Okay, so, this is not at easy as it looks. Plus, I'm lazy. I prefer to sit around and do nothing when I'm inside rather than write and upload pictures and junk but I miss my family and friends back home so, perhaps you are missing me.... ?

Last weekend I went with Jared (another teacher) to Hanok Village and found about 100,000 beautiful things that I want to buy-eventually. There are some beautiful crafts here. Hanji paper is one of Jeonju's most noted arts and there are about 1 million stores that sell Hanji paper products in Hanok Village. We spent several hours wandering around and checking out all the artistic shops in this traditional-themed village. I also took many, many pictures, so...Yay-ay!

Something I found really interesting is that foreigners are kind of like celebrities here. Jared is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, corn-fed American and he stuck out like, well, an american in South Korea. That got us a lot of attention. Children flocked to him like Jesus shouting every possible English word they could come up with. It was awesome! I, however, felt a little more like Justin Timberlake's entourage but, whatev', it was still fun. Apparently, Koreans are not always sure if I'm foreign or just the foreigners' Korean friend.

I posted some pictures for you to check out. I'm obviously fascinated by the traditional architecture. It is way may colorful and artistic than anything we have at home. Have fun! More soon!

Okay. So I’ve been a little lax on my blog writing. Worse yet, I’ve hardly taken any pictures to share with you but I have been doing a little adventuring so…

Thursday night some of the other teachers invited us newbies to dinner at a VERY Korean-feeling restaurant. There was graffiti on the walls, we were served rice wine in over-sized teapots and watched as they cut up live octopus at our table!

Ya. I know. It’s so not PETA-friendly but it’s an experience I’m glad I did not miss. I’ll bet you didn’t know that the octopus still moves after it’s been cut up…. AND the tentacles still work. After watching that, there is really nothing left that can traumatize me-I think. Ben (he’s been here 2 years) was sitting next to me and explained that when you eat a piece you can feel the tentacles grabbing onto your tongue. So…. I had to try it. Yes. I did. I’ll have to admit though that it took quite a few minutes for me to maneuver the squiggling thing into my mouth and by that time I think it had already surrendered to it’s fate. I did not feel the sucking on my tongue. (Too bad that would have been the most action I’ve had in a while. Ha ha.) I tried to build up the courage to try it again with a fresher piece but, alas, the moment had passed. In case you want to know…it had the texture of fresh squid and it was seasoned with sesame oil, so it tasted pretty good.

I also tried cow lung the other day. Ryan (the one from Seattle) and I found a Kalbi BBQ and it was DEEEEElicious. I can totally see why Koreans protested when the government tried to import American beef. The quality here is superb! Perhaps that’s because their meat is not pumped with antibiotics, formaldehyde and anti-depressants! J/K on the formaldehyde-maybe, I’m not sure. Whatever the reason, the meat is really good here. The meal came complete with all kinds of side dishes like kim-chi and blood soup and radishes of all kinds + cow lung cooked in egg batter! I had to stick to my “Yes, Man” theory and at least try it. The egg coating was good but it is extremely rubbery. I don’t recommend you try that one at home. The blood soup tasted like, well, blood-yick! Otherwise, it was well worth the 17,000 Won. That’s pretty expensive for dinner around here but it equates to about $20 which is less than it would cost at home. The owner was super nice and brought us a Coke (actually Pepsi) on the house.

Eating at home is not as exciting. Lots of ramen and sandwiches but I’m getting better at finding the goodies. I went wandering around on Saturday night sampling all kinds of ice cream and pastries. Too bad, though… I was really hoping to lose weight here. You learn the true meaning of “American Thighs” when you try on a pair of pants in Korea. RRRrrrrrrriiiiiiippp!

Even the frogs speak Korean!

May 13, 2009

Yesterday was my first day at work and I was, well, totally overwhelmed. There is so much to learn, memorize, prepare for and my brain was feeling like the jelly I smuggled from the airplane-tiny and mutilated by a chopstick. But I got through it and dragged my tired body back home. I was asleep before I could even finish my dinner.

Which turned out to be great because this morning I finally slept in until 9:00! I know it sounds weird but we don’t start work here until 3pm and end at 10…ish, so getting up at 7 am was just not going to cut it.

I went for a run alongside the river and it was a trip. I’m sorry I didn’t take my camera but I will next time. There were centipedes everywhere and bugs I had never seen before. I kept swatting and darting away from them as I walked until I the thought crossed my mind that someone might have me arrested as a crazy American. I love hiking and such and it felt good to be able to do something I’m familiar with but I still felt estranged. When down by the water I realized that even the frogs speak Korean… Eoooooor…aeppuk! Walking on the trail, I saw that EVERY single female was wearing an extra large visor! You know the one… the one that covers almost your entire head? PLUS… they were all wearing swine flu masks of some sort. ALL of them. And there were a lot of people out there. I guess they were uber-concerned about their skin and their… sinuses? I’m not sure. Maybe they heard an American was heading out there this morning and they didn’t want to risk being infected by my “pig” germs. Whatever, it was weird, yet they were all staring at me as if I was the strange one.

And the “gymmer” equipment was out there too. Just a few random Nautilus machines hanging out beside the river… whatever. So I used them again today. Why not? I felt like part of the crowd AND I need the exercise sleeping on this torturous mattress. I can’t even sleep on my side and cuddle with my piwow ‘cuz it hurts! No wonder Asians are so uptight! Ha, just kidding, self.

Anyway, work was better today. I’m feeling much more confident than I did yesterday. I think the extra bit of sleep helped. I even got a little desk in the middle of the supply table but I have to fight for my space every time I return from the classroom to find my desk overrun by staplers and hole-punchers. It’s ok. They will all fear me soon enough. Ah hah hah.

May 11th-Still on delay

May 11, 2009-Monday

I woke up at 7:00am this morning. I don’t know what kind of timing that is because that would be 3:00pm back home-Whatever. I was up, so, I made my breakfast of eggs and oddly shaped bread with teaspoon of jelly that I smuggled from the airplane.

I was smart enough to bring cooking spray so my eggs were just the way I like them-sunny side up and virtually fat-free but I had to giggle as I spread the jelly on my bread with a chopstick. I called my mom to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day and I got a little sad when she said “OK, phone calls are expensive so-Bye!” but she’s right… I guess L

I finished the rest of my usual morning ritual, put on some workout clothes and headed outside. I walk/jogged around the city for 2 hours watching the city wake up. I discovered a bunch of tiny little details by accident, such as: taxis will always honk at walkers to see if they need a ride not because they think you’re cute; you should pass other pedestrians on the left, not on the right or they will knock you over with a dirty look; and, if a coffee shop looks “American,” expect to trade them your arm to pay for it!

Another interesting bit of knowledge is that “working out” at the park does not just mean walking the trails. There is actual gym equipment in the park!....Outside! There are “Gymmer” machines in every park I’ve seen so far. Since I don’t have a gym membership anymore and my back was killing me after the plane ride I went ahead and started working out. Luckily, I found a park near the Korean Sports Training Center that was surrounded by trees and blocked off from the street. I was able to work out in peace and even found some coins that someone had lost while they were working out. Good thing I did not brag yesterday, huh?

Here I am!

(Slightly delayed because I just got internet service today!)

Yesterday I arrived by airplane at 5:22am. By the time I got my baggage and made it through customs, it was almost 6:30. It was not too hard to figure out. We’ve all been to airports before and it’s all pretty much the same but there were about 3 million forms to fill out and I had to wait in line for someone to take my temperature. (Swine flu ;>) By the third form, I had the process down and was able to slide right on through without any hassle. The baggage checker did look at me a little funny when he saw my two purses and four suitcases but forgave me instantly when he saw that I will be here for a year to teach English. Teachers hold a very high status here and I find most people are impressed when I tell them why I am here. Thank goodness, I could use a little grace.

Thanks to Cyrus, my recruiter, who sent Mr. Youngmu Noh as an escort, I was able to get on the correct bus to Jeonju. The bus ride was almost four hours but the bus was luxurious! The seats were better than the airplanes and reclined all the way back for riders to sleep-Heaven. I tried to stay awake but it was hard. We stopped at a rest stop that was quite well endowed with a mini-mart, restaurant and food carts in addition to restrooms. There were quite a bit of signs that had English “subtitles,” so it was easy enough to find what I wanted which was simply (mul) water. So, aside from my bus ticket, that was my first purchase and I did it all by myself!-whoopee.

When the bus brought us to the last stop in Jeonju City I did not see any obvious indication that my escort was there and I had a brief moment of panic until I found out that my phone does work here! I can’t seem to call outside of the country but I can call local numbers-hunh? So, I called YoungHee Lee, a manager from the school, and found he was sitting in his car. (Apparently he had a long night and found it difficult to be up at 10:00am, hee hee.) When he saw my luggage he almost fell over. I apologized over and over as we tried to fit it all into the backseat of his small car but he just laughed and said “Well, you moved, right?” Ahh, such understanding.

He took me to a market around the corner from my apartment and bought me the Korean version of Frosted Flakes, milk, orange juice, mul and toilet paper. Then, we visited the apartment, went over the details like mail and trash and went to lunch. We took another teacher from “Great Britain” and had a traditional meal of bibimbap, kimchi and a bunch of other things that I can’t pronounce or remember the names of. I know I’m going to have to develop a tolerance to spicy foods here. EVERYthing is spicy. Yikes, I was sweating and dripping snot out of my nose after only five minutes and I’m sure I made a great impression on my new co-worker but I seriously doubt Ian could tell given the stench of last night’s booze-fest coming off of him. Apparently, I have arrived in the middle of a holiday weekend.

Afterwards, I returned to my apartment to unpack and (hyusik) rest but I couldn’t sleep.
I spent most of the afternoon going back and forth to the market around the corner trying to make my apartment comfortable until finally the clerk commented that we “Engurish teachers” must be rich! I remembered references that in Asian cultures it is bad luck to brag and better to say that something is not good enough so the spirits will keep giving instead of believing that you have too much, so I just shrugged my shoulders and did the “so-so” wave with my hand. I don’t know if he understood but at least I can keep my good luck.

At about 7pm, Ian from Great Britain knocked on my door to see if I wanted to join him and some of the other teachers for a barbecue at the park. He was standing there armed with a soccer ball and (sool) alcohol. So European. At least half of that looked like fun but unfortunately by that time my brain had finally given in to the weakness of my body and I had already opened a beer in preparation for sleep. There’s no need to push it. I'm here for a year.

Well, if you don't already know by now, I am officially telling you. I am going to teach English in Korea for one year. Yes, Korea. So many people have asked me "Why?" and "How did you find out about it?" and such. Well, another bit of information... hold your breath.... I AM Korean. Actually, I'm American/Korean/Mexican/?????. What's with the question marks? Another tid-bit... I'm adopted. So, I don't know very much about my ethnic heritage. My adopted family is a mix of Mexican, Spanish, Irish, Pilipino and Chinese, so by general 1970's standards, I was a perfect fit for a young mixed couple looking to adopt a child. It was close enough for me, too, until I became a teenager and began to look so different from my siblings and parents.Usually, when people learn that I'm adopted the next question is "Did you ever want to find your birth-parents?" and the answer to that has changed somewhat over the years but has basically always been "Not really." Of course, when I was around 19 (and sometimes still today) I thought I might like to confirm my suspicions that mental illness was thick in my blood and when I was around 26 I started to wonder if I looked like my birth-mother. Still, the most prevalant and consistent concern for me was that I never had any real connection to or knowledge of my Korean heritage. It's easy to take for granted the fact that you belong to some culture by blood and, therefore, have lineage and ancestry and traditions. Of course, I've adopted those of my family but I have no link to the culture that contributed to my existence.A couple of years ago, my mom gave me some papers that she'd been saving in her safe deposit box that she recieved when they adopted me. There was very little information in there but I preened it for every tiny morsel of possible revelation. I learned that my birth-mother was pure Korean. She was a 19-year old college student at USC when she was pregnant with me and I was probably the product of a one-night stand. Or at least nothing serious because she made reference to the father as merely Hispanic (actually"Latin"-it was the 70's) and short. The paperwork seems to say that he does not even know I exist. I also learned that she was adopted as well.Trip out. I had no idea. As the information began to sink in and I sorted out how I felt about it, I realized that what I wanted from her I couldn't get because she was adopted too. She was also disconnected from her cultural heritage. So, I let it go and in place began dreaming of visiting and researching Korea.On a parallel path in my mind, I always wanted to spend a "Semester Abroad" or teach English for a year in some other country and really get to know it. But I used my twenties in other ways and was not organized enough to do something like take a year off of American life and ride the wind. I was otherwise occupied. I floated a lot but I didn't ride. Going back to school a couple of years ago was exhilirating, exhausting and incredibly fulfilling but I felt old at 30+ in a class full of kids who didn't know who Felix the Cat is. I had the persistent idea that I had to "catch-up" with other 30 year olds who had progressed much further than me in their financial and education aspects. I was so sure that I had "No time for nothing" as my grandmother used to say. It was a stress-producing perspective and it was all wrong. The instant I graduated and found I had more than enough time and nothing to do with it but look for a job, I realized that I had all the time in the world.While organizing my closet for the 100th time, I remembered my dream of teaching in another country. Pinnochio's song "I've got no strings, to hold me down..." rang in my head until I realized that it was true and I was fortunate. I could leave if I wanted. My only obligation is to pay bills for dinners I ate 5 years ago and I can do that from anywhere thanks to the internet. But who wants to leave their life when it's just starting a new path? Then, I realized that my path is where ever I look. If my plan is in sync with the universe, then it will reveal it's self easily and readily. I told myself that if I was going to take a year off from my career goals, it would have to be in Korea. And the next day, during my daily job search on-line, I found this ad on Craig's List:
Teach English in Korea for one year.