The Adventure Startles Others...Day 15 in Korea

Thursday morning followed it's usual routine of stick coffee for breakfast, showering, shaving, and waiting for the phone call from Mrs. Yoon, then walking to meet her at the gas station. I was starting to feel like I had achieved a normal schedule for getting up and going to work. Luckily, I had my list to help me out.

Upon arriving at school, I walked up the stairs, through the door, and into the front office. The three J's were already there (Jane, Justine, and Jenny). Apparently, Jane did not expect to see me come walking through the door because she jumped the second she saw me. I asked her if I was that unpleasing to look at and all that she could say was something like "You look tired." I guess maybe I was still adjusting from Eastern Standard Time. Nevertheless, I decided that it would be appropriate to give Jane shit about it for the rest of the day.

My first opportunity happened when we took a break from lesson planning to have gimbap that Mrs. Yoon bought. While eating and chatting, I pointed out that Jane was very afraid of me because she'd been horrified when I walked through the front door that morning. She responded with something like "No...no! I...am...nice...person." This was going to be too easy.

Classes followed a pretty normal routine. The middle school kids were getting really good at pronouncing their vocabulary words and were speaking lots of English while I got them to teach me more Korean words. The younger kids were all pretty good. All-in-all, it was a smooth day of teaching. I took a few pictures in the office.

My cluttered desk.

Two of Mrs. Yoon's books on Teaching English. I haven't seen the third one in the office. The name of the little boy on the cover is "Happy Jake."

A picture on the back of the book of Mrs. Yoon and the real Happy Jake

After class was over, we realized that Mrs. Yoon wasn't there anymore. We waited around for a bit for her to return, but had no idea where she'd gone and when she'd be coming back. We decided to lock up and go out for dinner somewhere. We let Mr. Lee know that we were leaving, and then walked out onto the main street of Seongnam. After discussing their options in Korean, the girls decided on a restaurant that had a name that was literally translated as "Food Town." For dinner we shared spaghetti, pork cutlet, kimchi, and soup. It was all very good. We also shared lots of bad pictures of ourselves that we had on our persons. We even managed to take a few!

Jane and Jenny. Apparently, in Korea, the peace sign means "Victory."

Oh you girls.

My cousin Eddie (who tried to photograph me several times at my Aunt Mitzie's and Uncle Bruce's 50th wedding anniversary) will be happy to know that I still can't take a picture without looking like a complete dumbass. My father and I both share this trait...must be genetic.

After dinner, I took a bus to Moran Station, and then got on another bus to come home. I was standing at the bus stop, waiting for the bus and staring off into space when I happened to notice 2 white guys walking down the sidewalk next to me. I smiled at them, and they smiled at me, and we bowed to each other. Then they walked on without a word. I think that's when I realized that I was in Korea. It's difficult to explain, but you can know that you're on the other side of the Earth, and you can see all the Korean people and the Korean signs and still not fully understand that you are in Asia. I can't really put the feeling into words.

The bus was crowded on the way home and I had to stand until we reached my stop. The bus stopped on the other side of the highway, so since I was already there, I hiked down to the 7-11, grabbed a beer, and walked to my apartment. The rest of the night consisted of Korean lessons, Skyping, updating my blog, and a trip down to E-Mart. My life in Korea was starting to feel normal.

The Adventure Gets Tested...Day 14 in Korea

I woke up a little later on Wednesday. I took this to mean that my body was getting accustomed to the time change. I took this to be a good sign.

For breakfast, I had ham, eggs, waffles, and toast. (Just kidding. I had stick coffee.) I spent the morning showering, shaving, getting ready for work and Skyping. I also posted a checklist on my door to make sure that I left with everything that I needed for work.

At the appropriate time, I ran down to the gas station to ride in to work with Mrs. Yoon.

Every Wednesday at the school was Test Day. This meant that all of the elementary school children showed up at random times during the day and took a test from their teacher. My tests were all supposed to be speaking tests. For most of mine, I either asked them questions for which they had learned English responses, or I would ask them questions about pictures using words that they'd learned. I spent most of the morning making tests for all the classes that I taught (There are about 8 different ones for the elementary kids). One of the other teachers, Justine, was playing music (in English) on her computer. Some of the stuff that she would listen to included Josh Groban, the Beatles, and jazzy stuff. I asked her if she'd ever heard of Norah Jones (I may or may not have a huge crush on Norah Jones). She didn't know her so I played a bit of "Don't Know Why" on my computer using a jump drive that I'd brought with me. After a few seconds of listening she said "My daughter like this music. Hmmmm. I like this music, too." I hoped that she wasn't just being polite, but honestly who can't like Norah Jones. She's almost as beautiful as her voice.

Norah Jones, my future ex-wife.

Some of the kids showed up at around 12:30, but wanted to go study in the computer lab before taking their tests. Jenny and I each took a classroom and waited for the students to come. We were waiting for a long time and were both hungry, so we decided to see if Justine would go get food for us. Jenny asked if I would buy her lunch. I told her yes, of course. (Pretty girls should never have to pay for food when a guy is around. Remember this, gentlemen.) We found Justine and I gave her some money and asked her to go get some gimbap and takkahngjeong. Just as she was leaving, pretty much every kid in the school showed up and we had to go back to our testing rooms. We probably spent the next 4 hours administering tests to most of the elementary school students. Some of them were really picking things up fast! I managed to take some pictures while I was waiting for students to arrive.

The classroom I used for testing

Same classroom, only from the back.

Some Korean graffiti on the classroom wall. 

This is the classroom that Jenny was using. The two girls who were taking their test hid when I took this picture. (One of them is under the table) 

By the time that we finished testing the kids, Jenny and I were both starving. Our food was waiting for us in the office, where it had been sitting for hours. I was so hungry that I still thought it was awesome. 

A few more kids came in and we got their tests out of the way. By the end of the day, we were exhausted. Mrs. Yoon asked if we wanted to go out for "some cold drinks." I took this to mean beer, of course, and agreed very strongly. Jenny also agreed, so we headed out to the main street of our part of Seongnam. While we were deciding where to go, Mrs. Yoon had to take an important phone call so I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of our little part of Seongnam.

It was night and my camera on my phone wasn't very good.

I think this was near our school. 

Jake. He typically wears this look of curiosity.

Mrs. Yoon on the phone

Mrs. Yoon wasn't able to get off of the phone for a while, but she guided us down to a little restaurant for coffee and dessert. We wound up getting water and two bowls of a kind of Korean ice cream. It consisted mostly of ice, a sweet sauce, corn flakes, and some rice cake things. The idea was to mix it all up and eat it. I must say it was pretty good.

It looked pretty similar to this. Yes, I forgot to take a picture of it. Shut up.

Mrs. Yoon was finally able to get off of the phone. She told us that the person who'd called had been someone who'd bought her book series. Apparently the person really liked it. I made the comment that she was famous, and she told me that Jake was more famous because of a picture in the book. She told me that there were copies at the office and that she would show it to me the next day.

After we finished, we left the restaurant, said goodbye to Jenny, and then headed home to Gwangju-si. Mrs. Yoon dropped me off at the gas station and I hurried up to my apartment. I changed clothes and walked down to the park. This time, I walked along a path on the opposite side of the river. This path went on for miles. At one point, it passed under what looked like an incomplete bridge, with a big gap in the middle. I thought that it might be a drawbridge, but wasn't sure what it was for. I walked on the path until I reached the end, and then walked back on a road that was beside the path. I decided that I really enjoyed the night walks I'd been having. On this particular night, my walk lasted for almost 2 hours.

I was walking back to the apartment when it happened. I could feel it coming on for the past couple of days. I'd felt happy and energetic, and my energy-level had been building during the long walks. It happened as I was turning up the road that led to my apartment complex...I just started running. Walking just felt too slow. I wanted more. It's difficult to put into words...I started running because I just had to. I ran up the hill, past a few other apartment complexes until I reached mine. It was pretty slow, not a long distance, and I was out of breath when I reached the door to my building, but it felt amazing. I decided that I wanted to start doing it regularly.

Once inside, I showered, and then got in bed. As I lay down, I started a Korean lesson with the intention of practicing for about half an hour. It hadn't been 5 minutes before I drifted off to sleep, where all of my dreams were available in English.

The Adventure Gets Indigestion...Day 13 in Korea

I was counting on waking up early Tuesday morning like I normally did because I had the idea that I would go down to the park to get some exercise before work. This was not the case, though, as I woke up around 9:30 and would not have had time. I did, however, take a few pictures around the apartment to give some people a better idea of what it was like living there.

This is the view from the window in my kitchen/bedroom/living room/dining room.

This is the view from the window in my washroom/closet.

Someone wanted to know how it was possible to spray myself with the shower while using the sink. If you'll notice, there's a little button on the faucet, with a hose that is attached behind it which runs to the shower head. You pull the little button out when you want to use the shower. If you forget to push it back in when you're done showering, chances are great that you will feel like an idiot when you go to brush your teeth in the sink and get sprayed down by the shower head.

These are shoes that you keep in or outside of your bathroom. Because the bathroom is also used as a shower, the floor is often wet. Koreans don't want to get their socks or bare feet wet when walking in the bathroom, so they slip these on for any bathroom activities that happen after showering.

Breakfast consisted of good old-fashioned stick coffee.

Mrs. Yoon called to see if I was ready. I asked her how she was doing and she said that she was better than the day before. Although I knew that her heart was still heavy with the loss of her brother, I was happy that she was feeling some improvement in her life. We met at the gas station and rode in together.

At work, Mrs. Yoon sat behind her desk and made lots of friendly conversation with the other teachers and me. She seemed to be feeling a lot better and the mood in the office was very light while we planned our lessons for the day. There was a white board in front of my desk that I often used to make quick notes. I started getting Jenny to write Korean words and phrases on it that I wanted to remember. (The name of the spicy chicken that I love so much is Dahk-ahm-jeong).

Jane, Jenny, and I decided to grab something to eat before we had to start teaching, so we all walked outside together. I thought that we'd just get street food like we usually did, but they were thinking more about a restaurant where they could sit down. I knew that this was going to be expensive...probably around 5,000-6,000 won. (Under $6. And you don't tip here. I know, I'm hilarious.) We went to a little restaurant in the basement of a building. I was happy to have the girls there, because I was not yet able to order at a restaurant and I needed other people to help me order and read the menu. Otherwise it would be a guessing game of what I was getting and what I was trying to order. (I'm sure it would be very frustrating for the waiter) The girls said that we were going to get "cold noodle," but Jenny asked if I would like "spicy noodle." I agreed, of course. Once they figured out what they wanted to order, they called the waiter and gave him our orders. He brought out our noodles, along with sides of kim chi, yellow turnip, and a big plate of meat that he put in the middle of the table. My noodles were green (apparently made from seaweed) and had a red spicy sauce in them. Eating them was like having a hot, spicy heaven in my mouth. (Yes, I realize that description sounds a lot like hell to some people)

It was kind of like this, only with a spicy sauce. Yes, I forgot to take pictures. I'm sorry.

 The girls had grey noodles that came in a chilled broth. We all ate until we were content, and then chatted for a bit at the table. I found out that Jane had a pretty serious boyfriend who she wanted to marry, and that Jenny was robbing the cradle by dating a really young guy back in the USA. (They'd been together for quite some time). I was just happy to be sitting in a restaurant with two beautiful women, enjoying great food. They had all kinds of questions about my relationships and dating status. I think they were wondering why I wasn't married yet.

After paying, we headed back to the school. The girls said that they didn't think that the food at that restaurant was very good. I wondered what good Korean food tasted like, and thought about how great it was to live in a country where even the bad food tasted good. Oh, how I loved Korea.

 Classes were fun and easy. We did vocabulary drills in most of my classes, throwing in some rules to make them competitive games. (Kids hate to think that they're learning) The children were all good, and very respectful. I hoped that all my classes would stay that way throughout the year.

I was still full from lunch six hours after eating at the restaurant. I was working at my computer when Jane, who was sitting behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I "digested well." "Sure," I replied. She told me that her lunch wasn't settling very well. I guess mine wasn't really settling well either. Jenny said that she was having the same problem. I just felt really full, but was still happy.

At the end of the day, Mrs. Yoon told me that she needed to go by a department store to buy a present for a friend. She asked me, "Will you go?" Of course, I thought that she was asking me to go with her, but in retrospect, I think she was trying to ask me if I wanted to go. Either way, I agreed. We first went to a subway station that had a lot of shops in it. Unfortunately, they were all closed when we got there, so we left and went to a big department store. Mrs. Yoon looked at designer clothes for her friend while I walked around the various floors of the store with Jake. I spent most of my time reading the Korean translations of American companies. (Some were pretty hilarious. "Levi's" was written in Hangeul as "Lee-ba-eye-suh") I made a little game out of reading the Korean names of things and then checking the actual brand name to see if I had guessed correctly. It was a fun way to practice reading Hangeul. The rest of the time I got Jake to teach me Korean words.

Mrs. Yoon met us in the food court when she was finished shopping, and bought us dinner. She ordered spicy fried rice for me and gave me some sushi. (Sushi is called "chop-shee" in Korean) Jake had the same thing. I was still stuffed from lunch, but knew that it was rude to refuse food so I ate as much as I could without exploding. Rice + Noodles = Really Full Patrick.

Mrs. Yoon drove me to the gas station and dropped me off. I walked the rest of the way that night, eager to get home after a long day. I spent the rest of the night Skyping, updating my blog, and answering emails. I finally went to sleep after midnight, feeling like a hot air balloon from all the food that I'd had that day.

The Adventure Saddens...Day 12 in Korea

If I slept Sunday night, I don't remember it. All I can remember is laying in bed and watching the sunlight slowly drift in through the window. I was very worried about the fact that Mrs. Yoon and Mr. Lee hadn't called. I wondered if they had tried to call when I was out on one of my escapades and had become frustrated at the fact that they couldn't reach me. I continued to worry until about 8:30. At that point I decided that I needed to call them and see what the game plan was for the day. I dialed their number and listened to the phone ring many times, but there was no answer. This caused me to worry even more. I was in the process of looking up bus routes for school when the phone rang.

It was Mrs. Yoon. I could barely hear her voice over the phone, due to some sort of connection problem (my phone had been doing this occasionally). I had to press the receiver into my ear and cover up my other ear to just barely make out what she was saying. She asked if I'd just called her. I asked her how she was doing and what the plan was for the day. She told me that she was not doing well at all. She said that she was very sad because she'd lost her brother over the weekend. His death was very sudden and unexpected. She told me that his funeral was later that day and that that was why she'd forgotten to call me. I had no idea what to say. There is little that one can say in English to console someone who has lost someone close to them, but it is even harder when there was a serious language barrier. I couldn't say that I was sorry, because if you were to say that to a Korean who'd lost a family member, they would think that the death was somehow partially your fault. You only apologize for things that you have control over. I finally told her that I was very sad for her and told her that I would take the bus to school that day. She seemed to object to that idea, but I told her that I could do it and that it would be for the best. I was hoping to get there a little early anyway to have some extra time to plan my lessons for the day. She finally consented and said that she would see me at school. I said goodbye and hung up, stunned at the news that I'd just heard. I had hardly began to even absorb it when the phone rang again. It was Mrs. Yoon again. She wanted to make sure that I knew what buses to get on, where to transfer, and to make sure that I knew what I was doing. She proceeded to give me instructions on what buses to take and where to get off, none of which I was able to hear because of the bad connection. We said goodbye, hung up, and once again I was stunned. I got dressed, checked Google Maps for bus routes, then ran down to the bus stop.

It took hardly any time for my bus to arrive. However, boarding the bus was a completely different story. Because it was still during the morning rush hour, the bus was jam-packed full of Koreans. I paid my 1,300 won, and was able to move about five rows down the aisle before I had to stop because of people already standing in the aisle. I grabbed onto one of the handles for people standing in the aisle and held on for dear life as the bus lurched forward.

I'd taken the same bus line into Seongnam the previous day and the experience had been quite different. Where we'd hardly pulled over at any stops the day before, it seemed like we pulled over at EVERY stop on this trip. An elderly man got on the bus at the second stop and the guy that I was hovering over offered up his seat to the man. We were able to get the old man seated after the three of us moved around like pieces of a Rubix Cube for about five minutes. There were people up front standing in the stairwell, but we still kept making stops and somehow kept squeezing more people into the bus. I kept getting pressed back against this grandmother who was carrying a baby in a harness. She said something angrily to me in Korean but there was nothing I could do. Every now and then, someone would get off the bus. I was happy when another old lady offered her seat to the grandmother with the baby. I felt bad about being squeezed up next to them.

Finally the bus arrived at Moran Station, the stop where I was to get off. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea and Koreans poured from the back door like water from a bottle. I walked down to what I thought was my bus stop, looked around, and immediately saw my bus that I was supposed to get on. I ran over to it and waited for the driver to open the door. He finally did and I started to step on, but he started speaking loudly to me in Korean and motioned for me to get off. I got off and ran back over to the stop. The bus drove off. Confused, I looked over at the bus routes for any lines that ran to Namhansanseong Station. I knew that they would at least take me in the direction of the school and could get me significantly closer, possibly even to the stop that I was supposed to get off at. I hopped on the first bus that I saw and sat down in a single seat. This bus didn't have one of the little screens that announced the stops, so I had to resort to watching for the right place. Luckily, the bus ran all the way to the stop that I was supposed to get off at and I didn't have to resort to hailing a taxi or walking a long distance.

I walked to the school from the stop and walked into the teacher's room. Jenny and Justine were already there (Justine is the name of the older teacher who told me that I'd be great friends with her daughter). Jenny and I worked together on planning our lessons (we were both teaching the same classes, just different parts of it). I found out that Sue had quit over the break because of some disagreement that could not be worked out. (It turns out that Jenny was her replacement). I was sad to hear the news about Sue, but happy that she'd been replaced by someone cool.

As requested by some of my blog followers, I took some pictures of the school before anyone arrived.

The school starts on the second floor of a building. This is the entrance. You can see the little area in the floor where you leave your shoes, (I'm pretty sure the ones in the picture are Jenny's) as well as indoor shoes that you put on when you come in.

This is the little hallway with the classrooms. There are only 6. I love it. Notice the flowers in the glass displays on the wall.

The School Banner. I like it.

Flowers in the display case.

The computer lab, where kids come to practice their speaking. Almost every class has a listening lesson on the computer before they go to the classroom.

This is Jenny sitting at my desk in the Teacher's Room. She wasn't very happy with me for taking this picture.

She was allowed to pose for this one.

I finished planning my lessons for my classes, only then to find out that I was scheduled to teach a class that was starting at about five minutes from that time. I raced to grab some materials so that I could throw a lesson together on the spot. I ran into the classroom, got one of the kids to turn the air conditioner on, greeted the kids and asked them about their weekend. They were still hesitant to speak, but not as much as they had been the week before. I started them off on a lesson and managed to keep them going for the next 40 minutes. At that point, I gave them a break to go to the bathroom, get some water, or just hang out in the classroom. I got the kids who chose to hang out to teach me some more Korean words. They really enjoyed this, and were as strict with my pronunciation of words as I was with theirs. They liked seeing me struggle with their language as much as they struggled with mine. I did, however, impress them when I placed a book on top of the laptop in the classroom and then said to them "The book is on top of the laptop" in Korean. (They actually went "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!")

Mrs. Yoon was scheduled to teach the next 40 minutes of class, but I wasn't sure when she would get in from the funeral so I started them off on the next part of the lesson. We were about 2 minutes into the lesson before there was a knock at the door. It was Mrs. Yoon. She told me that she would take over from there and that they could have a short break. I walked out into the hallway, took one look at her, and could see that she was very physically drained. I asked her how she was doing and she told me that she was very sad. I asked her if I could please teach the rest of the class for her. She asked me if I had the energy to do it (I wasn't looking great myself after not getting much sleep). I told her that I did and gave her a big, reassuring smile. She said that she would like that and thanked me. I ran back into the classroom to the surprise of the kids. They were happy that I was back, but there happiness turned to disdain when I made them pull out a list of words for a pronunciation drill. (They really hate doing these) Their pronunciation of words had improved greatly since their last day at school. They were nailing most of the consonants and adjusting very well to the vowels. I was very proud of them.

After the class was over, I went back to the office. Mrs. Yoon was in there, sitting at one of the desks. She told me that it had been a very rough weekend. She said that she hadn't eaten or slept much in the past three days and felt very distant from the world. She told me that both of her parents had died in their 80s, and so they all thought that her brother (who was 67) had several more years left in him. She also told me about how he'd tried to call her a few times in the past month, but how she'd been too busy to answer the phone. She vowed that she would not put business before her family ever again. As she put it, "Life's too short." (Couldn't have said it better myself) She then told me about Korean traditions with funerals. I'd read some about this, but did not know how much of it had changed in the past few years. 

First of all, most Koreans want their deaths to take place in their home. When they die, their family keeps the body of the deceased in the house for three days. (From what I've read, the body is usually placed in a room behind a screen so that it can't really be seen) During that time period, family and friends of the deceased come to the home to pay their respects and to say goodbye. The family of the deceased act as hosts and they feed and take care of all visitors. Visitors usually give the family some amount of money to help with the costs of caring for others, and for the cost of the funeral. She said that the funeral ceremony is usually very elaborate and expensive, and is expected to be so. (She said that many families went into serious debt because of the costs of some of these funerals. It is especially bad for families who lose more than one person in a year. The money that is contributed helps pay for all of this). She said that it was tradition to bury their dead, but due to the fact that Korea is such a small country, there was really not much room left for burials, so people today are cremated. Instead, of a gravestone, they now have a memorial somewhere. She said it is tradition for the family to come visit the grave or memorial annually on the date of the person's death.

I really felt bad for Mrs. Yoon and I told her that if I could help her in any way that I would be more than willing to do it. She told me that I was very kind and that she appreciated it. It was about time to go back to teaching, so Jenny and I found classrooms for the kids, got the children into the room, and started teaching. The day went well for both of us, as we were now each teaching four 40 minute classes instead of two 80 minute classes. The kids were good and I felt like they'd learned the material well, and enjoyed the process!

After we finished, Jenny and I decided to get some food. Mrs. Yoon asked where we were going, gave Jake some money, and off we went. We wound up getting tobokki, gimbap, and soon dey (that's the name of the Korean sausage that I can't ever remember). We brought it all back to the school and took it to one of the classrooms. Justine, Jenny, Jane, Mrs. Yoon, Jake, and I all sat there eating and talking. It was nice to be able to spend good quality time with my fellow teachers and to share stories. 

At the end of the day, Mrs. Yoon told me that she could take me home and seemed to really want to so I accepted her offer. She asked why I'd taken the bus, and I told her it was because of the funeral and because I wanted to know that I could do it in case I ever had to. She seemed to understand that.

They dropped me off at my apartment, and I run upstairs, changed clothes, and took off for E-Mart. I got some snacks and food there, and then walked down to the park. For some reason I now was filled with energy...good energy. I spent the next hour or so walking. I walked down into the park, down the track, and under the big bridge. The path went on for a long ways but I had no wish to stop. I felt safe, happy, and full of energy. I kept walking, even after the path stopped being paved and turned into rocks that ran alongside the river. I didn't turn back until I was waist deep in river grass and had reached a point where the path had finally disappeared in the brush. I felt like I could walk all night. The words of Mrs. Yoon rang in my ears: "Life's too short." I was happy that I was in Korea, living one of my dreams of moving to a foreign country and experiencing the people and culture of that country. I had a great little apartment for sleeping, and a foothold for exploring a completely new part of the world. That night I decided that whatever happened to me, I would not spend my single years sitting idly by while those dreams slipped further away from my grasp. I was going to savor every second of this sweet and precious thing called life...because life is, indeed, too short.

I walked home, arms still full from E-Mart, with a smile on my face while I continued to count my blessings. I had no trouble sleeping that night and was eager to wake up again to start another day in Korea. 

The Adventure Gains Two Americans...Day 11 in Korea

I woke up early Sunday morning, but was afraid to go back to sleep because I knew that I had to meet two new friends: Lindsey and Aubree. Lindsey and Aubree were two American girls who were working in Seoul at special private school for preschoolers and kindergarten students. Because they lived in Seoul and I lived in Gwangju, Lindsey decided that a little city called Seongnam would be the best place to meet as it was right between the two of us. "How convenient," I thought, "since I happen to work there!" I had stick coffee for breakfast before strapping on my sunglasses and my trusty backpack and heading out to the bus stop. 

We were scheduled to meet at noon, so I headed out a little early so that I could a) make sure I got to the meeting place on time and b) take a route that was a little out of the way so that I could ride the subway! I ran down to the bus stop to wait for my bus. There were many Koreans already waiting there. "Shit," I thought, "I bet they're all waiting for the same bus because it goes into Seoul." It was about that time that a different bus pulled up and they all climbed aboard it. Awesome!

When my bus arrived, I waited for the older people to get on, then climbed up the steps, proudly depositing 1,300 won into the money box. After I saw that there was no protest from the bus driver, I went to find a seat. Unfortunately, all of the seats already had at least one person in them. I thought about standing, but realized that I would just be in the way of people who were trying to exit. I was going to have to sit next to someone. I passed by several old people and chose a young, longer-haired Korean guy to sit next to. He didn't seem too happy that I chose to sit by him. I imagined that his inner monologue was saying something along the lines of:

"Ah, man, whitey's on the bus. Ugh, I hate white people. They smell like death. Look at him...paying with cash. Stupid white guy. Doesn't he know that it's a lot cheaper if you have one of these little cards that go 'bing!' when you scan them? And he's carrying a backpack...why does he need that on a bus that's going to Seoul? Does he think he's going to be roughing it in Seoul? Idiot. Nice sunglasses. I wonder where he's going to si...oh...oh no, not here, not now, nonononononononononoNO...ah, shit."

I like making up inner monologues for people.

The bus rode on, stopping at only a few more places. This particular bus had a little screen that would show the name of the stop that was coming up so that people could save time by forming a queue by the exit door. They could even scan their little "bing!" cards in advance. I was happy about this because I knew what the name of my stop looked like in Korean. There is usually a voice that announces the names of the stations but I could rarely pick out the name of the station among all of the other Korean words.

After about twenty minutes, we approached the Moran Station stop. Moran Station was the end of the Line 8 train coming out of Seoul (or the beginning of it if you were going into Seoul). It also must have been a very popular station because approximately 98% of the people decided to get off the bus at that time, including my new Korean friend who I was sitting next to. The queue started to form, and my guy tried to get out but unfortunately had to try to get past a fat white guy with a backpack in his lap. Most Koreans are slim, but not that slim. I somehow got out into the aisle with one foot trapped in my seat. The Korean guy was trying to get out and everyone in the back was trying to get by me to get out. After becoming quite intimate with a few Koreans, I miraculously found myself back in my seat with my backpack beside me. I rode the bus for a little longer until it got to Janji Station: a station that was a few stops north of where I wanted to go. 

Jangji Station

I headed down the steps into the underground tunnel and found a machine where I could purchase subway tickets. 

Luckily, there's a handy-dandy little button at the bottom that says "English."

After paying almost 2,000 won for a ticket, I ran through what I can only describe as an "honor system turnstile." 

Much like riding MARTA, you scan your card at one of these and go through it when the machine makes a certain beep. If it doesn't make the beeping sound, there's not much stopping you from going through, anyway.

There were lots of signs everywhere (in both English and Korean) to point people to the right train. I had no trouble finding the area to wait. It was nice, clean, and air conditioned! I managed to snap a couple of pictures before hopping on the train.

Yup. That's where I am.

It is a great day for clumsy people and alcoholics everywhere. No longer do they have to worry about falling on the train tracks and being run over by a subway train and/or being fried by the electric rail. There are doors to keep one from doing that.

The train pulled up, I waited for the people who were getting off to exit and I boarded the train. I really liked riding the Korean subway. First of all, the thing was smoother than a baby's bottom and it smelled better, too! The inside of it looked clean, there was plenty of room for people to stand, and the doors were open between cars so that you could easily transfer to another car if you didn't like the one you were in.

After three stops, the train arrived at Namhansanseong Station: the place that I was to meet Lindsey and Aubree. I got off the train, went through the honor-system turnstile, and looked around. I still had about fifteen minutes to kill before I had to meet them and I wasn't eager to go wait outside in the heat, so I walked around and looked at various things inside of the station.

Nice, clean subway station. And there are little places where you can shop on the side!

These were in both subway stations and I have no idea what the hell they are. Gas masks in case North Korea attacks?

At the appropriate time, I made my way up to Exit 2 where I was to meet Lindsey and Aubree. 

Yes, I do wonder why I took some of these pictures.

Lindsey and Aubree came walking down the sidewalk from Exit 1 at noon. They were hungry and claimed to want spicy stuff so I decided to take them to get street food at the spicy chicken place by my school. We decided to catch a bus rather than walking 2 kilometers to the school, so we went and sat at the bus station to wait for our bus. (I'd looked one up on Google Maps) After waiting for about 10-15 minutes, our bus came by but didn't stop. We decided to hop on the next bus that came by and hope for the best. We got on the next bus, paid, (they had little cards that went "bing," too!) and found seats. Luckily, the bus we chose went by the stop that we needed to get off at, and we were able to exit about a block from the school.

Unfortunately, the spicy chicken shop was closed...probably because it was Sunday. Damn. A man on a scooter saw us trying the door and stopped to give us directions to another spicy chicken shop. I listened to him give his directions in Korean, thanked him, and watched him drive off. One of the girls asked what he'd said and I totally pulled one of these:

We wound up going to the restaurant that Sue, Jane, and I had bought food at the previous Tuesday. I knew enough bastardized Korean to order some gimbap, tokbokke, and some Korean sausage. We took it down to the school building and ate it outside on the front steps. (Props to Lindsey for running down to a convenient store and getting us some bottle water to help wash it all down) The girls liked the gimbap, were okay with the tokbokke, and weren't very fond of the sausage (I ate most of it). While we were eating, an old man came outside, looked at us, and shook his head. We assumed that we were just in the way and moved our stuff so that he could pass, but he came out and pointed to various pieces of litter on the ground and told us to pick them up, assuming that we had left it there. We did as he asked out of respect.

After finishing our meal, we walked down to the neat little park that I'd found on my trip to Namhansanseong. While I was there, I managed to get a picture of some of the stacks of stones. 

I think these are graves, but I still don't know for sure

After a while, it was time for the girls to leave so we walked to the nearest bus stop with buses heading in the appropriate direction. I found a few that went to Namhansanseong Station and we hopped on one of them. I rode back with them on the subway a)because I liked it and b) because I wasn't 100% sure how to get home by bus without going back to Jangji Station (even though it was out of the way). I got off at Jangji, leaving the girls to ride back to Seoul on the subway. 

Finding the right bus was pretty easy, and it was practically empty on the inside. Nice. I sat down in a nice cozy seat and watched as we drove out of the city and across the countryside. Eventually we drove through Gwangju-si and I hopped off at the stop nearest my house. Because it was on the other side of the highway, I stopped by the 7-11 and grabbed a couple of beers to try that evening. I hiked back up to my apartment, unlocked the door, slipped my shoes off, and sat in the air conditioning for a little while. I spent the rest of the day blogging, emailing, eating dinner, and waiting for Mrs. Yoon to call to tell me what time I should be at the gas station the next day. She never did call that night. I lay in bed, wondering if I'd done something to offend her, if she'd forgotten, if my phone was working, or if perhaps this was a sign from her that it was time for me to start finding my own way to work. As it would turn out, the reason was more horrible than any that I had thought of.

The Adventure Spends some Time in E-Mart...Day 10 in Korea

I had no idea what was in store for me that day when I woke up on Saturday. After cooking some rice noodles for breakfast, and eating them while listening to a Korean lesson on my computer, I updated my blog, answered a few emails, and Skyped while I did laundry. After hanging my laundry out to dry, I tried to figure out what I would do that day. I really wanted to go read a book in the park, but it was very hot. I knew that I needed some stuff from E-Mart, and didn't want to tote a book along, so I decided I would go get some stuff from E-Mart, bring it back, and then go back to the park to read around the late afternoon, when the temperature would not be so hot.


Before I went out, I spotted my phone lying on my little TV stand and had a thought. I'd been trying to take pictures with my phone while it was on Airplane Mode (which means it has no service. Otherwise, I might be hit with a phone bill for thousands of dollars in roaming fees. No joke.) When my phone was in regular mode, my pictures just went straight to the most recent part of my photo album on my phone. While taking them in Airplane Mode, I would take a picture, save it, then go to the same place only to find that the photo had disappeared into some secret, unknown chamber of my phone. I had the idea that they might be sent to the BEGINNING of the album while in Airplane Mode. Guess what? I was right? I took my phone with me and started snapping pictures along my walk. Here are a few of them.

This is a picture of a window in my stairwell. You could have gone the rest of your life without seeing it.

Part of the road that leads out to the main highway from my complex.

This is a shot of the main highway in front of the gas station that I wait at every morning.

The gas station that I wait at every morning, where the old pump attendant sits in his chair.

The highway, heading in the direction of downtown Gwangju. Notice the mountains in the distance.

A road sign. While most road signs are in both English and Korean, this one is just in Korean. It reads "Seoul - 41 km

Seongnam - 14 km"

Apparently "Slow" or "Slow Down" in Korean is "Choen choen hee"

The park in downtown Gwangju that I love. You can see the big, yellow E-Mart sign above the building on the other side.

Some workout equipment in the park. There are several sets, but they all pretty much rely on your body weight. I love these machines. I actually tried these out that day because no one was in the park.

A bridge that crosses the river that runs through the park. At night it has colored lights on it. This is where the patriotic Korean man was playing his drum on his scooter.

A stone walkway that you can cross if you're feeling adventurous. I was feeling adventurous and my feet got wet because of it.

This is on the other side of the park. I was trying to get a shot of the edge of the city, but the sun and reflections made it hard to see.

As I was walking up to the E-Mart, I was approached by an old Korean man who was wearing a red vest and carrying a clipboard. He started speaking to me in Korean, asking if I spoke any of the language. I told him "A little." (Politely) He gestured me over to a table with an umbrella and sat me down. He started pointing to pictures in a book. They were of different cities...I think they were all cities where the Olympics had been held. I wasn't quite sure what he was saying, but he kept talking. After showing me a few pictures, he handed me his clipboard and a pen. There was a survey on it in both English and Korean. It seemed to be directed at foreigners. From what I could gather, it was about free events that foreigners (and possibly locals) would like to see from the city. As I began to fill it out, two old ladies (also wearing red vests) ran over from across the street. They started talking to me, one in somewhat broken English. Every time I would write an answer down, they would make exclamations about my background. (For example, when I put what country I was from, they all said "Ohhhhh! USA! You are American!") They noticed that I was sweating a lot, and they all started fanning me with their clipboards. One of the old ladies took some tissues out of her purse and (I shit you not) began to wipe the sweat off of my neck, face, and arms. I thanked her and told her that she was very kind. When I finished the survey, I gave it back to them, shook their hands, bowed, thanked them, and told them to go in peace. (which they loved) As I was leaving, I heard the old lady with the tissues start yelling "Hello! Hello! Hello!" I turned around, and she was running up to me with some more tissues in her hands. I accepted them, thanked her again, told her to go in peace again, and went into the E-Mart. I have never been treated so kindly by complete strangers in my life. I know it may sound weird to other Westerners, but this experience really made my whole day better. I am still in shock and dismay by the kindness and generosity of these people.

While walking around in the food court, I saw something that looked a little out of place among all the Korean food stands...

Welp, that's it! Korea has Popeye's. I think I've run out of my last reason to come home. Sorry Mom!

While I was browsing in the E-Mart, I saw something that I hadn't seen in over a week...a white guy. At last! Another Westerner! He just kind of looked at me, nodded, and moved on. (He had his girlfriend with him. I think she may have been Korean American. He spoke to her in English) I was kind of disappointed that another Westerner wasn't as glad to see me as I was to see him. Oh well...

After buying my stuff, I went upstairs into the food court to a food stand where they had gimbap. I managed to order some, indicate that I wanted it to go, and pay the right amount for it. This made me especially happy because a)I now had gimbap, and b) I had successfully ordered it from a complete stranger. I must admit, I was pretty proud of myself. As I was leaving, I spotted a stand that had the same kind of spicy chicken that the old man by the school made. I decided that I might try to purchase some of that the next time I was hungry.

I left E-Mart and took a long way home to avoid the old people. (I just didn't know how to act around them!)

I got back to the apartment, cooled down, and unpacked my stuff. While eating my gimbap, I made plans with another friend to meet up the next day with her and her friend in downtown Seongnam. 

Mmmmmmm...gimbap.

Once we figured out where we would meet and how to get there, it was getting dark. I was kind of sad that I'd missed my window of opportunity to read in the park, but knew that I had more stuff to get from E-Mart so I set back out towards the city. The park was alive with people, but I knew that I had limited time before E-Mart closed so I headed there, across the big bridge where cars could cross the river.


At the same spot as earlier that day, I got ambushed by another flock of old people in red vests. I told them that I'd already filled out a survey, but stayed and talked with them for a bit anyway. The old man (different one) in the group asked me if I was from Uzbekistan. "Mee gook," I replied (which means American in Korean), and they all made more exclamations. This group of elderly people also fanned me. This is kind of a big deal to me because the elderly in Korea are a very honored caste who command a lot of respect. I felt like I should be fanning THEM. I hoped that I was acting appropriately. After talking with them for a bit, I bowed, thanked them, told them that it was nice to meet them, and bade them go in peace. They bowed back, thanked me, and gave me the same well-wishing.

I got my stuff that I needed in E-Mart, and went back upstairs to the food court. Could I successfully order the spicy chicken stuff? Answer: Yes I could!. I got a cup of spicy chicken and headed out to the park, once again taking the long way.


The park was even more alive than usual. On the corner where I entered, there was a concert that was being held by some saxophonists.

Concert in the Park. The Koreans really seemed to enjoy this. 

Out of focus spicy chicken. It was good, but not as good as that of the old man who has the place near the school.

People walking and playing Badminton

People playing Basketball

The Bridge that crosses the river. This is the big one that cars go over. It changes colors.

See? I told you that it changed colors!

This is the little bridge in the middle of the park. I like the lights on it.

I snapped a couple more photos on the way back.

This sign says "Dee Dee Chee Keen" (D. D. Chicken)

This is a glowing cross above one of the buildings in town. There is a glowing cross over just about every church in town. I guess it is because many of the churches share buildings with other businesses. (We have a church on the bottom floor of our school building)

I got back home, put my new stuff up, and updated my blog. I went to bed that night, excited about meeting two new Westerners the next day in Seongnam.