A Few Things

It has been 60 days and 6 hours since I arrived in South Korea. In these last two months, I've seen, heard, tasted, felt, and smelled many new things. I've made some great friends. I've settled into my new place and city. I've traveled to Seoul, Sokcho, Suwon, and Daegu. I know I still have SO much to see and do, but for my two month anniversary, I need to reflect on my time here so far.

Things I've seen:
numerous dogs with fashionable hair cuts, colors, and costumes
men hacking loogies on the streets
women hacking loogies on the streets
students hacking loogies inside school
motorbikes flying down sidewalks
the North Korean border
ridiculous outfits on the subway
firework shows from Canada, China, and Korea
1.2 million people all needing to get to the same subway station

a dead man on a hiking trail at Seoraksan
middle school girls holding hands
middle school boys holding hands
crazily inhumane fish tanks outside restaurants
a traditional Korean dance
girls in 4 inch heels, tights, and a shirt barely covering their ass
people staring at me for wearing...gasp!...short sleeves or V neck shirts
men carrying nicer purses than I've ever owned
boyfriends dramatically waving at their girl friends when they have to part ways on the subway/bus/sidewalk/anywhere
Koreans sleeping on the street, in subways, & during a hard rock performance in a bar
B2ST, 2AM, RAIN, and BoA perform live
matching couples EVERYWHERE


Things I've heard:
my co workers smacking their food
my co workers slurping their soup
my bosses smacking their food
my bosses slurping their soup
a Korean lady yelling "Wae yo!?" (why) about 100 times at McDonald's because something was wrong with her order
a Korean man passing gas right in front of Keara and me in E-Mart.
men hacking loogies on the street
women hacking loogies on the street
people telling us to be quiet on the subway or bus
Koreans talking loudly on their phones right after we were told to be quiet

Things I've tasted:
onion juice
bitter ginseng
octopus I watched die in front of me (no English menu)
dried squid
many types of rice cakes
peanut buttered squid (looks like french fries)
sweet potato balls
Korean melons
Asian pears
some sort of organs in sauce (informed after I had eaten it)
dried salty minnows and shrimp
many types of kimchi
pizza toast...which is cold mushy toast covered in sweet tomato sauce and corn
red bean filled fish pastries from the lady near my apartment
dumplings from the lady near my apartment
soy bean soup (tofu soup)...one of my favorite Korean foods
sweet tomato sauce
sweet garlic bread
boiled chestnuts

Things I've felt:
The freezing cold wind laughing at my thin pants and socks.
extremely happy and excited
extremely sad and homesick
happy to have met some awesome people
lucky to have met another best friend
a gazillion eye balls staring at me and my brown curly hair, my curves, my weird clothes and shoes, my eyes, my red cheeks while running, etc...
sick to my stomach after eating a few said things above
extremely satisfied after eating a few said things above
under dressed every single day since I've been here

Things I smell on a regular basis:
kimchi
fish
sewer
pine trees
fermented bean curd soup

Things I've never smelled:
Koreans. They don't wear deoderant, and they never stink.

Things I've learned:
Spicy means sweet.
Sweet means barely sweet.
Not very sweet means a sugar rush from one bite.
Salty means sweet.
Salty means spicy.
Salty does not mean salty.
Ginseng, onion juice & sugary cough syrupy vitamin C drinks are "good for health".
Everything Koreans eat is "good for health".
French braid is pronounced Frenchie...no matter how many times I repeat it correctly.

Vitamin C

I don't know what it is about these products that are "good for health", but they certainly aren't good for the taste buds. One of my co workers gave me this vitamin drink today. I asked her if it was sweet, and she sad not that sweet. But I've come to realize if someone says its not that sweet, it means its really sweet. And if someone says something is really sweet, it could be completely bland. Same thing with salty, but that's another story.

Anyways, I took a very small sip. I'm glad I did! It tasted like cough syrup. I had to go brush my teeth afterwards because water wasn't washing it down.

Gross cough syrupy sugary vitamin C drink? or an orange?

I'll choose an orange any day!

What the hell did I just eat?

Until now, I have been amazed at how good Korean food is. Like I said, until now.

It started out as a normal lunch. I walk down to the 1st floor, into the teachers' lunch room, and start to fill my tray. First I see this weird dish. It was the dried salty shrimp like in Thailand, but it went a step further. Dried dead minnows. Not the meat of dead minnows. Full out dead dried minnows. They had eyes. And there were some nuts mixed in, but really, who is paying attention to nuts when there's salty dried shrimp and minnow eyes.

So anyway, I skip that bowl and fill up with everything else. The typical Korean lunch is kimchi, rice, soup, and two other side dishes. Normally its different veggies. Today it was the dried seafood medley and some eggs. Everything else was delicious as usual...yes, the kimchi IS delicious!

It started first with the "tomato hot sauce". I saw what looked like a hot sauce bottle, and decided not to put any on my eggs. Silly me. It's not for eggs. It's for the rice. Oh, and its not hot sauce. It's ketchup. Yes, ketchup on rice. I'm not one of those weird Americans who eat ketchup with mashed potatoes or corn or macaroni and cheese. But when a teacher pours it on my rice for me, I guess I automatically become one of the weirdos I always made fun of.

But, I can handle the rice with ketchup.

Then the principal noticed I decided not to partake in the minnow faces and shrimp skins. She asked "Do you not like it?" "You should try it." Every thing I've read about Korean culture always mentions that elders are highly respected, and you should try everything and eat everything on your plate. So I got up with trepidation and walked over to the bowl of morose fish. I took a tiny spoonful, and sat back down. This is the moment when I actually noticed the minnows still had eyes. While I was sitting near the principal knowing I had to eat this. Somehow, I took bites. Chewing very fast. Lusting after my banana next to my tray.

I'm beginning to learn why the previous teacher did not eat seafood. I'm feeling a sudden diet change coming on for the time being. Excuse me now while I throw up.