Friday, February 29, 2008

Juno

If I were to make a list of my favourite activities, as I am indeed guilty of having done with such social networking sites such as Facebook that today's generation of computer users are all too familiar, I would put "cinema" somewhere near the top. On reflection, I'd hope that the list wouldn't be too long anyway, for fear of boring the bored person who would be reading this list, and thus the bottom of the list would too be near the top. So you understand that it is a particular pastime that I am fond of.

To my disappointment I have not recently been able to attend one of these establishments. There has been film watching, naturally, after all, I do have MegaTV. But the big screen and plush seats have been absent from the experiences. Since otherwise this would be among the more pointless blog posts I will have published, you may have guessed that yes, tonight, I went to the cinema.

If you are particularly astute, you may too have suspected that Juno was the film that I saw, what with it being the title of the post.

Unusually I have few cynical comments to pass on this film. The protagonist was endearing; the theme was emotive and topical; the conclusion was satisfying. The light-hearted presentation allowed the humour to be accessible without dampening the significance of the subject. Many questions were raised regarding "morals" and one's "faith in humanity".

- How can we ever be sure that love will last forever?
- In view of this, is a loving single parent a good substitute for a two parent family that may ultimately break down?

My GCSE RE teacher taught me that a Buddhist would answer, "Treat each circumstance on its own merits," to many of the stock morality questions that students are faced with. He didn't teach me that there are approximately a gazillion streams of Buddhism, all of which follow varying variations of the religion. That's right, varying variations. Nonetheless, this simplified view of views rather seems to have it down with my throwaway thoughts.

Apologies for the unnecessarily pretentious tone of this post. It's what comes of listening to Radio 4 immediately prior to blogging.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Pancake Man R.I.P.

I refer you to my first ever blog entry. We were greeted into this land by the friendly 호떡 man, forming a deep and powerful friendship through the daily 안녕하세요 that we exchanged.

I guess it was a couple of months ago that we noticed that his little green cart was not in frequent use. Lauren asked the neighbouring vegetable lady where he was, where she gained the understanding that his hand was hurt. A tragic loss for such a fine craftsman. We wished him a speedy recovery.

Not able to get a fix of his honey-filled goodness, we began to turn to other street sellers. They just weren't as good. Too greasy. Not enough honey. "It's a shame our man is dead," we'd say in vain.

Yesterday his cart was gone. Shocked and dismayed we asked the lady of his whereabouts. She motioned that he has left. Moved house. She smirked at our disappointment. He didn't even say goodbye.

Mr Green Pancake Man, we wish you well. The best 호떡 in Seoul will be missed, but not as much as your grumbly demeanour.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Tea shops of Insadong

Despite warnings of a rush-hour-subway-like experience, Lauren and I went to the Van Gogh exhibition at the Seoul Museum of Art. However, being a Sunday afternoon, the queue to get in was doubling back on itself leading to the decision that a battle against the crowds with a view to a leisurely wander round the paintings was an unrealistic objective.

Instead we found ourselves in Insadong: a cobbled street pedestrianised at the weekends, full of street vendors selling traditional handicrafts, and side alleys with quaint tea shops. Being another one of those icy cold days, despite alluring sunshine, we withdrew to one of said tea shops for some hot plum tea.


We've heard many a tale about flying birds in such shops, but having visited several in our four months here, and searched high and low for particularly recommended ones, we are yet to find one with actual flying birds. We've seen a few with caged birds, but it's just not the same. Having not found any kind of report of a "Law Against Free Flying Wildlife In Traditional Tea Shops", I am still of the belief that we are missing out. Any direction would be appreciated.

Sinyetchatjip Tea Shop and its caged parrot

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Orientation

Thankfully the weather has been considerately milling about the 0+ degree mark lately, not that I was able to enjoy it today with another Saturday occupied by school-related activities.

This weekend saw the long awaited "Orientation Day" - the hour when the children come in, meet their new teachers in preparation for the new academic year, and the parents get a briefing of the teaching program.

The last week has been horrendously hectic with stressed Korean teachers running around cleaning and decorating their classrooms with a healthy dose of whining in between. On Wednesday we were informed we the English teachers had to follow suit - something we'd not been told before despite insistence that we had. It was thus that much furniture moving, poster sticking and laminating has taken place in the last two days, only to find that the classrooms were not going to be used. Sigh!

Lauren and I were required to make a formal speech detailing our wonderful English classes with the purpose of encouraging parents to sign their kids up for extra lessons, however since the audience was predominantly Korean-only speakers, we felt we could probably have insulted the parents with a smile on our faces and got away with it. Especially since the 'translation' seemed to last three times as long as what we'd actually said, we kind of thought the boss had made up her own speech anyway and pretended that's what we'd just told them.

For all we know the parents are still at school now. However despite putting in the obligatory, "Do not hesitate to ask any questions," line, we received little need for attendance and ran home. Still, roll on that day off to compensate for our missed weekends...

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Bear-building

On Sunday we headed to the Build-A-Bear factory at the Express Bus Terminal in Seoul. Inspired by the multitude of outfits available we went with the purpose of creating some cute new companions since, after all, it is Where Best Friends Are Made.

We chose our unstuffed animals, handed them over to the bear stuffing girl, and watched as our furry friends shaped into being. They were given little fabric hearts which undertook the ritual of blowing (for luck), rubbing on head (for intelligence), rubbing on face (for beauty) and jumping (to get the heart pumping). Lauren's first bear unfortunately had seriously wonky eyes, so her replacement bear was given special eye rubbing for good sight. Cute.

The bears were sewn up, brushed and "showered", given birth certificates and ribbons for the ears. Our bears are yet to be dressed, but hanbok and taekwondo outfits seem very apt for their current location.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Graduation

Teachers and parents alike dabbed their eyes with pride as their little ones stepped up to the stage to receive their nostalgia album, sang the graduation song they'd been paining us with several times a day for the last month, and bowed to the crowd letting their mini mortar boards slip down in front of their faces. An opportunity for photographs and flower giving as the final year kindergarten students gained their position as alumni, joining that exclusive club many of their parents and siblings are long held members.

In other news, wandering the streets of Itaewon we came across this guy: an old Korean man selling hand made wall hangings. Impressed by his quick hand, eye for neon paint combinations and oriental facial hair, we indulged his trade and bought our names in flouncy decoration.


Friday, February 15, 2008

Bowling

The crazy kids that we are, Lauren and I ventured across the road from our place of employment to the rundown looking bowling alley to occupy our Friday night. We'd been meaning to check it out for a while, but this evening we bit the bullet and entered the establishment.

We were a little disappointed not to get the cool red and white striped bowling shoes we're used to, but figured that the Korean velcro versions are probably more time effective, getting more precious bowling time in.

As Lauren was about to comment at the lack of hi-tech equipment at the alley, we noticed ourselves on replay on the TV screens! Considering our lack of bowling proficiency (we turned out to be very well matched competitors) we amused ourselves by making faces at the camera instead as the other one put another ball in the gutter...

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The remains

In a somewhat sadistic fashion, Lauren and I snapped several photographs of the charred Namdaemun gate.

As Lauren informed me from her copy of the Korea Times, restoration will cost around 20 billion won and will take three years to complete. After the burning of Naksan Temple in 2005, precautions were taken to prevent further catastophes of other wooden structures in Korea. Unfortunately Namdaemun was yet to receive this treatment.


According to oriental topographers, Namdaemun served as a block from the negative energies of Mount Gwanak to Gyeongbokgung Palace, the three of which lie in a straight line. It has been suggested that if Namdaemun were not to exist, the fire would have blast straight through to the palace. As a result of the fire, the city may see increased crime as the "hot temper" of the energies from Mount Gwanak are free to flow.

Oh, and arson is also a suspected cause.

Donation for Gate Restoration Proposed
Poor Security Blamed for Gate Burnout
Mysterious Energy Linked to Blaze




Monday, February 11, 2008

NEWSFLASH!

Namdaemun Gate has been burned to a pulp. That's Korea's National Treasure No. 1: gone. Forever.

And I never saw it.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/02/113_18673.html

Holidays

"What's '절하다'?" I asked my mum in a moment of enthusiastic study.
"To do ceremonious bowing," she replied.
"Ah, so not something I really need to know." A hasty conclusion perhaps...

With the beginning of the Lunar New Year approaching, the whole country was released from work between Wednesday and Friday of last week to celebrate. With stories of Seoul transforming into a ghost town and a gridlocked road network as the city heads out to spend time with their families, Lauren and I - rather than spending extortionate amounts for a flight out of Korea in holiday season - followed suit and went to visit my aunt in the countryside.

We arrived on New Years day (this year was on the 7th February) to find my aunt and uncle dressed in hanbok in preparation for the New Year celebrations. Soon after we arrived, we all bundled into one of the bedrooms and watched on as my cousin and her family performed the aforementioned "ceremonious bowing" - bowing down to the floor while kneeling - to their parents and grandparents before exchanging envelopes of money. Feeling slightly voyeuristic as we witnessed this ceremony, we were taken aback and a little embarassed as we were motioned to do the same. I'm not entirely sure we did it exactly right, but we were presented with a token amount of money which was an unexpected yet pleasant surprise.

The rest of the day was filled with eating fruit and ricecakes and general pottering about. The grandma slept on the sofa while Lauren and I watched Back to the Future. Other family members turned up at various points during the day to hang out as well; the formalities were short and sweet.

On Friday another of my cousins turned up to spend time with us. We got our nails done before venturing out to a nightclub for our evening entertainment. Now, in Korea, there is apparently a subtle difference between a club and a nightclub. The former sounds like a similar setup to a Western club with music, a bar and a dance floor. A nightclub, however, predominantly holds tables and chairs and might have a stage and a small dancefloor at the front of the room. On hearing about such joints, American-style bars that pop up on TV sprang to mind - another misperception.

On arriving at the nightclub, we observed neon taken to another level as blinking palm trees welcomed us in. Inside was a band playing beyond volume where conversation was possible, and the room was totally black save the attendants' glow-in-the-dark name badges. We were shown to a table where our bags were taken away for safe keeping before being presented with beer and fruit.

"Beer and fruit: it's normal," confirmed my cousin.

My cousin had also pre-warned us that the waiters might introduce us to some men. She didn't make a big deal out of it. "In Korea, it's normal," she assured us again.

Lo and behold, within fifteen minutes of being seated, we were led by a couple of waiters out of the main room, up some stairs and into a private noraebang where we found a bunch of men sitting, singing and drinking. They offered us whisky and strawberry milk.

"Young persons place my..." I thought as we sat with them.

Lauren and I gave them an ironic rendition of It's Raining Men before bidding them farewell in favour of our own seats. They weren't our types.

Some Korean techno pop blasted out of the speakers while a scantily clad young lady girated with a couple of topless muscular men on stage. In a society where low necklines are frowned upon, this display was seemingly out of the ordinary. Little did we realise that if we'd turned up an hour earlier we would have witnessed a full strip show.

We danced until the music switched to the ballad genre and the floor emptied. Everyone went back to their seats and the match-making began. Initially the waiters attempted to split us up to send us each to different tables, but this certainly wasn't on our agenda for the evening. Regardless of what we wanted however, they were pretty forceful as they grabbed us by the wrists leading us up and down the aisles until we reached an appropriate table of men. I have read since that girls are supposed to put up some resistance so as not to appear too eager, so perhaps my arm wrestling and repeated refusals were in keeping with the ritual. Eventually my cousin came to rescue me with the excuse that I couldn't speak Korean; one I felt was valid but perhaps this not a factor to the service the attendants were providing.

Soon the music started up again so we figured if the boys wanted our company they would be forced to dance too. And so the cycle continued: dancing with raunchy stage performances followed by slow songs and match-making. Even if we didn't appreciate being dragged around for the benefit of drunken men, at least it made for a cheap night out!

Tiring of the nightclub etiquette and unenthused by the squatter toilets screened by smoke as girls rebel against the unwritten rule that they cannot smoke in public, we left the building to find our valet parking guy. It's almost as though they were encouraging drink-driving...

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Korean language course

Having been in Korea for over three months now, and having not really learnt very much Korean, I thought it was time to enroll in some kind of course. I'd done a bit of self-study, but it turns out that after a long day at work going home to use my brain even further wasn't very appealing and motivation was running thin.

It is thus that I have enrolled at the Korea Foundation Cultural Centre, where they give free Korean lessons to foreigners (that's tautology; if you're not foreign why do you need lessons?
). The lessons are conducted by volunteers, and there are several levels to get through with a level test on completion of each month. Apparently having learnt a bit of basic vocabulary allows you to jump straight in the second class, so I was a bit unsure of what to expect.

My first class was good though - we learnt a bit of grammar and did lots of partner dialoguing. Though the class is only on once a week, there's plenty of material to be getting my teeth into before the next class! Motivation is still needed for self-study, but a bit of friendly competition with ones classmates always helps -- at least for me
. "If it's a competition, I'm there". Certainly makes me hope I'm as inspiring to my kids to study hard...but the number that appeared to have learnt the entire English language overnight is a positive sign ;-)

And as a quick plug for those in Korea, if you're not looking for a serious course, I'd certainly recommend these classes for a well thought-out, free programme; check out their website for more details.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Seoul Land

In celebration of the approaching end-of-school year, my seven year old kindy classes were taken - with their new favourite Mary Teacher - to Seoul Land.

This is another of Korea's amusement parks, though being accompanied by the under-100metered, the more thrilling rides were only to be enjoyed by mock awe and gasps. Instead we all struggled up the fake snow slopes hauling little red sleds behind us, anticipating the crowds of half sized people eagerly pushing their way for an opportunity to slide the twenty seconds to the bottom. Of course when I say we, I mean the children. I merely followed behind and waited for a chummy child to invite me on the back of their sled.

This excitement was followed by - in between toilet breaks - a "magic show". As witnessed at Lotte World, this was largely conducted by Western looking (and by that I mean an amalgamation of blonde haired and blue eyed) performers dancing in a changing series of coloured lights and stage effects. The magic itself was pretty lame, for even my inspired eyes could sense that secret compartment holding that multi-coloured scarf. Nonetheless, a bonus of not being of the intended age group audience, as a teacher I was given a free magic trick to wow the students and whoever else is willing to humour me. (Note the present tense there; free webcam demonstrations are available to those on my contacts list ;) )

Amusement parks such as this one do seem to be prime spots for attracting not only hoards of school children, but also courting young couples. You can tell these, if you are unsure of their relationship status, by their matching outfits. These venues tend to encourage matching ears as a fashion accessory, however many other items can be viewed in double across the capital. Such items might include matching phone charms (your mobile is naked without one), hats, jackets, bags, or - wait for it - underwear. With Valentine's Day approaching I considered indulging this culture, albeit as a joke, however for some reason couldn't bring myself to part with my hard earned cash over anything sufficiently unsexy that I'd allow either one of us to attire. E-card it will have to be, then :P

(Right: a couple sporting matching cat ears; one of many underwear shops getting ready for "Valentain Day")


Returning from this digression, I rode a couple of children's rides with half-real enthusiasm while one of my new (7-year-old) admirers asked permission to take a video with my camera from the top of the spinning aeroplane ride. Facebook holds the evidence.

It was a long day of jumping up and down, being pulled in multiple directions as several small people bided for my attention, and holding a fixed smile on my face. I was lucky to get the front seat of the bus home thereby relieving me from entertaining duties, however my attention was stolen, somewhat in alarm, by the number of spray-painted car outlines adorning the highway. These are apparently corners of cars marked out to indicate the location of recent crashes. Literally seeing outlines of car after car pointing in all directions, my mind was not eased as the bus driver weaved in and out of traffic at high speed coming inches within other cars and the lives of a whole bus load of children...