In 2010, my New Year's Resolution was to move to Korea. Mission accomplished.
I spent New Year's Eve this year with Stella and Jessica, which was eighty thousand times better than my original plan of pizza and cleaning my apartment (which still hasn't happened). Stella pointed out that New Year's is a projection of your entire year, so for me, 2011 will involve losing at Pop-o-matic Trouble, The Game by Milton Bradley ;), seeing Calvin, knitting, spending way too much money (*ahem* 70만원) on clothes and shoes, and laughing way too much. And eating Indian food. Of course :)
So, in review - moved to Korea at the end of January (i.e., Happy Birthday, Mom! Your daughter is moving to the other side of the planet!). As I have overcome a lot of culture shock, I don't really remember what initially traumatized me. Lots of getting lost was involved. Met Lisa, and friendship was immediately formed. We may or may not have become absolutely insane when we went shopping together and realized that we had way too much in common.
Early spring didn't raelly bring warm weather, but it did bring Beck! I hadn't seen her in years, and we had a night I will probably never remember (well, what parts of it I *can* remember). Beck introduced me to Tim, who became my every-weekend buddy in spring and summer....and who introduced me to the fun of Korean department stores. And Coach. And to the idea that I really don't have to take crap from people if I don't want to. And to Park, which was ehhhh, but Park introduced me to Calvin (이선구) who ended up becoming one of my favorite Korean friends - even though he is the busiest person on the planet (sorry, Obama, you have nothing on this kid).
Tim then introduced me to Siobhain, who introduced me to Siobhain, a fellow knitter, who introduced me to Cait, Caroline, and Riah....and to Dongdaemun. When the tragedy of TIM LEAVING FOR AMERICA occurred, Sio helped me fill my sorrow with yarn. Lots of yarn. At first, I was really good about being responsible and buying only what I could knit.....but now I have a giant container of it on the floor of my laundry room.
Fall brought much closeness to Siobhain, Cait, Caroline, and Riah. I don't think I was what they expected and vice versa, but they are now my family here. Thanks to our awesome common interest my knitting leveled from Giga to Eagle (yay for CDI level references).
Winter brought the end of Lisa, my BEST FRIEND IN KOREA (^^^) :( However, I'm not too sad because it's really obvious that she will be back.
This year's resolution? Don't get caught up in boy drama. And knit a positive amount of yarn (in other words, have less yarn in my collection than I do now). And, you know, lose weight, stay in touch with family better, learn Korean, blah blah blah ;)
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Saturday, December 25, 2010
메리 크리스마스!! :D
A few questions I'm being asked by the folks at home:
1. Do Koreans celebrate Christmas?
Yes. Kinda. Not like we do. Back home, if you aren't religious, it is still a family holiday (however you define family). Here, it's acknowledged, but not quite with the fanfare that westerners give it.
2.....So, what do they do?
Stores were open. There were no big Christmas sales (at least, not in Gangnam). Kids still had to go to academies. The religious families do go to church on Christmas, but the non-religious ones treat it like a normal day. Definitely more attention was given to Chuseok (which is as it should be). I asked my kids about presents to and from their parents - they were kinda eehhh about it. Definitely not as excited as a kid the same age in America would be. Most of them looked at me strangely when I asked them what they got their parents, but a few had answers. If it's not spent with family, Christmas is a pretty big couples holiday, too.
3. Any special foods?
Kimchi. I'm sure =p
There was some homesickness for me. Especially when I was on the bus on the way to Gangnam to meet up with Sio, Cait, Care, and Riah (not that the expected company was giving me reasons to miss home - just that I'd just talked to Mom and it was so weird not to spend today with her). It also didn't help that I've been sick. I have no clue what I have, except that it started with a sore throat and turned into lots of snot. No fever. I took Korean mystery cold medicine again, which took care of it (and made my heart race....love those side effects).
I finished my Slytherin gloves on the bus! The roads were extra crowded, so our driver felt the need to push the scooter-driver impersonation even further (the result: I took the Tilt-a-Whirl to Gangnam); however, that didn't stop me from finishing my gloves - an activity that involves a darning needle - nor the woman beside me from applying eyeliner. She and I were such pros in our respective tasks ;p
As American tradition requires the family-less to order Chinese on Christmas, we decided that the Korean equivalent was Indian (that and....we just love Indian food). Taj was wonderful, as usual. Gangnam was packed, but Taj was thankfully not. They seated us in one of the private rooms and we ordered possibly everything on the menu.
Then we went to Dr. Fish and had the most political cake ever consumed. I wish our consumption of it had been recorded because I'm sure one day I will have to teach a lesson on current foreign relations, and our divided segments with appropriate country names were fantastic symbols. I was North Korea (why am I always North Korea?) and I kept flinging cranberry bombs (and missing horribly) into Riah's South Korean section. We didn't take down the chocolate barrier between us (as we ate into the cake, we just continued to re-fortify it - although Riah did dig a few secret tunnels to keep getting at my icecream). My section also got narrower and narrower. Siobhain/China pretended to be on my side but was really just intersted in what Cait/America was giving her. Someone did give me cranberries, but I just used them to create more bombs to send over to Riah's section.
The entire time, we were being stared at by this Korean guy (who looked like he was trying to be the next K-Pop sensation but with terrible teeth). Normally, this would be attributed to the fact that.....we just fail at being in public, but this guy started staring before we really got into the Us. I responded by waving at him. He waved back. And they continued to stare. His girlfriend spent the entire time putting on makeup. I'm not sure how it is possible, but I think Korean girls wear more makeup than they have skin.
The night ended with me catching the 6800 and then, as usual, getting off at the wrong stop. Yes, I did cry - but then I found a cab and, instead of telling him my address, just told him "energy building" (it's the same in both languages). He figured out that I didn't really want to go to the energy building, but to the apartments behind it, and took me right to my door. I was much closer than I was the last time I got lost - and had I kept walking (instead of hailing that cab), I would have made it home after a few blocks. But, now I know where I should get off the 6800 (just like after last time I know where I should get off the 5500).
It's 3:30 am. I should possibly sleep.
1. Do Koreans celebrate Christmas?
Yes. Kinda. Not like we do. Back home, if you aren't religious, it is still a family holiday (however you define family). Here, it's acknowledged, but not quite with the fanfare that westerners give it.
2.....So, what do they do?
Stores were open. There were no big Christmas sales (at least, not in Gangnam). Kids still had to go to academies. The religious families do go to church on Christmas, but the non-religious ones treat it like a normal day. Definitely more attention was given to Chuseok (which is as it should be). I asked my kids about presents to and from their parents - they were kinda eehhh about it. Definitely not as excited as a kid the same age in America would be. Most of them looked at me strangely when I asked them what they got their parents, but a few had answers. If it's not spent with family, Christmas is a pretty big couples holiday, too.
3. Any special foods?
Kimchi. I'm sure =p
There was some homesickness for me. Especially when I was on the bus on the way to Gangnam to meet up with Sio, Cait, Care, and Riah (not that the expected company was giving me reasons to miss home - just that I'd just talked to Mom and it was so weird not to spend today with her). It also didn't help that I've been sick. I have no clue what I have, except that it started with a sore throat and turned into lots of snot. No fever. I took Korean mystery cold medicine again, which took care of it (and made my heart race....love those side effects).
I finished my Slytherin gloves on the bus! The roads were extra crowded, so our driver felt the need to push the scooter-driver impersonation even further (the result: I took the Tilt-a-Whirl to Gangnam); however, that didn't stop me from finishing my gloves - an activity that involves a darning needle - nor the woman beside me from applying eyeliner. She and I were such pros in our respective tasks ;p
As American tradition requires the family-less to order Chinese on Christmas, we decided that the Korean equivalent was Indian (that and....we just love Indian food). Taj was wonderful, as usual. Gangnam was packed, but Taj was thankfully not. They seated us in one of the private rooms and we ordered possibly everything on the menu.
Then we went to Dr. Fish and had the most political cake ever consumed. I wish our consumption of it had been recorded because I'm sure one day I will have to teach a lesson on current foreign relations, and our divided segments with appropriate country names were fantastic symbols. I was North Korea (why am I always North Korea?) and I kept flinging cranberry bombs (and missing horribly) into Riah's South Korean section. We didn't take down the chocolate barrier between us (as we ate into the cake, we just continued to re-fortify it - although Riah did dig a few secret tunnels to keep getting at my icecream). My section also got narrower and narrower. Siobhain/China pretended to be on my side but was really just intersted in what Cait/America was giving her. Someone did give me cranberries, but I just used them to create more bombs to send over to Riah's section.
The entire time, we were being stared at by this Korean guy (who looked like he was trying to be the next K-Pop sensation but with terrible teeth). Normally, this would be attributed to the fact that.....we just fail at being in public, but this guy started staring before we really got into the Us. I responded by waving at him. He waved back. And they continued to stare. His girlfriend spent the entire time putting on makeup. I'm not sure how it is possible, but I think Korean girls wear more makeup than they have skin.
The night ended with me catching the 6800 and then, as usual, getting off at the wrong stop. Yes, I did cry - but then I found a cab and, instead of telling him my address, just told him "energy building" (it's the same in both languages). He figured out that I didn't really want to go to the energy building, but to the apartments behind it, and took me right to my door. I was much closer than I was the last time I got lost - and had I kept walking (instead of hailing that cab), I would have made it home after a few blocks. But, now I know where I should get off the 6800 (just like after last time I know where I should get off the 5500).
It's 3:30 am. I should possibly sleep.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Summer ---> Fall
The last time I wrote, it was so hot that I wanted to die. I should be used to this, being from Florida and all....but it still totally kills me. Now, it's actually cool enough that at night, I kinda wish I had a jacket. My Septembers aren't like this - Septembers for me are usually just as godawul as Augusts, so I'm kinda liking this change.
I say this now, but snow will still happen.
Last time we talked, I was in the middle of intensives. The only thing that got me through was the knowledge of that extra money I'd be bringing home thanks to the extra hours. Unfortunately, we went from those extra hours back into our old schedule for just a bit, and then into a completely new schedule (for those who aren't in this special The Know group, the first two weeks of any term always involve more work). However, our hagwon caved and *actually* gave us a vacation - we got the 3 days for Chuseok (read the freaking Wikipedia page **). Yes, we do have to work the Saturday before and after, but that three days straight was pretty nice :)
Spent my Chuseok mostly with Siobhain, who pretty much is my Korean family :) We spent a lot of time knitting (because it's us), and going to cafes. Sio also introduced me to jjimjilbangs and.......I'm in love. Going to write a separate entry on this that is going to be so awesome and epic and helpful that I think Aclipse should totally feature it in their teacher blog section (hint hint =p)
My knitting has come leaps and bounds here. I don't think I've done anything that hasn't required some sort of pattern or challenge. Right now, I'm doing this cowl for one of my coworkers and a few other smaller projects, but I've worked up the nerve to start lace work and I'm making a shawl for mom that I'm *hoping* will turn out really nice (or, at least nice enough for her to think that I'm a total yarn genius). Gloves have proved to be a giant pain in the rear - I now understand why there are so many fingerless glove and mitten patterns on Ravelry and much fewer fingered glove patterns. For the 1% who are reading this and haven't gone "What is all this knitting nonsense", yes, yarn is available in South Korea - you just have to know where to look.
Finally caved and went to Itaewon (the foreigner-gathering place). I think there are two types of foreigners in Korea: the type that thrive for places like Itaewon because they can't handle all the unfamiliarity, and the type who avoid Itaewon because they think they're "better" than that. I'm definitely in the second group. Yes, there is a lot of ethnic food there, but there's a lot of ethnic food everywhere in Seoul...and for much cheaper, too. It's the only place in Korea that's really loud from people and not just city noises. Plus, as one of my friends has pointed out, it's also one of the few places in which strangers will actually know what we're talking about.
I've also made peace with the M-4101. I discovered the Jonggak/Jongro/YMCA bus stop. It's the second stop on the route (once into Seoul) and pretty close to a few subway stations. I found the line one station, and I have a sneaking suspicion that if I turn the other way, I'll hit the City Hall station which is connected to line 2. It's saved me about an hour of my trip into Seoul (arg..traffic between Jonggak all the way to the Myeongdong/Euljiro-il-ga (or ip-gu if you're talking to Calvin) makes me want to stab puppies). On this, I realized that I can get *back on* the bus here, and not have to deal with the whole ajjuma shove-fest to get the last seat.
** For the condensed version, Chuseok is pretty much the "Korean Thanksgiving", except instead of eating turkey and watching football, they give thanks/praise/etc to their ancestors and eat songpyeon (tiny rice cakes full of surprise goodness)...and, apparently, according to that Wiki page, play tug-of-war...
I say this now, but snow will still happen.
Last time we talked, I was in the middle of intensives. The only thing that got me through was the knowledge of that extra money I'd be bringing home thanks to the extra hours. Unfortunately, we went from those extra hours back into our old schedule for just a bit, and then into a completely new schedule (for those who aren't in this special The Know group, the first two weeks of any term always involve more work). However, our hagwon caved and *actually* gave us a vacation - we got the 3 days for Chuseok (read the freaking Wikipedia page **). Yes, we do have to work the Saturday before and after, but that three days straight was pretty nice :)
Spent my Chuseok mostly with Siobhain, who pretty much is my Korean family :) We spent a lot of time knitting (because it's us), and going to cafes. Sio also introduced me to jjimjilbangs and.......I'm in love. Going to write a separate entry on this that is going to be so awesome and epic and helpful that I think Aclipse should totally feature it in their teacher blog section (hint hint =p)
My knitting has come leaps and bounds here. I don't think I've done anything that hasn't required some sort of pattern or challenge. Right now, I'm doing this cowl for one of my coworkers and a few other smaller projects, but I've worked up the nerve to start lace work and I'm making a shawl for mom that I'm *hoping* will turn out really nice (or, at least nice enough for her to think that I'm a total yarn genius). Gloves have proved to be a giant pain in the rear - I now understand why there are so many fingerless glove and mitten patterns on Ravelry and much fewer fingered glove patterns. For the 1% who are reading this and haven't gone "What is all this knitting nonsense", yes, yarn is available in South Korea - you just have to know where to look.
Finally caved and went to Itaewon (the foreigner-gathering place). I think there are two types of foreigners in Korea: the type that thrive for places like Itaewon because they can't handle all the unfamiliarity, and the type who avoid Itaewon because they think they're "better" than that. I'm definitely in the second group. Yes, there is a lot of ethnic food there, but there's a lot of ethnic food everywhere in Seoul...and for much cheaper, too. It's the only place in Korea that's really loud from people and not just city noises. Plus, as one of my friends has pointed out, it's also one of the few places in which strangers will actually know what we're talking about.
I've also made peace with the M-4101. I discovered the Jonggak/Jongro/YMCA bus stop. It's the second stop on the route (once into Seoul) and pretty close to a few subway stations. I found the line one station, and I have a sneaking suspicion that if I turn the other way, I'll hit the City Hall station which is connected to line 2. It's saved me about an hour of my trip into Seoul (arg..traffic between Jonggak all the way to the Myeongdong/Euljiro-il-ga (or ip-gu if you're talking to Calvin) makes me want to stab puppies). On this, I realized that I can get *back on* the bus here, and not have to deal with the whole ajjuma shove-fest to get the last seat.
** For the condensed version, Chuseok is pretty much the "Korean Thanksgiving", except instead of eating turkey and watching football, they give thanks/praise/etc to their ancestors and eat songpyeon (tiny rice cakes full of surprise goodness)...and, apparently, according to that Wiki page, play tug-of-war...
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