(More) A day in the life

I can't believe how fast this year has gone; I'm only a few days away from my 11-month anniversary in Korea. The last month will be full of errands, tearful goodbyes and preparations to travel. But for now, things are still calm and I've had time to reflect.

Here are a few of those reflections, continued from the previous two lists of everyday observations I've made here in the ROK.

-The kids we teach will often time have English names. Of course, this isn't the name they were born with, but sometimes it's hard for us foreigners to pronounce (and remember) every student's Korean name. Perhaps to make it easier on everyone (and for the sake of being at an English academy), we give them Western names. Sally, John, Amy and Steve are popular selections. Though I've had my fair share of odd names, having taught a Label, North and Sponge. I've even had the honor of "naming" a few of my students. The class works together to come up with a list of names and then the new student can pick the one they like best. I'll admit, I lack creativity when it comes to giving names and the list usually consists of the same ones (mostly names of friends or family from home).

-Fan death. I made a small reference to fan death when I first arrived, but it's crept up on me a few times since then. As I understand the urban legend, many people believe that it's possible to die if you sleep in a room with no ventilation (i.e. windows closed) and a fan circulating. I've heard different theories about why this happens, each more bizarre than the last.

-Sharing things is quite common here. I don't mean sharing pencils or erasers (because students are actually quite serious about their school supplies. Never mess with a child's pencil case). I mean sharing things that foreigners would usually like to have only to themselves. My best examples come from school. We have a water cooler that anyone can use to fill their cups or waterbottles, but it also has two community cups that students will fill up, use, then put back for the next student. No washing or cleaning in between uses. There's also community soap in the bathroom. No, not a soap dispenser, an actual bar of soap. This is the norm throughout all of Korea, including a communal towel. Hand sanitizer has been my friend.

-Eating out was a little hard to adjust to at first. At home, you're accostumed to being waited on. After all, these people are working for tips and they usually do a great job earning it. There is no tipping system in Korea (something I admit, I will miss). Therefore in restaurants, waiters aren't coming over to your table every once and a while to make sure your meal is okay or you need anything in the mean time. Instead, they only come over when you call them. How do you get their attention? Press a button! At most restaurants, there's a button you can press to get your waiter's attention and they will come over swiftly to get you whatever you need. If there's no button (or you're feeling brave) just say "yeogi-yo" which basically means "here!" It seemed rude to me at first to yell come here to the person working, but this is quite common in Korea, and may actually be rude if you do it any different.

-"Bongs" A bong is a room in Korean. There are several different specialized rooms here, the most popular (I think) being a "noraebong," or a singing room. Go and sing karaoke and drink beer with your friends for a few hours (a craze that certainly needs to be brought to America). There are also DVD-bongs, which you might think would be a good way to relax after a hard day at work. It's cheap, easy and you don't have to wait for the movie to download. But beware! Many young couples will sneak off to DVD-bongs and do certain things they wouldn't be allowed to do at home. You'll be used to the idea of sharing by this point, so a community couch should be no problem.

-All men are required to do military service. I believe it's a minimum of two years. Therefore, a lot of men will start their higher education after their time in the military is done. While visiting the DMZ, I was a little shocked by how young some of the soldiers appeared to be. It breaks my heart to imagine my students in those uniforms...

-Smoking. I'm not a smoker and I've been pretty grateful for that while living here. Unfortunately, it seems that Korea is still archaic in many ways and for some reason, it's frowned upon when women smoke openly. I can't say why this is, but I've witnessed friends being stared and even yelled at because they chose to smoke a cigarette in public. Because of this, there are often ashtrays in the women's bathroom. I suppose if a lady is feeling to urge to light up, it's better if she sneaks off to the bathroom instead of doing it for all to see.

-Korea has been incredibly accommodating over the last year. Besides food and people, I can't say I've really missed anything; most everything that you need can be found somewhere in this country. Language hasn't been much of a problem. Many, many people speak English, even if it's simple phrases. I've learned a little Korean, enough to order in restaurants or get home in a cab. Other than that, most communication has been done in English. But besides that, the people have been overwhelmingly accepting. There have been rare occasions when I've been scolded on the subway or people have said inappropriate things. Yes, it made me feel stupid, unwanted and foolish for being an intruder. But then I realize that out of the last 300+ days I've lived here, this has only happened twice. Those few incidents aren't going to ruin my perception of this country and to be quite honest, it could have happened at home, too. Instead, I'm going to always be grateful for Korea, the people, and the opportunities it has given me to learn about their amazing culture and myself.

Shang-Bye

It's nice to have vacation days. Before I moved to Korea, I told myself that I would take advantage of all the vacation time I got. After all, I might never be living on this side of the earth again. I might never be a hop, skip and jump away from Tokyo or Taiwan like I am now. So I made a promise that when given ample time, I would use it to the best of my ability.

When I saw the schedule for the new year I was ecstatic to see all the three and four day weekends full of the promise and lure of adventure and exploration. Alix and I decided that during our four day weekend in May we would go somewhere. But where?! Tokyo? No, it's too expensive. Taiwan? No, the flights are terrible. Shanghai? Yeah, what about Shanghai? The flights are short and cheap and I've always wanted to go to China. I've seen the Qing Dynasty figurines on Antique's Roadshow. Maybe I'll stumble upon my own priceless treasure.

Now, before I booked the flight I knew Alix and I would have to get a visa to stay more than 24 hours. I also understood that as an American citizen, the cost of my visa would be significantly more than my Canadian counterpart's. Why is this? I do not know. I haven't researched (translation: googled) why it costs so much for an American to go to China and vice versa. But if you have and you know the answer, feel free to share.

Being fully aware of this, we decided to play the waiting game before applying for our visa. A single entry tourist visa is good for three months. If we had applied right after we booked our tickets, it would have expired before we got on the plane. And it never hurts to get a few more paychecks before seeing your bank account drain to a sad, lifeless lump in front of your eyes.

Here's where it gets tricky. And here's where I will do my best to explain the predicament I've found myself in the last few days.

All teachers in Korea have what's called an ARC- an alien registration card. We get these at the beginning of our time here and they help us with anything and everything. Getting a phone, setting up a bank account, you name it. For some unknown reason, the Chinese consulate decided that anyone who wanted a Chinese visa would have to have at least 6 months remaining validity on their ARC. Does your ARC expire in 3 months? Sorry, you're not allowed in. Oh, your ARC expires in 5 months and 12 days? Not my problem!

But what really bamboozles me is the fact that this rule (for some time, at least) only applied to the Chinese consulate in Seoul. I googled and re-googled a thousand different combinations of "chinese" "visa" "living" "south korea" and found the same thing every time. If you have less than 6 months on your ARC and you want to apply in Seoul, well you had better re-route to Hong Kong. However, you could make a quick trip to Busan and the friendly folks at any travel agency would be more than willing to take your passport and your money.

This is where it gets hilarious and painfully ironic. As I understand it, the you-can't-get-a-visa-in-seoul-but-you-can-in-busan thing lasted for about a year, maybe longer. When did it change and Busan adopted the 6 month validity rule? March 2011. About 12 days before I applied.

After having a minor meltdown (I don't care, I'll dig myself to China was repeated several times) and googling furiously, I began to find alternatives.

1) I called Kangsan Travel here in Busan. They're located in Jangsan and have a remarkably friendly, English speaking staff. The woman working explained that I needed to go to the immigrations office (located in Jungang-dong) for what is called a 외국인사실증명서 or a Certificate of Alien Registration. I went to immigrations and got the certificate, no problem. Then the next day I went to the opposite side of town and applied for my very own Chinese visa. Amazingly, I needed very little for what seemed an ominous visa process. I needed a passport sized color photo, an application, my ARC, my passport, the above mentioned certificate and a wad of cash. The kind woman working explained to me that the rule just changed in Busan. Like, watching the train pull away, you just missed it kind of thing. She then told me that she was sending all of my stuff to Gwangju, another city here in Korea. I suppose that Gwangju, like Busan before it, is still allowing visas to those who have less than 6 months on their ARC's. Why this isn't a uniform rule in all of Korea, I'll never know. Why this is a rule in the first place is even more puzzling. I put a rush on it, just in case, and she told me I would have my passport and a small sticker allowing me to enter China in less than a week.

2) The only other option I had was to send everything home so I could have a family member apply on my behalf at an American consulate. I believe there are only 5 Chinese consulates in America (New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Houston). I attempted to call the Chicago consulate to ask about the procedure and failed miserably, so back to google I went! Found out that it was definitely possible for a family member/friend to apply for you, as long as you could get to one of the aforementioned consulates. I had my mom on standby just in case she would have to make an emergency trip to Chicago, but so far it's been unnecessary. There are some things to consider if you'll be applying this way. a) Apparently sending your passport in the mail is a big no-no. So hide it inside your copy of The Great Gatsby or something before you ship it off. b) Hope it doesn't get lost. Or better yet, send it through FedEx so you can track the package. c) Hope even harder that you live close to a consulate and know someone willing enough to take the trip for you.

3) Don't have a friend that likes you that much? Live somewhere kind of inconvenient to all the consulate locations? (I'm looking at you, Montana). There are a ton of companies that will process a visa for you while you're living abroad. A little weird, I know, sending your stuff to a complete stranger. Not even stuff, your identity, really. I did some research and found a surprising amount of businesses, some seemingly more trustworthy than others. Call around, look for testimonials online, look for a company you trust completely. It's going to cost a pretty penny and you'll have to wait a bit longer, but if you really want to go, what other option do you have?

I dropped my documents off this morning, so I still don't know if I'll have a visa or not. I'll give an update sometime in the next week. So uh... mom, you still might need to make a trip up to the windy city for yours truly.

I know a lot of people could literally care less about any of this and probably stopped reading after "to begin..." But I know that I searched and searched and didn't find the direct answers that I wanted. I'm hoping that I will provide some of those answers if anyone else finds themselves in the predicament I was.

So for those of you that don't live in Korea, don't need a Chinese visa or have no idea what I just rambled on about...

Did you know? I'm going to Shanghai in less than a month!

More tension

I think to myself... There have been thousands upon thousands of foreigners that have come to South Korea to teach English and I know I'm not the first one to keep a blog about the experience. How many posts have been titled "tensions rise in Korea," or something along those lines? Go to CNN.com right now and you'll see about 10 articles with a slightly varied headline.

All of this comes from the attack from the North that happened back in November. I wrote about it shortly after it happened, thinking nothing would come of it. But today, tensions rose again as South Korea held a military drill (ok, I don't know the exact term or lingo). The North said this was grounds for war which absolutely blows my mind, but more-so breaks my heart.

What if there is war? I'm registered with the consulate, I would receive word and I assume I would be asked to leave the country, which I would. But what brings tears to my eyes and a heavy feeling in my heart is the fact that all the Korean people living here have nowhere to go. So what, I get on a plane back to America? Well this will still be going on here. I could go through my entire year without war breaking out and I would return home and these people would still have to deal with the constant threat of attack.

When will the violence end? Why is it still happening 50 years after the Korean war "ended?" And how are these people so brave to deal with it their entire lives?

I've been here for about 4 months now. I'm terrified at the thought of war on the peninsula. But the Korean people are so unconcerned with it.

No people should be accustomed to bloodshed.

A few more observations

Hello! A short update so everyone knows I am still safe, despite what you might have heard on the news. I keep a little notepad with me at all times so I can write down things I observe. I like to notice these little differences. It interests me, but it also makes me thankful for all the luxuries I have at home. Here are just a few more, continued from the last list.

-The holidays. I can't say for certain that Christmas is as commercialized as it is in the states, but I definitely think there are some companies making bank on this special day. I don't have cable and I don't watch TV, so I can't say whether or not television programs are flooded with commercials telling you to buy this toy or go to this sale. And there was certainly no Black Friday, obviously due to the fact that Thanksgiving isn't celebrated here. But a lot of stores do have giant Christmas trees put up already and Christmas decorations are readily available here. I asked my students if they celebrate Christmas, and I would say about 25% yes.

-Birthdays are different here as well. It's a little difficult to explain, and I know I'm going to probably give some wrong information, but here's how I understand it to work. Everyone still has their individual birthdays, but when you're born, you're already 1 year old. Then when the new years roles around, everyone has a birthday. So since I was born in 1988, everyone born in 1988 with me would turn 23 at the same time. You still celebrate your birthday on the day you were born, you just wouldn't say you turned older on that day. You're still 12 or 83 until the new year! And what I found most odd... If you were born on December 26, for example, you're 1. So then on January 1, you're 2. So when you're just a few days old, you're already considered 2 in Korea.

-I will often find myself speaking in Korean sentence structure. A student explained to me that Korean is very short, unlike English, where the sentences are very long. For example, and again this may be wrong, she told me that in English you could say "I have a lot of money." But in Korean, it would simply be "Money. I have." So students will often say to me, "Candy. Give me." or "Money. Give me." because that is how their sentences are structured. Since I spend a good deal of my day talking to little kids, I try to speak to them in a simple way. So forgive me if I come home and the first thing I say to you is, "Hug. Give me."

-The weather. Korea definitely has the extremes. When I first arrived in August, I remember getting off the plane and feeling mortified; how could it be so humid?! Apparently, July is the wet month, so I can only imagine the state my hair will be in. This winter has been brutally cold, as well. It doesn't snow which is nice, but it is windy. Having grown up in Illinois I would say that I'm accustomed to cold winters, but this cold has certainly tested my patience! I've heard that spring and autumn are quite pleasant, though it only lasts a short time.

-Food. Overall, I'm not very adventurous when it comes to new cuisine. I know what I like and I stick to it, which has proved to be troublesome during my travels. I would say the most curious I've ever gotten with food was eating snails and frog legs in Paris, which is really quite a shame. I accidently ate a little piece of squid here and thought I was going to absolutely lose it, but did my best to hold it all in. I've tried popular Korean dishes and I think they're quite delicious, but it's nothing out of the ordinary. I think it will take a lot more persuasion (and soju) to try the dog, bug larva, chicken anus or whale. Yes, certain restaurants here sell whale meat (or so I've been told). I think I would rather starve.

A day in the life

I decided I would try to give everyone a little peek into what life in South Korea actually consists of. I'm always finding things that are specific to Korea, but I haven't documented them for everyone to read yet. So here they are.

-I've been asked what my blood type is by several Koreans. When I say I have absolutely no idea they look at me as if I grew a second head. They're shocked. I guess a blood type tells a lot about a person, so I usually just make an answer up.

-I really can't explain to you the noises you'll hear in Korea. I think my favorite, and one I find most bizarre, is the war-like propaganda I'll randomly hear coming from fruit stands. I'm not kidding. You walk by a little stand in the back of a van selling something like herbs or fruit and there will be a bizarre voice yelling something from a loud speaker. It really is difficult to explain. One friend told me about a comic he read in which two people were walking by this bizarre event. One friend asked what was going on and the other said, "Either the nazis are invading or nectarines are on sale." And it's so true.

-Socks. There are entire tables dedicated to selling socks at various markets here in Busan and I've heard they are a popular gift to give.

-It's totally normal for hospital patients here to leave the hospital for a little bit and roam the streets, gown on and IV drip attached. I've seen patients in restaurants, stores, taking walks. It's just no big deal.

-Service. People here really will do their best to always make sure you're accommodated and comfortable. From my short time in the country, I see that they really do aim to please. My best example of service comes from a man working at a 7/11 right outside my apartment. I go in the store frequently to buy all sorts of items: water, food, candy, beer. One time I went in and the bar code on an item didn't work right, so he gave me a free energy drink for my "time wasted," which was about 4 seconds. Another time I went in to buy just a bottle of soju, so he gave me a bag of potato chips for free, because he didn't want me to get sick. He's the best.

There are so many other things I have noticed about the culture and people, I could go on for days. I make it a point to jot down these observations so I can write about them, share them, remember them. This is just a small chapter in what could be a book about, "Why Korea is so Awesome."