Weathering away the blossoming cherries

Well the weather in Seoul is certainly changing. Some days are really nice, some are really dusty, some start out nice but is freezing by the evening, other days it’s freezing but comfortable by nightfall. Most days, though, my co-workers and students come into school talking about how hot it is outside. My concept of heat is completely different from theirs, but the ironic part about them thinking that it’s hot is that, certainly in Louisiana when it’s what we call “hot,” no one would be WEARING A JACKET!

This past weekend I decided to break out the romantic bone in my body and surprise Sam with a picnic. I met him at the train station, packed lunch in tow, and gave him no clue where we were headed. Outside of Yeouinaru station is where the well-located park is to see the Han River, the famed 63 building— probably Seoul’s best landmark, and my favorite part that I’ve been waiting on: Cherry blossoms! (Did you know that the renowned flower in our nation’s capital is actually a gift from Japan? So it would make sense that they are equally beautiful here in Asia!) About 20 minutes on the subway and we exited where my little guidebook suggested. The park was on our left and the grass (despite being dry and mostly dead) and kite-flyers seemed to go on for ages. The scenery was great and the weather was a little cool and breezy—just right. There were dogs, small children waddling behind parents and playing ball, bikers, and people generally relaxing and having a good time. What there weren’t any of? Cherry blossoms! By now, they’ve all blown away. The lights in the trees were still set up for the evening “show,” but there’s nothing left to show! I wasn’t aware that they’re only around for a week or two, but they go whatever way the wind blows, because when the weather gets a little crazy, it takes all the flowers off the trees! Bummer!

I am currently attempting to plan a vacation, much to the chagrin of my boss and assistant director. It’s funny because when I go down to Busan on the weekends, it’s about 2.5 hours by train, and I’m going from one end of the country to the other. In the US, even a faster way to travel would take, at a minimum, twice as long. So the Korean work ethic coupled with small land area equals the inability to understand why someone needs a vacation, much less for the 7 days allotted in their contract. Anyone have suggestions on Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand, or anywhere else that they’d like to share? My list of interests is endless, but my calendar and budget are not...

Speaking of budgets, I have managed to save almost the majority of my paycheck each month since I’ve been here. I kept it all in my checking account here and have been waiting for a good time to transfer it home. A few months ago it would have cost me $750 to send money back. But, for those of you who know how I feel about our president and our international reputation, I’m actually giving the negative parts of that some credit (tongue-in-cheek though it may be). Because of the smarts in our administration and the rest of the world wanting and working to be what America “is”, the value of the dollar against the Korean won is at its lowest since the late 90s. I didn’t have to get political to proclaim this, but I made several hundred bucks transferring money home rather than losing what I thought I would! And so, though I’m sure mistakes made already and those to come will more than recollect anything I think I’ve come out ahead on, I’m currently quite pleased with the benefits given me now.


Copyright 2006 Olivia R. Reed

Yellow Dust and Exploring Busan

There’s a common yet disgusting phenomena currently blanketing Korea. It’s called “hwangsa” and its English translation is “yellow sand” or “yellow dust.” All the way from China’s more industrialized areas (though it’s currently snowing there) and the rapidly accelerating desertification in the regions neighboring the Gobi comes what I like to call “the funk.” If you’ve ever watched a movie about the apocalypse, you know how the sky turns black and everything gets dark though it may be the middle of the day. Well it’s the same thing here, only it’s yellow instead of black. Picture yourself sitting in a buttercup—the flowers my brother and cousins and I used to squish on one another leaving powdery remains on cheeks, clothes, hair, whatever we could reach. It’s RIDICULOUS! Respiratory issues and eye infections are more common since it contains heavy metal substances and toxic chemicals, and so is the purchase of tape for windows and other cleaning utensils. According to my KScene magazine, a measurement of 70 micrograms of dust per cubic meter is normal in Seoul, but when the funk flies in across the Yellow Sea, those number can rise as much as 300%! I’ve already mentioned how the amount of dust here is incredible, but now it’s even greater! I mop a minimum of once a week and even wipe my walls with a wet cloth. It’s still not enough!

I had dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant last week with my friend Sally, whom I met in Korean class back in October. She has had some of the funniest lost in translation stories. (Her student asked her if she was dying. Sally obliged and said that we all are. What her student was talking about was her hair color!) Anyway, her co-worker was conducting class discussion and discovered one of his students was working on a book. He asked about the topic, and the student said menopause. Hmm, the instructor thought, menopause. Wondering what a 30-something male who has nothing to do with medicine might have to say about this, he asked what his message, purpose, or authority might be. As they discussed it more, he realized the student was saying “metaphors” rather than menopause. That might make a difference in the target audience!

This past weekend I went down to Busan, a cosmopolitan coastal city where Sam is now living. It was recently the hub for all the APEC excitement here, and Sam says it’s more international than Seoul. It really is a nice place from what we’ve seen, and coupling how good Sam is with directions and the Korean inability to make on- and off-ramps (or signs on the correct side of the road indicating junctions for that matter), we’ve driven quite a bit. After picking me up at the train station, we got into the left lane to head back to the Army post, because the sign saying that the road we needed was on the left side of the road we were on. Duh, right? Wrong. This was just telling us that the road was coming up, so we wound up on a highway headed back to Seoul. It’s about a 9-hour drive so there had to be a way to turn around. We wound up totally lost, but we saw a police station and decided to stop, hoping they might have something that would help. A map at a police station? No such luck. They attempted a hand-sketched city map, but gave up after a few streets. Someone who spoke English got on the phone and it sounded like we had it figured out. Laughing on our way back to the car, a policeman walked up and told us to follow them in their police car. So here we go, be-beebopping along this random Korean road, behind a police escort, snickering all the way. True to the stereotype of Korean drivers who have only had cars in their country for a few decades, they had us attempting some crazy (and probably illegal) stunts. Nonetheless, we made it back to the “budu” (pier) and got on our merry little way back to post. An unplanned adventure and we got to see more of the city!

After we got onto post we went to a BBQ with Sam’s co-workers. Some of these people really are the nicest people I’ve ever met! Of course, there was one guy there from, of all places, Churchpoint, Louisiana. If anyone ever tells me this isn’t a small world, they’re crazy. He knew that I was from around his neck of the woods and in anticipation of a fellow Cajun who might have been going through withdrawals for the past 8 months, made crawfish etouffee. I know it was Easter weekend, but this was probably an added religious experience- unexpected and extremely exciting. I expect I will have a second rear end shortly after I spend some time at home because I fully intend to indulge on all the food I’ve been missing. This really was great!

Later that night, we decided that the popular Haeundae Beach would be a good destination for our Saturday night coffee excursion. What did we pass along the way? The same police station where we’d stopped earlier for help (Sam suggested he get points for this—not only stopping to ask directions, but when he doesn’t even know the Korean word for “map.” Even though I was the one with the handy phrase dictionary, I obliged his brownie points!). Only it took us 20 minutes to get back this time—experience counts. The beach was noteworthy, though. For anyone who has been to Florida, or even Cypremore Point, the sand and shoreline at these popular tourist destinations usually go on further than the human eye can see. Condos, restaurants, bronzed bodies all on an endless line peppered with umbrellas and lifeguard stands. Here: Probably 700 yards of sand, one great big hotel and a few other small ones off the water, and a ton of seafood restaurants to boot. No cute little nooks where you can get your peace and quiet from the buzzing madness of people trying to “relax.” Korea is heavily overpopulated, and though the night temperature required us to have sweaters and jackets on, there were still oodles of people! So we walked the short length of the beach and had hot cocoa across the street and called it a night.


Copyright 2006 Olivia R. Reed

Reunions and Coronas

Korea doesn't save daylight. There are approximately 70 countries who participate in this clock-changing excitement in April and October, but the one I'm in isn't one. (Did you know that DST actually reduces electricity expenditures, as well as reduces traffic accidents? Ben Franklin knew what he was doing!!) So for those of you in the Central time zone, you are now only a mere 14 hours behind me. And those of you in Eastern are only 13 behind. Either way, The bulk of my day is complete before some of you've had breakfast, but it's just a point to note!

I had friends from Louisiana in this week! Beau and Burns arrived last Friday and we met up on Saturday night. (I last saw Beau at my farewell party! He is engaged to my friend Alice, who I met freshman year via an organization and living in the same dorm. I just didn't think that the next time I saw him would be in Seoul-- how random!) My friend Amber was celebrating her 25th birthday and we all went out to Carne Station ($22 for all you can eat and drink! For a girl who usually eats $.75 worth of food at buffet-style restaurants and is therefore the reason for such a "deal," the drinks definitely get me my money's worth! Not that I'm a lush or anything...) in Hongdae for the extravaganza. The fellow LSUers spent some time checking out Seoul before napping for a bit and then coming to join us. Amber's boyfriend, Sean, had reserved a room for our party, that wound up being around 30 people. We grilled our own meat (a traditional Korean BBQ) and nibbled on salad and other fixins. After our stomachs and livers could hold no more, we walked over to Bricx in Sinchon (there's another one of these located in Itaewon, the foreign area of town, where the Europeans seem to congregate) where they let us in free since we were such a large group! It wasn't too loud and there weren't people grinding all over each other on the dance floor, so we had a nice time being able to talk to one another and cash in on drink special coupons. Sam spent the majority of his time at the bar talking to Burns, who was talking about his old job and how he hated doing what he had to do to get promoted, and how he randomly got himself into the window film business (tint for commercial buildings and cars and anything else that needs to block enough sunlight to improve electric bills while still letting the light in) and landed himself in Korea to negotiate with the manufacturer. Sam has Army-imposed curfew and has to be off the streets by 1am, so we left the birthday gang about 12:45. The next day, Sam admitted that he liked my Louisiana guys. I said that he sounded surprised, and he said that he didn't expect to like them. When I asked why, his California-born self couldn't produce a good reason, only a shrug. So I felt pretty good, like it was a victory for my home state! Yeah! Geaux tigers!

I managed to finagle my way out of a work bonding experience. My boss put together a hike that he wanted everyone to attend, from bus drivers and staff and admin to teachers and whomever they might want to bring. My co-workers aren't bad people, but the ones I can communicate with, I do so enough on the weekdays and hardly have a desire for it to overflow into my time off. The other people I'm linked to via our employer, I can't exactly speak to, anything of substance anyway. And honestly, without having a bad attitude or being rude, I don't really care. If the bus drivers want to get my students to class on time, great. If they don't, what am I supposed to do about it? I just don't see a need for me to "socialize" with them, especially when there are a million and one other things I should be doing (like blogging, for example, or studying for a test that's next month that I already feel like I'm cramming for!) So the pressure was put on me and so were the jokes, but they're out hiking and recovering from their soju-filled Fridays, and well, I'm not, and not missing it! I'm certain Monday's renditions of the trip will be interesting. And if they are or if they aren't, I don't really give a hoot.

I have a cousin working in Hong Kong! He used to practice law, but has gone abroad for one reason or another that would make for an interesting screenplay, and done a variety of jobs in this independent former British colony. (Did you know that there are airlines in China claiming they fly international? When you ask where they go, they say Hong Kong. Way to capitalize on your marketing skills! I mean, it's not like it's false advertising!) I also have a cousin in the Navy, who got in touch with me before his ship arrived in HK for 8 days. I looked into flights to meet these two critters, but nothing less than $700 could be found on such short notice. That money would go a lot further on a different trip, so I decided to save it. And now, the Navy cousin will be in Thailand, and the one working in HK is looking for a travel buddy, so there may be a family reunion in Asia yet! It is truly a small world.

May 5 is Children's Day in Korea. Just like we celebrate Mother's, Father's, birthdays and the like, Korea celebrates kids! (For the record, I think this is a great day! Dad, make a note-- there's still time to ship tokens of your appreciation and have it arrive in time!) Our school has chosen to celebrate them by moving their classes to a different day and giving the teachers that Friday off, making it a 3-day weekend. For those of you who haven't taken a closer look at the date, it's what Baton Rougeians use as a great excuse to indulge in Superior Grill vices more so than even people whose native country and their victory in the Battle of Puebla are the reason for said holiday. So, I say it looks like a great reason for some sort of short vacation (or intense study period) and hey, a margarita in honor of the kids? Why not!

Copyright 2005 Olivia R. Reed

Infecting and Studying and French... and sometimes all in one!

Well almost nothing makes you miss home like being sick in a foreign country. I 'm now a two-time veteran of this excitement. Having an infection I never before had, I was forced to locate a clinic open on a Sunday. The woman on call for Seoul National University 's International Clinic suggested Seoul Adventist Hospital, in the NE corner of the city, because they had an ailment-specific clinic that was open. My friend Amy came with me, and I 'm glad she did, because the non-native English speaker who recommended this place clearly forgot to mention that they don 't speak my language here!!! Regardless, it was quite an adventure. Each time I had to have a different kind of test run or change made, we had to go to the cashier, hand over the doctor 's orders, pay and get a receipt, and then go to the lab or back to the doctor 's office to wait longer. I think my doctor was sort of a moron, too, because I told him about pain I was having that WebMD (and every other source I checked) said was related to the infection and should be checked into. He suggested referred pain (referred from where wasn't mentioned —pain is pain, as far as I'm concerned) and said it wasn't related. When my RBCs and WBCs were off the charts, he then decided that I might have a clue what I 'm talking about, with or without an MD after my name. All-in-all, the visit cost me more than $140, which is pretty expensive for a country whose general checkups and prescriptions have maxed out at a combined total of $17/visit for me thus far. Hopefully my insurance company will be able to translate all of the exciting paperwork I sent their way and send some fundage my way!

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I 'm studying for a test that I will take here in May. It' s an internationally recognized thing, so taking it here shouldn't be a problem for it 's applicability where I (hopefully) work next. But what's funny is that I can register in Korea to take the test, but they won't take foreign credit cards. I can also tell them to give me the test in English, but all of my email communications are in Korean. Thank God my boss is so willing to help! I get up early everyday to study and try to do so for a few hours. Back in 2004 I was studying for another test and managed to pull all the fibers in my neck from leaning over for so long without stretching or moving. Apparently I managed to do it again, but my neck could turn at least part of the way to the left, whereas last time I was pretty much immobile from the shoulders up. What does this translate into? Studying is bad for your health!

I sometimes get tired of people seeing me and deciding it's time to practice their English. Sure, it can be nice and flattering, and even enjoyable when they're good at it. Sometimes I just want to be left alone (I should start speaking Spanish or something, but just my luck they'd know that, too!) However, I was guilty of the same thing just this week. When I was new in Korea, I would speak to just about everyone who looked like they spoke English, and I met several friends that way. Now that I've been here a while, it's no longer necessary to talk to every round-eye. So when I saw an older gentleman on the subway, I decided to let this one slide. That is, until I sat down a few seats away and noticed that his newspaper was in French! Being that it was my minor in college, I spent a summer in France studying, and I've probably been schooled on and off in the language since Kindergarten, I was beyond excited! He was a missionary and has been in Korea since he was 32 (he's 55 now). He doesn't speak English nor has he ever been to America, but he told me my pronunciation was very good (given that I'm extremely rusty, I was flattered!). I asked about the French-speaking community in Korea, and he said it's pretty much slim to none. There were two French people in my Korean class, so reaching back to them might be a good idea. For a girl whose paternal and maternal ancestries have French peppered and poured into them, I've decided that after my May test, brushing up on my French is probably a good next endeavor.

Copyright 2005 Olivia R. Reed