Monday, February 23, 2009
One More Thing!
Only 62 days until Byran arrives. I just wanted to let you know that. 62 DAYS!!!! This is a picture of Bryan being sexy in NYC and then a picture of me being sexy in Busan. Soon we will be sexy together!
My Appearance Animated the Party
More and more I am becoming a real person who is not afraid to do things. Wednesday, I took a taxi all by myself for the first time in Korea. I got in, I said “Ssangmun yuk jusayo” (Ssangmun station please) and off we went to Ssangmun. The taxi driver knew a bit of English and felt compelled to speak to me, he told me his daughter had studied English in Toronto and that Korean students know lots of grammar but have trouble speaking. He dropped me up exactly at Ssangmun station, which was not actually where I wanted to go exactly, I leave near the station, not at the station, but when I said further he thought I meant 100 feet. So, out of the taxi, I walked the rest of the way, it was kind of cold an I didn’t have a scarf, but I had thought to bring my mittens, my mittens which totally gross me out with their disgusting fuzzyness. I shall not be sorry to leave the mitten weather behind and I will toss these away as soon as I can. I’ll buy new mittens next fall. (On Friday night I bought new mittens that do not gross me out. They are bright red and still on the string. Most mittens here are on a string.)
Thus concluded my Wednesday night madness for this week. I meet Sarah in her part of the town to catch up on the adventures of Geum Jan Di and Goo Jun Pyo and what heartbreakers these episodes were. My eyes welled up with tears on more than one occasion as Jun Pyo broke Jan Di’s heart and didn’t even bother to hand it back to her, just ground it into the floor. Oh, it was so sad. I assume all will end well, but I don’t like where things are headed, especially with the introduction of a new female, a rich feisty one. This can’t be good. Of course, Goo Jun Pyo still loves Jan Di, but he has to protect her from his mother, the evil bitch.
After watching the heart break, Sarah, Amber (who showed up mid break-up), and I went to a nearby hof for some Kiwi Soju. Despite recognizing the deliciousness of the Chilsung Cider, fresh Kiwi, and Soju combination, I had to decline after the first round. Having had my ass kicked by soju last weekend, I almost vomited upon reacquaintance. My relationship with soju has been tumultuous from the beginning; we are on a break right now. It might be long break this time.
An evening with Amber and Sarah inevitably leads to noraebang, which was the next stop. At dragon noraebang, the room was cold, only the heat lamp and our singing to keep us warm. We paid for an hour but the man in charge tacked on an extra half hour for free. They often do if things are slow. In fact I usually expect an extra half hour I have got one so many times.
The noraebang was gold on the side with claws and talons coming out of the walls. I love Korea. After the noraebang was the taxi adventure.
Saturday we celebrated Ryan’s birthday. Carolyn, his wife, planned a rather elaborate scavenger hunt for him in which we all participated. He received a video clue from Carolyn in the afternoon telling him to go to Itaewon station. There Sally and I pretended we were part of the Twilight plot, Sally as a vampire (teeth and all: see Halloween Seoul Style) and I was her victim. When he walked of the train he saw me reading a book and then Sally attacked me and tried to suck my blood. We used long lasting lipstick to make bite marks on my neck. Unfortunately, the lipstick was actually long lasting and I was unable to get clean it off until I got a hold of some makeup remover. I had bit marks on my next for the rest of the evening. Classy.
We played around bit, talking about books we would like to sink our teeth into until he got the hint that What the Book (and English bookstore in Itaewon) held the next clue. We followed him to What the Book, where Dave and Lisa were dressed up as Scrooge and Tiny Tim, while Feo was dressed up as the ghost of Christmas Present. The next destination was a bar called Scrooges. At Scrooges, Carolyn and Sarah were dressed up as the Wonder Girls with Chris and Mike pretending to be bodyguards. The final destination was the Hard Rock Café, but our reservations weren’t until 8:30 so we all had a drink at Scrooges.
The Hard Rock Café wasn’t that bad actually. I have posted before about my hatred for American restaurants in Korea, cost, quality etc. However, the Hard Rock, not really an expection was better than most. The prices of the drinks were kind of obscene, but the food was bearable and tasty. Out of character, I ordered a cheese burger of all things, that I thoroughly enjoyed and had French fries with HEINZ KETCHUP, about which I was pumped. The ketchup in Korea tastes funny, not bad but not like at home and I don’t really like it. I was so excited about Heinz; I used extra ketchup.
After the hard rock we went to a place called the Bungalow for drinks. It was kind of rad, with private rooms with floor seating and big pillows and tasty chick drinks. I had a Singapore Sling. We headed home after the Bungalow, much to my dismay; I wanted to go dancing at Homo Hill, the only place where there are gay bars in Seoul. I suppose going home was for the best, though. I am ill, congested with a cough. Still, I would have liked to get my dance on. Next weekend looks promising though.
On Sunday morning, some sort of meter reader was walking around my apartment building banging on all the doors really really loudly and shouting at people inside to open their doors. I’m sure if I understood Korean it would have seemed considerably less intimidating, but I get so nervous when people come to my door. I open it and they realize that a waeguk who doesn’t speak any Korea is the only person around, they get nervous, I get nervous, we all start to sweat and shake. It’s no good. I was still in my pajamas, so I quickly threw on a hoodie and put my hair in a ponytail. I went to my utility room and made it a tad more accessible and hid the toilet seat in the corner. I sat at my table pretending to read as the knocking go closer and closer. I was super hot and sweating bullets because I was nervous, but I didn’t dare take off my hoodie. The neighbour to my right was hit first and then the neighbour to my left had his door pounded on, there was some discussion about numbers and then the door closed there was some paper flipping and some exclamations (asissssh) and then he went to fourth floor, skipping my apartment completely. I don’t know what to make of this miracle, if it will just mean someone coming by at a later date or if he knew that a non-Korean speaking person lived in the apartment or what. But I was so relieved, not at first, I was still nervous that he would come back, but once I realized that he was gone gone, I was very relieved.
Thus concluded my Wednesday night madness for this week. I meet Sarah in her part of the town to catch up on the adventures of Geum Jan Di and Goo Jun Pyo and what heartbreakers these episodes were. My eyes welled up with tears on more than one occasion as Jun Pyo broke Jan Di’s heart and didn’t even bother to hand it back to her, just ground it into the floor. Oh, it was so sad. I assume all will end well, but I don’t like where things are headed, especially with the introduction of a new female, a rich feisty one. This can’t be good. Of course, Goo Jun Pyo still loves Jan Di, but he has to protect her from his mother, the evil bitch.
After watching the heart break, Sarah, Amber (who showed up mid break-up), and I went to a nearby hof for some Kiwi Soju. Despite recognizing the deliciousness of the Chilsung Cider, fresh Kiwi, and Soju combination, I had to decline after the first round. Having had my ass kicked by soju last weekend, I almost vomited upon reacquaintance. My relationship with soju has been tumultuous from the beginning; we are on a break right now. It might be long break this time.
An evening with Amber and Sarah inevitably leads to noraebang, which was the next stop. At dragon noraebang, the room was cold, only the heat lamp and our singing to keep us warm. We paid for an hour but the man in charge tacked on an extra half hour for free. They often do if things are slow. In fact I usually expect an extra half hour I have got one so many times.
The noraebang was gold on the side with claws and talons coming out of the walls. I love Korea. After the noraebang was the taxi adventure.
Saturday we celebrated Ryan’s birthday. Carolyn, his wife, planned a rather elaborate scavenger hunt for him in which we all participated. He received a video clue from Carolyn in the afternoon telling him to go to Itaewon station. There Sally and I pretended we were part of the Twilight plot, Sally as a vampire (teeth and all: see Halloween Seoul Style) and I was her victim. When he walked of the train he saw me reading a book and then Sally attacked me and tried to suck my blood. We used long lasting lipstick to make bite marks on my neck. Unfortunately, the lipstick was actually long lasting and I was unable to get clean it off until I got a hold of some makeup remover. I had bit marks on my next for the rest of the evening. Classy.
We played around bit, talking about books we would like to sink our teeth into until he got the hint that What the Book (and English bookstore in Itaewon) held the next clue. We followed him to What the Book, where Dave and Lisa were dressed up as Scrooge and Tiny Tim, while Feo was dressed up as the ghost of Christmas Present. The next destination was a bar called Scrooges. At Scrooges, Carolyn and Sarah were dressed up as the Wonder Girls with Chris and Mike pretending to be bodyguards. The final destination was the Hard Rock Café, but our reservations weren’t until 8:30 so we all had a drink at Scrooges.
The Hard Rock Café wasn’t that bad actually. I have posted before about my hatred for American restaurants in Korea, cost, quality etc. However, the Hard Rock, not really an expection was better than most. The prices of the drinks were kind of obscene, but the food was bearable and tasty. Out of character, I ordered a cheese burger of all things, that I thoroughly enjoyed and had French fries with HEINZ KETCHUP, about which I was pumped. The ketchup in Korea tastes funny, not bad but not like at home and I don’t really like it. I was so excited about Heinz; I used extra ketchup.
After the hard rock we went to a place called the Bungalow for drinks. It was kind of rad, with private rooms with floor seating and big pillows and tasty chick drinks. I had a Singapore Sling. We headed home after the Bungalow, much to my dismay; I wanted to go dancing at Homo Hill, the only place where there are gay bars in Seoul. I suppose going home was for the best, though. I am ill, congested with a cough. Still, I would have liked to get my dance on. Next weekend looks promising though.
On Sunday morning, some sort of meter reader was walking around my apartment building banging on all the doors really really loudly and shouting at people inside to open their doors. I’m sure if I understood Korean it would have seemed considerably less intimidating, but I get so nervous when people come to my door. I open it and they realize that a waeguk who doesn’t speak any Korea is the only person around, they get nervous, I get nervous, we all start to sweat and shake. It’s no good. I was still in my pajamas, so I quickly threw on a hoodie and put my hair in a ponytail. I went to my utility room and made it a tad more accessible and hid the toilet seat in the corner. I sat at my table pretending to read as the knocking go closer and closer. I was super hot and sweating bullets because I was nervous, but I didn’t dare take off my hoodie. The neighbour to my right was hit first and then the neighbour to my left had his door pounded on, there was some discussion about numbers and then the door closed there was some paper flipping and some exclamations (asissssh) and then he went to fourth floor, skipping my apartment completely. I don’t know what to make of this miracle, if it will just mean someone coming by at a later date or if he knew that a non-Korean speaking person lived in the apartment or what. But I was so relieved, not at first, I was still nervous that he would come back, but once I realized that he was gone gone, I was very relieved.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Money, Money Changes Everything
Finally, after procrastinating for as long as I possible could, I got Tasha to take me to the bank today to finally transfer all the money I have saved in one big lump; my first transfer. The process was painless enough, for now, but I am not so optimistic as to believe that this first transfer, my current life savings, will actually be completely successful. I imagine awkward phone calls, during business hours, when I am away from friendly English speaking Koreans, me not knowing what to say “what do you mean all my money has disappeared into thin thin air?" (What is thin air anyway, where does this saying come from?) Assuming it will take about a week to know if we achieved transfer, I’ll just have to spend sleepless nights hoping someone will be able to bail me out if need be. (Passive aggressive underhanded warning to my family of potential need for temporary monetary aid in the very near future, should this transaction fail.)
One of the many delightful things about Korean banking is need the to only have to deal with humans once. I have to talk to the teller once, and after that I am able to use the ATM to send money home Similarly with bill payments, although even with that I didn’t need to I didn’t actually need to talk to any teller, but I tired to set up an automatic bill payments, but the teller didn’t understand exasperatedly showed me how to use the bill payment machines, lets say BPM for short. Yes, here in the land of people who just do things better, they have machines (for those sans internet) to make bill payments at ATM like machines. All bills come prepared to work in these machines each bill I pay, Water, electricity, and gas, come perforated to be thirded. I insert my bankcard into the machine (dirty) and one third of the bill, then I enter my pin and bills are magically paid. Unfortunately the BPM’s don’t have an English option so I am required to memorize which buttons to press, which is generally obvious, except the first button. This no English option is also s problem at non-bank ATMs, like in convenience stores and in the subway. All of which have a foreign card option, but my card is not foreign, so there is no English option for domestic cards, clearly the designers did not have the huge ex-pat population is mind when designing the machines. Even in Ssangmun I have seen other waeguks at the bank.
One other interestingly out of character inefficient thing about Korean banking is that businesses that pay their employees by direct deposit can only deposit into one bank, it seems. Like Kang Tae Woo can only deposit their teacher’s salary into Kook Bank’s. This is no problem for me, I simply opened my account at KB, but for the other teachers, like Tasha how do their primary banking through other banks, like Woori, it is annoying. They have to transfer money from one bank to another every month. KB - Kook Bank means “people” and Woori means “us” or “our”, very democratic names for bands. Tasha asked which band I used in Canada I had to tell her I don’t use a bank, but rather a Credit Union, which is different buy I couldn’t tell her how; I don’t know.
It also turns out that I can only transfer from the KB in which I initially sought the transfer, which means I have go back the branch which Tasha took me too. Which is good and fine, I have had to many bill payment disasters there and the dude who speaks English lacks basic listening skills, once he makes up his mind about what either Sally or I are asking, he can’t be swayed to think otherwise, see previous mention about automatic bill payment. Also, once while attempting to pay a bill, I couldn’t the fill that I ad stuffed into the bottom of my gigantic purse and this caused me to become flustered and sweaty. I assume the helpless child look appeared on my face and the attendant/ security guard felt the need to swoop to my rescue. Naturally, having the man child standing behind me over my shoulder assuming my ignorance, caused me to panic further and I was no longer able to think straight or remember if I used the top left button or the top left, also being confused with having just used a subway ATM the day before, on which the buttons also need to be memorized, which I explained earlier. In the that annoying over helpful way some Koreans assume, he proceeded not to show me how to use the machine, but to do it for me. Although I appreciate his intentions I learn by doing no by watching, leave me alone and let me figure it out, eventually the knowledge comes to me.
One of the many delightful things about Korean banking is need the to only have to deal with humans once. I have to talk to the teller once, and after that I am able to use the ATM to send money home Similarly with bill payments, although even with that I didn’t need to I didn’t actually need to talk to any teller, but I tired to set up an automatic bill payments, but the teller didn’t understand exasperatedly showed me how to use the bill payment machines, lets say BPM for short. Yes, here in the land of people who just do things better, they have machines (for those sans internet) to make bill payments at ATM like machines. All bills come prepared to work in these machines each bill I pay, Water, electricity, and gas, come perforated to be thirded. I insert my bankcard into the machine (dirty) and one third of the bill, then I enter my pin and bills are magically paid. Unfortunately the BPM’s don’t have an English option so I am required to memorize which buttons to press, which is generally obvious, except the first button. This no English option is also s problem at non-bank ATMs, like in convenience stores and in the subway. All of which have a foreign card option, but my card is not foreign, so there is no English option for domestic cards, clearly the designers did not have the huge ex-pat population is mind when designing the machines. Even in Ssangmun I have seen other waeguks at the bank.
One other interestingly out of character inefficient thing about Korean banking is that businesses that pay their employees by direct deposit can only deposit into one bank, it seems. Like Kang Tae Woo can only deposit their teacher’s salary into Kook Bank’s. This is no problem for me, I simply opened my account at KB, but for the other teachers, like Tasha how do their primary banking through other banks, like Woori, it is annoying. They have to transfer money from one bank to another every month. KB - Kook Bank means “people” and Woori means “us” or “our”, very democratic names for bands. Tasha asked which band I used in Canada I had to tell her I don’t use a bank, but rather a Credit Union, which is different buy I couldn’t tell her how; I don’t know.
It also turns out that I can only transfer from the KB in which I initially sought the transfer, which means I have go back the branch which Tasha took me too. Which is good and fine, I have had to many bill payment disasters there and the dude who speaks English lacks basic listening skills, once he makes up his mind about what either Sally or I are asking, he can’t be swayed to think otherwise, see previous mention about automatic bill payment. Also, once while attempting to pay a bill, I couldn’t the fill that I ad stuffed into the bottom of my gigantic purse and this caused me to become flustered and sweaty. I assume the helpless child look appeared on my face and the attendant/ security guard felt the need to swoop to my rescue. Naturally, having the man child standing behind me over my shoulder assuming my ignorance, caused me to panic further and I was no longer able to think straight or remember if I used the top left button or the top left, also being confused with having just used a subway ATM the day before, on which the buttons also need to be memorized, which I explained earlier. In the that annoying over helpful way some Koreans assume, he proceeded not to show me how to use the machine, but to do it for me. Although I appreciate his intentions I learn by doing no by watching, leave me alone and let me figure it out, eventually the knowledge comes to me.
There Must be an Eco-Emergency!
I had to give speaking tests to my middle school students this week. Speaking tests are awful; it is so painful to be presented with such concrete evidence of how little these kids learn from me. Not to mention having to stand face-to-face, alone in the hall, with the handsome boys, making me uncomfortable with their good looks and their arrogant inability to speak English, as if it is below them to learn it. I would like to warn them that someday they may find themselves dancing with a hot English speaking girl in Hongdae and then they will regret sleeping through English class.
My class of middle school boys quickly finished their writing tests on Friday, last class of the day. It does not take them long to throw down all the English words they know onto a page. Some of my other classes at least took most of the class, not these boys. That class is painful, none of them care and the one that I loved from last semester is gone, either moved up to high school or moved to a different hagwon. He was so retardedly good looking it was ridiculous. He always sang Rainsim in class, under his breath, “I’m gonna be bad boy, I’m gonna be bad boy”. He talked to me, he made class almost fun. These boys all refuse to talk to me, except when they forget their books. They are my last class on Friday, luckily for the past two weeks I have had Hongdae to look forward to, getting me through class. I feel like I have secret life from my students. I teach them, being nice Dee teacher, wearing ugly clothes then I go home and become party Dee and put on low cut shirts and drink wine straight from the bottle while I put on my makeup. I meet up with friends we laugh and hug and double fist the free drinks. We dance dance dance. We get bored at one club and move to the next. Some tells about a different club, we follow him there. Finally we stop for food and then take the subway home, spend the day recovering and then do it all over again. Monday comes and I am nice Dee teacher again. Boring Dee teacher, boring up tight Dee teacher.
This Friday we went to FF again to see some more bands that were sub par. Actually, I caught the last part of a band called Crying Nuts (stupid name), they were all right, although too pop punk with a little ska thrown in. At least they were high energy and talented. Apparently they kind of a big deal in the rock band scene here. There were more Koreans at FF than I have seen before.
After they finished we went to the bar upstairs called Go-Go’s. They playing decent music and I danced danced for a while. Then Dave and Lisa met a guy and found out they had a common friend. This guy, Danny, told us about a club that he knew of that was apparently pretty good. We walked a couple of blocks and waltzed into an empty club. We were a biggish group so we stayed despite there literally being no one there. The music was house, not bad, not great. After this place we went for samgupsal at a tiny little restaurant. It was good samgupsal but there weren’t a lot of side dishes. Eventually the owner kicked us out because our food was done and we were just sitting around chatting. We had accumulated a few people throughout the evening. It is really cool how we often meet people and just hang out strangers for the evening and then they are not strangers anymore. We took the subway home. I got to bed around 6:30.
Saturday, Valentine’s Day. In Korean, Valentine’s Day is for girls to give their boyfriends presents. I think in March they celebrate white day on which guys give presents to their girlfriends. I have heard that there is at least one romantic holiday a month. I don’t know if it is true or not, but this wouldn’t surprise me. All the stores had plenty of chocolates lying about, nothing too big or fancy, but I did see a lot of couples around carrying cakes. Koreans seem to love their fake cakes, although I don’t think anybody actually eats them, maybe a slice or two, it’s all about the sparklers, candles, and poppers.
I spent the day doing very little but then in the evening, I went out again. I meet some of the gang at Bennigan's in Hyehwa . I have I mentioned how much I hate eating at these damn American restaurant chains. Expensive, sub par food, in smaller portions. I ordered a club sandwich that was all processed meats and cheeses. Gross. But it also came with French fries which are universally delicious. Still, I hate eating at those places. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
After Bennigans, we went to Flair Bar, at which we watched the World Champion Bar Tender do amazing things with alcohol, fire, and twirling bottles. And there was a dance routine to Rainsim. It is amazing, the things they do. I have never been to a bar in Canada where they do bar shows, but I have been to two in Korea! Dragon Bar also does a rad bar show, especially for Birthday’s. At Flair, Dave bought a round of drinks for everybody called the Fuckganeh (sp?). It was just alcohol, a bunch of different kinds, it was truly disgusting, not unlike the time Toban decided to mix all the liquors in his bar to see what would happen. Thankfully, this one didn’t curdle.
There were more bars, some pineapple soju (served in a pineapple!), Noraebang, and then a plastic restaurant at which I ate octopus that was so alive it was still squirming as I crunched down on it. There was a really cute Korean couple hanging out in the restaurant too. The girl kept laughing and hitting her boyfriend. She showed me how to get the (clam or snail like thing) out of its shell using a toothpick. I was trying to use chopsticks and I was failing. Neither of them really spoke English, but they were cute, especially the boy, he looked like Yoon Ji Hoo from Boys Before Flowers. Maybe he didn’t like Ji Hoo at all, the details at this point are a little fuzzy, but he was really cute, like a little boy.
Good Times, although Sunday was hell, and I’m not really sure it was worth it. I spent Sunday evening, watching old cartoons online, like Captain Planet. Shit that show is awesome. I remember watching it the time I was in the hospitable for an “Asthma Attack” (sucks to your asmar). But to see it now, is so much better, I had no idea how not subtle the anti-polluting theme was. And I definitely didn’t remember the Earth Spirit, Gaea. She’s a babe.
My class of middle school boys quickly finished their writing tests on Friday, last class of the day. It does not take them long to throw down all the English words they know onto a page. Some of my other classes at least took most of the class, not these boys. That class is painful, none of them care and the one that I loved from last semester is gone, either moved up to high school or moved to a different hagwon. He was so retardedly good looking it was ridiculous. He always sang Rainsim in class, under his breath, “I’m gonna be bad boy, I’m gonna be bad boy”. He talked to me, he made class almost fun. These boys all refuse to talk to me, except when they forget their books. They are my last class on Friday, luckily for the past two weeks I have had Hongdae to look forward to, getting me through class. I feel like I have secret life from my students. I teach them, being nice Dee teacher, wearing ugly clothes then I go home and become party Dee and put on low cut shirts and drink wine straight from the bottle while I put on my makeup. I meet up with friends we laugh and hug and double fist the free drinks. We dance dance dance. We get bored at one club and move to the next. Some tells about a different club, we follow him there. Finally we stop for food and then take the subway home, spend the day recovering and then do it all over again. Monday comes and I am nice Dee teacher again. Boring Dee teacher, boring up tight Dee teacher.
This Friday we went to FF again to see some more bands that were sub par. Actually, I caught the last part of a band called Crying Nuts (stupid name), they were all right, although too pop punk with a little ska thrown in. At least they were high energy and talented. Apparently they kind of a big deal in the rock band scene here. There were more Koreans at FF than I have seen before.
After they finished we went to the bar upstairs called Go-Go’s. They playing decent music and I danced danced for a while. Then Dave and Lisa met a guy and found out they had a common friend. This guy, Danny, told us about a club that he knew of that was apparently pretty good. We walked a couple of blocks and waltzed into an empty club. We were a biggish group so we stayed despite there literally being no one there. The music was house, not bad, not great. After this place we went for samgupsal at a tiny little restaurant. It was good samgupsal but there weren’t a lot of side dishes. Eventually the owner kicked us out because our food was done and we were just sitting around chatting. We had accumulated a few people throughout the evening. It is really cool how we often meet people and just hang out strangers for the evening and then they are not strangers anymore. We took the subway home. I got to bed around 6:30.
Saturday, Valentine’s Day. In Korean, Valentine’s Day is for girls to give their boyfriends presents. I think in March they celebrate white day on which guys give presents to their girlfriends. I have heard that there is at least one romantic holiday a month. I don’t know if it is true or not, but this wouldn’t surprise me. All the stores had plenty of chocolates lying about, nothing too big or fancy, but I did see a lot of couples around carrying cakes. Koreans seem to love their fake cakes, although I don’t think anybody actually eats them, maybe a slice or two, it’s all about the sparklers, candles, and poppers.
I spent the day doing very little but then in the evening, I went out again. I meet some of the gang at Bennigan's in Hyehwa . I have I mentioned how much I hate eating at these damn American restaurant chains. Expensive, sub par food, in smaller portions. I ordered a club sandwich that was all processed meats and cheeses. Gross. But it also came with French fries which are universally delicious. Still, I hate eating at those places. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
After Bennigans, we went to Flair Bar, at which we watched the World Champion Bar Tender do amazing things with alcohol, fire, and twirling bottles. And there was a dance routine to Rainsim. It is amazing, the things they do. I have never been to a bar in Canada where they do bar shows, but I have been to two in Korea! Dragon Bar also does a rad bar show, especially for Birthday’s. At Flair, Dave bought a round of drinks for everybody called the Fuckganeh (sp?). It was just alcohol, a bunch of different kinds, it was truly disgusting, not unlike the time Toban decided to mix all the liquors in his bar to see what would happen. Thankfully, this one didn’t curdle.
There were more bars, some pineapple soju (served in a pineapple!), Noraebang, and then a plastic restaurant at which I ate octopus that was so alive it was still squirming as I crunched down on it. There was a really cute Korean couple hanging out in the restaurant too. The girl kept laughing and hitting her boyfriend. She showed me how to get the (clam or snail like thing) out of its shell using a toothpick. I was trying to use chopsticks and I was failing. Neither of them really spoke English, but they were cute, especially the boy, he looked like Yoon Ji Hoo from Boys Before Flowers. Maybe he didn’t like Ji Hoo at all, the details at this point are a little fuzzy, but he was really cute, like a little boy.
Good Times, although Sunday was hell, and I’m not really sure it was worth it. I spent Sunday evening, watching old cartoons online, like Captain Planet. Shit that show is awesome. I remember watching it the time I was in the hospitable for an “Asthma Attack” (sucks to your asmar). But to see it now, is so much better, I had no idea how not subtle the anti-polluting theme was. And I definitely didn’t remember the Earth Spirit, Gaea. She’s a babe.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
There is a Dukkbogi Stain on My Blanket and it' is Not My Fault!
Geum Jan Di and Goo Jun Pyo broke up at least twice yesterday, but something dramatic always brings them back together. The harder the mother tries to pull them apart they closer they get. If she would leave them alone they would eventually just split up for good. Jan Di was kidnapped by a hot model who has his hate on for Goo Jun Pyo and was being paid by Jun Pyo’s mother to break up them up. Jun Pyo went to save Jan Di and then the model and his minions starting beating Jun Pyo, the F4 came to save them. It was lovely. Then they broke up again because Jan Di lost the necklace that Jun Pyo made for her, but she went out to the mountain to find the necklace (which had actually been stolen by the hot mean girls) and the weather turned bad and Goo Jun Pyo had to save her (again) and apparently the best way to save her was to take of his shirt and they kissed again. Third Kiss! But at the very end of the episode he had leave with his mom because something is wrong with his dad. He didn’t even say goodbye and Jan Di was heart broken and crying in the arms of Ji Hoo, oh-oh!
Last night Sarah came over for our standing date with F4 and Geum Jan Di. I met her at the bus stop and walked her back to my apartment, the first person I have had over besides Sally and my family. It is really too small to have many people. I had prepared a spread of cut veggies, fruit, and home made kimbob. I made kimbob, alone without help. I am extremely proud of myself. However, before I gloat to much and you think me a magician in the kitchen (or chicken as my little kids call it), please note that I created kimbob from a pack. The only thing that was not in the pack was the rice and I used pre-cooked rice for this so that I would have the right proportions.
Kimbob, or more correctly kimbap is a very popular Korean food. It looks a little like Sushi at first but isn’t sushi at all. Kimbap is carrots, radishes, egg (usually my pack didn’t have egg), some sort of mystery meat (again, not in the pack but usually) and then it can have a variety of other things depending on what you order, like chamchi (tuna) or kimchi (my favourite). This is all rolled up in rice (bap) and seaweed paper (kim). It is delicious and cheep. I have not met a single foreigner who dislikes kimbap. Anyway, I made some all by myself. Mini rolls. They were adorable and not half bad and only one fell apart on me because it wasn’t rolled tightly enough and I had the exact proportions of rice I needed.
Sarah brought white wine and I had red. We watched most of the first episode and then Amber called and we told her to come over. We both went to meet her at the bus stop and then she bought some dukkbogi and Sarah bought more kimbap. The kimbap place is under the school and we ran into Sally leaving the school, so she joined us well. It is a small party on my bed, watching Boys over Flowers, eating all my favourite Korean foods, drinking red wine, and chilling my friends.
Quick digression: There have been people in the hallway talking for a good while this morning, making me nervous and worried that they would knock on my door and now in the apartment next door they seem to be doing some sort of work, including hammering on the wall between my neighbour and I. It is very loud. I hope the hallway isn’t blocked when I want to go for walk. I don’t know the Korean for “excuse me” or “get the fuck out my way”. Now they are drilling in the wall. Now somthing is being torached. I know that sound, my dad invented that sound.
After the show was over, we made our way to a nearby hof that I walk past on a very regular basis and by which I am always intrigued but I never have had an opportunity to actually go there; we don’t do much partying in Ssangmun. There is a train in neon lights on the window, who wouldn’t want to go there. We walked in and immediately couldn’t help but notice a thing that looked like a huge lava lamp full of beer sitting on the nearest table. Of course we had one of the those.
Less than half way through the beer, I noticed a white guy walk by the hof, he noticed us inside and was clearly surprised to see four white girls sitting in the random hof. He walked by again and we waved him in.
Brian from South Carolina has been teaching in Korea for about one month. He likes it here, but is not a fan of the Noraebang. He has a girlfriend coming to visit at the end of the week (which he awkwardly brought up when we invited him out for Friday at FF). We were the first foreigners that Brian has met in Ssangmun. Despite the obvious personalty flaw (Who doesn't like Noraebang?) he seemed very nice and I hope that we can add him to our group.
Last night Sarah came over for our standing date with F4 and Geum Jan Di. I met her at the bus stop and walked her back to my apartment, the first person I have had over besides Sally and my family. It is really too small to have many people. I had prepared a spread of cut veggies, fruit, and home made kimbob. I made kimbob, alone without help. I am extremely proud of myself. However, before I gloat to much and you think me a magician in the kitchen (or chicken as my little kids call it), please note that I created kimbob from a pack. The only thing that was not in the pack was the rice and I used pre-cooked rice for this so that I would have the right proportions.
Kimbob, or more correctly kimbap is a very popular Korean food. It looks a little like Sushi at first but isn’t sushi at all. Kimbap is carrots, radishes, egg (usually my pack didn’t have egg), some sort of mystery meat (again, not in the pack but usually) and then it can have a variety of other things depending on what you order, like chamchi (tuna) or kimchi (my favourite). This is all rolled up in rice (bap) and seaweed paper (kim). It is delicious and cheep. I have not met a single foreigner who dislikes kimbap. Anyway, I made some all by myself. Mini rolls. They were adorable and not half bad and only one fell apart on me because it wasn’t rolled tightly enough and I had the exact proportions of rice I needed.
Sarah brought white wine and I had red. We watched most of the first episode and then Amber called and we told her to come over. We both went to meet her at the bus stop and then she bought some dukkbogi and Sarah bought more kimbap. The kimbap place is under the school and we ran into Sally leaving the school, so she joined us well. It is a small party on my bed, watching Boys over Flowers, eating all my favourite Korean foods, drinking red wine, and chilling my friends.
Quick digression: There have been people in the hallway talking for a good while this morning, making me nervous and worried that they would knock on my door and now in the apartment next door they seem to be doing some sort of work, including hammering on the wall between my neighbour and I. It is very loud. I hope the hallway isn’t blocked when I want to go for walk. I don’t know the Korean for “excuse me” or “get the fuck out my way”. Now they are drilling in the wall. Now somthing is being torached. I know that sound, my dad invented that sound.
After the show was over, we made our way to a nearby hof that I walk past on a very regular basis and by which I am always intrigued but I never have had an opportunity to actually go there; we don’t do much partying in Ssangmun. There is a train in neon lights on the window, who wouldn’t want to go there. We walked in and immediately couldn’t help but notice a thing that looked like a huge lava lamp full of beer sitting on the nearest table. Of course we had one of the those.
Less than half way through the beer, I noticed a white guy walk by the hof, he noticed us inside and was clearly surprised to see four white girls sitting in the random hof. He walked by again and we waved him in.
Brian from South Carolina has been teaching in Korea for about one month. He likes it here, but is not a fan of the Noraebang. He has a girlfriend coming to visit at the end of the week (which he awkwardly brought up when we invited him out for Friday at FF). We were the first foreigners that Brian has met in Ssangmun. Despite the obvious personalty flaw (Who doesn't like Noraebang?) he seemed very nice and I hope that we can add him to our group.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Who Found Mister Fabulous?
The shit hit the fan. Goo Jun Pyo’s mom found out about Geum Jan Di. She was pissed. She offered the family three million dollars if Jan Di would agree to never again meet Jun Pyo. They refused and she responded by bankrupting the family, forcing them to sell rice pops and coffee on the highway. Jan Di was also forced to get a second job as a gas jockey. Good news though, Goo Jun Pyo still likes Jan Di and she promised that his mother would never be the cause of her leaving him. It was a lovely two episodes and they finally kissed! Twice!
I went to Sarah’s apartment on Wednesday evening to watch Monday and Tuesday’s episodes on-line with English subtitles. We ate chamchi kimbob and drank white wine, cheering loudly when Jan Di and Jun Pyo finally kissed, booing when the mother was being cruel to Jan Di and her family, and sighing when Jun Pyo was being sweet to Jan Di’s family. It was an emotional roller coaster with a cliff hanger ending of course. This Wednesday, I’m hosting.
When Sarah walked me back to the subway, she introduced me to an important part of traditional Korean culture: the claw game. Although we do have versions of this game in Canada, usually found in bowling alleys and movie theaters, they are neither so welled played or so common as in Korea. They are more common than corner stores and apparently an important part of a Korean date. Boys will spend all their change trying to win the perfect the prize for their lady. The game that Sarah and I played had an odd assortment of prizes, from liters to gloves to gum to plush animals. We were unable to win anything but I look forward to playing this game more often now that I know what it’s all about. I can also see how one might become slightly addicted to this game. I was so close so many times.
I finally got back to Hongdae this weekend after not visting for almost two months. Friday night I meet up with Sally, Sarah, Amber, Dave, and Lisa at Club FF to catch a couple live bands and take advantage of happy hour, free cocktails between 11:00 and midnight. Free. Weak cocktails, but free. Sally and I arrived later than the other because I only got of work at 10:00, but we still managed to get at least 15 minuets worth of free drinks and we caught the last half of a set by a band that was actually not bad. After hearing a lot of really crappy music at FF, I was not optimistic, but Easy Boy, a Korean band, was decent. I was rather pleased. However, they were followed up by a really crappy band of white dudes that had neither talent nor stage presence.
At the club, Sarah and Amber met a few Canadian dudes, one of whom was just visiting and it was his last night in Seoul. He had not yet been to a noraebang, so we of course had to show them the way. It is an absolute sin to come to Korea and not visit a noraebang especially when in Hongdae; they have the nicest Noraebangs. We left FF at about 3:30 and headed to the luxury noraebang down the street. Sarah and I stopped to pick up some street food. The vendors where all really busy and we had trouble getting exactly what we wanted and had to visit two to finally get the right combination of food. Eventually we were mostly successful and headed to the noraebang with dukkbogi in plastic bags. My favourite.
After the noraebang, I caught a taxi with Sarah and Amber and ended up staying the night or morning at Amber’s apartment, all three of use sharing a bed and blanket. I slept in the middle. Did I just blow your mind? I, Desirae Warkentin, shared a bed and a blanket. Me, the most space selfish person I know. I’m maturing.
Amber lives in Nowan, so after a breakfast (lunch) of toast, fruit, and coffee, I walked back to Ssangmun. It was a cloudy and foggy afternoon, very pleasant for walking.
In the evening, Sally and I met up with everybody again because two of our friends, Mike and Chris, walked from Jamsil, where they live, south of the river, all the way to Nowan, which is in the northeast corner of the city. It took them six hours. After beers, I made Sally walk home with me. I felt inspired. In fact, I am feeling inspired again. I’m going to go for a long walk now too. It’s not quite two in the afternoon and my hair is finally dry. It’s time to see the sun.
Dee
P.s. Bryan finally bought his plane ticket and will be arriving on April 27 at 3:40 PM! Only 77 days!
I went to Sarah’s apartment on Wednesday evening to watch Monday and Tuesday’s episodes on-line with English subtitles. We ate chamchi kimbob and drank white wine, cheering loudly when Jan Di and Jun Pyo finally kissed, booing when the mother was being cruel to Jan Di and her family, and sighing when Jun Pyo was being sweet to Jan Di’s family. It was an emotional roller coaster with a cliff hanger ending of course. This Wednesday, I’m hosting.
When Sarah walked me back to the subway, she introduced me to an important part of traditional Korean culture: the claw game. Although we do have versions of this game in Canada, usually found in bowling alleys and movie theaters, they are neither so welled played or so common as in Korea. They are more common than corner stores and apparently an important part of a Korean date. Boys will spend all their change trying to win the perfect the prize for their lady. The game that Sarah and I played had an odd assortment of prizes, from liters to gloves to gum to plush animals. We were unable to win anything but I look forward to playing this game more often now that I know what it’s all about. I can also see how one might become slightly addicted to this game. I was so close so many times.
I finally got back to Hongdae this weekend after not visting for almost two months. Friday night I meet up with Sally, Sarah, Amber, Dave, and Lisa at Club FF to catch a couple live bands and take advantage of happy hour, free cocktails between 11:00 and midnight. Free. Weak cocktails, but free. Sally and I arrived later than the other because I only got of work at 10:00, but we still managed to get at least 15 minuets worth of free drinks and we caught the last half of a set by a band that was actually not bad. After hearing a lot of really crappy music at FF, I was not optimistic, but Easy Boy, a Korean band, was decent. I was rather pleased. However, they were followed up by a really crappy band of white dudes that had neither talent nor stage presence.
At the club, Sarah and Amber met a few Canadian dudes, one of whom was just visiting and it was his last night in Seoul. He had not yet been to a noraebang, so we of course had to show them the way. It is an absolute sin to come to Korea and not visit a noraebang especially when in Hongdae; they have the nicest Noraebangs. We left FF at about 3:30 and headed to the luxury noraebang down the street. Sarah and I stopped to pick up some street food. The vendors where all really busy and we had trouble getting exactly what we wanted and had to visit two to finally get the right combination of food. Eventually we were mostly successful and headed to the noraebang with dukkbogi in plastic bags. My favourite.
After the noraebang, I caught a taxi with Sarah and Amber and ended up staying the night or morning at Amber’s apartment, all three of use sharing a bed and blanket. I slept in the middle. Did I just blow your mind? I, Desirae Warkentin, shared a bed and a blanket. Me, the most space selfish person I know. I’m maturing.
Amber lives in Nowan, so after a breakfast (lunch) of toast, fruit, and coffee, I walked back to Ssangmun. It was a cloudy and foggy afternoon, very pleasant for walking.
In the evening, Sally and I met up with everybody again because two of our friends, Mike and Chris, walked from Jamsil, where they live, south of the river, all the way to Nowan, which is in the northeast corner of the city. It took them six hours. After beers, I made Sally walk home with me. I felt inspired. In fact, I am feeling inspired again. I’m going to go for a long walk now too. It’s not quite two in the afternoon and my hair is finally dry. It’s time to see the sun.
Dee
P.s. Bryan finally bought his plane ticket and will be arriving on April 27 at 3:40 PM! Only 77 days!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
I Heart F4!
I am pleased to report that as of episode eight of Boys Before Flowers, Jan Di finally picked Goo Jun Pyo. However, I think she is starting to see how the class differences might be difficult and of course there is his super controlling mother, the president of the Shinhwa Corporation to which Goo Jun Pyo is the hier. She already has his future bride picked out and that is definitely not the dry cleaner’s daughter. Poor Jan Di, this lady is going to do horrible things to her and Goo Jun Pyo isn’t going to protect her. I can feel it in my bones. And I don’t think Ji Hoo is over her, he is torn between his first love and Jan Di and he can’t quite move on from either. And I am in anticipation of Jan Di’s friend from the porridge shop and Jun Pyo’s potter (I don’t mean pot head, I actually mean potter, he is gifted in the art of pottery and women) friend hooking up. It’s going to happen, she will tame the player. Tomorrow night I will be able to watch Monday and Tuesday’s episodes with English subtitles. I’m pumped.
There are many reasons why I love Korea, but one very important reason is the noraebang. You can’t walk five feet without seeing a noraebang, in fact the Korean for noraebang is one of the first words I learned to recognize. Literally translated into singing rooms, the noraebang is essential to a good night out. Usually prohibiting alcohol, the noraebang is the last step, the place you go to eat ice cream, sober up, and often wait for the subway to start running again. It is super fun.
At first I was intimidated by the noraebang. I’m not a good singer, especially alone. Also, not until you actually have to face song without singing along to you realize how little you know the song. I have stood in front the of screen many a time, prepared to sing my heart out and realized that I only actually know the course and barely at that. Also, the girls that have made friends with are not afraid of anything and have a much better grasp of mainstream music, past and present, than I do. But, much like with dancing, I quickly realized that nobody is judging and they are indeed, barely listening. When one is not singing, one is scouring the English section of the song book looking for the next song to sing.
In Busan we went to a noraebang two of the three nights we were there, a dark and seedy place with a surprisingly delicious fruit platter. The weekend before, Sally, Sarah, Amber, and I went to the luxury noraebang in Nowan, where all the employees dress in black dress pants, white dress shirts and wear little black vests. They make you take off your shoes and they bring you complimentary soft ice cream on a tray. On Friday, we girls hit up a noraebang near Sally’s place after drinking too much and devouring kimchi pancakes, cheese (real cheddar cheese that Amber had splurged on, it was awesome), and the fruit that I had brought along. It was almost one o’clock before we finally left Sally’s place and walked the 50 feet to the nearest noraebang. That is actually the scene of my second noraebang experience, on Wild Wednesday, the director took us there. It is not luxury like the one in Nowan, but it is nice and cheaper. However, you have to bring your own ice cream, which we did. Ice cream sooths the throat from all the horrible signing that occurs at the noraebang. There are similar places in Winnipeg, but they are not open into all hours of the night. But perhaps I will be able to convince friends that this a good way to spend an hour or two when a party gets lame.
I guess the Steelers won the Super Bowl. Not that I care, but last night, after work, Sally and traveled all the way to Taereung and were propositioned by an old, drunken, deaf Korean man just to watch the big game on a computer. I only went for the friends and the food. However, Dave, Sarah, and Ryan were really into it. Lisa was kind of, Amber, Sally, Carolyn, and I mostly just made fun of them. I already knew how won because I read CBC headlines everyday, but all the other folk had made a conscious effort to avoid all forms of media that might spoil the game. Dave and Sarah were cheering for the red team (Cardinals?) and Ryan was cheering for the Steelers and there was much cussing and using of out-door voices inside. After the game we set of roman candles and then took taxi’s home.
About the deaf men... Sally and I had to wait outside the Taereung station for Dave to find us so that he could lead us back to his apartment. Just outside the station was a plastic restaurant. (It was one where the owners pull a truck up onto the sidewalk and set up a plastic tent around truck and then unload the box and use the box as their counter and cooking area.) In the plastic restaurant there was a group of deaf mean drinking soju and eating whatever delights this plastic palace had to offer. Dave and Lisa live pretty far from the station so it was along wait. At one point the men finished and left the restaurant. They stood around smoking for a while and then it became clear that they were talking about us. They were gesturing in our direction and laughing a lot. Soon one of the old men came to us and, standing a little to close, started making unmistakable signs. They were old and drunk and only half serious I think, but it was still upsetting and gross. Eventually, one of his friends herded the old pervert away, although the man was pretty persistent even after Sally and I walked away a few feet and refused to acknowledge him. That is the first time that anything like that has every happened to me here.
Back to the regular teaching schedule, thank goodness. I finally have my mornings back to take long ambling walks and update my blog unnecessarily. I have to read and drink gallons of tea and generally enjoy daylight. The weather is expected to be very nice in the next couple of days, around 10 degrees or higher. I do not expect that winter is actually over yet, being only February, but I am optimistic that there will only be one more cold spell before we finally welcome spring here in South Korea. I am going to go for a long walk now and count the number of Kimbob restaurants on the way.
There are many reasons why I love Korea, but one very important reason is the noraebang. You can’t walk five feet without seeing a noraebang, in fact the Korean for noraebang is one of the first words I learned to recognize. Literally translated into singing rooms, the noraebang is essential to a good night out. Usually prohibiting alcohol, the noraebang is the last step, the place you go to eat ice cream, sober up, and often wait for the subway to start running again. It is super fun.
At first I was intimidated by the noraebang. I’m not a good singer, especially alone. Also, not until you actually have to face song without singing along to you realize how little you know the song. I have stood in front the of screen many a time, prepared to sing my heart out and realized that I only actually know the course and barely at that. Also, the girls that have made friends with are not afraid of anything and have a much better grasp of mainstream music, past and present, than I do. But, much like with dancing, I quickly realized that nobody is judging and they are indeed, barely listening. When one is not singing, one is scouring the English section of the song book looking for the next song to sing.
In Busan we went to a noraebang two of the three nights we were there, a dark and seedy place with a surprisingly delicious fruit platter. The weekend before, Sally, Sarah, Amber, and I went to the luxury noraebang in Nowan, where all the employees dress in black dress pants, white dress shirts and wear little black vests. They make you take off your shoes and they bring you complimentary soft ice cream on a tray. On Friday, we girls hit up a noraebang near Sally’s place after drinking too much and devouring kimchi pancakes, cheese (real cheddar cheese that Amber had splurged on, it was awesome), and the fruit that I had brought along. It was almost one o’clock before we finally left Sally’s place and walked the 50 feet to the nearest noraebang. That is actually the scene of my second noraebang experience, on Wild Wednesday, the director took us there. It is not luxury like the one in Nowan, but it is nice and cheaper. However, you have to bring your own ice cream, which we did. Ice cream sooths the throat from all the horrible signing that occurs at the noraebang. There are similar places in Winnipeg, but they are not open into all hours of the night. But perhaps I will be able to convince friends that this a good way to spend an hour or two when a party gets lame.
I guess the Steelers won the Super Bowl. Not that I care, but last night, after work, Sally and traveled all the way to Taereung and were propositioned by an old, drunken, deaf Korean man just to watch the big game on a computer. I only went for the friends and the food. However, Dave, Sarah, and Ryan were really into it. Lisa was kind of, Amber, Sally, Carolyn, and I mostly just made fun of them. I already knew how won because I read CBC headlines everyday, but all the other folk had made a conscious effort to avoid all forms of media that might spoil the game. Dave and Sarah were cheering for the red team (Cardinals?) and Ryan was cheering for the Steelers and there was much cussing and using of out-door voices inside. After the game we set of roman candles and then took taxi’s home.
About the deaf men... Sally and I had to wait outside the Taereung station for Dave to find us so that he could lead us back to his apartment. Just outside the station was a plastic restaurant. (It was one where the owners pull a truck up onto the sidewalk and set up a plastic tent around truck and then unload the box and use the box as their counter and cooking area.) In the plastic restaurant there was a group of deaf mean drinking soju and eating whatever delights this plastic palace had to offer. Dave and Lisa live pretty far from the station so it was along wait. At one point the men finished and left the restaurant. They stood around smoking for a while and then it became clear that they were talking about us. They were gesturing in our direction and laughing a lot. Soon one of the old men came to us and, standing a little to close, started making unmistakable signs. They were old and drunk and only half serious I think, but it was still upsetting and gross. Eventually, one of his friends herded the old pervert away, although the man was pretty persistent even after Sally and I walked away a few feet and refused to acknowledge him. That is the first time that anything like that has every happened to me here.
Back to the regular teaching schedule, thank goodness. I finally have my mornings back to take long ambling walks and update my blog unnecessarily. I have to read and drink gallons of tea and generally enjoy daylight. The weather is expected to be very nice in the next couple of days, around 10 degrees or higher. I do not expect that winter is actually over yet, being only February, but I am optimistic that there will only be one more cold spell before we finally welcome spring here in South Korea. I am going to go for a long walk now and count the number of Kimbob restaurants on the way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
