One Year in Korea

Today marks my one-year anniversary in Korea. I feel happy, settled and am enjoying great relationships with my Korean students and colleagues. I have also started Korean classes, and have loads of help and advice from my Korean pals (친구 = cheen-goo = friends). Even my high school principal has come on board with my learning! He checked my homework, and even sent me a bilingual email, to further motivate me to study hard!

I was pleasantly surprised a couple of days ago, when one of the admin ladies came into the teachers' office with a newspaper clipping with a photograph of me! How did this happen?! What are the chances of them actually catching it? Very very sharp eyes, I tell you!

Newspaper clipping of Bernice and I writing our hopes for 2010.

Common Colds, Jabs in the Bum, and Yellow Chinese dust

Well, it's that time of year again. Spring.... Change of season.... Allergic rhinitis time. The time of year when I am most susceptible to throat, ear and chest infections. I know my body's responses to these seasonal mishaps so well, that I am able to diagnose myself very accurately by now. Usually, I can go to the doctor and inform him/her of my symptoms and request a script for antibiotics, and before I know it, all's well. So imagine my huge surprise when I fell sick as a dog after my birthday weekend in Busan, barely managed to drag myself to the doctor on Monday, only to be told that I had a COMMON COLD! How's that for taking the wind out of one's sails! I got a jab in the bum, and meds for 3 days.

I still felt ridiculously ill the following day, so stayed at home. I must say, I have NEVER been that sick from a COMMON COLD. It took all week and into the start of the following week before I began to feel like myself again.

Another wonderful characteristic of Spring in Korea is the Yellow Dust which blankets the Korean peninsula. This Yellow Dust blows in from China and Mongolia (the Gobi Desert). This year, the highest levels ever were recorded on Saturday and Sunday (2684 micrograms per cubic metre). I was in Daegu for the start of my Korean language course at the YMCA. I couldn't understand why my nose was burning so terribly and the sky was overcast with an eerie blanket of what looked like highveld rain clouds. Meanwhile it was the dust, which kept many Koreans indoors for fear of respiratory problems, and apparently drivers and pedestrians who were out and about complained that the dust clouded their visibility.

Busan Birthday 'B'arty

So the big celebration has finally come and gone :) And it was a wonderful one.

On Saturday morning, Bernice and I made our way to Busan, on the South Coast of South Korea. Busan is the second largest city in Korea, after Seoul. And it is also very foreigner-friendly. The closest comparison I can make is... think of Seoul as Johannesburg, and Busan as Cape Town. Almost every sign/notice was in both Korean AND English. And for a change, we saw more than just Korean-made cars! There were BMW's, Chevrolets, VW's, etc. In my neck of the woods (Daegu and surrounding areas, all you see are Hyundai and Kia!)

After checking into our motel, we took a 5min stroll and were at Haeundae Beach, the most popular beach in Korea among tourists. It's like a cross between Camps Bay and the Durban Promenade.

Slaves to fashion: high heels at the beach!

Busan Aquarium

We visited Busan Aquarium, which is not very big, although it took us a good 3 hours to see everything, including a ride in a glass-bottomed boat in the shark tank. All the displays were clearly marked and all the sea creatures appeared to be healthy and well-taken care of. All the tanks contained crystal-clear water. The water in the shark tank looked so inviting, that I was sorely tempted to accidentally fall in, just to be closer to my beloved sharks :) I must say, that this was the most number of sharks I've ever seen in a shark tank... there were at least 10 big sharks, besides the smaller sand sharks.

View from the glass-bottomed boat.

My First Birthday in Korea

Hi again!

Well, not my FIRST birthday, obviously! But you know what I mean.

I woke up to snow this morning. It caught me by total surprise, as I had no idea that it had snowed. I sat down in the lounge, ready to get a grip on world news from the BBC, with my bowl of Rice Krispies (smuggled into Korea in my suitcase on my return from the USA!) and just HAPPENED to glance out of the window, and hey presto! The sight took my breath away! What a wonderful birthday prezzie :)

And so it is, that I have finally reached the wonderful age of 37. This is the age that I always kept in the back of my mind, since I first heard my mother, aunts and older cousins talking about how a woman changes when she turns 37. What wonderful things did they say to each other? (Obviously these things were not meant for the ears of a certain little mouse!)

Things to do when you turn 37 .......

1. Lie about your age: from now, until at least, your 50-60s, you will always be 36 years old!

2. Crow's feet begin to show at 37. (I have to admit that I actually checked for crow's feet a month or two ago! Not that I could find any!)

How one is supposed to remain 36 with ever-increasing crow's feet is beyond me! Oh, now I remember!

3. Nivea. Nivea is the answer! You know the THICK Nivea cream? That one!

Thankfully, although I have always kept these pearls of feminine wisdom in the back of my mind for such a time as this, i.e. TODAY and forever.... I am happy to say that I have never had a problem divulging my age to anyone, and after reaching this milestone today, I still don't have a problem being honest about my age. Living in Korea, though, already has me accustomed to aging myself even further. Last year, I was already 37. So, here in Korea I have turned 38 today, based on the lunar calendar.

This weekend, some friends and I will be heading to Busan, on the south coast of Korea, to celebrate this momentous feminine coming-of-age. More news on that next week!

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes! I am surrounded by wonderful people :)

To being 36 forever!

A

Reflections from a South African in Korea

Well, I am back into the swing of things here in Korea. Life goes on, as it must.

My visit back home was wonderful. I can't stop looking at all the photos! Memories to be treasured for a lifetime! And yet, it feels good to be back in Asia. Weird, yes, I know.... but as I have had much time to reflect on the oddity of this reaction, it has finally become clear to me. I have made a home for myself in my apartment in Daegon Village, Gunwi-eup, Gunwi-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea. (My mouthful-of-an-address!). This is where 'I lay me down to sleep' at night. It also struck me, during my many hours of travelling reflection, that I am far more familiar with Incheon Airport than either Cape Town or Johannesburg! What can this mean? Hmmmmm ....

Speaking of Incheon Airport, many returning Koreans were sent to have their bags checked at Customs. (Or perhaps they were Chinese! The Koreans certainly mistrust the Chinese!). As for me, I have been very fortunate. I always get waved through. And yet I always have food in my suitcase! One time, I actually had to TELL them that I had beef jerky from Macau which I had forgotten to eat! Only then did they send me to have my bag checked! And even then, the Customs guy was too polite to scratch further, cos I controlled the situation very nicely, stopping any further examination by closing my suitcase myself, thank you very much!

My first few days back at school have been very easy, allowing me to drop off at my desk now and again, thanks to jet-lag and crazy socializing in Cape Town! I only taught 2 classes yesterday (Thursday) and even that was no big deal. So YAY for me! I'm also enjoying Korean food again, after a month of Western eating out, which was lovely, but took its toll on my body, I have to admit. I actually feel cleaner inside, since I'm back, if you can swallow that! (Pardon the pun!)

I experienced this odd sense of being rather pleased with the world and took utter joy in the moment, when I set foot on Hong Kong soil. Firstly, it was the end of a long journey (13 hours of flight from Jhb to HK). Secondly, was the fact that I had returned to Asian soil. I never thought this would happen to me.... that I would be happy to be the odd one out! There I was, surrounded by Asians, and I was happy to stand out from the crowd....literally! Thirdly, it having just re-occurred to me, is the fact that I totally LOVE Hong Kong! Although you might be foreign, and look and sound different, they don't actually give you a second glance. Thus, it is easy to start believing that you look like everyone else there! Whereas, in Korea, there is still that element of staring at foreigners.

I have also been very blessed by my Korean friends here. I came back to letters, emails and phone calls from teachers who had moved to other schools in my absence. I have one ex-coteacher phoning me almost daily to tell me how much he misses me! He even did this in front of his new foreign co-teacher! Ouch!

Weather-wise, my body loves being back here. I still get a laugh out of this.... when we landed in Korea, the temperature was 3 deg Celsius. And yet it felt nice and warm compared to when I had left a month ago. I must have brought the sunshine and heat from South Africa, cos I was the only one walking around in a t-shirt at the airport and feeling quite comfy! Nonetheless, things have definitely warmed up a bit here, with it raining daily. That means it's too warm for snow. This marks the beginning of Spring. And along with Spring, come fun and games :)

I have finally registered for a Korean language course, starting 20 March, at the YMCA. I also have to do an online course regarding teaching in Korea, starting 15 March. So the study bee that has been buzzing round in my bonnet will finally be satisfied for a while. And I have also been invited to a Korean wedding!

It would appear that things are about to get busy again, as they usually do here. Within 2 days of arriving back in Korea, I've received 7 invitations, 4 of which are for this Saturday alone! And that's beside the emails and text messages I received in Cape Town, asking whether I was still in South Africa and when I was coming back, and that they miss me! So while at first, some Koreans may appear aloof (remember, it's just the fear of foreigners), once they befriend you, they are amazing!

Yesterday, I went to pay some bills, etc, and as I was walking downtown, it felt so good as students were calling greetings from all directions. I almost got whiplash from all the times I had to look behind me, or across the street to see who was calling me! ("Andrea! Long time, no see!") And yet again, even a stranger whom I'd never met before, came to talk to me and intro himself.

And then later, I met Bernice at the doctor's before she came over to my place for dinner. And there were 2 young Korean guys, dressed very smartly in their suits and ties, paying what they called a 'business trip' to the doctor. These 2 gentlemen were very pleased to see me and Bernice, and we were rather involved in a very engaging conversation. They have traveled around the world a bit themselves, and so we could share quite a bit. I've never had such a good time in a hospital waiting room! Even the nurses, and another old granny, were killing themselves laughing. One of the doctors kept telling us that these guys are single, and he kept encouraging them to make more conversation with us! Hilarious!

Anyway, guys, as usual, I shall be keeping you posted. Stay tuned!

Love and hugs!

Andrea

My First Korean Church Service

Hi all!

Guess what! Just when I thought that finally, after 10 months in Korea, I have run out of novel happenings, I finally attended my first church service here in Korea. All in Korean, of course!

A few months ago, one of my students had invited me to church, but since I am hardly ever at home at weekends, I hadn't yet gone. Well, when I was in the US, I went to church with my niece and co, to Every Nation in Nashville, which is where they fellowship, with Ps. Rice Brooks. Well, it felt so good being in church again after such a long absence, that I decided that I really must get back to attending church, even if I can't understand a word. As long as the Holy Spirit is there, then it should all be ok.

So, it is that I have just returned home after my first Korean church service this morning. So, allow me to describe....

The church is called Gunwi Evangelical Church. Morning service begins at 11am, but my students came to fetch me at home at 10:30 already. The church is only a 5min walk from I live. When we arrived, many people were already seated, singing worship songs from hymn books. Fortunately, my student, Hyun Ji, who sat next to me had a Korean-English Bible, which included all the Hymns, Prayers, Scriptures, in both Korean and English. So while everyone else sang in Korean, I could follow the music score and sing along in English! When the choir sang, "What a friend we have in Jesus", she was very surprised that I knew it! (We were not using the hymn books, this was choir only). At first it felt very Anglican, with all the responses, etc. They even recited The Apostle's Creed, which had me a bit confused since it mentions "the Holy Catholic Church". As far as I knew, this is not a Catholic Church. The minister is married. And all the usual Catholicisms are absent. They have a choir in lilac-and-white robes, with their songs in identical pink files, so everything was aesthetically pleasing. The minister was quite impassioned during his preaching. As far as the sermon went, the minister started out with "Africa" and "diamonds". He mentioned these a few times, and that's all I understood. At least I could read the Scripture! (Ephesians 1:11-14). Hyun-Ji had asked me if I wanted her to translate, but I felt sorry for her, and told her there was no need, that she should relax and enjoy the service. And towards the end of the service, my name appeared on the screen in Korean, and I had to stand up so everyone could see me and welcome me. The camera was even focused on me :( Funny that that felt normal :)

After church, it was very heartwarming when so many people came rushing over to greet and welcome me. I had finally returned to my celebrity status from many months before! A few of the cafeteria ladies from school were so excited to see me at church, that they practically ran over other people to grab my arm and kidnap me, despite not being able to speak to me in English! It was very sweet!

Then I had to meet with the Welcoming Committee for coffee and biscuits. And lo and behold, my GP and his daughter also attend this church, unbeknown to me. So someone found her, or she came looking for me (I don't know which...) and she ended up interpreting. She attended high school in America, and so her English is fantastic! I can speak to her as though she is a Native English speaker. (I had met her a month ago, when I visited her father when I had a throat infection, just prior to my trip to the US. She happened to be at the hospital with her dad, so she also sat in on my examination and interpreted where necessary.) She has returned to Korea to attend university in Seoul, so I might not see her again for a long time.

Anyway, so the service ended at 12:20 (Isn't that great?! Nice short service.) And after church everyone has lunch together in the building next-door. And this is what they do every week. It was also really cool to see my GP wearing long pink PVC gloves, doing the dishes in the kitchen!

I then had to meet the pastor's wife and the church elders, who told me that they hoped to see me often. :)

And I was also told that a "server" would contact me either today or tomorrow to pay me a visit at home.

So, it would appear that I am to be well and truly "churched" here in Korea this year. My optician friend attends a different church, next door to the Evangelical one, and he has already told his pastor about me and Bernice, and would like us to meet him. So, it seems there's to be a bit of competition regarding who can bag the foreigner? I hope not.

Anyway, in less than a week, I begin my very loooooong journey back home to you all. YAY!!!!

Love and hugs

Andrea

A Snowy Happy New Year!

Hello everyone!
I hope you all had a good Christmas and fun New Year's celebrations. I am totally missing an entire day from my life....I went from 2009 to 2010 without a transitionary New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. Time travel is so cool! But, I am getting ahead of myself. Let me travel back in time again, so I don't completely confuse everybody :)

Well, as you all know, I went to visit my niece, Verna and her hubby, Mike in Nashville, Tennessee. Sharon (from Ohio, previously Cape Town) joined us for the visit, so it was just like old times. I could speak Afrikaans slang, mixed in with my English, and be understood! (Happy times!) Of course, we all ragged each other everytime one of us slipped into 'American'.

With Verna, Mike and Sharon in Nashville, Tennessee!

After having gorged ourselves on good ole' Southern cooking, 

grits and all!

Many Americans here in Korea thought I was crazy to be visiting Nashville. I only understood this when I got there. Nashville is good ole country music city. (Now, I knew about the country music, but I think it was that old evil named discrimination. Americans from the North (New York, especially) seem to look down on and ridicule the country folk down South. Well, let me just say this...Nashville was the best place for my initiation to the USA. You will remember me complaining (often) about the Americans I meet here in Korea. The (country) folk in Nashville were wonderful, kind and friendly. And the funny thing is, that most people living in Nashville, have moved there from other parts of the US or the world. People enjoy the laid-back, relaxed attitude there. Everyone was quite polite, a nice change from the Americans I meet here.

I did however, experience a teeny weeny bit of culture shock, though! Everything was in English! or English/Spanish. A welcome change from all the Korean signage here :). Shopping was an absolute pleasure....it just went that much quicker, cos I was mercifully spared having to decipher pictures on products, trying to figure out what they are for. I was like a little kid, totally in awe of the amount of SPACE! As we drove around sightseeing, I would read the names of streets and buildings out loud, like a real, certified tourist! LOL! Don't mention shopping! Mike (my niece's hubby) had a good laugh when I got all excited that we were going to Walmart to pick up some groceries. I oooh-ed and aaah-ed at all the familiar product names, like someone who's not used to these things, you know? Can you just imagine it? (I'm still chuckling at the memory of it all!)

Culture shock moment #2: Feeling like I wasn't speaking fast enough in restaurants or stores. Placing orders in restaurants and cafes had me in a bit of a dizzy spin. I wasn't prepared for the American server-style when taking your order. It was all over in 30 seconds, and after what seemed like I was being barked at, I couldn't help answering in Korean! How's that for Culture Shock! I was so shocked at the lack of long greeting and bowing, that when spoken to in my native language, I completely forgot how to speak English, and answered in Korean as though I've been speaking Korean all my life! LOL! Lots of fun!

I got a total kick out of hearing new accents around me. I enjoyed dawdling around in stores, just to get an extra earful of Southern Country or Spanish.

Christmas Day was great! We were totally LAZY! We deliberately didn't dress up, each of us ladies cooked only one dish, to make everything equal. And we had a lovely lazy Christmas Day. Well, we couldn't exactly do much more than that, seeing as how we had spent the previous two nights, sitting up and yakking away till the sun came up.

And then just a few days later, I was on my way again, jet-setting back to Korea. And how I enjoyed it. Yes, it was a long haul. From Korea, I flew to Tokyo, then across the Pacific Ocean over Hawaii to Dallas, and on again to Nashville. I flew back in time by 15 hrs, so you can imagine that that first day was a looong one for me! I was eating dinner at breakfast time, and vice versa! It was crazy! And then, returning to Korea, we flew all the way up to Canada, skirted Alaska, crossed the Bering Sea, skirted Siberia, before heading back down to Japan, and then on to Korea. With LOADS of wonderful turbulence! The best I've experienced yet. The kind that makes you shake sideways in your seat and your stomach float in your throat! Lovely stuff! I remember thinking that I now have no reason to fear rollercoasters. After this trip, I can do the stomach-flipping rollercoaster thing! Wowee! Now all I need to do is cross the Atlantic, and then I can truthfully say, that I have traveled around the Globe!

And returning to Korea this time, was much better than last time. I actually experienced an odd sensation of relief! You know that feeling you get when you know the long journey has finally ended, and you are now home? Ghastly, I know, and bizarre to my mind, but yup! It's true. It seems I am now thinking of Korea as HOME! I can't believe it.

So as I was saying at the beginning of this email, I bizarrely lost almost an entire day, thanks to time travel. After leaving the USA, I traveled ahead by 15hrs and thus lost New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. If this confuses you, perhaps the following might help :) .... I left Nashville at 6am on Thursday 31st Dec, and arrived at Seoul at 8pm on Friday 1st Jan. Hopefully this won't affect my sense of time. 2009 might just begin to seem like a reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaallllllllllyyyyyyyy looooooonnnnnngggg year! Which is great! Coz then it means I can continue my 2009 travel trend :)

Anyway, I spent an ABSOLUTELY LAZY weekend at home, sleeping, eating, watching movies. And then back to work today. teaching vacation classes, cos as you know, these poor Korean kids have to attend school during school vacation. Strange, but true!

My first-ever footprints in snow!

And then the most wonderful gift of all! It finally snow-snowed here in my town today, for hours on end, it snowed. Everything was coated within a few minutes. I went outside with the kids to play in the snow. At first, I was just totally dumb-struck. It is a magical thing to behold. The world really does quieten down when it snows. My vocabulary had been reduced to nothing more than, "Wow!" "It's so beautiful!" "Wow!" These four words were all I could say for a long time. The kids were running around, snowball-fighting, one even lay down in the snow. I made my first-ever snowball today, and threw it at a kid! Of course, everyone was freezing afterwards, cos they had just run out in their slippers and socks, without gloves. But would we do anything differently? Of course not!

And when I finally got home, I just dropped my bag, picked up my camera and immediately went trudging through the snow. I took pictures of everything and everyone. Rice paddies literally snowed under. Cars covered in snow, my footprints in the snow, people shoveling snow away from their doors and gates. I even ate a few handfuls of snow! Just for the experience! When I got back home, I was still walking around with a silly grin on my face, and repeating my new 4-word-vocabulary. I am in awe, total awe, at being part of so much beauty. And what makes it even more special, is that this kind of snowfall is very rare in these parts. The ground will freeze over, yes, but it only snows like this once every 5 or 10 years. So, I am definitely here in the right place at the right time! It feels like a special gift from God :)

And so, work continues, just for a few weeks, and then I'll be in Cape Town from February 3rd through 28th.

Loads of love to everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone soon :)

Love and snowy hugs,

Andrea