Hooray for 4 day weekends! The Korean holiday of Chuseok is basically just Korean Thanksgiving. It’s where all the families get together for dinner. It’s kind of insane how this holiday affects Seoul as a city. The entire city just empties as millions of people travel to their home towns. You should never travel around South Korea during Chuseok because a normal 3 hour car trip will end up taking 10. However, inside Seoul it’s practically deserted! Much different than the usual hussle and bussle.
For school we had an all day Chuseok party. It’s traditional to wear a Korean Hanbok during Chuseok so we got to see all the kids dressed up. It was the cutest thing ever. I even got to dress up! Later when the kids got changed we made traditional Korean songpyeon, which is like a rice cake.
Gifts are a tradition for Chuseok. However, i’m still a little perplexed at what is a popular Chuseok gift. Going into the grocery store they had all the gift sets out for sale. Most of them involved nice perfumes or body washes…and some had soap and toothpaste (a nice way to tell your friend that they should be a bit more hygenic). But the most popular gift to give seems to be one thing…………SPAM. Yup. Koreans LOVE spam. The had whole walls full of spam presents you could give. It was one of the stranger things i’ve encountered. I was lucky enough to only get fancy teas and lotions and no Spam. However my friend Missy did get a traditional Korean gift of……..boxes and boxes of anchovies. Lucky!
This is a pretty long overdue post but I wanted to talk about the Mud festival that happens every year here in South Korea. Every year a town on the west side of Korea has a festival dedicated to MUD. This particular mud is considered to be really rich in minerals and its used in many cosmetics that you can buy at the festival. The festival is known for being a HUGE foreigner fest and people from Korea’s international community tend to flock there. Jim and I went with some friends through a big Hiking group. Our bus had Koreans, Americans, Aussies, Brits, Indians, Irish and a couple of Sweedish guys who were quite fun. Overall we were a crazy awesome group.
After arriving at the festival in the afternoon we went straight to the mud. There were two parts of the festival, the beach part and the MUD EXPERIENCE part. The part you had to pay to get into had the mud slides, mud obstacle course, mud bath, mud wrestling, and other fun things. The rest of it was the beach, mud painting and other things.
I had a lot of fun getting covered in mud. I really liked getting covered in the colored mud. That was fun. We waited around in that paint line for a while. Our line was going slower because we were in the line with this guy who was being really precise and doing all this detail stuff. Of course, as soon as it’s our turn they switch him out with this lady who could not make it more clear that she didn’t give a crap and just sloshed some paint on as fast as possible to get it over with. We tried to explain to the korean lady that Jim wanted a huge American flag on his chest (In case people couldn’t tell we’re American) but I don’t think she understood because it ended up a green, blue, red abstract swirl with a few white dots.
That night we made dinner on the roof of our hotel. It was quite Yummy. Oh, and did I mention that it was Monsoon Season and that on and off all weekend it was pouring? There was quite a torrential downpour the next morning while we were making breakfast too. We hoped that the rain would make people not want to go down to the festival so that we wouldn’t have to wait in lines as much, but there were still a large amount of people there.
After getting covered in mud again, Jim and I headed down to the beach and he let me bury him in sand. Then we met up with Ben and Shannon and decided to try out the Mud Land slides and such. Right when Jim and I were getting ready to race in the obstacle course, these guys were throwing mud onto the runners right before they start, I didn’t know this and so wasn’t prepared for getting mud thrown in my face. It got in my eye and in my ear. I had to go to the first aid station and get it flushed out of both. That was a tad annoying. The girl running the obstacle thing said to come back after I was done and we could go with out waiting in line. However when we went back, they had switched out the girls and the new one had no idea what we were talking about. So that kind of sucked. But then we went on one of the other big slides and that was fun so overall it was cool.
All in all i had more fun just swimming in the ocean and being on the beach than I did with the actual mud part. I managed to not get a sunburn from the weekend which was a huge goal of mine. My co workers who had come back the previous week were all the color of lobsters. My friend Missy had a sunburn in the shape of a handprint where someone had put a mud handprint on her shoulder.
So, the last couple months i’ve been saving up money for vacation and haven’t been out on the town in a while. As such, really haven’t had a lot to write about. But now I have TONS to write about and most of it is about my Vacation.
Our school gets…..wait for it………….ONE WHOLE WEEK of summer vacation. I think some of my kids almost cried when I told them that American kids get 3 months. Anyway, even though the vacation was short I tried to make the best of it. Luckily for me the awesome Jim Bailey was here for 2 weeks to come with me on my adventures. The first of our stops was the Trick Eye Museum in Hongdae.
The trick eye museum is pretty much this nifty little place that has all these optical illusions. There was a pretty cool magic show while we were there. A girl in a very very short skirt did some basic tricks. The strange thing was, it was the level of magic that would be great for kids, scarves and flowers out of sleeves and such, yet the entire audience was Korean couples in their 2o’s and they were LOVING IT. The only part I was really impressed about was the part where the girl made a bird appear out of some scarves, which was pretty good. Either way, the show was enjoyable.
Most of the museum is Photo Ops, since it’s meant to be interactive. It was really fun if you like taking photo’s of yourself…..which I do. At the end of the Museum was a very large mirror maze. It was pretty hard to figure out. I had to have Jim come and save me. Overall I really enjoyed this unique museum.
So one of the funniest things happened to one of my coteachers today. She was telling me about it later and she told it like this,
So…I came into my class this morning and there’s one the students rubbing some shiny toy all over her face. I go up to her excitedly, and as her, “What is that?” She just continues to rub it on her face while smiling. So I ask, “Is that a flashlight?” She shakes her head no. She shows it to me proudly, and says, “Batteries go in here and it goes ‘Bzzzzzzzzzz….’”
Yup. One of the students seemed to have found a shiny pink vibrator and brought it to class. My friend had to take her outside and explain that she needed to put that back where she found it and try not to let her mom find out. She seemed really confused as to why. Talk about your awkward conversations. Any way, I guess the lesson here is…..If you have kids, hide your private things a little better.
After the cherry blossom festival Missy and I spent the day at Changgyeonggung Palace. It’s this really old palace in the middle of Seoul. It was a really fun time. It was nice to get a feeling of being outside of the city. Everything on both the grounds and in the palace was very quiet and peaceful feeling. The korean architecture is pretty amazing. So much detail.
It’s strange as an American to visit these ancient places. I had the same kind of experience in Britain. Nothing in America is very old. No buildings, no statues. Just a couple of hundred years. It’s strange going to a building that is older than your entire country.
While walking around the different buildings I couldn’t help wondering what it would have been like to live there so many years ago. If it weren’t for the nonexistence of women’s rights and indoor plumbing I think I would have really liked it.
Anyway, this is a short post because, really, the pictures speak for themselves.
So last week was Seoul’s yearly Cherry Blossom Festival. Every year for about two weeks the cherry blossoms are in full bloom and thousands of people flock to different sites to take pictures and stuff. For a foreigner like me it’s just as much about the INSANE amount of people as it is the actual blossoms.
Now, since outside isn’t a great place to put on make up, I had to apply Donna’s make up and then, with her in full Geisha face, travel by bus, taxi and foot to get to the festival. This proved to be quite interesting and i’m really proud of Donna for going out in public like that. In the USA it wouldn’t be that big of a deal but here in Korea……well, people just don’t really like to “stand out in a crowd”. It’s very rare to see a Korean with a piercing or dyed hair so when people saw Donna with her full make up and hair done, we got a lot of stares. We actually had to stop quite a few times at the festival because so many people wanted to take pictures with her.
The festival itself was beautiful. Well, at least in parts if you kept your eyes upward and ignored the many people taking pictures and food stands every two feet. It was a long and exhausting day but we got some great shots thanks to Taylor’s photography skills. It’s a shame he’s leaving in May!
Lately I’ve been sick of the constant requests for Ateens so I’ve been trying to introduce my kids to some cooler music. Success! My kids have lately been requesting JUKEBOX hero, their new favorite. Last week we were learning about “shows”. As a class project I printed off and laminated some play musical instruments and the kids got to play BAND all class. It was pretty awesome watching all of my kids rock out with their little plastic guitars.
I made 10 different guitars. 4 of them were pink because I have 4 girls in each class and I wanted to show them that rocking out can be for girls too. I have one girl in my class who is crazy sweet and kind of a tomboy. One of the things that makes me love her is that she doesn’t really care what anyone thinks of her. She just does whatever she feels like. One of the things i’m not a fan of in Korea is the way the emphasis gender roles….especially for girls. All of the women here are very very feminine and the parents dress their girls up in skirts and bows 95% of the time. Some of the girls in my classes weren’t really keen on the idea of playing guitar at first (they all wanted the piano and mic) but they eventually warmed up and had fun, but they all chose the pink guitars. All of them, except my very special tomboy. With all 4 pink guitars in front of her, she went straight for the hard core blue one with lightning bolts. If she wasn’t one of my favorites before, she definitely is now. Love that kid. I introduced her to “The Donna’s”, an all girl rock band, and she’s now a huge fan.
I so happy watching my kids really enjoy rock and roll. In Korea boy and girl bands are the biggest things. You don’t hear a lot of rock music. It’s mostly just pop and techno. I was happy to see my kids warm up to it……it took a few tries. Some of the boys took to air guitaring really well. In fact two of them were so into the GUITAR SOLOs in a few songs that I was worried they would hurt themselves with all the crazy head banging. When the bell finally rang and it was time to eat snack I told them:
“Ok, guys. Time to give me the guitars.”
“NO!!! One more time, teacher!”
“Come on, don’t you guys want your snack today? It’s donuts!”
“NO SNACK! ONLY ROCK!”
They made a pretty good argument. How could I say no to that? So I let them listen to the music while eating and finish rocking when they were done.
Minnestota class was equally as enthusiastic. I have one kid who was literally born to be a rock star. He had the crazy energy and love of rock that makes legends. In the middle of his big guitar solo, he busted out the splits and just kept right on jamming. It was a glorious site. One of my more favorite days.
Last week my friends and I headed down to the Horse Races in Seoul. It was quite the trek to get over there. Bus, walk, Subway, different Subway. When we headed out to the track the first thing that I noticed was a most disgusting and nauseating smell. No, it wasn’t the Horses or their poo……..It was the “snack” stand. You know how at baseball games, it’s common to eat popcorn. Well apparently in Korea some people enjoy a yummy bag of roasted beetle things. I’m sure it’s a tasty treat……but I didn’t get any. I had to endure this horrible stench for a while though, while we bought our beers. Now, to explain why everyone had to buy their beers OUTSIDE the races, I’ll need to explain a little about Gambling in Korea.
For the most part, gambling in Korea is …..well, illegal. It states that anyone caught gambling for the purpose of gaining property or money shall be fined 5 million Won (about $4, 500). Anyone caught opening a place of gambling can be sentenced to 3 years in jail. But like most things in Korea…..there are loopholes. They started opening casino’s for the sake of creating tourism. Now there are quite a few casino’s but Korean’s aren’t allowed in. There is currently only one casino in the whole country that Koreans are allowed to enter.
Koreans are allowed to gamble in a couple of ways. The first being: THE LOTTERY! wooo. However, the amount of tickets you are allowed to purchase is strictly regulated. Another….not really illegal, depending on how you do it….is Online Gambling. Now, if you put the funds into a Korean account…..Illegal. Put it into a foreign account….legal.
The final and last way to gamble is of course…..HORSE RACING, and man do they love it. Other kinds of race betting is ok as long as it’s a multi national event that is sanctioned by the Ministry and culture of Tourism. Now, the thing about any kind of betting in Korea is that your not allowed to sell alcohol inside the gambling facilities. Apparently that’s just one to many sins at a time! So, back to why everyone had to get their beers outside by the stinky bugs.
The racing place was HUGE and awesome. There was a little pit where everyone could gather around as they presented the horses. Inside was incredibly crowded with men checking stats and placing bets. They would stay inside until the race actually started and then swarm out into the stands by the hundreds when the horses got to the gates.
I’m sure your wondering, but no….I did not walk away from the races a millionaire. In fact I lost every single race by quite a lot. 5,000 Won that i’ll never see again. So…like, $4.50. I did however manage to find a cool secret tunnel that led to a cool park area in the middle of the track. It was mostly for kids and families of the men who stayed and bet. It was pretty cool. You could get right up to the track and watch the race. Also, for the kids there were bikes and trikes that you could rent and ride around on. Also, there was a virtual racing arcade. I almost got run over a few times by teenagers on roller-skates. It was a highly enjoyable afternoon.
After a lovely nap in the Taxi, which took 3 times as long because our driver got us stuck in traffic, we headed out to a pub for dinner. After my delicious meal I went home and took a second food coma nap and then headed out to meet Mike for the French Horn Rebellion concert in Hongdae.
Now, Mike and I, being the geniuses that we are, figured that the subway would take us an hour, but if we took the bus and a cab we could get there in half the time. We felt a little less sure about this plan as, while stuck at a light on the wrong side of the road, we watched our bus fly right by. GAH! 4 seconds to late. So, after waiting 25 min for the next bus we took a lovely 30 min journey to Itaewon and caught a cab, secure in our minds that we would still make it in plenty of time. The problem with Korea and directions is this. ALL of the names sound the same. So if you miss just one little e or vowel or say it right but because of your accent the driver hears wrong, you can end up 25 min in the opposite direction of where you wanted to go. So, after this realization, we had to get a second cab and go to the location we wanted in the first place. So, alas! Our brilliant idea to save time ended up taking us about 2 and a half hours. But, to be fair, had we not missed the bus and went the wrong way, we’d have gotten there really quick.
While walking to the concert we ran into a couple of drunken Irishmen who were….entertaining if not somewhat douchy. They asked me if I’d ever been to Ireland. I said yes. They asked if i’d had any family over there and I replied that I didn’t but that I used to back in the day before they moved to the U.S. back in the old days and that I had some Irish in me. “Oh, do yea? What’s yer surname?” they goaded, being kind of snide about it. I replied, “Well, it’s Chase but my grandmother’s was Patrick.” To which they immediately burst out laughing at, “OH! Patrick! That’s rare there. I don’t know if I’ve ever met a Patrick. No one’s ever told us that before!” Psh. Whatever. It really is Patrick. Can’t help it that I don’t come from a more original Irish name. My other grandmother was Schmaus. Guess I’d be cool if the guys we met were German. But no worries, we managed to lose the obnoxious twosome when we got to the concert.
Unfortunately for us we thought that the show would be relatively easy to get into. We were not prepared for the block and a half long line that awaited us. But we got a little lucky because Mike had some friends already in line. ( The two Irish boys had to go all the way to the back. Haha! Must be the luck of the Not-Irish-Enough-for-you) We were still worried about being able to make it in though. But luck struck us again in the form of Mike’s awesome friend Candance! Candance had bought our tickets for us ahead of time. Unluckily, the people in charge said that the people with tickets still had to wait in line with everyone else. But, Candance being the fierce, take-action, lady that she is managed to bypass us to the very front of the line and get us in anyway. Score!
The actual concert was great. A million degrees, but still great. There was an awesome Korean cover band that really knew how to rock. The FRENCH HORN REBELLION did not disappoint either. It’s really cool to be in that kind of venue with all of these other people just having a good time and rocking out. I must have sweated out 3 pounds at least, but was still very happy by the time I left and passed out in my bed. Weekend: Success!
My birthday was pretty cool this year. One of the reason’s it’s super cool is 1.) My birthday last’s 2 days here because of the time difference. So I got people telling me Happy Birthday for 2 days! 2. ) I get to celebrate my GOLDEN birthday two years in a row. Since Korean’s count years different, this year I turned 24 on the 24th! So, I get to turn 24 twice! Little things like that really excite me.
I actually woke up on my birthday feeling really bummed. I miss my friends. I figured that since I haven’t really been here that long or gotten to know anyone that well, that no one would remember/care that it was my birthday. While getting ready for school I imagined the cool birthday I WOULD be having back home if I hadn’t come to Korea. I knew where I would go, what awesome people would come………..it just made me really homesick.
But what a surprise! When I got to school I was led in the computer room where a Birthday cake and a TON of other food was waiting for me. It was the first surprise party I’ve ever gotten. I’ve wanted a surprise birthday my whole life. Technically, they do this for every teacher’s birthday….but since mine came first I’m the only one who get’s to be surprised by it this year.
To add to the awesomeness of my birthday…….it just happened to fall on the day of our class Field Trip! We actually stayed inside, though. We had an activity day. So all day on my birthday I got to play with the kids instead of teaching and yelling. At first the kids were really confused about the fact that they didn’t have to work. They kept asking, “Why no work?”. I told them that it was my birthday so the whole school decided to have a party. haha.
The activities were pretty fun. We made faces on bread out of candy. First we took a pepero stick and smeared on chocolate syrup. then we made eyes with M&Ms and a mouth and hair out of gummy worms. It wasn’t that bad of a snack. While they were eating I got to play some music on the computer. I pulled up the live feed from 93.3 in KC over the internet. I explained to the kids that this was a radio station, and that people were listening to the exact same music at the exact time, on the other side of the world! They were pretty amazed by that.
After snack time I played a favorite movie for the kids…..MILO AND OTIS. It was the cutest thing, watching them watch the movie. They got really scared when Milo was going down the rapids! ”TEACHER! Is the kitty going to die! Noooooooo!” Cutest thing ever.
There were pictures after that and then the kids got to watch a puppet show while the teachers took a break. I’m really glad I didn’t have to stay and watch. It was interactive……which is a nice way of saying that it got LOUD. A room full of screaming 6 year olds hurts my ears more that most concerts I’ve been too.
Lunch was amazing. I got to eat real French fries for the first time in a month! Also, bulgogi and Kimbop(Korean Sushi). After lunch the kids had more block and drawing time. Then we made these art project things where we take foam clay and press their hands into it. The Kindy teachers will paint these and then we’ll give them back to the students on each of their birthdays.
It was a pretty exhausting day. We still had to teach our after school classes. No play time for them. For my birthday dinner we went out to Travelers and I had a lovely omelette’s. Yum! No drinking however. I learned the hard way that drinking on a school night leads to a shitty shitty day at work the next day, even if you go to bed before 12, like I did. You do NOT want to be hungover and dealing with children. Not even a little. Sigh, guess I’m just getting old.
