Sunday, November 30, 2008

Big mouse

Really sorry for the lack of pictures in this blog. We don't have internet in our apartment yet, so I can't really upload any of my own, and I must resort to using links and other people's pictures off the internet. But soon that will change.

Andy and I visited the Seoul Olympic Park this weekend. It was so good to find an open, tree-filled space. There also happened to be an enormous sculpture exhibition throughout the park (links to other people's images here). Sculptures included spheres, swirls, strange creatures, giant thumbs, and tall geometric shapes. It felt very much like walking through a surrealist painting, what with all the strange things protruding from the ground of an otherwise normal environment.

In other news, I'm slowly falling in love with Vietnamese food. So far I've counted 2 Vietnamese food chains, but there could be more.

Which brings me to the subject of Korean food. Am I in love with it? No. Will I be? Probably not. But I've decided to stop feeling guilty about that, because it's not like I'm a stubborn American with stubborn American tastes. I liked Japanese food (for the 2 days that I was there, I know, but I liked it nonetheless), and I like Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Morroccan, Italian... etc. So it's ok if I'm not crazy about Korean food, since I seem to really like everything else. I am not dismissing Korean food by any means; there are so many dishes I have yet to try. But I'm ready to stop being disappointed in myself when my taste buds aren't dancing in ecstasy at the taste of kimchi.

And let's conclude with a funny story. Last week, a student told me he called someone a "big mouse", and he wondered if this was offensive because the person looked a little angry. I told him no, I didn't see why calling someone a big mouse was bad. But he wasn't satisfied with that response. He said it again: "big mouse." And I realized he was saying big mouth.

Monday, November 24, 2008

The mystery deepens...

The more Andy and I teach, the more we conclude that Koreans must be the bearers of some esoteric knowledge about another dimension or planet - probably "Otherwhere."

For instance, I was discussing travel with a student, and asked him if he ever did any sightseeing. He enthusiastically said, "Yes. In my uncle's house, there are many mountains."

Andy had a student who works in a pharmacy, but her English is very limited. She told him that as soon as she knows more English, she will tell him about "behind the world."

Mysterious indeed.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Does this look like pizza to you?



Believe it or not, this is Domino's. Yes, the very same Domino's Pizza whose headquarters are in (or is it near?) Ann Arbor, MI. I thought at least restaurant chains were safe from having their products Koreanized, but it seems that nothing is sacred after all. At least Krispy Kreme is the same.

Domino's Korean website. Click on "menu" for more ghastly photos.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Otherwhere

Today in a lesson, the word "invoice" came up. I asked my student what he thought it meant. He went "uhh" and "umm" for about a minute, then came up with a very fragmented and strange definition: "A common something from otherwhere." I wish I knew what word he thought he was defining.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Le weekend


On Saturday, we tried to go to the Seoul Museum of Art. Well, I say 'tried' because we did manage to get there, but only one gallery in at least a ten-gallery museum was open. So we at least got to get our first glimpse at a contemporary Korean artist named Chun Kyung-ja. Most of her paintings were (in my opinion) stereotypical depictions of travel, but her style was amazing and I loved the way she painted snakes (see above). There was a surprising amount of people visiting the museum, considering that most of what there was to see consisted of men sweeping the floor and walls being painted black, but there was also a cafe and a gift shop, both of whch were rather bustling.

On our way back to the subway station, we stopped and got a cup of the cheapest coffee we could find, and we certainly got what we paid for. The cofee was amber and transparent, and tasted of dirt. But the disappointments of the day were somehow made up for by the fact that the streets were actually lined with trees (my God! nature in Seoul! such a novelty), and it was rainy (as it tends to be when we have weekends out) which somehow made the yellowing trees even prettier. And I felt pretty happy anyway, because I was wearing jeans for the first time in a week.

We did some more exploring in our neighborhood, and found a really cool market nearby that sells fruits, vegetables, fresh fish, packaged goods, and pig heads.

Wait. What?

Pig heads.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Pepero


Happy Pepero Day!

Above image: http://img.danawa.com/cms/img/2006/11/09/pepero.jpg (i.e. not mine)

Sunday, November 9, 2008

The charm of travel

Yesterday, Andy and I were stopped in the street by three young Koreans with a video camera. They wanted to interview us for a project. We were wearing backpacks at the time, and jeans, and sweatshirts, and sneakers - the very image of tourists. So they probably thought we were visiting Seoul. Which is true, if a visit can be the length of a year.

Anyway, we agreed and they began recording. A girl asked us various questions, like how does being in Seoul compare to our hometowns? What do we like, or find easy? What do we dislike, or find difficult? And I realized something.

Answering the questions was a struggle. And this isn't the first time it's happened. Anytime I've spoken with people via Skype, email, facebook, etc., or even with co-workers and people I meet, I always say more or less the same thing.

"Yeah, it's different. I like it a lot. But it's different. Adjusting to the culture isn't as difficult as adjusting to being in a big city. But I'm getting used to it. I really like it here. You know?"

Who wants to guess how much of the above is true? Your guess is as good as mine. I sure don't know.

My answers to people's questions about Korea, and Seoul, and teaching are all very vague because my ideas themselves are still vague. Perhaps the biggest adjustment I have to deal with is getting used to being in a foreign country that I didn't immediately fall in love with. England, Ireland, Spain, the Bahamas - they were all instantly charming in some new way, satisfying and magical. But I have yet to be charmed by Korea.

This is good for me, though. It's good to realize that travel isn't just romantic and fun - it's frustrating, and boring, and routine too.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Stupid cosmos

This is a two-part story that starts happy, turns bad, then ends somewhere in the middle.

I was sitting on a bench in the underground shopping center near the subway entrance after saying goodbye to Andy (he was off to work, and I didn't have to be at my office for another hour). I was doing the usual: listening to music, writing, tapping my feet, and staring at people around me. This Korean business man was sitting next to me, talking on his cell phone, when suddenly he dropped an envelope and dozens of pens fell out onto the floor. I helped him pick them up, then went back to my music-listening-toe-tapping time.

A moment later, he stood up. I thought he had left, but after a few minutes he comes back to the bench with two smoothies in his hand. He extended one to me and explained in rough English that it was to thank me for helping him. We talked a little, and then I had to go. He gave me one of the pens as well.

So I was in this pleasant glowing state of existence, one where you're just filled with love for humanity. I got on the subway without paying much attention to exactly which train I was taking. Turns out I got on the train going the wrong way. I didn't realize this for two stops, and to get off the train I had to barrel football player-style through a wall of un-budging people. I ran up the stairs, across, then down the stairs on the other side - my smoothie sloshing around all the time. I caught the right train, and managed to get to work exactly at 6:00.

So the story ends in the middle. Not good, not bad, but acceptable. I'm always supposed to be at work 15 minutes early, and my first lesson was at 6. So I wasn't on time, but I wasn't late either.

Stupid cosmic balances.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Issues of transportation

Let me tell you a few things about getting around in Seoul.

When it comes to side streets, sidewalks (or pavement, for any England-based readers I might have) are virtually nonexistent. There are plenty of sidewalks on main roads, but anywhere else pedestrians must stick to the same path of traffic as cars. In the beginning, this was a little stressful and quite a bit scary, but I'm used to it now. I've never seen any Korean pedestrian get nervous about a car driving past so close, and I think this is because walkers and drivers alike are used to it, and thus very adept at avoiding each other. No one really yields to anyone in this situation, but everyone manages to stay alive.

Second, I'd like to bring up the issue of the moped.

I. Hate. Mopeds.

In this city, pedestrians have their place and cars have their place, and while this can often overlap there is still always a distinction between person and vehicle. But mopeds are this unique beast that belongs to both categories. It's not a rare thing to see a moped roaring down the sidewalk, then crossing the street at the pedestrian crosswalk, then turning to continue down the street with the cars. They are godlike in that road rules do not apply to them - they can continue on when other cars must wait at a light, they can make U-turns, and they can switch between on-road and off-road as often as they like. It's like they've taken the philosophy of the motor-less bicycle and applied it to the moped. But I say that anything with a motor that can go as fast as a car belongs as far away from helpless pedestrians as possible.