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 50th 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.
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!
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 9th 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!)
It has been awhile and have had multiple requests for a blog update…so here goes!
I left you all a little sick but on the mend. Well, that all changed. It may or may not have had something to do with going out nearly two weeks ago in a neighboring city with a bunch of people from orientation. What a night! It was Mardi Gras, so we lived it up! All I have to say is: soju is evil. The rest will have to be evidenced on my facebook pictures! Which, by the way, haven’t been put up yet because I still have yet to find a cord…going on a mission later today.
Monday (about 10 days ago) I started feeling more sick after I had felt much better that weekend. By Tuesday, I felt like death. Much worse than the first week of sickness. After my morning classes Tuesday, I asked if I could go home. They finally let me. I went home after lunch and slept all day. But, to no avail. Last Wednesday I woke up and felt worse than I have in years. I really felt like death warmed over. Horrible sore throat, stuffed nose, fever, achey, horrible hacking cough; the works. I called my coteacher (from skype!!) and though barely audible (voice was almost completely gone) told him I wasn’t coming in. He told me to call again at lunch to see if I would be well enough for the afternoon…So, I went back to sleep and got up again around lunch. Still feeling like death and barely able to talk. I called and said I wouldn’t be well enough to come in. He countered with, “ok, me and school nurse will be there in 3 minutes.” What? WTF?!?
Even being on the brink of death, I quickly threw all of my shit into my closet. Low and behold, they were there three minutes later. Koreans are fast! I let them in and they both were like, ohhh soo clean!! I wanted to laugh, but didn’t, haha. They were so nice and kind! They brought me a ton of medicine and a bag of fruit and a Korean herbal drink from another English teacher. It was so nice. Apparently, I had the entire school worried! I returned to school the next day against my better judgment, but figured that 1.5 days off was probably all they would let me and the fact that I was only in my 3rd week, have a year to go and only 7 sick days. Back at school on Thursday, I felt like shit. Horrid, horrid, shit. I could barely speak and lost my voice completely by the end of the day.
By Friday, I was feeling less like death and more just sick. I taught 6 classes (pretty much the whole school day) and again lost my voice. I downed Ibuprofen all day long like my life depended on it!! After school in the evening, I headed to Busan to see Chris. Although I felt sick (again) in Busan, the weekend was fun! Friday night we had Japanese sushi (California rolls!!) and on Saturday we headed for the beach. The weather was beautiful!! Loaded with cold medicine and pain killers I braved the outside. We got Mexican food (Mexican!!!) at a restaurant along the beach. We shared nachos (albeit made with cabbage, but with sour cream) and he got a burrito and I “quesadillas”. They were more like tacos…All in all, for Mexican in Korea, it was an amazing meal! Plus, the weather was nice enough that we sat outside, facing the beach! It was the nicest weather I have experienced so far in Korea!!
After lunch, we headed to a shitty little carnival where I rode a mechanical moving Panda! It was the weirdest shit, ever! You know those like mechanical horses you put quarters in outside stores? It was like that. Except furry. And mobile. It moved around!! I didn’t believe Chris when he said it would wander around…but low and behold, it did! I was laughing my ass off and I think entertaining the Koreans. Chris has a video that I am sure he will post for you all to see! The weather quickly turned to cold, windy and rainy and we had a few hours to kill before a birthday dinner in the area so we “rented” a room in something known as a DVD bong. It is a place where you rent like rooms with these bed/couch things and watch a movie. They are mainly used for sex (Koreans don’t have sex before marriage at home), but we used it for shelter from the elements, and I took a nap! Sickness was still running me down and I needed a break if I was going to last all night. What a weird place though…The bed/couch is vinyl, so they can clean it easily….After the birthday buffet dinner and a few drinks, we headed back early because the sickey (me) was tired and needed rest.
The rest of me week until now has been pretty uneventful. I did receive a package from my Mom!!! That was probably the highlight of my week because it was filled with…AMERICAN MEDICINE!!! Boy, was I happy to see that! I was still very sick when it arrived so it was amazing. It also contained some American food items that I was super excited about such as taco seasoning, dried black beans, dried lentils, Italian salad dressing, vegetable boullion cubes (for broth and soups and such) and FALAFEL MIX! Which I was the most excited by! Can’t wait to use all of the food! The medicine, however, went to use immediately! It did bring about my first full/real bout with homesickness. Seeing all the items and smelling home on the clothes and other items of mine my Mom sent me was hard. Knowing it has only been a month and I have…well a lot more to go, was hard.
But, that being said, I am adjusting to life here. I think my 3 week cold from hell is finally abating. I feel better today than I have in over 3 weeks. It was a horrible, nasty cold (actually, I think I got two back to back). When you are sick, especially as sick as I was, life is shit anywhere. But particularly if you are out of your element in a foreign place without the proper medication. But now that I am feeling much better, life is looking up!! I am really getting into my job and realizing it is pretty cush. I teach 16 hours a week (I work 40) and sit on my ass to “plan” and look at the internet the remaining hours. It takes me only a few hours each week to plan, so most of the time I just look on the internet. I should exhaust it soon, I will keep you posted when I reach the end. My girls here love me. Really, really love me. They are constantly hugging me, holding my hand, saying, “teachaa I love you!” or making hearts with their hands our arms. It is a nice feeling. They constantly shower me in candy. Even when they see me in the street!
For example; the other day I was searching my little Podunk town for a camera cord and while wandering around I saw probably 12 or so girls from my school. They were excited, no, elated, to see me outside of school. Most freaked out and screamed. It was so fun! The last girl I saw ran up to me and gave me a giant hug! So, so sweet! I wish I knew their names though. But there are 1100 girls with Korean names, whom I only see once a week. It is gonna be a while….
I thought I would write a little bit about what an average day looks like for me since I haven’t really talked about that. On a school day, I get up around 7 am and get ready for the day, shower, eat breakfast, make up, do hair, check email and etc… I leave for school around 8:00, but if it is closer to 8:10, I run. I run to school frequently, gotta get some exercise somehow! But, when the foreigner in town is running (with a backpack on, no less!) Everyone notices. “teachaa, running!”. I see all the girls on my run/walk to school. I have to be to school by 8:20. I am very lucky in the fact that I have a super short commute that involves only walking! Most people have to take a bus or train and commute for up to an hour each way. At 8:15 or so, I arrive, take off my boots and put on my indoor shoes. I have a cubby with my name and everything! Legit. After that, I head to the teachers room where my desk is. There are 7 other teachers with me in the room (all Korean). Depending on the day, I teach 2 or 3 classes, except Fridays, where I teach 6!! Fridays are always tough. But, I guess better Friday than Monday for a hard day.
Lunch is around noon, depending on if I am teaching or not. I eat lunch in the cafeteria with the other teachers and all the girls. Everyone eats together here and everyone eats school lunch. School lunch is served on a metal tray and consists of rice, a warm vegetable, usually also a cold vegetable, soup, some type of meat side dish, and often fresh fruit and sometimes yogurt. No beverages are served at lunch, there is a water station you visit after lunch. Something that has been hard to get used to. Also notably absent: napkins. Koreans are impeccably clean eaters and thus do not require napkins! I, however, am not. That has been quite comical/horrifically embarrassing. I drop food (I always do, but especially with chopsticks) and my fingers get dirty. It has been a work in progress.
The school lunch is generally, amazing. I always get full because meat is usually just a side dish here. There have been plenty of lunches actually without any meat! There is often fresh fruit and sometimes yogurt; these are apparently rarities at other schools. One day, there were even delicious strawberries! The last two days, however, have been horrible. Yesterday the rice had lots of little bits of meat mixed in, so I couldn’t eat the main ingredient. The side dishes were meat too. I had 5 strawberries, a few pieces of pickled radish and some broth. I was starving. Today, I brought a granola bar, just in case. Thank god I did! There was at least rice today, but much more meat than usual and no fruit. I had some rice (about a cup, standard serving here) and some cooked seaweed….and later hurriedly ate my granola bar. I just hope the lunch goes back to normal, because it was great before!
After lunch, I either teach, or hang out. The last class ends at 3:00 and I go home at 4:20, so regardless of my teaching schedule, 3:00-4:20 is always free. I usually sit on the internet at this point and don’t even attempt to look busy. I am tired by then and have stopped caring. I am home by 4:30 and since I have been sick, have spent a lot of my afternoons napping. I cook most of my meals here (most people eat out because it is pretty cheap), but not eating meat makes it very difficult. In the evenings I am on skype and facebook and always plan on being in bed by 9:00, but it never happens. I am usually asleep/in bed by 10:30. Any later than that, and I am wrecked for the next day. Even though 11-7 would be a solid 9 hours, I am constantly woken up throughout the night by drunken Koreans stumbling in the hall, up the stairs. Koreans here go out and get wasted on Tuesdays, and Wednesdays and every other day of the week. So, every night without fail, between midnight and 3 am or so, I am up constantly. I slept with earplugs for the first time last night because I finally got a cell phone!! The travel alarm I had been using was very quiet and I was afraid I wouldn’t hear it through ear plugs. So, hopefully sounder sleep is on the horizon for me!! That is my day, in a nutshell.
I get paid tomorrow (woooo!) and will be joining the gym this weekend. So freaking excited about this! I haven’t worked out in over a month and at home for the past year or so I had been working out 4-5 days a week for 1-2 hours at a time, so my body has been going through withdrawals!! Look forward to a Korean workout blog. The gym in Korea should make for some interesting reads!!
Speaking of cell phones, I now have one! And a smart phone, to boot! I’ve never had high tech phones, so it is quite exciting! My cell phone number for the American peeps is 011-82-10-4717-1493. You can call me from Skype for around 2 cents a minute or so. So, do eeeet!!! Weekends are best for communicating due to the severe time change. For example, west coast Friday and Saturday nights, are my Saturday and Sunday late morning/early afternoons. Those are the best times to call. Also, working on getting some app where you can text a US number (so for free) I will get it routed to my Korean phone (for free) and I can text you back (For free). Thank Colin for that! And soon Shyawn and Jennifer for help with that on the US end!
The weather in Korea is apparently confused as to what season it is. The beginning of this week it seemed as if spring really was about to spring. But, spring has not spring in South Korea. I retired my very heavy winter coat earlier in the week for my normal Seattle winter jacket, only to have to pull it out again Wednesday. Sigh. Temperatures dropped back down below freezing. I have heard rumors of snow, but have seen none so far! It is so cold here and because it is now “spring” the school turns the heat off in the afternoon. So, I type to you now wearing a parka, a scarf and many layers. Sigh, someday I will be warm again.
I feel like I can’t close this blog without touching what is going on in Japan. First and foremost, NO I didn’t feel the earthquake. I am in Korea, LOL. So many people asked me that! But, it has shaken me up quite a bit. I contemplated going to Japan to teach and after hearing that the first American casualty was a young woman teaching English, it hit home hard. Being just a stones throw away from Japan makes it hit closer to home. Thoughts have swirled, what if? What would I do if that happened here? What if something really badly happened to me, or my friends here? But, I quickly have to let that go. Not only do I live in earthquake territory back home and have lived through two, anything can happen anywhere, wherever you are. Going abroad doesn’t equate to any increased danger or likelihood of death; just as staying put at home doesn’t guarantee you any additional safety. We can’t, and I refuse, to live life in fear. You have to live. Get out and do shit, even if it scares you. Ya, you might die. But, you could also get hit by a garbage truck on the way to work, and that is an even shittier way to die than being swept away by a tsunami while doing something you gave a shit about. You know what I mean? It was like when North Korea bombed South Korea a few months back. I was already in the process of securing a job here and everyone assumed, didn’t even ask, that I wouldn’t be going any longer. I always said, “why wouldn’t I go?” Some people thought it was a stupid answer, but I refuse to live my life in fear. Plus, it is not as if I am living in the middle of a battlefield. It is South Korea. TIK! LOL. But anyways, what I mean to say or the point I am trying to get across is, you can’t live life with what ifs. I have thought how tragic it is that this girl died in Japan, away from all her friends and family. But, really, would her death have been any less tragic or painful for them had she suffered a brain aneurism (or whatever) in the same city as them? Of course not.
Ok, I think that is about it on my end. I miss all of you so much. The tsunami and my package from home has made me a little nostalgic the past 10 or so days, but I continue to live and breathe everyday here. The days have already elapsed into weeks and the weeks into marking my first month of many here. It is hard to even fathom that amount of time I have left without seeing all of your faces, but I trust you will be there when I return! I hope you all are having your own adventures in your daily life, wherever you may be.
I have been sick. Very sick. About a week ago I started to get a little tickle in my throat which suggested the onset of a cold. What I had no idea at the time was though, how much it would kick my ass. Korean colds suck!!!! New germs, new place, new type of cold!
I went to Busan last weekend to visit Chris. Ended up spending most of the weekend asleep because I was so sick! He was great and went all around Busan finding me medicine. He first went to the Korean pharmacy and came back with some sort of pellet type things that you chew and wash down with a warm liquid. I have to say, it was the worst tasting thing that has ever entered my mouth. The ‘pellets’ as I called them, were the consistency of crushed up crackers…or something. Taste? Somewhere between cement and rotten dog shit. The liquid was horrible too, but it wasn’t as bad as cement and rotten dog shit, so I can’t recall its exact flavor. The Korean medicine didn’t do much for me and Chris, determined to make me feel better, called half the western population of Busan to track down real medicine for me. And what do you know, he was successful! A friend of his had a pharmacy on her, which included….NYQUIL! Amazing. Never was I so happy to see Nyquil in all my life. I took that and then slept most of the afternoon away. I had a horrible sore throat, fever, almost no voice, earaches and just felt like shit.
After sleeping some of the afternoon away, I pulled myself out of bed and we went and wandered for a bit around Busan. I was very tired and still felt very bad, so we didn’t do much. We did eat some amazing street food, though! Some waffle thing with sweet cream type stuff inside, some fried piece of dough with like nuts and peanut butter (?) or something inside, and then Korean style sushi (kimbap, I think?) that wasn’t very great. Then we went and ate Italian (gasp!) food in Korea! It was delicious and the restaurant was PURPLE!! It was cool. After all the eating and walking, I was pretty wiped and ready to get back in bed. So, unfortunately, that was about the extent of Busan I saw! Even though it wasn’t the weekend that had been originally planned, I was still very thankful to have a vigilant nurse looking out for me and brining me pellets and Nyquil.
I have been sick since then. Had it been later on in the year, and not the 4th day of work, I would have called in sick on Monday. Monday was the worst day. I felt like death warmed over. By that point, a horrible (and painful) cough and annoying and constant runny nose had also set in. I was clearly very sick. In Korea, Koreans don’t really believe in staying home when sick. So, going home was never suggested. Many people did suggest I go to the hospital however, but “after work, in evening”. AKA, don’t take time off of work. Many people I went to orientation with are currently sick as well; apparently it is sort of a Korean rite of passage. Everyone gets really sick when they first get here. I at first was worried about the social acceptability of blowing your nose in public, coughing, sneezing etc…Then, I just stopped caring because I felt too bad. I am sure the people in my office hate me and all my sick sounds I have made this past week, haha. Sidenote, haven’t been able to find soft Kleenex here, my nose is not a fan.
By Wednesday, I was out of my foreign medicine and went in search of a Korean pharmacy. I managed to explain cough syrup and cough drops with my Korean dictionary and miming abilities. I was hoping to avoid any more rotten dog shit pellets and succeeded! The cough syrup turned out to have a picture of a vanilla bean on it. I smelled it, smelled like vanilla. Then I took a shot, and yep, tasted just like vanilla. Was it vanilla? Who knows, TIK. I did manage to score Halls cough drops though, which have been a lifesaver. I brought some over, but burned through them quite quickly. Having to teach and yell/talk over 35 middle school girls has taken a toll on my voice and without the cough drops, I wouldn’t have been able to talk at all. The pharmacist also gave me pills for, “my nose”. He pointed and said, “take.” The box is awesome. It has three elephants on it; one sneezing, one with a dripping nose and one blowing its nose. How cute! Gotta love Korean medicine. The grand total for cough syrup/vanilla, two packs of cough drops (American, no less) and elephant nose pills was 6k won or somewhere around $6 USD.
I am on the mend now. Runny nose is abating and so is the cough. All of the other symptoms have seemed to disappear. Let us hope it is all gone by next week!
Whenever I travel, I always bring medicine with me. I usually have a supply of cough drops, Vicks vapor rub (I don’t leave without this; can be used to take away pain from coral burns, sunburns, great to put under your nose in smelly public transportation situations and of course for coughs), cold medicine and antihistamines, in the least. Why? It is not because I don’t think medicine doesn’t exist in other places, but when you are sick and in an unfamiliar place, the last thing you want to do is go on a trek looking for stuff to make you feel better when you feel like shit. Especially when you don’t know exactly what you need, where to get it or what it looks like or is called. So, to play it safe, some always comes with me. But, I forgot Nyquil, I had Dayquil, but no night stuff. Fail!!! So, thank god for Chris and his friend Anne! I have blown through my medicine stash and since I know now there isn’t Nyquil or any equivalents here, I will be having them sent over and other medicine replenished. I hope this is my last bout of illness for the season, but you never know and I don’t want to be caught without anything again!!
In other news, my classes continue to keep me on my toes. Classes on Tuesday were canceled completely (for testing, common occurrence here) so I sat and planned. I really needed that because I still felt horrible and it was good to conserve my voice.
Yesterday, I had the class from hell. My co-teacher was there for the first two minutes and pointed to a girl (in front of the whole class) and said, “reeetahted student.”Ummm, okay, thanks? I hope they didn’t understand. Then, she left. The student does happen to be severely mentally disabled and I am unsure as to why she is in a mainstream class at all. Oh well, TIK. After the teacher left, the class continued to escalate out of control. I did not have much of a voice by this point (was my last class of the day) and it was hard to quiet them down without it. I took possession of many interesting things this class. A few drawing/doodling notebooks, pens and oh…a knife. You know, the usual stuff. Yes, a knife. I confiscated a KNIFE off of a 7th grade Korean girl. WTF?!?! She was like, “teachaa, WHY?!?! Mine!!” I had to move a student to the front of the room for screwing around and then moved knife girl to her seat. Class was horrible. I was glad when it was over. I saw the co-teacher at lunch and she asked how they were. I said horrible. Told her about the knife. Her response? “oh”. As if taking a knife off a 12 year old is a common experience. Ahhh, WTF did I sign up for? TIK.
Taught my first real lesson today (had been teaching lessons about me, introducing myself) from the textbook, which I planned. It went great! Co-teacher said I have great methods. Somehow, everyone is talking about how well I teach and that it is due to my many years of experience teaching….not sure who or how that rumor started, but I am going with it! LOL!
I just saw the class from hell from last week and they were 100x better this week. Just laying down the law last week and showing them that they can’t screw with me, apparently worked! Which was great, because I was dreading this class because it was so awful last week.
As I was heading back to the teachers room after a class today right before lunch, I was informed that we would (all English teachers) be going out for lunch. Going out is always an interesting (albeit awkward) experience. I was told we would be going for sushi….sweet! Something I could actually eat and I wouldn’t have to dodge meat or meat-related questions. Korean sushi is not like Americanized Japanese sushi…it is just big ass slabs of raw fish. I was completely overwhelmed when I saw everything. There were at least 8 courses; two soup courses, a bibimbap-like course (rice, veggies and fish eggs), the raw fish slabs over dry ice, salad, some stir fry thing, kimchi (of course), delicious coconut prawns, traditional style sushi eventually showed up (called kimbap….I think), marinated fish, fried fish, grilled fish, kimchi fish and more! I get a bit of stage fright with chopsticks when I know I am being watched. My fingers become all paralyzed and then they ask for a fork…and I am mortified. But, I was also a little thankful because I was starving and I knew this lunch would be rushed because we had to return to school. I am a very slow eater with chopsticks, especially when having to pick up small items!
The first thing out was clam soup…the clams were still in their shells. I saw them and thought (this was pre-fork), “you have got to be fucking kidding me. How in the hell do you eat clams with chopsticks?!?!?” Apparently, you pick the clam up with the chopsticks (one of the hardest things I have done so far in Korea) and slurp out the clam. It took me about 10 minutes to eat five clams. LOL. Next was the raw ass fish. I thought, how bad can it be? I have grown up eating fish and other sea life. I like it very much. So, I went in for the kill. I picked up a slab of raw fish and stuck it in my mouth. Crunched down and…bones. The bones were in this fish and I was supposed to eat them. They were more like cartilage, but still very strange. The flavor was…weird. It was a very strange tasting fish, very pungent and had a sort of smoky flavor. If someone didn’t like fish, it would probably make them gag. I was hoping to avoid any more of the bone-in fish, but my co-teacher said, “eat, eat, very expensive.” Ahh, SOB! So, I ate 3 more slabs and then was able to avoid it as more courses came out. Most of it was excellent and extremely fresh. We were seated on the floor and I knew my legs had fallen asleep, but I didn’t realize how much. I went to stand and literally had no feeling in my left leg and fell forward against the wall. Ah, fml. So embarrassing! My leg was like jello and I didn’t even have that tingling sensation, it was so freaky! The entire walk to the car I was hobbling like it was broken because I still couldn’t feel it. No one said anything…just looked at me strangely. Oh man, what they must think of me.
I have had many Ifuckinghatekoreawhydidicomehere moments this past week. The combination of being extremely sick, having to work, and still adjusting did the trick for that to come out. I think it is just about out of my system, so that is good. Whenever you go abroad to live (or travel for an extended period of time) there is always an element of culture shock. Depending on where you are going and where you are coming from, the degree may very significantly. It usually goes something like this: I LOVE Korea (or wherever)!!!! Then, I uggggh I fucking HATE Korea!!!! (or wherever), then homesickness, then you settle into your life and love it and towards the end, the cycle repeats. Now, that is not an exact science, but I think it is fairly common for many of these elements to happen. I feel, process and experiences things very deeply. So I usually go through these steps quite quickly (I think).I think I am starting to transition into the settling in phase and enjoying life phase. I hope that I will stay there awhile! The I hate this place phase isn’t very fun and I am glad to be out of it!
I am settling into the school routine and am getting used to my little lemmings following me around. It has become fun. One thing that has been an adjustment to me that I wasn’t prepared for before coming, is the issue of modesty in Korea. Shoulders/cleavage/chest/neck in Korea are not things to be seen. It is equivalent to say, wearing an extremely short skirt in America and flashing butt cheeks. It is not ok, but they are fine with the short skirt, butt cheek thing it appears. I have been hyper aware of the no cleavage/shoulder thing, but didn’t realize how many of my sweaters show parts of my shoulder. I usually avoid showing shoulder by wearing another shirt underneath or wearing a scarf. Today, I had a scarf on and I moved it to adjust and retie, and for probably 15 seconds, a large section of my shoulder showed. There were a few 7th grade girls in the hall and my male coteacher. The girls screamed (wildly), “ooooooh teachaaa sexxyyyyyyy!” and kept screaming it. I was mortified. As soon as their eyes went wild with excitement, I thought, “oh shitttttttttttt!!!!” My shoulder was exposed literally less than 15 seconds, but I might as well have flashed them. Oh well, TIK.
I’ve also discovered a new trick for quieting my class down without wrecking my voice. I roll my tongue (like to roll rs in Spanish) I can do this for quite a long period of time and I don’t strain my voice; plus it works every time! They always freak out; I don’t know if that is something done in Korea, lol. But, they seem to like it! Whatever works, right?!?
I completely re-arranged my room and finally finished unpacking and setting it up. It feels much more homey now. I have at least 100 pictures up of my peeps on my wall to remind me of home!Speaking of my apartment, I came home yesterday…to my door open. WTF?!? I was really freaked out at first and went to find my Ipod and camera (which were in plain view, had my laptop with me) but they were all accounted for. Nothing seemed to be out of place, except that my bathroom door was shut, which I absolutely knew I did not do. I just kind of shrugged it off and asked a few locals about it later. Apparently, the landlord (Mr. O) will come check on you/the apartment periodically when you’re new…and often leave the door open. But, I guess it is okay because….TIK.
Another interesting (although maybe I shouldn’t blog about it b/c it might seem pathetic, haha) thing I have been adjusting to is working full time, 5 days a week. I have worked less than 3 months full time…ever. Why? Well, most of my life I have been in school. Most of my summers (except the one where I worked full time) I have been traveling. So, I’ve never really done the whole full-time job thing. Man, is it exhausting! Why do people do this?!? No, seriously, why? You get up, go to work, go home, go to bed. Then, you get up, go to work, go home and go to bed. And again, and again and then one more time for good measure. Every week.Ugh. Rough. I know I sound like a pathetic spoiled little brat, but it is real. So, don’t hate! Adjusting to full-time employment is exhausting. Why do we spent so much of our time doing things we don’t enjoy? I would for one much rather have way less money and spend less time working and more time living. Naïve, perhaps, but this sucks. Already imagining my escapes to foreign tropical places…
I am hoping that this weekend will be better than the last. I have some fun things planned, will write about them next week! One of the fun things includes…a trip to COSTCO! I have visions of bread, cheese and cereal dancing in my head. Costco is one of the only places to find cheese and I am way too excited. And ps, I have lost and/or misplaced my camera cord, so I can’t upload pictures. ) : When I find it or buy a new one, new pictures will be up for your enjoyment!
Write soon.
Love,
Kimberly
PS: Communicating with everyone back home has proved to be quite difficult/damn near impossible with the severe time change (17 hours to PST, 14 hours to EST). You are all getting a window into MY life via this blog, you should all shoot me some emails or Facebook messages every once in a while so I can hear what is going on with you! I miss everyone terribly and have been ridiculously excited by the few Facebook messages and emails I have received. So, get to writing!
