Recent acquisitions, etc.

Yesterday I went all over Seoul--to an artsy "flea market" in Hongdae, where there is a huge college and young crowd (and very big party scene), to the Seoul Museum of Art, which was just ok (the focus was on the Jewish Renaissance in Poland, which I thought was strange to be in the SeMA), to another shrine/palace, another museum of art in the shrine/palace (which focused solely on realist Eastern art and was very interesting), and then to the fireworks fest put on by China, Canada, and Korea in Hangang park. I think literally half of Seoul showed up to see the fireworks. It was a peaceful crowd, but a huge, huge crowd nonetheless. It took me literally 15 minutes to exit the subway, and to go home, I ended up taking a cab halfway through my journey just because there was no more standing room in my subway line. (Literally--none. I counted 30 people in the 5 x 5 area I was in.)

Interestingly enough, my cabdriver was from North Korea (though he left during the 50s). Also, Korean fireworks are amazing!

Today I am sick, probably from running around so much last night and the weird temperature changes. I have a terrible head cold, and all I want is tomato soup. I slept for 14 hours and ruined the plans I had for today. I still can't decide whether or not I should run to the grocery store. I probably won't.

Anyways. I have made some really cool and interesting acquisitions so far, and I've tried a lot of neat things, so I thought this would be the perfect time to share them:

This is a Chinese "body model for meridional acupuncture points" I bought at the Seoul National Flea Market two weeks ago. It cost about 13 bucks and was in this booth for alternative medicines. I kept going back to look at it and pretended I was really interested in ginseng medicines; I thought he was too wild to pass up. And for 13 bucks!! He's a soft plastic too, so he'll be really easy to take home.

This is a tiny ceramic giraffe I bought in Hongdae from a funny artist who made clay animals. I was too charmed by it. Also, you can see what is outside my window--a small ledge with lots of plants, which partially shield the train tracks.

My phone. Korean phones are way, way cooler than American phones. They do so much! I can even fish and play yahtzee on it. 

 

I forgot I had taken this picture a while ago, maybe one of the first days in my apartment. You can see my washer under my stove, and my sink is behind the package I'm holding. It's honey cakes, little pancakes filled with a black honey. They are delicious.

Ohhh my god, my new favorite drink--aloe drink!!! Those little floating things are part of aloe plant (I assume), and it's the most refreshing drink I've ever had. I seriously drink about 2 liters of this a week. 

Korean socks are so cool. They usually cost 1,000 won, so like 90 cents, and they're so funny. This pair even has little ears! 

And lastly, the view from the public library. This is a pretty inclusive view of Anyang--I was really high up on a hill when I took this picture. Look at those mountains! 

Also, a shout-out: today is my mom's birthday. Happy birthday, mom! You're the greatest!

climbing a mountain and student artwork

Whew, I haven't posted for like 2 weeks. Sorry, sorry!

Two weeks ago was Chuseok, and my coworkers and I went to Changdeokgung Palace to check it out--but the grounds had actually flooded because of the (small-ish) typhoon! So our Tuesday was pretty miserable; we were soaked and only able to take a very long subway ride for fun. Wednesday the weather was much, much better so...I climbed a mountain! I went to Mt. Achasan, which I read is "for beginners" and "casual clothing" (even while mountain climbing I feel under-dressed). The views were incredible:

Towards the beginning of the trail. These steps were actually very steep. I sort of forgot that climbing a mountain would mean climbing uphill. 

This one's for you, mom! 

Towards the middle there was this great temple--I'd say this is about 600 meters up the trail (which actually ended after about 400 meters--the rest it was pretty much guesswork). 

The view from the temple (though this doesn't do it justice). 

In Korea you still have to take off your shoes to go inside a house, even if it's in the middle of the forest.
 

A bookcase inside! It was a temple for reading (I imagine)!

Architectural details I really love. 

Seoul's not really so crowded, as you can see. 

Graffiti I found after I came down. I ate a squid burger after I took this picture--a bad idea after hiking (but still good).


So when the weekend rolled around and the weather was still nice, my coworkers and I decided to go back and give Changdeokgung Palace another try. It was sooo beautiful--It was a series of these buildings (5? 6?) that were dedicated to the king and his resting places (I think. I kind of lost track of what it was about because we were doing too much gawking), and it's all in the middle of this really picturesque forest.

Outside the temple there were these massive crowds. One was a bunch of old men playing Go (? a game played with black and white stones which kind of looks like Chinese checkers), and a funny old man kept talking to us while we were watching. "What do you think of Korean old people? Are you Asian? You look Oriental." Then while we were watching this guy (above) paint Chinese characters, we attracted another group of old men. "American culture, husband and wife do things together. In Korea, woman throws man outside! Woman has power in the house!"

The other group of people was led by someone with a microphone and a commanding voice (we couldn't see him). They had the Korean and American flags around on display, but when they started pumping their fists, we SKEDADDLED.

Believe it or not, but this woman is selling silkworm larvae. They smell like death.

And the post I promised: Student artwork!!

"Korean Traditional Culture Thing." Yes, but what is it!?

So Zen: "It's boiled rice." 

"Teacher, teacher! This is Korea! And this is Japan! PSCHEW PSCHEW KOREA WINS!!!" 

My favorite part is the doctor asking his bleeding patient if he is ok. "No, I'm not okay!" 

"This is Christmas! We get presents."
"Oh no! Why are they dying?!"
"Swords."

student work and gifts of ham

Tomorrow I will have been in Korea for one month. Woohoo! I'll have been teaching for just over 3 weeks, but already it feels like much longer. I guess that's a good sign (?).

What's most surprising is that I still don't feel like I've experienced any culture shock. It's probably a combination of 1. having no expectations, 2. being able to get by not knowing any Korean (having Korean-speaking comrades helps), and 3. still being in the honeymoon phase (I assume).

Don't think this means everything has been dull and predictable, however. (Side note: I have to teach students how to identify transitions and verbal cues for them to understand how a passage is outlined since it helps with "academic reading," since the goal of most students would be to go to like an Ivy League school; so now whenever I use words like "however," "most of the time," or "because," I automatically think back to those lessons. It's a little annoying.) Last week we worked 6 days in a row (my Saturday was gone, as one of my students put it--but it actually wasn't that bad), and today our manager took us out to explore this interesting area of Seoul called Insadong, and it seemed to be where a lot of touristy shops were. I'm really regretting not having my camera because (gah, damn you, lessons!) it was purdy cool. It was also very generous on my manager's part: she treated us to a massive traditional "noblemen's" lunch (we counted like 60 dishes, of octopus and noodles and soups and fish--it was delicious) and really delicious tea we had in this great teahouse-cum-art museum in a tiny wooded area in the middle of everything. Surprise, thy name is Korea!

Anyways, my students have been really great and really sweet. At the end of every class they get into groups and have to do a project that somehow relates to that day's lessons, and my younger classes have been really going above and beyond with theirs. Here are some of the best (or most hilarious or most clever):

One of the projects was interviewing the victim of a rumor, and I love how the "victim" thinks about her "mother's happy face" when she is "cheating"!! So cute!

They had to pick a rumor and decide whether or not they would tell a white lie to their friend about it. (My students are so smart--these kids are barely 9!)
Student 1: I have a friend who is very fat and very ugly. But she is very kind!
Me: That's the most important thing.
Student 2: I have a friend who is very fat and very ugly and she is not kind!
Me: That doesn't sound like a friend!
Student 2: She is so ugly!

Ok, this one kills me. Harry Potter was the victim of a rumor in these boys' project, and he learned the bad words he was saying from his "superiors"! (Occasionally, despite trying really hard to describe a word, I have no idea what they're trying to ask me about, so they use their dictionaries, and it's really funny to see such big vocabulary words that result--they seem so out of place.)

Next post I want to show you guys my students' artwork--I have some very talented and imaginative artists in my class.

Also, Chuseok or "Korean Thanksgiving" (I have also heard it's very insulting to call it this, but alas, I cannot describe it another way), a huge holiday here, will be this week (hence my 2 days off; hence my making one day up on Saturday), and the owner of our hagwon got us some delicious gifts:

Pork! Loins 'n ribs wif sauce. I cooked half a loin with onions and carrots and sugar and mustard today after realizing I'd never cooked pig before, ever. It was tasty. I can't think of a better present than meat!

It feels weird

Kim bap--"Korean sushi" (though I've heard it's very insulting to call it this) with pickled radish inside.

It feels weird to talk about what I've been doing in Korea so far--so please let these photos suffice.  

Just a little outside of my apartment--this is basically the view
from my window, minus three stories.

Check out that zoom lens! And this bird! I swear it was posing just for me. 

The Royal Tenenbaums' house on LSD? Or just a school for children?

These fish kept lining up to swim (unsuccessfully) against the current!

Possibly the most elegant solution to crossing the river I have ever seen. 

These tanks of seafood are outside every restaurant, it seems like--
there are ones with sharks, octopus, squid, mussels, clams...

Korea is an interesting and beautiful country. I feel the same way about it as I did NYC--sometimes it seems too contradictory to be true. Its architecture can be brilliant and modern or just corrugated metal sheets; the streets can be dirty and filled with people who looked like the just walked off the runway... So far, I've really enjoyed everything, though I know I would feel a lot differently if I were younger. Everyday has been surprising, especially in the details. Riding the bus is like surfing a roller coaster, and most of the time eating is like a new experience. I often can't identify what parts of which animal I'm eating, but it's been quite fun to try. 


Also, I should explain the name of the blog: Manan-ro is the name of the street I live on, where the partiez happen, baby! Ok, not really, but it's a perty cool place--I have my own washing machine under my sink!