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?