Tourist info: make a left at the next crosswalk

Current mood: somber ( as a result of Tony's heavy pours of house red wine) , current interest: people who wear socks with sandals.

I once said that " I would hate to be a Korean mother on sock laundry day", and I meant it. I know that I had an issue with people who wore socks with sandals before ...and then I moved to Korea. One thing that I have noticed here is that people not only wear socks with their sandals, but they also wear them with their dresses, skirts, tuxedo's, and their birthday suits.

As you can imagine, "flip-flops" are not popular here. For many reason's, I assume, but one that I know for sure is that you can't wear socks with them. As you can also imagine ( or maybe you can't) socks are extremely cheap here as well. In fact, socks can be found on every corner, of every street, in every GU ( Korean neighborhood). There have been several times that I have left work; on my way to the gym ad thought " oh no, I forgot my socks!". Well not to worry because all that l I had to do was turn around to find various socks of all shapes, and colors ( notice I didn't say sizes), for a mere 25 cents. Also, with the amount of elderly Koreans working out in the streets, sidewalks and local parks ( at all hours of the day) and a bag full of cheap socks, I am hardly left with few excuses not to go.

This leads me to "indoor sock use". Once inside any public Korean facility you must have shoes on your feet, unless you walk into a private area. With in this area you must take off your shoes. For some this means bare feet but in Korea it is the ultimate offense. Even when the blistering Seoul sun is beating down on your back, you are expected to keep your sinful feet covered at all times. The main concern is when the bare feet touch the floor. Oh they hate it! The looks that I receive as I take off my sandals and then walk to the Korean table to dine with my friends is priceless!. With each sound that the pitter patter of my scandalously naked feet make on the wooden Korean floor;I can feel their eyes piercing into my ankles. I can see their faces making a grotesquely concerned look as I linger, standing, and wait a long time to sit with my legs crossed and remove my shameful feet from their wooden shrine.

One place where I thought for sure I was safe was the ladies locker room at the gym. You wear street shoes to the gym entry way,then remove them to step on the private gym floor ( with socked feet of course) . You may,however, wear a "slipper" which is the Korean version of the ADIDAS sport sandal' if there is no sock with in reaching distance. These sandals are usually available at most places for those whom are inconsiderate to leave their socks at home. You then walk to your locker and take our your gym sneakers. These shoes must never touch the public or "street" floor".

After working out you then remove your gym shoes in front of the locker room. Once inside the locker room ( of course everyone is wearing socks because sock and sneakers are the perfect couple) you then begin to undress and prepare for a shower. Now forget what you are thinking boys, this shower scene is something out of "Carrie" circa 1974 minus the menstruation and plus on the " untamed private territories" side.

All of the ladies take 2 towels at the front desk; one to dry their bodies with post shower, and one to place under your feet for your journey to the shower and away from the shower. This process consists of the ladies dropping their drawers, placing the towel under their feet and scooting , naked, all the way to the shower on their towel, one precious motion at a time.
This process is ,of course, repeated after showering has commenced. One scoots from the shower to their locker on said towel; careful not to touch their naked feet to the floor.

This conversation came up with a friend of mine while I was visiting her who has lived in Indonesia for 16 years,. Her Korean friend noticed that she wasn't wearing any socks and shouted " Oh, please, your feet! You will not be able to have children if you bare feet touch the cold floor!" To which my friend replied " I have already had children, I don't plan to have any more."
This would seem to solve the problem of the naked foot phobia in Korea. But then her friend fired back, "well then you will have bad menstrual cramps."

All I can think now is ...what happens to the men.

English Teachers Gone Wild

So here we are...2 terms under my belt and 6 and a half months of living in Seoul. Thus far I have encountered :Numerous calls to immigration concerning one shitty boss, the great plague of 2008, one apartment change, one week of " dreaded" Yellow Dust from China, various weekend trips around the land of the morning calm,one stock market crash( heard around the world),
the ( yet still continuing) plunge of the South Korean Won, Barak-me Omadeus, one week in Thailand,a near death hiking experience, and of course various fundraising/volunteer activities.

All of this would NOT be complete ,however, with out the weekends spent in Seoul with my "Seoul Mates". I once made a comment to someone whom seemed to be looking for more excitement in their lives that " English teachers are the best to party with". Generally when you think of school teachers, they are the kind ,quiet type. They wear mismatched shoes and they reek of moth balls. Well not here in Korea. We come from all over the world in search of spreading the good word of English. Once our good duties in front of the white board have commenced we reconvene in various areas of the city. We do things like bowling:

We go shopping, we go hiking, we meet for drinks, we have dinner, and of course we teach.

The best part about all of this is that once in a while some of us are awarded....Holidays! During these precious times we are permitted to leave the country and take very short plane rides to some of the most beautiful places in the world. Most recently I had the opportunity to visit Thailand. A majority of my time was spent on Phi Phi island. Phi Phi is located on the West coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. One week here and you will be plagued with sleepless nights filled with dreams about going back and never leaving. I also at one point considered quitting my job and going back there to live incognito as a taxi boat driver, but that is another story. One of the best parts of the island was the low tide at 5 am that permitted us to walk home to our private beach along the sea floor. I met amazing people from all corners of the world and made new friends. I saw beautiful things, disturbing things, and laughed until I cried. All in all it is pretty safe to say that Thailand is a magical place and I will be returning soon. Hopefully my trip in July to Bali, Indonesia will prove to be equally exciting.

Sometimes when the weather is cold and there isn't much to do, we visit ancient palaces throughout the city. These places are much much older than their surrounding architecture and have survived the growth of the city and the 25 million people that have surrounded it. They stand tall and beautiful with the modern horizon falling just behind;quite an interesting contrast.

We also host fundraisers to collect used clothing for North Korean refugees.



And of course at the end of the day, like creatures out of their natural habitat tend to do, we make friends.



As of recently I have been introduced to a small little taste of home just north of Seoul. An army base called Camp Casey that holds American stores ( including Taco Bell), American movie theaters,and my personal favorite American soldiers. These new experiences have only added to my intrigue of this foreign country . I cant wait to continue to learn more about what it is like to see it through the eyes of someone who isn't here by choice; but still loves it as much as I do.

With all of these things to consider about my life here in Seoul ( as well as the current state of the US economy); one might think; " Why should I go back anytime soon?" As more and more time passes the life that I left behind seems so far away, and my promise to my friends and family to return after one year also seems like it was made years ago. I went from working an 8 to 5 job in my hometown, comfortably enjoying a life of happy hours and gallery crawls ;wondering if this was how I would spend the rest of my life. Now I have a menagerie of options. I can stay as long as a I like in a welcoming country where I will always be respectfully accommodated as a teacher, or take a few months off and travel various parts of Asia and the surrounding world. Maybe I will move on to another country where my experiences here in Korea will make me a desired candidate for a position within their borders. Sometimes ,though, we meet people during our travels that make us want to stand still for just a little longer, and enjoy the time in their company. The people that you are lucky enough to get close to while being so far from home, essentially replace your family and friends that you once were close to, and you will remember them forever. It has been brought to my attention that I fear things that move in full circles and prefer to keep moving in indefinite straight lines. Maybe it is time for this late 20 something to commit to one more year in Korea and plant my feet in a definite position towards the future. Maybe I will just be comfortable and content with the decisions that I have made; not always seeking the greener grass on the other side.

"Knowing what you've got, knowing what you need, knowing what you can do without-thats inventory control"

"Kimchi saved Korea from the avian bird flu"

There are a few things that I am quite fond of.One of them is to put sugar( preferable brown or natural cane) on the top of my cappuccino when it is freshly made.What occurs next is a simple act of science, in which the sugar melts and forms a creme brulee style layer of caramelized goodness on top of the velvety foam.With the spoon I then remove one small section of the foam , ingest, and then proceed to drink the espresso and milk that live below through the small foam less section.
A pleasure such as this is expecially enjoyed after an over priced, tiny meal of lamb curry, garlic naan, and basmati rice. After I decided to splurge on the mango lassi( because you HAVE to have the mango lassi) the grand total was 27,000 won
( about $25). When I think about all of the cheap Indian food that I have consumed back in the US, and I then consider my current geographic location in reference to India I become even more disturbed by this. My biggest shock, more so than the price, was when an Indian waiter explained to me " no,the curry does not come with basmati rice, you must purchase it separately."
I have to wonder how this man can sleep at night, knowing that he does not serve his dishes with rice but rather makes his patrons pay extra. All that I can think is " what the hell am I going to do with a crock of lamb curry and no rice?" Well the one place in the world where he could get away with it, would be Korea. So who am I to take that away from him.

This got me thinking about all of the bragging that I did to my girlfriends just before leaving. I would taunt Jess over sushi at The Fish Market about all of the cheap raw fish I would be eating once arriving in Korea. I said I would have it for every meal for dollars a day. I couldn't wait to get cheap manicures and massages. Instead what I have found is that if it isn't Korean, its expensive. Pad Thai is considered a special "foreigner food" that can only be found in the foreigner friendly section of Seoul(costing at around $12). Sushi, while more commonly found throughout the city is still only slightly cheaper than Pittsburgh(about $10 for a lunch bento box).While traditional Korean food, found every 3 feet,can be purchased for around $2-$5 or larger "family style BBQ" portions for around $10.

So when my friend Keyonna said that she was coming to Korea for 3 weeks and wanted to know what kind of spending money to bring I said " well you can survive here on $4 a day if you play your cards right." Which you can, but get a craving for something different, anything different and you will pay for it. Keyonna then told me about the brief article that she had read in which a Korean man living in Seoul was asked about what kind food he liked to eat and he said " um..I am Korean, I eat Korean food."

I have been sick since the 1st of December so I have been staying in on my time off and reading, a lot. Once of the books that I recently read was about the Korean War. One thing that I found most fascinating was that when the line was drawn and the North was separated from the South there was more than just a difference in common interests that were forced apart. When they were one peninsula, North Korea was used for industry while South Korea was used for agriculture.So when the line was drawn, the South was left with a few pitchforks and a post war mess to clean up. Now for those of you who are thinking " yeah sure sounds typical of every countries historical rise to the top", It's important to keep in mind that this was in 1953.A time when American housewives were baking pies in their new Whirlpool ovens, and kids where watching "Leave it to Beaver" after school.

What followed next was a series of government/military coups, and then finally some help from friends. It wasn't until the late 70's early 80's that South Korea was finally able to industrially support themselves. Glancing at the entrances to many a store front in Seoul you will see " since 1992", "Since 1995", or maybe an occasional " since 1987). South Korea was able to pay back its borrowed monies ten years before the due date in 2000, and Seoul is now one of the most expensive cities to live in; in the world. The Chonggechon river near city hall.

Seoul is a beautiful place, full of surprises. It is a large and fast paced city that makes you earn its respect- not unlike NYC. Although I haven't quite gotten used to the "old Korea" meets "new Korea" clashes that I have run into here.
Picture yourself shopping in Gangnam( the posh fashion district in Seoul). Gangnam is full of designer stores, designer restaurants, and designer clubs.

You go into the "well known" designer store and after picking up a few items ask to use the restroom before trying anything on. "No problem" the retail rep responds
" just make a left outside the front door, and other left into the alley.You can use the public restroom available there. The public restroom turns out to be a squatter toilet.

This one is friendly compared to some that I have experienced.
The smell is unbearable, there is no toilet paper, and no where to hang your coat. Not to worry though! The store will hold your merchandise for you until you return.After all, they are Calvin Klein!