Well, That was Interesting

Since my time in Korea is winding down (more on that later) I decided to start working on my Korean bucket list, you know the things that one "must do" while in Korea.  I've been talking about doing a temple stay since I first arrived in Korea, but for some reason kept putting it off.  About a month ago my vice principal walked over to my desk and handed me a packet of papers saying "umm if you're interested you can do" and then disappeared (he's sneaky like that).  I'm not sure if he can read minds (or maybe he spies on me?) because I had literally been searching for a temple stay that morning, and what he handed me was an application for a free temple stay at Jikj temple in Gimcheon.  I've been to this temple once before, with my dad and really enjoyed the scenery and beauty of the mountain setting.  The temple stay program is one of the most popular in this area so seeing as I hadn't yet made plans for that weekend I decided to apply, after all it was  free so I had nothing to lose. 

직지사 

수능 잘쳐!

The crisp air, delayed rise and early fall of the sun, leaves changing and falling can only mean one thing. You're probably thinking fall has arrived but that's not exactly what i'm talking about.  In Korea, the dropping of temperatures and changing of leaves reminds students, parents and teachers of one thing - D-day.  If you remember, I already wrote about this infamous day last year so you can get most of the details there.  This time around however, I had a bit of a different experience so I wanted to give it another go.  Now that i'm a veteran teacher the intensity of this day hit a little bit closer to home, last year I didn't know any of the 3rd grade students; I never got the chance to teach any of them let alone have a conversation with them.  This year it was a bit different, some of my favorite students and the reason I decided to stay for a second year, were among those preparing for the exam. 

School Days and Seoul Ways

The plan for Wednesday was for the three of us to get up early and have Joonwoo drop us at the bus terminal before heading to work himself.  That was the plan at least, upon waking up I realized that I really was not up for a trip to Gyeongju. I though tagging along wouldn't be too bad, I could skip the temple (seriously they're all looking pretty similar these days) and then join in for some afternoon bike riding and finish the day with dinner with some of my Gyeongju friends. But then I found out my friends were busy and I realized I was dead tired, instead I left my brother and Katie detailed instructions on how to survive on their own, made my way home and slept for another 3 hours :) it was lovely.  I met them back at the bus station that evening and it turns out they did just fine on their own.  Joonwoo must have liked us because he canceled the plans he had with a friend and joined us for dinner instead, Gamjatang yummmmm.  That night we took it easy, showered, set up a nice floor bed for those two in my shoebox of an apartment and prepared for school the next day. 

Group picture with class 1-3

Not your Typical Friday

This blog post is a bit, and by a bit I mean closer to a month, delayed, but hey - better late then never right?  I'm not really sure what I've been busy with that delayed this post, like seriously, i'm not really sure where I've thrown my time in the last few weeks.  Sure outside of school I've fully immersed myself back into yoga, friends, a little running, oh and lots of sweating. But at school I haven't had much to do - movie watching, game playing, oh and the little bit of grading speaking tests of few weeks ago.  Hell, I don't even have an intense summer break to be planning for so I guess it's a mystery, where has my time been going.  Safe guesses go to Facebook, Instagram, Yoga  articles , oh yeah and reading various travel blogs dreaming about future travels. Okay so anyways back to the point, a few weeks ago I was told I wouldn't have classes on Friday but instead could choose between three things 1. Volunteering with the first grade 2. Brain meditation with the second grade or 3. Sit at my desk all day.  It was presented as a choice but any retard that can read body language and knows Korean culture would know I was meant to join option 1, and so that's precisely what I did. 

Feeling Pretty

This morning when I found myself still sweating post shower, post run, I decided that make-up was at the bottom of my to do list. It's not that I didn't have time for it, although that happens a lot in the morning, rather I just didn't feel like putting anything on my face.  As I walked to school (knowing I have some mascara and eyeliner there) I anticipated the comments i'd receive from staff and possibly students.  Already earlier this week I was told that "Are you okay, you look unhealthy" and that was with makeup on.

Shortly after settling into my desk Anna (my main co-teacher) walked into the office and said good morning, immediately followed with a shocked "Oh you look different" ..here's how the rest of the conversation played out: 

Me: Oh yeah, I don't have any make-up on today
Anna: Oh wow, really!?  **fits of laughter**Me: Yeah, I just didn't feel like it
Anna: Wow, you look very different
Me: Yeah my eyes? My eyelashes are really light without mascara.
Anna: Yeah, there is a big difference without make up, I think you had better wear the mascara

Conversation #1 of the day, winning.

Thankfully, and much to my surprise that was the only comment of the day regarding my looks.  Well a few students told me how tired I looked but I don't think that had anything to do with my lack of make-up. This entire week i've been drained, enough to even take a nap in my classroom yesterday.  I think it's that time of the year/semester, plus the heat.  Really I feel terrible for my students, if I feel this way on a decent amount of sleep I can't imagine how they feel...studying for finals they're up until 2 or 3am, possibly later.  Maybe that's why they're all walking around like zombies lately.

Oh, also of note and related to this post; I finally took the plunge and got the "Magic Straight"  about a week ago.  When I first came to Korea I heard about this wonderful thing but then hemmed and hawed over getting it done for over a year.  Some days I wake up and really love my wavy/curly mess of a hair-do, but then there are the days that it absolutely drives me crazy or looks more like a birds nest than anything else. I also knew that getting the perm could significantly damage my hair so wasn't sure if it was worth it. Well, the summer heat came once again and with it my frizzy do so I took the plunge and made the change.

Thankfully I had an awesome stylist at Lee Joon salon in Gumi, she spoke near perfect English, knew western hair and had a great sense of humor. All of which came in helpful as the process takes over two hours, can damage your hair, and needs some level of communication.  Anyway, long story short, it worked and I love it. My hair is A LOT flatter but that's to be expected without the curl.  The first time I washed my hair after having it done I was expecting it to bounce right back to it's frizzy ways, but to my surprise it was stick straight!

 So I go to school the next day, and although I've straightened my hair before tons of teachers and students were commenting on my new hair style.  Teacher so different, straight hair? Oh so beautiful!  Honestly this went on for the next few days, with most comments centering around how beautiful I was, some even crossing the line to sexy.  So there ya go, why do most women with curly or wavy hair desire the straight styles of their counterparts? Image. As much as I hate to admit it, I feel prettier with straight hair. Is it because of a celebrity image, the comments from other people, or something else? Honestly i'm not sure and i'm not saying I did this so I could be prettier, it was mostly for the ease of styling, especially with the summer heat! But hey, those compliments aren't a terrible side effect. ;)

Sorry for the lack of pictures ~~ you'll just have to believe me that I didn't look like death today and that my hair actually is straight.

The Traditional and Not.so.Traditional Gyeongju

After our relaxing morning at around Geumosan we decided it was finally time to catch a bus and make our way to Gyeongju.  The bus ride was quite enjoyable considering we were two of maybe 8 passengers, it's nice being able to travel in the middle of the week. Normally on my trips to Gyeongju I fear having to stand or, like last time, have an ajumma half sitting on top of me. My mom didn't enjoy how the bus drivers "play games" with the aircon but none-the-less the ride was smooth and we were soon in Gyeongju, but unfortunately so was the rain.  We found our self a nice cheap motel, obviously a major step down from the previous nights accommodation, and made our way out to explore the city. 

Sick in Korea

It's slightly amazing that I haven't written a blog post on this paradox yet, but I suppose I can chalk it up to the fact that I rarely get sick - knock on wood. Also, when I do get sick i'm not one to go rushing off to the doctor, I tend to live by the lost of rest, water and healthy food prescription. But now that i've been through the entire process I figure i'd break it down for you: sick in Korea - step by step:

Step 1: Get sick
Okay this doesn't really need it's own "step" but I thought i'd mention some of the common ways people wind up feeling like death.  Most likely is that you work in an Elementary school with hundreds of grimy little children - thankfully that is not me. Or maybe you just have a terrible immune system - again not me. Another likely possibility is that you've been to a party during cold season and played beer pong or passed around some delicious drink with your friends - okay i'm sure that's been me. But this time i'm chalking it up to the marathon field trip I took through Jeju last week with 250 high school students, strong winds, and little to no sleep.  Oh and follow that up with a school wide hike through the yellow dust sodden mountain on Friday, yeah Saturday my bed was my best friend. 

Step 2: Pretend everything is okay 
Usually when I wake up feeling like shit I drop an alka seltzer in a glass (thanks dad) chug it down, take a few extra naps and am feeling 100% by day 2 or 3. Hence why I never wrote this post - 2 steps is kinda boring.  But this time my cold didn't want to let go so on to step 3 we go...

Step 3: Be told numerous times how terrible you look
Monday Tuesday morning came (we had off Monday for the schools, birthday - another perk of teaching in Korea)  and it was time to go to school, oh great just in time my eyes decided to be puffy and swollen with a little red. My first thought had nothing to do with my own health but rather the comments I knew were coming from my staff. Although I haven't been terribly sick at school before I have been tired - and boy do Koreans like to comment on it.  The morning wasn't too bad with only a few "you look tired" but then as everyone was centered around the food table in our office Anna says "Stephanie, why does your face look so terrible today" I could do nothing but just laugh and shrug my shoulders. If I were new to Korea i'd be insulted but I'm used to it - in a way this is them showing concern, somehow it just doesn't translate very affectionately.  On the plus side though, I was sent home from school early yesterday so I could get some rest!

Step 4: Get ridiculed for not having been to the doctor yet
So once my co-workers discovered that I looked like s#!% yesterday the next question was, of course, "have you been to the Hospital?" First I should explain - any clinic or doctors office is referred to as the hospital here, so the question isn't as ludicrous as it first sounds.  Nevertheless, if you thought Americans rushed off to the doctor for any small cough, hiccup or fart; well you should see the Koreans. So of course seeing that it had been at least a day since i'd felt sick and I hadn't yet seen the doctor people thought I was crazy.  Also, there's really no acceptable answer to the "why" question.

Step 5: Suck it up and go to the doctor 
When I woke up with my right eye plasted shut I knew it was going to be an interesting day.  Surprisingly some of my co-teachers told me I looked better (maybe they forgot their glasses), but the "teacher tired" "why are you sick" "oooh red eye" "are you okay?" comments continued throughout the day - along with my growing headache.  So by the time my last class was over I decided it was time to pay a visit to the doctor. This is where the story gets fun....in the US to see a doctor you need to call and make an appointment, if you're lucky you can get something the same day and if you're really lucky  you won't have to wait for more than a half an hour in the waiting room. Not in Korea - I walked down the block to the nearest clinic, handed my insurance card and ID to the receptionist, sat in the waiting room for maybe 5 minutes and then was called into the doctors office.  Now maybe they do a little more background work and small talk with the Koreans but given our communication barrier the doctor cut straight to the point - where does it hurt, how long, okay let me take a look (eyes, throat and temperature).  Next thing I know i'm released back to the receptionist where I pay a measly 3,000 won (~$3) and am handed my prescription.

Step 6: Drop by the Pharmacy
Down the stairs, out the door and around the corner, i'm in the pharmacy where I proceed to hand over my mystery slip (it's in Korean, who knows what the doctor ordered) to the pharmacist.  Another brief wait before i'm handed my bag of goodies, pay another paltry 3,000 won, and am on my way.  So this is the REALLY fun part - the drugs. I've had friends tell me about it before but this is actually my first experience with the Korean mixed bag of cold medicine - literally I have no idea what the doctor gave me. I was simply told 3x a day, for 3 days - which was also written on the bag and really not that hard to figure out.

Baggies of drugs, legit 

Step 7: Wonder why you didn't just go to the doctor in the first place 
Okay so if you followed that post at all it's pretty apparent why Koreans go rushing off to the doctor at the fist sign of symptoms... It's quick, easy, painless, cheap, efficient..need I throw out more adjectives?
I guess i'm a little premature in writing this as I've only taken my first medicine cocktail so I can't really vouch for the effectiveness of the drugs, but as for the doctors visit A+ Korea, you win.

You Have a Drivers License??

I originally started this post months ago but somehow it fell by the wayside, not sure how that happened...it's not like I've been busy teaching, traveling and living... but there's a new reason for me to come back to this post, I have something more to add and so here it goes - driving in Korea. watch out.  When my students and co-workers found out that I not only had a drivers license back home but have been driving since the age of 16 they were amazed. "Wow you can drive?! Are you a good driver?"...I likely just responded with a blank stare - umm yeah?

I know there are boundless stereotypes out there that Asian drivers are terrible, before living in Korea I took that all with a grain of salt and let it roll of my back - I mean I am from Wisconsin where we have to deal with the FIB's from the south (now those are some terrible drivers).  However, after moving here I have a new appreciation for what bad driving really entails - let me break it down: parking, public transportation and of course the scooter.

My vacation...if I were a true Korean

I'm assuming most of you are aware of my whereabouts for the last month, but for those of you living under a rock...i'm back from my SE tour of Malaysia, Singapore and Bali.  It was a whirlwind trip filled with lots of fun stories, which i'll happily share with you, in due time.  First I just wanted to give you a taste of my trip - while I work on the details of the rest...give me some time it might take a while for me to defrost and thaw out my fingers so I can get it all down. Just kidding, well kind of, Korea really is cold and snowy and i'm not used to it....

Let's go! 

OMG it's snowing!

It might be rare that I praise Wisconsin weather but I must say I can appreciate being raised in a state that knows how to deal with snow.  I'm not even talking about blizzards or big snow storms, I mean like a dusting of snow.  I thought the winter weather in Korea would be similar to that back home, and so far it hasn't been too far off. That was until last night when Korea got it's first snow of the year.

As I sit here writing this there's about 15 people missing from my office, including the vice principal. I can only venture to guess that the fresh snow has delayed their arrival to school.  Now most of you might suspect we had a pretty big storm here last night, right?  Well you'd be wrong in that assumption, to my estimate there might be 2 inches of the fluffy white stuff out there. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?  I have a feeling i'm going to be continually entertained as winter progresses in this country.

Here's a few more amusing moments from the last 24 hours:

1. On my walk to school this morning saw a few cars spinning their wheels as they tried to drive down the road, clearly they never learned the "slow accelerate after a stop" rule.

2. This excerpt from an article in the Korean Herald: "Heavy snow blanketed central regions of the country.  About 8 centimeters of snow fell in the capital."  Yes, they did use the words heavy snow  and 8cm in the same breath (that's like 3 inches).

3. Just got a message that classes will be pushed back this morning due to "teacher and student delays in arrival" - okay this one is not amusing, i'm supposed to have a half day and because of this stupid white stuff and the countries inability to deal with it i'll likely have to stay longer. Not laughing anymore

4. At the gym yesterday I was watching the news as they showed the storm in Seoul - people were using umbrellas...

5. This news headline: Heavy snow disrupts air traffic in Korea  (Again the max. snowfall was about 8cm)

This is from my walk to school this morning, looks pretty treacherous right?