drops of dew

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything in my blog. Camp ended today with mixed feelings. I had a great time teaching and learning about the different culture of teaching in Korea. I loved interacting with the lovely kids and learning with them. However, i won’t miss the lack of communication or things added to our plate at the last minute (for instance report cards were brought to us last night at 9 for us to complete for today! Too bad we didn’t get back from the spa till 10:30! Christine is a trooper!) 

A little blog catch up…

Last weekend Christine and I went on a little adventure to a coastal ferry hub, Tong Yeong. We had to get one of the dorm RA’s to call the hotel for us to make reservations. At 25,000 won we thought we were getting a steal, that was until after the hour bus ride and we arrived at our hotel. Well, actually we didn’t arrive there, the taxi driver took us to the general part of town and dropped us off!

There Christine and I were, in an unfamiliar city, with a language we couldn’t read trying to figure out where our hotel was. Using the symbols used to spell our hotel name we looked at signs trying to match the symbols. Alas, no luck and we stopped into a nice hotel to ask for directions. Unfortunately, the clerk hadn’t heard of our hotel so she had to call. Our hotel sent two lovely ladies over to walk us a few blocks and down an alley to our hotel. We paid out $50,000 won for two nights and went to our room….ahem I mean our closet! Yes, we got a steal of a room because it was a closet. Looking back now I think it must have been a “love” motel, if you know what I mean. Christine didn’t want to take her shoes off or place her uncovered body on the bed. Besides being small the place felt dirty. 

We got out of there and found some yummy chicken dinner! 

The next morning after tossing, turning, and trying not to think about bed bugs we ventured our way to the ferry terminal to get tickets to one of the islands. We got out tickets for Bijindo, a beautiful coral beach. Had some time to kill so we wondered into the market and got breakfast. 

Like most of the markets we’ve been to, the sea food is the freshest available and often still alive or kept in tanks. 

A cart outside of the market filled with cardboard. The cutest little old man later came to navigate it. He could barely see over the cart! 

Fishing gear stored on the docks near the market. 

Fish drying on the docks. 

We went back to the ferry terminal and waited at the designated area the lady at the ticket counter told us. After confirming with a man with a microphone directing people, we wait for our ferry.

We watched as ferries came and went from other docks but still waited patiently for ours. After awhile we decided our ferry was late. AT last it came, more people had arrived and the man with the microphone took Christine’s ticket and said something…

In hind sight I believe that the man with the microphone was saying something like this, “If you have this ticket, like the stupid American’s here, well, you’ve missed your ferry. It left a half hour ago! HAHHAAAA!” BUT we couldn’t speak Korean so we tried to give our pink tickets to board the boat but was denied. Everyone else had yellow tickets!

Frustrated, we went back to the ticket counter to change our departure time. Went to get comfort food from a greasy spoon and eventually we caught the next ferry to our destination. 

Unlike the ferries in Seattle, the ferries in Korea have sitting/laying areas, complete with shoe racks (because you have to take your shoes off upon entering homes). 

We made friends with the captain…

he offered only the ‘pretty people coffee’. Most coffee here is instant. Step one fill the little Dixie cup half with hot water. Step two add instant mix, stir and enjoy…

The only vehicles on the island are little 4 wheelers, carts and other small vehicles. 

A few highlights from the island…

add a “S” to the brand of this beer and you have the real name…

We explored the 4 or so windy streets..

Beauty parlor in the street…

My favorite part was wandering the beach, picking up little treasures and putting them in my pockets…

I think this one was a brittle star.

The fisherman and his catch of the day…

Christine and I decided to high tail it back to our “love” hotel room, grab our gear, catch the next bus back to Busan. Two hours later, multiple red lights ran and we were back on familiar ground in our penthouse palace. 

…sounds like a song doesn’t it?! 

There are a few things I’ve failed to mention in my blog: being white, with curves, and NOT wearing high heels; and the Korean kindness.

First of all, every encounter we’ve had with the Korean people has been an overwhelming sense of helpfulness (with one exception, discussed in my next post about our weekend.) The people here go above and beyond to help you. From the taxi driver that made sure his friend knew where to drop us off, to the little lady making gestures and pointing trying to get us to understand, the people here are amazingly helpful and kind. I would love to hug and thank each and every one of them but as I’ve learned hugs are for when there are long goodbyes not everyday interaction. (wow, they are missing out!) I really miss hugs by the way, especially Aeden’s.

So, being white, female and curvy has been very eye opening, not only for myself but for the countless gawkers. Yes, we’ve gotten many of the double takes and the long extended stares but the long stare with the complete 180 turn of the body to watch us walk past (yes, watching our behinds) that takes the cake! It’s very humbling getting that much attention. Men, women and children all watch us walk by. The Korean spa, we let it all hang out and yes we are very different. Being naked with other people you’d think that we are all equal, but alas we still get the heads to turn! On the subway females check out our odd foot wear and chipped toenail polish. I can only imagine their thoughts as being, “What no high heels, and just look at their ugly toes!”

Forget trying to buy clothes at the mall! In the US I don’t see myself as really being over weight or out of the normal range however, when I asked the sales lady at a department store for a ladies large and she shook her head no and made gestures that I was much too big for a large, some how I felt very obese. Actually, it reminded me of Pretty Woman when she goes to Rodeo drive to buy new clothes and they all laugh at her and refuse to sell clothes to her. I felt like Julia Roberts, the lady laughing at me because I was much too large for their Korean clothes but inside I was the one laughing… or was it crying? Anyway, to sum it all up, Korean people are little, I’m talking about a size 1-3 being normal and a 5 being large. I won’t be doing very much clothes shopping here! On a side note I did end up buying a men’s large of the shirt I wanted. I couldn’t resist a purple shirt that said “Kiss the Earth”…

So, tonight I go to sleep thinking that I will kiss the Earth, be happy that I am the size I am and enjoy the heads turning…

As Christine so beautifully said “I wish I could take a picture of a smell…”

The smells here are interesting, from the fish market, the sewer stench, the smell of fried chicken, smog, air conditioning…if only one could take a picture of a smell (but you’d probably not want to smell the fish or the sewer, the sewer almost made me gag.)

So a brief recap of the last few days.

Water slides were without the slides but one. It was more like a few different pools with crowded kids, adults and floats galore! I avoided the small child area like the plague as the brown floaters were a quite the deterrent. The hour bus ride back was the most quiet the kids have ever been…but I wouldn’t know because I was fast asleep along with them. Strange tidbit: everyone is required to wear swim caps. If it comes off while swimming the lifeguards yell at them.

Yesterday, Christine and I traveled on the subway, including a transfer (our first time) to Jagalchi fish market. At one point we had to illegally crawl under the subway turnstile because we didn’t pay the correct fare (a local told us to).

The fish market was unlike anything I had ever smelled yet alone seen. Older women man the market stalls. I’m not sure where all the men were maybe on the fishing boats. The pictures will tell the tale of the market… try and smell it…

Peppers for my momma…

GARLIC!!!!

Fresh fish, abalone, sea cucumbers and mysterious phallic squishy creatures.

Not sure what these are…sea pens?

A plethora of dried fish and the like… can you smell it yet?

Dried skates

I think the bows on their tails make it more difficult to eat these bellas of the sea..

Ursala’s cousins…

Cuttlefish, much more majestic in the water.

Octopus are highly intelligent and have no internal or external skeleton which allow them to squeeze into tight places. Like the squid they also have a hard beak.

These fish we so fresh some were still moving!

No idea what these little guys are…

I love the woman in this photo, she’s still staying beautiful despite the fishy smell. I think these were salted fish.

If I remember right, the last time I ate one of these fish  I cried…    Mackerel are amazingly beautiful fish, with blue, turquoise scales that glimmer and shine.

This lovely woman makes me smile, I really like how beautiful all the ladies in the market stalls were.

Japanese pears the size of regulation size softballs but more fragrantly tasty than the ones my parents grow. 4 pears for 2000 won (approx 2 dollars USD). One pear is a whole meal!

Took a picture of this Korean military jeep for my father but within seconds a man in fatigues approached me and demanded that I delete the photo from my camera. He stood by my side and watched me delete the photo. Little did he know I had taken two pictures!

Don’t be fooled by the movie theater popcorn cups, yes that is squid or some other sea food.

Our first street food experience, gyoza!

Christine then ate takoyak, fried octopus in balls of batter. 

Korea is the shoe shopper paradise! Women pride themselves on their manicured toes and high heeled fashion. There are countless stores selling only shoes,

and closets full of wall to wall clothes for sale.

It started raining and I shortly learned why people use umbrellas and not rain jackets…

When it rains, it pours. Within minutes of it raining I was soaked! My shorts are supposed to be light brown not almost black!

The picture doesn’t do it justice, but water from the street above is cascading in little waterfalls on the way down to the subway.

Moral of the story, buy an umbrella…

Silly Korea find of the day…Who doesn’t have their face on socks???

Last night and today we were met with wicked and wild weather. The wind howled, the rain poured, it was crazy. This morning the kids informed us that it was a typhoon.

Well I was the first. Usually it’s a good thing to be the first: first place in a race, first man on the moon, first born (sorry Erin), but in this case first one on the the trip to do the porcelain yawn is NOT a good thing. Just when I thought I was feeling better. I’m pretty sure it was dinner last night. Poor tummy, I’m really sorry. 

For the Fear Of Missing Something (FOMS) I’m going to tough it out today and go to the water-slides with the kids, extra plastic bag in tow, ginger ale and positive mental attitude and I should be fine! 

Wish me luck! 

We decided to pick up some very much needed breakfast supplies and comfort food at the local E-mart, grocery store/department super store.

To use a cart, 100 won (approximately 10 cents) is needed to unlock the cart.

Through out the store they provide little samples of prepared food, much like Costco. Including samples of wine and beer!!! The sample for today was Asahi, a Japanese beer.

We walked every row to take in the interesting food options. The most exciting option was the individually wrapped sushi! My favorite is the salmon Nigiri (top part of the picture, pink). Yummm….

Lining the way to E-mart are street venders selling the freshest seafood possible. Many of them have tanks where you can pick your octopus, fish or even squid. I could watch squid move for hours. Did you know that squid have a horny beak made out of chitin? Or that the colossal squid (not pictured here) is the largest invertebrate? 

The funniest happening of the evening was stumbling upon this rare gem…I believe it’s called the orangiticus canineicus…very rare indeed!

These photos are amazing~feels like I’m there with you! Thanks for taking us along…

-Billie O

Just a little taste of some fortuitous finds…

A bidet…   :) (I thought of fl!p!) Couldn’t read it so I just pushed buttons! You should have heard the squeals from all three stalls as we all tried it! 

Most Korean’s don’t have dryers but use the heat to dry their clothes. The water is stored on the roof for better water pressure. Most of the roof top plants are red peppers that they use in almost every dish. 

This picture is for you mom… 

This is a melon about the size of a baseball but oblong shaped. The smell reminds me of honeydew but the taste is a combination of cucumber and cantaloupe. 

Where else can you pick up your DVD or CD, eggs and potatoes?! 

I found Fred…

A very old elephant statue for Aeden. 

Most of the cars have foam bumpers on the doors to prevent dings on other cars. 

My favorite cooks a the dorm dining. 

Sidewalks are labeled with street tags (this is what I can conclude by the arrows that correspond to the direction of the streets). 

Did I mention that they label all of the trees. I found a wooded area by the university with all the trees labeled. 

Pigs bring good fortune. One street was lined with happy pigs like this one. With a smile like that how could you not feel fortune and luck heading your way. 

Next time I order pizza hut in the states I’m going to ask for a side of sweet pickles…hopefully they won’t laugh at me!

The mugs Christine and I have been drinking out of. Yes, I do love socks!

You said it Mr. Smokey…don’t even think about it…

I would love to have this bike seat…

Christine is one sexy cookie…

After a long second day (yesterday), DK ordered us pizza! I looked through the options with one of DK’s staff and had to choose between spicy pizza, seafood pizza, pizza with yams, and other strange options. Luckily there was a veggie, chicken pizza!

Pizza comes with sweet pickles. It was actually very tasty.

Still on the food subject, this morning was the best breakfast morning yet! Yesterday I walked to the market and bought yogurt and cereal.

Our kids are slowly opening up. They were very quiet and shy at first but they are opening up and being a little more goofy. They are so cute!

(Daniel and Kevin, Jack making a silly face, they choose English names yesterday.)

(Emily)

Yesterday we ‘taught’ table manners, how to set the table, duck duck goose, the pizza song, you are my sunshine, literacy, red light green light, and more! Today social manners, talking on the phone, literacy, etc…. More to come today!

Breathe. Go with the flow. Breathe. I’ve come to the realization that nothing really goes according to plan. Starting English camp today has been a learning lesson for relying upon others, going with the flow, improvising, and breathing. 

There are two English camps: camp A and camp B. Christine and I are teaching camp A. Rachel is teaching camp B. Although both are English camps the two are completely different. Camp A has paid hefty tuition fees, sleep in the dorms and is all ‘Western’ style of teaching. (No we aren’t wearing cowboy hats and riding horses. It’s modeled after the USA’s style of teaching.) Camp B has paid substantially less tuition, the teachers switch classes much like middle school and the kids leave before lunch. 

I’m not sure how many kids camp B has but we have 15 students and possibly getting one more tomorrow. We are separating them into two groups but plan on doing quite a few activities whole group. I underestimated their ability in speaking and writing English. We are going to asses reading ability tomorrow. 

This is the first time I’ve failed at knowing students names within the first hour of meeting them. I just can’t pronounce the names correctly and is frustrating. We played heads up seven up today but had to point at each other because we couldn’t say the names. Tomorrow the kids are choosing English names, many of them already have them. Korean names are different then English names. The first part of the name is their family name, then a letter and then their given name. So, for instance I would be Dewey E Morgan. This only adds to the confusion when trying to pronounce their names. 

Another interesting tidbit of Korean culture is the way they say their age. They count from the time they are conceived and turn the next age January 1. So being born December 8th 1981, in the USA I am 28 but in Korea I count ahead one year and 9 months. So, 28 plus one year = 29 plus 9 months would make me 30 years old. Yikes! It was so interesting watching these little children say their ages when they are really 2 years younger in the ‘western’ way of counting. One child made a mistake and said he was 37! (They had to say their ages in the opening ceremony.)

I’m feeling exhausted. Pictures to come!

Dear friends and family of Morgan,

I also have a blog tracking the journey me and Morgan are having. Feel free to check it out

http://christinenietering.tumblr.com