I have been here for three months now and feel that I have pretty much become immune to culture shock. The things that stood out as culturally insane when I first arrived are now just a part of my day to day life. I am used to strange looks and people constantly telling you their not so flattering thoughts on your appearance, I have fully adjusted to the fact that public restrooms never have soap and often don't have a sink, I have even started referring to myself in the third person as Peta Teecha. Even though this new found culture shock immunity is something I am pretty pleased with, I do genuinely enjoy when something happens that stands out as being very, very different.
Something that continually shocks me are the subtle differences in day to day activities, activities that are so routine and insignificant one wouldn't really think to look for strong examples of culture shock. To demonstrate my point, I will walk you through a few of these things including a haircut, a physical, and a cab ride.
Haircut
I had my first haircut in Korea this past weekend, a process that I have been dreading since I arrived. It is in these random life need errands that you truly realize you are actually living in a place. I am not just a tourist. I live here. I have needs. I needed a haircut. Now that it is all said and done, I have to say that I am honestly looking forward to the next time I need a trim. I found a shop simply called "Scissors For Man" and figured that it was probably a safe bet. This shop just seemed to be, well, for me. I entered the store and was amazed to find that the hairdresser spoke better English than many of the Koreans who are teaching English at my school. As I sat in the chair the man asked if I would like to be massaged during my haircut, he then flicked a switch on the chair to show me just what this massage would entail should I choose to accept. The chair began to vibrate and rub my back and legs. Honestly, I hated it, but for more massage inclined patrons, this seems like a pretty impressive offering for a salon that charges under $6 for a haircut. I politely declined the massage. My eyes were then directed to the counter space below the mirror in front of me. The man pressed a button and a flat screen television rose out of the counter. He quickly flicked through the channels to find something playing in English and landed on a Nazi war movie with Jude Law. Nothing says haircut like a gory Nazi flick, and it truly made the 20 minute haircut fly by. I couldn't decide which was more entertaining, the video entertainment or the two Korean men in chairs to either side of me with their hair done up in curlers to obtain the so popular Korean man perm. As my first haircut in Korea experience came to an end, the kind barber quickly shoved a little trimmer in both of my nostrils to add new definition to the expectations one usually have of their barber. As I left, everyone in the shop, including the men in curlers, turned and waved to say goodbye.
Physical
I think the words hair pulling three year old tantrum throwing phobia are accurate descriptors of my feelings before a physical. I am a pretty big believer in personal space, and feel that the act of getting a physical pops your metaphorical bubble in a truly unpleasant way. When I first came here I was informed that later in the week I would be taken for my physical that is required of all foreigners upon their arrival in Korea. When the dreaded day came, I made my way to the hospital with my supervisor Jenny, her husband Charlie and my coworker Anthony, all of whom followed me throughout the entire physical. The entire process took under a half hour and is one of the funniest things I have encountered here thus far, though I am still not entirely sure I understand what happened. The best way that I can describe it is that you are shoved from room to room by doctors and nurses who speak little to no English, which means that you are never once told what is going on or what to expect. The process began in one room where a nurse wrenched open my mouth and pulled out my tongue and squeezed it for a bit, next room you are shoving your arms in some machine to do something I am still unclear on, next room is a blood test. I found it pretty shocking that gloves were not worn by any of the nurses at the hospital, even during the blood test. Next, they hand you a cup and give you directions to the toilet. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that the bathroom was just under a five minute walk away. I finished the cup filling process and made my way back towards the room where I was told the cup should be deposited. The long walk with the cup o' pee was pretty intimidating, what can I say, I guess I just prefer being seen in public without a cup filled with urine. I tried to avoid thinking about what would happen should I fall, which is especially likely when you are surrounded by Koreans who are very inclined to push and shove. There were a few more exams that were very fast and totally confusing, and in a flash my physical was done. I would take a physical in Korea over one in the states any day, though I still would prefer to avoid the whole experience all together.
Cab Ride
Cabs are amazingly cheap here and things are pretty spread out, so I feel that I have become quite accustomed to the Korean cab experience. The biggest obstacle you must tackle when getting in a Korean cab is gaining a calm understanding that your driver will not stop for red lights. They are just against it. Though it makes for a much quicker form of transportation than the cabs I was used to in Boston, I still find myself gasping and grabbing at the door handle in almost every cab ride I take. The drivers don't seem to notice, as every cab I have been in comes with a personal television in just to the right of the steering wheel that they seem to watch more intently than they do the road. It isn't uncommon that a driver will just refuse to take you because they aren't in the mood to go where you request or because you are a foreigner. They will sometimes decide mid ride that they don't want to finish taking you where you are going, at which point they will simply pull over and ask you to get out. Another thing to keep in mind when visiting Korea is that you should never take a cab that is black. This ride will be nearly twice as expensive, and the only difference is that the driver is wearing a suit.
*http://mp3bear.com/the-police-roxanne
Monday, March 15, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Alive and Kickin' in my XXXXL Jacket
This past weekend was perhaps the biggest weekend I have experienced thus far in my 2+ months in Korea. Lunar New Years, according to Wikipedia and the mixed stories I have gotten from my Korean friends, is also known as Seollal, and is the most important of the Korean traditional holidays. This, combined with the fact that we had an extra day off of work, combined with the fact that our dear Korean friend Donna is incredibly motivated, inspired myself and two other teacher friends to head to Busan, "The San Francisco of Korea" to ring in the Korean New Year.
This whirlwind weekend was only topped by the amazing scenery of Busan. The jagged cliffs rising out of the bright blue ocean were a perfect scenic compliment to the Buddhist Temples set high in the mountains above Busan. But before I go any further into a description of this amazing weekend, let me give you some background information on exactly how it all came to be.
I have found that I am very good at planning vacations with friends that never seem to transpire. The Western mindset seems all too accepting of letting plans slip by the wayside until it is too late to logically book the necessary tickets and accommodations to make these fantasy plans a reality. This is where our friend Donna comes in. A simple facebook message was sent a few weeks back asking if we would be interested in spending the Lunar New Years with her and her family in Busan. We sent messages back that said something along the lines of "sure!". The next message we received, sent minutes later, was that our bus tickets had already been purchased and a hotel reservation had been made.
Three weeks later, we find ourselves exhausted and stumbling off of a 5+ hour bus ride that started at 4 AM. The jam packed Busan schedule did not allow us any time to rest up before the adventures began, and we made our way to the hotel to shower up and hit the road. Our hotel room was amazing, but seemed to be missing one key thing a person would hope to find in a hotel. Beds. Instead we quickly came to terms with the fact that at the day's end, we would be curling up in blankets on the floor, enjoying the amazing ocean view from the giant picture window.
We made our way through beaches, museums and hills. We saw crying mermaid statues and extension bridges. We collected sea glass, took hundreds of pictures, and eventually made our way to Donna's home.
We met her grandmother, mother and sister, and were warmly welcomed into their home. They did not speak much English so the communication was relatively limited, but this did not stop them from teaching us how to make Mondu (dumplings) from scratch and preparing a really amazing meal. We finished the food, watched as Donna's talented artist sister gave Stephanie a two hour manicure, and eventually made our way back to the floor of our hotel room.
The next day we went to a Buddhist Temple in the cliffs, which is probably the most amazing thing I have ever seen. (Pictures will be posted ASAP). I finally found the courage to be a creepy tourist, and was comfortable taking pictures of the really adorable kids dressed in their traditional clothing, bowing before giant Buddha statues.
From here we went to a giant market to do some shopping. We made our way through shops and carts selling a mixture of designer knock off goods and really trendy Asian clothing. Let me preface the rest of the market story by saying that it is nearly impossible to find clothes that fit in Korea, but that I generally wear a size L or XL in the States. After trying on clothes at countless stores, I finally found a jacket that fit, which was pretty exciting for me seeing as I have been braving the winter weather in nothing but a sweatshirt for the past few months. I went into the store to ask about jackets, and the woman looked at me and said, "Fat Size?" "Yes," I told her, "fat size." She gave me a really great fat sized jacket, and I was honestly thrilled with my consumer participation in the Busan marketplace.
From here we made our way to the biggest fish market I have ever seen, not that I have seen that many, but seriously this place was huge. We passed hundreds of carts selling a bizarre array of seafood, things I could not have dreamed existed. We passed carts selling fresh whale meat and giant octopus, and then made our way to Donna's favorite place to get some nice, fresh eel. The three of us Americans and Donna ate the eel with varying levels of excitement. The meal is one of Donna's favorites, and Blake honestly seemed to agree with her, I attempted to be polite and took a few gracious bites, and Stephanie screamed and made vomit faces as she choked down a single, chewey bite. After we ate the meal, they brought over some of the eel they had not yet killed so we could see what it was we had just eaten. The living writhing eels had been skinned alive and were covered in spicy sauce and their own blood. Let me tell you, that this is not exactly the prettiest picture, especially when being viewed in the context of of a meal you have just eaten.
We made our way to the university area where we participated in some good old fashioned Norebang (singing room), and prepared to make our way back to Suwon at 6 AM the next morning. We arrived in Suwon at noon on Monday, happy to have had such a satisfying weekend with great friends. I seriously have 200 pictures to document these two days, which I will upload asap. To close out my first blog post in a really long time, I will tell you a little bit more about my fat jacket. Yesterday, upon closer inspection, I found a tag on the new jacket that listed the size as XXXL. The people at the store seem to have thought that this was not nearly a big enough representation, as they drew on an extra X with a pen. I am now nice and warm, and slightly insecure, in my quadruple XL Jacket. Thank you Korea.
This whirlwind weekend was only topped by the amazing scenery of Busan. The jagged cliffs rising out of the bright blue ocean were a perfect scenic compliment to the Buddhist Temples set high in the mountains above Busan. But before I go any further into a description of this amazing weekend, let me give you some background information on exactly how it all came to be.
I have found that I am very good at planning vacations with friends that never seem to transpire. The Western mindset seems all too accepting of letting plans slip by the wayside until it is too late to logically book the necessary tickets and accommodations to make these fantasy plans a reality. This is where our friend Donna comes in. A simple facebook message was sent a few weeks back asking if we would be interested in spending the Lunar New Years with her and her family in Busan. We sent messages back that said something along the lines of "sure!". The next message we received, sent minutes later, was that our bus tickets had already been purchased and a hotel reservation had been made.
Three weeks later, we find ourselves exhausted and stumbling off of a 5+ hour bus ride that started at 4 AM. The jam packed Busan schedule did not allow us any time to rest up before the adventures began, and we made our way to the hotel to shower up and hit the road. Our hotel room was amazing, but seemed to be missing one key thing a person would hope to find in a hotel. Beds. Instead we quickly came to terms with the fact that at the day's end, we would be curling up in blankets on the floor, enjoying the amazing ocean view from the giant picture window.
We made our way through beaches, museums and hills. We saw crying mermaid statues and extension bridges. We collected sea glass, took hundreds of pictures, and eventually made our way to Donna's home.
We met her grandmother, mother and sister, and were warmly welcomed into their home. They did not speak much English so the communication was relatively limited, but this did not stop them from teaching us how to make Mondu (dumplings) from scratch and preparing a really amazing meal. We finished the food, watched as Donna's talented artist sister gave Stephanie a two hour manicure, and eventually made our way back to the floor of our hotel room.
The next day we went to a Buddhist Temple in the cliffs, which is probably the most amazing thing I have ever seen. (Pictures will be posted ASAP). I finally found the courage to be a creepy tourist, and was comfortable taking pictures of the really adorable kids dressed in their traditional clothing, bowing before giant Buddha statues.
From here we went to a giant market to do some shopping. We made our way through shops and carts selling a mixture of designer knock off goods and really trendy Asian clothing. Let me preface the rest of the market story by saying that it is nearly impossible to find clothes that fit in Korea, but that I generally wear a size L or XL in the States. After trying on clothes at countless stores, I finally found a jacket that fit, which was pretty exciting for me seeing as I have been braving the winter weather in nothing but a sweatshirt for the past few months. I went into the store to ask about jackets, and the woman looked at me and said, "Fat Size?" "Yes," I told her, "fat size." She gave me a really great fat sized jacket, and I was honestly thrilled with my consumer participation in the Busan marketplace.
From here we made our way to the biggest fish market I have ever seen, not that I have seen that many, but seriously this place was huge. We passed hundreds of carts selling a bizarre array of seafood, things I could not have dreamed existed. We passed carts selling fresh whale meat and giant octopus, and then made our way to Donna's favorite place to get some nice, fresh eel. The three of us Americans and Donna ate the eel with varying levels of excitement. The meal is one of Donna's favorites, and Blake honestly seemed to agree with her, I attempted to be polite and took a few gracious bites, and Stephanie screamed and made vomit faces as she choked down a single, chewey bite. After we ate the meal, they brought over some of the eel they had not yet killed so we could see what it was we had just eaten. The living writhing eels had been skinned alive and were covered in spicy sauce and their own blood. Let me tell you, that this is not exactly the prettiest picture, especially when being viewed in the context of of a meal you have just eaten.
We made our way to the university area where we participated in some good old fashioned Norebang (singing room), and prepared to make our way back to Suwon at 6 AM the next morning. We arrived in Suwon at noon on Monday, happy to have had such a satisfying weekend with great friends. I seriously have 200 pictures to document these two days, which I will upload asap. To close out my first blog post in a really long time, I will tell you a little bit more about my fat jacket. Yesterday, upon closer inspection, I found a tag on the new jacket that listed the size as XXXL. The people at the store seem to have thought that this was not nearly a big enough representation, as they drew on an extra X with a pen. I am now nice and warm, and slightly insecure, in my quadruple XL Jacket. Thank you Korea.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Welcome Home
Up until this weekend, my stay in Korea has had a massive shadow cast over it by one store and two syllables. Home Plus. I have heard so much about this magical place, but never quite grasped the magnitude of what exactly Korean shopping had to offer until yesterday when I made my first trip to this Wonka Factory of consumerism.
Suwon has three Home Plus locations, and the closest to me is only a 5 ish minute cab ride away. The store is 4 or 5 stories tall, and each level is the size of a Wal Mart. The first level is full of clothing and jewelry, and prices range from insanely cheap to very high end. The clothes here looked great and were definitely affordable, but I unfortunately don't seem to fit into anything. I guess I will need another couple of months of the Korean diet before this level of Home Plus will be of much use to me.
I made my way to the top with the idea that I would check out the entire store and work my way down. This level had literally everything from televisions to cell phones to art supplies to home products, and I spent a good hour looking at everything I didn't really need and really didn't have the money to buy. I left only spending 30,000 (like $25) and felt that I had done a pretty good job. I bought a bath towel (finally I can stop drying myself with the shirt I wore the day before) three floor cushions, and a dining room table. The dining room table was only 16,000, but one must keep in mind that a Korean dining room table is maybe 3 feet across and comes up maybe 9 inches off the ground. These products have brought my apartment a long way towards feeling more like a home, and I am very happy with the purchases of the 5th floor.
While perusing the grocery store level, I came to a sudden epiphany. I have spent a lot of time here searching for a strong statement of Korean culture. Besides the fact that I am paying for things in Won and listening to people speak in a different language, I keep having to remind myself that I am in another country. Everything is so consumer driven here that there doesn't seem to be a strong statement of culture that is uniquely Korean. In that moment, I realized that this the cultural statement I have been looking for. This store was really incredible, and was like nothing I have ever seen before. It truly was uniquely Korean.
The store was completely packed with families bonding together through large scale consumerism. An employee was stationed at every aisle with fresh cooked samples of really great food, and the employee was not only expected to cook and distribute the food, but to loudly yell about the wonders of said product. Talk about multitasking. At each sample table there was a minor mosh pit of Koreans of all ages going back for seconds and thirds of these generous sized samples. It was truly anything goes, and I was frequently shoved out of the way by 4 year olds dive bombing, toothpick in hand, for the last remaining chunk of unidentifiable meat. The sampling crowds were especially present around the liquor aisle, where they were giving out large "samples" of beer. There were at least 15 male shoppers fully taking advantage of the fact that there really was no limit to exactly how many samples one could take. I could tell by a combination of their bright red faces and not so steady stances that they had been there for quite some time.
I timidly made my way through the store holding my products in hand. The process of getting a shopping cart was bizarrely intimidating so I just decided to skip it all together. I had found everything I came for except one key thing; peanut butter. I had made my way through every aisle and knew I didn't have the energy for a return trip through the store in search of my last remaining need. I quickly found an employee who, as it turned out, is the nicest person who has ever existed. Over the din of the store I slowly enunciated the words "PEA-NUT BUT-TER." He smiled, nodded, took me by the hand, and walked with me for nearly three minutes to the large display of peanut butter. We wound through massive crowds of shoppers, and even though he never let go of my hand, he frequently looked back, smiling, to make sure that I was keeping up with him. I was kind of embarrassed when I realized that it was right underneath the jelly and the bread, products which were currently in my hands, but he thankfully paid no attention to my ineptitude as a first time Home Plus shopper.
When I finally left the store I was exhausted. My Home Plus experience lasted a good 2 and a half hours, and was without a doubt the most significant event of my weekend. I have been here now for over 5 weeks and have yet to get a paycheck from my school, so my consumerism was pretty limited. Once I do get paid, however, Home Plus will be a priority destination for some good, ol' fashioned Korean shopping.
I did not bring a camera with me to Home Plus, so I am posting this completely unrelated photo because I have realized that this blog is seriously lacking in pictures. This is Stephanie of Seattle, Tara of Dublin and Confused Korean Man, preparing for New Years Eve in Seoul.
Suwon has three Home Plus locations, and the closest to me is only a 5 ish minute cab ride away. The store is 4 or 5 stories tall, and each level is the size of a Wal Mart. The first level is full of clothing and jewelry, and prices range from insanely cheap to very high end. The clothes here looked great and were definitely affordable, but I unfortunately don't seem to fit into anything. I guess I will need another couple of months of the Korean diet before this level of Home Plus will be of much use to me.
I made my way to the top with the idea that I would check out the entire store and work my way down. This level had literally everything from televisions to cell phones to art supplies to home products, and I spent a good hour looking at everything I didn't really need and really didn't have the money to buy. I left only spending 30,000 (like $25) and felt that I had done a pretty good job. I bought a bath towel (finally I can stop drying myself with the shirt I wore the day before) three floor cushions, and a dining room table. The dining room table was only 16,000, but one must keep in mind that a Korean dining room table is maybe 3 feet across and comes up maybe 9 inches off the ground. These products have brought my apartment a long way towards feeling more like a home, and I am very happy with the purchases of the 5th floor.
While perusing the grocery store level, I came to a sudden epiphany. I have spent a lot of time here searching for a strong statement of Korean culture. Besides the fact that I am paying for things in Won and listening to people speak in a different language, I keep having to remind myself that I am in another country. Everything is so consumer driven here that there doesn't seem to be a strong statement of culture that is uniquely Korean. In that moment, I realized that this the cultural statement I have been looking for. This store was really incredible, and was like nothing I have ever seen before. It truly was uniquely Korean.
The store was completely packed with families bonding together through large scale consumerism. An employee was stationed at every aisle with fresh cooked samples of really great food, and the employee was not only expected to cook and distribute the food, but to loudly yell about the wonders of said product. Talk about multitasking. At each sample table there was a minor mosh pit of Koreans of all ages going back for seconds and thirds of these generous sized samples. It was truly anything goes, and I was frequently shoved out of the way by 4 year olds dive bombing, toothpick in hand, for the last remaining chunk of unidentifiable meat. The sampling crowds were especially present around the liquor aisle, where they were giving out large "samples" of beer. There were at least 15 male shoppers fully taking advantage of the fact that there really was no limit to exactly how many samples one could take. I could tell by a combination of their bright red faces and not so steady stances that they had been there for quite some time.
I timidly made my way through the store holding my products in hand. The process of getting a shopping cart was bizarrely intimidating so I just decided to skip it all together. I had found everything I came for except one key thing; peanut butter. I had made my way through every aisle and knew I didn't have the energy for a return trip through the store in search of my last remaining need. I quickly found an employee who, as it turned out, is the nicest person who has ever existed. Over the din of the store I slowly enunciated the words "PEA-NUT BUT-TER." He smiled, nodded, took me by the hand, and walked with me for nearly three minutes to the large display of peanut butter. We wound through massive crowds of shoppers, and even though he never let go of my hand, he frequently looked back, smiling, to make sure that I was keeping up with him. I was kind of embarrassed when I realized that it was right underneath the jelly and the bread, products which were currently in my hands, but he thankfully paid no attention to my ineptitude as a first time Home Plus shopper.
When I finally left the store I was exhausted. My Home Plus experience lasted a good 2 and a half hours, and was without a doubt the most significant event of my weekend. I have been here now for over 5 weeks and have yet to get a paycheck from my school, so my consumerism was pretty limited. Once I do get paid, however, Home Plus will be a priority destination for some good, ol' fashioned Korean shopping.
I did not bring a camera with me to Home Plus, so I am posting this completely unrelated photo because I have realized that this blog is seriously lacking in pictures. This is Stephanie of Seattle, Tara of Dublin and Confused Korean Man, preparing for New Years Eve in Seoul.
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