Did That Really Just Happen?!

As I continue to settle into living in Korea I am still being amazed at how interesting this place is. Most of the time I think to myself, “Did that really just happen?!” Life here in Korea has been fun, exhausting, sad, and extremely funny and kind of mind blowing. In this post I will tell you about what I love about Korea, could do without, and just laugh at….

What I love about Korea:

• The people both natives and foreigners: While being here I have made some met some really great people. Being a coffee lover that I am I have gotten to know the people who works at the coffee shop pretty well (I call myself their favorite foreigner haha ^^). I have met one girl who works there and we have been getting together about once a week to talk and go out to dinner. It has been fun getting to know her and to try and communicate with each other. She is trying to learn English and I want to learn Korean so it all works perfectly! All the Korean people here in Boseong and Miryeok are so friendly and are always very helpful and kind. Being the only foreigner at my country school I am well liked in the community. Whenever I go to the bank I am always being greeted by all of the employers and are always very excited to use the very little English they do know even if it does not fit the situation. The post office is the same way. I have been able to “get to know” the lady who works at the post office and she is always so happy to chat with me whenever I am there. I am continually being amazed at how sweet people are here in Korea and I know that it is because I am a foreigner that I am getting these special treatments but it has been fun getting know all these people.
• My school: I know I told you about my school in my last post and how much I love all my students but I thought I would mention it again because they are really the reason I am in Korea in the first place.

•  Festivals: I love that Korea has a festival going on every week! It really is the greatest because I have been able to go to all these different festivals for free or for very little money. It is great to see how many people come from all over to go to these festivals and to celebrate their community and what it has to offer. I will still say that my all time favorite festival so far will have to be the Jinju Lantern Festival. It was just amazing! If you have watched the Disney movie Tangled, just picture that but without the lights floating in the air just on the water.

• Life here in Korea is cheap: Transportation (buses and trains), motels and hostels, restaurants and bakeries are all pretty cheap compared to the US. Buying food here is a little difficult because it all comes in bulk and can be kind of expensive but I don’t really cook very much at dinner time cause I eat at school so it all works out for me anyways.
• The beautiful scenery of Korea. Coming from the city in America I never thought that I would live in a tiny country town and enjoy it but I do. I have been loved witnessing the beautiful countryside change from summer to fall. I have been able to see the process of the harvesting of the rice as the farmers plow it all up and dry the grains on the side of the roads. Being able to see all the trees turn from green to orange, red, yellow, and brown. And soon being able to witness the winter come in and bring a fresh covering of snow on my little town of Boseong!

What I could do without:

• Kimchi! I didn’t like it before coming to Korea and still not a big fan of it being here. I eat it every day at school out of respect but if I could choose not to have it I won’t. Korean food is starting to grow on me more and more and I am getting used to all of the seafood and mystery meats. I have been able to fill my western food cravings whenever I go to the bigger cities so that is always a good thing too!
• Not knowing how to speak Korean: I have been able to get by this far as being “that foreigner that does not know anything” but I need to start being more assertive at learning. At school I am kind of left in the dark. I never know what in the world is going on and am always being told either minutes before or not at all that my class is being cancelled or scheduled for a new time. I think they think that I can just listen to the Korean announcements and understand everything. My life is me pretty much playing a big game of telephone and charades all the time…

• Missing home: Of course this is normal but on the day that I miss home (which is pretty much all the time) I can get pretty down during the day. It was kind of hard celebrating my first holiday here all alone (and that was only Halloween how depressing it will be during Christmas). Luckily I live in a world where internet is an option! I am always on Facebook and Skype everyday contacting everyone from home, so maybe this year will not be so bad.
• Church: The closest English speaking church is about an hour and a half away from me by bus.

Did that really just happen?!

• Ajummas (Older Korean Women): They can either be terrifying and I try to avoid eye contact with them as much as possible because I think that I will be yelled at in Korean or can be so sweet and you can’t help not to smile. I will tell you my two accounts of my Ajumma stories> Ajummas are aggressive and walk around the town like they own the place. They will walk in front of cars while crossing the street and cut in front of you in any line. The other weekend I was at a festival and went to go use the restroom. The stalls were all full, so like what we do in the states, I waited in line to wait my turn. As I was standing there, a herd of Ajummas came in claiming all the stalls. It was like a crazy fight till the death kind of thing. I waited for like 10 min trying to get a stall and I eventually had to become like one of them and had to cut in front of one of the Ajummas to get in. Whew, what an experience! My second Ajumma story is also kind of hilarious. One day I was trying to catch my bus to go to school but somehow missed it so I had to wait for the next bus and be late to school. I decided to walk over to the next bus stop and wait there so that I would not miss the bus again. As I was walking to the next bus stop which is uphill and 8 blocks away I heard an Ajumma yelling in Korean to someone… I was in a hurry so I did not stop and look back. The whole time this lady was yelling so 5 blocks in I finally decided to look back. This Ajumma was following me the whole time trying to talk to me. Ha I was like uh what is going on here? We ended up talking as waited for the same bus and she turned out to be so sweet. We were “talking” about how I was a teacher at Miryeok Elementary School and that I am from the USA.
• Bus drivers and Cab drivers: These drivers are seriously scary. They pretty much own the entire road and if you come across them you better get out of the way because they will run you over. It is always interesting to be in one of these vehicles… it is kind of like being in a video game but in real life.
•  Noribang (singing rooms/ Karaoke): My favorite thing to do on a Friday/ Saturday night is to go to the Noribang! It is so far better than the states because you get your own private room. My favorite songs to sing are of course Bruno Mars and Carly Rae Jepsen. ^^ Noribang is such a huge thing in Korea that they have individual singing rooms in arcades. Haha it is great!

Smaller Version of Noribang (This is what you find at the arcades)

• I better not forget Gangnam Style! I am so glad that I am here to witness this crazy phase of music right now. It is everywhere and I can’t help myself but join along and dance and sing.

So I hoped you enjoyed my rant about Korea and my experiences over here. Till next time! *^o^*