It is crazy to think that I have been living abroad now for a little over 5 months! Sometimes I feel like it was only yesterday when I arrived from the airport and was starting my first day at the school. Other times, it feels like I have been away from the U.S. for years! I am, however, so thankful to have this opportunity to learn the ins and outs of a totally different culture and all of the people who make it what it is.
Last time that I wrote was on Chuseok (if you don't know what that is, read my previous posting for a full explanation). It is one of the biggest drinking holidays in Korea so I decided to honor it Korean traditional style. That night, I went to a famous (famous in Korea) western bar (western meaning 'U.S.' not 'wild, wild west') called WA-Bar. They have U.S. state flags pinned to the ceiling and a huge self-serve bottle bar in the middle of the room. It was really nice to have some semblance of home! Even though there are many of the same places here that are also in the U.S. (Outback Steakhouse, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, etc.), the atmosphere and food are totally different from that which you would find in there. I guess maybe that makes me a little homesick, just wishing that I could have something normal here but I also like that things are different.
It just so happens that on the night of Chuseok, when I was at WA-Bar with my co-worker, he broke his tooth in half and needed to visit the dentist office that week. I figured that I would go at the same time and have my teeth checked as well. I scheduled my appointment for a check-up and went at the appropriate time. The dentist told me that everything looked good but if I wanted something done that particular day, they could do something called scaling. He said it would be good for me and help prevent or get rid of unwanted bacteria in my mouth. I made sure that it wasn't a million dollar procedure before I agreed. I had never heard of this procedure but it sounded important and the dentist had recommended it (he actually spoke decent English). My first warning should have been the surgical cloth that they placed over my eyes and nose with only a small hole for my mouth. The assistant took a huge hooked needle and basically scraped away the top 5 layers of my gums! It was seriously sooooooo painful! I spit up so much blood that morning and had blood crusted between my teeth that I couldn't get out for the majority of the day. My gums were sore as well. I think next time I will ask a few more questions about what the procedure actually entails. I learned my lesson. At least I have clean gums now!
I notice so many little things that I miss about home, that no one can really understand until they experience it for themselves. The whole language barrier thing makes any situation so much more complicated than it should be. At the pharmacy, try explaining that you want a bottle of Ibuprofen. Well, apparently they don't have that specific type of medicine that you could buy almost anywhere in the U.S. including crummy gas stations. The smallest bottle size of a similar drug is 1000 tablets. It is also 4 times as much as what you would pay in the U.S. When you get home with your huge bottle of overpriced pills, that you are only supposed to take one of after every meal, you realize that these pills are weak and have no effect whatsoever! Awesome! This is just one type of scenario that could be possible. Luckily, I had a Korean friend with me to translate all of this and just got a sample of this medication. If I would have purchased a whole bottle, I would have been rather perturbed.
At school, there are similar situations that just make you want to scream. Sometimes the Korean teachers forget that we can't understand Korean and they fail to tell us some things that may be fairly important. For example, that there is a field trip coming up or that we changed classes for the day, or that we got a new student in one of our classes. I realize that we are all human and that we all make mistakes, but it happens more times this way than it should! Again with the whole language barrier thing.
Last month, we said goodbye to one of our Korean teachers and hello to her replacement. I found out that I got dragged into a court case between a former teacher and my current boss. I learned that Korean mosquitoes are brutal and find sneaky ways into my apartment even when the weather is cold and they should all be dead or eggs. I woke up one morning with pink marks all over my right arm. I saw that there was a small hole in my window screen that I fixed immediately. Luckily, I haven't had any problems with those indestructible little guys since. Another thing that happened last month was that the cabbage harvest in Korea didn't go well at all. Korea relies on cabbage to make their ever-so-famous kimchi, which is served with almost every meal. Because there was so much rain over the summer months, there is now a very small supply of cabbage. Koreans name the kimchi that is made from this small supply "golden kimchi."
This month, I had a dream about my hair being short and cut a certain way, so I decided that I liked it enough to actually try it. I cut my hair the shortest it has ever been in my entire life and I actually like it! I have dropped some weight and can now fit into the "skinny" jeans that I brought with my to Korea. I decided to join a different gym, closer to my house so that I don't have to worry about showering there with all of the old women staring at me. This gym actually has several foreigners and most of the trainers speak English. There are also fewer older people; I think because the new place doesn't have a pool. Anyway, I am excited about it.
We have been on 2 more field trips since I last posted. The first was to the Anyang Childrens' Library followed by a walk to an awesome park where we ate lunch. The second was to a magic show designed especially for the kids. The magic show was so cute and I think the kids really enjoyed it. The male magician was very funny and had great facial expressions that the kids, and me, found very entertaining! There are several new pictures posted on facebook. Check them out by clicking on the link in the upper left corner of my blog, just above my photo.
Goodbye for now!
