Tuesday, December 25, 2007

CHRISTMAS

So, Merry Christmas to you. Right now, it's 10:38 p.m. on Christmas night for me...making it early morning Christmas for most of you.

I worked today, making 3x overtime for the day. I played a penguin twice, and Santa Claus twice; all the while singing Christmas carols with Korean children and their families.

Christmas is relatively new to the Korean people. While it is a celebrated holiday, and they love both presents and Jesus; it is still somewhat of a new concept. Generally, they do not know or understand the traditions I grew up with. But they're learning, and it's exciting for them.

There were many more people at the park (English Village) today than I thought there would be. On a normal day, the park would mostly consist of school children, here for the One Week Program. But today, there were mostly families in attendance. All told, there were probably more than 300 people here today. That's more than normal...at least for this time of year (so cold). I would venture to guess that Disneyland's estimated park attendance will be over 65,000 for Christmas Day. So comparatively, 300 was a breeze.

Candy, one of my co-workers, gave me a bag of chocolate covered raisins with this message attached: "You've been naughty so here's the scoop: you get nothing but reindeer poop." One of the funniest things I've ever heard. I hope you enjoy it.

Candy (and me in my new "set")--
In my limited time here, I have made a few observations, which could change given more time. I have noticed that the kids are generally reserved, and do not wish to volunteer for things. They do not want to be singled out, they do not want to participate on an individual level. I have noticed this while I've been walking around in town as well. It's almost as if they are afraid of being an individual. They do not want to stand out. You don't see Koreans wearing baggy pants and torn jeans (unless that's the specific style). You don't see Koreans wearing sideways ball caps or chains or jackets with safety pins in it. They have a specific mold, depending on their age, and they generally stick with it. I find that interesting.

I intend to spend New Year's Eve in Seoul, where, no doubt, there will be a celebration. It might even be on television. I hear there is a ball drop there. So far, this is the only chance I've ever had to do something really different for New Year's. I look forward to the experience. I'll be sure to share what happens. I'd like to know--what is the most exotic place you've been for a New Year's event? Or what's the most exciting thing you've done to celebrate the New Year? I spend enough time talking about ME, and what I'M doing--I'd like to hear about you.

I've failed to mention some of the other foods I've tried since being here. At Uno's Pizzeria, I had broccoli cheese soup (and I ate all of it--thank goodness there was lots of cheese in there). Chris made some guacamole, and I had a couple dips of that. It wasn't horrible. A little scary, but not horrible. You see, I've had this rule...at least for the last few years. The rule is: if I can't pronounce the word of the item, the item doesn't go in my mouth. So it's kept me from trying a lot of different things.

Group at Uno's Pizzeria in Ilsan (on the left is Tonya, Chris, Andrea, Carrie, & Rachel; on the right is Candy, Sarah, & Chad)--
At E-Mart, when I had my big shopping spree, where I spent over 130,000Won, I bought butter. Weird butter. Organic butter. I thought it would be lovely. It ain't. It tastes like fish feet. I know; fish don't have feet. But can you imagine what they'd smell like if they had them. For some inexplible reason, the butter tasted like fish feet. I do not use it any longer...except to cook with. When it's melted, the horrid taste goes away. But I can't spread it on bread or anything unless I toast the bread, and the butter can be melted. Yuck. So much for trying to eat something organic. I don't care if it's supposed to be better for me, it's no good to me if I'm dead from the horrible taste.

I was so fortunate this past week at E-Mart to walk past the frozen food aisle. There I saw a most pleasant sight. Tony's Pizza. They were small, personal size "Pizza For One" microwavable pizzas. I thought they'd be super expensive, because stuff that's clearly from America usually is. But each was around $2. I bought only two, because I was concerned that they wouldn't be very good in the microwave. I couldn't have been more wrong. They were DELICIOUS. I say "were", as in the past tense, because I ate those puppies right quick. Not in the same day; I know what you were thinking! But I'll definitely buy more of those on my next trip to E-Mart.

Yesterday, being Monday, was my only day off for the week. I again went to Ilsan to do some shopping. Towards the evening, after watching "The Golden Compass", I had a craving for McNuggets. McDonalds was right there...and I couldn't help myself. I wondered if I could go a year without having McNuggets, and the answer is NO. They don't offer the 10 or Super-Sized 45 pack here in Korea. I had 6. So very good. Not chicken, for sure, but so good.

Also, while in Ilsan, I bought myself a "set". I think I've mentioned what a "set" is before. Set is a common term used in Korea for just that; a set of something. Instead of a Value Meal, your burger, fries, and drink are called a set. Well, yesterday, I bought a dress shirt set. It includes a tie, a dress shirt, and a sweater. Many Koreans wear these things together. I heard that is a European style. Well, I don't recall seeing this style in America, and I really like it. Basically, they wear a dress shirt and tie, like normal, but then they wear a sweater, which often serves as a sort-of vest, over that and then a sportscoat. It looks very nice. The sweater is the big difference for me, and I really like it. It's just something different, and I enjoy it. I also bought some Korean made tennis shoes. Merry Christmas to me!

My dress shirt set (chocolate brown and pink)--
"Service" is something else I've mentioned before. Service is basically when you're given something free of charge. I've bought a carton of milk, and taped to the side of the carton is a tiny carton of milk. That's service. I have paid for an hour of karaoke, and when the hour is almost completed, they add on an extra 20 minutes. Service. I even bought a box of cereal a few weeks ago and taped to the side of it was a bowl. Convenient...service.

Well, this past week was the strangest bit of service I've seen so far. I bought a box of cereal...and with it, I received a small pair of pink and white gloves. They were taped to the box. Some other cereals had beanie hats taped to them. The two items are completely unrelated to one another; but that's service. Something free. This country is so neato.

This past Saturday, I sang at a benefit for UNICEF. It was organized by one of my co-workers, and I volunteered to perform in the benefit. Until that night, I realized I really hadn't had the opportunity to do something that I really enjoyed since arriving here. I guess what I mean is, I haven't felt "in my element" since I arrived here. My time here has been spent catching up with everyone else and learning all the new things I need to know to survive.

Needless to say, it was great to get up in front of an audience and sing a song. I sang "This Is The Moment" from Jekyll & Hyde. While you can view me singing this song on youtube.com (from a karaoke party), Saturday night's rendition isn't uploaded yet. I do have the file of the entire concert, if you'd like to see my part, or any part of the concert. It's 1.4G in size, and takes a while to download (10-15 minutes for me); but if you'd like to see it, I can send it to you. Just ask. You can easily download it, watch it, then delete it. No harm done.

I've only been here 5 weeks. I've got quite a stint in front of me. Is there anything you want me to buy for you? Something cool and Korean/foreign? Just wondering.

Before I go, I wanted to mention the things I miss most about America. I don't think I take many things for granted, but this experience heightens my understanding of that concept.

I miss the beach. The sound, the smell, the easy access, the freedom of the beach.

I miss my car. My car was more than my car, it was my buddy. I miss my buddy (his name was Eugene). He is with a new family now.

I miss ice cream. For some reason, the ice cream here just doesn't cut it. It simply doesn't taste the same.

I miss the weather. Predictable at best, and boring at the least; it was still better than this. The weather in South Korea reminds me of Louisiana mixed with Seattle mixed with Washington, D.C. Gloomy, cloudy, cold and humid. No doubt the summer will not prove any friendlier. Perhaps the coming spring will be nice. I shall see.

I miss legible road signs.

I miss being able to go ANYWHERE and know I can communicate without charades.

I am very fortunate that I do not have to miss Dr. Pepper, Burger King, Frosted Flakes, Tony's Pizza, and karaoke...for they are in plentiful supply here in Korea.

There are also some things I simply don't miss. These may go without saying, but for the sake of creating a longer blog and making a point, I will list them.

I do not miss traffic.

I do not miss driving in said traffic.

I do not miss my cell phone...nor the accompanying bill.

I do not miss the constant and belligerent news media.

Count your blessings, name them one by one.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Another Week's Events

It's just time for another update. Nothing monumental has happened, but enough little things have happened to warrant another blog (which is short for web-log, in case you didn't know; I didn't make this up, I'm just blindly following the masses).

Here are some random photographs and descriptions of various things I've encountered recently.

The ENTIRE stock of cereal at E-Mart (this is a disappointingly low amount of choices for me)--
This is one cereal that I have in my cupboard, notice that it has SUNFLOWER seeds in it--
Recognize this? I also eat this--
A random menu outdoors in Ilsan--
Sunset in Ilsan--
I assume this is "National Treasure 2"--
One thing I have noticed, but have failed to mention, since I've been here in Korea, is the high number of older women who are working. They are called "ajummas", which is a Korean word meaning either a married woman or an older woman. There are many of them that work here at English Village. But they don't work behind a desk, or in the restaurants; they are the groundskeepers and cleaning people. Every day they are all over the campus doing various duties. I have seen a lady in my building several times on her hands and knees cleaning the steps that lead to the second floor (on which I live). Literally, she was scrubbing the metal part of the step. Later, she was mopping the steps. I've seen them shoveling snow, I've seen them emptying trash. They do a lot of tough jobs. And they are all so nice. Some of these ladies are in their 60's. It just surprises me that they have jobs, and tough ones. I'm not used to seeing that in America. Sure, there may be a few older ladies who work at the grocery store as clerks, or at the bank, but not mopping, sweeping, and cleaning. And it doesn't just apply here at the Village. Every town I've been to, I've seen ladies working, and working hard. I don't know enough of about this culture to know exactly why that is, or even if it is necessary--but it's just something that has caught my attention.

Some of the "ajummas"--
Along with that, something very interesting (and something I personally love) about Korean culture is that there is NO tipping. You do not tip at a restaurant, you do not tip when you get a haircut, you do not tip when getting out of a cab. Even at the gas station, where it is ALWAYS FULL SERVICE in Korea, YOU DO NOT TIP. It is not considered rude to not tip, it's the standard. I love that. I just love it. One of my least favorite things about living in America is the constant tipping. Here, in Korea, they do a good job no matter what. They do a good job because it's the RIGHT thing to do--not because they want to get a tip. That's a big problem with the work ethic in America. When I worked as a host at TGI Friday's in Arizona, I saw a constant and belligerent bitterness set in with the servers about their tips. It's all they were working for. They weren't serving people because it was their job, they were serving people so they could get a tip. And whenever they didn't receive the tip they thought they should--they went crazy. It was overwhelming. Now, in all fairness, in Arizona, I can somewhat understand their feelings...because they only get paid around $2.13/hour; and they really do rely on those tips to offset their salary. But in California, the servers get paid minimum wage (at least) PLUS tips. But the attitude and poor work ethic are the same. I could do a study on it. Korean work ethic vs. American work ethic. I don't think you'd be surprised at the result. But needless to say, I appreciate the fact that I get treated well in Korea, for no other reason than because it's the right thing to do.

On a completely different subject, my foot is slightly fractured. I went to the doctor on Monday and had x-rays and a sonogram (like the little camera to see the baby through the mommy's stomach). It's nothing serious, but I now take 6 pills a day to keep the swelling down and the pain absent. And it works, but it's quite a story.

Every Monday, there is a free shuttle that takes us from the Village to Ilsan. I think I've spoken of it before. The shuttle is really just a van, that fits 12 people, including the driver. There have been times in the past where the driver has allowed 14 or so people to take the shuttle. But this particular Monday, we had 16 people shoved into the van, and two people waiting outside, wanting to get in. Well, the driver refused to take us. But none of this was made clear to us. In case you didn't know, I don't speak Korean. So anything the man said, I had no idea. It became more clear when he opened the driver door, removed the keys, and walked away. But we all just sat in the van still not knowing what exactly was happening. The man said nothing.

I started to get quite angry. I really have no problem is there are simply too many of us, and the driver can't legally take us. I see that. But I do have a problem with the lack of adequate communication to let us know what is happening. I could easily take a cab to Ilsan, or even take the bus.

Well, a few minutes passed as we sort of sat there in wonderment. Finally, the man came back and motioned for us to get out and get in the big bus. Oh yeah, they also have two giant buses parked right by the van shuttle. But we just figured the man was either unwilling or unqualified to drive the bus. He wasn't.

So, fortunately, we all got to go in the big bus--just this once!

Well, I had intended to go to the doctor in Seoul, because I was told the doctor's and the staff spoke English at this specific clinic in Seoul, which many Westerners visit. However, there is also a clinic in Ilsan, but the English is a bit more sketchy. The main issue was that no one was going to Seoul, and I certainly wasn't going to go by myself, because I was more than certain I'd somehow end up either underwater or serving in North Korea's army; neither of which appeal to me at present.

As I didn't want to force anyone to stay with me for my doctor's visit, I intended to go alone. They pointed out where the hospital was, and told me all they knew. "You may have a problem at the reception desk, but just say that you hurt your foot and you need to go to the 'International Clinic' on the third floor". Seemed easy enough. Oh, but no.

As the rest of my friends got into a taxi to drive away to the shopping center, I walked myself to the hospital, within sight of our drop off point. I walked to the reception desk, and did my practiced routine. "I need to go to the third (while I held up 3 fingers) floor, the International Clinic." The two kind gentlemen behind the desk looked cluelessly at each other. It's remarkable how funny this sight is, by the way. Imagine the scene. An American comes into your place of business. He starts speaking English, a language you and your buddy know nothing about. You and your buddy just look at each other, trying to figure out what this person just said. Well, maybe it's not as funny as it is hopeless. Anyway, I did what any other person would have done. I lifted up my foot, and said, "Ow". Without a pause, they immediately understood and put up 3 fingers and nodded their heads "Yes". I needed to go to the third floor. Okay. I passed the first part of the gauntlet.

I walked up to the third floor. I thought it would be clear where to go...but it wasn't. The third floor had about 10 different practices. Fortunately, there was English written on the signs, along with Korean. I saw the "Family Medicine" center, the "Obstetrics/Gynecology" section, the "Plastic Surgery" section...and finally the "Foot/Ankle Center". I figured this is where I should go. When I walked in, there was one girl behind the desk, and no one else around. No patients, no doctors, nothing. I handed the woman my passport. I had to do the foot-pick-up charades "Ow" game again, and she understood. She didn't speak much English. She motioned for me to follow her. She got up from the desk, came around, walked back outside the office, and pointed back to where I had come from. I had to first go to the counter and do something. I had no idea what. So I went to the counter, which appeared to be some sort of check out/payment place, and I took a number. When 185 was called, I approached the desk. A nice lady took my passport and asked if this was my first visit. Yes. I signed some stuff...no idea what...and then she printed some papers and tore something off and gave it to me and told me to go back to the office. So I turned around and went back to the "Foot/Ankle Center". This time I gave the nice girl behind the desk my slip of paper, and she motioned for me to sit down. I saw a magazine rack, with a GQ magazine with Tiger Woods on the cover. I thought I'd do some light reading before I was seen. Well...the GQ magazine was completely in Korean. I sat back down to watch some Korean television.

After about 10 minutes, another patient in a wheelchair wheeled in and parked next to me. It was this older gentlemen. We sat. And sat. An hour passed and nothing had been said to me. And by this time, the number of patients had gone from just me to at least 10 people. I finally saw some doctors walking around. I wondered if I'd come in at lunch time. Finally after about an hour and a half, a nurse called me into a room. There were two doctors sitting at a desk. One was at the computer, the other was seated next to him. Only one of them spoke English. The one at the computer just listened and typed things on the computer. I took off my shoes and socks (both pairs) so the doctor could examine my foot. At first he just lightly poked and prodded. After that he began pulling and pushing. Not so lightly. Where there had been no previous pain...there was now pain. He had pulled and poked pretty fiercely. I clenched the table when it was painful. He spoke pretty good English. I explained why I thought my foot was hurting and how long it had been going on, etc. He said he wanted me to get x-rays. Okay. So I put back on my shoes and socks (only one pair, because I knew I'd have to take them off again) and walked back to the main desk. I didn't know where I'd go for the x-rays, I just figured they'd be close by somewhere. Well, another doctor told me that I needed to go to floor B1 to get x-rays, but first I had to return to the counter and pay for it. Okay.

So I left the "Foot/Ankle Center" and headed back to the check out/payment desk. I paid around 115,000Won, got another slip of paper, and took the elevator down to floor B1. I thought it would be clear where the x-ray place was...but upon my arrival to B1, I realized once more, that I was hopeless. I walked down the hallway to the right. Nothing there. I walked back down the hall to the left, and saw a hospital employee. I simply asked, "X-rays?" and she pointed to where I needed to go. Very nice.

I approached another desk and handed the woman my new slip of paper. She said something very quickly in Korean...and I just sort of said...sorry. She said Room 7 and pointed to her right. I saw a door marked with the number 7 on it, and a symbol that looked familiar. I think it's the symbol that was on the case containing the plutonium in "Back to the Future" that Doc Brown had taken from the Libyans in order to make them a bomb, but which he instead used to power his flux capacitor and make time travel possible. I'm pretty sure that's the symbol that was on door number 7. Whatever. I like "Back to the Future".

I waited for another 20 minutes. There were many other patients rolling around in wheelchairs or on gurneys waiting for their x-rays. A nice doctor came out and called my name and looked right at me. I figured it was my turn. He took me into the x-ray room and asked me to remove my shoes and socks (the one pair). I did so. Then I stood up on this platform and was directed in the different positions I was to stand in order to get a proper x-ray. Never having received an x-ray on my feet before, I didn't know what to do. So, the kind doctor and his assistant had to really move me around to show me what to do. I took 3 x-rays and was done within 3 minutes. So easy. I put back on my shoes and socks (the one pair)

I was then told to return to the 3rd floor.

I went back to the elevators and returned to the 3rd floor. I almost stopped by the check out/payment desk just in case. But when I walked back into the "Foot/Ankle Center" the nice girl behind the desk clearly remembered me, and motioned for me to sit and wait. By this time, there were quite a handful of people waiting to be seen. After just a few moments, I was signalled back into another office within the center. Here, the doctor who directed me to B1 asked me to sit up on the table and lean back...after taking off my shoes and socks (one pair).

He sat down next to the table, next to a big machine with lots of gizmos. He smeared some weird jelly goop onto this thing that looked like the handheld scanner from the grocery store and applied it to my foot. I realized now what he had said earlier. He had said something about x-rays and something else. But I didn't understand him, so I just nodded. But he was saying I was going to get x-rays AND a sonogram. Ah. Now I felt like a pregnant mother catching a glimpse of her baby. I had seen enough movies to know what the jelly goop was, and that this little grocery scanner was a camera. Okay. He moved this camera thing all over my foot. Then he even went to my good foot and looked at it; I'm guessing he wanted to get a comparison. Well, he wasn't really getting to where the pain was, so I tried to point it out for him. So he'd try those areas. He kept squirting more goop onto the camera and moving it around my foot. This lasted for about 30 minutes. He took several pictures and printed them off the machine. It was pretty neato.

When we were finished, he grabbed some rags to wipe all the stuff off my feet. At first he was gentle in wiping off my foot...but then, I suppose without knowing, he sort of grabbed my toe and wiggled the rag around to get the stuff off. This caused the worst pain I'd experienced in a while. I was busy wiping off my other foot...and I may have blacked out, I don't know. Okay, so I exaggerate a little bit--but it was so painful.

After that, I sat down just outside the sonogram room and waited to see the main doctors again. It was just a few moments, and then I was asked into the main office. The two doctors were still there, one at the computer, one next to him. They reviewed my x-rays and sonogram pictures. I got to see my x-rays. The sonogram didn't really reveal anything, but one of the x-rays got a clear view of the bottom of my foot. There are two bones on the ball of your feet. They are small bones right next to each other. They should be round. One of mine was round, the other looked a little like an upside down heart...there was a small fracture on the very bottom of it. It was clear to see. There's the problem.

The doctor said it wasn't serious, and simply that I would need to be careful for 6 weeks. No dancing, no running, no jumping. Oddly, he asked me, "Can you promise me that you won't dance, run, or jump?" I'd never heard a doctor ask that before. I honestly couldn't promise him that I'd not dance, though I would never dance by choice, but that because I was in a show, I may be forced to dance. I could certainly control running and jumping. He said walking was fine, but just to be careful. He prescribed medication, to be taken 3 times a day. I take 2 pills at each meal. One pill is for pain, the other is anti-inflammatory. Needless to say, my foot has not hurt at all since I started taking the medication. Not even a little bit. Granted, I don't have a Korean doctor violently pulling or poking it.

I don't know how the foot will heal itself, but I should be okay if I just take care of it. He saw that I was wearing athletic tennis shoes, and he suggested that I wear only those all the time, because they provide good support.

Funny enough, I never saw another American (or non-Korean) my entire time at the hospital. Each time I thought I saw another American (or at least another non-Korean), I would be wrong. Some Koreans, even at a distance, clearly don't seem American. Their clothes give them away. But there are many Koreans who have a very Western style. I'd see someone walking in the distance and think, "Oh, another Westerner." But as they got closer, I was wrong. My time in the hospital was very interesting. I was so incredibly alone there. It was such a weird feeling.

After I got the prescription, it was time to leave the "Foot/Ankle Center". But I had to return to the check out/payment desk to pay for something else. I really have no idea what I was paying for. I paid around 13,000Won for something; I don't know what. I figured it was the prescription, which I figured would be filled in the hospitals pharmacy. I saw a place labeled "Pharmacy" when I first entered the hospital, on the first floor. After paying, I went down to the first floor and went to the Pharmacy window. I gave the woman at this counter my new paper, that I assumed had my prescription information on it. I could clearly see the English words "Lodine (200mg)" and "Stillen (60mg)" on it. She said something quickly in Korean, as if I understood it, and pointed towards the exit doors. Okay. I figured I was simply at the wrong pharmacy window. Perhaps it was outside and around the corner like she motioned. Well, I exited the hospital and began walking around the entire building. When I was halfway around the building, I found the main entrance. I realized I'd done something wrong. I again went to the reception desk, near the Pharmacy, to find out what I'd done wrong. The two kind gentlemen from before were gone. There were two nice ladies and one security guy. I showed them my prescription paper, and she understood that and walked with me to another counter that I hadn't been to yet. I was becoming afraid. Clearly I'd missed something. I hadn't regretted being alone in the hospital until this moment. How was I going to get my prescription?

So the nice lady took me to another desk, and a nice woman at that desk realized what I needed. I did more charades showing that I needed to get the pills somehow. She understood. This woman now walked me outside of the hospital and pointed across the street to a building. That is when it clicked. I needed to go to a regular pharmacy to have the prescription filled. It seems so obvious now, but I didn't get it before. I figured if there was a pharmacy in the hospital, why would I need to go to another pharmacy to get it? Whatever. I thanked the nice lady for walking me outside and showing me where to go.

I walked across the street to what was clearly a pharmacy. I gave the woman at the counter (what is this, like my 14th counter of the day?) my prescription paper and she gave it to the pharmacist, then rang me up for the charges. Many stores like to quote the price to me, in Korean, as if I understand how much I'm being charged. At this point, I really don't care how much I'm being charged, because I have no choice either way. I just feel awful that I don't know what they're saying. Anyway, I pay 25,400 more Won and wait for my prescription to be filled. It only takes a few minutes. Another nice lady calls me up to receive my pills. I figured they would be placed into a bottle like EVERY OTHER prescription I've ever received in my entire life. However, the woman holds out this intestine-long connection of the pills. I've never seen anything like it. She asked if I could speak Korean, and I said, "No, I'm sorry." So she spoke in nearly perfect English to me. She said I needed to take two pills at each meal, for two weeks. She put the intestine-like pill package into a bag and handed it to me. I thanked her and walked out.

The intestine-like pill package--
I was at the hospital for around 3 1/2 hours. From about 12 noon to 3:30. I hadn't eaten lunch. By this point, my stomach had began to devour its lining. I was starving, and all I could think of was Burger King. I wanted to reward myself for making it out of the hospital in one piece; and for doing it all on my own. I began walking from the pharmacy back to the main road where I was sure I could find a taxi. But would I know where to go or what to say? I had to trust that I'd had enough practice being with people who knew what to say to remember the right things to do.

I found a taxi, and opened the door and said, "Burger King, Western-Dom ga joo sa yo?" I was asking to go to the Burger King at the Western-Dom shopping center, and the "ga joo sa yo" is the "go, please" part. He nodded, and we began our trip. As we neared what I knew was the Western-Dom shopping center, I began to question if I knew where the Burger King was. I realized I wasn't sure if it was at Western-Dom or at La Festa, a shopping center next to Western-Dom. We got to Western-Dom, and the driver said something like, "I don't know where Burger King is, do you?" I said to turn Left. He turned left. I was in familiar territory, because I'd been here several times before, but I couldn't remember exactly where Burger King was, and of course I didn't know street names. We came to a T, and I said to turn Right. He turned Right. Another T, another Right. When he took another Right, I realized we'd just made a perfect square. One left and 3 rights makes a square. The driver chuckled, as did I. I said, "I know. Right here is fine." I knew I just had to get out and walk until I found the Burger King. I paid for the ride, thanked the driver, and headed north. I realized that I was indeed wrong, and that I needed to head back the direction I'd come from. It was just a 5 minute walk from where I was dropped off. But now I know for sure where the Burger King is. It's in La Festa, not Western-Dom. You learn by doing, right?

And what a rewarding meal it FINALLY was.

My view from Burger King in Ilsan--
On another different subject, I was recently informed that I will not be charged utilities for the month of December on account of my move. Joyous news. I immediately turned on my heat! Now my apartment feels more like a home than a polar ice cap. It really was like a true polar ice cap, not one affected by Al Gore's version of global warming. I can live somewhat comfortably now, at least until the end of this month, when I will return to the fear of being overcharged for heat.

And finally, my apartment is clean enough for me to show you pictures of what it looks like.

A 360 degree tour of my palace:
Window/Sliding door/Upper Level Balcony Entrance, and Clothes on drying rack--
The Bed and Storage Suite (the bed is retrieved by pulling the handle)--
The Entertainment Centre--
The Hallway/Main Entrance Plaza, Kitchenette on the right--The Kitchenette area, Water Dispenser and Communication Kiosk--Communication Kiosk, Window/Sliding Door/Upper Level Balcony Entrance--
This is the Bedroom Suite and Storage Area with my bed accessed (x2)--
The Before (I abhor doing dishes)--
The After (the smell gets to you eventually, and even the strongest crumble)--
So that's my place. It's small, relatively cold, and small. But it's home. =) I'm happy.

Christmas, for me, is in three days. I'll be working that day. It's just like the good old days at Disneyland; working on holidays. And I will be getting something like 3x overtime pay for the day, as well. How fun. I'm not sure what I'll be doing. They may have special plans for that day.

The decorations at City Hall (that's real snow)--
I hope you are somewhere with loved ones and are ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus and the birth of GIANT over-commercialization and consumer gluttony (not to mention some literal gluttony).

A lamppost shot--
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

What a Day!

This day was unbelievable. It started out similar to nearly every other day. Well, not exactly.

It snowed again last night. I noticed it at around 10:30 p.m. when I was walking home after watching "SuperGirl" at Chad's. That movie is so bizarre, and really so terrible. But anyway, it was snowing. It was great. I could hear people in the distance yelling and screaming...probably having another snowball fight. That or someone was being killed. Whatever.

So I woke up to a beautiful sunny day with snow everywhere. However, that was the most normal thing that happened all day.

View from my palace--
A leaf in the snow--
At around 4:15, as I was just starting the "Snowy Mountain Challenge" game, one of the other edutainers came in and stopped me, saying I needed to leave immediately--I had to fill in for Derek in the show. I am Derek's understudy for the show "Winter Wonderland" which just opened on Dec. 6. I'd been to a lot of the rehearsals, and I learned the choreography...but I had never tried on the costume, I'd never done a FULL rehearsal on the stage. Oddly enough, yesterday was my first day even having any kind of rehearsal on the stage.

Anyway, I started to freak out a little bit. I had 45 minutes to prepare. The show was going to start at 5.

So, I quickly walked over to the Concert Hall and entered the dressing room. There's Derek, swollen ankle and all. He had twisted it in the previous show (we do 3-4 shows each day--they're only 40 minutes long). All the other actors were there, already in costume, getting ready for the show. Yikes.

I quickly went over all the choreography in my head. I wasn't worried about the lines, I knew those...and honestly, even if I didn't do them exactly--we are not presenting Shakespeare to these middle-school age Korean children. I could make my way through it. But the choreography was another matter entirely.

You'll note from my previous blog that my foot has been hurting. Well, my ankle isn't twisted or anything...but my foot is still in a little bit of pain. The pain however wasn't my main concern. My main concern was making sure that I both knew and remembered how to execute the choreography--correctly.

In the show, my character is Raggedy Andy; Tonya plays Raggedy Ann. Fortunately for me, she is also one of the choreographers. So, we quickly went on stage, before the audience arrived, and quickly worked on some of the dances. I was in my socks.

Then I saw the shoes I was to wear. They were ballet shoes. Black, thin, ballet shoes. Okay. Well, without being graphic...they were small...and it hurt my feet. Whatever. Better that then go barefoot.

So, I did the show. I got my mic on, I suited up in the alien costume (don't ask) and I went out there and I did it. It wasn't perfect, by any stretch of any imagination; but I had fun doing it, and I did my best. I didn't nail MOST of the choreography; but I said my lines MOSTLY correctly without using bad language, and no one died. Those are my two indicators. "Did I use bad language and did anyone die?" If I can answer NO to both those questions; I've done okay.

I was not "nervous" per se, but I was worried that I would mess something up for someone else. I don't think that happened...at least not dramatically. I didn't knock Chris over while he was using the stilts. I didn't punch a penguin. It's a very exciting show--a lot goes on. You just gotta see it.

I think Derek will be fine tomorrow, for the 3 performances that are happening...so I don't think I'll have to go on again. I'm slightly worried about my foot, because certainly doing all the dancing and jumping around causes it pain; but I'm ready if I need to go on. I've never been an understudy before--it's quite exciting. Called to duty in a moment's notice. I'm like a Minuteman--ready to do battle within a minute's notice. I guess more accurately, I would be a Fortyfiveminuteman; but it's the principle.

Okay, that's not all. So, the show was fun. I'm glad I did that, it was very exciting. Several weeks ago, some of the edutainers who've been here the longest planned a return trip to a children's home they've visited before. It is basically an orphanage/group home for abused or abandoned children. Many in our group have been before. This time we were to go and sing Christmas carols with them and for Santa to bring them candy. That was tonight.

I just got home.

The home (arrow is 2nd floor where we were)--
What an overwhelmingly amazing experience. If I don't return there at least 10 times before I leave Korea, I think I will have done a disservice to myself and certainly to the kids.

The place is about 30 minutes away.

We arrived at 7:30 p.m. tonight, and could only stay an hour, as the children have to go to bed. The children (around 40) were assembled on the second floor in what I assume is their "play" room. It has hardwood floors and there is a slightly raised stage at the front, with a piano. There is also a big screen TV with microphones and what appears to be their own personal Noreabong (karaoke) machine.

When we walked into the room, they were all seated on the floor. As soon as we walked through the door, they started to wave and loudly say, "Hello!" It was immediately overwhelmingly positive. We had to remove our shoes, as is customary. I could say we were bombarded by children...but bombarded is much too serious a word. There were 12 of us, and we all had kids surrounding us, shaking our hands, saying things to us, both in English and Korean. Some kids simply wanted to shake our hands, others wanted hugs. Throughout the visit, several kids played with the little patch of facial hair I have under my bottom lip. Also, they found the hair on my arms fascinating. I could speculate that this is because Korean men do not have much hair, facially or otherwise, but that would just be speculation.

I'd say there were around 10 middle school age kids, and 30 elementary school age kids. Once we all made our way into the room, we assembled on the stage, and the kids sat on the floor in front of us. The woman in charge, who couldn't be more than 40 years old herself, began to introduce us individually to the kids. She would say something to the children in Korean, and they would say, in unison, "What is your name?" and we would answer. Once we said our name, "My name is Jason", they would all loudly say, "JASON" and laugh. They did it to everyone...especially Candy, because candy is a word they're very familiar with. It was adorable.

Kids (x2)--
After we were introduced, we began to sing various Christmas carols, including "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas", etc. The kids would sing along when they knew the song. Those two are ones they know pretty well.

The group on stage--
Once we finished singing, we all went into the audience and just started playing with the kids. What's remarkable to mention is, though it may come as no surprise, Korean kids are exactly the same as any other kids. Kids love to play. Girls generally do their own specific things, boys generally do their own specific things. Boys like to climb and hit. Korean boys are no different...I'm speaking from personal experience. Let me just say, I'm glad I was wearing several pairs of pants.

Kids were literally climbing in, around, over, and through me. I was attacked from every angle. I did the spin thing that all kids love, where you grab their hands, they grab your hands, and you spin them around so quickly their legs come off the ground. They enjoyed that. I was cautious not to hurt anyone...though kids seem to have no threshold of pain. They just run all over each other, nearly all the time. Remarkable.

Kids Attack!--
Somehow, I got this hand-slap game going. Not the painful kind where you rest your hands atop the other persons, and they maliciously slap your hand if you're not quick enough to pull away; but the one where you clap your hands together then clap your right hand and the other person's right hand together, then your hands together again, then left hand to left hand, etc. I never really played that as a child, nor did I find it fun or amusing. So this night, I didn't originally intend for it to be a game, I was simply giving a kid a high-five, and it kept going. Well, it was fun for the one kid...but then nearly EVERY SINGLE child wanted to play it with me. So I had kids pushing other kids out of the way to play, and I'd show them how to do it, and we'd play for a bit, then another kid would shove them, and they'd learn how to play; this went on basically throughout the entire time I was there. After a kid would play for a few seconds, he/she would run away and do something else; but they'd eventually be back. I was dragging kids from both arms and carrying kids on my back and spinning kids around and playing the hand-clap game. Exhausting.

Then it came time for Santa to give out candy. Talk about insanity. The place went hog wild. But we got them into a line, and they came up and got some candy. When they'd all received 2 pieces each, that's when the real chaos started. Santa began throwing the candy out into the crowd, well this was like a shark attack. Kids were flying around at warp speed. Since the floor was hardwood, and of course, no one is wearing shoes, so they're literally playing slip and slide all over the floor. Great idea, Santa!

Santa--
We played for a little while longer, but our hour was soon up. We took a group picture with Santa. The kids all said "Bye" and we began to gather our things and the children began to disperse. A few hung around to literally hang on us, which was fine by me. The kids were all generally sweet and so cute. This one girl in pink came to me and said, "Bye" and I gave her a hug and said, "Merry Christmas". It was just incredible.

This same girl had played the hand-slap game with me about 50 times, and during the middle of my time there, I was getting very warm, so I removed my sweater. I had a long sleeve shirt on underneath that, but the girl saw me put my sweater on top of the shoe closet at the entry way. As I was nearing my shoes, she walked over, reached way up to the top, and grabbed my sweater for me. I said thank you in English and Korean. She was so kind. Then I took her hand and we walked down the dark stairway to get back outside. She started to count the number steps in English. There were 19 steps, and she made it to 11 all on her own. I counted with her from twelve to nineteen. Precious.

This visit wasn't just to sing carols or visit with the children, we'd also participated in a 60/40 raffle for the home. We bought tickets, and 60% of the money raised would go to the orphanage (who gets 60% of their funding from the government and the rest from donations), the other 40% would go to one lucky winner. I didn't win, but no matter. Tasha, the person who headed this whole thing up, went to the office with the head lady to give her the money. So a few of us waited outside with the kids who had stayed behind with us.

The girl in pink stayed with me. I would say she was between 10-12 years old, and she spoke very good English. She started to say goodbye, but she was being very funny about it. Before we walked down the steps, she had said goodbye, and I repeated it, but I was being silly and I sort of made a sad face and made sobbing noises. So she started doing this to me. It was very funny. At some point, we started singing the word "Goodbye" and she started to conduct my singing. I was being silly and singing like an opera singer (a girl in this case), and she thought it was hilarious. She would lower her hands to make me sing quieter and then bring her hands up to sing louder. Then she and another girl started to sing like it to. We did this for about 5 minutes. It was quite amusing.

When it was truly time for us to leave, the two girls who I'd been singing with took my hands and we walked to the taxis. We did some more singing, and they showed me some funny dances before I got into the taxi. I hugged them both and said thank you and Merry Christmas.

The girl in pink ran along side the taxi as we were leaving and kept singing, so I kept my window down and I was singing out the window. I can't describe what that feels like. It was just...overwhelmingly positive.

The Girl in Pink--
If I don't return there at least 10 times before I leave Korea, I think I will have done a disservice to myself and certainly to the kids.

What a day.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

21 Days

Figuratively speaking, God could have created the world 3 whole times since I've been here in Korea. Heaven knows I can't compete with that kind of creativity...but what have I been doing?

I may start to sound like a broken record, but I truly feel like I've been here for months and months. I'm not sure what it is about our brains that make the passage of time feel like this--but it's worth studying.

With all that I'm doing, I realize that I may run out of new experiences relatively soon, but I will continue to share them as they come along.

Well, this past week finally allowed me the chance to move into my apartment, where I'll be for the rest of the year. Up to this point, I'd been living in a small dorm-type room, with two twin beds, two desks, a small room with a toilet, and a small room with a shower. No place to wash clothes, no microwave, no stove/hot-plate; no way to cook food. So, finally, this past Wednesday, I got the OK to move into my actual apartment. The apartment buildings are named after our galaxy's planets. Chad, Chris, Sarah, and Mike (among others) live in Mars. Candy, Alena, and Tonya (among others) live in Jupiter. I live in Saturn. How nice. I'm the only edutainer (I think) that lives in Saturn. We're all relatively close together.

So I moved all my things into my new place, and did my best to get situated. It was, by all accounts, freezing cold in my apartment. The phrase "freezing cold" has taken on new meaning here...a more LITERAL meaning. I now realize how flippantly people use that phrase back in sunny, southern California. While I spent 4 years in snowy Pennsylvania, I am still getting used to walking out into the air and immediately wanting to go back inside and get under the covers.

Every Wednesday, we have a company meeting. This week was my 3rd meeting. Basically, it's just a time for us all (the edutainers and our immediate supervisors) to come together and talk about what's going on and make announcements and stuff. Well, at the meeting this week, the subject of our gas prices came up. Apparently, we are being charged an exceedingly high amount for gas. Gas runs our heat, and our hot water. Well, in my first living space, I wasn't paying for the gas...since I wasn't in an apartment, so I felt free to use my heat. Well, now that I'll be paying for my own heat, I want to be more cautious. I don't know exactly what's going on with the prices we must pay, and I certainly do not want to make enemies here, but it sounds like we are being treated unfairly. By whom, I do not know exactly. One of my co-workers says she has not used her heat in three months, but is being charged up to 100,000Won ($100!) for heat per month. I refuse to allow that to happen to me. If there's one thing I love, it's a good fight over injustice. I don't want to make threats, but I will not be crossed.

So, albeit reluctantly and rather stupidly, considering the weather, I decided NOT to use my heat through the month of December. This way, I can see if I will be charged, and determine for myself whether we are being treated fairly. Believe me, I am not opposed to paying for something--if I am paying what is reasonable. Not one of my co-workers feels the rates they're paying is reasonable or fair. In fact, there is some mystery surrounding exactly what is going on. So, until I know more...I have chosen to allow myself to freeze to death in the confines of my humble abode.

This all leads somewhere. While my space heater is wonderful...the space it heats is quite small. If I have it at my feet, my lower half is fine, while my upper half freezes. If I have it on my desk, my hands and face burn off, but my feet are freezing. And attempting to sleep the first two nights was murder. I did not sleep well...because I was so cold. I had a shirt, a sweatshirt, long pants, two pairs of socks, and a beanie hat, and I was still cold under two comforters. So...I needed to do something. An electric blanket was suggested. Brilliant idea. If I was in America, I could have simply gone to Target, asked a nice employee dressed in red, "Where are the electric blankets?" and would have received an answer. This is not possible in South Korea.

I went into Ilsan, which you're all familiar with now. It costs about 17,000Won to take a cab there, and if you travel with others, it's a great way to get there. While the bus is cheaper, at only 1,500Won, the bus takes nearly 3 times longer. There is a free shuttle from English Village (EV) that takes us there on Mondays, but otherwise, a cab is the quickest way to get there. In that way, this place is like NYC, there are cabs everywhere in town.

I went to Ilsan with Chris and Sarah, two other edutainers who are great people who I enjoy greatly and get along well with.

Chris and Sarah walking in Ilsan--
I desperately needed to get an electric blanket. Chris and Sarah were kind enough to guide me to a place where I could get one. But first, I needed to eat. No use looking for something to warm yourself while sleeping if you're dead from not eating.

Chris mentioned that there was a Burger King not far. I chuckled. I'd seen KFC, Pizza Hut, and McDonalds, but not a Burger King. I do NOT eat burgers from McDonalds. I honestly think it has been a full 10 years since I last ate "beef" from McDonalds. I have nothing against McDonalds (I thoroughly enjoy their McFlurries and McNuggets), but I do have something against what they call "beef"...for it certainly doesn't taste like beef. Regardless, I really hope to go one year without setting foot in a McDonalds.

The Ilsan Burger King--
But Burger King is another story. Their flame-broiled burgers make me very happy. I hadn't eaten Burger King since arriving in Korea, and even the thought made me smile. So we ate at Burger King. I got the number 8, which was a double-cheeseburger with bacon. In Korea, it isn't considered a Value Meal, per se, it's called a Set. If you order the number 8 Set, you get fries and a drink with it. While the fries tasted sort of fishy (and I mean that literally), the burger was everything I'd hoped it would be. It was even better than the burger I had at TGI Fridays. It's nice to know that some things don't change; whether they're artificially flavored, then frozen and shipped to California or South Korea. BK will be my home away from home.

Oh, in case you were wondering, men talk on their cell phones while using the bathroom here in Korea, too. That disgusting and unjustifiable breach of etiquette is not limited to America. Just thought I'd clear that up if that was a mystery to anyone.

After the intake of way too many calories in a bovine fashion, it was time to find an electric blanket. Little did I know of the difficulty this seemingly innocent task would cause.

First, we went to a store called "HomeEver" which Sarah and Chris thought for certain would have an electric blanket. When you enter stores like this one, and also E-Mart, you are greeted by an employee who smiles and bows and welcomes you. At "HomeEver", a nice young girl greeted us in English. Something I've learned, it is not uncommon for Koreans to stop a foreigner and attempt to converse with them. For instance, Chad and I were stopped in the subway station in Seoul and asked where we were from. When Chad replied "Canada", the man started talking about how he'd been to Calgary, etc. I guess they get so few chances to practice English, they take every opportunity.

Anyway, when we entered "HomeEver" the nice young girl greeted us in English, which is very nice and uncommon. We started looking around for electric blankets. Comforters and blankets were everywhere, but nothing we recognized as an electric blanket. After searching for a while, we found the heater and dehumidifier section. I have never seen something like this before, but they have electric mattresses for sale. You are not to sleep under them, as with a blanket, but you are to sleep on them...directly on them, like a mat on the floor. And they aren't designed to go on a bed, they are actually designed to be on the floor. Chris and Sarah weren't surprised. They said that when they first arrived in Korea, they stayed at a hotel, and the hotel had no beds, just these type of heated mattresses on the floor. You probably have the picture in your head that this is like a mattress...thick and fluffy. Well, no. It isn't more than two inches thick, and isn't really padded at all. It's just a mat you put on the floor. Very bizarre to me.

This wasn't what I needed, or wanted, so we asked around. Well, no employee spoke English well enough to understand us, and we didn't speak good enough Korean for us to understand them; so we were at an impasse. Then we remembered the nice girl at the front who greeted us. We ran to the front to try and describe to her what I needed. It's amazing how difficult it is to describe these two words: electric and blanket. Well, I acted everything out. I got on the floor and covered myself up with an imaginary blanket, then I got up and plugged the imaginary blanket into the wall and rubbed my hands on my upper arms--showing that I was warm. She got the word "blanket" and the word "electric" and started walking very quickly...we followed. She arrived at the section with the electric mattresses...foiled again. We thanked her and she went back to her post.

Perhaps they did have electric blankets, but we'd exhausted our current resources. So we left. When we passed the nice girl again, she said, "See you tomorrow." It was very funny. I don't know if she meant to say tomorrow, as in the next day, or meant simply at a later date.

Chris and Sarah had another idea. We then walked to a place called "New Core Outlet". It's basically an outlet mall. Neato.

When we arrived at New Core, we went to the 7th floor, which was the House Wares and Bedding level. We saw much of the same brand comforters and blankets that we'd seen at HomeEver...but no electric blankets. I confronted a nice older lady who was restocking some shelves and asked about "Electric Blanket"...she just looked curiously at me (the way a dog looks at the answering machine when it hears a voice coming out of it), and began looking for another employee. I'm assuming she was trying to find someone who could speak English. I followed her to another nice older lady who attempted to help me. She knew a few words of English and did her best to help me. I again did the charades game of pulling a blanket up to my neck and then dragging a pretend cord to a pretend plug...and it worked. The woman knew what I meant. She was searching and searching for the right words. She was trying to say something like "We have it, but not here" and Chris specifically asked, in Korean, "Not here?" and she nodded. She pointed downward and said "One". I didn't know if she meant the first floor or go down One level...so I said, "Sixth floor" and put up 6 fingers. She nodded no. Again, she said, "One". We all said, "First floor". She nodded yes. Okay. Great. We were pretty sure she got what we were looking for.

So we went back to where we started from. The first floor. We walked around the first floor--and found nothing that resembled a blanket. While we walked around, with amusing looks by the workers as we circled the entire floor twice, Chris noticed the floor below us, B1, said it had miscellaneous items. He suggested we try there.

All these floors are relatively small, and you can go up and down on escalators over and over and over and over again, or if you're lucky, there's an elevator. Anyway, we took the escalator down to floor B1 and began to search. This was the Food Court floor, in addition to the other miscellaneous things. Then we saw there was a sort of general store in the corner. As soon as we walked in, Chris noticed a shelf RIGHT BY the registers with bags of blankets that said, "Electric Blanket" right on it--in English. Success. I was thinking I'd have to pay around 50,000Won for a blanket, but this double size blanket was only 39,000. Excellent.

The darling older woman on the 7th floor was absolutely right. I knew there was something else she was searching to say to us, but never got it out. I'm certain she was trying to say "B". I sent blessings to her telepathically (did you know that Koreans are all telepathic?). I finally found my electric blanket.

We shopped some more and then headed home.

Now to put the blanket on my bed. As I mentioned, I hadn't slept well the previous two nights, due in part to the cold weather, and was hoping for a good night's sleep using my new blanket.

Once I opened the package, I found the directions...entirely in Korean. That shouldn't be a surprise. Fortunately, they had little drawings to help describe whatever was written. Thank goodness for those. And just as a note, I want to say that most drawings or diagrams that you see in Korea are very cartoon-like. These drawings on the directions weren't of actual people, but looked more like little anime people. Very funny.

Anyway, I noticed a picture showing a person holding the blanket up to their neck, just as I'd done earlier when playing charades with the various store employees. But this picture had an X on it. Hmm. This seemed to say I cannot use it as a blanket. Then I saw another picture. It showed a person laying flat on the blanket. The cord was to be on the side near the head, not the feet. The picture next to it showed a person lying on the blanket, but with the cord near the feet, and it had an X on it. The one with the person lying on the blanket with the cord near the head had a Circle on it. I assumed this was the correct form.

Fine. Weird, but fine. Fortunately, I found no picture saying that I could not put it on my bed, so I did. But instead of using it as a blanket, I guess I was to use it as a sheet. So I put it right on top of my fitted sheet, plugged it in, and turned it on. It started to warm up. Good. I then took a shower and happily awaited my warm bed.

I got into bed, right on top of the blanket. I began to laugh, because it was SO wonderfully warm. I just lay there on my back enjoying the warmth. I had on a shirt and sweatshirt, socks, and long pants. I soon became so wonderfully warm and decided I didn't need the sweatshirt or the socks. Plus, I turned down the dial.

I went to sleep warm as I'd been since leaving California. However, I cannot say that I slept well. Ultimately, I think it was too warm in there.

For the next night, I warmed the bed like usual, while taking a shower, then when I entered the bed, I lowered the dial to below one. This was much better...but I didn't necessarily sleep better. While I do not know why I did not sleep well on the blanket, I do know that I had some very strange dreams while sleeping on it.

I'm sure I dream every night...but I very rarely have vivid dreams or even dreams that I can later remember. That is not the case with my first two nights sleeping on the blanket.

The first nights dream is the most bizarre of the two. What I remember is being in a store, much like "HomeEver" and seeing Ashley Simpson (sister of Jessica Simpson) grow angry, then dump her shopping cart, which included her baby, into a trash can. Hmm. In the dream, I knew exactly who this girl was, and I ran around the corner to find her sister and tell her what Ashley had done. But in my dream, her sister wasn't Jessica Simpson, it was Britney Spears. Yeah. How bizarre. Well, anyway, I told Britney Spears what her sister was doing, and she got angry and went to fix the situation. From there, all I know is that I was hanging out with Britney Spears and talking to her all about the pressures she's been facing, and how mean the public is to her. It was a very interesting conversation. While walking with her, anytime she would see anyone, she would smile and speak very politely to them, I assumed in an attempt to change her public image. It was very strange. From there, I was at Britney's house...which wasn't a house at all, but more like a group home. It was one story, and looked sort of like an old dentist's office from the outside. Very strange.

I was then somewhere else. To my left was the singer Steve Green (who I just saw in concert in Monterey, CA before flying to Korea) and to my right were two guys I'd never seen before. We all walked until we found a bench, and sat down. The guys to my right never spoke, but I was in constant conversation with Steve Green, the subject of which I cannot recall. All of a sudden, a brilliant lightning storm began. Though the action was in real-time, the lightning was going in slow motion. It was nighttime, and the lightning was very clear above us. Then, to the left, lightning started to streak upwards from the ground. It was quite something. That's it for the first dream.

The second nights dream involved me taking an airplane trip from somewhere in America here to Korea. But I apparently was on the wrong flight. I was on Korean Airlines, instead of Asiana Airlines, which I actually took to get to Korea. I was with a large group of people, none of whom I knew, and I was in the plane right behind the captain. No one seemed to be able to tell me where we were going; not even the captain. I was deciding whether or not I should get off the plane and find the one that would take me to Seoul, my actual destination. That's all for the second dream.

So perhaps I've purchased some sort of cursed voodoo blanket...I don't know. Regardless, my bed is much, much warmer, and I wouldn't exchange that for anything.

On a completely different subject, I have somehow hurt my right foot. I am not a dancer. This should come as no surprise to anyone. However, part of my duties during my time here in Korea, unfortunately involves dancing. So, once I got here, I was involved in several dance rehearsals. This means I take off my shoes and flail around a room on a somewhat hard surface. Within my first week here, I began to notice a slight soreness on the very bottom of my right foot. I figured it was from my dancing.

During my second week, I played an awesome game of Ultimate Frisbee out on the big soccer field here at EV. My foot remained sore up to that point, and continued sore afterward; frisbee didn't seem to make any good or bad difference there.

The Soccer Field--(notice the large & colorful letters in the background)
But now, into my third week, my right foot is in extreme pain. My big toe cannot be moved in any direction, lest it shoot pain through my entire body. My foot is somewhat swollen.

I know not what to do.

I will see a doctor within this next week, and I'm sure things will be taken care of. In the meantime, I'm taking it as easy as I can, considering I must walk everywhere around here, and there are literally a million steps all around to get anywhere. Also, I'm icing my foot to keep the swelling down.

I'll be fine. I have medical insurance here and will have to travel to Seoul to do everything, so it'll have to wait until next week.

Christmas is coming. There are Christmas trees and other decorations all over EV, and while it's very exciting, it just doesn't feel like Christmas. Either because it's so cold and there is no snow, or because my family is no where in sight. Either way, I know it's coming, but it just seems so strange.

If you're feeling particularly caring this time of year, feel free to send me a care package. I would love it.

JASON HAMMOND
GEV, PAJU CAMP
1779 BEOPHEUNG-RI, TANHYEON-MYEON
PAJU-SI, GYEONGGI-DO, 413-780
REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Just a thought.

Anyway, while the weather still continues cold (and promises to be even colder), I am enjoying some of the pictures I'm able to take. The occasional frost or light snow dusting are quite lovely to photograph.

The Frost--
Blessings upon you.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Two Weeks Down, Fifty To Go

Sunday, December 2, 2007 marked my two weeks in Korea. What have I learned and done? Well, let me tell you...

I've only been here 14 days, but it feels like 2 months have gone by. I've mentioned it before, but life here is like living at camp. At camp, because you work and live so closely with your co-workers, you get to know them at a more rapid pace than in the "regular" world. So one WEEK in a camp setting is similar to one MONTH in the real world. That's exactly what this feels like. Because we are all from different places in the world (just like camp), and we have come to this far-away place for a such a specific reason, we connect on a different level. There is a stronger form of solidarity here than anywhere else. It really feels like I've been here 2 months.

Also, I should mention, the "dream" feeling hasn't worn off yet. The place is starting to lose its luster, so to speak, and it's becoming more of a reality than a dream, but it still doesn't seem right that I'm in South Korea working as an actor for Korean kids.

This past week, I spent most of my time working on the upcoming game show, "Snowy Mountain Challenge". The "Gold Rush Challenge" show is being replaced, as it is now winter season. I've been drawing, tracing, laminating, cutting and velcroing mittens, gloves, scarves, and boots for the Snowman part of the game show. I feel like a 1st grade teacher. Quite exciting...albeit different from what I thought I'd be doing.

I'm also writing a script. We are just starting the winter season, and the shows are opening this week. So I'm writing a script for the next season, which would start in March. They'll be reviewing scripts this next week to see which two get picked. They only do TWO shows every season, and they run for three months. I'm not writing one because I have to, I'm doing it so I can get the hang of it, and because it's fun. The theme is the 1950's. My basic idea is a "Back to the Future" meets "Peggy Sue Got Married". Four characters are at their 30th High School Reunion and are reminiscing about their high school days. One of the characters says something like, "Those were the days. I can remember it as if it were yesterday..." and the scene quickly changes, and we find the same characters (looking younger) back in school in the 1950's. My tentative title is "Those Were The Days".

The biggest difficulties lie in the ESL (English as a Second Language) factor. I'm not writing a script for Hollywood. This is for Korean kids who may or may not speak English. The story must be very simple and somewhat repetitive to help them learn. We have to keep their attention with various questions, songs, and dance numbers...all of which are difficult for me to create from nothing. So that's why I'm working on it before I technically have to.

That's basically my day-to-day.

Now, I want to tell you about some of the most interesting things I've done in the past week. I'm constantly learning and absorbing.

Last Monday (my first day off), a group of people went to a town called Ilsan. It's a little further away then Gumchon, and costs 1,500Won ($1.50) to take the bus there. The group was going to watch the Elizabeth movie, eat, and shop. That's the fun thing to do around here.

So I went along. I didn't necessarily have the strongest desire to see the Elizabeth movie, not that I was opposed to it, but I hadn't seen the first one, and would rather have seen something else. Well, they didn't have much at the theater. Plus, it was difficult to read the information...because it's umm...in Korean.

Well, there is TGI Friday's in Ilsan, along with a McDonalds, Baskin Robbins, 7-Eleven, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, and KFC. It's insane, but hilarious.

Ilsan--
So we ate lunch at TGI Friday's so I could once again taste a hamburger the way it should be cooked. It was delicious. After lunch, we went to Noreabong, a.k.a. karaoke. There are Noreabong places literally everywhere.

One thing you should know about Korea is that most restaurants and entertainment venues are not on the first floor of any building. As I have come to find, the bottom floor is usually a store, clothing or cell phones or whatever, and then you have to walk up some stairs to where the Noreabong places are. TGI Friday's, for instance, was on the second story above a clothing store. The movie theater is on the 8th or 9th floor of a big building.

Movie theater--
So, at Noreabong, I sang some more fun songs. The microphones have tons of reverb on them, just like I like it. I've just put some videos up on youtube.com called, "Phantom of the Noreabong". Check them out. You'll see what I'm talking about. Those videos (four of them) are from this specific outing.

After singing for an hour, my voice was tired. I didn't know what else to do--because I'd never been there before, and I can't read a single sign anywhere around...so I had no idea what to do.

Well, in Korea, they have this thing called DVDbong...I'm not sure if that's just our translation for what it is, but basically, it's a small theater you can watch movies in. Again, like the Noreabong, where you pay for your own singing room, at DVDbong you pay for your own room, along with picking the movie you want to watch, and then you watch it. It projects onto a screen in a tiny room with couches. It's incredible. I didn't know such things existed. Well, we picked "Meet the Robinsons", the Disney/Pixar movie. I had never seen it and really wanted to. PLUS--they had free ice cream at this place! INCREDIBLE. They give you a room, with leather couches and ottomans and pillows and everything, including blankets and a bowl of candy. You control the volume and the lights, but everything else they do for you. It's perfect if you don't want to go to the movies, or if you don't have a nice system in your house.

Oh, and very FEW people in Korea live in houses. They live in these HUGE apartment buildings, sometimes up to 16 stories high. I noticed this my first night as I was in my taxi going from the airport to the village, but I just thought they were big office buildings. And mostly all the lights were off, and I thought, "How nice, they all have their lights off". I mean, when you drive through LA, even late at night, the office buildings still have tons of lights on--and I don't think anyone is there. But it turns out, these huge buildings are not offices at all, but apartments. They're everywhere, I mean, everywhere. Apparently, Koreans do not want to live in houses, because they don't want to have to take care of yards and all that stuff. In apartments, they have all that taken care of for them. They don't rent, however. They buy an apartment. And though I haven't seen them, they apparently have large conveyor belt type things that help move things in to the high stories. I can't imagine carrying a couch up 16 flights of stairs...or trying to fit one into an elevator.

Anyway, we watched "Meet the Robinsons", which I quite enjoyed, in addition to the free ice cream. I'll definitely visit that place again. So that was Ilsan.

Thursday night, for dinner, my friend Chad (from Canada) and I went to Gumchon for pizza. After trying the spaghetti here, I was not willing to try the pizza here. Chad assured me that the pizza in town would be better. He was right.

We went to a place called Pizza Screen. It was a nice quaint place with couches for seats and a nice view of the street below. There seemed to be only one person working at this restaurant, a nice older gentleman who I assume is the owner/manager/server/cashier, etc. He was very nice...though he spoke no English.

This brings up an important point, one I want to make mention of presently. Living in both Arizona and California has certainly given me a broad perspective on immigration, both legal and illegal. It has given me insight into the jobs immigrants have, and the languages they speak, and where they speak them. I know I have found myself upset by their lack of knowledge of the English language, as they are in America where English is widely spoken. I do not feel that I have been uncompassionate, but I do feel they must bear the responsibility of learning the language that is spoken in their new country. In their home, they can speak whatever they like, but out and about it is their responsibility to learn our language, and not the other way around. It may sound harsh, and it may even be harsh--but that is the reality.

Thankfully, as I said, I do not feel I was hostile or uncompassionate in any of these circumstances. And here in Korea, I find myself in their shoes. It is not the pizza shop owner's responsibility to learn my language and work hard to communicate with me--it is MY responsibility to learn his language, as I am in his country. I learned a valuable lesson this day.

The poor guy tried to take our order. Chad's been in Korea for more than 2 years, so I left it up to him to do the talking...he certainly knows more than me. We just wanted a pepperoni pizza...nothing fancy or alive to be on our pizza. So Chad did his best to ask for just cheese and pepperoni on the pizza. The guy said, "One minute" in Korean, which Chad understood. The guy came back with a whole onion in his hand. Chad had asked for no vegetables, so I think the guy was just clarifiying. The man walked away, and I feared what was going to happen. "Did he really understand?" "Are we going to get squid and rice on our pizza?"

Well, when the pizza arrived, it looked normal. It had cheese and pepperoni on it. It was delicious. I was so glad.

Here's an important difference I noticed: when people in LA talk to Spanish speakers who don't understand English, they get frustrated and bitter towards them, often forming a mean-spirited stereotype in their head. When people in Korea talk to English speakers who don't understand Korean, they are kind and compassionate and do their best to understand. Big difference.

I have learned some words. The most important ones are "Hello", "Thank you" and "How much". I've also learned the manner in which you talk to people, though it's not unlike the traditional American way. When speaking to older people in Korea, there are actually different words to use in conversation that show them respect. Some other interesting observations about respect: when eating, you do not pour your own drink, allow someone to do it for you. You are to use two hands when pouring someone a drink--this is a sign of respect.

After dinner, Chad and I walked down the street to do some shopping. I was looking to get some jeans, and definitely some winter gloves, and possibly a winter jacket. Throughout the evening, I saw a lot of Korean soldiers dressed in their fatigues. All boys are required to be in the military--it's not even a draft--it's the law.

Well, they have plenty of shops for you to look at...though they are typically very tiny in size, and boy can they cram a lot into those spaces. It's insane, and I'm sure it's against any sort of fire code...though I'm not sure they even have a fire code here. I'm not sure they have an FDA (Federal Department of Agriculture) to make sure the food is safe...who knows? But I digress.

No one lets you just shop by yourself, they literally stand right by you and sort of loom over you--it's in an effort to help you--but it's really annoying. And because they're SO helpful, I feel bad when I don't buy something.

I found out an interesting and rather distressing thing about myself while shopping. In Korea, my pant size is not 32, it's 86...yikes. And my coat size is not 38, it's 100. Frankly, most things in Korea are backwards from the way I've come to understand them. Kilometers instead of miles, centimeters instead of inches, meters instead of feet, liters instead of gallons, celcius instead of Fahrenheit. For example, it's 20 degrees Celcius in my apartment, and it's 2 degrees Celcius outside, though the weather service says it feels like -3. Nice.

The money is the easiest thing of all--when it seemed like it would be the most difficult. If you simply move the decimal point 3 places to the left, you get the basic amount in American dollars. For instance, something that costs 150,000 Korean Won, is basically $150 American dollars. Very easy.

Anyway, while shopping in Gumchon, I found a beanie caps on sale for 1,000Won. What is that in American money? $1. Amazing. I bought two more. I also bought a good scarf for 1,000Won.

Then, for dessert, we went to a place called Lotteria, which is basically the 'Jack in the Box' of Korea. All I wanted was some ice cream. At Lotteria, I bought an ice cream sundae for 1,000Won. Well, they don't call it an ice cream sundae, they call it a sundae ice cream. Backwards, I tell you.

One other thing I've noticed during my tenure here is that they don't mind clearing their throats and spitting and hawking things all the time, everywhere. It's quite gross, but I'm told I should just get used to it. Okay.

Also, there are NO trash cans. I saw a guy just throw stuff on the ground, because there is no other place to put it. I've noticed that about the Village itself, as well. It's certainly not like Disneyland, where you can stand in any one spot in the park and see at least 10 trash cans.

And driving around here is another thing. People run red lights, mostly taxis and buses, but they just drive right through them as if they're not there. And cars basically do whatever they want here, I've seen numerous cars just stop in the road, on the side usually, with their hazard lights on. Or they flip u-turns wherever and generally drive crazily. It's insane...though living in LA prepares a person for just about anything.

And in many places along the street, attached to the lamp posts, there are red/blue lights that look like mini police car lights, and occasionally they flash--but no one knows why; everyone I've asked doesn't know what they do. So confusing.

Then yesterday, for my second weekend in Korea, I went to Seoul, the capital city. Seoul is a big, bustling city. ItMost of the other edutainers don't regularly go to Seoul for things, because Gumchon and Ilsan are so much closer, and thusly cheaper to get to. I wanted to go to Seoul simply to see it. So, while most of the other edutainers were leaving to go to Ilsan for their movie and dinner day (every Monday), Chad was kind enough to accompany me (who am I kidding, I was accompanying him, I had no idea what I was doing).

Seoul (day/night)--
We took the 900 bus to Gumchon (1,000Won), then transferred there to the 9709 bus, which took us directly to Seoul Station (1,700Won). It took about an hour to get to Seoul. From there, we went underground to the subway. It looks remarkably like New York City's system, sans the graffiti and the English instructions. I'm thankful Chad was there to be the guide. I would have been completely lost. As I was walking through the subway, I got the overwhelming feeling that I was living in an altered reality. Did you ever see "Planet of the Apes"? I'm not saying Koreans are in any way similar to apes, but I definitely felt like I was in a familiar place, but there were no familiar people around. I was the outsider, the minority. It is indeed very humbling.

Seoul--We took the subway to Dong Dae Mun Station, about 3 miles away from Seoul Station. As we came above ground, I got my first real glimpse of the city. It really did feel and look like New York, specifically the random smells and the people hawking goods all over the street. The first stand I saw was selling gloves and earmuffs. I desperately needed some winter gloves, and earmuffs wouldn't be a bad idea. Wearing beanies is fun, but when you take your beanie hat off, your hair looks like you're either Mrs. Frankenstein Monster or you've just been electrocuted. So, I got a nice pair of thick, thick, winter gloves for 5,000Won. They make these earmuffs that are similar to headphones, where they wrap around the back of your head and don't affect the status of your hair at all. Those were 2,000Won. I put them on immediately, and instantly felt better. It was probably 40 degrees outside. We headed for the Dong Dae Mun Stadium, which at one time, I suppose, was a sports stadium that has now been turned into a giant flea market. You name it, they have it for sale there. It was incredible, and we didn't cover even 1/3 of it. The center of the stadium, where the field would have been, is the parking lot. Under the stands all the way around the stadium (basically 360 degrees...though I'm not sure if that's Celcius or Fahrenheit...kidding) is the flea market. Food (I will again refrain from mentioning anything I saw), furniture, clothes, and electronics galore. Tons and tons and tons of stuff. Much of it is second hand, but much of it is new as well.

Dong Dae Mun Stadium (x2)--
Stuff sold in subway station--
Talk about cramming lots of junk into a small space. Think of a small closet, then fill it with 100 hats, 400 jackets, 30 pairs of shoes, 20 alarm clocks, 10 different styles of earmuffs, and countless bootleg DVD's. It was incredible, and at times, the smell equalled the incredulity of the place.

I really needed some winter shoes, whether that be just a thicker pair of tennis shoes, work boots, winter boots, or galoshes. I found a nice pair of black boots that had lots of padding and insulation and bought those from a nice Korean couple for 35,000Won. I hope you're keeping up on the price conversion.

Just like in Gumchon, when I was walking around, people try and force you into their space and try to help you to buy something. I was looking at jackets, as was Chad, and these people would just grab the jackets and put them on us. One couple actually took a jacket out of its plastic wrap, cut off the tags and put it on me. It was a very thick and nice winter jacket, that was surely worth the 60,000Won they were asking, but I didn't have that much. None of these places take a card (though I do now have a bank card), and I'd already used most of my cash. While you can barter for just about anything at this place, when I said all I have is 35,000Won, the woman pursed her lips and motioned for me to go away. Well...sorry.

We continued to walk around and I found DVD's 4 for 10,000Won. These didn't look like bootleg ones, they just looked odd. Since I'm used to seeing odd things shopping at places like Big Lots, this was nothing new, other than being unable to read all the package said. I bought "Michael Crawford In Concert", though I already have it. I bought it because it has Korean writing all over it, and because I don't have the DVD with me in Korea. Neat trinket to have. I also bought "Elton John: One Night Only" concert video, a Celine Dion concert video, and the movie "The Phantom of the Opera" starring Robert Englund, of Freddie Krueger fame. I have never seen the movie, and thought this may be the perfect time to buy the movie. Whatever.

This is one of the funniest things that's happened to me since I've been here. I was looking for jeans. Well, I found a neat pair for 5,000Won. But I can't buy jeans without trying them on, right? Well...they don't have fitting rooms. I realized this as soon as Chad asked if I could try them on. The woman grabbed a sheet and hung it up on some clothes, making a small area for me to try the jeans on. I said to Chad, "If these don't fit, I'm in some trouble." I didn't want her to go to all this trouble for me, and then not buy the jeans. I also said that if they fit, I had better buy them; perfect or not. Well, once I entered my make-shift fitting room, I realized that I was wearing my thick new boots, along with two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, 3 shirts, a jacket, a scarf, my thick new winter gloves and my thick scarf. It was quite an ordeal, but I did it. I tried on the jeans, they fit just fine, and I bought them. Very silly.

It was getting to be dinner time, and I certainly wasn't going to eat anything from the flea market. Look, people, while I am trying to be open to new things, I don't think I'm ready to just immerse myself in everything. Baby steps, I tell you.

I didn't need anything else from the flea market, so we left and headed to a place called I-Park, which is basically a giant mall. There is an E-Mart there, along with a movie theater, a car show, and a Food Court. We went to the food court and I ate at Lotteria...remember, that's the Korean 'Jack in the Box'. I had a double-cheeseburger. It wasn't too bad. Better than the one I'd had here at the Village, but not as good as TGI Fridays. Chad had some soup thing...I tried to remain open. I actually tried some rice with dried seaweed. While I didn't die...it wasn't one of my favorite things. Chad said that it just tastes really salty, and while that was certainly true, I also felt that I was drinking the salt from the Atlantic Ocean. No fun.

Chad's Soup--
After dinner, we headed back to the subway station. I wanted to get a cable for my video camera, so I could hook it up to my laptop, and there was this big electronics store I'd read about. It was just two stops away from Seoul Station.

While I didn't find the cable I was looking for, I did find a camera bag for my video camera (12,000Won) and a cool speaker for my laptop (16,000Won) and a microphone headset (7,000Won) that I can use to talk to people who have Skype (look it up). This electronics store was 9 stories high. It had just about everything. It was insane.

Electronics Store--
But the day was not over.

We headed to E-Mart so I could get some groceries. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, they charge for plastic grocery bags, but you can box up your food for free. After food shopping, I had quite a few bags of stuff. Most was stuffed into my bookbag, and the rest in my bag from the electronics store (the only place that charges for plastic grocery bags is the grocery store--the other places give them to you if you buy something). So in my hands I had a box (I made a convenient tape handle) and a bag full of the rest of my things, along with my bookbag on my back. Quite exciting.

Before heading home (it was only about 8:00 p.m. by this point), Chad wanted to get a coffee from the conveniently located Starbucks (they're all over), and I wanted to sing Noreabong again. So he got coffee, I ate a piece of tiramisu, and then we headed across the street to the Noreabong place. 15,000Won will get you 1 hour in the room. And usually, they provide you with something called "service", which here means, they give you something for free. For instance, when we did Noreabong in Ilsan, the guy in charge gave us 30 free minutes in addition to our hour, and he also gave me a free bottle of water. The people are very kind and generous.

So, once again, I sang my brains out trying to sing like Richard Marx, Simon & Garfunkel, Clay Aiken, Heart, Josh Groban, and Savage Garden. Fun times had by all.

We did get an additional 20 minutes for free, but after that, my voice was done. Yes, I let Chad sing some songs too, but his voice got tired as well.

After that, we headed back to the subway to get back to Seoul Station and catch bus 9709 back to Gumchon, then the 900 bus back to the Village. Each subway trip costs 900Won. They have a wonderful thing in Korea called a T-Money card. This is a card that you can use on the subway and bus system throughout Korea. You simply put a certain amount of money on the card, and you scan it as you enter the subway station or the bus. It's easy and convenient. I bought one of those when we first got to Seoul.

It was nearly midnight by the time we got home, but what an adventure.

Anyong-haseyo (hello), cam sam ni da (thank you), al miyayo (how much). Gumchon, Ilsan, Seoul. I've done all this in just two weeks. Granted, I have a lot more to do...but what can I accomplish in a year?