The likes of which they've never seen...

Being a foreigner in Korea is an interesting experience.

Although there are quite a few foreigners in Korea it seems that the sight of one is still something to gawk at. I can't seem to go anywhere without getting a bit of a sideways look of curiosity. For the most part, people try to act like they don't see you... that is when you are looking. When you have your head down and are focused elsewhere is when you can feel the eyes burning a hole in your forehead.

Children look at you with curiosity and without shame. Teenagers seem to see you but don't care too much about you. Young adults will sometimes smile at you. Anyone over 30 will look at you when you are not looking. And old people either don't even notice you or look at you for extended periods of time.

I don't know what other foreigners have experienced but this is what I've gathered. I seem to get the most stares on the subway or on the bus. I think that is just because there is no other place to look and so people are more likely to scope out the situation. In any case, when I make eye contact with somebody I try to smile and look friendly, rarely do I get a smile back.


Make sure to act like you can't see me...
When I, as a foreigner, am walking down the street in Seoul and I see another foreigner I notice just as easily as all the people who notice me. When I first arrived I would always try to make eye contact and give a smile like: "hey, I stick out too, lets acknowledge each other." I soon came to figure out that foreigners purposely avoid eye contact with other foreigners.

Frankly, I think this is bullshit. I know that just because we are both white, or the minority, or whatever, this doesn't automatically assume that we should be buddies. But at the same time, it shouldn't mean that we have to make sure to act like we didn't notice each others' big white selves going by.

So, I am going to continue trying to make eye contact with other foreigners because frankly I think that its way more comfortable that trying to act like I am not noticing them sticking out in the crowd like a sore thumb. So other foreigners out there in Seoul, acknowledge my foreign ass.

Awkward moment at the temple stay...

You know, my life wouldn't be complete without some awkward story to make me giggle...

As we were getting ready to go to sleep I was shown where I should go to brush my teeth which was technically the women's showers. There wasn't a sink in the room but rather a bunch of shower heads and spigots close to the floor and a drain in the center. I started to brush my teeth when a half asleep woman with curlers in her hair and an incredible sheer shirt came to the door and looked at me a bit surprised.

I motioned to her that she could come in and I would leave and she pushed me back inside the room as she motioned something like "no its okay". Anyways, I didn't know what she was there for but I stood there and continued to brush my teeth.

Before I knew it she was squatting in the middle of the floor and peeing. I didn't laugh, I wanted to, but I didn't. I avoided even looking in her direction and pretended to be really concentrating on brushing my teeth. She then took a bucket of water and washed the floor down and went on her way. Normal, to her I guess. Who was she? I don't know... not a Buddhist nun, they are bald, this woman had curlers in her hair... I don't know what she was doing there.

So I finished brushing my teeth, spit into the same drain where she peed and then burst into laughter. Awkward...

Temple Stay... Longest day of my life...

I am so exhausted from going to the temple stay last night. We arrived at the temple at about 7pm and went to sleep around 10pm. We slept on the floor on mats and sleeping bags and were scheduled to wake up at 2:50am. Of course, nobody went to sleep right at 10 so everyone was exhausted. Not to mention stiff.

Wait, back up... so when we got there we changed into our temple uniforms which were very modest loose shirts and MC Hammer pants. The girls got orange and the guys got green. We proceeded to make lotus lanterns out of paper which I thoroughly enjoyed... of course I like that crafty stuff... After making the lanterns we put them on a shrine of Buddha and then bowed and made a wish. It was really nice, and the lanterns turned out beautifully. You can see the lantern I made in the picture...

The monks were so adorable, I don't know if its appropriate to say that, but they were. And there were helpers who work at the temple who were very sweet. Our tour guide was the cutest, he looked like a little oompa loompa, I don't think he was a monk, but he was so precious... and I mean that in the nicest way possible.

A rundown of the things we did would be... learning how to bow, making prayer bead necklaces thingys, doing some exercises and meditation type stuff, going on a tour, eating breakfast and lunch and going to some tombs. It was an interesting experience but I have to admit that I was cranky all day because I was so tired. The area where the temple is is a beautiful and peaceful place and I really enjoyed the fresh air.

So as I was sleeping in this temple, I was hoping that I would have some dreams of Buddha or some sort of calling or something. Nothing. No dream, no visions, nothing. What's up with that?

I love pat-bing-su!!!

My favorite dessert in Korean thus far is pat-bing-su. Its shaved ice topped with red beans, various fruits, ice cream and condensed milk. Oh my, its delicious! I really just wrote this post so I could post a picture of it... hehe. Its sooo good.

Puppies at Chungmuro

Everyday when I go to school I get off at Chungmuro Station and walk to Dongguk University. On the street that leads to the school there are pet shops with the most adorable puppies in the windows. Everyday I stop and look at the puppies on the way to school and on the way home. Rari says that the shop owners probably know me by now.

The puppies are so small and so cute that I cant help but stop to look at them. I heard that the reason why they are so small is because they are taken away from their mothers at a very young age and so they don't grow at the usual rate. But they are so damn precious! Supposedly, Paris Hilton visited Seoul and bought a dog from one of those pet stores which are quite famous. I don't know if the dog she bought is the dog that she lugged around everywhere with her and became famous in its own right. Probably.

When I see the puppies I contemplate buying one when I come back and have my own apartment. That would probably be a bad idea because I would have to then figure out how to get it back to the States, because of course I would be in love with it and wouldn't give it away. We'll see... someone really needs to talk me out of this one...

My shirt is speaking English…

So many Korean people walk around Seoul wearing shirts that have English sayings on them. Some of the sayings are coherent, sometimes there are just words, and sometimes they are hilarious. I saw a girl at the COEX Mall yesterday wearing a shirt that said “I love Crap”. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Like poo-poo? Does she even know what crap is?
The best one that I saw today was on a girl on the subway. This girl was probably 12 years old, 13 tops. She was wearing a shirt that said “Don’t quote me boy I ain’t said SHIT”… I put SHIT in big letters because on the shirt the word SHIT was about 3 times the size of the other writing. I know that is a line from a song, but what is this little sweet Korean girl doing wearing that SHIT? I mean shirt…

Speaking of Shit…
The other day after dinner with the family, Rari, Duri, their cousin and I went to Coffee Bean. We were hanging out talking and naturally the Koreans spoke Korean and only spoke English when they had to. I say that because I don’t know the context of the phrase that Rari was saying to me. She was asking “Do you know ‘Asian shit’?” Okay I really don’t know what she was saying and I never did find out because I started laughing so hard that I almost peed. I was like “What?” and she would say “Asian shit”. No clue, but it was hilarious.

Bowling, Korean Style

I went bowling with my host family today. It was a bit surreal. The house balls had finger tip inserts! (if you are a bowler that will mean something to you). It was awesome because I use a fingertip ball and so I did pretty well despite the fact that I haven't bowled in a long time. My host family was impressed with my skills, even though I only bowled a 135 as my high.:) haha.

There were some hard core people bowling at the alley, which by the way was on the 2nd floor of a building above a department store... kinda weird. So many people had their own balls and shoes which were just like the ones that I have seen in the states.

It was fun to go bowling and weird to do it in Korea. I thought it was cool. If this post is lame I'm sorry but I am just a nerd. lol.

Mom you should tell Patty that I bowled in Korea, she will get a kick out of that. :)

Another Tale from the Metro

Distracted by the Umbrella Jedis...
On the second day of my Korean Film class the instructor brought the class on a field trip to the Korean Film Museum. This involved taking a group of 25 students: 20 of which are foreigners, on the subway and then a bus ride.

On our first attempt to get on the subway, half of the students didn't make it onto the train because they were all trying to go through one entrance. Also, everyone got distracted as they were attempting to get onto the train because two old men who were also getting onto the train began to yell at each other and then proceeded to hit each other with their umbrellas. The were like little old Korean jedi warriors. It was awesome.

Meanwhile about 8 students were left behind at the subway stop. I got onto the subway because I learned quickly that you must be aggressive when you are getting onto the train otherwise you will miss your very small window of opportunity. As the doors to the train closed there were a group of foreign students who had the most panicked look on their faces like they were going to be lost forever. I know that I shouldn't have laughed but I laughed out loud. I am an ass, I know.

No worries, everything turned out okay. There was one Korean student who also got left behind and she helped them to find their way.

Tales from the Metro

Like Sardines...
Interesting experience in the subway at rush hour... people crammed into a car to the point that no one could move, including me. I poked some guy in the head with my folder and he gave me a dirty look. Hey, give me a break I couldn't move my arms!

Child Abuse...
The subway is my favorite, I like to people watch and plenty of people watch me because I am obviously different than the rest. I had two little boys who would not leave me alone the other day. They kept saying "Hello, Hello" in Korean and I would say hello and then they would run away. Then they came up and starting hitting me playfully, they were so cute that I didn't care. Also I don't know what the protocol is on scolding other peoples' kids. So I let them hit me and I just laughed because Korean kids are just too cute to be mad at. (You all know me and my Asian babies)

Jesus Freak...
I also had a Korean girl ask my for the time. I told her "Ten minutes after four" and looked away. And again she asked me for the time, I showed her my watch and then she nodded. She then proceeded to attempt to speak English to me, but the only words that I could make out were "eyes" and "pretty". I assumed she was complimenting me and so I thanked her and she smiled. She then attempted to say something else and I made out the word "pig" because she lifted her nose with her finger... I don't know where she was going there.
She took out a picture of her brother who was in the military and I said "oh, I see. Military?" and she looked at me like I was the crazy one. By that time I had to get off the subway for my stop and she got off and started walking beside me singing "Jesus loves you..."
I was confused.