on the Stairmaster and did my usual hour workout followed by 45 minutes of weights and abs. OMG. What a mistake. I just jumped right back into what I had been doing, but man, in 5 weeks things really go downhill fast! I was feeling it the next day!

The gym is interesting. It is 3 floors (I think…) but is very narrow. There appears to only be one workout floor, with the others containing locker rooms and squash courts. There are lots of treadmills, a few Stairmasters and some bikes. No ellipticals for me! So sad. In addition to that there are ample weight machines and free weights, which is great! They provide “uniforms” for you to wear if you so desire. I opted out and went with my own. But, social etiquette in Korea dictates that women cover their shoulders and chests. So, no workout tank tops for me!! I invested in some black men’s undershirts from Costco so that I am fully appropriate and covered! The gym experience is a bit weird, I have been the only woman in there at times and at others only one or two others. My favorite piece of equipment? The vibrating band you put around your body to shake off your fat. Yes, folks, it is real. TIK, TIK. I haven’t tried it yet, I’ll let you know how it turns out.

I have joined/helped create a very small knitting/book club with a few other people from orientation. Danielle is teaching Jon and I how to knit, while her boyfriend Kevin watches. Chris decided I had too much fun so he had to join to. The book of the month is Life of Pi. This club also serves as an apocalypse preparation club. We share strategies and are learning to knit clothes in event of apocalypse. LOL! I am new to this zombie apocalypse talk, but apparently, there are a lot of people who discuss/think about this for fun? Haha.

Speaking of Chris, yes, that cat is out of the bag. I have a boyfriend. Gasp! I am sure most of you have seen on Facebook by now. Hello, if it isn’t Facebook official, it isn’t real! He is Australian and lives/teaches English in Busan. He is pretty awesome; maybe someday you all can meet him!

Teaching is coming along. I have pretty much adjusted to how to teach and plan. I have to say, I am pretty good at it! I don’t know if I could teach anything else, or teach where I had to be sane, but here I am good. The girls all love me, it is a nice feeling! I was teaching 9^th graders about phrases like, ‘you’re kidding’ and ‘are you serious?’ and how to be sarcastic. So I told them, I am moving back to America tomorrow (as a joke) and they all went, “nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and were freaking out and screaming. I told them it was a joke and they laughed, but then they said they loved me. I am slowly learning the girl’s names (I have about 600 students, 1100 in the school). I am up to about 5 names. Sigh. But, they are Korean and hard! I tell each girl to come up to me in the hall and say, “teacher, what is my name?” to drill it into me. When I know them, they freak out and high-five me. It is so nice. When I can’t remember I feel like a shitty asshole! They get so sad and frustrated. “teachaaa, I tell you so many times!!!”. Other teachers (non-english teachers) keep remarking how popular I am and what good things they hear about me. Apparently I am a conversation topic in other classes, which is nice! I pretty much jump around and am insane in my classes, and when I teach many in a row (I teach 6 Friday) by the end of the day my energy is pretty low. Last Friday, I was super tired and sluggish and being a “normal” person and a student yelled, “teachaa, crazy!!” and waved her arms around like I do, demonstrating that she wanted me to be my normal shit-show self, lol. What standard have I set? It is nice that they laugh and enjoy my classes, because it isn’t something they do in other classes. Education is very regimented and strict here. The fact that I walk around the class (and sit on their desks if they’re talking) is unheard of. High fives? Weird ass shit. At the beginning the girls were like, uhh WTF is this white lady doing?!? Now, they see me in the hall and ask for high-fives! Love it. We played Scattegories this week and last in some classes, and the girls LOVED it. They said much better than Bingo, which most English teachers play with them. Kimberly Teacher: 1.

I feel like there isn’t much else to report. I finally was able to upload pictures to Facebook! There are some that show my apartment and me partying and playing in Korea, if interested. I have quite a few fun-filled weekends lined up. This weekend I am going to the Cherry Blossom festival in the city of Jinhae; about an hour outside of Busan. A bunch of us are going, should be good times! Two weekends after that, Chris and I are headed up to Seoul to be tourists and see his parents who will be in town. Very excited to see more of Seoul! We will also be hitting up a western food store.

Spring is finally springing, albeit slowly, here in Korea. There are flowers beginning to bloom and be planted. It is so refreshing to see some color in this drab landscape. People also are planting fruits and vegetables in random plots of lands. Koreans utilize all open space. That little patch of grass in the sidewalk in the US? Here, a vegetable garden would be planted there! Seriously. It is crazy, but also great and such an efficient use of space. But it is weird to see people hoeing in the tiny strips of space and in open lots that I don’t think even belong to them, lol. Plus, faint warm breezes have started a-blowin’; it is quite nice. I can almost picture flip-flops on my feet! Hopefully spring will signal the end of my sicknesses as well, would be so nice, since I have yet to have a symptom-free day since arriving in The Joch!

Ok, I think that is about it, peeps! I am now fully technologically plugged in and can be found on Skype, Facebook, email, reached by cell phone and am on Google Voice and Whatsapp. Which means that all US numbers can text me for free and I can text back for free! If you need the digits, let me know!

Anyasayeeekayseyo. (my phonetic version of Korean good-bye!)