Happy Chusok!

It's mid-autumn harvest festival over here in East Asia. If you're reading Wilson's page too, you have learned all about mooncakes. Here, I've gotten much more than my fair share of songpyon, which are these Korean rice cake goodies with a kind of bean paste-y kind of thing in them. I have also received a ridiculous amount of fruit. I think I could make some money opening up a fruit stand off my front stoop. I have an entire refrigerator shelf full of grapes, I swear. The other shelves have those big fat Asian pears and apples. The grapes here are different too - they taste and smell exactly like purple grape juice, the kind that comes in juice boxes. They're so good, I might turn purple if I finish them all.

Heading to Taipei in a few hours. Trying to stay up because I'm afraid that if I fall asleep, I'll oversleep since I've gotta be at the airport shuttle no later than 6am. But I have yet to pack, so I think I'll be okay. I have also failed to figure out how to work my washing machine over here, so it's just like college - packing up the dirty laundry to bring home. Some bad army TV (read: lots of Access Hollywood for some reason) is making sure I stay up. Hopefully I'm getting my digital camera too, woohoo! Pictures finally...

34 of NKOTB's Greatest Hits

I love my internship. And I love that we do public programs and work with defectors and are planning this big international conference in February on refugees and the rights of the woman and child. And I love that after we have one of these things, the 8 of us go out to celebrate with fried chicken and beer. Steered clear of the beer for fear of getting some kind of reaction that I don't need before I go away, but yay for stereotypes and lack of enzymes - the 7 who were drinking at the table turned bright red by the end of their first glass! Everyone loosened up and my boss who speaks English on the sly actually said a few words to me! It was fun - I don't think I understood more than 10 percent of the conversation, but the chicken was good and a couple of the past interns were there and speak some English and offered to take me out sometime.

On the way back to the subway, we walked by a music store and I saw a poster for "34 of NKOTB's Greatest Hits." Do they have more than 34? Does anyone actually need 34 of their songs, much less be able to think of more than 5 of them?

There's a restaurant behind my internship that makes dog soup...I think my stomach will turn if I ever hear a puppy in the area. Makes me wonder about the pet store that sells "American Cocker Spaniels" two doors away...

RIP Little Kitten

Yesterday, our little kitten died. It was still covered in gunk that we couldn't get off, but was eating so we thought it was okay. But Candace got home yesterday and it was dead. Poor little kitten...

I Heart Babelfish

What an amazing invention. I told my internship I was "functional in written and spoken Korean" which isn't a lie, but not the entire truth. I can read and write, I just don't know what it means all the time. So when they hand me a 1500 word article and say translate it, I'm lost! It's not even something simple like things to do or going out or whatever. I'm translating an article about North Korean children in China. Fantastic. But thanks to Babelfish, which is surprisingly accurate, and Sungjin out in LA, I'm set! Yes, it's a copout - but it's just the solution for the meantime while I go over my grammar...Wilson, it's supposed to be super accurate for Chinese, go nuts.

Trekked up the five floors to go to the gym finally - it's a workout just getting up there! And for you McGill kids who frequented the ghetto gym, I have found something that is much stuffier, less functional, but a gym nonetheless. You can't go running outside here because of the pollution so it's the best option. And it's next door to school.

Finally getting a little cool here, though most of the time it can't decide if it's going to rain or be incredibly hot. Just in time for me to go to Taipei on Saturday where it's even warmer than here.

Woohoo! One of my kids' parents called the school to say they really liked my teaching. Excellent! Nice to know I'm doing something right over here...

Aha!

I think I may have figured at least part of this wacky social scene that exists at the school out. I guess it's not that the teachers aren't open to being friends with me, but that there's a whole bunch of crap going on between them and the Korean teachers here that makes things awkward. I guess it's to the point where not everyone's talking to each other and I kinda came in the middle of it. Makes me feel better to know that things are the way they are right now because of something that happened before I came.

One of the other teachers in my building also found a kitten yesterday. A kitten! It is so so so small. Including its tail, it's about the span of my hand. It's got some awful sticky gunk on it that we can't get off. It was put in a box on the street and was crying and crying so Candace (the teacher) brought it home and we spent an hour tonight trying to clean it and feed it milk and ground up puppy food to see if it would get better. It's so tiny! We might share it, that way when one of us goes away, the other can watch it. A kitten!

"You have exotic features...You must be from...

...tu eres de los estados unidos! Tu parles français?" So began my conversation with the old Korean man this morning on the subway. After asking me in Korean where I was from and quickly learning that I was from somewhere else as soon as I opened my mouth, he started to speak English, and then changed into Spanish followed by French. The rest of our conversation continued in Spanish and French pretty much as we discussed me living near New York, where he'd been in the US, what I was doing in Korea, etc. What Spanish and French we couldn't put together, English filled in. Who knew I knew enough French to do that or remembered all that Spanish? He was so excited to meet someone who knew something other than Korean or English that he wanted to practice the other two languages if he could. It was a nice change from the two reactions I usually get on the subway: 1) Who and what are you or 2) How come you don't understand me when I speak Korean to you?

Things picking up at the internship at last! Or maybe just for the time being. Met with someone from DC today and the organization is meeting with someone from the UN tomorrow so I'm doing lots of stuff that requires an excellent command of the English language (which I have, woohoo!) and not Korean for once. Who knew that it's the most prominent human rights organization in Korea? Apparently it's done the most significant amount of work towards helping refugees and working with international organizations to raise awareness and offer relief and such. The hole we work in might trick you...

On the pet note, today someone was selling kittens. KITTENS! I wanted to put them all in my pocket. While I have now walked by 2 people selling pets in the subway, I have yet to walk by a pet store that actually sells pets, not just toys and food.

Joining the gym tomorrow. Don't have Wilson's "Beijing Belly" but feeling icky and gross not doing anything. The humidity isn't helping this gross feeling either - it's so hot here!

Gastronomic fun

Have you ever had pureed squash on your pizza? It is definitely an interesting experience. Kind of a fluffy break in your ingredient-laden pizza, but an acquired taste perhaps when put with sausage, cheese, peppers, garlic, and tomato sauce. Apparently it's a Pizza Hut special over here.

And I also thought I'd share these with you:



Yes, it says Shrimp and Pepper. Have not heard raving reviews about them from the other teachers, but at least they've got a fun container. There are also coffee flavored Twix bars, Crunky (Crunch?) bars, squid chips/crackers, all sorts of peanut and prawn things, and other oddities like cheese ramen which I have not ventured into trying. I don't understand how cheese works with ramen noodles, but perhaps I'm missing something as it's all over. Some stuff is really good though - rice cakes, steamed buns, all street food pretty much - and addictive, and would be responsible for ridiculous amounts of weight gain if it wasn't so hot that you don't really want to eat or if I had money because I don't get paid til I get back from Taipei. Mmmmm...

Subway series

I would like send out a big thank you to the old men who play chess in the middle of the floor of the subway stations during rush hour. It's really conducive to rush hour foot traffic and you all sitting there makes things a lot easier and for that I thank you.



The subways are really nice here - pretty English friendly and while you're waiting on the platform, they've got these 4' x 6' flat screen panel TVs (on the right in the picture) that show news or ads. Good to know tax money is going to important things. The subway stations also have fantastic things like bunnies as mentioned before and some of the most insane cell phone charms I have ever seen.

Have to do phone teaching with my kids this week. Some of them are so obnoxious during class and then once they get on the phone they clam up and are super polite because chances are their parents are listening closeby. A lot of the time they just say "okay, okay" and I wonder if they understand a thing. The phone does seem to have some magic power that makes them remember that rice is not pronounced "lice" among other things.

Spent the whole day working on a map and a program flyer for my internship today. Man, it is hard to write an introduction paragraph and directions to a building all in Korean. But now I can say I know all about this guy and what he does in the US Embassy in relation to North Korean Human Rights. To top it off, finally finished the whole thing and my boss says he'd like a different look to it. And he's back to not speaking English to me. I don't understand it! He was introduced to me as Benjamin, and he spoke the other day, doesn't he know I know he speaks? Instead he had me wait around until another lady was off the phone so she could explain whatever it was he wanted. I guess making me learn by immersion and necessity is his method...

I have yet to solve my "I want a pet" dilemma. People say a bunny will be smelly and no matter what I get, I don't know what to do with it when I leave because I can't take it back home with me...My camera's coming soon too, I think...

Bunnies for Sale!

It is still pouring here but I braved the weather and went exploring. Props to North Face for providing a fully waterproof jacket. Funny how everything and nothing has changed since the last time I was here. Went roaming around my old haunts today and stopped off at Itaewon, the shopping area that is near it. Finally found postcards and got a few other things as well. One of the ladies gave me a discount "because you are not Japanese." For once, I'm glad my Dad made me speak Korean when we went shopping years ago because I was able to bargain a little bit and not get stuck with the foreigners' price (about half as much more sometimes!).

RIDICULOUS amounts of Louis Vuitton. Some fakes were hilarious, using letters that might have looked like LV from very, very far away, but when you get up close, you realize it's an A and W, or Y and V. I loved when they told me it was real and that they were giving me a good deal on something straight from the factory. I did make a purchase in the end, a little change purse that is light pink like this belt. If you want anything though, say something ultra necessary like an LV tissue box cover or something, put your orders in...Keil, if only you could get your hands on this.

Never realized how much I appreciated my army base pass I had all the other times I was here until I drove by it in the cab today and realized I had no way of getting on and buying US groceries...

Finally made it down the rest of the street to my old apartment building which I made it to without any problems. I get lost everywhere else in this city if I make one turn off the route I'm used to since everything looks the same. But I could've walked to this place with my eyes shut even though there are different restaurants and more Western places like KFC or CVS (which stands for Con Venience Store here). Made my way through the alleys and found out that my old building is no longer an apartment building, but the home of the Seoul division of the United Nations Development Program. The guard was giving me funny looks while I was standing outside of it looking in through the gate and only when I saw the sign on his guardhouse did I realize why. Kinda funny to think that my old bedroom with pink curtains and a canopy bed now has a UN employee working on the programs I'm trying to get a job with.

On the way back, there was a lady selling bunnies in the subway station for about $8.50. They were so small, one of them fit in the palm of my hand with room to spare! A bunny would be fun to have in the apartment, but I couldn't get it until after I get back from Taipei. And then what do I do with it when I leave? But they were really, really cute.

Enough procrastinating...back to essay writing...

Soliciting Book Recommendations

So it's absolutely pouring. I think we're getting the tail-end of the typhoons that have been hitting Japan and Taiwan, and so my plans to go market shopping were foiled. Spending the day doing an extensive cleanup in the apartment - I don't think the guy before me, nor the guy before him (who still had shoes in the place) had ever actually bothered to clean the kitchen area, despite the semi-impressive array of cleaning products. Was very happy to a rice cooker among the cooking amenities, until I realized that it was missing the bowl that you cook the rice in and was disgusting inside. Got the crap scared out of me while boiling water and all of a sudden what sounds like an air-raid siren goes off and I realize it's the teapot. Apparently it doesn't whistle like at home.

Went out to an EXCELLENT dinner the other night with one of my dad's good friends. It's very nice to have someone looking out for you in a country you don't know all that well. It's also nice to eat food that you have not thrown together yourself or picked up at one of the little street stalls. He's got a son who's my brother's age too so we might hang out. And in the hotel lobby, of all places, I bumped into my boss from my internship in DC last summer. Crazy.

And it took almost 2 weeks, but I finally saw it - Starbucks. I knew they were out here, it was just a matter of when I'd be hit, and it was a full on attack. There were 3 in 5 intersections. These were then followed by The Body Shop, Duty-Free stores, and other big-name places. Keil, poked my head into the Louis Vuitton store just for you...

I'm also asking for book recommendations. Need some subway and rainy day reading to devour after I've finished writing my essay for grad school which is killing me at the moment. Gotta get it done in the next couple of weeks so I can have it in on time...grrrrr.

I still haven't found postcards, I'm sure I'll stumble upon them soon...

Pictures...sort of

To everyone reading this who received my info email about 8000 times, I apologize. I'm not quite sure what happened so that not only did people receive 2 versions, but multiple mailings. Sorry.

And to those who have mentioned that there are lack of pictures on this thing, they're coming I swear. For now, the best I can do is hijack someone else's and link to their pages so I can show you what I've seen and where I'm going. My camera will be coming soon then I'll put my own up...

On the agenda: An art show (click on the Chagall link), a traditional village (note how the toilet they show is nicer than some of the ones I've seen around), crazy market shopping (I think you can imagine what that might look like - lots of stalls, people, and clothing).

Here's the big gate near my office building. If you look in the left of the picture, you'll see billboards behind the highway, that's my building.

I did find this too. The Chicago pic (top) is mine, but the Korea (bottom) one is one of the other teachers'. Kinda reminds me of the Chicago one, just a lot smaller, and without seams...





Ok, so two pictures for now. Enjoy...