..... shall we? The past month and a half has been a lot of fun! I am always busy and I don't mind that at all. Life here is so much different (for me) compared to when I was living in New York. I will try to explain.
At home, I would shop at the same stores and could find clothes anywhere. In Korea, it is VERY hard to find any plus sized clothing. Even in Itaewon (also known as the foreign Mecca of Korea), it is a challenge. Take for instance, my trying to find a Halloween costume. I decided to be a Native American for Halloween because I figured the clothes needed for such a costume would be relatively easy to come by, even for me. A simple tunic and cute brown boots, feathers, and some adorable makeup and accessories were all I really needed. I had leggings already. A brown tunic nearly drove me insane one day though. I spent nearly 2 hours going into every "big size" store in Itaewon. Eventually I found one, but it was a painful experience. The boots took 2 more trips to Itaewon before I finally settled on a pair I saw the first time out. Feathers seemed as though they would be easy to find. Koreans love ridiculous head pieces so I ended up finding a feather pom pom pin. I cut off a few of the feathers and glued them onto some leather string. My Halloween costume eventually came together, but overall the experience made me realize I am going to have to order in my clothes if I want to have new things. There is one amazing store that even has pants in my size, but the hassle doesn't seem worth it. And they don't even have jeans in my size.... Just slacks.
Regardless, Itaewon is a fun place to go on the weekends. I have been three times now. People from all over the world live there, but especially Americans because there is a base nearby. I have been to bars, tried to salsa and two-step, danced with a few strangers, eaten Irish breakfasts, gross burgers, and delicious kebabs. I even spent some quality time in a country bar, the Grand Ole Opry. Itaewon has yet to disappoint me! Another fun, although overly crowded place, is Myeongdong. This is a fairly upscale place with a lot of street vendors. I bought all sorts of accessories there. Hae Bang Chae is another area with a heavy foreigner population. It is right next to Itaewon. I was there for a little while one night and could not believe how many foreigners there were. I heard more English there than I have anywhere else in Korea. It was a little bit of culture shock all over again!
Ilsan has remained a fairly fun place to live, although from what I hear, it is no Seoul. The night life isn't always hopping, but I manage to have a good time. The big sports bar in Ilsan, Into's, had a big party this past weekend. A bunch of us were there, along with a million foreigners we had never even seen before. The drinks were ridiculously cheap and it was a pretty good time. There is also a dance club I have been to a few times now. Usually I don't dance there. It is not my type of bar, but this past weekend I danced shamelessly with a bunch of people. It was a lot of fun and completely unlike me. I can't wait to do it again.
This weekend is Halloween so I will be going to Itaewon and then another town called Hongdae. I haven't been there before, but everyone likes it and I am looking forward to it. Hopefully it will be fun.
In two weekends I am going to the east coast of Korea with a couple friends. We are riding a bus to the coast and then a train down the coast. I can't wait! We will ride an Ocean railbike, which includes laser light shows in the tunnels. This sounds like a lot of fun, except that it has gotten pretty cold now. Regardless, it will be fun to see some of the sights in a completely different part of Korean.
The last thing I will tell you about is my Korean language classes. I started taking a Korean language class nearly 2 weeks ago. The program is 4 weeks long and I am at the beginner level. I am taking it with 3 of my friends. So far we have been learning a lot of vocabulary. That was pretty boring, but now we are beginning conversational things. Yesterday we learned how to say "What is this/that?" and "It is a _____" or "That is a _______." Finally we are putting the vocabulary to work. Once this class is over, I will probably sign up for a second class. In a few months I am hoping to be able to really start experiencing Korea. On top of that, my coworker Justin and I have begun a language exchange. He talks to me about Korea (in English), with my occasional corrections, and he is teaching me more Korean. It's actually fun and it's a good reason to sneak out of the office.
I think I will give you just a few more updates from earlier posts. A while ago, I told you my students gave me a Korean name (Jung So Ra). A friend declared that it didn't flow very well and told me to change it to Eun So Ra. I took his advice once he told me that Eun means silver. Completely appropriate for my rocking last name. I also mentioned several things that were taboo in Korea. Remember this list?
Things not to do in Korea:
1. Blow my nose in public
2. Wear my shoes inside (including some restaurants and all homes/schools, etc...)
3. Expect a closed shower in my 250 square foot apartment
4. Introduce myself
5. Pour myself a drink
6. Eat my noodles first
7. Pass food, accept drinks, or offer gifts with one hand
8. Spear my food with my chopsticks
9. Lay my chopsticks across my plate or bowl
10. Hug, pat someone on the back, or physically touch people
It is much more flexible than I thought. I have seen plenty of people blow their noses (although I would say much less than at home). Most restaurants and my school allow you to wear your shoes inside. I have a fabulous closed shower. When I am with Koreans, they still introduce me, but it's in Korean so I try not to worry. I almost never eat with coworkers, so I always pour my own drinks. No one has said anything about eating noodles first to me, although I would never eat my noodles first because of all the other delicious stuff I could be eating. Passing food, eating, and offering gifts is easy to do with 2 hands. I essentially use 2 hands for everything now. My chopstick mastery has improved greatly, so there isn't a reason for me to spear food, although I have seen Koreans do this and lay their chopsticks wherever they want. I have even seen a lot of physical contact in Korea. Of course, families, couples, and friends are all about the hugging and touching here, but every now and again I am touched by someone and am a little surprised. It's pretty weird I think for a Korean to touch a foreigner.... but it happens more than I expected!
Korea has been wonderful to me so far. I love the adventures I have had and am looking forward to the ones in the future. I will try to update more often, but life is meant to be lived and that is what I am trying to do. Remember, you can always call me on skype or email me. I love to chat and won't mind telling you how my life has been these past 2 months. Pictures of Halloween will be up in a couple of days here and on Facebook! Check them out. I am sure they will be adorable and ridiculous!
No comments:
Post a Comment