One Week In!

Song of the Week: Taylor Swift - A Place in this World (cheeeesy peasy i know but it's been an emotional week for me I know Amy will appreciate this)

Hello All!! Just wanted to let everyone know I am safe and sound in Korea. This week I have been staying with my grandparents in Po Cheon which is a little north of Seoul. It's a country town, so not a lot of hustle and bustle. Not too many people probably know this but I was actually born in Korea, so coming back here is like coming full circle. But no I am not a FOB (Fresh Off the Boat) because I came off the boat 21 years ago, as a two month old baby haha. Anyway, the other day my uncle drove me by the house I lived in for those 2 months, it was pretty cool to see even though I of course have no memory of it whatsoever. Tomorrow I am heading down to Cheong Ju which is where I will begin my teaching! All next week I have orientation and I will be settling into my apartment sometime towards the end of the week.

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Some of my observations, learnings and experiences so far:

* The first thing my family did when I got into the car from the airport was make fun of me for wearing a seat belt in the back seat. Now, in America asians are known to be terrible drivers but I have now learned that the ENTIRE nation of Korea should have their licenses revoked. People drive like monsters! Sometimes they don't even pay attention to the traffic lights or lanes! I just don't understand, I plan to stay alive during my time here so I think I will be wearing my seatbelt regardless of where I sit in a car thank you very much haha

*There are so many cute, chubby Korean babies everywhere I want to steal them all!!

* I went to watch G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra the other night with my cousin and the guy who plays Storm Shadow is a major Korean movie star, so every time he comes on the screen people in the theater are gasp in excitement LOL. It got even funnier when *spoiler* he gets killed in the end (oh come on, get over it, you know one of the minorities have to die in these kinds of films and since we are in the Obama-age, you know Marlon Wayans HAD to be kept alive hahaha), and everyone gets all sad when I'm the only one in theater thinking "HELL YEAH GO AMERICA, TAKE HIM DOWN" hahaha so glad I got to watch this movie in Korea and experience it on a whole different level. Thank you annoying people who sat next to us and talked the ENTIRE time about how cool it is for him to be in the movie.

*Korean women and their fashion. I read somewhere that when it comes to fashion, labels and brands the Koreans are just as notorious as the Italian. Now that I am here, I can tell you that this is 100% true. These women, regardless of rain or shine, or even age, don 4 inch heels and stilettos like they are tennis shoes! It's borderline ridiculous considering the pavement here is pretty shitty. I envy them and mock them at the same time. Yeah, yeah, yeah beauty is pain, but nothing kills your day faster than blisters on your feet. I didn't even like wearing heels to monday night meetings hahaha.

*Korean couples that dress alike. BARF. enough said.

*So I have seen a lot of swastikas on signs here in Korea like this one, and I was both a little confused and worried, thinking uh oh what did I get myself into and what kind of place is this but I recently learned that the swastika is a sacred sign in Buddhism that represents good fortune and the heart of Buddha. But there is a difference between the Buddha Swastika and the Nazi Swastika... the Nazi one is backwards. Oh the irony and power of a graphic symbol, interesting how in one side of the world it is sanctified and revered to signify the beautiful and the good and on the other it denotes the evils of a very disturbed and unattractive man named Hitler who had issues swiping his razor from one end of his upper lip to the other. HA!

*Last night, I met up with my LOVELY friend Monica in Seoul. I was very proud of myself because I was able to figure out the metro on my own and only had to ask 2 people for help finding my way to Insadong, which is a street in Seoul that is very popular with both the locals and tourists and is famous for staying true to its traditional roots. Queen Elizabeth visited this street in 1999! The street is filled with tons of shopping, vendors, antique shops, art galleries and lots and lots of souvenir shops. We had a delicious dinner with her family, the bulgogi dduk bok ki was BOMB and I even got to try some Korean rice wine which got me tipsy fast. Afterwards we walked around to all the stores and vendors when a little Korean girl overheard us speaking english and ran over to say "hello" and show off her english speaking skills to us. So to humor her, we didn't let on to the fact that we all speak korean and asked her how old she was and what grade she as in, she was SO CUTE, I could tell she was so proud of herself for speaking english to 'Americans'.

So far my time here has been wonderful! I am so thankful to my mom for sitting me down on a weekly basis when I was a kid to teach me how to read, write and speak Korean. I have been told that my korean is quite good and I hope to expand my vocabulary some more throughout the year! Next week I will have my address and cell phone number all set up so I'll hook you guys up with that soon! Toodles for now!

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” - St. Augustine