Dec. 2007

Collecting Friends

It snowed in Seoul, but now it's all melted. :( I didn't even make a snowman. Next time!

Wow. It's been a while. Um. I'm going to start from today and work my way backwards and forwards to update the blog.

I now have 7 new Korean friends. Yeah, that's right. The same girl who only acquired one outside friend in Andong now has a calendar full of lunch dates, museum excursions, and language exchanges with living, breathing, young Koreans. I met them in random places at random times. For instance, I met HyunJoo at a bar. She graduated from the same high school I teach at. I met ChanHo and SuRan at Coffee Bean, Geol through a Frenchman, WooRi through my Korean teacher, SaeYeong through my principal, and HanCheol through my co-teacher. Complicated, eh? What a difference location makes!

Winter Break plans:
January
-go to Andong and eat Onni's tasty fish
-facilitate the Korean Alumni Youth Partnership Program (KAYPP), a week-long camp that is supported by the US Embassy and KoreaGlobe (NGO). Students learn about American and Korean politics, economics, society, and culture. SOOOOOO excited.
-perhaps take a week trip to Japan?

February
-intensive Korean language course
-go to Andong for Lunar New Year celebrations!
-actually visit the museums in Seoul...instead of just talking about it
-Valentine's Day party! (rule: you must be single this day to participate; if you're dating someone, you have to break up for 24 hours-no exceptions^^)

Snow daydream

It was the first snow today! Is there any Korean tradition for that? I felt really lonely walking in the snow. Everyone else was all coupled up under their couple umbrellas...and I was drenched with snow/rain and half running to the subway stop. It was at that time that, just like in the dramas, I daydreamed walking alongside *TBDfatedKoreanman...him carrying the umbrella, then shielding my gloveless hands with his knitted reindeer mittens until he insists we stop at a little kiosk to purchase a similar, but cuter pair of knitted mittens that match a cutsie winter hat....he adorably puts the hat on my head and says something adorably cute in Korean (which I totally understand)...and we continue on mitted hand in mitted hand ...blocking the sidewalk for pedestrians who are tragically without their destined soul mate and reindeer gloves. Oh, and the entire dream sequence was bordered with that fuzzy mist that signifies an ideal reality.

...

Then I couldn't pass a couple who were annoyingly blocking the sidewalk and cussed under my breath. Losers!

[note to non-Korean side readers: winter (and Christmas in particular) is a couple season, and thus the loneliest of all...thank god I'm going home during the holidays]

Random

Today, there were four men dressed as giant shrimp dancing in the subway station. And as I was waiting for the train, a guy was whistling Jingle Bells. Gotta love Korea.

K-Grohl?

Today, I walked past a Korean David Grohl. Dude.

A Birthday to Rival All Others

First, I'd like to say that I have the best.friends.ever. I had really been looking forward to my 24th birthday. It's my first birthday living on my own and living in Seoul. Thus, the possibilities were endless. My goal was to make the celebrations a weekend-long event, and I'm proud to say, "Mission accomplished."

I. Shopping
It all began with shopping. Yes. You read correctly. I WILLINGLY went shopping. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights, my Korean class is held at Ewha University. That area is buzzing with shops, young women, and emasculated boyfriends. (It's rare to see a boy NOT carrying a girlfriend's purse there.) I wanted to buy a birthday outfit, which included but was not limited to a coat and scarf. Margaret and Janaki met me at Coffee Bean, and we set out.

First stop, a coat shop. Success! I bought a coat that is, if I don't mind saying, "city style." I definitely look more grown up, if only because this is an adult half-trench coat rather than the worn-out wrinkled fleece I throw on in the morning. Step one to becoming Korean-ified. It was around this time that I knew the three of us were a shopping match made in heaven. I can't imagine what we looked like to the sales staff, but images of flighty birds come to mind. The worker gave me a free grape drink because it was my birthday and a $5 discount because they were ready to close.

Second stop, a coat for Margaret. Success! It has cute round buttons. Third stop, scarves. Success! "Holy crap. Is it possible that I'm actually having success shopping?" I thought.

But the awesomeness didn't end there. The next day, the three of us went out in our "city outfits" to...do more shopping. We wanted clubbing clothes. As we left the apartment, across the street they were filming some sort of Korean drama. The set consisted of a bus, an actor, and a bunch of extras. We watched for a few minutes while they repeated the 10 second scene 5 times. Acting sucks. I'd hate to be that guy, walking up to the bus again and again, only to have to do it again because an extra sneezed. We didn't recognize the main actor, but that's not surprising. All I know is he was tall, effeminate and wearing make-up. That doesn't narrow the field.

In the end, we spent all day looking at clothes in various locations. Janaki bought a Korean shirt-dress with sparkly leggings. It's now her official Korean outfit because we're pretty sure that people at home won't understand.

II. Bars
Korean fashion in tow, we hit the town. The party started at Dos Tacos with potato burritos and margaritas. It's rare to find good Mexican food in Korea, and this place had guacamole...and margaritas. Next stop, an indie bar in the artsy/creative bar district. The great thing about this place was that it had a sign welcoming "Residents and aliens." It was a lucky find because it's not a typical Korean bar. You don't have to order food. Women smoke. The bartender encourages foreigners to come in. I'm not going to be spreading the word too much though. I want to keep it the way it is. When we entered, various misunderstood and brooding struggling artists dotted the eclectic landscape. Customers draw all over the walls and people leave you alone. It was made even better by the apple wine drink we ordered.

Next stop: The Ho Bar. Yes. The Ho Bar. Actually, we hit up the Ho Bar original. There are something like 10 Ho Bars around. And yes, they do exist.

{Tip for readers: when it's your birthday, buy a cake, carry it around, and get lots of free stuff.}

The Ho Bar plays this awesome Korean-rock-birthday song and flashes strobe lights when you light the birthday candles on your cake. This draws the attention of everyone in the bar and gets you even more free drinks. Always give them cake in return. As luck would have it, the guy next to us bought us...Budweisers. Because, obviously, all foreigners drink Bud, an elite beer in Korea. We gave that table half of the cake.

The Ho Bar staff gave me a flaming shot of Kahlua and something else. I wasn't quite sure what it was ... because it was ON FIRE. I had to drink it in a straw before the straw caught on fire and melted. It was yummy. I then gave more cake to one of the really cute waiters...should've gotten his number. He came over and shook my hand to wish me a happy birthday personally...maybe next time...

Janaki, Margaret, and I got our polaroid taken, and are now fixtures on the Ho Bar's wall.

A guy from the table next to us was a snowboarder and wanted to talk to us. Throughout the course of the conversation, it was obvious he was single and looking for a girl. However, language barriers can complicate things. For example, he called Margaret a Korean word that translates to "treacherous, wicked" and me a "princess." "I like princess," he said. Luckily, we've devised a system to tell each other when we disapprove of boys and are ready to move on. We simply mention Steve. That's the cue to go. Not long after treacherous Margaret was taken aback, and I had pawned off our remaining cake to the rest of the waiters, Janaki used the Steve card. Actually, I believe her exact words were, "Let's Steve this joint." So, I'm pretty sure we broke his snowboarding heart. I'm also pretty sure that he couldn't remember his heart was broken the following morning.

III. Clubbing
Usually, Korean clubs are hopping on Saturday nights. Somehow, we managed to pick a near-deserted one. We paid 15,000 won, so we didn't want to leave. Turns out, it was a good choice to stay because we had room to dance. The DJ played some great music. The best part, however, was the bartender. We told him it was my birthday. He gave us free Jack Daniels shots. Wait. It gets better. This particular bartender must've been really bored. There weren't many people in the club. So, after we took the shots, he grabbed a bottle of something himself, and guzzled. Ok, he must be cool with drinking on the job. But no. Instead of swallowing the booze, he SPIT FIRE. He became a human flame thrower. He lit a bottle of something on fire, then started spinning it in all directions: over the shoulder, around the back, in the air. Yep. He was pretty much awesome. I asked if he was there everyday. He is. I'm going back.

A group of Koreans invited us to after-clubbing drinks. We had been dancing with them and they seemed nice enough. We had kiwi soju (the best flavor of soju) and some plate of food that I don't remember. We talked about...stuff. Actually, I don't remember much of what we talked about. I do remember trying to explain why I love my Korean students...in Korean. They were confused. My Korean is terrible. Hahaha. We didn't have to "Steve" that joint, but were kicked out by the staff because it was...6 AM. Yep. We said our goodbyes, hopped in a taxi, then slept like babies.

IV. Musical Sunday, we slept in, then ran to the longest-running musical in Korea. It's called Line 1 (named after the subway line) and is a rock musical accompanied by a live 5 piece rock band. Oh, and we literally ran to the show. It was clear across town, and the traffic was terrible. We must've looked ridiculous, frantically searching for the theater. We even stumbled into an anti-FTA demonstration, where we politely asked for directions. The demonstrator smiled at us and set us in the right direction. Gotta love Koreans.

Thus, an epic birthday came to a close. I've never had so much fun in my life. The only casualties of the shebang were Margaret's scarf (MIA), our clothes (smelled like essence-of-clubbing), and my knees, which were incredibly sore from dancing.


BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!

An unexpected call

Today, the MC from Golden Bell called. As I predicted, I didn't know who he was. He said he was "disappointed" that I didn't remember him. For the record, he introduced himself as "Kim," one of the most common names in Korea.

He called to ask me whether an answer on the show should be considered correct or wrong. The answer was diaspora but the student answered diasporan. To make matters more nerve wracking, this was question #50, and determined whether the student won the top prize or not. The MC remembered I studied anthropology and knew I spoke perfect English (hahaha, yeah right), and called me for clarification. The question called for a noun as the answer. The correct answer is diaspora, I told him.

He called back 10 minutes later to make sure. Again, I told him it was diaspora. "Ok, thank you. I'm in Busan now. I'll call you when I get to Seoul." ("Yeah right!" I thought) "No problem. Eat some good fish down there. Bye!"

I must be becoming more Korean than I thought...wishing him good eating and all.

For the record, I went online and found his name. 김현욱 (Kim Hyeon-ook) And now, I've got his number programmed in my phone so I know who's calling me when he calls...which is unlikely, but fun knowing that I've got a celebrity's cell # at my disposal. ^^