Seoul Shift: Seoul

Where to start?

Two weekends ago, just after my last post, my friends and I made a trip to Seoul for the three day weekend. We had Monday off because of the Korean Independence Day, and there were some birthdays that weekend, so we decided to hit the city. We got a bus up on Saturday and proceeded to walk around for over an hour asking for prices at different hotels. Finally, we found one for a reasonable price in Sinchon, just outside of central Seoul. We went out that night for a nice dinner, which was a much needed change from spaghetti and ham sandwiches I had been making back home. Let me just say this: Overall, Korean food is ok. After spending time in Europe, and having a mother who can really cook, I’ve seen what I believe are some of the tastiest, most extreme creations that can be made with what God has put on this earth. However, Koreans definitely do chicken right. If you go to a “Chicken and Beer” place anywhere in the country basically, you can get an array of different flavors and sauces, and enough chicken to feed four or five people, for just under $15.

While I’m on the topic, I’ll dive a bit deeper in. My personal opinion of Korean food. Ready? Ok, here it goes: Koreans like spicy things. In fact, if you find a meal that doesn’t have ground up red peppers all over it, remember the name so you can order it later. The food that appears at every single meal, no matter what, is Kimchi. It is basically cabbage that has been sitting for some time and then is coated in, well, red pepper sauce. It has a very strong smell and everyone makes it somewhat different, although to the untrained tongue, it’s hard to tell the difference. I eat lots of soups here. On the traditional menu, I would say that over half of the items are some kind of soup served with a side of rice and of course kimchi and other small items. There are Korean BBQ places, where you get served raw meat and then cook it over a small grill in the middle of the table, which is usually really delicious. Those are always great options for a good meal out. Rice is typical; it is usually at every meal in some form. Also, fish is very popular. In fact, when I walk out of my apartment, I smell fish. Fish is everywhere, and even at the supermarkets, where we would see tons of different steaks, ribs, meats, etc, there are a variety of different fish. It makes sense considering this is a peninsula. It takes some getting used to. I love fish, don’t get me wrong, but for me it is more of a once in a while kind of food. I love trout, but I wouldn’t eat it every day. Here, seafood is the way to go, especially for snacks. Example: A few days ago I went to the cinema with some of my Korean co-workers. I sat down with my coke and buttered popcorn. They sat down with their coke and fried squid. We were both equally happy. I tried the squid, and although it wasn’t bad, in my opinion: 1. It doesn’t go with coke. 2. It doesn’t belong in a theatre. But that’s just me, of course. Ok, and to wrap up my quick opinion of Korean food… The only thing that bugs me is that at most meals outside of restaurants, you never drink during the meal. Water comes after the meal. In fact, you don’t even have a cup. So, I, the soft tongued, dehydrated foreigner slowly begin to shed small little tears while eating spicy fish, rice, and kimchi, waiting desperately for the cup of water. I finally got over the fear of committing cultural taboo and I just bring bottles of water with me to school every day for lunch. No one seems to care, although sometimes they point at the water and chuckle a bit. But they know why it’s there.

Kimchi

Ok, back on topic. We are in Seoul, we have just had dinner. We head back to the hotel, get dressed nicely, and head to Hungdae, one of the livelier parts of town. We met up with some friends from, surprisingly enough, Group 6, our beloved group from orientation. If you haven’t noticed a trend already, we usually move as a pack, taking over small cities as we go. Again, at least twelve or so of us met up in Seoul. We found them at a small pub in Seoul and the night began there and ended in some other pub after a few epic games of darts, pool, and of course, music and dancing.

The next day will go down in Korean history as one of the greatest days of all time.

We slowly got up the next morning, got some food (pizza to be more specific), and got ready for an epic day out. That afternoon, all 12 of us took off in search of “Lotte World”, the famous indoor amusement park there in Seoul. “Lotte” is the name of a company here in Korea that is somewhat like “Wal-Mart” back in the US. They have huge department stores, but it doesn’t stop there. They have “Lotteria”, the restaurant, “Lotte-Mart”, the massive stores, “Lotte Cinemas”, “Lotte Insurance Providers”, you name it. I feel like Lotte owns a lot of Korea, just because it’s everywhere. So yes, as any large conglomerate should, Lotte has its own “Lotte World”. You know? Like “Disney World”, except, just, “Lotte”. We definitely need a “Wal-Mart World” back home, just an idea.

Story Time: While on the subway to lotte world, all 12 of us are sitting down, in this very "public" subway, talking about whatever. Now, one thing I'm beginning to notice is that Koreans never speak while in motion. Let me explain: On subways, buses, escalators, moving sidewalks, playground slides, or anything that can be called 'public transportation' really, no one ever speaks. Maybe slight whispers here and there, but for the most part, people don't make noise. I don't know if it is being respectful of those around them or maybe the fact that the way buses drive here puts everyone on edge, waiting for an accident at any moment. Either way, when I am with my western friends on any public transportation, we feel like the obnoxious ones because we are simply talking. So, we are all on this subway, chatting way. We aren't playing soccer, or having a screaming contest, we are just talking. Then, this guy from the other end of the subway leans out and yells very loudly our direction. Our friend who speaks korean told us that he had basically told us to 'shut up' but in a really rude sense, almost like 'shut the #$@# up'. When she told us this, we were shocked. We lean out and respond with, "I'm sorry. Is this your subway?" He was obviously super upset that we were speaking in public, and we weren't about to stop speaking, I mean, we had things to discuss. So, as he is leaving the subway, apparently he says some pretty nasty / racist stuff, things that back home would end up in some sort of brawl, who knows. That was a pretty hot topic for the evening, wondering how someone could justify telling a bunch of people they don't know to shutup in a public place. Our only conclusion was that this guy just didn't like foreigners and he was having a bad day. It is true that soldiers, especially in Seoul, have caused some trouble over the years and have ruined some people's view of Americans.

After taking a subway to the “Lotte Supertower”, we realized that finding this mysterious indoor park would be a bit complicated. Seeing as it’s indoors you can’t just look for the roller coasters like you do back home. After walking through the oversized supermarket asking for the nearest roller coaster, we were finally directed the right way. We walked past all of the electronic stores, clothing shops, restaurants, food vendors, (all of this in one massive building by the way), perfume suppliers, and other thing you find at a department store. Then, we turn a corner to see the entrance to “Lotte World”. When I found out the tickets were $30, I was not happy. I mean, who pays $30 to go to an indoor amusement park? Actually, who goes to an indoor amusement park? I mean, what is that? Seeing as we had come all that way, and despite some believes, we are only on this planet once, I bought the ticket. As I went up the escalator, my eyes were opened, to the awesomeness (yup, word) that is “Lotte World”. Not only is this place incredibly huge, but the amount of lights, rides, and attractions that they pack this place full of is mind blowing. We rode log flumes, pirate ships, this that take you up over the roof, make you look at Seoul, and then plunge you down faster than gravity. We rode roller coasters, watched Koreans sing N-Sync, ate a not so New York like New York hotdog, and then finished the night by ice skating on an olympic-sized, well maintained ice rink in the middle of this amusement park while watching and dancing / falling to a live performance of YMCA, with a Korean accent. Overall, this place was awesome and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. I hear there is another place in Seoul that is supposedly better, so I’ll make sure to visit that one and tell you guys about it at some point during my stay here. That evening, we ate dinner at about 12:30am because the park closed at 11pm. The next morning, we all split ways, heading back to our cities to start another week at school.

We started school on Tuesday because of the long weekend, so last week felt very short. We had our Wednesday night game of volleyball with the school staff, I finally joined a gym just down the street from me, and then I got recruited to play soccer for a team here in Gwangyang. Next story begins, now:

After playing with the expats from my city, I began going to the fields more to just play around with whoever was out there. Apparently, that weekend, the largest tournament of the year was coming up for the province. Teams from all around get together to have one weekend of total soccer. The winner walks away with a trophy, a flag to keep for a year, and quite a bit of cash. A team in the area, one of the better ones around, was interested in having me play because of my age. The tournament allows a certain amount of players from each age group to avoid teams getting a bunch of 20 year olds and just going to town. You are allowed 2 players 22 and under, then 2 players 22 to 26, and so on. So, on Friday, I went to practice with this team. At first, it was a bit frustrating not being able to communicate at all on the field. Actually, even at the end it was still frustrating. They are good, very good. Apparently a few of the players played pro for some time but had to quit due to injuries or families. So ya, I did well at practice, but I was not only the new player, but the deaf / mute one.

The next day, I got up and headed to the stadium. I get there at 10am, thinking I’m early, and all of the teams are lined up on the field, and the mayor of the city is giving a speech from the podium. I guess I missed that memo. Anyway, they come to me after the ceremony and say, “First game, 12:30.” They invite me to a quick lunch and we go eat. As we are eating, noon rolls around and I’m looking at my phone saying, “hey, shouldn’t we go to the field?” They respond by saying, “First game at 2:30, don’t worry”. Ok, now 2 oclock comes and we are still sitting around, not warming up. Game is at 3:30, oops. Nope, it’s actually at 4:30. Ok, so finally we get out on the practice field and we are stretching, kicking, warming up. By this time I’m frustrated that I wasted basically an entire day sitting around waiting to play. It gets better… We go to line up for the opening ceremony (you line up, bow, shake hands, etc) and we are the only ones on the field. Everyone leaves and starts going to the parking lot. I’m looking around going, “what is happening?” Someone comes to me and says, “Other team, no come this year. We play 2^nd round tomorrow”. At that, I take my jersey off, and walk away. My friends sitting in the stands waiting for the game to start are just as confused as I am. So ya, my first Korean soccer experience didn’t go so well. The fact that the other team was never there, and no one thought to mention that was crazy to me, but only to me, which was also crazy to me.

The next day, I came out, and we did play. The team was good, very good, but again, not ever playing with them or being able to communicate with them was frustrating. I did alright, but considering the amount of players they have (more than enough) and the quality of players, I felt like having someone who has no knowledge of Korean was just a hassle. But, they wanted me to play, so I did. We ended up placing 2^nd in the tournament after a 2-0 loss in the final match. They had the award ceremony and one of these days they are all going out for a really nice dinner with the award money from 2^nd place. Also, that weekend, Gio came down from Boseung and we went to a party at San Antonio’s, a Spanish owned bar in Suncheon. It definitely felt like a Spanish place, with the décor, the environment, and Jose, the owner. I definitely plan to be a regular at this place.

What else is new? Well, at the party, I met some people who do latin dancing in Suncheon. I was really excited to hear that, and they invited me out dancing with them. So, last night (Thursday), I took a bus to Suncheon and met them at this small dance studio in Suncheon. What a blast! There were maybe 25 people there in total, but the place was small enough to make it feel just right. Everyone besides us was Korean, and everyone was very good. They played Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Cha Cha, you name it. It was good to finally get some quality dancing in, and now I have something to look forward to every Thursday night.

How about school? School is going well, very well. The kids are great, and although the “new teacher” status is wearing off, if I continue to throw new things at them, they continue to stay at least semi-interested. Here, I’ll take you through each grade:

1^st: I have seven awesome students. This class is really easy because, well, they are entertained by everything. I do a dance with them, and they are thrilled. Sing a song, they love it. Play tic tac toe, they are enthralled.

2nd: I have seven students as well. The smart kid in the school (at least at English) is in 2^nd grade. He’s a pain in the @#!, but his English is amazing for never having had any English friends or lived abroad. The class itself is pretty good, and I use a lot of the same material from 1^st grade, I just have to make it detailed or they can get bored.

3^rd: They guys can give me issues. I have ten of them, but the levels of English are so varied. Some of them are fairly good, and a few of them are totally lost. So, when I pass out worksheets, 3 of them are done in 5 minutes, and 4 of them don’t have anything written down yet. Also, the difficult stuff I give the older kids is too difficult, and the stuff from 1^st and 2^nd is too easy, so planning for them can be a little troublesome at times, but nothing too bad.

4^th: 4^th grade is surprisingly good, considering they are about the same level as 3^rd. There are only 6 of them, and 4 of them are really good students. Those 4 pressure the other 2 into getting their work done because they want to finish their work and play games.

5^th: This is my favorite grade. There are 9 of them, and they are a very dynamic class. 7 of those 9 play soccer with me every day, and because of that, they think I’m awesome. And for some reason, the entire class is obsessed with Barcelona FC, my favorite soccer / football team, so when they found that out, they again, flipped out. They usually catch on to the games very quickly, get their work done, and then we watch youtube videos as a reward. There is one girl in this class who is probably my best student overall. She not only does her work fast and well, but she will ask questions about it instead of just sitting around and waiting for everyone else to finish. And, she kicks all the guy’s butts at lunchtime soccer, and they get frustrated.

6^th: There are only 5 of these guys, 2 girls and 3 boys. They are easy to handle and stay not hard to get interested. I can talk to them and they maybe get about 50% of what I’m saying if I speak super slowly, and then the rest I can make motions or draw pictures and they understand. I enjoy this class because it fits the stereotypes so well. The two girls are super quiet and sassy. The three guys are loud and beat each other up. When we play games, the girls always win, by a lot. And then on worksheets, the guys will get stuck and ask the girls for help. Maybe half the time, the girls laugh and say, “no”. This class is great, though, and it’s a good change of pace from the younger kids.

This week, the three older grades are watching the movie, “The Sandlot”. Today, Friday, we are having Coke Floats and eating popcorn while watching the movie. Originally, it was going to be rootbeer floats, but finding rootbeer here is basically impossible. The kids have to write down every name they hear throughout the movie, and then they have to say / write something about the movie at the end.

Actually, just finished watching the movie, and it was great. The kids loved it, and the coke floats were a hit. Now, for the weekend. Tonight, Gio is coming in, and in the morning we leave for Daegu for a K-Pop concert. Then, Sunday, we have a soccer game here in Gwangyang followed by a cookout with the team. So, this should be a good weekend and i'm definitely looking forward to it.

Until next time!