Well, I've never felt more like a celebrity than I do here. Or a sideshow freak, I haven't quite decided yet. Daejeon is a city of over a million people, but there aren't a lot of tourists that come through, so white faces are pretty rare, and we stand out a bit! I get stared at a lot, by everyone: kids, adults, seniors, it doesn't matter, we're different, but we all look the same! We were walking into a store today, past a group of school kids, and one of them actually gasped out loud, and then wanted to touch us!
A favourite game among school kids here is to choose one person out of a group to say "Hello" as they walk by. So we respond with "Hello" back and they laugh and laugh and run away. The staff from my hogwan (private lesson school) were also on tv on Saturday, hocking other people's wares at a flea market. It was actually a ploy to advertise a traveller's and teacher's market that they are trying to start, but they had us calling out to people, showing off the stuff (old Korean books, used clothes, and t-shirts with endangered fish) and making sales to all the market go-ers. The problem was, people didn't come look at our table, because it was 5 white people being forced to speak English, trying to sell junk! The Korean workers at our school were cajouling people to come over and at least pretend to be buying stuff, but the one time David reached out to a girl, she screamed and ran away! They sure did stand back and take pictures though!! I'm pretty sure we made it into at least a dozen photo shoots, and not just the camera man from TV, no, just regular people out to explore the flea market on a Saturday afternoon, in shock that a bunch of "weygugen" (foreigners) were manning a booth.
On the plus side, it doesn't really matter what we wear, and to a lesser extend how we act in public... we're white and therefore they automatically think we're just a little bit off. At least the pressure's off there!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
I made it!
Annyeong Haseyo!
Welcome to my online journal of my adventures in Korea!! So far, just getting here has been an adventure in itself, but no one wants to hear that again, so moving on...
Well, I made it here at last!! Brendan took me to the airport at 4:00 am on Tuesday, so we pulled an all-nighter before hand, which probably really sucked for him but I think in the long run it may help me with the time change! The roads aren't busy at all at 4, and neither is the airport, I basically walked right up to customs and through security, which left me with ample time to wander aimlessly around the secure area, because if I sat in one place too long I would fall asleep. Once on the plane, however, I don't even remember the safety talk, I was out pretty much as soon as I got into my seat. I flew to San Francisco, where I had 6 hours to kill, then boarded my flight to Seoul. The flight over here was no first class, but thankfully I had no one else in my row, so I had 3 seats, 3 pillows, 3 blankets so that was more comfortable, made up for the lack of leg
room in front! They also have personal tvs, with your choice of dozens of tv shows, movies, music, even games! So I slept more, watched some movies, they even had Corner Gas!!! Between the airport and the flight (11 hours on the plane from San Fran to Seoul) I started and finished a book, (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime... really good, written from the perspective of an autistic boy, I recommend).
It was 24 degrees in seoul when I landed at 6:15 pm!!! And VERY humid. And Charlotte and her boyfriend were there to meet me, so great!! They had some supper at the airport (they had also been travelling, but I got fed on the flight) some soup thing (names of individual dishes will come later, right now I'm still working on "hello" and "thank you" and "good bye"!), with veggies and lots of soft tofu and clams, and it comes with rice, and only mildly spicy. It was REALLY good!! I'm excited to try all sorts of new dishes, as I haven't had a lot of Korean food before. I tried kimchi, which is a little more than mildly spicy!! But considering what it is, it wasn't too bad, I think I'll probably grow to like it more and more as they serve it with EVERYTHING! (Side dishes are a big thing here... Charlotte and Aaron ordered their food and they just brought 4 dishes to the table... kimchi cabbage, radishes, steamed bean sprouts and mushrooms, this is pretty normal). The metal chopsticks are a little strange because they're flat! And heavy, compared to the nice bamboo ones I'm used to! Charlotte says they take a little bit of time, because they are different, but you can also buy wooden ones so I might do that, as well as some metal
ones, to practice!! Since then, I've also picked apart a chicken carcass in soup with chopsticks, and had sushi (Kimbab) for breakfast!
I live at the school, my apartment is on the roof!! It's pretty interesting, but it'll be fun. For one thing, it's a lot bigger than
I thought! It's all one room tho, with the exception of the bathroom. The bathroom has a toilet, a sink, a showerhead over the sink, and a drain on the floor!!!!!!!!! Weirdest thing I've ever seen. I'll post pictures. Also, evidently the hot water isn't always constant. For one thing, there is a control on my wall, I have to turn the hot water on and off as I need it. And it sometimes runs out if you use it too long, but if you turn the water off and then turn it back on, it comes back. I learned this after 80% of my shower was an icy stream. The good news is that we get a free gym membership, and they have "normal"
showers, at least a big room with a bunch of showers on the walls, so I'll be in really good shape because I'll prbably go there a lot to shower. I have no oven, I think I may cry. Charlotte has one, but it doesn't work. I have a hot plate, which also doesn't work. That is my kitchen... a sink, 2 feet of counter space, 3 cupboards, and a broken hot plate. Evidently eating out here is really cheap, and for the most part relatively healthy. I will have to talk to my boss tho, to get that fixed. They also just installed an AC is my place, but they put the unit in a window, and then left it, so there's now a large gaping hole all the way around it. I stuffed some cushions from the couch around it, but that'll have to get fixed too.
My first day (Thursday, I guess) I woke up and had no idea what time it was, as my watch was still on Calgary time!! (It was 4:20 pm at home!) Turns out it was 7:20 am here, so I found out as I went wandering around the building trying to fins the floors where the school was and I might find someone I know! I have a very divided schedule... I teach 2 classes (50 min each) at 6:30 am, then 3 more at 6 pm, so I have all day free, which will be kind of nice, lots of time to explore the city and shower at the gym! haha. I'm teaching all adults, which has been fun so far; I'm shadowing Hannah, who is the teacher right now but is switching to teaching kids in October because she doesn't want to wake up early any more (she lives quite a ways from the school). I've met most of my students now, and will take over classes on my own on Tuesday.
Well, this was an incredibly long post, but I'll try to keep them short, sweet and fun from now on! Hannah and I are going out with some of our students tonight, where they're going to introduce me to Soju, so tomorrow morning could have some interesting stories!! I should go for now, must buy some groceries (on my own, eek!! The first time Charlote went shopping on her own, she tried to buy crackers and ended up with dog biscuits!!) But for now, hope everyone is havng fun at home, I miss you all a lot and can't wait to hear from you soon!
Lots of love,
Laura
Welcome to my online journal of my adventures in Korea!! So far, just getting here has been an adventure in itself, but no one wants to hear that again, so moving on...
Well, I made it here at last!! Brendan took me to the airport at 4:00 am on Tuesday, so we pulled an all-nighter before hand, which probably really sucked for him but I think in the long run it may help me with the time change! The roads aren't busy at all at 4, and neither is the airport, I basically walked right up to customs and through security, which left me with ample time to wander aimlessly around the secure area, because if I sat in one place too long I would fall asleep. Once on the plane, however, I don't even remember the safety talk, I was out pretty much as soon as I got into my seat. I flew to San Francisco, where I had 6 hours to kill, then boarded my flight to Seoul. The flight over here was no first class, but thankfully I had no one else in my row, so I had 3 seats, 3 pillows, 3 blankets so that was more comfortable, made up for the lack of leg
room in front! They also have personal tvs, with your choice of dozens of tv shows, movies, music, even games! So I slept more, watched some movies, they even had Corner Gas!!! Between the airport and the flight (11 hours on the plane from San Fran to Seoul) I started and finished a book, (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime... really good, written from the perspective of an autistic boy, I recommend).
It was 24 degrees in seoul when I landed at 6:15 pm!!! And VERY humid. And Charlotte and her boyfriend were there to meet me, so great!! They had some supper at the airport (they had also been travelling, but I got fed on the flight) some soup thing (names of individual dishes will come later, right now I'm still working on "hello" and "thank you" and "good bye"!), with veggies and lots of soft tofu and clams, and it comes with rice, and only mildly spicy. It was REALLY good!! I'm excited to try all sorts of new dishes, as I haven't had a lot of Korean food before. I tried kimchi, which is a little more than mildly spicy!! But considering what it is, it wasn't too bad, I think I'll probably grow to like it more and more as they serve it with EVERYTHING! (Side dishes are a big thing here... Charlotte and Aaron ordered their food and they just brought 4 dishes to the table... kimchi cabbage, radishes, steamed bean sprouts and mushrooms, this is pretty normal). The metal chopsticks are a little strange because they're flat! And heavy, compared to the nice bamboo ones I'm used to! Charlotte says they take a little bit of time, because they are different, but you can also buy wooden ones so I might do that, as well as some metal
ones, to practice!! Since then, I've also picked apart a chicken carcass in soup with chopsticks, and had sushi (Kimbab) for breakfast!
I live at the school, my apartment is on the roof!! It's pretty interesting, but it'll be fun. For one thing, it's a lot bigger than
I thought! It's all one room tho, with the exception of the bathroom. The bathroom has a toilet, a sink, a showerhead over the sink, and a drain on the floor!!!!!!!!! Weirdest thing I've ever seen. I'll post pictures. Also, evidently the hot water isn't always constant. For one thing, there is a control on my wall, I have to turn the hot water on and off as I need it. And it sometimes runs out if you use it too long, but if you turn the water off and then turn it back on, it comes back. I learned this after 80% of my shower was an icy stream. The good news is that we get a free gym membership, and they have "normal"
showers, at least a big room with a bunch of showers on the walls, so I'll be in really good shape because I'll prbably go there a lot to shower. I have no oven, I think I may cry. Charlotte has one, but it doesn't work. I have a hot plate, which also doesn't work. That is my kitchen... a sink, 2 feet of counter space, 3 cupboards, and a broken hot plate. Evidently eating out here is really cheap, and for the most part relatively healthy. I will have to talk to my boss tho, to get that fixed. They also just installed an AC is my place, but they put the unit in a window, and then left it, so there's now a large gaping hole all the way around it. I stuffed some cushions from the couch around it, but that'll have to get fixed too.
My first day (Thursday, I guess) I woke up and had no idea what time it was, as my watch was still on Calgary time!! (It was 4:20 pm at home!) Turns out it was 7:20 am here, so I found out as I went wandering around the building trying to fins the floors where the school was and I might find someone I know! I have a very divided schedule... I teach 2 classes (50 min each) at 6:30 am, then 3 more at 6 pm, so I have all day free, which will be kind of nice, lots of time to explore the city and shower at the gym! haha. I'm teaching all adults, which has been fun so far; I'm shadowing Hannah, who is the teacher right now but is switching to teaching kids in October because she doesn't want to wake up early any more (she lives quite a ways from the school). I've met most of my students now, and will take over classes on my own on Tuesday.
Well, this was an incredibly long post, but I'll try to keep them short, sweet and fun from now on! Hannah and I are going out with some of our students tonight, where they're going to introduce me to Soju, so tomorrow morning could have some interesting stories!! I should go for now, must buy some groceries (on my own, eek!! The first time Charlote went shopping on her own, she tried to buy crackers and ended up with dog biscuits!!) But for now, hope everyone is havng fun at home, I miss you all a lot and can't wait to hear from you soon!
Lots of love,
Laura
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