Oooooh Waygooken

Yesterday i was meandering around my new favorite store.... an art store.  It is way more than art, a little of everything and more.  I walked up the steps and towards the back of the room and this girl who was maybe six years old saw me.  Her mom walked before her and then girl looked my way, stopped, starred and slowly began to say, "Waygooken."  She said it softly and slowly while taking in my appearance.  She acted as if I was Santa Claus or Big Foot, like, "Ooooh, they do exist."  I stared back at her, taking her in as well.  I smiled back, and kinda chuckled.  She ran to tell her mom she just the one and only Waygooken.
I will remind you that waygooken means foreigner.  This was my first waygooken experience.  Im sure there will be many more to come.

Ulsan, is not as diverse as Seoul.  In fact there is hardly any diversity.  To paint the picture a little better pretend you are the only one of your kind.  You are abducted by aliens.  Aliens that all look almost identical from afar.  You're surrounded by thousands upon thousands and forced to live on their ship.  No one else looks like you.  No one else talks like you.  Then you are walking down the hallway where there are hundreds of aliens all around you, and out of the corner of your eye you seem one of your own.  You are so excited to want to run over and hug them!  But really you cant fight the crowd, and all you can do is waive from afar.

Ok, so its not that extreme.  Im just bored.  But it is true, every time i see another waygooken i at least say hi and sometimes i wish to stop and introduce myself in hopes that they do the same.  Whenever i go out to downtown, 8 out of 10 times i will see one other foreigner.  Most of the time they are an older gentleman and my guess is that they work for Hyundai.

Its kinda like a real life Where's Waldo :)  Wheres the waygooken?!

Bu bu bu bu busan!

A couple weekends ago two friends and I ventured on the train to Busan.  Its about an hour away by train. Its a fun city that slightly resembles State St. in Santa Barbara.  Its not nearly as long, maybe only a couple blocks and then the street buts right up to the shore.  It was a bit cold to really enjoy the beach, but it was a nice day to enjoy the comforts of home.  We enjoyed a pretty awesome bar that serves Mexican food (and good music).  Well, Korean style Mexican food.  Wasn't really the same, but its helps ease the pain.  We then walked along a path that is on the ocean where we found a little light house, a couple temples and a bridge that resembles the Golden Gate bridge.  Overall, its was a nice day and good to know that when i need comfort food i can go to Busan.  There is also an Irish Pub that serves burgers and fries.  Another thing not so common here.  Here are some photos of the day.

Hans Christian Andersen must have made it big here too. ;)

sweet little bridge

a ferry taking passengers to and fro

The space ship looking building is a type of museum I believe.

You can't tell in the photo, but its a double decker temple (two stories).  I don't know if that is common or not.

This ones for Mom,.

Look ma! Im sitting in Busan ;)

Fun Friday Field trip

Last Friday we went to Gyeongju with the school.  Every other Friday we go on a field trip.  The other Friday the kids get to play outside (usually soccer).  So this lucky day we went to what I found out later was the Forest Environment Research Institute.  This place was a nice size of land that had all kinds of green houses and manicured lawns and parks.  We went into some of the green houses and they had of course many types of plants.  They also have a small zoo with various animals.  We couldn’t see the animals because apparently one of them had a cold.  Ya, whatever, I was a little disappointed.  That’s Korea for you.  But on a good note they had a great little “museum.”  You could think of it as a natural history museum.  They had all kinds of tree trunks and different things people used the specific wood for.  They had all sorts of nut, pinecones, stuff trees make in cool glass jars.  And then!  They had a large handful of taxidermy animals.  But not just any taxidermy animals… horribly done taxidermy animals.  These were so poorly executed it was funny.  The tiger at the entranced look like something you would win at a fair.  It was stuffed so tight and without any shape but its skin.  It looked like is was going to pop.  And then its claws were glued on top of the skin.  Much like a false nails little girls would use.  And then, there was a pygmy deer.  This little guy had seen better days.  Its hair was coming off on its cheek, as if it was shedding its skin like a reptile.  These poor animals must have been there for 30 years, and no one dusted them.  Oh, and the eyes.  The eyes were not nice glass real looking eyes, nope.  They were more like googley eyes but instead of white they were amber.  Note to self: don’t get anything taxidermy in Korea.  That made the day all worth it.  If only we were allowed to take photos.  

Lovely Korean architecture

The little little tikes

Eric, Noah, Julie, Emily

Vicki is with some of the other kids.  She is another teacher at my school.  She is my age and very kind.  I hope we can become friends.  We are in one of the green houses filled with cacti. 

FuN fAcTs!

If you see a giant mound of dirt it is someone’s gravesite.  The bigger the mound, the more important the person.  It is wise not to climb it.

Kimbop:  Kim= seaweed   Bop= rice

Kimbop is picnic food here.  It looks like a sushi roll but is filled with egg, ham, carrots, and maybe a couple other things.  Instead of using rice vinegar in the “bop” Koreans use Sesame oil.   Koreans always have it for picnics.  Kimbop is like a Korean sandwich.

Kimbop

In Gyeongju, there was a big war between the Koreans and the Japanese.  This was around the 1930s maybe 40’s.  There’s probably much more to this bit of history but I am only informed of what my teacher friend Joanne told me.  There is a part on the main road where for about 5 miles the road is lined with Cherry blossom trees.  In about a week or two it will begin to look very beautiful.  Anyways, when this war happened the Japanese planted their cherry trees all over the area so that the Koreans will remember them (sneaking little buggers).  So now the older generation is a bit grumpy come springtime when the trees are in full bloom, and then the younger generation doesn’t care so much, they admire its beauty.  

Munsoon Mountain

So a last weekend was my friend Bethany’s birthday.  She wanted to trek up Musoon Mountain again.  Musoon Mountain is about 5 miles mostly up.  There are places to rest along the way and the last mile is straight up.  There are steps and ropes because it is so steep.  This is our second time doing the hike so I feel a bit better than my first time.  When we reach the top we see some other wagookens (white people).  They inform us there is another way up/down the mountain with a water hole and a temple.  We take their advice.  However it was not as easy as they said it was.  We ended up about two or more kilometers away from our usual outcome.  Luckily, there was a friendly Korean man who ended up joining our group.  He noticed we were struggling and gave the women his poles.  (side note: Koreans LOVE hiking gear.  They are decked out.  They have the right pants, socks, shoes, jackets, bags, pole, you name it they have it) We got to know him a little with our broken Korean and his broken English.  He led us down the mountain, to a place we had never seen.  He said he would take us back, but first he treated us to food and drinks.  He bought us Makli (a rice wine type of drink) and pajohn (I don’t know how to spell it but phonetically, that’s close).  It’s a vegetable that’s fried with a little bit of seasonings.  It’s so tasty.  After we enjoyed a meal (that he paid for) we hopped into his car.  We are all dirty from falling down a couple times and of course he drives a nice, new and clean Mercedes.  He took us back where we were supposed to end up and we said goodbye.  We exchanged numbers and we are all supposed to meet up in a couple weeks for dinner.  I don’t know what we would have done without him.

This a pic from the last time i went:

Ulsan is in the background.  Don't worry, thats a clear day.  If you look really really close, you might see the ocean in the distance.

The Circus is in Town (all year long)

Some days I feel that I am the ringleader of a circus.  The animals, I mean kids, can be unbearable.  I have no idea what they are saying.  No idea where to lead them.  Their language is so foreign.  I have no whip to train them with when I am frustrated.  I must get creative, and remember what I do they do.  One could also relate it to the movie Mean Girls (trust me this is going somewhere).  When she is talking about the students really acting like a bunch of animals around a watering hole.  One goes ballistic and then they all go.  It’s kinda like that.  Sometimes I just want to give and play with them. 

Maybe after the second month the circus will be better trained and ready for a show.

For those of you who don't know he movie scene i mentioned:

Job Schmob

It’s been some time since I have spoke or written to anyone.  Boy have I learned a lot!  Mostly good things.  And some things are good to know just because.  So, I hope to keep you entertained for as long as you read this blog and about my travels and experience. 

For starters, I work at a private school.  Foreigners (white folks: mostly people from America, Canada and South Africa) call it “Kindie” because I mostly work with Kindergarteners.  This concept of working with this age group is very foreign to me.  And then slap that onto to living in a new country where you can’t just pick up the language.  It can be daunting, but I usually like a challenge, so why not.  The school is called “Genius Academy”.  Which means I create genii.  How do you like them apples?!  At least I hope I am.  I am the only fulltime English teacher; I pretty much have a 9-5 job (with lots of prep time).  There is another girl work works at my school that I have grown fond of and I’m happy to have made a friend here. 

There are about 50 students in all, and the ages range from two years old to about six maybe.  That is in the morning until 3 when most of them are dismissed, some stay after school and play games and such.  This is where at least everyday there is one kid who sneezes and then has snot dangling from him nose.  And every time he is shocked it happened, yet captivated there is such a magical goopy goodness coming from him.  And I, “teachaaaaa” must go over and wipe off his nose without gagging on him.  It’s quite challenging.  I’m sure I will get to share many other exciting stories about these mostly adorable children.  I teach from different English books that are a year or two too advanced for the kids.  But I think the point is for the kids to hear English and be comfortable with a foreigner.

And then at 4-6:10 I teach first, second and third grade.  I prefer teaching these kids even though they are sometimes exhausting.  They are a bit rambunctious but most are eager to learn and want to give you the right answer.  And to most Koreans, there is only one right answer.  I get to be with the kids who still have most of their imagination.  After this age school begins to suck it out of them.  I enjoy this age because I can almost carry a conversation with them and they are excited about working.

Where am I

I have up and moved to Ulsan, South Korea.
I am from Solvang, California.
I moved here for a number of reasons:
The most important: i believe there is something here for me.  God is up to something.
And of course to travel, see a new culture, get out of debt and see if i actually like teaching.

So far i am quickly learning a new culture and slowly learning a new language.  This might take awhile to learn Korean.  So far, Korea has been very good to me.  I really think the credit goes to God.  My prayers have been answered better than i could have imagined.  Life has never showed me so much favor before.  This doesn't mean that everyday is a cake walk, it merely means I am well taken care of and definitely have the power of the Lord on my side.

Korea is no Solvang.  I don't think Solvang exists anywhere else.  It is certainly a mini dream land, but the country side of Korea is comforting for its mountain press right up to the town or beach.  Which is one of my favorite parts about home.  Being tucked right in the mountain and be able to gaze upon its beauty.

I am very much out of my comfort zone.  The first couple weeks were a bit startling and overwhelming.  So many new things to see and do and try to understand.  I was exhausted.  And thats not even from teaching.  There are flashing lights on every corner.  The side walks are not even (much like Baltimore) and even then, the cars sometimes frequent the sidewalks.  I feel like i always have to pay attention to what i am doing and where i am going.  Otherwise i would run into something.

So, i will be updating much of my life here.  Im sure i will write a lot in the beginning and probably forget to add new things near the end of the year.  I apologize in advance for not blogging daily or maybe weekly.  I seem to be more of a binge blogger.  Regardless of when i write, you can always find more here.  And feel free to email me more about any certain event or thought.

Thanks for visiting,

Alissa