There’s been a bit of a gap between the last entry and this one so there is a fair amount to say, hopefully a good bit of which I will cover. This entry comes to you from the Dunkin Donuts in Itaewon, Seoul’s international district. I just spent the afternoon getting my hair done by a very nice Cameroonian woman named Princess Thelma. I was rock the Fredrick Douglass look (afro with side part) between when I washed it on Wednesday and today. I’m really enjoying this Dunkin Donuts because it has cream puffs, unlike the stupid DDs in Daegu. And I really, really like cream puffs. Also, my Muslim readers will be interested to know that I am sitting beside the first Korean hijabi I’ve ever seen. She’s with her South Asian-looking husband and their ridiculously adorable toddler. A couple of girls said something to her in Korean and she answered saying “Muslim.” It would be funny if they were asking if she was a nun with a kid.
So on Friday after work I hurried off to Dongdaegu yuk (station) to catch the KTX train to Seoul. I slept most of the just shy of two hours that it takes to get there. It was evening so I didn’t get to see much of the countryside. I took the subway to darling Rasheeda’s house. Rasheeda has a tiny, hyperactive dog who likes to lick socks. After some chatting we headed off to Itaewon to meet up with some her friends. First we went to this little Turkish spot and I had an almost shwarma (right meat, but the other elements weren’t quite right). We ended up talking to this dude who turned out to be from Scarborough. Then we went to a bar that I can’t remember the name of. This really cool girl named Geo (don’t know if I’m spelling that right) was goodbye partying. She was crazy amounts of fun. Then we went to the Reggae bar for a bit before calling it a night. With us was this awesome dude named Lesean (also don’t know if I’m spelling g that right) who, if I remember correctly, is the head animator for The Boondocks, which, like tons of other cartoons including The Simpsons and Family Guy, is drawn in Korea.
Saturday, post-hair doing, I got the chance to check out What the Book, the famous English Bookstore in Itaewon. I didn’t buy anything because I should read what I brought with me first. There was a minor crisis because R forgot her bank card at the Reggae Bar the night before but we went there and waiting until the employees arrived to work and she got it back. The bartenders were two Philipinas and a Thai woman. They were very nice.
Then we headed to R’s place and I took a delightful nap. Then Joy, a very cool woman from the UK, came and we got ready to head out to the Basement Jaxx show. We left late and got lost but we eventually made it to Eden Club, in the basement of the Ritz Carlton in a posh neighbourhood. Like so many Korean clubs (in fact, Korean places in general), it has death stairs. How completely loaded Korean women in stilettos don’t constantly die going and out of clubs, I can’t possibly understand. The club was very big and very packed with lots of young, goodlooking folks. Twas great. Now, Basement Jaxx are actually DJs/Producers so it was unsurprisingly a DJ set not a performance. I haven’t heard real DJing in a very long time. Before Basement Jaxx came on, there was a local DJ and then a performance by a Korean act that I’ve never heard of. There were two singers and two backup dancers, all wearing similar black and leopard print suits and sunglasses. We were right at the front so we got to experience there little dances close up which was fun. After some more of the local DJ, Basement Jaxxx came on and tore up the place. Koreans always face the DJ at clubs, even at normal, non-celebrity-DJ-having clubs. I danced hard and got some great crowd watching in too. There were a lot of hot guys at this show, which was very pleasing. There were also some annoying, sloppily dancing white folks, which was much less pleasing. A black guy from LA came up to us to say hi and tell us he was glad to see other black people. A Korean-Canadian dude from BC also came to say hi to me at one point. People do this a lot in Korea – bond over shared foreignness. K&J went to another club before it was over but I stayed tilt eh end. While I was dancing by myself, I was doing so in front of this big, reflective, black, rectangular pillar. And I was reminded that Korea is, without a doubt, the most looks obsessed country I’ve ever seen. Canada and the US, as bad as they are, have nothing on Korea. So many people stopped to check themselves out using the pillar that I lost count. It was ridiculous. I already knew Koreans loved mirrors as much as they love kimchi but...a reflective pillar in a dark club? And not just quick glances, these were long drawn out studies. For real, Korea? Basement Jaxx wrapped up, closing with a horns rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody (I still remember all of the lyrics, I discovered). Then I went off to meet R&J though I got lost on the way. But I had a nice refreshing night time walk. Walking at night in Korea isn’t generally a big deal. When I finally arrived I found them having a snack in a little food tent. Food tents are all over the place but especially in club / bar areas. Some very drunk Korean-American dudes tried to talk to us. When we left, we walked to the subway and took the first train of the morning, at 5:30 am. That’s right, we took the subway home at 5:30 am after a night out. And let me tell you, the subway was very busy indeed. It was nuts seeing that many people of all ages waiting for the train at that hour. But it makes sense in that it isn’t weird to sleep just anywhere in Korea so presumably some of these people had been sleeping before that time. In fact, at Eden I saw a guy asleep in a booth and no one look at him twice. Considering the fact that that’s illegal at home, it was rather funny to see. On the train, K&J fell asleep on my shoulders while I talked to these two dudes who had carried their super drunk female friend on to the train a couple of stops after we got on. Their friend promptly fell asleep on Rasheeda’s shoulder. One was a South Asian dude from San Francisco in Korea on business and the other was a Korean dude who works for Lotte, one of the companies that owns insane amounts of stuff in Korea.
Sunday, I got up at noon and left Rasheeda’s to go to the train station. I did a little wandering in the area before buying my ticket and heading home. So here I am on the train. I’ve just been informed that I’m going through central Gimcheon by some specially mown grass.
So that was my weekend in Seoul. I had planned to include last weekend in this entry but this is already super long so I’ll just write another entry later in the week and resign myself to being totally disordered. The point is, I had a glorious time in Seoul. And now, heading home to cook for the week and have some quiet time before starting the new week, I am sure I shall be making many a trip to Seoul this year, especially now that spring has sprung. Bizarrely, the arrival of spring always makes me think of this crazy Medieval song that Professor Powell sang to us on the first day of my first university English class. the song is about the arrival of spring and how frisky it makes everyone. It includes a line about bucks farting.
I feel like this weekend has really solidified my love for Korea. It’s such a crazy, chaotic, sometimes utterly nonsensical place and I can’t help but respond to that. And there’s something really interesting about living somewhere as an expat. I think it suits me.
Love,
AAA
P.S. Couldn’t leave you without the usual musical suggestion. This song is Paradise by Eddie, a little R&B number that I quite like. Bam!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1fpGh4qG2g
P.P.S. The countryside is really interesting, by the way. Very hilly, with lots of small fields and tin roofed houses.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Majultob?
Friday night, ladies and gentlemen. So far it’s been a pretty quiet one. I went to Daiso, this Japanese chain store that is like a good quality dollar store, to pick up some picture frames for the gorgeous pics Ambreen sent me. The world needs to see how cute I look in salwar kameez. Then I went on a mission to try yet another café. This time it’s Hollys Coffee, which I’m not particularly impressed with. They don’t have good window seats, so its not super ideal for people watching. It’s actually right across the street from the place I wrote the last entry.
I’ve actually been frequenting this place called Selu Coffee that’s about 3 minutes from work (8 if the intersection acts like a jerk) during break at work, mostly because of their delightful bathroom. 2,400 won is a small price to pay for a warm seat and warm water (and hot chocolate, which is good too). I’ve improved at squatting but sometimes a girl really needs a seat. I also think I’m never going to get used to the whole toilet paper in the garbage can thing. I understand the reasons but I feel horrible for whoever’s job it is to clean that up.
I don’t plan on talking much about work on this blog for a number of reasons, the most important being that it would probably be boring for you to raed (whereas I know you are riveted by tales of toilets and traffic :P). But to speak hypothetically for a moment, let me say this:
Let’s say you work in a box factory and you make, say, 2 million boxes a week. And one day, you’re boss comes in and says he wants to pay you overtime to stay late and make 4 million boxes a week instead. Now you really value your free time and you live quite comfortably, so the overtime pay isn’t that exciting. Later, you find out that your boss wants all that overtime work to be done because he wants 8 million boxes made before he leaves to go lie on a beach for a month. Wouldn’t that make you a little peeved? (As an aside, this scenario has put the “Yo, my name is Joe, and I work in a button factory” song in my head).
In other news, it’s sort of crazy that I’ve only been here for a little over a month so far. It feels like longer. I’ve settled in pretty quickly, I suppose. But I do have to remind myself that it hasn’t been very long because sometimes I feel like I’m not getting started fast enough on some stuff, like taking Korean lessons, but then I’ll remembered that I can hardly expect myself to be on top of everything already. I’ve also just locked myself into taking the GRE English subject test in early April so I’ll have to do some studying for that (boo! hiss!). I have to go check out the university it’s at (Keimyoung, it’s called) before hand so I can know where I’m going and how long it takes to get there. It’ll be cool to get to see a Korean Uni in action. But yeah, the point is, rushing is for suckas. I am pleased with the opportunity to take my sweet time doing things right now.
Oh, you may find this entertaining: there’s this kpop song out right now called “Mazeltov.” Weird, right? Even stranger is the fact that there is no discernable reason for the name. In the song, they mention Mexican girls, Korean girls, Japanese girls – no talk of Jewish girls at all. What’s more, no one knows what the heck mazel tov means over here – people have been asking their students. I can’t imagine that the dudes singing the song know either. So whoever wrote it either randomly chose the word because they thought it sounded fun (pronounced “Majultob” Korean style) or know what it means and think it’s hilarious to confuse everybody. Oh kpop, your use of any language other than Korean is always so crazy.
So I paused writing for a bit to look through a men’s fashion magazine (cuz you know I never look at the ones for women) and came across some appealing info: Basement Jaxx are going to be in Seoul next weekend. I have decided to go. Very exciting. I totally love Basement Jaxx. Anyway, I think if I buy clothes in Korea it’ll probably end up being men’s clothes; Korean women’s fashion is just way too girly for me (plus men’s clothes probably come in slightly bigger sizes). I can’t wait until it’s warmer and I can stop wearing this dang coat. It’s been good to me, but I really would rather be wearing less clothing all the time. What? I’ll tell you a bit of Korean women’s fashion that needs to die: hairy vests. I just saw this woman in this heinous pink sweat suit thing with a hairy white vest over top. Offensive.
This entry’s music recommendation is a little tune by a group called SHINee, which is pronounced shiny even though it totally looks like shinny. I rather like these kids (literally kids – like many kpop singers, they are ludicrously young). The first song I’ll link is their debut track, “Noona is so pretty” (noona is what boys call either their older sister or familiar girls older than themselves), from a couple of years ago, and the second one is their most recent song “Ring Ding Dong” that boasts some highly nonsensical English lyrics. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1HAazRvDP4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roughtzsCDI
Love,
AAA
P.S. I suppose I should also link the crazy Mazeltov song. Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTkJ9UK3JsQ
P.P.S. I stopped by a little cupcake spot post hot choco-ing and, apart from consuming two small but tasty cupcakes, I’m not watching a couple eat cupcakes, and the dude is eating his cupcake with a spoon. A spoon! Who does? Anyway, I’ve also discovered the secret to desserts in SK: its better to not go with chocolate items because they are never quite chocolaty enough. But other flavours, like the raspberry cupcake I just ate, can be quite delicious and don’t have any associated let downness.
I’ve actually been frequenting this place called Selu Coffee that’s about 3 minutes from work (8 if the intersection acts like a jerk) during break at work, mostly because of their delightful bathroom. 2,400 won is a small price to pay for a warm seat and warm water (and hot chocolate, which is good too). I’ve improved at squatting but sometimes a girl really needs a seat. I also think I’m never going to get used to the whole toilet paper in the garbage can thing. I understand the reasons but I feel horrible for whoever’s job it is to clean that up.
I don’t plan on talking much about work on this blog for a number of reasons, the most important being that it would probably be boring for you to raed (whereas I know you are riveted by tales of toilets and traffic :P). But to speak hypothetically for a moment, let me say this:
Let’s say you work in a box factory and you make, say, 2 million boxes a week. And one day, you’re boss comes in and says he wants to pay you overtime to stay late and make 4 million boxes a week instead. Now you really value your free time and you live quite comfortably, so the overtime pay isn’t that exciting. Later, you find out that your boss wants all that overtime work to be done because he wants 8 million boxes made before he leaves to go lie on a beach for a month. Wouldn’t that make you a little peeved? (As an aside, this scenario has put the “Yo, my name is Joe, and I work in a button factory” song in my head).
In other news, it’s sort of crazy that I’ve only been here for a little over a month so far. It feels like longer. I’ve settled in pretty quickly, I suppose. But I do have to remind myself that it hasn’t been very long because sometimes I feel like I’m not getting started fast enough on some stuff, like taking Korean lessons, but then I’ll remembered that I can hardly expect myself to be on top of everything already. I’ve also just locked myself into taking the GRE English subject test in early April so I’ll have to do some studying for that (boo! hiss!). I have to go check out the university it’s at (Keimyoung, it’s called) before hand so I can know where I’m going and how long it takes to get there. It’ll be cool to get to see a Korean Uni in action. But yeah, the point is, rushing is for suckas. I am pleased with the opportunity to take my sweet time doing things right now.
Oh, you may find this entertaining: there’s this kpop song out right now called “Mazeltov.” Weird, right? Even stranger is the fact that there is no discernable reason for the name. In the song, they mention Mexican girls, Korean girls, Japanese girls – no talk of Jewish girls at all. What’s more, no one knows what the heck mazel tov means over here – people have been asking their students. I can’t imagine that the dudes singing the song know either. So whoever wrote it either randomly chose the word because they thought it sounded fun (pronounced “Majultob” Korean style) or know what it means and think it’s hilarious to confuse everybody. Oh kpop, your use of any language other than Korean is always so crazy.
So I paused writing for a bit to look through a men’s fashion magazine (cuz you know I never look at the ones for women) and came across some appealing info: Basement Jaxx are going to be in Seoul next weekend. I have decided to go. Very exciting. I totally love Basement Jaxx. Anyway, I think if I buy clothes in Korea it’ll probably end up being men’s clothes; Korean women’s fashion is just way too girly for me (plus men’s clothes probably come in slightly bigger sizes). I can’t wait until it’s warmer and I can stop wearing this dang coat. It’s been good to me, but I really would rather be wearing less clothing all the time. What? I’ll tell you a bit of Korean women’s fashion that needs to die: hairy vests. I just saw this woman in this heinous pink sweat suit thing with a hairy white vest over top. Offensive.
This entry’s music recommendation is a little tune by a group called SHINee, which is pronounced shiny even though it totally looks like shinny. I rather like these kids (literally kids – like many kpop singers, they are ludicrously young). The first song I’ll link is their debut track, “Noona is so pretty” (noona is what boys call either their older sister or familiar girls older than themselves), from a couple of years ago, and the second one is their most recent song “Ring Ding Dong” that boasts some highly nonsensical English lyrics. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1HAazRvDP4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roughtzsCDI
Love,
AAA
P.S. I suppose I should also link the crazy Mazeltov song. Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTkJ9UK3JsQ
P.P.S. I stopped by a little cupcake spot post hot choco-ing and, apart from consuming two small but tasty cupcakes, I’m not watching a couple eat cupcakes, and the dude is eating his cupcake with a spoon. A spoon! Who does? Anyway, I’ve also discovered the secret to desserts in SK: its better to not go with chocolate items because they are never quite chocolaty enough. But other flavours, like the raspberry cupcake I just ate, can be quite delicious and don’t have any associated let downness.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Getting Lunar
(written Saturday afternoon)
Today’s entry comes to you from the third floor of Angel-in-Us Coffee in downtown Daegu. I’m looking down on the bustling streets of the shopping district, drinking some very tasty (albeit expensive) hot chocolate, or hot choco, as you have to call it here if you want people to know what you are saying. Konglish is a funny thing – there are some English loan words that Koreans use all the time that they will just not understand if you use the English pronunciation. Example: if you get into a cab and say “E-mart ka juseyo” the cab driver will either be confused, or repeat, “E-mah-tuh?” to see if that’s what you meant. You can never underestimate the power of the “uh” at the end of a word that ends with a consonant.
On the same level where I am sitting, across the street is the Canadian Students Association, which is interesting. I wonder what they do? I was actually thinking of doing some investigating into Korea’s academic scene. It would be interesting to write an article for a Korean journal, even if I had to get it translated. Speaking of academics, I did some research the other day and discovered that I could take the GRE English Subject Test in Daegu on April 10th. While I’m vehemently against standardized testing, and I’m not really that into the idea of living in the States, it is worth it to keep my options open.
Beside the Canadian Students Association is Davinci Coffee, one of the café chains I haven’t tried yet. Their sign says “The top of pride there is Davinci.”
Speaking of strange English usage, I visited a little underground vintage shop earlier. It felt just like one at home, only with smaller clothes. There I found a t-shirt that said “Hereditaty Infulence,” proving that people really need to spell check t-shirts. I also found a pair of those wonderful Pakistani curl toe shoes that I’ve always wanted. They even fit! But when I took them to the counter, the guy, who I think was Japanese, told me they were just for display and not for sale. Alas the day.
On a totally unrelated note, Koreans run a lot. The Korean staff in the office often run from place to place for no discernable reason. And I find the frequency with which Korean women run particularly because so many of them wear such unconscionably high heels all the time. The constant clacking of high heels everywhere will hopefully stop getting on my nerves with time. I’m also becoming my parents in one oddly specific way: I regularly feel the urge to yell “Pick up your feet!” at strangers on the street who inexplicably drag their feet as if they are Igor.
Do it’s Seolnar, aka Lunar new year, on Monday. So happy new year everybody! We get Monday off of work (woowoo!). We also received a little Korean equivalent of a pizza party during afternoon break on Friday. We ate fish cakes and ddukbokki, which is rice cakes in a very spicy sauce. Every major holiday, apparently, everyone gets a gift from the company. This year, we all got two big boxes of seaweed. What, you ask, will I do with two boxes of seaweed? Absolutely nothing since I don’t even really like seaweed. I’ll eat it if it’s in soup or kimbap but I’ll never cook with it or eat it by itself. I’m thinking of mailing it to Kai.
A funny thing about this area is that a lot of the streets look like the sort of streets that would be pedestrian only but they totally aren’t, even the really narrow ones. So even though everyone walks in the middle of the street anyway, you regularly get honked at and have to move to the side. I just saw the McDonald’s delivery guy (yes Mickey-D’s delivers over here) almost collide with another motorcycle.
Yesterday the glorious Maanda came into town because today she and Bryan are off on a ski trip that they tried to peer pressure me into doing too. I resisted, having not skied since the grade 7 ski trip and having absolutely zero confidence in my skill. So instead I’m spending the weekend kicking back, meeting up with folks (including another former guelphite who is coming in from Busan). Tonight I’m supposed to go to my first ever nonforeigner dominated club, which should be fun. I’ll let you know how it goes.
The guy sitting across from me is singing to himself while working on what ooks to be some kind of workbook. A funny thing that’s been happening recently is that I sometimes see people who look like the Korean equivalent of someone I know from back home / elsewhere in the world. Not any close friends yet, but I’ll let you know if I find any.
Okay time to wrap this baby up. Today’s music rec is Taeyang (one of the members of the very popular group Big Bang) with his solo song “Wedding Dress.” Songs with this particular theme (which you can gather from the video even if you don’t understand the lyrics) always do it for me because I can relate to them an embarrassing degree. Goodtimes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIt6KCwlFPw
Love,
AAA
p.s. I want you all to know that I really do appreciate any comments you want to leave. I suppose it is hard to comment on someone’s personal ramblings but still, feel free.
Today’s entry comes to you from the third floor of Angel-in-Us Coffee in downtown Daegu. I’m looking down on the bustling streets of the shopping district, drinking some very tasty (albeit expensive) hot chocolate, or hot choco, as you have to call it here if you want people to know what you are saying. Konglish is a funny thing – there are some English loan words that Koreans use all the time that they will just not understand if you use the English pronunciation. Example: if you get into a cab and say “E-mart ka juseyo” the cab driver will either be confused, or repeat, “E-mah-tuh?” to see if that’s what you meant. You can never underestimate the power of the “uh” at the end of a word that ends with a consonant.
On the same level where I am sitting, across the street is the Canadian Students Association, which is interesting. I wonder what they do? I was actually thinking of doing some investigating into Korea’s academic scene. It would be interesting to write an article for a Korean journal, even if I had to get it translated. Speaking of academics, I did some research the other day and discovered that I could take the GRE English Subject Test in Daegu on April 10th. While I’m vehemently against standardized testing, and I’m not really that into the idea of living in the States, it is worth it to keep my options open.
Beside the Canadian Students Association is Davinci Coffee, one of the café chains I haven’t tried yet. Their sign says “The top of pride there is Davinci.”
Speaking of strange English usage, I visited a little underground vintage shop earlier. It felt just like one at home, only with smaller clothes. There I found a t-shirt that said “Hereditaty Infulence,” proving that people really need to spell check t-shirts. I also found a pair of those wonderful Pakistani curl toe shoes that I’ve always wanted. They even fit! But when I took them to the counter, the guy, who I think was Japanese, told me they were just for display and not for sale. Alas the day.
On a totally unrelated note, Koreans run a lot. The Korean staff in the office often run from place to place for no discernable reason. And I find the frequency with which Korean women run particularly because so many of them wear such unconscionably high heels all the time. The constant clacking of high heels everywhere will hopefully stop getting on my nerves with time. I’m also becoming my parents in one oddly specific way: I regularly feel the urge to yell “Pick up your feet!” at strangers on the street who inexplicably drag their feet as if they are Igor.
Do it’s Seolnar, aka Lunar new year, on Monday. So happy new year everybody! We get Monday off of work (woowoo!). We also received a little Korean equivalent of a pizza party during afternoon break on Friday. We ate fish cakes and ddukbokki, which is rice cakes in a very spicy sauce. Every major holiday, apparently, everyone gets a gift from the company. This year, we all got two big boxes of seaweed. What, you ask, will I do with two boxes of seaweed? Absolutely nothing since I don’t even really like seaweed. I’ll eat it if it’s in soup or kimbap but I’ll never cook with it or eat it by itself. I’m thinking of mailing it to Kai.
A funny thing about this area is that a lot of the streets look like the sort of streets that would be pedestrian only but they totally aren’t, even the really narrow ones. So even though everyone walks in the middle of the street anyway, you regularly get honked at and have to move to the side. I just saw the McDonald’s delivery guy (yes Mickey-D’s delivers over here) almost collide with another motorcycle.
Yesterday the glorious Maanda came into town because today she and Bryan are off on a ski trip that they tried to peer pressure me into doing too. I resisted, having not skied since the grade 7 ski trip and having absolutely zero confidence in my skill. So instead I’m spending the weekend kicking back, meeting up with folks (including another former guelphite who is coming in from Busan). Tonight I’m supposed to go to my first ever nonforeigner dominated club, which should be fun. I’ll let you know how it goes.
The guy sitting across from me is singing to himself while working on what ooks to be some kind of workbook. A funny thing that’s been happening recently is that I sometimes see people who look like the Korean equivalent of someone I know from back home / elsewhere in the world. Not any close friends yet, but I’ll let you know if I find any.
Okay time to wrap this baby up. Today’s music rec is Taeyang (one of the members of the very popular group Big Bang) with his solo song “Wedding Dress.” Songs with this particular theme (which you can gather from the video even if you don’t understand the lyrics) always do it for me because I can relate to them an embarrassing degree. Goodtimes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIt6KCwlFPw
Love,
AAA
p.s. I want you all to know that I really do appreciate any comments you want to leave. I suppose it is hard to comment on someone’s personal ramblings but still, feel free.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Institutions
Another day, another café. I know it must seem like I do this a lot but it’s mostly because I’ve found that the way for me to actually write blog entries is to do it longhand and outside of my apartment. So right now I’m sitting in Hands Coffee, with its bright yellow walls and Franco-African background music. The female barista seems to be really excited about something and is celebrating by flailing her arms and covering her mouth in a hilarious manner.
So in case you are worried about chronology (you’re almost definitely not) the entries I posted on Sunday were actually written during the week; I just posted them then because I had time. In the spirit of the last entry, I wanted to mention another one of my weirdo characteristics. It’s one I’ve been noticing more recently for reasons that I will explain. I notice that when someone tells me about their problems and/or various life situations, I start throwing out advice and commentary right from the get go, regardless of how well I know the person. Now, one of the things about living in a country where you know that most of the population can’t understand you is that you (and by “you” I mean all of the foreigners I’ve met so far) will have conversations in public that you absolutely wouldn’t at home. So, over food and drink, I have been treated to some very personal tales (rest assured I am not complaining; you know I love knowing people’s business) and have been more than ready to state my perspective on such tales to people I’ve known for less than a month.
On Saturday I finally made it to the jimjilbang. I met up with Bryan and some of his martial arts peeps. Only one other woman decided to come along, J, a cool South African from Durban, so she and I got to do some good hanging out while in the ladies’ section. The jimjilbang is divided into ladies’, men’s and coed sections because in the hot tubs and saunas you have to be naked but in the heated floor section, you wear a gym class-esque outfit so you can hang out with the other gender. J told me about the tough time she’s had in Korea because of her accent. I think it’s ridiculous to expect everyone to talk like Americans when they make up only one, admittedly loud, section of the English speaking world. Plus it’s just douchy to hire someone knowing what their accent sounds like and then punish them for it. Anyway, the jimjilbang was delightful and refreshing. That evening, I went out to celebrate Nakia’s birthday, which was tons of fun. Despite the late night, my body woke me up early (by my standards) on Sunday morning. Nakia, sweetheart that she is, took me to Costco that afternoon. Now I don’t go to Costco back home so this was my first experience with Costco in any context, so all I can say is that Costco in Daegu on a Sunday afternoon is C-R-A-Z-Y-T-O-W-N. As Nakia would say, everyone and their granny was there. The place is huge and still it was packed. First thing we did was eat their straight up delicious food. I had my first slice of pizza in like a month and a half and it tasted like cheesy heaven. They also serve these things called “chicken bake” and “bulgogi bake” which are bread stuffed with cheese and either chicken or bulgogi. I got the chicken one and it was sooooo good. Next time, bulgogi. Of course, next time won’t be for a long time because bulk shopping means I won’t be needing a lot of things for at least a couple of months. I bought a humungous apple pie that I’m very pleased with. Tomorrow I’m going to cook some of my haul. Gone are the days when all my freezer held was ice cream and don-kas (pork cutlet or don katsu); now, it houses a ton of ground beef, half a blog of cheese and a big bag of ravioli.
Since I’ve been writing, I received “service” (re: free) coffee and watch a girl come in and spend several minutes combing her bangs while eating cake (I suppose I am West Indian enough to think that playing with hair while eating is disgusting). Her friend just arrived and looks like she is apologizing for being late. I can’t evesdrop in my usual fashion because my Korean isn’t good enough, though I can always tell when people are talking about me because I can hear them say “weiguk” which means foreigner.
This coffee is making me too sleepy to keep writing so I’ll have to wrap this up so I can walk home. As for today’s musical recommendation, I give you Clazziquai, one of the first Korean groups I ever got into. I found out about them because they contributed to the soundtrack of “My Lovely Kim Sam Soon,” one of the first kdramas I ever watched and an all time favourite. Clazziquai’s delightful mix of electronica, jazz and pop (and even bossanova on a number of tracks) really pleases me. Also I’m entertained by their sometimes nonsensical use of English. They have a good mix of tempos so I’m offering one high energy, one mid tempo and one mellow track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj6roS5q2QI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy7gaLP08Mw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4xsv7hcqBM
Love,
AAA
So in case you are worried about chronology (you’re almost definitely not) the entries I posted on Sunday were actually written during the week; I just posted them then because I had time. In the spirit of the last entry, I wanted to mention another one of my weirdo characteristics. It’s one I’ve been noticing more recently for reasons that I will explain. I notice that when someone tells me about their problems and/or various life situations, I start throwing out advice and commentary right from the get go, regardless of how well I know the person. Now, one of the things about living in a country where you know that most of the population can’t understand you is that you (and by “you” I mean all of the foreigners I’ve met so far) will have conversations in public that you absolutely wouldn’t at home. So, over food and drink, I have been treated to some very personal tales (rest assured I am not complaining; you know I love knowing people’s business) and have been more than ready to state my perspective on such tales to people I’ve known for less than a month.
On Saturday I finally made it to the jimjilbang. I met up with Bryan and some of his martial arts peeps. Only one other woman decided to come along, J, a cool South African from Durban, so she and I got to do some good hanging out while in the ladies’ section. The jimjilbang is divided into ladies’, men’s and coed sections because in the hot tubs and saunas you have to be naked but in the heated floor section, you wear a gym class-esque outfit so you can hang out with the other gender. J told me about the tough time she’s had in Korea because of her accent. I think it’s ridiculous to expect everyone to talk like Americans when they make up only one, admittedly loud, section of the English speaking world. Plus it’s just douchy to hire someone knowing what their accent sounds like and then punish them for it. Anyway, the jimjilbang was delightful and refreshing. That evening, I went out to celebrate Nakia’s birthday, which was tons of fun. Despite the late night, my body woke me up early (by my standards) on Sunday morning. Nakia, sweetheart that she is, took me to Costco that afternoon. Now I don’t go to Costco back home so this was my first experience with Costco in any context, so all I can say is that Costco in Daegu on a Sunday afternoon is C-R-A-Z-Y-T-O-W-N. As Nakia would say, everyone and their granny was there. The place is huge and still it was packed. First thing we did was eat their straight up delicious food. I had my first slice of pizza in like a month and a half and it tasted like cheesy heaven. They also serve these things called “chicken bake” and “bulgogi bake” which are bread stuffed with cheese and either chicken or bulgogi. I got the chicken one and it was sooooo good. Next time, bulgogi. Of course, next time won’t be for a long time because bulk shopping means I won’t be needing a lot of things for at least a couple of months. I bought a humungous apple pie that I’m very pleased with. Tomorrow I’m going to cook some of my haul. Gone are the days when all my freezer held was ice cream and don-kas (pork cutlet or don katsu); now, it houses a ton of ground beef, half a blog of cheese and a big bag of ravioli.
Since I’ve been writing, I received “service” (re: free) coffee and watch a girl come in and spend several minutes combing her bangs while eating cake (I suppose I am West Indian enough to think that playing with hair while eating is disgusting). Her friend just arrived and looks like she is apologizing for being late. I can’t evesdrop in my usual fashion because my Korean isn’t good enough, though I can always tell when people are talking about me because I can hear them say “weiguk” which means foreigner.
This coffee is making me too sleepy to keep writing so I’ll have to wrap this up so I can walk home. As for today’s musical recommendation, I give you Clazziquai, one of the first Korean groups I ever got into. I found out about them because they contributed to the soundtrack of “My Lovely Kim Sam Soon,” one of the first kdramas I ever watched and an all time favourite. Clazziquai’s delightful mix of electronica, jazz and pop (and even bossanova on a number of tracks) really pleases me. Also I’m entertained by their sometimes nonsensical use of English. They have a good mix of tempos so I’m offering one high energy, one mid tempo and one mellow track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj6roS5q2QI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy7gaLP08Mw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4xsv7hcqBM
Love,
AAA
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Asha All Up in Her Own Business
So it’s kind of funny, this blog represents simultaneously one thing I really want to do more of while in Korea – write – and one thing I really want to be less of – an observer. I spend a lot of time and really enjoy watching other people’s lives. Today, I’m sitting in a gelato and waffle (wapple if you say it the Korean way) place across the street from Emart where I went to buy a laundry bag so the washing machine doesn’t tear my clothes apart. I am, as always, observing. I just saw a guy walk in carrying not one but four purses, presumably all belonging to the same girlfriend (though maybe one of them is his). I unabashedly love watching other people’s lives but I do worry sometimes that I spend too much time watching and not enough time living. More time theorizing than testing theories. I’m not entirely sure how to do things different though. I do need to learn – my plan to go travelling by myself depends on my ability to go places and directly engage with them rather than just watching. I like to think of myself as a very embodied person but sometime I think that I act like a big eye with an arm attached for writing. Which is not the best way to be.
Connected to the be more of a participant goal is to be more of a risk taker. When I tell people I’m not a risk taker, they often argue with me or are surprised. But tis true; pretty much everything I decide to do, I’m already pretty sure I’m good at it / capable of it. Coming to Korea itself was a very calculated risk: yeah I’d never lived in another country before but I’d visited Korea, knew tons of people who were already here and already knew I like the food. I’m too much of a planner by half. So this year, I’m really going to try to be more adventurous. Maybe occasionally do something spontaneous. And maybe even spend less time being a floating eye. I’ll let you guys know how it goes.
As for today’s music suggestion, I give you one of this year’s big girl groups, 4minute. This song, at least title wise, is pretty appropriate for this entry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLDS6fWk2NY
Love,
AAA
Connected to the be more of a participant goal is to be more of a risk taker. When I tell people I’m not a risk taker, they often argue with me or are surprised. But tis true; pretty much everything I decide to do, I’m already pretty sure I’m good at it / capable of it. Coming to Korea itself was a very calculated risk: yeah I’d never lived in another country before but I’d visited Korea, knew tons of people who were already here and already knew I like the food. I’m too much of a planner by half. So this year, I’m really going to try to be more adventurous. Maybe occasionally do something spontaneous. And maybe even spend less time being a floating eye. I’ll let you guys know how it goes.
As for today’s music suggestion, I give you one of this year’s big girl groups, 4minute. This song, at least title wise, is pretty appropriate for this entry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLDS6fWk2NY
Love,
AAA
Asha All Up In Korea's Business
SK isn’t really all that different from any place where people were really poor and are now less so. So yeah, Korea can seem very materialistic. And it is. But for some pretty clear historical reasons, I think. It’s not even like the history of war and postwar poverty is all that hidden. On two occasions, I’ve been downtown and saw a man with no legs pushing himself down the street on his stomach on one of those square boards on wheels that you drag your friends around on in elementary school gym class. The first time, I was really shocked and looked around, seeing if anyone was reacting. No one was. It didn’t look like he was begging in any recognizable way, though he was dragging something along behind hm. Even apart from this rather stark example, one just as to look at some of the ahjummas and ahjussis (older women and men, respectively) you see on the street going about their business. Their coarse, voluminous pants, stooped backs and farmer-esque visors. their big carts that look sharply out of place as they roll past stores selling Louis Vuitton and Guess. It’s a trip seeing ahjummas and young women juxtaposed. The obvious strength and forecefullness of the ahjummas beside the delicate (real or feigned) femininity of their granddaughters. Generation gaps and class gaps exist everywhere of course but I suppose it takes going somewhere new to see it so played out so obviously. In Korea, it almost looks like the working class and the middle class live in completely different countries, which is not something I’ve experienced before. I wonder if young Koreans are very aware of this contrast that they live. After I went to Beijing last year, people would ask me what I thought of it and I would talk about how Beijing feels like a really haphazard mishmash of times and styles. I see now that Korea has some of that same quality, just a little less obviously.
All of this makes me understand better why Korean kids are so terrifyingly overworked. I mean, the average Korean 11 year old seems to work harder and longer than I did doing my master’s. And while I don’t think that’s good, I can see how, with the spectre of war and poverty so close behind you, you might go a little overboard in wanting your children to succeed.
As for the issue of postwar American influence and Korea and its various side effects (including those hideous, obviously fake eye folds you see frequently around town – seriously, if you are going to have an invasive, arguably self-hating surgery, at least get one that looks even vaguely natural), that is a whole ‘nother entry.
On a far lighter note, I find it remarkably difficult to guess age in Korea. Do sometimes I’ll think some random guy is cute and then spend several minutes worrying that he’s super young. One thing is for sure: Korea has the least scary police officers in the world. Half of them look about 12 and there really isn’t anything at all intimidating in their demeanour. There’s a police station not too far from work and one day I was walking to Dunkin Donuts when I saw a group of guys in matching grey coats. “Oh, what is this, a field trip?” I wondered. Turns out, it was the cops. I’d be curious to see if they seem more authoritative in action, but it’s hard to imagine. When I think back to being in Spain and having my Aunty Eve tell me not to ever make eye contact with Spanish police because they were that intense, I don’t know if anything could shake my mild mental image of Korean police. It doesn’t help that they have a cute cartoon animal on the sign outside the station.
And now for this entry’s music rec – the impressive Yoon Mirae, aka Tasha, a half African American half Korean woman rapper. She’s married to the guy from my link in my second entry. Hip hop couple = too adorable to be borne.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0_dCn7gZXg
Love,
AAA
All of this makes me understand better why Korean kids are so terrifyingly overworked. I mean, the average Korean 11 year old seems to work harder and longer than I did doing my master’s. And while I don’t think that’s good, I can see how, with the spectre of war and poverty so close behind you, you might go a little overboard in wanting your children to succeed.
As for the issue of postwar American influence and Korea and its various side effects (including those hideous, obviously fake eye folds you see frequently around town – seriously, if you are going to have an invasive, arguably self-hating surgery, at least get one that looks even vaguely natural), that is a whole ‘nother entry.
On a far lighter note, I find it remarkably difficult to guess age in Korea. Do sometimes I’ll think some random guy is cute and then spend several minutes worrying that he’s super young. One thing is for sure: Korea has the least scary police officers in the world. Half of them look about 12 and there really isn’t anything at all intimidating in their demeanour. There’s a police station not too far from work and one day I was walking to Dunkin Donuts when I saw a group of guys in matching grey coats. “Oh, what is this, a field trip?” I wondered. Turns out, it was the cops. I’d be curious to see if they seem more authoritative in action, but it’s hard to imagine. When I think back to being in Spain and having my Aunty Eve tell me not to ever make eye contact with Spanish police because they were that intense, I don’t know if anything could shake my mild mental image of Korean police. It doesn’t help that they have a cute cartoon animal on the sign outside the station.
And now for this entry’s music rec – the impressive Yoon Mirae, aka Tasha, a half African American half Korean woman rapper. She’s married to the guy from my link in my second entry. Hip hop couple = too adorable to be borne.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0_dCn7gZXg
Love,
AAA
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