English 이다!
So it has been awhile since i posted in English. I am actually thinking about splitting this and having an English only and a Korean only blog, but I have not yet. I really do not post often enough and so instead of one sorta full journal I worry that I would have two empty blogs. So, i went to the States for a whirlwind week-long trip. Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there (again.) Spent a night in San Fran on route to returning to K-land on Christmas Eve. Had Christmas with ㅈ and then began teaching again. January was crazy busy. Everyday was 12 hours long with 8 of those in the classroom. In the remaining hours I found time to do all the things i needed to like prep classes and eat. At one point the complex editing job i was doing could no longer be put off and so two weekends were lost doing that. But then the 23rd come and everything suddenly ended. Now I am on vacation until the 3rd of March.
The first weekend I was free I went skiing with ㅈ. I had forgotten that Korea was Bizzaro World, but this trip reminded me of that in a very stark way. We had been planning on going skiing and then she called me and said that her co-worker's boyfriend was going to go skiing with his car club. They were 30 people going. So, I met ㅈ at TGI Fridays in Coex and had a hamburger (a big deal since I get a chance to eat one about once a month) and then we left to go skiing. Now when I hear the phrase "car club," I think in American terms and that means muscle cars. I have thinking Mustangs and Corvettes (or at least, the Korean version, something sporty) but sitting there is the exact opposite of a sports car: a minivan, (see: world, Bizzarro) and not just any minivan, the minivan with the most minivan-esque name in the world: caravan. The "car club" turns out to be for people who all have this type of car. ㅈ's co-worker is Korean but grew up in Malaysia and speaks Korean, English, and Malay fluently (she also speaks Chinese pretty well.) She has been back in Korea and was starved to meet 외국인 so she was very happy i came. She we get there and because I am a foreigner i become an instant celebrity, with everyone fighting to talk to me. The fact that I speak Korean also was just too great. However, they realized that I don't speak that much Korean and got bored with the novelty that is me. We got there late but everyone insisted that we were still going skiing. When we started eating dinner, I gave up on skiing but ㅈ assured me that we were going at 10 pm. ㅈ had never skied before and so I was going to teach her. All the Koreans were curious about my ability, but they didn't realize that in Bozeman, Montana, where I grew up EVERYBODY skies. Everybody grows up skiing. In Bozeman, not being able to ski is like dividing 79 by red: it makes no sense. I cannot think of single person I graduated with who could not ski. So, in Bozeman terms I am decent (I have never really figured how to jump turn well) but not exceptional, I could hold my own but most of my friends and my brother were all better. (My junior and senior year of high school and at university I got into x-country, especially went I got good staking skis, and have always prefered that.) But in Korea, I am a phenomenal skier. In all the times i have gone sking i have yet to fall or even find a run that I would be worried to ski. Part of this is because the things I cannot do or don't like (mogals, canyons) just don't exist on Korean slopes. So we go skiing and at the last minute ㅈ and her co-worker decide that they do not want to ski that night and just go tomorrow. I was disappointed but they were comitted to their decision at least i would get a chance to really ski and not just teach it all day. The hill was easy and small. There were only about 6 lifts and two were for really easy runs and one was closed. The closed lift was for the most difficult run. I was great to get out on the slopes on a cold winter day but I skied all the runs in about 45 minutes and the only challenge was avoiding the beginners. Since the hill was small and easy, they were everywhere and since Korean runs are narrower they were packed in pretty tight. We return to the "pension" where everyone is staying and I am looking forward to sleeping curled up with ㅈ. It seems however there is a girls room and a boys room (we were about the only people there NOT married.) "It is a special occasion," ㅈ tells me.
"Exactly," I repy, "I want to sleep next to you."
"But, it is a special occasion, so we cannot sleep next to each other." Korean men and women don't sleep together on special occasions."
This "logic" made my head hurt. And then she really dropped a bombshell. "You sleep out here with the men and play cards with them. They are probably going to stay up and play until 6 in the morning." The room started spinning. Why was I being punished?
The next morning (the lights ended up going out at 3 am) ㅈ's coworker came up to me and asked me what I wanted to do today. "Ski," I told her.
"No, in Seoul," she clarified.
"Ski," I repeated. It seems her boyfriend wanted to go back. he had not gone skiing with us the night before but he claimed to still be sore from the last time he went skiing two weeks ago. So we went back. We ended up eating at an Indian restraunt in Itaewon, going to the sauna and then after being dropped off randomly ㅈ and I went to a movie. Nether of us had heard of anything that was playing so we ended up seeing Cloverfield. It was a good day but it was not a sking day and so it was still disappointing. To sum up: car club= minivan, evening/night = time to ski, ski trip = no skiing, special occasion = time away from family, how is Korea not Bizzaro world?
lots more adventues to post. I am living in Seoul until March, but I am out of time. Gotta meet some Japanese friends and "han-guk-mal" it up in about an hour. I'll post more soon. And some of it will even be in English!
The first weekend I was free I went skiing with ㅈ. I had forgotten that Korea was Bizzaro World, but this trip reminded me of that in a very stark way. We had been planning on going skiing and then she called me and said that her co-worker's boyfriend was going to go skiing with his car club. They were 30 people going. So, I met ㅈ at TGI Fridays in Coex and had a hamburger (a big deal since I get a chance to eat one about once a month) and then we left to go skiing. Now when I hear the phrase "car club," I think in American terms and that means muscle cars. I have thinking Mustangs and Corvettes (or at least, the Korean version, something sporty) but sitting there is the exact opposite of a sports car: a minivan, (see: world, Bizzarro) and not just any minivan, the minivan with the most minivan-esque name in the world: caravan. The "car club" turns out to be for people who all have this type of car. ㅈ's co-worker is Korean but grew up in Malaysia and speaks Korean, English, and Malay fluently (she also speaks Chinese pretty well.) She has been back in Korea and was starved to meet 외국인 so she was very happy i came. She we get there and because I am a foreigner i become an instant celebrity, with everyone fighting to talk to me. The fact that I speak Korean also was just too great. However, they realized that I don't speak that much Korean and got bored with the novelty that is me. We got there late but everyone insisted that we were still going skiing. When we started eating dinner, I gave up on skiing but ㅈ assured me that we were going at 10 pm. ㅈ had never skied before and so I was going to teach her. All the Koreans were curious about my ability, but they didn't realize that in Bozeman, Montana, where I grew up EVERYBODY skies. Everybody grows up skiing. In Bozeman, not being able to ski is like dividing 79 by red: it makes no sense. I cannot think of single person I graduated with who could not ski. So, in Bozeman terms I am decent (I have never really figured how to jump turn well) but not exceptional, I could hold my own but most of my friends and my brother were all better. (My junior and senior year of high school and at university I got into x-country, especially went I got good staking skis, and have always prefered that.) But in Korea, I am a phenomenal skier. In all the times i have gone sking i have yet to fall or even find a run that I would be worried to ski. Part of this is because the things I cannot do or don't like (mogals, canyons) just don't exist on Korean slopes. So we go skiing and at the last minute ㅈ and her co-worker decide that they do not want to ski that night and just go tomorrow. I was disappointed but they were comitted to their decision at least i would get a chance to really ski and not just teach it all day. The hill was easy and small. There were only about 6 lifts and two were for really easy runs and one was closed. The closed lift was for the most difficult run. I was great to get out on the slopes on a cold winter day but I skied all the runs in about 45 minutes and the only challenge was avoiding the beginners. Since the hill was small and easy, they were everywhere and since Korean runs are narrower they were packed in pretty tight. We return to the "pension" where everyone is staying and I am looking forward to sleeping curled up with ㅈ. It seems however there is a girls room and a boys room (we were about the only people there NOT married.) "It is a special occasion," ㅈ tells me.
"Exactly," I repy, "I want to sleep next to you."
"But, it is a special occasion, so we cannot sleep next to each other." Korean men and women don't sleep together on special occasions."
This "logic" made my head hurt. And then she really dropped a bombshell. "You sleep out here with the men and play cards with them. They are probably going to stay up and play until 6 in the morning." The room started spinning. Why was I being punished?
The next morning (the lights ended up going out at 3 am) ㅈ's coworker came up to me and asked me what I wanted to do today. "Ski," I told her.
"No, in Seoul," she clarified.
"Ski," I repeated. It seems her boyfriend wanted to go back. he had not gone skiing with us the night before but he claimed to still be sore from the last time he went skiing two weeks ago. So we went back. We ended up eating at an Indian restraunt in Itaewon, going to the sauna and then after being dropped off randomly ㅈ and I went to a movie. Nether of us had heard of anything that was playing so we ended up seeing Cloverfield. It was a good day but it was not a sking day and so it was still disappointing. To sum up: car club= minivan, evening/night = time to ski, ski trip = no skiing, special occasion = time away from family, how is Korea not Bizzaro world?
lots more adventues to post. I am living in Seoul until March, but I am out of time. Gotta meet some Japanese friends and "han-guk-mal" it up in about an hour. I'll post more soon. And some of it will even be in English!