Messing with my head

Good news first. I got my "ipod shuffle second generation" today and it is AWESOME! It's just so tiny! (for those who don't know, ipods are MP3 players... and if you don't know what is an mp3 player uuuh... you're helpless!!!! ;)

For those of you who have never seen a Korean 1 000 won bill, I thought while we’re at it I might as well include it in the picture.



Same size as the twenties back home so it gives you an idea how small is the ipod. That thing will come in handy at the gym cauz you can clip it on and it weighs almost nothing.

That was my materialistic moment of the day. I'm ashamed but what can I say...? I'm living in the kingdom of technology!

Oh and another news is that Ben, a new teacher, arrived yesterday. So last night they put him in my classroom to observe while I’m teaching. I was told by one of the staff that it’s because I’m a really good teacher. It certainly made my day!

Tonight Chris and I went for samgyeopsal after work and it was good. But damn, eating fat pork at 9pm is not such a good idea…

I was feeling really down today and still now… it’s hard for me to explain why.

In my Shining Star class Billy hadn’t rewritten his diary. It was the fourth one and I had warned him many times. So that was it – I told him I was calling his mom.

After the break I found him with his head in his arms, crying like a baby. The other students had no idea what was wrong with him and he wouldn’t tell me either. So he spent 40 minutes crying… hardcore!

When the bell rang, he didn’t move. But he did talk to me.

He said that he was afraid because his mom would hit him if she found out he hadn’t done his homework. He wouldn’t stop crying. And you know how I feel about that stuff… I had no idea how to deal with that.

Finally, I gave up. I told him that I wouldn’t call his mom but that he MUST show me all the diaries on Friday. He agreed and went home, still crying.

After that I went to my Janie and told her not to call the mom.

The students in the next class asked why Billy was crying (he cried so hard that the table was all wet!) and I told them the whole story. They said it’s his responsibility and that I shouldn’t feel bad or guilty.



But then, they went on about how parents and teachers punish them. They described the actual methods and stuff. I was speechless.

Especially when they said that they believe they need corporal punishment to ensure good behaviour and outstanding achievement at school. They don’t like it, but they think it’s necessary.

During the break I spoke with my VP. She actually thought this was pretty funny. She said that children usually exaggerate because they know that foreigners react strongly to corporal punishment.

The way she talked about it, it’s more like a “love punishment” and both the teacher/parent and child know it. She said there’s no way would a mom actually “hurt” her child.

She said that we should actually call Billy’s mother because otherwise, if she finds out, she will complain you know? She’ll say that I don’t check homework and I don’t care about the kids. Ironic, I know.

After work I went to Janie and Ashley. They’re both Korean so I figured they might help me calm down with a rational explanation. Young Ha, the school’s president, was also there.

Both Ashley and Janie didn’t really believe that Billy’s mom might hit him. They think I overreacted, that I’m too sensitive.

Young Ha, on the other hand, explained to me that it’s part of Korean tradition and it’s not as bad as it used to be. According to her, maybe 0.01% of the parents actually hit their kids in an irrational way. But most parents and teachers do it in a “loving and consequent” way.

But then, I asked, how do you know if the kid’s mom isn’t one of the 0.01%? I don’t want him getting hurt.

We never actually solved the issue. I left work feeling really depressed.

Why do I care so much anyway? It’s really weird. I never thought of myself as such an emotional person. Honestly, I almost feel pain when I look at those kids and try to imagine them getting hurt.


But I refuse to believe that the Korean society is a violent one.

Thus corporal punishment is probably not as excessive as I believe it is…?

Nevertheless, it was shocking to realize how the Korean staff at school minimizes the issue. They said they’ve all been hit with the “love stick” when they were younger and it didn’t kill them. Well, everyone except Young Ha actually.

Maybe I feel terrible because I overly criticised their culture? Maybe I would be a better person if my parents and teachers would have hit me when I was a kid? Actually according to Korean culture anyone family member could have punished me. Like my aunt for example.

At school they could have
1. made me stand in a chair position, without a chair, arms in front of me, for about 40 minutes
2. put my hands and feet on the ground, butt in the air, while they’d hit behind my legs with a stick
3. plunged their elbow in the hollow of my shoulder
4. pinched me
5. hit me with a book on the head
6. made me hit my forehead outside the classroom during recess time so other children could make fun of me

I guess I just don’t know whom to believe. Yeah… it’s probably not as bad as I think. And the Korean staff is right, kids tend to over dramatize. I know I certainly did when I was younger.

Wow. I feel like I was really… weak today. The good thing is that at least I’m definitely not a cold-hearted bitch. But some Koreans might say my love is not strong enough if I’m not willing to inflict a little pain in order to ensure greater joy in the future.

I am so confused.

You should kill yourself

In order to review for finals I went over a lot of grammar stuff in class. One concept that’s hard for children to understand is the conditional “if I were/had to/could…I would...” So I made a lot of exercises out of that one.

You wouldn’t believe the three exact sentences that came up in each class.
1. If I were a bird I would fly high in the sky
2. If your mother is angry, you should kill yourself
3. If we have a test, we should kill ourselves

Now. I recall that in my younger days a teacher tried talking to me because whenever I’d get a bad grade I’d say “my parents are going to kill me” But I didn’t mean it.

However suicide, especially in Korea (actually both North and South), is a growing problem – particularly among kids.

Last year, there was an average of 38 suicides A DAY in Korea. Suicide rates here are twice as high as that in Canada and the USA.

So who kill themselves?

Housewives of course. Some of them have degrees in architecture, neuro-psychology and so on. Yet they gave up a promising career to stay home with the kids, clean after their husband and watch crappy soapies in the afternoon. Some enjoy it very much but others don’t.

Moreover, when children leave the house to go to college, housewives wonder a lot about the meaning of life.

Men also tend to commit suicide.

Like you probably all know, there were dramatic social changes in Korea’s economy both thanks to a rapid industrialization and the shift from an industrially based economy to a service based economy.

This led to more competitiveness and more stress at work. It’s not like you can sit on your butt and sell all the natural resources your country possesses; you must constantly work, come up with new ideas. It’s all about productivity. It’s never enough.

Social hierarchy here is also quite powerful and another cause of stress. And while Koreans are not necessarily shallow, they do focus a lot on appearances.

As a result, families want to buy everything that’s “in”. They want their kids to have whatever they need to fit in at school (ipods, game boys, etc.) Moreover, they work so hard during the week that they want to treat themselves with material goods. So they basically ruin themselves and must face financial stress too.

As for kids, oh boy! Last week one of my students wrote a really sad story in his diary. It was about a young boy feeling totally depressed, wanting to kill himself. At the end, the student wrote “because his parents always tell him “study, study study”… PS: teacher this is really true in Korea and children are very sad”

You probably recall my post about corporal punishment too. Those kids are under a lot of pressure! They go to school during the day, then the academies at night (math, science, English, even Korean)

They have school on Saturday, sometimes they go to the academy on Sunday. In many cases parents harass them to study. And they hit them when they do badly in school… “for their own good”, with the “love stick” or the danzo.

There is currently a big trend in Japan (another country facing high pressure to economically over perform) which is called “group suicide”.

People basically meet on an internet website, discuss their problems, depress together, and instead of helping each other, they arrange to meet and commit group suicide. This trend is getting more popular now in Korea too.

Kids feel lonely. And even when they see that other people go through the same crisis, they don’t see any concrete solution to the problem. They don’t believe in change. So when they’re really tired and sick of it, what can they do?

Remember Emile Durkheim? He thought there was a close relationship between modernization and suicide. He called this “anomie”.

Basically the existing social order breaks down when there’s rapid change (due to anything but particularly industrialization and modernization) and this leads to disintegration and a “lack of comfort”. A collective sadness emerges and suicide rates increase.

Another explanation might simply lie in altruistic suicide – killing yourself to save honour and stuff. Koreans used to be a lot into that, but not so much today.

However, Korea is still a very conservative society and some things are still not quite accepted – mainly homosexuality, the empowerment of women (still very patriarchal) and choosing a profession your family does not agree with.

Rapid social change definitely has an impact on people. Remember Russia in the early 1990s; after the collapse of the USSR, the government tried to bring about western-style capitalism but it failed and rates of suicide, alcoholism poverty, domestic violence and death in general dramatically increased.

But in the case of Korea, while economy plays a large role and has an indirect impact on children (“study study study” because you must perform and it’s all about competition), it seems like children are just really sick of it all.

Ironically, my housewives class told me that they had similar (if not stronger) social pressure when they were younger. In fact, classrooms were huge and they had to be smart enough to realize that it’s their responsibility to work hard.

Nowadays they said, it appears that children are more fragile and lazy.

Some people believe that corporal punishment is not harsh enough. Basically we should beat the crap out of children in order to discipline them and ensure a successful future.

The disturbing thing is that indeed, there are less drug abuse problems here and children are more respectful to the elderly. But the downside is that suicide rates are extremely high, alcoholism is a hot social issue, and correct me if I’m wrong, but overall happiness is a tad lower.

Look at them. I really love my students and can't stand the thought of people hurting them, or them hurting themselves. Yeah of course they're a handful (and sometimes they really drive me crazy), but... they're kids!

Autumn in Seoul

I am an idiot. A real idiot.

Autumn in Seoul is beautiful (not as breathtaking as in Quebec but still…) So I went hiking and I brought my camera… without the batteries!

On the bright side, I still have the memories of those gorgeous sceneries I saw today, but you don’t. Sorry.

I did have my cell phone but it takes crappy pictures. Plus it wasn't sunny...kinda foggy.

This morning I overslept and did NOT feel like hiking at all. As a result, I got out of my place around 2pm so it was too late for Bukhansan.

Fortunately, I discovered a very nice and WIDE mountain in Seocho, near Seoul’s bus terminal. It’s called Umyeonsan and you can pretty much hike there forever.

Got myself some Vietnamese fried rice and seafood before the expedition. Up there it was kinda crowded but it didn’t annoy me this time.

It’s wonderful to see all those people getting out of the house and taking part in outdoor activities. No wonder Koreans are so thin. Plus it’s a big family thing – which brings people closer.

As usual, a lot of old people were working out. Like I said in earlier posts, most parks in Seoul have workout equipment that can (and is!) be used by anyone. A lot of people go for a run in the city and they do their workout in a park. It’s really cool.

I found such a spot deep in the forest. I was quite surprised! An ajashi (old man) was doing sit-ups.

A little farther was a temple. The path was filled with gravestones carved with Chinese characters.

Nice hike. I found this weird sculpture on the way back, still not sure what building that was.

I ended up going back to Insadong to get the rest of my Christmas presents and buy a guitar for a friend who wants to learn. I also bought the cutest tiny leather/wool shoes for my co-worker who just had a baby.

The subway wasn't too crowded this time. People were staring at me though - indeed, I had the guitar, a plant I'd just bought, reading Hemingway's "the old man and the sea"... but they probably stared cauz i'm W-H-I-T-E!!!!!

Got home around 9pm and I’m wiped. I wish I were on the other side of the world, 14 hours early. Monday would seem so far away.

Christmas shopping

I’m getting used to living without cheese, steaks and mashed potatoes. I don’t really eat pasta, hot-dogs, quiches, roast meat, and all the heavy stuff we eat back home.

Korean food is delicious and quite healthy – plenty of vegetables, soup, tofu and fish. Sashimi (what we call sushi in America... raw fish on rice), kimbap (rice and vegetables rolled in seaweed) and kimchi jiggae are my favourites.

The only times I eat fat meat is when we go for kalbi (beef ribs), bulgogi (marinated beef with vegetables) or samgyeopsal (BBQ thick bacon). They’re all cooked at your table… something to experience once in your life!

Anyway, the point is that last night we went to an Italian restaurant where we all shared tomatoes-basil-mozzarella, seafood spaghetti with cream, and proscuitto pizza… it was gooooood!

We ended up at my place enjoying a French Bordeaux while watching Woody Allen’s “Match Point” – a great movie, which led us to discuss human nature and love until 3am.

And today, Twyla and I went shopping for our Christmas gifts!

For some reason, I was up at 9:30 so I cleaned (hardcore! it was a mess... I had a busy week). Then we met for lunch and headed to Insadong (nice neighbourhood, a lot of arts and craft, traditional Korean stuff and crowded as hell on week-ends).

I bought A LOT of stuff for my family and friends and we had a great time shopping together.

But it was crazy. We did not go to a shopping mall; Insadong is an area full of boutiques and you walk through a huge crowd while there’s people begging, playing music, putting out Korean traditional shows. It’s a lot of fun.

Christmas is not really big here in Korea. Unless you go to department stores, you won’t see the big trees, the lights and Santa Claus. Feels nice. I’m not a Christmas kinda person anymore, although I understand that some people are. I sort of resent the big commercial scam behind it, the illusions, artificiality, hypocrisy and “love obligations”

Anyway. There was a cool parade of Korean traditional dance and music. The drum part was pretty good and you can actually check out the video I made with my crappy camera. It’s pretty nice. Just click here

There's also another one, longer and pretty cool too here

We spent a lot of time and money there. It was fun to realize that now I can talk to people in Korean… or, at least, make myself understood… well, for the most part ;)

We came back to drop all our stuff and go grocery shopping at Costco since, apparently, they have avocados, cheese and delicious salmon.

The subway was PACKED with people, I could barely breathe. That's Seoul during the week-end; everybody's out. See for yourselves.

So we met in front of the school and got into a cab. He drove in traffic for 40 minutes, to finally bring us back to school where we gave him 20 bucks and went back home.

Funny. Wondering what happened?

The asshole was gonna take us to Gangnam – which is one hour from Mok-Dong. Costco is 10 mins from our place. The driver was trying to screw us over.

When we realized that, we called a Korean friend who spoke to him. He yelled at her on the phone, said it was our entire fault, made a big fat u-turn on the highway, and drove back to Mok-Dong as mad as in “the fast and the furious”. I feared for my life. And I was pissed.

But what kills me the most is that he asked for the cab fare. 20 bucks and we had gone nowhere. On my way out I slammed the door so hard it hurt my ears (yeah yeah, I work out baby ;)

The sad thing is that it was now 7pm and we were both pretty tired.

I ended up grocery shopping alone at “Homever” – this brand new department store replacing “Carrefour”. It’s the summum of consumerist societies… and I LOVE IT there! It’s shopping paradise. And 10 minutes walk from my place.

It was nice coming home to a clean apartment and spreading all the gifts on my bed! Now I oughta find out how to mail stuff. And make sure it gets home BEFORE Christmas!

Tomorrow I’ll probably go for a hike and just love the view of Seoul from afar. Autumn here feels nice. Today was sunny and the air was just cool enough.

I really need a break. I’ve been crazed all week, giving out final exams, grading them, giving speaking tests (ooooh my head hurts just thinking about it), filling the students assessment charts, etc. There’s only a week and half left before the next term.

I think I want to go to the beach, where it’s hot and sunny. I’m not going to Deokjeokdo this week-end because we had to do Xmas shopping but maybe I will next week-end. Oh no, it’s Emma’s farewell party. The one after that I guess. I’ve never been to the beach when there’s snow. It must be romantic.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

Have you ever woken up one day and realized for the first time in a really long time that you absolutely love your life? That you actually fear losing it?

It's not just a game you're playing anymore. It's not about passing time, letting things come to you and passively waiting to see what's next. You understand that you are in control of it and everything happens for a reason: you. (i don't mean it in an egocentric way... just that we responsible for a whole lot of what happens to us)

The way you walk, the way you talk. The clothes you wear, the face you put on. The words you chose to say, and the things you don't tell. Your smile, your tears. The way you touch them, the way you enter the room.

It's a huge responsibility to be you. You can't screw it up because you'll be mad at yourself. Because of your new found respect for life.

Such a thing happened to me this morning. As the sun gently woke me up, I felt a nice warm ray of light coming through my window and I smiled.

I don't know why, but I thought of this William Wordsworth poem I read for the first time back in college, "I wandered lonely as a cloud" Even today I can't say why it gives me strong emotions!

We don't know why we're here. But all I know is that I really love it here.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

On a related topic, there's a beautiful post about rain on a pal's blog, you should definitely check it out!

Alcoholism in Korea

Last week I subbed for Yvonne's housewives class as a favour since she was going on holiday. I'm not really fond of teaching at 10am when I finish at 8pm but I do enjoy the little housewives!

I brought some tea and we started talking. Given their relatively high English level, I chose grownup topics (as opposed to “what did you do this week-end”)

The Korea Times issued two stunning facts concerning Korean society.

1. Alcoholic liver diseases are increasing by an average 7% every year and Korea is ranked fifth in the world for alcohol consumption.

2. Suicide rates in Korea are more than twice as high as that in Canada and the USA.

Shocking.

The housewives had very interesting insights on both realities.

Alcohol first. I’ll discuss suicide in another post.

We read the article together and at the end they looked at me with a smile, saying that this wasn’t surprising at all. They know it’s a big problem in Korea.

Of all the women in that classroom, only Martha said that she enjoys drinking with her husband and three sons… quite frequently. The other ladies looked at each other in a disapproving glance.

As it turns out, alcohol is part of Korean tradition. Men drink a lot because they are under a lot of pressure at work. It is still a patriarchal society, where women take care of children and housework while men bring home food on the table.

Considering the additional pressure of social hierarchy, men struggle really hard at work to get promotions and raises.

That explains why they are totally drunk by 8pm on a Tuesday night. But how come they’re walking on the street, reeling and holding onto their buddies? Why aren’t they home with the wife they married?

“Going home to your wife is another source of stress!” I was once told by a Korean man. “She’s going to talk about irrelevant problems, tell you how much she spent on the kids’ new shoes… and you won’t be able to watch TV because it would disturb the children doing their homework.”

In fact, the housewives told me that in Korea, a wife is not a woman; she’s just a wife. And the definition of a wife is: taking care of children, finances and the house. Marriage is merely a social convention in which both parties know exactly what their role is.

But the sad thing is that most housewives aren’t really happy with that. Actually, a not-so-new trend has recently come into light – women drink alone during the day while there’s nobody home. They become alcoholic and no one notices since the husband comes home so late, usually drunk.

They drink out of boredom and depression.

The first thing Michelle said when I asked her to introduce herself was that she’s really depressed right now. Her son left for college and she’s home alone all day. Her husband works out of town – he leaves the house early and comes home really late.

She now has time to think about her life. All the time and energy she spent on raising her son is now free time she doesn’t know what to do with. All her life everything she did was for somebody else. Now she has to take care of herself, but she doesn’t see the point.

Of course the issue mainly concerns older generations because nowadays, Korean women have jobs and are self-empowering. Nonetheless, it remains a highly patriarchal society and even teenagers are quite control freaks when it comes to their girlfriend.

I still see little girls putting their hand in front of their mouth when they laugh because people used to believe that it is not appropriate for a woman to show her teeth or any expression of joy. Emotions had to be repressed in public.

As for young men, they do drink a lot. I read that 65 500 medical treatments were given to teenagers having alcoholic liver diseases last year. Teenagers!

One of the housewives made everyone burst into laughter when she said that her husband calls his drinking habit “similar to the merry-go-round”!

Indeed, it’s like sitting on those horses that gently go up and down, around and around. It’s relaxing after a big day of cold sweats and mental gymnastics.

But is drinking the only way to release the pressure?! Nop, but it certainly is deeply ingrained in the Korean tradition. Every time a man has a problem, his friends take him out for drinks.

But like the article said, while this may have been ok over the past decades, the world reality now is different and such addiction could damage the nation’s competitiveness and economy.

After all, Korea doesn’t have many natural resources so it highly relies on services and technology. With the whole kibun and nunchi concepts already reducing efficiency in the workplace, alcoholism definitely isn’t helping either.

On the other hand, foreigners here aren’t exactly behaving in a more “responsible” way. And back home I recall my younger days when we would drink a whole lot until the morning came. We’d spend the whole night dancing, philosophising, trying to change the world and laughing about it all.

It was fun. I personally did not try to escape any problems – drinking was just part of the experience. Part of growing up. Of course some people turned it into an addiction while others tried to drown the pain with it.

Last year in France we’d have wine with every meal (except of course breakfast!) A glass or two with cheese. Huuuuum, good memories! :)

So… is it safe to assume that drinking habits positively correlate with countries’ traditions? Apparently weather also has something to do with it since it appears that some Northern countries consume a relatively high amount of alcohol too!

I'm a dork?

You know how I said I was going to buy new glasses?

Well Chris talked me into buying these great Paul Smith glasses - which cost 300$, withOUT the lenses! But they're cute, I really like them and they'll definitely last for a while.

So tonight we went to the optometrist next to school for an eye exam.

It's pretty much the same as back home, except that on the computer they have the picture of a windmill (as opposed to the farm tractor).

Moreover, they have a really "crazy scientist dorky" frame in which they put the lenses for you to try on - this way they make sure everything is all set (another clever Korean thing!!) But the frame is HILARIOUS!!! See for yourselves.

So we had a lot of fun there. After going to Dan's sushi of course, where we got free drinks and fruits once again :)

As for shopping on Sunday, I bought some nice stuff in Apgujeong (Rodeo Drive baby!) - a long grey cardigan (which I'm wearing on the picture), a cool red indian shirt, a green scarf (hair thing), yellow mittens and a shirt. Shopping is Korea is fun!

Got the jeans I ordered online, they're awesome! I also ordered those brown/red Hush Puppies boots and had them shipped to Nic in L.A., who will then mail them to Korea. What a great man!

Today we were giving out final tests to the students so I have a lot of grading to do.

The kids really exasperate me. Some of them finished 20 minutes early and I told them a few times to review but instead they drew some Korean "Hello Kitty" stuff.

Well you guess that they didn't get a hundred! Some failed, others got in the 70%.

That one on the picture is Chad. He's adorable and really smart but... he was the one to finish early and he failed!

At first I really questioned my teaching skills. A lot.

But then I recalled how lazy I used to be in high school and now I know that nothing that people could have said or done would have changed my mind. I just didn't care.

Moreover, I had made review sheets, which we worked on for 80 minutes last week. So... too bad for them. I care, but what can I do? It's really frustrating though.

A funny thing also happened. One of the staff member heard that I give speaking tests in class. We are supposed to give them outside the classroom so the kids can't hear the questions. Fair enough.

But you know what? Even with my system, even with the kids hearing all the questions, even with me correcting grammar and pronunciation when they answer, NONE OF THEM has ever gotten a hundred in speaking test!!! But whatever.

It's the same for unit tests. Even speaking tests. I tell them what's going to be on it and i'm VERY specific. Pffff while it might help some, others just don't take the hint!

On another topic, the gym thing is going really well, I went this morning and start feeling in much better shape!

I'm meeting Mike for coffee tomorrow and I plan on going for a hike this Thursday since I only teach at 5pm.

The term is almost over. I'll have new students at the end of November for three months.

We booked a fancy hotel for christmas - an "executive suite', it has a kitchen so we'll be able to cook in there. Plus there's an indoor swimming pool so i'll feel like a fish again haha

I'm thinking about getting out of Seoul next week-end. Maybe Deokjeokdo? It's a nice island, not too far and although the weather is too cold for swimming, i'll enjoy the beach and mountains.

We should also go to Japan soon. And Saipan!! Anyone has ever heard about this place? It's a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, blue sky, big sun, amazing sea. I need sun. I need to wear my flip-flops. I need my toes to be warm.

My sister is getting married in Cuba on New Year's. Can't believe I won't be there. Neither will my brother - who, by the way, is writing fabulous tales and entries about Thailand!

What else?

I'm still enjoying the piano A LOT.

Saturday night I went for a walk in the park next to my place. It was really nice. And kinda crowded for 10pm on a week-end.

Teenagers were playing basketball, young couples were walking, people were power-walking.

I saw a group of ajummas (old ladies) having a workout session with their teacher. It was funny. They were doing all those stretches and encouraging each other. Later on I met them; they were also power-walking while probably gossiping as usual ;)

I stopped for a moment to enjoy the nice evening. Felt like autumn back home - not too cold but cold enough to feel good when I took deep breaths.

I like the smell of humid earth coupled with leaves lying on the ground while dry ones are gently echoing each other, lulling with the wind.

La vida es un carnaval !

I guess this year really is awesome. For so many reasons – such as I’m 23 and living in Seoul, or I’ve never had so much fun, so much independence, such authentic and good friends, and I’ve never learned so many things about myself, about life and the world. It’s great.

So Skyview. It was shitty plan because they didn’t take reservations and a whole bunch of us was gonna go. I was pretty tired and the girls too so we went to my place and cooked dinner instead.

I learned how to make kimchi jiggae and we finally drank the wine I got for Chuseok. Twas nice. Plus I got a piano (you have no idea how excited I was… and still am!) so as we were singing “Let it be”, we figured it would be fun to go to a Noraebang (karaoke bar).

We went to the same one the staff took me to for Halloween (that night I picked my vice president up… twice!!), about 5 minutes from my apartment.

On our way Twyla stole public property: a big orange cone! It was just hilarious. Who does that?! Of course my dear law-abiding friends and family, she was going to bring it back after carrying it around for a little while.

Anyway.

We got to the noreabang and had a REALLY good time! We sang and danced like crazy, especially me and Twy – we were jumping all over the place. And the orange cone was in the room with us.

At some point during the night Janie and Bori appeared out of nowhere and joined us. They were singing in another room and saw me going to the bathroom I think.

They are part of the Korean staff at school and I really like them because they’re fun to hang out with and just… great!

Especially Janie because she is a HILARIOUS girl. And at work she does an awesome job and remembers everything about my classes. Plus she loves me! Oh Sharon ^^

So they sang songs in Korean while we kept dancing and drinking.



I was reasonably drunk but as usual, behaving like a sober overly happy girl. Twyla on the other hand was too drunk and she suddenly left the room, ready to go home with her cone.

Being the only one who had noticed, I ran after her and found her sitting in the stairs, looking for her keys. She looked pretty down and wanted to leave right away. I went back to the room to look for her keys.

Found them and we all decided to leave. Not safe to let her go home alone at 3am.

I was the last one to meet them in the stairs and there was broken glass everywhere. Apparently a bottle of wine had been smashed! Odd.

Next thing I knew, people were screaming her name. And I was running after a girl… running with an orange cone in the middle of the night. Imagine the scene! I had flip-flops on.

Everyone went home and Kelly slept on my pink couch so we talked until 5am and woke up with the sun around 9:30. I was still tired but the weather was so great, I wanted to go hiking in order to admire the beautiful and colourful autumn leaves. Plus, I needed fresh air and to spend some time alone.

Twyla called, still drunk. Apparently she ran away for various reasons including a creepy incident and the fact that she just wanted to go home. She didn’t even notice that I was chasing her.

I laughed my head out when Twyla said she couldn’t find her keys so she knocked at the door.

Emma answered it naked.

Ok it’s weird. But nop, she’s not gay; just very comfortable with her body!

The hilarious thing is that Twyla was looking at Emma, all puzzled and wondering why the hell she’s answering the door naked at 3 am.

But Emma was looking at Twyla, wondering why on earth she had run home with an orange cone in the middle of the night!

What can I say? These things only happen here in Seoul.

Coming up: the housewives story, many pictures, Halloween party summary (from what people told me cauz I sure as heck don’t remember much) and another chapter on those adorable Korean kids!!

Good day to y’all :)

Pepero day

A Korean celebration. Just like Valentine’s day. It’s a romantic day and happens every 11/11.

Basically kids give peperoes (cookie/chocolate sticks) to the ones they like or love. Remember Pete when we had that intense conversation at Soto? We ate those for dessert!

It’s the biggest commercial scam ever. Lotte Co. started it in 1994. 11/11 looks like 4 pepero sticks.

Teachers hate it because children get high on sugar and there are crumbs and plastic wraps everywhere.

My kids brought me some. Not a big fan though.

But the cutest thing ever happened!

One of my 8-year-old kid came to class late, out of breath and… carrying a ROSE!!

How adorable is that?? It’s the same kid who was wearing the pollution mask on the previous post. Look at him with his big smile, just waving at me! I just wanted to give him a big hug but you know how kids are at that age…

I was the only teacher to get a rose. Oh! So sweet!

And the girls in my Shining Star class drew me on the whiteboard! Given, my face is not so large and I look a little Korean on there but still, how cute is that?!

Ah those children! They give me a lot of emotions!

Procrastinating...

Right now I should be grading diaries and unit tests but... procrastinating is so much better!

I also gota go to bed early since I'm going to the gym tomorrow again (yes indeed, my 2nd week working out… gettin’ real firm haha!!) and Erin's bringing the piano at noon. Then I have to teach until 10pm. Well not really teach as much as handing out unit tests! And next week we're giving the poor kids their final test!!

Had kimchi jiggae tonight while watching "40-year-old virgin"... not a great movie, but funny. Thanks Emma!

The weather is getting really cold in Seoul. Twas full moon 2 days ago, look at this beautiful view taken from the roof of my school during my 5mins break! (keep in mind it was taken with a cell phone camera)

Anyway, I have no choice but to stop wearing my dear flip-flops and put on longer skirts. Finding shoes here is quite difficult considering my huge Yeti feet but I found the cutest Hush Puppies online (brown and red boots!) but they don't deliver here.

So Saturday is shopping day and i'll look for them. Also, i'm buying new glasses this week-end! Chris is taking me to Rodeo Drive in Apujong, too fancy for my taste but she loves it and I kinda enjoy it too ;)

I know I said I’d post pictures of the Halloween party but my dear friend Twyla hasn’t emailed them yet!!! It’s almost been two weeks grrrr I think Emma will send me some, and I got a few from Rachelle but they’re mostly pictures of her so… It should come up soon though! Twy???? Love ya, really do, but what the?!

Meanwhile you can enjoy pics dating back from a couple of weeks ago (thanks Rachelle!) Twyla at the very fancy Noraebang (karaoke bar, thus the lighting) - the night where Rachelle sang the unforgettable, hilarious and now inside joke rendition of the Black Eyed Peas "Where is the love", screaming "somethin's wrong with it! Somethin's wrong with this world mama! Tell me! I wanna know!"

The other is me and Twy at Paganini. This place is awesome, we gota go back there! Plus Chris knows the owner and last time we were there we got free wine AND free cheese cake directly from Philly (wink Dave!!)

This week’s been pretty nice so far because I tried to keep it real. Helps a lot. But I still wonder what’s the point of going to work every single day, of building relationships and learning about stuff (won’t we all be forgotten in the end? The only things that remain are immortal I guess, but does this give them more value?) I really have the best time of my life here, but I can’t help wonder what’s the point of all this?

Kelly, Erika and I went to Dan’s sushi on Monday, it was DELICIOUS! Plus fun cauz they know us so well that they prepare our “special” plates (shrimps and salmon!!) and they gave us free drinks and fruits for dessert!

Some girls invited me to Skyview on Friday night but me and the gals moved our Wednesday night dinner to Friday so I’ll try to make it to both. Kelly’s cooking kimchi jiggae miam!

Skyview’s nice but soooo expensive! Ok, it’s on the 40th floor but come on, last time we went there it cost me about 50 bucks for dinner and like 2 drinks. Uuuh, not so bad now that I think about it...

If you compare with the 7/11 though… hahaha in Korea you can buy beer at convenience stores and drink it outside, chillin’ out with your friends at the picnic tables. And it’s legal! Alcohol consumption here is so deeply ingrained in the tradition that it’s like having a cola in a park back home.

Eeeeeeh I’m rambling on and on and on. And on.

Look how cute Ryan is on that picture! His mom made him wear a mask today (apparently too much pollution) and he had it on at the beginning of class! Freak? Or adorable?

Cindy’s right next to him. She is the cutest girl and so smart, she got 95% on her last test! Hey I’ve got more pictures of my students, will post them soon.

Oh yes, some ppl mentioned there are not enough pics on my blog so to remedy that I’ll soon post pics of my co-workers and friends and the school and everything else.

Next topic will be: housewives – desperate and totally smart. Find out why their husbands drink so much and only see them as wives; not as women! Stay tuned for more details ;)

On a final note, here are pictures Nic sent me from L.A. First is Jannah, Johanna and me having dinner after our night out around 5am (thanks Koreaflyfisher... I'll keep Sam kye tang in mind next time we get hammered ;)

Then Nick acting drunk! And me crossing Cheonggyecheon stream barefoot during our last night together (it was sooo slippery, plus can you see the man standing by the waterfall behind me? He stayed there for about 2 hours! Kinda zen alcoholic I guess hehe)

When do you stop?

Well Marc you'd be happy to be here in Korea. Everything is available on DVD - plays, music concerts, even the latest movies (and before they come out in movie theatres)!! And they are cheap too (about 2bucks) and everywhere on the street.

You guessed? Yup, I went shopping today!

Beautiful sun, cold wind, and me, in Seoul. It was impressive to realize that I am totally used to living here - I pretty much know how to get around the city and nothing surprises me anymore. The cultural shock will be being surrounded by white people; not the other way around. I can even order food, ask for my way and tell the taxi driver where to take me, all in Korean!!

If you're looking for places to shop in Seoul, there are several neighbourhoods. Seoul is quite a consumerist society. I like Insadong because it is nice, artistic and it sells local (often hand made) products. They also have lots of Buddhist stuff.

Today I went to Itaewon. Beurk. A 100 times beurk. It's like shopping back home but you get cheaper prices and low quality stuff. Plus it's crowded with foreigners. Still... I got a sweater. And saw giant dummies.

As I was walking I bumped into Erin and the "weird couple". Erin is adorable! And you know what? I got a piano from her!!! Electronic of course, but I am so excited. She's selling it for a friend who's back in America. I'll get it this week.

That's the amazing thing about being an English teacher in Seoul: free time and good money.

You can basically buy anything you want, go out for dinner quite often, go out dancing, for drinks, enjoy the good life, go to the museums, movies, theatre, and.... you still have money in your pocket!

Next I went to Dongdaemun. Horrible. Well, not for most people, but it was for me.

This place is FILLED with shops and boutiques on the street. Moreover, it has three main (and huge) buildings in which you find nothing but clothing, shoes, bags, accessories stores. Worst part being that it was PACKED like hell (or heaven? ;) I had been there before but it was a week night after midnight so it doesn't count.

There are SO MANY things to see at once while countless people are passing you by and salespeople are yelling their "super discounts" in Korean. After an hour, I was exhausted.

I'm sure my sister would have loved this place, but I just couldn't stand the pressure. Too many things to buy, too many choices to make, too many people to walk by, oh boy! Commercial consumption has reached another level here in Korea. When do you stop?! And why would you anyway?

So I didn't buy much - hair stuff, necklace, t-shirt, scarf and a cute winter hat. I walked a lot though, which was nice. And I had some "me" time... among a huge crowd, yes, but that's Seoul.

I'm glad I took the subway because traffic on Sunday is so heavy. Plus the subway here is much larger than back home and people are much thinner.... so there's room for everyone hehe Seriously, I was shocked to see how almost skinny girls are here!

Erika and I were supposed to meet but it was too late for that so we'll go for sushi tomorrow night :) And Wednesday is girls' dinner at my place (a new thing we are trying which is awesome because we have so much fun and it cuts the week in half)

Right now I’m still in the Kundera mood. Fortunately, I missed a couple of subway stops today so I read over 40 pages of "Immortality", makes you think a lot. Lately things have been quite dark in my head so I need some time to think, put things in perspective and get some air from the "real" world!

As I was walking through the crowds I met a lot of homeless people. Back home I’d take them for food but here it's hard to explain in Korean and I feel sad just giving out money, hoping they won't drink it all.

On the subway there was a blind woman, a beggar. She nodded her head when she heard the metallic sound of pennies chinking in the hat. Ironically, the soft sound of my bill brought no reaction. Neither did my smile, of course. Sometimes it's not all about what you see. Sometimes no reaction is ok too.

Got home late, already full moon. Great. I won't sleep tonight. And tomorrow I must get up early because i'm teaching a housewives class. I can't believe the week-end is already over. At least I saw Macbeth in Lithuanian... that's something!

Lost in translation

Tonight I went to see a Macbeth play in... Lithuanian, subtitled in Korean. Yes of course, you can laugh.

It was a hard night. Really. I met Hye Jeong and two of her friends for dinner - the best sushi rolls I've ever had (shrimp and avocado miam!)

Her friends are great, but it took me a lot of energy to speak slowly and repeat a hundred times every single word that came out of my mouth.

So when we got to the play, I was hoping for a little rest. Oh boy! I really got lost in translation.

Over FOUR hours of this Lithuanian/Korea play. I was wiped!

Objectively, the actors sure used all the space on stage and they gave a great performance. The director, Eimuntas Nekrosius, also did a great job! I especially liked the lighting and scenery.

But this adaptation of Macbeth wasn’t great.

Beside the fact that I did not understand a single word of it, they put a lot of emphasis on the three witches – which were young and quite stunning in this version of the play.

My mind wandered a couple of times.

I couldn’t help but wonder what Shakespeare would have said if, back in the 1600s, someone had told him that his tragedy would be performed by Lithuanian actors in a theatre in Seoul. Moreover, I doubt he would have appreciated this rendition.

One thing that struck me though is how much energy those people have on stage! They scream, they run, often dance, and their movements are so dramatic and… theatrical!!!

The last time I had been to a play was back in Paris last April. Patrick and I had seen “nevroses sexuelles de nos parents” and I must say it was a really special one. Plus, at least I could understand what the actors were saying.

I really love theatre. For so many reasons but let's not elaborate too much here. My brain is clustered with Korean characters and Lithuanian words and I need some rest!

As I was walking back home I stopped for a moment just to smell the air, look at the moon and feel the sweet autumn breeze. Felt nice. Really nice actually. Until I passed by a dark alley and… I saw four young guys loading guns!

I walked by very quickly and looked back to make sure this wasn’t a dream. It was real. They were staring at me.

At that very moment I tried really hard to realise that I could die any minute and you know what? I came to see that I wouldn’t trade life with anyone. It’s my life and I love it – with all the good, the wrong, the twisted, and the dark sides of it.