Travel Blog Part 1

Hey kids,
I'm on my way back to the states for a much needed vacation/quality time with my family. Being that I have an ample amount of time in the form of layovers, I thought I'd share about my travels...
Part 1: Seoul to Tokyo.
Can you believe getting out of the Korea was the hardest part? I was not expecting this. I stayed up all night, cleaned the apartment, took out the trash, etc. and stepped out of the LCI House at 4 AM to go meet the Airport Bus. There are several airport buses, but I was sure about Bus #6009 and even knew how to pronounce the bus stop. Or, I thought I did. It was raining, and I ended up with heavier luggage than planned, so I hopped in a taxi and said "Woosung Apartments" (in Konglish: Ooh-song Apartmenta). The taxi driver repeated this several times, and every time after he repeated it, I'd say yes (yeeeeh) and repeat it again. I know I'm white, but I've been to this bus stop before and I know how to say it. He was not happy with my answer though...Oh well, eventually I got there and only had to wait a few minutes for the airport shuttle!
I was ahead of schedule and arrived at Incheon (Seoul's major airport is actually in a neighborhing city called Incheon) airport before the check-in counter even opened. Now, I have a friend who is a pro at getting "bumped up" and I was ready to try to implement some of her tactics....not quite as ready as she is, but I tried a little. I put on make-up and dressed nice (not too nice though, I mean really, what's the point of wearing a dress and heels at 4AM? No point. No point at all. I opted for comfortable fashion.) She also suggests waiting to check in, so that if there are empty seats they have to give them to you. I'm a little too neurotic to wait for too long, but I at least tried to stay at the back of the line. Then, when it was my turn: luck! I got a male clerk (also one of her suggestions). However, he looks at my visa, looks at my itenerary and says, you need to go to immigration.
((-__-)) Hrmmmmm
Here is what happened: my visa from my first year here expired July 16. I gave my passport and ARC (alien registration card) to my school a couple of weeks ago so that they could take care of this before I left, but "taking care" of it meant only adding something onto my ARC, not a new stamp in my passport. Now, this is fine, but no one ever told me, hey, plan an extra hour at the airport because you'll have to go to the immigration office, and it won't even be open yet, and when it does open, there will only be 1 attendant.
So, it's about an hour before I'm supposed to board, and I'm in this immigration office with like 30 other people, and I'm number 28. Then I notice another white guy who had also been in the same line for the flight to Tokyo who comes in with a clerk. I swiftly attach myself and wonder if they could help me as well..."Assa!" I get to move ahead in the line, get my stamp (at the cost of 30,000 won...) and rush back out to check in.
SO, I do not end up with a male attendant, but I am one of the last people to check in. That apparently came in handy, except it's now 7AM, and my flight is at 8, and I have to transfer to the "new" terminal which takes about 40 minutes. I have to go through immigration, security, and then take a train to a new terminal to board. I was pretty flustered because I hate (hate!) being crunched for time when I travel. However, when I boarded the plane they showed my to BUSINESS CLASS and suddenly I felt much less flustered.
Guys, these seats were like pod seats, and they had automatic controls, and you could lay horizontal! You got your own TV, and you could choose a movie or music, and the flight attendant was 10x nicer than any other flight attendant AND I got a meal, even though it was only a 2 hour flight, I got a little box meal. SO happy!!!

I am now in Narita Airport in Japan. I exchanged what  I thought was a good amount of money, but apparently the Yen is worth much more than the Won, so we'll see how it goes. I've got about 5 hours left here, but I'm happy to have found a cute internet cafe. And it's sunny here, which is much more than I can say for Seoul at the moment.

I've also spotted some Hello Kitty T-shirts, so I might have to do some shopping. This airport also has napping rooms and a massage center, so I don't think the afternoon will be totally hopeless! :)

OK, so obviously, I'm online...don't be a stranger.

Silk Worm Failure

Occasionally at LCI, we get classroom science projects that are more of a "long-term" responsibility. They like to give us some sort of living organism and watch the teachers try to keep these things alive. So far, I've experienced a jar of mushrooms and snails. The snails by far have been the most successful, last longer than many other classroom snails due to a natural resiliency I think they must have embodied. Unfortunately, they met an untimely death when I left them on the classroom windowsill over a weekend and forgot about them. (See Sorry Snails) 

Last Friday, the teachers walked into the office to meet their new class pets: silk worms.  

We were each given 2 silkworms and a bag of mulberry leaves to feed them. I knew I was in trouble from the get-go because 1) I think these are gross creatures and cannot for an emotional bond to them. 2) One of them was pretty much already dead. I say pretty much because I thought it was dead, so I took a tissue to pick it up out of the case. Then I noticed it attached itself to the tissue and wouldn't let go, so it was not soooo dead. I put the worm and the tissue back into the case. 3) My worms did not seem to be eating as voraciously as the other teachers' worms.

I decided to keep my chin up though. I dutifully pinned up the science poster, packed the case with extra leaves for the weekend, and left the worms in a shady spot (as instructed by the poster).

Monday morning I went to check on them and give them some more leaves. Pretty much dead worm was now almost completely dead; I shook the case a couple times to make sure and it maybe moved and seemed well-covered by leaves, so I thought I'd give it the benefit of the doubt. However, it's body also seemed to be drying out and cracking...so I thought I would give it 1 more day just to make sure.

Tuesday morning I come in to check...and Almost completely dead worm is now officially dead. The other worm, live worm, somehow also managed to die over night. It's neck was all shriveled and the tail looked all powdery.

So that means in less than a week, I managed to kill off 2 (mostly) thriving silk worms and end a science project that I'm sure is supposed to last 1-2 months. Oh well, at least we didn't give them names....

NANTA: finally!

One of the top 10 sites in Seoul (as decided by...Seoul Tourism?) is the show NANTA. NANTA (or Cookin' as it's called in the U.S.) is a non-verbal/comic/martial-arts/cooking extravaganza that is very famous here in Korea. I've been reading about it...wait, read about it, before I came and have it highlighted in all my guide books. I couldn't ever find anyone to go see it with, though.
As luck would have it, my friend Sam also could never find anyone to go see it with. Sam is the first person I met at Jubilee, and, in fact, is probably the reason I go to Jubilee. For about 9 or 10 months, we have been meaning to go to NANTA and just haven't made it. Well, Sam is leaving this week, so it was time to stop procrastinating and commit to the show.
Here is our NANTA adventure: first, booking. The site is in English and you have to register as a user, but even in doing so, the site won't let you click to do the actual booking. So you have to write an email. After you click *send* a box comes up, but it's in Korean. I'm wondering, does this box tell me that the email was successful or a failure? So I end up writing 2 emails. They both go through though, and we are set with VIP tickets (apparently, during World Cup season, foreigners get a discount, so I thought I'd go for the nice seats).

I hop in a taxi right after work, but with Friday night traffic, the ride still takes about as twice as long as it should. Sam followed the website directions...and ends up lost and I'm not really sure where it is either...so she hops in a taxi and we're both on the phone and I'm trying to describe the name of the theater and the Korean letters, so that she can relay it all to her taxi driver. It was a lot of "that one letter that looks like a line with another line pointing to the left. And the letter that makes the "j" noise but with the extra line over it. (Odd thing about my Korean class: I know all the letters and their sounds, but I don't know their names) My taxi finally makes it to the theater, so then I'm walking around trying to find Sam who just hopped out of her taxi around the corner.
We make it to the theater, and our seats are 3rd row! That is way super! The premise of the show is 3 chefs (Head Chef, Female Chef, and Sexy Chef) just find out from their manager that they have an hour to create a whole wedding feast AND the manager's know-nothing nephew (Nephew) is going to be joining their team. The show is a lot of fun with fast-chopping (they are chopping real veggies) and physical humor...but also real martial arts mixed in and percussion on everything. It's pretty amazing.
I also got pulled on stage during the performance...there was a contest to make dumplings...and I got chosen to help out. I had to take a handfull of veggies, put them inside of a dough-circle, press it together, ring a bell, and put it on a tray. I was so nervous! I started shaking and kept forgetting to ring the bell! Sillllll audience participation... :)

After the show, I was pretty hungry and so was Sam, but we didn't really know the neighborhood. After smelling so much good food (they were actually cooking things during the show), I knew I wanted Korean food and meat...but where to find it? We walked around a little bit and finally spotted a place that looked halfway promising. We walked in and were handed a menu...and it's all in Korean. Ok, Sam and I can read Korean, but we didn't really recognize any of the dishes. So we're in this tiny restaurant, both of us on our cell-phone dictionaries, looking up menu items and the waitstaff (3 guys) are just standing over us, looking quixotically at the white girls trying to decipher the menu.

Finally, one steps in and asks what we wanted. I say "Kogi" (meat). He says, "Pork?" And we nod. He points to a picture, and we nod again. The deal was struck. I honestly didn't even see the picture, but it was some sort of glazed, grilled pork. It was pretty good, aside from copious amounts of gristle.
After that, came the question of how to get back home. Sam and I live in opposite directions, but we were hoping to both travel back to Gangnam and she could take a bus from there. Question, how to get to Gangnam? We were looking for subway (where is the subway when you need it?), busses, and also just walking around amicably when finally I spotted the GFC (Gangnam Financial Center). The GFC is my landmark for my neighborhood, b/c it's where my subway station is. We decide to go ahead and part ways, b/c I'm thinking...it can't take that long to walk there. So I just end up walking...which did end up being a LONG way, but I got to see some streets in Yeoksam/Gangnam that I usually don't (lots of snowboarding stores) and walked off all the gristly meat.

Wedding Season in Korea

A few posts ago I wrote about my friends Daniel and Yena who were engaged...now I'm going to write about Daniel and Yena who are MARRIED! And, by doing so, share some musings on Korean weddings.

Many Korean weddings take place in a wedding hall, but Daniel and Yena's wedding was in a church near COEX.  It was really beautiful. First thing, Yena was set up in her own Bridal Photo Shoot room, or so it seemed. She looked like a princess, and guests could come and sit by her for photos. I think this is a pretty good idea, really, and may need to adopt it for my future wedding day.

When the ceremony started, people did not stop talking. In fact, there were cell phones going off through the whole thing and a low constant chatting. Each part of the processional was announced...for instance "Now the bridesmaids come in. Please stand for the bride."

The ceremony was in English and Korean, so it took longer than most American weddings. The pastor would say like 2 sentences in Korean and then translate, then 2 more sentences, then translate again. This kind of drew out the message, but it was nice to be able to understand it. Daniel and Yena wrote their own vows: his were in Korean and hers in English.

After they kissed and walked down the aisle, a few minutes later they were walking back up again for photos. Apparently, there is no time to waste for the photos. Some people rushed downstairs for the reception, but many people stayed to watch the photos. They quickly snapped photos with family, extended family, and more extended family. Last was the "friends" photo, where we all got to have a photo with the couple.

A note about wedding wear: everything is RENTED! Except for the bridesmaids dresses...but even Yena's dress was rented. The mothers and grandmothers all wear hanbok, which is traditional Korean dress. Also, the church wasted no time in cleaning up decorations. As soon as the couple was done with the aisle, someone was there rolling up the carpet and pulling back the flower arrangements. There was also a wedding planner, who was kind of like a wedding ninja, and was making sure every ruffle and strand of hair was perfect for every photo. She seemed very stern. Stern but fair.

The reception was held in the dining hall of the church. There was SO MUCH FOOD! Tables and tables of food...but no wedding cake. In addition to salads and noodles and fruit and ddok and every type of meat imaginable, there was also a gyro stand. My favorite part was coming to the last table and picking up a mini gyro. I thought it was very innovative, as far as fusion wedding food goes. 

In Korean weddings, you apparently don't have to wait for the bride and groom to arrive to start eating. In fact, many people skip the ceremony and go straight for the food. And they don't waste time eating either; they eat, and then get out of there. While we were eating, Daniel and Yena were performing Paebaek, or a traditional Korean ceremony to honor parents. When they are done with paebaek, the couple comes to the reception to say hello, but Daniel and Yena didn't really make it down in time. By the time we were done eating, they were already in their matching t-shirts and ready for the airport.

I am super-excited for Daniel and Yena and wish them the best for their marriage. Yena was so beautiful...it was like looking at a princess!

Not (too) worried yet...

So I've gathered from talking to people back home, that North Korea is all over the news and seems to be all anyone is talking about. Here, life is running normally, and most Koreans seem rather indifferent to the whole situation.
Here's the latest update from the Embassy. I thought some might be interested:

The U.S. Embassy Seoul transmits the following information through the Embassy's warden system as a public service to all U.S. citizens in the Republic of Korea. Please disseminate this message to U.S. citizens in your organizations or to other U.S. citizens you know.
The North Korean sinking of a South Korean Naval vessel on March 26, 2010, has raised concerns and inquiries regarding security for residents and visitors to Korea. The Embassy’s current assessment of the security environment for U.S. citizens in Korea is that recent events do not pose an imminent threat to the public safety of the American community at this time. However, we recommend that U.S. citizens review the information on Disaster Preparedness in the current Country Specific Information (CSI) for Korea.


U.S. citizens residing or travelling in Korea should continue to pay close attention to current events, and monitor the Embassy website, http://seoul.usembassy.gov/, for any changes in the security environment. The U.S. Embassy in Seoul provides citizen services to the public during regular business hours 9:00 to 11:30 am, and 1:30 to 3:30 pm Monday through Friday, with no services Wednesday afternoons.

In the event of an emergency situation or change in security situation, U.S. Embassy Seoul will immediately notify the American community in Korea through our warden email system. If you did not receive this message directly via the U.S. Embassy’s warden email system, we encourage you to subscribe to our warden messages concerning travel and security, as well as the monthly Embassy newsletter, simply by providing us your email address via the Consular Section's website at http://www.asktheconsul.org.

For the latest security information, U.S. citizens traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, and Travel Alerts can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States and Canada or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). U.S. citizens are also encouraged to read the Country Specific Information for Korea, available on the Embassy's website at http://seoul.usembassy.gov, and also at http://travel.state.gov.

U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department's travel registration web site at https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui/ so that they can obtain updated information on travel and security. U.S. citizens without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By registering, U.S. citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency. For additional information, please refer to "A Safe Trip Abroad" found at http://travel.state.gov.

A shout-out to Korean Engagement Photos

I have some friends getting married soon and want to take this opportunity to share a gem of Korean culture: the Engagement Photo.

The engagement photo shoot is an all day extravaganza. The bride usually has several (rented) wedding gowns, evening gowns, and period costumes (including but not limited to traditional Korean Hanbok and colonial area ballgowns). All pictures are taken inside on a myriad of sets. And, if the bride starts starts to look a little peaked, then they just move the groom into her line of sight so that she'll start smiling all over again.

My friends Daniel and Yena, who are getting married in June, had their photo shoot a couple of days ago. Daniel was one of the first people I met at Jubilee, and he and Yena are the sweetest couple. I love to see people in love!

A couple of months ago, on a Sunday afternoon I asked Daniel how he was doing. He said, "I'm doing really well. I'm in love." It sounds like a movie, but you could just tell on his face that he had found her. At that time, he wanted to keep it a secret until they were engaged -- he already knew that he wanted to marry her!  A little bit later they were engaged, wearing matching hoodies, and planning their wedding.

Daniel was so over-the-moon once he found Yena; he couldn't wait to be her husband. I love that sentiment -- that when it's right and two people are so in love, they just can't wait to commit to each other. I am so excited for Daniel and Yena; you can't help but look at them and see little hearts come out of their eyes. They both have such a heart for God and for service -- they are truly sweethearted people!

I'm snagging some of their engagement photos so that you can see a Korean photoshoot first hand and also share in the joy of these friends!

Congratulations!

Today my dad is graduating with his Master's! I cannot express how incredibly proud I am of him. He has worked hard his whole life and always kept his goals before him. Even if he had to take time off, he still kept his eyes on the prize and eventually found a way to go after his dream. When I was younger, he told me to "do my best." He is a great example of someone who has lived this out and in doing so, has achieved great things. I am proud of him beyond measure. I don't know a greater man than my dad!

P.S. in turn, this makes me miss home. I wish I were there.