Life in Korea

Due to laziness on my part I haven't been doing much culturally so this blog will be more like snapshots of Korea life/ what I saw this weekend.

I went to Dongdaemun on Saturday. This used to be the old east gate of Seoul but is now more known for its cheap outdoor market. So, I hiked around, haggled and dug through piles of clothes to find some cute outfits.

This is a woman in front of a giant pile of bedding.
A look down one of the streets.
The vendors set up shop on the street and a "shop" was usually an elevated piece of plywood piled with clothes from which vedors held signs and yelled about sales and what they were offering.
NO! I did not eat this! I draw the line and insects and things that smell horrible. It's stewed silk worm. More popular to the south and served in ice cream cones.
Me on one of the "nicer" streets.
I continued my shopping at Ehwa Women's University area, which is across the street from my dorm. There I found:
A giant pink shoe (with no shoe stores nearby)
Manikins that look like Justin Timberlake.
And then here is the subway. You can tell how much fun it is by the people's faces.
And some really cool graffiti. All the tunnels and undergrounds have graffiti, but its nice because it's all organized. I think the city has control over who paints what.
This is a picture of Ehwa's campus. That hill/tunnel thing is actually their library.
And finally, my greatest moment this weekend. I did something I've wanted to do since the first time I saw Roman Holiday.

I cut my hair in a foreign country! So I now have cute side bangs. (Very popular in Korea) And while it's not a very drastic difference keep in mind that I haven't changed my hair style ever and I haven't had bangs since I was six.

I'm so cute.

This past week

So, this past week has been not very eventful. On Thursday it was my friend's birthday. So, with all the maturity we could muster we duct-taped him and carried him through the city. This weekend I went on a membership training exercise with the International Youth Committee (club that organized exchange students) The group rented out a traditional Korean guest house for us and we went for the weekend. It was a mixed group of exchange students and Yonsei students so I now have some Korean friends.

This is Na Yeon our incredibly cool group leader.
And here is Song Shik (my newest crush) and John (duct-tape boy)
And our whole group 1, Team Ya! (Ya=Hey! in English) All of use slept in one room and once again we were on the floor with a blanket and a pillow. (Be thankful for western beds)
So, here is a look at the guest house. It's just outside of Seoul (about an hour away from Yonsei) And is into the mountains.
The room from the outside
And from the inside. We had to cook our own meals, so here we're making fried rice for dinner.
A guest house usually has a sauna to use. So, guests get special clothes (pajamas) and generally wear these during their stay.
And another look at the mountains.

Korean Thanksgiving (Chuseok)

So, this past weekend was Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving/Harvest Festival. Like the American Thanksgiving Koreans go eat lots of food with their familes for this holiday. Not having family here I went to the beach with 13 of my new friends.

But before I get into that. This is where I work every Monday, Tuesday and Saturday. I teach Taekwondo and English. My school is on the second floor of this building. And here is the inside. Much smaller than the one at home but I think it's more efficient this way and homier. It reminds me of the old school.
So, anyway, I and many friends took the subway west for about an hour to the port city of Incheon. (This is also where the international airport is.) Then we took a ferry over to one of the islands off the coast. This is a view from the ferry where, of course, the seagulls were much more daring than you really wanted them to be.
We had planned to go Busan, another port is the south, but due to the holiday we couldn't get bus tickets so we decided to got to Incheon Friday evening and left Saturday morning. This meant we showed up with no place to stay. Luckily, we found a room/house two minutes from the beach. But it had no western beds, just Korean styles beds (two inch thick pad on the floor) so 13 of us slept in one room on the floor. But it was cheap.
The beaches were nice. The water was much like the Mediterranean (calm, salty water with no waves) but was a much darker color. When the tide went out it went out about half a mile and left behind mudflats where people fished for worms, muscles and crabs.
Fresh seafood was the main food here. And I mean fresh. Outside of the restaurants that lines the beach were tanks of crab, shrimp, muscles, fish and octopus. When you ordered seafood the waitress walked outside shoveled some into a pot and put it on the burner in the middle of you table. In Korea you usually cook your own food but this was a little extreme. The shrimp for instance was still alive when they put it in the pot (heads on and moving around) and you got to watch them die and turn pink in front of you. Some of us ordered sashimi (raw fish on rice/ a kind of sushi) and with that we got many side dishes (also another thing with Korean meals, everymeal comes with at least 3 or 4 side dishes, usually kimchi, some kind of salad, radish and pickled garlic) At this restaurant we recieved all sorts of clams and muscles but the scariest was octopus tentacles that squirmed throughout the 40 minutes meal and though who tried to eat them choked on them because the suckers when attach to your throat. I didn't eat this but I did have something else that was red and kind of sinewy that I realized later was also moving. Ugh.
Later in the night, we walked along the beach to a rock outcropping. Here is a look back at the beach. There were many restaurants and small hotels about 100 yards back from the sand but the town itself was rather small. More of a day trip kind of place. And the international airport was behind the mountains, so you can see a plane landing but not hear it.
This is Mackenzie. A Canadian French vegan who I get along well with. Most of this trip I spent talking and with her or playing sports with the boys. I get along well with the girls too, but I can't spend hours laying in the sun doing nothing.
Here are a couple of boys I see on a regular basis. Tom (Australian on the left) and Niko (French on the right) I beat them both in poker.
And probably the highlight of the trip was the beach volleyball game. The boys, Mackenzie and I bought a ball and played volleyball and soccer most of the time. At our last game a middle aged man, who had been drinking, came and started playing with us. He eventually called his friends over and we started a game. Foreign college students vs. 40 year old men in dress pants. They even bet money on the game. It was a close game (oddly so considering the teams) but we won. The money from the bets was given to us to buy food and drink and we all went to their blanket for some traditional Chuseok food. (Beef, ricecake, Korean cookies, chesnuts and some other things that I just can't name) I love Korean people. They're so generous and nice.
I'm trying to make plans for next weekend still. I'll let you guys know how it turns out. As a side note, my classes are all going well. I have a lot of reading to do but it's not hard. And I have a two Yonsei students whom I meet with every week now to practice Korean and "share culture" with.

Yon-Ko Jon!!!

So, I've been really busy this week with one thing. Yon Ko Jon. This is a sports even consisting of five games( hockey, rugby, basketball, baseball and soccer) played between Yonsei Uni. (mine) and Korea Uni. (the enemy) the top two schools in Korea. This event happens every year at the beginning of the school year and has been going on for about 50 years now. The whole event is sponsored by major companies like Samsung and ABC who, I assume, have alumni executives at their heads. It's a very big deal.


It started at the beginning of the school year when the clubs started putting up signs advertising the event and the international students were bombarded with information about going. Then the cheer practices started.

Koreans don't cheer like we do in the US. It's not just "rah, rah go team" every school has about 30 choreographed cheer/songs that they memorize. These cheers are led by a dance /cheerleading team who wear elaborate costumes and are all physical education majors. The whole school follows the team in these songs with much enthusiasm. After just one practice you can't help but have school spirit and I, who love to dance, had alot of fun with this.

So, here one of the cheer practices I went to. This is in our campus amphitheater. And here are the cheerleaders. Are theme is renaissance and Korea University's was ninja/monk/china.
Now, here's where is starts getting big. At the cheering sections, (a practice/ pep-rally sort of thing) A famous Korean Pop star came named Lee Seung Ki. I didn't recognize his name but I did recognize some of the songs he sang. But when he came out girls screamed and fainted and I have to say he is very cute. But what really blew me away was that this was a school pep-rally and he was there just to cheer us on.


So, on Friday it officially started. Classes were canceled and everyone piled onto the subway to go to the 1988 Olympic Sports complex. We all had to wear blue because that is our school color. (Korea U.'s is red). And everyone went by club so your blue club t-shirt was your ticket in. This is me and Karlijn, my dutch friend. First, was baseball. We were supposed to stay with the mentor's club (yonsei's international student organization help group) but me and a few others (Hi Myung and Patrick) were tired of being separated from the normal Yonsei students and so we left and cheered with the physics club.
This is the baseball field. We won this game but no one was really paying attention because this sports festival is not really about sports but about out cheering the other school. The cheerleaders got up on stage at least 30 mins. before the game started and cheered the whole way through baseball and all the way through basketball which happened directly afterwards. And the crowd followed. No one sat down that day. And these cheers are not simple but take a lot of energy. I was amazed that no one gave up. Both Yonsei and Korea sides cheered for about 8 hours straight on two different, consecutive days. (the same thing happened on Saturday)
And here is our mascot. It's an eagle.
And this is me with my roommate, Kyra (left) and Giles (right). I look ridiculously happy in all of these pictures, but I can't describe how much fun I had during these three days.
Both teams are not that great at basketball especially when compared to UNC but it was still an exciting game because it was so close.Yonsei and Korea are evenly matched in all the sports and so it comes down to the very end. We lost this game by two points in the last four seconds.

What I really liked about the basketball stadium is it shows the divide between the schools. We're blue and they're red. And though the separation is drastic the students get along well. On thursday night I went out in Shinchon with friends and we joined a yelling match between some Korea students and some Yonsei students in the streets. It was definitely competitive but there were no harsh words or feelings. Everyone was hugging and smiling even while yelling is someone's face about how much they loved their school. I don't think Duke and Carolina students could ever do the same. Here's one of my favorite cheers.

Saturday, was rugby and soccer inside the 1988 Seoul Olympic stadium. Two Olympic venues in a month. The stadium was smaller than Kenan stadium at UNC.

Soccer and the torch. Rugby. By the way I want to play this game now.
More cheering.
Una (serbian), Eddie (US), Karlijn (Dutch) and me after we won the festival. (we won both soccer and rugby and tied in hockey) Again, I was amazed by the school spirit both schools had but also by the discipline the students had. Even after we had won the students all went down to the fields and danced together.

See.
Then Saturday night we went back to campus and saw the Wonder Girls in concert. They are a girl group, equivalent to Pussy Cat Dolls or the Spice Girls. I had heard of them in the US and actually can sing along with their songs. One of their songs "Tell Me" started a dance craze earlier this year in Korea that hasn't died down yet.



Now, the best part of the evening I don't have pictures of because my camera died. (as always) But after the games the students from both Yonsei and Korea go out in their respective neighborhoods with their clubs and beg and sing for food and drink from local restaurants. I, once again, ditched the Mentor's club because they just went to a bar and paid for their dinners, and joined up with the Doctors/theater club. (a group of guys I had met at the stadium while in a congo line that are all pre-med but like to put on plays such as the Crucible and How to succeed in business without even trying). These guys were crazy and so much fun. We conversed in broken English and Korean and went around and got different bits of Korean food and alcohol for free. Even some free photos in a photo booth. Then we went back to campus with all the booty (chicken, ribs, cow intestines, soda, pictures, soju, beer, rice wine and rice enough to feed 15) and I was initiated into their club and they taught me and a friend several more drinking games. I had one of the best times of my life and now I am so tired.

First taste of Korea

So, I've been in Korea for about a week now. And I love it here. I've been pretty busy this whole week, settling in, finding things, shopping. But here is a little taste of my life.

This is my room. I'm on second floor of the International dorm, which is pretty much the same as dorms at home. Small rooms, hard beds and a lovely view of construction. But this is balanced out by a cheap Western restaurant downstairs and the fact that all my classes are in the building next door. (yay, two minute walk!)
And here is a better view of my side. I don't know if it's because it's a better setup or if it's because I have practically nothing but everything seems to fit well. The university provided bedding and a refrigerator too so that's good.
The second day I went on a tour of the city. Except that it wasn't really a tour. They just took us places and said be back here in 10 mins. So I think this is a palace. But the tour was good because I met a girl who will also stay here for a year. She's a Korean- American named Seung-ah and we get on really well. We're planning to go traveling together for winter break. I'll get a picture sometime.
I also, met a bunch of people from the I- house. And we went to a Korean BBQ restaurant. Korean food is good so I have no problems eating. We've sort of formed a little group of people here, and we go out to eat and club together. This is also my first time trying soju, (Korean rice liquor) I was pleasantly surprised that it doesn't burn when you drink it. Soju and I are now good friends but don't worry I know how to take care of myself when I drink. I know my limits and I'm careful.
So, this is actually a picture of Suwan, a place to the south of Seoul, but it's basically what Shincheon (my neighborhood) looks like. Lots of shops and neon and people. I went to Suwan to visit an old instructor (Sehee) but she lost her keys. So, I spent about 4 hours wandering around and visiting her dojang. I got to practice my Korean alot because no one spoke English.
This is Laura. One of the other girls from my school at the Welcoming party. We were all forced into T-shirts and learned all 30+ Yonsei cheers. I am now prepared for the "friendly rival games" happening next week.
Shincheon by night.
And some apartments. They were so tall.

so, I will get better photos of people. In the mean time here is my paragraph that I wrote for part of my scholarship about my first impressions of Korea.

So, I've been in Seoul for about a week now. And I have to admit that I often compare it to other places specifically Beijing and home. I spent a month in Beijing directly before coming here and the comparisons are many. Some how Seoul is more mixed and disorganized as compared to the rigid block/district structure of Beijing. It seems like in Beijing there was a shopping district, a club district, business area, tourist areas... and so on all separate. Here, it seems like it's all mixed together. I went to an old palace here and it's next to a museum of Latin American Art, a sky scraper and a Buddhist demonstration. Tianamen Square was rigidly kept separate, there were even blocks on the road and security check points to get in.

Some lesser comparisons are the people here seem to speak more English and don't stare at foreigners as much. Even though Beijing was flooded with foreigners for the Olympics I turned heads while riding the bus or eating lychee by the road. And most important of all I have upgraded from squatty toilets (holes in the ground) to Looloo toilets (ones that wipe your bum for you) yay!

As a comparison to the US I think the biggest difference is the unity of the people. It seems like, while Koreans( and Chinese) differ from each other they are overall in a small mid-range group. As opposed to the US, which I describe as a country that reaches the median by going to both extremes. ( pacifists/military, yoga teacher/ skin heads, vegans/carnivores) I like the together nature of Koreans and yet I miss independence. Today I did two things. First, I learned Yonsei's cheers. Every Korean knew all the motions and words to almost 20 cheers. And they threw themselves into in with such enthusiasm that Americans would be embarrassed about. But when I went to a club tonight, all the Koreans in the room just swayed back and forth together, while the international students danced like usual each of us doing our own thing. When trying to interact with local Koreans, they would dance for a bit but usually try hard to fade back into the mass. It became that a group of Koreans surrounded us foreigners in the middle. A bit weird.

So, in general, I'm in love with Korea. I particularly like trying out my Korean on locals and eating things that I don't know what they are. Good times.