Signs you've been in Korea for too long *chuckle chuckle*

I came across this thread on Waygook (Waygook is a meeting place for teachers to ask questions/get inspired/find lesson planning material/vent their frustrations/make friends with other teachers here in Korea. It's free! You just need to register). I found myself chuckling away in my teachers room and thought you might all enjoy the read.

If there are any other signs you may think of, or have found yourself doing/not doing, please do leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you :)

In no particular order...

>You remember the bottled beer "Nex"
>You remember when Makoli used to come in the white bottles.
>You remember when Busan was spelled Pusan and Jeju island was spelled Cheju Island
>You jump for joy when you get upgraded to Windows XP.
>You no longer laugh or take pictures of bad English. (unless it really is excessive)
>Your calves are amazing.
>You automatically say '여보세요' when asnwering your cell phone.
>You take buses everywhere.
>You've lost most of your manners.
>You have the ability to wing an entire lesson.
>You start waking up in the middle of the night to turn off your electric fan even though you tell yourself that you don't believe in fan death
>If someone even thinks of aiming a camera in your direction, you throw up peace signs.
>When the driving habits of Korea in general no longer frighten you.
>You pronounce Seoul "Suh-ool" instead of "Soul"
>Finding a lunch or dinner (heck even or breakfast) sorely lacking when there's only one plate with one dish on it
>You can fall asleep, standing up, on a bus
>You are unfazed by the 5 year old hanging out at the BBQ restaurant... at 11pm on a school night
>You get home tired from work on Monday, and upon taking off you jacket you catch yourself sighing a long "아이고".
>the ajoshi next to you burps and instead of feeling disgusted you ask him where that delicious galbi restaurant is.
>you start to refer to every man over 35 as 'ajoshi
>you use the word 'delicious' in describing every meal
>you use 'assah!' because, frankly, it really does the job
>you use rock/paper/scissors to mediate every dispute
>spit on the street with no shame
>every competition is cause to yell out "FIGHTING!"
>You update your co-teacher on schedule changes... or don't bother just for fun
>You blend in to the crowd enough to startle someone who thought you were a local
>You can greet well enough to be mistaken for a Korean person for a split second
>You enjoy scented toilet paper and warmed toilet seats
>You must say it's cold whenever it is cold
>You ask your students what happened on the last Running Man
>You think kimchi isn't so bad after all for breakfast
>You see a truck running a red light at 90 km/h in the city, causing an 80-year-old woman to jump out of the way, barely escaping with her life you think "Well..she should have looked."
>You know the exact length of one-ply toilet paper for any 'situation.'
>You go out of your way not to miss market day. How else will I get all my veggies for so cheap?
>you are used to drying your body with two tiny little towels
>you actually wear the gym clothes that your gym provides
>you always carry toilet paper, and stuff your pockets when you come across a roll
>you automatically check the walls for toilet paper outside public toilets before entering a stall
->you actually buy fresh fish from that adjosshi sitting on your street corner (that you used to think was a hygienic food nightmare waiting to happen)
>when you say "no", you automatically cross your whole arms and shake your head at the same time, even when you go back home to visit your family- who think you're completely nuts
>you are no longer scared of fish heads and tails, and are actually buying them and cooking them at home
And when you get back home:

*search for the button on the thermostat that turns on the hot water for showers
*reach over like a patient with a stroke tied down to hand money over with your right hand in a drive through
*say hello and half bow when walking into any store
*expect a smile and shrug to take care of almost any problem
*have no idea how to get the waiter's attention
*get dirty looks for standing 2 cm behind the guy ahead of you

Happy Friday everyone! Try to keep dry in this wet weather.

x CityGirl x

*Valentines Day~ Korean style*

Korea is very big on holidays that celebrate love, but most of all, the giving of snacks :) Remember this one:

Pepppero Day? Well Valentines day is no exception.

Valentines day here in Korea is celebrated a little differently to other, 'western' countires. Here, Valentine's day is when the girls are supposed to provide the guys with gifts, and spice and all things nice; and on White Day (14th March, one month after Valentines Day) the opposite happens. Guys who recieved prezzies/chocolates,   on Valentine's Day are expected to return the favor by giving gifts, usually more expensive. Traditionally, popular White Day gifts are cookies, jewelery, white chocolate, white lingerie?! and marshmallows.

And then, just to make sure no one is left out, there is also Black Day (April 14. Black Day is a South Korean informal tradition for single people to get together and eat jajangmyeon (noodles with black bean sauce), sometimes a white sauce is mixed for those who did not celebrate White Day. The idea is that those who did not give or receive gifts on Valentine's Day (February 14) or White Day (March 14) can get together and eat jajangmyeon (자장면), white Korean noodles with black bean sauce, to celebrate their singledom. So in Korea, theres something for everyone :)

Keeping with the tradition, Christina (you might remember from a post a awhile back about getting your nails done in Korea ) and I headed out to do some Valntines shopping the day before the the actual day ~! Big Mistake! Not only were the stores stuffed full of young Korean girls all scrambling for the cutest cards/boxes/wrapping but most of the stuff was sold out. Anyway, we did manage to find a few things to make our respective loved ones some yummmy home made chocolates...isn't Korea great!

Getting our ingredients ready...

The soon to be 'full' trays

And the finished product...

But, it wasn't just a Korean Valentines...I was surprised with my own little packages of specialness to open too...what a lucky lady :)

More ideas for *learning Korean*

We've done a few posts on Learning to speak Korean, including info on some great free websites like TalkToMeInKorean.

Another really fun way to learn and practice your Korean is through a great TV show called "Let's Speak Korean":

Let's Speak Korean hosts Lisa Kelley and Young Kim guide learners through a fun and entertaining way to memorize and apply practical sayings in Korean. Lisa Kelley, the female host of Let's Speak Korean plays a role of a kind teacher or a "good cop" role, while the male host, Young Kim plays a rather strict teacher or "bad cop" role.

So, you can watch the series online through the site TVClip.biz, and of course through their youtube channel I love Korean .

Here is a short clip of one of their episodes...it's a really fun way to learn!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_59bwsrhXE

Korea…*where & what*

Thought I would do a  post on *where* exactly South Korea is and offer a few insights into life & the people here...

This is done with the help of Karl Lee Stratos...thanks so much for the great info!! Hope you don't mind me re-publishing your words :)

Seoul in 1950

Seoul today

Modern Korea is an amazing place. Look at the first picture above.  That's how Seoul looked in the early 1950s, when the Korean War broke out. Now, look at the second picture. That's how Seoul looks at this point. If you think about it, jumping from one of the poorest countries to one of the richest (GDP ranking 15th, 2010 August) in sixty years is not a natural phenomenon. People in Korea literally worked to death in order to climb out of poverty. For instance, when they were building factories for the Pohang Steel Company (POSCO - now one of the largest steel companies on earth), construction workers vowed that they would "bury themselves at the spot" unless they finish the task several times faster than what was "possible" (fortunately, they made it). Korea has exited the status of a developing country long ago, and today is one of the leaders in the electoronics (Samsung, LG) and car industry (Hyundai, Kia, Samsung), with cultural products ('dramas', movies, music, food) that are becoming ever more popular. It has successfully held the Olympics (1988), the World Cup (2002), and has just  hosted a G-20 Summit.

It should be clear that I very much admire these feats. However, in order to truly understand the context of modern Korea, one must understand the dark as well as the bright sides, to the ultimate purpose of overcoming them.

The Group Mentality

In schools in the United States, one can easily find a group of Korean students moving about themselves, talking among themselves, and gossiping within themselves. Even in Korea, the boundary between 'our team' and 'your team' is as clear as the DMZ.

At the very top level of abstraction, one finds that Korean people are simply extreme. Since Christianity (which happens to support a strict distinction between good and evil) was introduced in Korea, churches have overwhelmed all corners of the society, including village communities, social activities, and even politics. South Korea is one of the most fervent followers of capitalism, whereas North Korea is one of the few remaining countries still sticking to communism. Korean immigrants have a reputation for working their ass off and managing to become rich and prosperous. The congressmen in Korea are famous for their fist-fighting in the National Assembly.

The reason for such extreme-ness is complicated. First, one might consider the geographic position of the Korean peninsula; it is surrounded by countries whose size is much bigger. Historically, the dynasties in Korea have defended themselves against those in China, and imparted cultural influences oversea to Japan. While doing so, it had to keep an extreme stance towards its neighbors, because otherwise it would have been swept by other cultures and lost its identity. It is nearly a miracle that this small peninsula has succeeded in not only developing its own culture, but played a major role in balancing the forces of East Asia for millenia.

The biggest reason for the extreme-ness (though this geographic analysis is still closely relevant), however, is that there is simply no room in the society to afford not to be extreme.

A Society with No Room

It is not hard to see why everything in Korea is so 'urgent'. The nation has raced breathlessly to develop itself economically (often by sacrificing human rights and the low tiers of the social hierarchy). It is still divided in two halves, each of which is spending a lot of energy to stay alert on a potential conflict. Finally, it is a small land (more so because it's divided) with a lot of population, which is concentrated in even smaller areas.

Consequently, this feeling of 'no room' is pervasive in the society, which you can experience immediately in the streets, subways, and department stores. Every service is ever so quick, everyone is rushing to wherever he is heading, and the only thing a person can care to defend is himself and his family. All middle school students are competing fiercely for high school, all high school students are competing fiercely for college, all college students are competing fiercely for jobs, but few of them know why they do what they do.

What to Do

It takes time for a society to become truly advanced, because some aspects of a wealthy society (creativity, generosity, curiosity) cannot be obtained without a little 'laziness'. Korea has managed to develop itself incredibly fast economically, and now it's time for it to develop itself in other ways. In fact, this is already happening. As there is more wealth, people are starting to look at 'optional' areas such as the world peace, environment, and academic advancement. But there are several obstacles to overcome.

First of all, unification of the two Koreas is the most urgent issue. There are some people who think South and North Korea are two quite separate countries, so we need some clarification. There is only one Korea. Just as Germany was considered (more or less) one country when it was split in East and West, Korea should be regarded one country that is waiting to be reunited. There are many political forces involved to prevent this re-unification, but it must be done for Korea to go anywhere beyond the present state. Then the energy and money spent on defense can be redirected to more productive causes; the army conscription, which as seen is a major reason for many ailments of the society, can be reduced or even removed; and the relatives and families who are split across the peninsula can be united again. Rather than trying to prevent this from happening for national interests, other countries must support and collaborate with Korea to make it happen for humanitarian and, in a long run, economic reasons.

Given more time, we will observe that Korea will slowly morph into a truly advanced nation which is solid not just in economic and military power, but in humanitarian and cosmopolitan efforts.

Thanks again Mr Stratos for that great insight. Now my 2 cents :)

What has been said above is evident today even from my own limited, "Foreign" and therefore "outside" view of Korea.

Everyone is in a hurry, everyone feels, and therefore acts like they are in a race for something bigger and better, but always just out of reach. When I was chatting with one of my co-workers about her life's dream she said to me that she doesn't have one. She is a teacher now, and that means she has to be a Teacher for the rest of her life. She has no idea what other opportunities lie out there for her. I was chatting to her about what I wanted to be when I left Korea, and I said to her that I had no idea but that there are many options for me, even if I haven't studied in that particular field. I also chatted to her about the new trend of young people "Inventing their own jobs".  I was telling her that many of the most successful people today didn't even go to University. This amazed her, she told me that before she could even consider a job in her field of interest (facial massage) she feels like she needs to study extensively at Fancy Universities etc. I realized that when I get an idea of what I want to do with my life, it never even occurs to me that I need to study a whole degree for it. I just think that I will pick up the skills along the way, and do  short courses to help me get there.

What different mindsets...This goes back to Mr Stratos' point about the high school and University students here in South Korea. Most of them study loooonnnggg hours, and Im not just talking about cramming the night before a test. High School students here got to school from 08:30 until around 3pm. Then they head to Hagwons (Private Acadmies) to continue studying in subjects such as English, Maths, Music, etc. Most of them only get home at around 11pm, and thats 6 days a week. They are all gearing up for the Final Year exams, which determine who will get into the best Universities. So what happens to the students who don't get in? There aren't many options. Unless they can speak perfect English (unlikely as who wants to learn English anyway hey?) then options to go and work abroad are scarce. This means more and more jobs in Middle Management positions. BUT there are only so many of these jobs available. I have also heard rumors of tension existing between young, male Koreans and the young, male Foreigners who come over here to work as English Teachers. The Korean men feel that the Foreigners have it 'easy'. Coming over to Korea, getting paid a whole lotta money for doing very little. I don't blame them. There are also highly qualified Koreans who are battling to find jobs that pay as well as being a Native English Teacher. I'm just just surprised this animosity hasn't appeared sooner. And with more rumors that they will be phasing out us Native English teachers out, the Korean youth won't have to worry for much longer....

Anyway, thats my 2 cents about life here in Korea :) I  thought it would be cool to mention one or two things that shape the lifestyle of your average middle class Korean person. It really helps to have a vague understanding of this in order to help one come to grips with the everyday frustrations we have as a Foreigner (and to give my Granny and Gramps a little glimpse into the culture of Korea).

*the above is just mine and Mr Stratos' opinions, if you feel differently please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you*

*Korean Friendships*

One sunny afternoon while making my way to Korean class on the always stuffy and crowded bus, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a very smiley face clutching a cellphone and pointing it in my direction. I wasn't quiet sure what exactly i was suppose to do with the phone, so I took it and saw that   a long message had been typed on it for me to read. In English. Feeling slightly intrigued I began to read...

"Hello. I hope you don't mind but I was hoping that you could be my friend. I would really like to chat with you and improve my English skills and it would be a great pleasure to speak with you. If you are free, lets meet together"

And that was the start of a wonderful friendship with my new friend Sohee! She invited me to her new house a little while ago where she feed me the most delicious food! Not only does she get the opportunity to practice her English, but I have gained a lovely friend and am learning a whole lot more about Korean culture too :)

Me and Sohee :)

The dinner she so lovingly "prepared"...

Home cooked samguypsal :) and one or two sneaky prawns. Unfortunately, the gas died in the cooker (thats why the meat is looking a little under-cooked...but never fear...mom to the rescue with her frying pan!)

Dessert...yummy!

*Korean Friendships*

One sunny afternoon while making my way to Korean class on the always stuffy and crowded bus, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a very smiley face clutching a cellphone and pointing it in my direction. I wasn't quiet sure what exactly i was suppose to do with the phone, so I took it and saw that   a long message had been typed on it for me to read. In English. Feeling slightly intrigued I began to read...

"Hello. I hope you don't mind but I was hoping that you could be my friend. I would really like to chat with you and improve my English skills and it would be a great pleasure to speak with you. If you are free, lets meet together"

And that was the start of a wonderful friendship with my new friend Sohee! She invited me to her new house a little while ago where she feed me the most delicious food! Not only does she get the opportunity to practice her English, but I have gained a lovely friend and am learning a whole lot more about Korean culture too :)

Korean Style *Wedding* with pictures!

*We have done a post on Traditional Weddings here in Korea a couple of months ago (click here), but now we have pictures!*

This weekend Farmboy and I were invited to another of my co-workers weddings here in Daejeon. This time, the whole procedure was longer (not by much though, we were in and out and fed in 90 minutes!). Of course, having paid for our lunch, I mean, given our *cash* gift in exchange for  lunch tickets, had an obligatory picture with the bride along with each and every single other person in wedding party, we then took part in the extremely fast ceremony, all with the onlookers of the proceeding bridal party waiting in the wings to take their positions!

But as *different* as it was to the wedding we are used to back home, it was  really beautiful to see. Here are some pictures:

The Bride, Miran, looking gorgeous, while posing with Farmboy and myself

Traditional Korean Style Buffet: a lot of  "I'm not quiet sure what this is but it tastes good" kind of food.

The Wedding Room

The parents of the Bride and Groom in their Traditional wear

Family Photo!

P,P,P,Pepero!

Last thursday was a rather special day here in Korea, not special in the I-get-the-day-off-to sleep-in-and-drink-hot-chocolate-in-this-freezing-cold-weather kinda way, but rather in a here-some-snacks-for-you kinda way. Basically, the 11th day of the 11th month (11/11) has become known here in South Korea as Pepero Day.

Pepero Day is similar to Valentine’s Day and is named after the Korean snack ‘Pepero’ (pepero’s are chocolate dipped sticks of bread or biscuit…yumyum!):

It’s held on November 11, since the date “11/11″ looks like four sticks of Pepero (*ummm…what about a biltong day back in South Africa???*)  It is mostly  young people and couples who exchange Pepero sticks, other and other ‘romantic gifts’ Lotte (one of the largest food and shopping groups here in South Korea…even with its own designer Department Stores and cinemas) denies starting the holiday and instead states that they noticed a bump in Pepero sales around November 11th and after continued popularity they decided to then encourage the holiday with special gift boxes and other promotions. Hmmm ya right Lotte! Especially as they makes 55% of their yearly sales in November!

According to one story, Pepero Day was started in 1994 by students at a girls’ middle school in Busan, where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow “as tall and slender as a Pepero”.  Sweet 

While every other Teacher we know was showered with yummy chocolate snacks,. I had a measly 3 little sticks sitting on my desk when I got to school…but hey who’s counting 

P,P,P,Peppero!

Last thursday was a rather special day here in Korea, not special in the I-get-the-day-off-to sleep-in-and-drink-hot-chocolate-in-this-freezing-cold-weather kinda way, but rather in a here-some-snacks-for-you kinda way. Basically, the 11th day of the 11th month (11/11) has become known here in South Korea as Pepero Day.

Pepero Day is similar to Valentine's Day and is named after the Korean snack 'Pepero' (pepero's are chocolate dipped sticks of bread or biscuit...yumyum!):

It's held on November 11, since the date "11/11" looks like four sticks of Pepero (*ummm...what about a biltong day back in South Africa???*)  It is mostly  young people and couples who exchange Pepero sticks, other and other 'romantic gifts' Lotte (one of the largest food and shopping groups here in South Korea...even with its own designer Department Stores and cinemas) denies starting the holiday and instead states that they noticed a bump in Pepero sales around November 11th and after continued popularity they decided to then encourage the holiday with special gift boxes and other promotions. Hmmm ya right Lotte! Especially as they makes 55% of their yearly sales in November!

According to one story, Pepero Day was started in 1994 by students at a girls' middle school in Busan, where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow "as tall and slender as a Pepero".  Sweet :)

While every other Teacher we know was showered with yummy chocolate snacks,. I had a measly 3 little sticks sitting on my desk when I got to school...but hey who's counting :)

Thank you for *Chuseok*

Most of us here in South Korea are aware that there are holidays coming up next week, and some of us might even know the name of those holidays, or even what the holiday is for. So here's a little summary...

Next week is Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving. 

Chuseok is also known as 한가위, (“Hangawi,”) which translates to “Harvest Moon Festival” and is one of the biggest festivals of the year.  It  is a three-day holiday here in Korea, and this year falls on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of September. It is traditionlly a time for families to travel back to their  home towns to pay their respects to their ancestorsand share a feast of Korean traditional food.

So what does this mean for us Non-Koreans here? Well...we also get the 3 days off (plus, if your very lucky, a  bonus day off on Friday 24th). So that means a nice long holiday for some. 

And guess where Farmboy, myself and our other South African friends Claire and Jono are doing for the harvest celebrations?? We are jetting off to Cambodia!! We can barely contain our excitement, 9 days full of sun sea and sand...this is what Teaching in Korea is all about isn't it? Getting to travel to exotic locations and explore the East :)

So for us here, we wish all of our Korean friends a very happy Chuseok!

6 Months in...

The 18th of August marked our 6 month anniversary here in South Korea~!

Pretty unbelievable Farmboy would say…but for me, I feel like I’ve been here for years, and 6 months feels like a tiny speck in what has become an amazing adventure 

Now I think it’s time to reflect on the past few months, both the good and the bad, and basically sum up what’s happened, what hasn’t happened and how we feel about life so far.

We arrived at Incheon International Airport on the 18th February this year, and were first bombarded with icy winds and slippery streets as we were navigated to our home for the first week~ Eulgi University in a small town none of us had ever heard of. From what I can remember we were quiet close to Seoul (only reason I know that is because I can vaguely remember some of the Teachers going to Seoul for the evening and getting hopelessly lost). Those first few days of caffeteria food and 12 hour days filled with lectures and Korean lessons were the hardest days here in Korea. To put in bluntly, the thought of having to eat that food made me feel sick…soup, rice and kimchi for breakfast, more soup (cold this time) and octapus pasta for lunch, and more soup, followed by sticky pieces of spam mixed with other funny looking (and tasting) pieces of tofu for dinner…We were living the dream  All I can say is that food fell far short of the food that awaited us once we left that small town and hit our designated cities! Thank goodness!

Once Orientation was over, and we had recieved our certificates of completions, and our *health cards* (just to make sure no druggies had slipped in under the radar) we were packed up and bused out to our designated cities to meet our new Co-Teachers. This was the most nerve wracking part of our journey so far, as none of us had any idea what to expect. Once we arrived at the department of education, we were lined up, and called up one by one to meet our new mentors/friends. With this done, we were then sent off to see our schools, meet the staff and principles and finally, to see where we would live for the next 365 days left of our time in South Korea.

And the teaching I hear you ask??

Well there have been good days, and well, to put it bluntly, there have been *awful* days, but over all I can safetly say it’s been a great challenge. The first 2 weeks of school had me repeating the same Lesson “About Teacher Roxy” at least 3 times a day. The first few days were great because I got a glimpse into my new life, had students screaming when they saw me in the corrodors, and giggling when the bumbed into me in the toilet…but there was also the awkward standing around meeting all he new teachers, and of course the Principle, lots of bowing, lots of idle chit chat (most of it with me just smiling like a fool as I couldnt understand a word~ “South Africa…yes…World Cup!..yes..thank you…”). For those of us South Africans here, the only reason any one had ever heard of our home country is thanks to the World Cup! And we certainly didnt dissapoint anyone on that front either!

I think we can all say that we have come to, at the very least, respect the differences in cultue between Korea and the West. Everyone is always extremely polite, to such a degree that you might end up waiting 15 minutes in a queue while the teller helps every single person who asks where the closest ATM is even though she was in the middle of helping you pay for your groceries. We have survived the countless hours sitting at our desk doing absoluetly nothing except develop square eyes during the Summer Holidays~we only get 8 days of here, so the rest of the time is spent either doing Summer camps or trying to look busy at your desk, when there is not a soul in the rest of the school.

And what about the food??

Well, it’s quiet a difficult topic to cover in a short paragraph, but I will try. At first  I was depressed. You see, I am not what you would call a fussy eater, but I am definately closer to the fussy that the adventureous side. I have the most sensitive of taste buds, and !cannot! handle spicy food. So I faced a few problems, as nearly every dish here is flavoured with chiles.

After the depression, came the “I am truely Korean, I love Korea, I love the food” stage. This lasted about 3 weeks, and then I was shoved straight back to reality when I bit into an octapus tentacle (which was disquised as a piece of sweet corn) during one of the school lunches. Then it was back to craving salty foods, and anything which did not taste like the smell of old sand. But the past 3 months or 2 so has been good, Farmboy and I have found exactly which restaurants serve us the best “sam gyup sal” and which places serve the best kimbab…lifes good.

We have survived the winter, the spring, and most importantly the 40 degree and 70% humidity that has been summer for the last 6 weeks, and can safetly say we are all looking forward to Autumn. We have managed to navigate our way around the ultra efficient public transport system with little or no Korean, and even managed to survive the monsoon season. But here are many more obstacles to overcome, and I say “bring it on!”.

This week marks the beinning of Semester 2. And as usual, most of us teachers are left desk warming, while we wait for someone to tell us exactly what we are supposed to do from 08:30 until 16:30 if there arent any students in the school. But you know what, if I look back on the last 6 months of my time here, and the wonderful lives that Ive had the honour of being a part of, the awesome teachers trips Ive been on, and the cute kids that I get hang out with all day…I love my job and can’t wait to start teaching again!

6 Months in...

The 18th of August marked our 6 month anniversary here in South Korea~!

Pretty unbelievable Farmboy would say…but for me, I feel like I’ve been here for years, and 6 months feels like a tiny speck in what has become an amazing adventure 

Now I think it’s time to reflect on the past few months, both the good and the bad, and basically sum up what’s happened, what hasn’t happened and how we feel about life so far.

We arrived at Incheon International Airport on the 18th February this year, and were first bombarded with icy winds and slippery streets as we were navigated to our home for the first week~ Eulgi University in a small town none of us had ever heard of. From what I can remember we were quiet close to Seoul (only reason I know that is because I can vaguely remember some of the Teachers going to Seoul for the evening and getting hopelessly lost). Those first few days of caffeteria food and 12 hour days filled with lectures and Korean lessons were the hardest days here in Korea. To put in bluntly, the thought of having to eat that food made me feel sick…soup, rice and kimchi for breakfast, more soup (cold this time) and octapus pasta for lunch, and more soup, followed by sticky pieces of spam mixed with other funny looking (and tasting) pieces of tofu for dinner…We were living the dream  All I can say is that food fell far short of the food that awaited us once we left that small town and hit our designated cities! Thank goodness!

Africa may have invented the Dance…

Earlier this year, a South Africa Braai was held in Seoul for all of us Saffa's here in South Korea. Lots of good beer, and even better meat was had, and then one of our friends had some very interesting things to say about dance :)

Divorce & Korea

This evening i trotted off to my Korean language classes, same time, same place every week. I was dreading it a bit because we've just had 3 weeks off for holidays, and i was feeling pretty rusty. Anyway, it was nice to see everyone, especially our lovely teacher, Sarah. 
The class got started as usual, and with todays focus being on reviewing what we did in our last class; numbers, prepositions, question words...then we got onto family. Someone in the class (bearing in mind there are only 5 of us, on a good day) put their hand up to ask for the Korean word for step mother. Sarah looked a little confused, but then offered us a word. Then words like step brother, ex wife, ex husband, and finally I asked for the Korean word for divorce. Sarah took a while in answering this, and eventually gave us the word 이혼 (pronounced eehon). She then proceeded to tell us that this word is almost never used in Korea, and "in olden days" there was no divorce, but now, "a little" but most people don't say the word. To this, someone else rudely asked, "So then do people in Korea just stay together and be unhappy?". I thought this was a rather obnoxious thing to say, as Korean culture is completely different to western culture, and sweeping generalizations like this can't be made.
  Suddenly, i felt very sad. I looked around and realized that 5 out of 5 of us needed to know the above words; basically meaning that all of our families are divided, or split up because of divorce, and Sarah was almost bewildered as to why we needed to know these words.


So this got me thinking about statistics, and I did a little bit of research. The following are some of the divorce rates for the countries listed:


United States:           41% (Marriage 101)
South Korea           5.1% (Statistics South Korea)
South Africa


 I have become a statistic, my brother has become a statistic, my parents have become statistics. 
I don't need anyone to feel sorry for me, or tell me that my parents still love me the same. I know they do, they just don't love each other the same, and this makes me sad. 


Western countries have become more liberal, right? And everyone deserves to be happy, right? So then are Korean people more happy than Americans??? Or do Koreans work on their marriages better?? Or do Koreans sweep issues under the carpet, and stay together for the sake of their family?? A more in depth study would have to be done for sure, but what do you think?

Divorce & Korea

This evening i trotted off to my Korean language classes, same time, same place every week. I was dreading it a bit because we've just had 3 weeks off for holidays, and i was feeling pretty rusty. Anyway, it was nice to see everyone, especially our lovely teacher, Sarah. 
The class got started as usual, and with todays focus being on reviewing what we did in our last class; numbers, prepositions, question words...then we got onto family. Someone in the class (bearing in mind there are only 5 of us, on a good day) put their hand up to ask for the Korean word for step mother. Sarah looked a little confused, but then offered us a word. Then words like step brother, ex wife, ex husband, and finally I asked for the Korean word for divorce. Sarah took a while in answering this, and eventually gave us the word 이혼 (pronounced eehon). She then proceeded to tell us that this word is almost never used in Korea, and "in olden days" there was no divorce, but now, "a little" but most people don't say the word. To this, someone else rudely asked, "So then do people in Korea just stay together and be unhappy?". I thought this was a rather obnoxious thing to say, as Korean culture is completely different to western culture, and sweeping generalizations like this can't be made.
  Suddenly, i felt very sad. I looked around and realized that 5 out of 5 of us needed to know the above words; basically meaning that all of our families are divided, or split up because of divorce, and Sarah was almost bewildered as to why we needed to know these words.


So this got me thinking about statistics, and I did a little bit of research. The following are some of the divorce rates for the countries listed:


United States:           41% (Marriage 101)
South Korea           5.1% (Statistics South Korea)
South Africa


 I have become a statistic, my brother has become a statistic, my parents have become statistics. 
I don't need anyone to feel sorry for me, or tell me that my parents still love me the same. I know they do, they just don't love each other the same, and this makes me sad. 


Western countries have become more liberal, right? And everyone deserves to be happy, right? So then are Korean people more happy than Americans??? Or do Koreans work on their marriages better?? Or do Koreans sweep issues under the carpet, and stay together for the sake of their family?? A more in depth study would have to be done for sure, but what do you think?

My cozy little apartment

The title says it all...and the video does the rest!

I stay in an area called Wonnaedong, which is the west most part of Daejeon, and is slowly on the up, which means apartments and other construction going up every where i look! So the noise is awful, but one gets used to it amoungst the other things (like my neighbour down the passage with his HUGE bulldog~which he keeps in his apartment!)...but life goes on :)

I have what is called a "studio" apartment, which means that I have essentially 2 rooms, one 'living room' and then another 'room' which houses my kitchen...and of course my bathroom, or 'washroom' as they call it here. All very compact, but very comfy!



(the pink colour co-ordination was entirely accidental :) )

My cozy little apartment

The title says it all...and the video does the rest!

I stay in an area called Wonnaedong, which is the west most part of Daejeon, and is slowly on the up, which means apartments and other construction going up every where i look! So the noise is awful, but one gets used to it amoungst the other things (like my neighbour down the passage with his HUGE bulldog~which he keeps in his apartment!)...but life goes on :)

I have what is called a "studio" apartment, which means that I have essentially 2 rooms, one 'living room' and then another 'room' which houses my kitchen...and of course my bathroom, or 'washroom' as they call it here. All very compact, but very comfy!



(the pink colour co-ordination was entirely accidental :) )

Canine Cuisine

Today I was taken out to lunch by the Principle (and a few other distinguished guests) for a very *different* kind of meal. In the car on the way to the restaurant, I turned to one of my Korean co-workers and asked her what kind of food we would be eating.  She turned to me and said what I thought was "Which do you prefer, chicken soup or duck?" to which I answered, "Both!". She looked rather surprised, but I thought nothing of it.

Off we drove and arrived at the entrance of a rather large, and very busy restaurant. While waiting for a table to open up, I asked my close sister ("sister" being the special name given to close female friends that are older than yourself) and asked her what we would be dining on. She said in a very quiet voice, "Dock"..."dock?", I looked questioningly at her, "No, dug"...still not quiet sure if I was hearing correctly, I asked one more time. And the answer I got back made my heart sink...we were at a 'dog' restaurant, and the 'dock' and 'dug' was in fact not duck, but rather the much larger and fluffy variety of mammal, namely canine.

Upon my realization, I was quickly informed that I had a choice, I could choose to eat Samgyeoptal (chicken soup) if I preferred, which of course, I politely informed the waiter, I would indeed prefer.

The biggest worry I had here was not whether I would be able to eat this new kind of meat, but rather, would it be a huge *train~smash* if I said no to the specialty of this restaurant that my Principle had chosen to take me to. Here is where all my previous bombardments of false cultural information came into play. Before arriving on Korean soil, I had been told by numerable (now unreliable) sources, that you NEVER EVER say no to your Principle. This was  likened to social suicide, and so I was very careful about my choice of words when choosing chicken over dog. But this is where I was most pleasantly surprised....The ground did not open and swallow me whole, the Principle did not turn into a man (woman) eating dragon, and I was not made an outcast for the rest of the meal. In fact, no one said anything that made me feel even in the slightest uncomfortable. For the first time since being in Korea, I wasn't terrified of my Principle, I felt a bond forming between us, a bond of understanding. Being a foreigner in Korea is not easy. It's not easy for the foreigner themselves, and it's certainly not easy for the Koreans either. But it is a reality. As soon as we realize that at the end of the end of the day we are both human beings, (yes we come from different cultural backgrounds and hence have different likes and dislikes) but we have more similarities than differences.

Now i just have to get her to approve my 2 days of unpaid leave I hope to take next week :)

Food for Thought:

Again, Before arriving in Korea, everyone had bombarded FarmBoy and I with stories of how we would be eating puppies, and dogs for every meal. We have been in Korea for 6 months already, and this was the first mention of an actual dog restaurant, and the first time I (or my friends) had actually come close to real dog meat. I think it is a common misconception that Korea's traditional food is dog, it;s not. In fact, lots of Koreans don't actually like it. It is a very expensive delicacy, a bit like Ostrich in South Africa, or frog's legs in France. Who are we to judge what animals should and shouldn't be eaten, ( yes I realize this is a highly controversial topic, after all I can't really imagine eating my poor Xena~below~but for Indian people, they could not imagine eating beef, their cows are sacred)

Canine Cuisine

Today I was taken out to lunch by the Principle (and a few other distinguished guests) for a very *different* kind of meal. In the car on the way to the restaurant, I turned to one of my Korean co-workers and asked her what kind of food we would be eating.  She turned to me and said what I thought was "Which do you prefer, chicken soup or duck?" to which I answered, "Both!". She looked rather surprised, but I thought nothing of it.

Off we drove and arrived at the entrance of a rather large, and very busy restaurant. While waiting for a table to open up, I asked my close sister ("sister" being the special name given to close female friends that are older than yourself) and asked her what we would be dining on. She said in a very quiet voice, "Dock"..."dock?", I looked questioningly at her, "No, dug"...still not quiet sure if I was hearing correctly, I asked one more time. And the answer I got back made my heart sink...we were at a 'dog' restaurant, and the 'dock' and 'dug' was in fact not duck, but rather the much larger and fluffy variety of mammal, namely canine.

Upon my realization, I was quickly informed that I had a choice, I could choose to eat Samgyeoptal (chicken soup) if I preferred, which of course, I politely informed the waiter, I would indeed prefer.

The biggest worry I had here was not whether I would be able to eat this new kind of meat, but rather, would it be a huge *train~smash* if I said no to the specialty of this restaurant that my Principle had chosen to take me to. Here is where all my previous bombardments of false cultural information came into play. Before arriving on Korean soil, I had been told by numerable (now unreliable) sources, that you NEVER EVER say no to your Principle. This was  likened to social suicide, and so I was very careful about my choice of words when choosing chicken over dog. But this is where I was most pleasantly surprised....The ground did not open and swallow me whole, the Principle did not turn into a man (woman) eating dragon, and I was not made an outcast for the rest of the meal. In fact, no one said anything that made me feel even in the slightest uncomfortable. For the first time since being in Korea, I wasn't terrified of my Principle, I felt a bond forming between us, a bond of understanding. Being a foreigner in Korea is not easy. It's not easy for the foreigner themselves, and it's certainly not easy for the Koreans either. But it is a reality. As soon as we realize that at the end of the end of the day we are both human beings, (yes we come from different cultural backgrounds and hence have different likes and dislikes) but we have more similarities than differences.

Now i just have to get her to approve my 2 days of unpaid leave I hope to take next week :)

Food for Thought:

Again, Before arriving in Korea, everyone had bombarded FarmBoy and I with stories of how we would be eating puppies, and dogs for every meal. We have been in Korea for 6 months already, and this was the first mention of an actual dog restaurant, and the first time I (or my friends) had actually come close to real dog meat. I think it is a common misconception that Korea's traditional food is dog, it;s not. In fact, lots of Koreans don't actually like it. It is a very expensive delicacy, a bit like Ostrich in South Africa, or frog's legs in France. Who are we to judge what animals should and shouldn't be eaten, ( yes I realize this is a highly controversial topic, after all I can't really imagine eating my poor Xena~below~but for Indian people, they could not imagine eating beef, their cows are sacred)

Night time adventures

Cycling round Daejeon has been fun, hot..but fun.

But nothing compares to our cycle from FarmBoy's house all the way to Yuseoung (a 1 and a half hour trek) through fields, rough terrain, and of course blistering heat. The wonderful idea occured to Farmboy while sitting is his gloriously cool apartment, aircon on full blast and a cup of ice water to his lips...little thought did he give to the humidity and UV rays being pumped out by the sun that day. But the idea had taken seed, and soon he had his accomplice and tour guide and off we headed to Yuseoung.

The ride actually wasn't so bad, we arrived in Yuseoung, drenched but exilarated, and headed straight for the Jimjillbang (the public bath houses where one pays a very small fee of about R40 and then gets to shower/sauna/swim/relax/get a massage all in privacy of a segregated building). We left feeling refreshed and energised and ready to eat a small horse with our friends Claire and Jono at a fabulous Morrocan Restaurant we had heard so much about.

Half way through the meal, needless to say, it began to pour with rain. Now we had left our bikes (locked up after my last bike was stolen last week~ sniff sniff) at the Jimjilllbang and had planned to come back to Yuseoung the next day by bus and cycle back home, as Claire had brough a rather large parcel of bedding for my mom to use when she comes to stay next week...so a nice comfortable Taxi ride I was thinking it would be.

But no, Farmboy wanted to cycle in the rain, and of course, me not wanting to miss out on any slight chance of adventure, hopped aboard the looney train and back we cycled...at 11 o'clock at night, through the rain and the mud, Farmboy carrying the linnen sack on his back...and me carrying...well the little empty rucksack of course...to arrive home exhausted but happy :)

Heres to many more night time adventures in Daejeon!