I heart Seoul

(Yet another emo posting)

There is a spot on the orange line from Oksu to Apgujeong Station where you go over the Han and it offers a 60-second, picturesque view of the city. I remember the first time I saw it during my first weekend in Seoul. It was a clear night and all the lights of the city were shining and reflecting on the river all magically. I had only been here 5 days and I remember thinking how cool it was that this was where I lived now.

I still feel a little bit of that when I ride the orange line over the Han. I love Seoul. It’s overwhelming sometimes, but most of the time, I feel really lucky to live here.

I don’t leave Korea for another four months, but I’m already getting sad about it. I know I will love Japan, (granted I get the job) but Seoul and I have had a good run. This summer I didn’t think I could possibly do another whole year, but now that my departure is nearing, I'm thinking another 6 months wouldn’t have been that bad.

I do feel like I’ve done the best I could to “suck the marrow from life” during my time here though, and as good as I have it here, it’s time to try something new. Time to go to another country and experience those first few weeks where everything is new and exciting and a little scary too. That’s why I left North High, and Minnesota and my family and friends. And that's why I am leaving this city that has become my home.

P.S. A quick google search revealed that the "spot" is the Dongho Bridge. Here's a picture of it that I did not take...so I'm posting it illegally. When I figure out how to use my camera, I'll take one of my own.

Seoul Fashion Week

This past Thursday I attended my first fashion show. Seoul Fashion Week is going on right now, where 30-some, mostly Korean designers present their Spring and Summer collections. We ended up seeing designer Lee Young Hee's show. Her collection wasn't anything I could wear (probably couldn't afford or fit any of the clothes) but it was still cool to see a real-live fashion show, and I hope to attend more in the future. Japan Fashion Week this spring maybe?

I still haven't figured out my camera, but I managed to get a few decent pictures:

Incheon Global Fair & Festival

Yesterday I got roped into attending a festival in Incheon with Vicky and one of her coworkers. I say “roped into” because it was in Incheon, and there’s really no reason to go there unless you are headed to the airport. (Sorry Incheonites, but it’s the truth) I went though, because A. I'm a good friend, and B. I wanted to play with my new camera.

It took us several hours to get there because of transportation mishaps. This is my second visit to Incheon and both times, it has taken a ridiculously long time by bus due to horrendous traffic. If you’re ever Incheon-bound (again, not to the airport) then it’s actually faster to take the subway.

The entrance to the festival was a good example of how freaked out Koreans are about the whole swine-flu thing. We waited in line first to be spritzed with hand sanitizer, and then to pass through the so-called “Flugun” gates where a machine doused us in some kind of germ-fighting mist.
A tad extreme, but I didn’t mind at all. As far as I’m concerned, the whole H1N1 scare has been a blessing in disguise. In the last month or so, hand-sanitizing stations have popped up everywhere; at my school, in office buildings, etc. I think it’s great, because most public restroom faucets are either lacking hot water, or instead of a soap dispenser, there is a bar of soap attached to the sink that everyone is supposed to share!!! Ish. Cold water does not kill germs, and that bar of soap has everyone's bathroom hand-germs on it! I try to have hand sanitizer on me at all times in Korea, but these days, thanks to H1N1, I don't need to pack my own because it's everywhere.

Hand sanitizer stations at Chungdam H.S.

Along with hand sanitizer stations, Koreans are now practicing such germ-fighting techniques as covering their mouths when they cough or sneeze! Amazing! Hopefully this trend will last beyond the H1N1 hoopla. Oh, also those medical masks that are ubiquitous in this country anyway, have doubled in wearage.

But they still hock loogies all over the streets (and stairs at my school). I don’t know if that will ever go away, despite my giving death-looks to every ajushi who does so in my presence.

-End Rant-

Back to the festival. I think the point of it was to highlight Incheon's plans to become "the city of the future," but I was more interested in the "International" stuff. My favorite was the “World Cultures Street” where they had food, shops, and exhibits from around the world. We browsed a Moroccan bazaar, ate Turkish ice cream, drank French wine and saw Brazilian Carnival dancers all without leaving Korea. It really made me want to travel; everywhere. Unfortunately, like the rest of the general population, I have limited vacation time and funds. Most of my vacation days for this contract are already shot because of the trip home for my sister’s wedding, but I do hope to squeeze some trips in this Spring before I go to Japan. (Topping the wish list are India and Nepal and/or Vietnam)

It was also really humorous to see the Teddy Bear Museum, where they had teddy bears depicting highly stereotypical scenes from different countries. A few examples:

Germany = teddy bears in lederhosen drinking beer

New Zealand = teddy bears acting out a battle from "Lord of the Rings"

The United States = teddy bears dressed as cowboys fighting Indians

Sweden = teddy bears dressed as Vikings. (No mention of Norway; my ancestors are now rolling in their graves)

Central and South America were lumped together as one unit, represented by teddy bears acting out a soccer game between Brazil and Argentina, with Mayan and Aztec ruins as a backdrop. Hmm...wonder how they would feel about that.

I guess it's no different from people in the Western Hemisphere thinking Korea, Japan and China are basically the same. And...they were teddy bears.

Here are a few pictures. I really need to figure out how to use my fancy new camera, because there are so many cool functions and I only know how to use Auto and Landscape mode. Where is Dan Thai when you need him?


The Incheon of the Future (really I just wanted a pic of the little girl in the swine-flu mask)

Brazilian Carnival dancers scandalizing a Korean man (although he didn't seem to mind)

Teddy Bear Pope

Lazer/Fireworks show. Incheon..."Lightening Tomorrow!"

Warp speed

(Written 10-4-09)

Maybe I'm just getting old, but life seems to be moving at warp speed these days. Whenever I sit down to write a blog, there are far too many things that have happened and I end up doing a lot of omitting and summarizing.

I am back home in Minnesota for my sister's wedding, and it seems like I was just here yesterday. In the six weeks that I've been back in Korea since the last home visit, I've given two teacher-training presentations for S.M.O.E., made two T.V. appearances, resumed Korean lessons, started taekwondo classes, and participated in a "Mass Freeze" at COEX with Vicky. I thought that when the majority of my friends left in August, things would sort of settle down, but that hasn't been the case at all. I like being busy, but I think I'm putting too much on my plate these days.

As for the wedding, it was kind of a blur; I flew in Wednesday night, ran errands all day Thursday, Thursday night was the rehearsal dinner, then I woke up Friday morning to the hair and make up lady arriving at our house to beautify the bride and bridesmaids.

The ceremony itself was beautiful; I told my sister that she did a great job of choosing the music, flowers, etc., and I wasn't even there to boss her around! (I am kind of a know-it-all big sister) I think the highlight of the wedding for me might have been at the reception, when my mother, aunt, and their childhood friend wanted me to teach them some new dance moves during "Ice, Ice, Baby."

It was a crazy weekend and it went by way too fast, but it was really good to see everyone. I spent a lot of time at the reception answering questions about Korea. I realized people really don't know very much about it. One of my cousins asked how life was in "Tokyo." I said, "I live in Seoul...Korea." He's like, "Oh, they're all the same to me." He was half-joking, but it is true that aside from Japan and maybe China, people don't really pay attention to this part of the world, and I was more than happy to fill them in.

Some of the common questions I was asked:

"Do they eat kimchi for every meal?" Yes, but kimchi is a side dish, not the main part of the meal.
"Is the education system better?" Yes and no...the students are more motivated and take their education seriously, but the focus is on test scores rather than learning for learning sake.
"Are you like a minority over there?" Yes, totally.
"Do you like it?" Love it.

It made me grateful that I took the plunge and moved to Korea over a year ago; otherwise my knowledge of Korea would have been confined to KIA and Kim-Jong Il.

Also, on Thursday I purchased (or financed, I should say) my first DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera! I've been wanting one forever, and my sister's wedding seemed like a good excuse to get it. I'll be paying it off for the next year or so, but it takes fantastic pictures and I think it was definitely worth it.

Testing out the new camera before the Rehearsal Dinner

St. Ambrose of Woodbury (where the ceremony was held the next day)

My sisters, after hair & make up

The bride just before the ceremony

My mom, aunt, and Kathy rocking out at the reception

My little bros looked so handsome :)

One of my favorite pictures; me & Nat with our new brother-in-law :)

Grammar FAIL

(Written 9-24-09)

It's almost time for midterms, and that means I have been bombarded with nit-picky grammar questions all week. It's lots of fun...not.

I feel like a fraud as the resident English "expert" at these times, because for most of the questions I can't explain my reasoning, I just know what is right or wrong or what sounds awkward in English.

One teacher sent me the following message. I think I have a pretty good handle on English grammar until I read something like this:

The pair of sentences illustrates two different patterns which a group of English verbs allows. This pattern is often referred to as "dative shift" because it involves an alternation in the marking of the recipient or indirect object argument.

(1) a. John gave a beautiful ring to his daughter.

b. John gave his daughter a beautiful ring.

It is generally assumed that (1b), called the 'double object construction', This is why we call the alternation between (1a) and (1b) 'dative shift', However, it is not the case that all VPs with the form of [Verb + NP + to +NP ] can undergo the dative shit and give rise to the corresponding double object construction, [Verb + NP + NP]

Uhhh...what???

At the bottom of the message, there were 10 sentences and I was supposed to choose which ones had undergone the "dative shift." Now, it looks pretty obvious in the above example, but the sentences all seemed to be the same in construction. I wrote the teacher back saying so, and that I had never even heard of a "dative shift," and I was sorry I couldn't be of more help.

This happens all too often. Mostly, the Korean English teachers know more about English grammar than I do.

Details in the Fabric

Because sometimes Jason Mraz can say it better than I can.