valentine's day - it's black and white

Today is Valentine's Day and I figure it's about time I posted a bit of Korean life. I search high and low for korean culture and often come up empty handed. Even this tradition of White and Black Days seem to have been absorbed from the Japanese.

Throughout the day I have been giving out conversation hearts to my students. Having learned from experience (distributing red vines nearly induced vomiting) I had the candy in one hand and trash can in the other. As expected, I saw most of the children's faces turn from the thrill of receiving candy to shock then to disgust. Those who could not be polite had to spit it out. They find our candy to be way too sweet. The taste overwhelms them. I find this exercise to be cathartic. Kimchi is the most disgusting thing I have ever put in my mouth. It's payback. :)

Valentine's Day is a commitment over here. Not just a casual day to remember those you love. It is the beginning of a springtime full of events...
February 14th (Valentine's Day) women present men with chocolate
March 14th (White Day) men reciprocate with candy of equal or greater value
April 14th (Black Day) single people eat Jajangmyeon (google it...I'm not looking forward to trying it)

So, if you are one of those people who hate Valentine's Day, it probably seems to never end.

christmas

Christmas has just passed and I thought I'd take a moment to let you know about the holiday here in Korea. It is not the same, and for the most part, dismissed. There are some folks who may give a gift or two to their children but overall, Christmas is seen as sort of a date night. Seriously. It is more like valentine's day. If you can find a holiday card, it is most often romantic in nature. Stores do not go all out with decor or selling stuff to celebrate. People do not decorate their homes (few have a tree - small, artificial). Carols do not play from every speaker. There are christian churches everywhere but I have learned they are mostly for show (showing how "western" korea is). A handful of people may fill the seats. No nativity scenes out front or anything like that. Overall, the holiday is given very little effort or thought.

My new western friends made the most of it though. I hosted a potluck that afternoon and filled my tiny apartment with cheer and incredible food (chicken, mashed potatoes, nachos) and a hard fought game of cranium. As with anything in life, christmas is what you make of it and the most important part is being surrounded by loving happy people.

One of the few decorations I saw in December - it was at a coffee shop near the beach a couple hours from where I live. Seems to sum up Christmas in Korea: "Ha Ha Ha!"

I wish you very happy holidays!

communicating

It has been a while since my last post, and it has not been due to my lack of adventure here in Korea, it has been due to my computer reaching the last moments of its life.
The problem(s) began several weeks ago with "freezing" and just got worse from there. Unfortunately I speak as much computer as I do Korean, and I find myself responding to both in the same way: make my request clearly in english...find a blank stare in return...try to reason in english...continued blank stare in return...I decide I don't need it anyway and move on with life without it.......realize I do need it and return to making requests clearly in english...blank stare in return. It is a vicious cycle.
Thank goodness for auto save, but even with it, it still has taken me over a week to get this far in this post.
I cannot be too upset with the computer. It has served me well. It is just a little netbook and I have used it nearly every day for about three years. It has been to over a dozen states, has skyped from a beach in Thailand, traveled through Cambodia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Panama, Canada, India...where I have gone, it has gone, and served me well.
I cannot get this fixed here in Korea, and it looks like the language barrier isn't the only reason why. It seems to be a hardware issue.
As with all things in life, a solution will come to pass and I'll find a way to move forward. Just wanted to keep you posted. :)

phateeg

This last week I had two "consultations" in the health care industry here in Korea. After finally kicking the cold that haunted me for my first month, I find myself still worn out by the afternoon of each day. It's not debilitating, just annoying. When your job is to keep the focus of small children for hours on end, one needs lots of energy. So, I got aggressive with fixing the fatigue. I figured all I needed was a B12 shot and I'd be good to go. Simple enough right?
My friend Marisa knew of a doctor in town who speaks a little english, so over our lunch break last Wednesday we head down there. She had seen him a few months ago (she got the cold that everyone gets upon arrival). They seemed to recognize her and the receptionist asked for her name in Korean. She replied Marisa (that's how I know what they asked her). The receptionist then turned to me. I said Misty and wrote it on a piece of paper so she would know how to spell it.
We were then pointed to seats in the waiting room.
I was loving this already...getting to see a doctor with nothing more than a first name. No ten pages of forms to fill out with questions I have no intention of answering. No interrogations of health insurance. No payment due in advance. Just "misty" and I'm in!
Within a couple of minutes we were moved into the next room where the doctor is. He looks at us, points to a chair that I sit in and says "yes". I can tell instantly that this is not a man who is fluent in english. Memories of market trash bags and toilet paper flash through my mind. Here we go.
Marisa takes the lead.
I have learned by observing the other teachers that each person seems to have their own method for dealing with the language barrier. Some try to mix a bit of korean in with the english. Some enunciate their english clearly and slowly hoping the recipient has some english experience. Some choose their words - not making complete sentences, only saying the actions or items required. And, you all know my approach: just keep speaking at them as though they understand, hoping that if I talk long enough something will stick.
Marisa is a choose her words kind of gal. She starts with "injection" and pantomimes giving someone a shot.  She then says "vitamin B".
"Hmmm" he replies.
Silence.
Oh for goodness sakes. I haven't the patience or energy for this literal charade. I start right in..."I have been feeling fatigue. I need energy and caffeine isn't enough. I'm feeling tired every afternoon and just need a boost into my system to get me going. I feel great about everything else, I just want to be more alert. B12 is quick and easy, can you just give me the shot?"
"Phateeg" he says as though he is seeing how the word feels in his mouth. It is like talking to ET. I have no idea if he understands the word, but he seems to understand he has a tired white woman in his office. He comes at me with the tongue depressor and I open and say ahh.
He then speaks korean and although she also does not speak the language, Marisa has picked up a bit of understanding, and determines that there is no B12 to be had here.
He then says in english: "you have one hour?"
"No" we reply. We have 30 minutes max.
"hmmm...." He then says something to a nurse and we are moved back to the waiting room. Marissa said she heard the korean word for "quickly" so whatever this is should be done in time for us to get back to school. The nurse has brought along with her an IV cart. She points to this poster (written in korean) that clearly explains what she is going to put in us. Excellent. We're in.
Marisa's body takes the IV no problem. The nurse misses the first time on me, hitting a little nerve, but she switched to the other arm and lickety split my friend and I are "getting healed". How awesome is this?!
I photographed the poster and when we returned to school asked a korean teacher to translate.
Basically we received an infusion of assorted vitamins, fruit, and umbilical cord. We were thrilled. Marisa felt great soon after the infusion. I was quite excited at receiving baby cells, but it just didn't seem to get me where I need to be. So Friday (yesterday) I went to see an acupuncturist at a chinese medicine hospital near our school. Needles, electricity, and a little fire built on my belly. More awesomeness on the medical front. I have missed eastern medicine and plan to milk my opportunities here as much as I can. I have a standing appointment every friday with the acupuncturist. I'm looking forward to what I will learn and how my body will change from consistent oriental treatments, and I plan to go back for the fruit and cord infusion once a month. Six months from now I'll be a whole new woman :)

all things familiar

I have now been here exactly thirty days, and I find myself beginning to settle into a routine. Each day is not completely filled with fear of the unknown...it's only 25% filled with fear now. :)
I had a conversation with a friend the other day who reminded me that when I go to leave Korea it will be difficult. I will be attached and find myself nostalgic. Quite true I'm sure.
Human nature is to stay with that which is familiar. We take comfort in what we know, even if it is wrong, or hurts us, or holds us back from our full potential.
Change is terrifying. Just think about it, they say the most stressful things in life are a move, a new job, death of a spouse...the common denominator here is change. Suddenly everything lifts up and shifts and you are no longer feeling in control.
I'm feeling light this morning, so I'll take a turn on this path and not go down the road of the need for detachment. Instead, I have been creating a silly list in my head of things I will not miss when I leave Korea - no matter how attached I get. These are in no particular order. Hopefully this will inspire you to be grateful for what you have this morning...
1. Having to turn on the hot water anytime I need to shower, wash dishes etc. (it does not come out of the tap automatically) and then having to remember to turn it off so it doesn't cost you a fortune being on for hours.
2. Having to boil water anytime I want to drink water
3. Not having a clothes dryer
4. Not having a microwave oven
5. Not having any type of oven
6. Not having a dishwasher
7. Showering over a toilet
8. Trash all over outside
9. the food. it just isn't for me. I'll take some photos soon and let you know what I mean
10. Not being able to communicate - it is incredibly limiting when you cannot just ask when you need help
11. Not having hairdressers, manicurists, massage therapists (I know, you're thinking "hey it's asia - that should be everywhere", nope)

I'm just embracing the novelty of this environment and having an open heart and mind to whatever the universe wishes to teach me. The things on my list are waiting for me in America, and I only have 11 more months to absorb all I can while I'm here.

my favorite place in Korea

It is holiday time, and although I am in a culture that does not have decorations up and christmas music playing through every speaker, I am undeterred. I could not find holiday cards anywhere, heck, I cannot find postcards anywhere, but I was wise enough to pick up a few postcards on my trip to the green tea plantation a couple of weeks ago, and I decided to make those work. This means that if you receive a postcard from me you made the short list (and I have your address - I need to collect more addresses). Anyway, I decide to send holiday green tea postcards because one does the best they can with what they have.
Once the postcards were ready I realized the scariest part was ahead of me - mailing these meant I had to go to a Korean post office. You may recall my adventures at the "mart". After nearly a month here I still speak no Korean, and memories of a postal system that literally turns people violent in my homeland made me apprehensive about this quest.
As I said though, I am having happy holidays at all costs, so I take many deep breaths, calm my mind, put a smile on my face and head into the post office.
It is heaven.
It is incredibly organized. You take a number when you arrive, and if you'd like there are lovely orange chairs to wait in, surrounded by fresh blooming plants. When you get to the counter, there is the exchange one would assume - me speaking english and literally laying all my cards on the table, and a korean woman speaking korean sorting through my money and items. The big difference between this and what I was prepared for is the politeness, and ease of completing the task. She directs me to a little man (I had been told before about the "little man") he sorts and prepares everything for you. If you want to mail a package, you bring your items and he puts them in the proper box or envelope for shipping. The little man was all I had dreamed he would be. Very helpful, smiled the whole time. He grabs another number for me, and when it was displayed, my items were stamped and on their way. Easy Peasy.

Next time I go I will try to photograph the little man. It seemed weird to ask him to pose at the time, but maybe as we get to know each other better :)

illness

I have been sick for a couple of weeks now. Several times a day I will cough for minutes on end, extricating all sorts of evil gunk from my body. It does not surprise me that I have caught something(s). I am in a foreign country that does not embrace "clean" by the average american standard and I spend my days surrounded by children...and we all know they are just vessels for bacteria.
What has surprised me is the response (or lack thereof) to my being quite ill. None of the Koreans (at school or in town) even flinch when I am bent over hacking. One korean teacher even offered me food from a communal container seconds after I had coughed all over my hands. I asked her to take the item out for me and this made her uncomfortable. I told her I just coughed on my hands and I don't want to touch the food or container that others will touch as it can make them sick. She looked at me as though I were from another planet, not just another country. I realized once again that the things we take for granted as common sense for not spreading disease do not always convey in other cultures.
No one has said I should stay home until I am well. No one has offered medical assistance or even suggested I see a doctor. No one seems concerned that this can be spread to others.
Earlier in the week a Canadian teacher had one of his students throw up in the hallway. He had turned to a korean teacher for help who seemed confused by this. She explained to him that the vomit needed to be cleaned up (if he was unable to do it, a janitor could be found). That was all she said, so he pressed...shouldn't her parents be called? No. again, confusion...why would her parents be called? He explained that back home if a child throws up at school they are sent home until they are well. This idea seems just as odd to the Korean teacher as his finding it odd that a child would throw up and immediately be returned to a classroom.
So, after hearing of that little girl I am grateful that all I have is a sinus infection and the cough that follows. I am drinking gallons of green tea, and several students have brought me vitamin c (god only knows what their parents think of the new american teacher who cannot stop coughing). I am riding this out, hoping somehow at the other end of it I will have a stronger immune system.