Losing Modesty

Myra's Birthday in the Norebang

Sorry it has been so long since my last post!  The past couple weeks have been full of adventure with the added stress of trying to get ready for the fall, so time has been pretty limited.  Anyway, I'll try to keep things short and let you in on all that's happened recently, starting with last Monday.  Last week was CLS Birthday Week with three birthdays.  Myra's birthday was on Monday, and we headed to a norebang after class let out.  Norebangs are always a good time, especially when they have "Call Me Maybe."  The few Koreans who were with us just didn't understand when we all jumped up to dance during the chorus.  I don't know why that song is so awesome...

Tea Ceremony Time

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful until our class excursion on Thursday.  After school, we went to the Hanok Village where we donned hanboks and learned how to perform a traditional tea ceremony.  As you probably know, I am a total spazz.  Trying to steep the tea and pour it in the set pattern with proper decorum while speaking Korean was just too much for me.  Besides my laughing at random times and awkward mistakes, my phone went off during the ceremony, and it took me forever to get it out from under the three or four layers of clothes I had on.  The tea ceremony instructor was less than pleased...

On that midnight train to Jeonju.

After school on Friday, Winston and I headed to the bus terminal and set off for his birthday weekend in Seoul.  We arrived at the hostel in Itaewon just before dinner, got cleaned up, and went in search for some non-Korean food which we eventually found at a Bulgarian restaurant.  It was really random.  After dinner, we went in search for some nightlife and met some really cool English teachers along the way who showed us around.  Our other friends from the CLS program, Justin and Chris, also finally made it.  It was an incredibly fun night with some great memories.  The next day, we took it easy and slept in before meeting up with some other CLS people for a dinner of fried chicken.  Afterward, we went to a honky tonk called Grande Olde Opry.  I'm not even joking - in the middle of Korea is a legit country bar with Kellie Pickler, Alan Jackson, Taylor Swift, and line dancin'.  Speaking Korean in the honky tonk was one of the weirdest experiences of my life and has caused so many strange dreams since.  I had to leave at 10PM to make the midnight bus back to Jeonju (I sang "Midnight Train to Georgia" subbing in "Midnight Bus to Jeonju" about fifty times that day) and was sad to leave Seoul - a city full of many crazy memories.

I arrived back at the apartment in Jeonju at 2:30 that morning and was hating life when my 5:30 alarm went off Sunday morning.  The host family and I left the house at 6AM for the 2012 World Expo in Yeosu - about two hours away.  Somewhere along the way I got a second wind, because despite the miles of walking I did that weekend, I was ready to go for the Expo.  The theme of this year's World's Fair revolved around the ocean, conservation, and renewable energy which are all areas that I am really interested in studying.  My host sister and I had a great time exploring the International Exhibits, but I'm not sure that host brother was equally amused.  By hour five, he was having a bad time for real.  I think the picture explains it pretty well...  

Ringing in evening prayer.

"Where do you come from??"

The next week only had three days of classes, difficult as usual, and was full of homework and tutoring.  My tutor (Chae Wu) and I went on a bit of an adventure on Tuesday in search of my rain boots which I left at the tea ceremony the week before.  It took a while, but we eventually found them down a side street at a restaurant.  I don't know why I can always find a cheap $20 pair of rain boots but Raybans never show up after they go missing.  On Thursday morning, everyone from CLS met up at the school, and we set out on our third and final cultural trip around the country.  We drove to the east 

coast and ended up at a Buddhist temple nestled in a forest valley.  That afternoon, we participated in many rituals with the monks; my favorite was using the ram to sound the massive gong for evening meditation.  We set out with a monk on a hike of silence through miles of tree-lined paths, stopping for meditation along the way.  That night, we stayed at the temple in hanoks next to the stream.  I was set for a great night of sleep until that 3:50 AM alarm sounded.  Yes, 3:50 AM.  We were pulled from bed by the sound of the gong from across the compound, calling everyone for morning meditation.  After meditation, we walked into a room with mats for each of us and beads with string in front of each.  I thought, "oh, arts and crafts time - this should be fun!"  Wrong.  In fact, it was an exercise to learn about the Buddhist belief in 108 sufferings.  There was a bead for each suffering, and in order to understand the suffering, we did a stand, bow, stand sequence while thinking of human suffering.  It took 35 minutes.  In silence.  My legs were suffering, my butt was suffering, and I was hungry.  At least I now have a cool souvenir...

Night on the beach.

After lunch, we left the temple and set off again.  We had already deviated from the schedule, so I wasn't exactly sure where we were headed.  At one rest stop, we all got off the bus to find rolling hills and a goat farm complete with petting zoo.  When we were at the petting zoo, a Korean kid came up to me and said in English, "Hello, where do you come from?"  When I responded in Korean, he screamed and ran away.  His parents found me later, laughed, and insisted that we get a picture.  After the goat farm, we headed for that night's acommodations - a 99-room hanok house.  I christened it the "CLS Party House," and the name couldn't have been more accurate.  After dinner and a tour of the complex, our teachers loaded us up by class into taxis; none of us knew where they were sending us.  We ended up at the beach which happened to be just miles from our house.  Nobody was prepared for a trip to the beach, so after hours of hanging out on the beach, our taxi drivers were less than pleased to get soaking wet and sandy college students packed into the back of their cars.  The night was pretty crazy - our teachers definitely know how to have a good time!

Let's cross that bridge when we get there

In the morning, we headed out through the mountains for a hike.  We hiked for about a mile to a monorail station which took us to an incredible cavern.  The cavern was spectacular with amazing formations and slime.  It took a full hour to traverse it all, and I was very thankful that I packed my hiking boots for the venture.  After the monorail and hike back to the bus, we set out for the beach (part 2).  On the bus ride there, our bus driver found the news station on the built-in TV, and we watched the opening ceremonies and Parade of Nations for the Olympics.  Driving through the mountains of Korea and shouting for Team USA in Korean is one of my favorite memories from this summer.  

Swimming in the Pacific.

The weather was perfect at the beach, and we had a great time in the water.  After a few hours, we headed to our hotel for the night which we quickly discovered was complete with a traditional Korean sauna.  I'm not sure if you're familiar with Korean saunas, but they are not for the faint-hearted.  It is essentially a huge room with public baths of varying temperatures where you and your closest friends (and teachers...) get naked and relax in the giant hot tubs.  It was actually a lot of fun after the initial awkwardness and was definitely a bonding experience.  The novelty of the sauna wore off rather quickly, and we decided to explore the random village where we had landed for the night.  We stepped out of the hotel only to find a free concert just down the road.  As happens a lot with us, we weren't dressed for the occasion, and Myra can now say that she went to a concert in her pajamas.  I went into the convenience store for snacks, and when I came out, I ran into two teenage girls who saw me and literally started screaming and shouting "movie star."  When I spoke to them in Korean, trying to explain that I wasn't in fact a movie star, one seriously went weak at the knees, and her friend had to hold her up.  To all of you haters of my hair gel - please reference this video.  I am still in shock.  

My Amazing Class

We got back to Jeonju Sunday afternoon after hours of driving (and sleeping) on the way back.  It was another incredible journey with crazy stories that just couldn't happen anywhere else.  It occurred to me on the bus ride today that leaving Korea is going to be much harder than I thought - it has become a second home, and I have made friends here that I will have a horrible time saying goodbye to.  There are only two more weeks left here - it's time to make the most of them.  

Crazy Korean Discoveries: 

1. In some ways Koreans are very conservative, but in others, they have no modesty whatsoever.  For example, many Korean met won't go shirtless at the beach but they have no problem soaking naked in a bathhouse.  

2. During meals, you're unlikely to be served individually with separate plates.  Typically, all of the food is placed in the middle of the table, and everyone attacks it with chopsticks.  I can't count the number of times I've gotten in chopstick fights for the most American-looking food on the table.

3. Yep, this happened: (picture right)

The Great Wall of Geochang

So glad to be done with that exam!

In America, we all have Asian friends, and as a general rule they study about five times as much as the rest of us.  I used to not put much thought into it, thining that it was merely coincidence.  And then I experienced midterms week in Korea.  We got new material up until the day before the exam.  On exam day, we spent three hours in testing, 90 minutes of written exam plus a rotating individual oral proficiency exam.  After it was over, our teacher took us to an all you can eat American lunch buffet.  I haven't eaten that much in one sitting since Dad took me to DC in eleventh grade and I discovered the endless breakfast bar.  Needless to say, I was worthless for 5th and 6th periods and instead spent my time in a total food coma.

Fun at squid party night with Mina.

I got home from school on Thursday and assumed my normal position on the sofa in the living room.  Aunt Kim was running around like crazy and told me that "Uncle Joe and sister are coming for dinner."  I said, "sounds good!"  Of course, this conversation was in Korean, and the thing about Korean is that there is no distinction between singular and plural.  For example, if you go to the bakery, you may say, "I want bagel" which can mean that you want anywhere from 1 to 100 bagels.  You have to add the optional units for clarification.  So a better thing to say may be "I want bagel, 12 bagel units please."  Or in my case, it may have been better for Aunt Kim to say, "Uncle Joe and sister - 7 people units - are coming to dinner."  Yes, seven sisters.  When the doorbell kept ringing and women kept coming through the door, I started to wonder what kind of party this was.  However, the night was really fun, and my confusion was soon cleared up.  They also served my favorite Korean food which was a plus.

On a search for the Buddhist temple.

On Friday, I was completely exhausted from the intense schedule of the week.  I could tell I was getting sick and needed to sleep.  I honestly can't remember the last time I got a full eight hours.  But when I was invited to squid party night in makoli town, I of course couldn't turn down an invitation.  I met up with some CLS friends and a few of our new Korean friends.  Though my conversation pieces pretty much amount to random pickup lines and "What did you do yesterday?" we had a good time.

Buddhist Temple.

The next morning, we met at the school at 8:30 for another weekend trip.  Clearly we just can't stay put for more than a few days.  Luckily, we had plenty of time to sleep between random literature houses and museums.  That afternoon, our bus stopped at an unmarked point in the middle of a mountain road, and we were told it was hiking time.  We set off on a 7 km hike through kudzoo-covered mountain paths, just budding soy bean fields, and finally an incredible breathtaking rock beach.  Unfortunately, we took the wrong turn at some point and were forced to trek over a rather trecherous part of the beach which was covered in slippery, pointy, algae rocks.  Added challenge: it was raining.  Thank goodness for good shoes!  After another 3 km monsoon hike, we ended up at a secluded Buddhist temple deep in the woods, a mile from the nearest road.  It was absolutely beautiful set against the foggy mountain backdrop.

Beach night!

We eventually ended up at the hotel which was right on the beach and of course boasted the most incredible views.  That night, after I made a fool of myself at the Korean poetry reading, a few friends and I went to the beach and sat around watching some crazy guys shoot fireworks at their friend target in the water.  It was a lot of fun!

Traversing Geochang with my teacher.

The next day, we toured a literature house and discovered ancient tombs of high class people that were in the style of Stonehenge.  It is crazy that they were able to lift those huge stone


into formation without the help of modern technology.  Afterward, we headed to the city of Geochang's Old City Wall and fortress that was used to protect its citizens from attacks.  I dubbed it the "Great Wall of Geochang," but I really have no idea what it was called.  We arrived back home in Jeonju that evening for some much needed rest.  I don't think I've slept past 8AM since leaving America, but why sleep when there is so much to explore??  This summer, there is an adventure around every corner.

Crazy Korean Discoveries:
1. There is a saying that says, "If you go to Korea, don't forget to pack a spare liver."  This country can drink some booze, let me tell you.  They also have very strict rules for drinking.  For example, when drinking, you must turn away from anyone who is older or higher ranked than you.  This is one of the most awkward table practices I have ever seen.
2. Never, ever write somebody's name in red ink.  This means either that they are dead, will die soon, or you want them to die.  Similarly, if you give somebody a gift in a set of four (like four cups or something), it is like telling them to go die.

28 Hours in the World's Largest City

After last weekend's trip, I came home to a near empty house; both Aunt Kim and Uncle Joe were gone.  After some initial confusion, I found out from host sister that the grandma had died and that their aunt would be staying at the house until the parents returned from the funeral.  The next couple days were pretty crazy with about a million family members coming through the house.  At one point, I exited my room to find three middle-aged women in black robes running through the house.  I am not quite sure who they were, but they made a great dinner.  By Tuesday, things had calmed down at the house, but school was a different story.

Spiderman Movie Night

On Monday, we beginners made the much anticipated language pledge, agreeing not to speak English on campus, at group activities, or at home.  Even though this has led to many awkward moments such as telling the music teacher that the meaning of life is to rave or realizing that we left someone at the Seoul bus station, my Korean skills have been increasing exponentially.  Last night, I actually held a conversation with my host family in Korean - albeit broken Korean - for nearly three hours.  With help from plenty of pictures and hand motions, we were able to have a normal conversation which was really cool!  Apparently Aunt Kim has been worrying that I don't eat enough and that my host brother eats too much bread instead of rice.

Dinner at the Professor's Apartment

Indian Tea and Wine Bar

Thursday was an insane day.  In addition to the normal 8:30 - 3:30 class, we had a culture activity with our teacher.  After class, we headed to her apartment to make some traditional Korean food (the good homemade kind, not the Anchovy Hotel style sadness) and watched TV dramas.  I had made plans to see Spiderman with the host fam that night, and I thought that I was to meet at the apartment at 8:00.  Turns out, the movie started at 8:00, so when I pulled up to the apartment in a taxi at 7:45, the host fam was already in the van in the parking lot and waving frantically and yelling as I jumped into the van, just shutting the door as Aunt Kim hit the gas.  They are serious about their movie times.  It was a fun outing, except for the fact that I had to stay up way too late studying for a test the next day.  Luckily on Friday, our teacher gave us a 30-minute nap time during second period after everyone literally fell asleep on our desks during break.  After a long, stressful week of Korean, I was really excited for the weekend.  Friday evening, I went with some friends to a hole-in-the-wall traditional Indian tea and wine bar.  We walked down a side street, turned a corner, went into a small door in the middle of the block, down a flight of poorly lit stairs with camels on the walls, and ended up in an ancient world, but cleaner.  We couldn't wear shoes and were seated on a raised platform booth lined with pillows around a center coffee-style table.  It was a really neat place and reminded me of movies about the Old Testament, minus the sparsely clothed harem.

Fortunately Took the Wrong Subway Exit

On Saturday morning, some friends and I met at the bus station for a weekend trip to Seoul!  We were definitely those foreigners who held up the line, and people were not happy.  Ah well...  I got on a bus in the middle of Korea and got off in America.  Seoul is incredibly similar to the US; it felt like walking around New York with different demographics.  Most people even spoke English!  Come to find out, Koreans actually come to my city (Jeonju) for a dose of their own culture.  Anyway, we arrived in time for lunch in the 10-story mall attached to the bus stop.  Afterward, Chris and I spent the afternoon getting lost on the subway, discovering free attractions like taekwondo performances and hanbok tents, and taking a super cheesy bus tour.  We met up with Nick, Mike, and Myra at the hostel in Hongdae and got ready for an awesome night out.  We started with a dinner of friend chicken and perused a street fair complete with live music and clowns on stilts.  We then made our way to the American neighborhood of Itaewon which is famous for its nightlife.

Myra isn't too sure about Chris's score keeping.

We cruised Itaewon for a bit, popping in and out of the various lounges, restaurants, and cafes.  We stopped in a sports bar for a while where we taught Myra how to play darts.  Itaewon was full of old people, though. It was kind of like wandering around with your parents, so we took a taxi back to Hongdae, which is situated in the middle of three universities.  We thought there would certainly be a hot spot there.  We arrived in about ten minutes and went down the first street we saw.  Apparently we were good guessers, because the place was jumpin' and everyone was around our age.  #winning  Side note: Korean girls really like American guys who can speak a bit of Korean.  Knowing simple phrases in Korean such as "Do you know this song?  It's American.  I'll teach you," can go a long way.

Never So Excited for a Big Mac

The next morning, I broke from the group to again test my survival skills.  I decided to set out by myself in search for some good souvenir shopping places.  A guide book gave me the name of a couple places that sounded promising, so I started off there.  Other than momentarily losing myself down a back street with a bunch of fan vendors, I got around pretty well and found a few neat things to buy.  Plus, I rekindled my relationship with McDonald's, and it was glorious.  That afternoon, I met back with the group at the bus station and headed to Jeonju.  After comparing stories about what everyone did, I realized that 28 hours is not enough time to even scratch the surface of Seoul.  With ten million people, every street and alley has a different story to tell and a new sight to see.  There is nowhere quite like Seoul.





Crazy Korean Discoveries:

1. Stairs are not a standard height, even within one flight.  Don't be fooled - the top stair may be 50% taller than the rest just to trip you up.
2. Taxi drivers are their own kind of crazy.  They will throw their automatic cars into neutral while driving.  This is not limited to stop lights or stop signs, either.  If they are going down a hill and are just feelin' it, that car is going into neutral.

The Anchovy Hotel

This week, Korean clicked.  I finally began to understand how to conjugate verbs thanks to my awesome tutor Chae Woo and many cups of Cafe Americano.  Let me tell you, being able to do more than just say "noun" plus "yes" or "no" was a big deal.  When I came home and was able to ask Aunt Kim what she was doing tomorrow, she about fell out.  Granted, I couldn't understand her response, but baby steps, right?

This was a three-day week of classes, and on Thursday, the CLS group headed out on a cultural excursion to the southern coast of Korea on the East China Sea.  I was really excited to get out of Jeonju for a bit and do some exploring rather than sitting cooped up studying the language all week.  The bus pulled out at 8:30 on Thursday morning, and we were off to Tongyeong (map).  The bus ride itself was incredible as we drove into deep green valleys, right into the heart of giant mountain tunnels, and over miles and miles of rice patty fields.  We arrived within a couple hours and visited a traditional Korean military pavilion from the 17th century that was used to house guests and host lavish parties for Korea's military elite.  We didn't find any leftover soju, so we went on our way.

We toured a couple literature houses which are basically house-sized buildings that act as memorials to Korea's treasured artists.  We also toured a fishery museum and walked through an outdoor modern sculpture park which was every bit as strange but twice as risque as UAB's exhibits.  When we finished there, it was time to check into the much-anticipated Anchovy Hotel.  With a name like that, I was expecting a Korean version of Motel 8.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  The hotel was incredible with huge rooms and comfortable beds.  The shower even had a curtain and shower head which, I'm sure you know by now, is a big deal.  My only reservation about the hotel was its food.  I was slightly alarmed when I went to dinner and breakfast the following morning and had, you guessed it, anchovies.  Though the taste was rather disconcerting, there was something about eating anchovies at a place called The Anchovy Hotel that was oddly satisfying.  The view at the hotel was incredible, overlooking an off-the-beaten-path fishing town, and definitely made up for the distinct lack of night life in the town where I believe the average age was somewhere around 70.

The following day, we headed out for a day at the sea.  First, we visited an old POW camp at Geoje.  It was set up as a memorial to the South Korean camp for enemies during the Korean War and emphasized the good treatment of its prisoners while demonizing the North.  Though the whole place was wrought with propaganda (I somehow doubt that the Communist prisoners spontaneously decided to put on a musical for the cultural betterment of themselves and the camp as a whole), it was a really interesting experience.  You could get lost in thought walking through the lines of tents with Cold-War era nationalistic music blasting through the speakers and forget entirely when you were.  Walking around the mock POW camp and listening to the stories of war and imprisonment really caused us to reassess our own worldviews (how important was it really that we couldn't find a suitable karaoke joint the night before???).

After a tour of a major ship-building plant called DSME, we finally set off for the South Sea.  After driving through secluded hanok villages and coastal enclaves, we stopped at the most beautiful place in the world.  Jutting into the sea next to a smooth rock beach was a rock cliff peninsula overlooking mountains softly protruding from the foggy water.  It was an incredibly spiritual place and carried a power all its own.  Though it sounds crazy, the scene seemed to tell of the age of the nation itself and emote a sense of eternity.

Note - Not my picture.  Taken from Yuri.

Despite a rather intense morning of inner reflection, we were ready to hit the beach!!  None of us seemed to care that the water was freezing or teeming with jellies and instead dove right in.  After all, how many chances do you get to swim in the Korean Straight??  After capturing a couple jellies, building a sand castle, and walking around another ridiculously quaint village, we headed to dinner.  At some point over the past several days, I discovered that Korean food isn't quite my thing and hence didn't eat much on the trip.  I think the discovery was made when I mistakenly ate an obnoxiously hot pepper that was just meant as a soup flavoring and not to eat.  I honestly thought I was going to die.  This night, however, we had what I can best describe as thick cut bacon fried at the table with 25 side dishes.  It was incredible.  I probably took about three years off my life from all the arteries that are clogging as we speak, but it was worth it.  I was hungry.

We returned to the Anchovy Hotel and decided to give Tongyeong night life one more go.  There wasn't anything going on within walking distance (how much karaoke can you take?!), so we settled for going to a restaurant for some late night snacks.  When we got the menu, we sounded out the Korean characters and realized that we had entered Uncle Tom's Cabin - The Restaurant.  I'm not quite sure what the owners were going for with the name, but the food was pretty good...




We awoke the next morning and packed our bags to head back home.  I reluctantly went down to breakfast, wondering how I was going to choke down anchovy stew, and carrying a pack of Korean-version Oreos as backup.  The elevator doors opened, the clouds parted, and choir of angels began to sing.  It was an American breakfast bar.  I'm pretty sure I ate 4,000 calories that morning of eggs, toast, fruit, french fries, Frosted Flakes, and OJ.  I have never in my life been that excited for breakfast.  We loaded the bus and headed back for Jeonju, taking a two-hour side trip to a butterfly house and museum which was literally 90 miles from the nearest grocery store.  I have no idea how we ended up there, but the butterflies were cool.  We got back home on Saturday afternoon just in time for monsoon season to start.  I feel like I am living the line in Forest Gump when he is in Vietnam and says "One day it started raining..."  I don't think it's going to quit for the next several weeks.  At this point, everyone in the group stopped making fun of me for paying for extra baggage when they realized that I have a giant rain jacket and full-sized steel-toed galoshes.  I am so ready for this.


Crazy Korean Discoveries of the Week:

1. I found a traditional Korean toilet in a back alley.  This is one of those times when only a picture will do (see right).

2. I don't know why so many of my Crazy Korean Discoveries center around the bathroom, but here's another.  Many toilets operate on a BYOP (bring your own paper) system where only a bidet is used, so I decided that I needed to learn how to use one.  They say the best way of learning is doing, and of course the Anchovy Hotel had bidets in every room (would a place like the Anchovy Hotel be complete without crazy toilets and night-club style lighting in the hallways??).  So on night two, I sat down and gave it a whirl.  There is no way to describe that experience that is appropriate for public.  Let it suffice to say that I have never felt cleaner.

Jeonju Nightlife

Koreans really enjoy their weekends and definitely know how to have a good time.  And after a week of  long and difficult classes, I was ready to let loose for a bit.  Fortunately, everyone else had the same idea.

Friday is cultural exploration day; so after class ended at 3:30, we went with our class to whatever event our teacher has planned.  Our class theme is traditional Korean culture, so we took at taxi over to Hanok Village which I would describe as the ancient Asian version of Bridge Street with lots of shops and restaurants.  There are also a few mini-museums and areas to make crafts and such.  We went to a fan-making workshop and came out with some really cool souvenirs.  Afterward, we went to a restaurant and had some of the best Asian dumplings I've ever had.  Our TA, Yeom Shin Young Sanseng Neme kept having to save me from on-coming traffic and ended up guiding me around by my backpack strap calling me "Baby Jacob Jacob."  The name was later expanded to "Preppy Baby Jacob Jacob" due to my clothing and changed later again to "Baby JJ" for ease of use.  I was dragged through many clothing stores that evening...

Afterward, Yuri, one of my friends from CLS, invited us to a church event at a Catholic church in the area.  Seeing as it was Friday night, I was a little hesitant to go to church over exploring what the city had to offer, but the teacher, TA, Chris, and I decided to go anyway.  I'm not sure "church event" is the right word to describe the scene.  I think "Korean Oktoberfest" is a much more accurate description.  Needless to say, there was some awesome food and music and some crazy people to watch.  We left around 10:30, and about a dozen of us decided to go to a nore-bang (literally song room).  Norebangs are basically karaoke bars, but each group is given a separate room with a TV and stereo system.  The rooms have flashing lights and obnoxiously loud speakers and just about every song (Korean and American) you can think of.  Despite all the options, something inside me said "Sweet Home Alabama," and it had to be done.  With my teacher dancing along with all of us as I sang that song, I find it really hard to concentrate on anything in class now...

I wanted to test out my language skills, so I decided to head out 45 minutes before my midnight curfew to see about finding my way home by myself.  Bad idea.  I walked out of the building onto a back alley and realized that there were no taxis in sight.  So there I was, on a back alley in the middle of Korea with no language skill and really no idea where I was in relation to the apartment.  It was adventure time!  I wandered around for a few minutes looking for a big road (and hence a taxi) and finally found the road about 5 blocks away.  I hailed a cab, got in, and told him the name of my apartment complex.  Unfortunately, my accent is really bad, so he didn't understand.  I thought for a moment and realized that I had forgotten to send a postcard earlier that day which had my address written in Korean on it.  Perfect - he knew exactly where that was.  But, he didn't want to take me there and started rattling off Korean and made me get out of the car.  I was really confused at this point but just decided to keep walking.  After a couple minutes of mulling over the situation, I looked around and saw the church we had been to earlier!  It was a sign from heaven.  I realized that the taxi had been going the opposite direction of my apartment, and I should get a cab from the other side of the street.  So, I crossed the street, hailed a cab, showed him my postcard, and got home for $3.90 and 20 minutes early.  Weekend night one - success!

I spent most of Saturday studying for my test on Monday.  That evening, I had made plans to meet up with a few people from CLS and some new Korean friends for dinner and a night of karaoke.  We went to a restaurant near the university and had squid and kimchi night.  There was squid pancake, squid kimchi pancake, squid stew, kimchi stew, and on and on.  Not my favorite dinner ever....  Afterward, our Korean friends took us to a norebang.  Walking around, I thought, "hmmm this looks familiar."  Lo and behold, we ended up on the same streets I had been wandering around the night before!  It was an awesome night of singing and dancing.  I learned some Korean songs, and we taught them some classic 80s rock.  Afterward, they showed us where the taxis pick up people in that area.  Turns out, it was about a block away from the building.  That knowledge could have saved me a lot of confusion the night before...

When I woke up the next morning, there were two random people sitting in the living room, and I really still have no idea who they were.  We had a really nice breakfast with them though, and they seemed nice.  I couldn't understand what they were saying, and I haven't learned the phrase "Who are you and why are you sleeping in the room next to me?" yet, so I really can't be sure about what was going on.  After breakfast, Uncle Joe and Aunt Kim (really hope Americanizing the names doesn't offend) took the youngest brother, Aunt Kim's sister, and me to a festival at the university.  None of the group speaks English, so I was on my phone's dictionary constantly looking for translations or communicating with hand signs.  Therefore, I didn't discover until later that day that it was in fact the Lotus Festival.  I also learned that evening when talking to host sister that the finger wrap I got there was a semi-permanent stain meant to ward off ghosts and that the stain won't come off "until the first snow" which was pinpointed to November 30 or December 1st.  I have since had the following conversation with two completely unrelated Koreans:

Me: "So I got this finger stain at Lotus Festival.  When will it come off?"

Korean: "At the first snow." (no hesitation)

Me: "The first snow?  Like when is that?"

Korean: "Hmmm.. [pause to think]  I would say November 30.  Or maybe December 1."

Mind = blown.  They really know their meteorology.  Host sister also told me that the first snow would bring my first love.  So watch out November 30th!  (or possibly December 1st...)

We got in the car, and I realized that we were not heading toward the apartment.  Due to my confused looks, Uncle Joe said, "world's largest sea wall.  33 km.  We go now."  I love this family - they are so spontaneous!!  After an hour or so (it is actually 70 km away; the seawall itself is 33 km), we ended up at Saemangeum Seawall on the west coast of Korea.  It was like a scene from a movie with foggy water on either side, ships coming into harbor, and green mountains protruding from the water in the distance.  At the end of the seawall was a fishing village somewhere around Buan.  It was low tide, and people were digging for clams in the exposed seabed to carry back to the village to sell and ship away.  We stopped at a roadside seafood joint to eat clam stew (incredibly similar to clam chowder), with clams fresh from a mile away.  It was unreal to be in a place where so few non-Koreans ever venture and was somewhere I would have never gone without a guide like the host family.  On the way back, Uncle Joe got really tired, so we ended up pulling over to the side of the road where I thought we were going to change drivers, but we ended up leaving Uncle Joe on the side of the road and drove off.  I honestly have no idea what happened to him; all I know is that I didn't see him for five hours.  

Crazy Korean Discoveries:

1. Students going out with teachers on Friday nights is completely normal.  They aren't there to judge you; they are there to party.  And yes, they will reference your karaoke abilities during class on Monday.

2. I know I've said it before, but Korean rest areas are just in a class of their own.  The last one I went to had a huge monument of DC proportion, a hiking trail, a restaurant, and a convenience store.   

3. Many public restrooms have a bring your own toilet paper policy.  It's that horrible moment when you realize this that... nevermind...

Total Immersion

After a day of orientation filled with safety, medical, and language briefings, it was time to meet the host family. It was set up like a reality TV show. In groups of six, we left the room and went into the hallway where our host families were waiting. We were matched by the teacher (san-seng-neme) and awkwardly shook hands and said "annyong-ha-sayoh." Unfortunately, this was about the end of my Korean vocab except for ten phrases I had scrolled out on a few note cards I had written on the plane ride. So there I was on the side of the road with 90 pounds of luggage, 10 Korean phrases, and 0 idea what was happening.

My host parents, Jo Hyung Il and Kim Jung Ran, saw the flash cards and gave a laugh and sigh as we got into the van and drove off campus into the city.  After a few minutes of awkward silence, I said, "Do you speak English?" to which Jo Hyung Il said, "little" in a strong Korean accent.  I asked what their names were but could not repeat them (I'm a visual learner).  Jo Hyung Il started writing their names down as well as the names of their three kids, a girl who is in middle school, a son in upper elementary, and a son in primary.  Driving through a foreign city of 700,000, of which there were only maybe 50 Americans, I realized that this was going to be quite an interesting summer.

When we got to their house, Jo Hyung Il took me around and showed me my room, bathroom, etc. and instructed me on where to put things.  I unpacked for a bit and was quite uncertain what to do.  After awkwardly staying in my room for a few minutes, pondering an escape, I decided that the best thing to do was to take my flashcards into the living room where they were and start to study.  And that is where the 5th floor apartment in the middle of Korea turned into a home away from home.  They were all incredibly friendly and helpful and wanted very much to help me learn.  When the daughter (dang seng) got home, I learned that she speaks English very well, and we became good friends.

Jo Hyung Il told me to call him Sam-Jone (Korean for uncle), so I have begun calling him Uncle Jo in my head.  He took the bus with me to school the next morning and walked me to my building to make sure I knew my way.  School was from 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM that day - a full nine hours of intensive Korean language, grammar, vocab, etc.  I was paired with five others from the group of 32.  The six of us are a class for the rest of the summer, and we do everything together with Sanseng Neme - eat lunch, go to class, and have breaks.  Fortunately, I have a great class, and we all get along really well.  The first day was really rough, though.  First off, we didn't see much of the group, many of whom we had become close to.  Also, it was extremely disorienting being surrounded by so much Korean.  Our teacher doesn't speak English, so everything we do must be in Korean.  If we don't know a word, we look it up.  If we don't understand, she acts it out.  Grammar points are especially difficult to grasp, but we manage.  Sanseng Neme is really nice, and we all love her despite her giving us 75 vocab terms to learn on day one and an additional 100 on day two.  I hope this isn't an exponential growth...

Day two was much better after adapting to the environment and getting a few words and phrases to work with on a day-to-day basis.  We had our first class of traditional music and dance which was a lot of fun.  The teacher is hilarious and spent the first half of class doing introductions - a tricky thing to do with a group of beginners.  It really surprised me, however, when I said, "Annyong hasayoh.  Chow nun Jacob imnidah.  Chow nun migug saram imnida.  Chow nun Alabama eso wassayoh."  I guess that's what happens when you're in full immersion - you're forced to learn the language very quickly.  After classes ended at 3:30, half of the group of 32 ended up invading the coffee shop a block from campus where we did homework for a couple hours and chatted.  Although it feels kind of like high school again, it is a really great group, and it was energizing to get to see them all and realize that there are more than five Americans in the whole town to talk to.

I took the bus back home around 5:30 to study more with the host family who are extremely helpful and nice.  I got a bit stir crazy after a couple hours and went for a run around the city.  I definitely got more than one stare as the only white person running frantically down the sidewalk at night.  Ah well, I'm getting used to it by now.  I was initially worried about the language pledge not to speak English after two weeks, but I know that it will be no problem.  This program is seriously incredible.

Things that are strange in Korea:

1. You don't drink water with your meal.  There are water stations by the door in cafeterias and restaurants where you shoot a glass of water on your way out.
2. I have seen more than one urinal filled with ice.  I don't even have a guess on that one.
3. THE FAN DEATH!  It is believed that if you have a fan on in the room while you sleep, you will die by asphyxiation.  The idea is that the fan will create a vortex in the room and suck out all of the oxygen.  It's not a passing superstition; people are totally serious about this one.  My fan has a timer and won't stay on for more than 15 minutes at a time.  So I go to sleep nice and cool but wake up sweaty.
4. There are no shower curtains, but there are showers.  This causes the floor to be perpetually wet.  To combat this, they have installed drains on the bathroom floors and have bathroom sandals at the door that are to be worn in the bathroom only.  I feel like a shower curtain would be a cheaper and less difficult solution, but who am I to question?

Hey Y'all

I met up with some of the CLS program participants at baggage claim when I landed at Dulles airport on Thursday.  That place is massive.  I had to take an underground tram two stops just to find my way out of the building to where my friends were waiting.  I was very excited that it was a planes, trains, and automobiles trip!  It was about the time that my bags came around on the carousel and the other program participants stared at me that I realized I had over-packed majorly.  Most people have one large carry-on weighing about 45 pounds, a backpack, and a small suitcase for carry on.  I had all of that plus another 45-pound bag.  I’m blaming the shoes.

We rode the 5A metro bus into the city and were dropped off near L’Enfant Plaza, which, as we soon found out, was not directly next to the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel.  We ended up dragging our bags off the city bus, down five DC city blocks (infinitely larger than your standard city block), into a tunnel, through a parking deck, into a back closet where there happened to be an elevator, and finally through the elevator doors into the lobby of the hotel. 

The rest of the day was spent exploring the city before a brief orientation and check-in that evening.  We had to stand and introduce ourselves, and not even thinking, I stood up and said, “Hey y’all,” at which point everyone started laughing.  I told Jessica Ly that “y’all” would make me endearing, and I was right!  I am now known as “That Guy from Alabama” or “Jacob from Alabama” or simply “Roll Tide.”  For dinner, a few of us headed to Chinatown for soup and sushi at Wok and Roll where they played country music which was a bit random.  I decided not to continue my Southern act too much, and refrained from singing along to Rascal Flatts.  Afterward, we walked around the National Mall and hung out around the WWII Memorial before heading back to the hotel around 11:30. 

On Friday, we spent a full ten hours in orientation programming in the same meeting room of the hotel.  It was absolutely exhausting.  For dinner, we went to the Dupont area for Malaysian food, wondering why we were eating rice for our last meal in America.  That was poor planning…  We had some free time that evening to walk around Dupont, bus back to the hotel, and walk around the monuments some more.  Almost all of us had been to DC before, but it was still a really fun way to meet everyone – just cruising around DC.  Though some people stayed up all night, I decided that I would not have a good humor if I didn’t at least get a couple hours of sleep and decided to head to bed at 11. 

I got up Saturday morning at 1:30 AM for our 2:30 checkout, 3:00 bus, at 6:00 flight from Dulles.  By the time we got on the plane, everyone was exhausted, even those of us who had gotten at least a couple hours of sleep the night before, and we all slept most of the cross-country flight to San Francisco.  We had a two-hour layover at SFO before embarking on the 11-hour flight to Seoul.  Economy was a rather horrible experience with zero leg room and barely-edible dog food.  There were of course a few strange characters to keep us entertained. 

We arrived in Inchon-Seoul airport at 3PM on Sunday and immediately took a four-hour bus ride to Jeonju.  It was an interesting trip since we got to stop at a couple of rest areas.  Koreans love their rest stops.  They are not like interstate rest areas in the US which may have a vending machine or two if you’re lucky.  They have souvenir shops, multiple food options, live music, clean bathrooms, and tons of people.  It honestly feels like some kind of carnival event.  The farther we got from Seoul, the fewer foreigners we saw.  When we got to Jeonju, we got stares and waves from the Koreans who rarely see Americans. 

We checked into the hotel, had a brief orientation in which we got our Korean cell phones, and then went out on the town.  It was a pretty chill evening.  We walked around part of the city that night, eating and seeing what was up.  Jeonju is a very homogenous place, and we did not encounter a single non-Korean besides us.  This will definitely be a full immersion!  Some interesting things we did learn:

1. If a barber shop is open at midnight, let’s just say it doesn’t pay the bills cutting hair.
2.  Dogs may be butchered in apartments for dog stew at random hours of the night.
3.  Korean drivers stop for no one.

This week, we will have a one-day orientation at the university, move in with our host families, and then begin our intensive Korean immersion program.  After today – I have two weeks to learn enough of the language to get by without the use of English.  Challenge accepted.




I'll post pictures later when I have faster internet!