마지막 인사 (Last Farewell)

Big Bang has even prepared me for leaving by providing a fitting title for my last blog. Video can be found here. Of course, everything else about the song and video doesn't really fit, but since they're so incredible we can bypass all of that.

It's my last few days in Korea and I've been trying to squeeze in some things that I haven't quite experienced yet. Let's see, things I've done...

1) Jjim jil bang (public bathhouse)
       I was a bit concerned with the whole public nudity, but after having taken showers at the gym, I figure how much worse can it be at a jjim jil bang? Let me tell you, the Dragon Hill Spa I went to in Seoul was the fanciest place everrr (not that I have much to compare it to). There were showers as well as places you could sit and wash. Then there were the hot baths. There were soo many! All of which are different; the mineral salt water hot bath, the ginseng hot bath, the functional hot bath, the massaging hot bath, and more. There was one cold bath. And there were more baths in a small outdoors area. Since we were on the 3rd floor and were kind of sanctioned off, visibility was near impossible by outsiders (so yes, I went outside) There were also 2 sauna rooms. But the ultimate highlight of the experience was probably the body scrub. Oh body scrub, how you make my skin feel very smooth. Here's how it all went down. My friend and I were chillin in one of the hot baths, when some ahjummas tried asking us if we wanted the body scrub. We politely declined. Eventually they came back for more. They're like vultures!! Hovering around until we agreed. I figured "when else will I get a body scrub?" So I went for it. We laid down on this table, and the scrubbing commenced. The feeling? Like getting my skin rubbed raw. I got used to it eventually. I saw pieces of something on my skin, thinking that the scrubber they were using had some kind of exfoliating agent on it and it was rubbing off onto my skin. Then I realized "Oh no, that's not it. That is the skin that is being rubbed off of my body.......ew." Not gonna lie, part of it was awkward, as I lay there naked being rubbed down. At one point she remarked on a mole to her scrubbing friend. Yes, I have some moles. Sorry for not having perfect doll-like skin like lots of other Korean girls have. Anyway, we were glad when that experience was over. After all the sauna action, we went back to our lockers and changed into our jjim jil bang gear: a loose shirt and shorts in a light blue color with the dragon hill logo. At this point it was pretty late, so we headed to a sleeping room for the night, which consisted of mats and a "pillow", which was more like a semi-soft brick. I didn't get much sleep. The whole sleeping on the floor thing just doesn't go well with me. Overall, it was definitely an interesting experience. I think my favorite moment waking up was walking around in the morning, seeing people sleeping pretty much wherever; the landings of the staircase, the massage chairs, cushioned benches, and my absolute favorite- in a chair of an arcade game.

2) Yudal mountain
       Somehow I never made it to the most well known mountain in Mokpo. I finally went there last Sunday morning with a few friends! It was a nice hike, but man, was it hot!! And of course, we were the ones sweating while everyone else was totally fine. It was a nice workout though! And we got to see all of Mokpo, as well as some of the islands.

3) Baseball
       I forgot how long it's been since I last wrote! I was able to hit up a baseball game in Gwangju. Go KIA Tigers! Unfortunately, they lost, but it was a great time. It was interesting to see how different the games are here from back home. Outside of the stadium were a bunch of food sellers. What were they selling? Chicken! Didn't get any, but enjoyed looking at all the different stands. We got our super awesome thunder sticks and cheered along with the crowd during the game. The cheering was led by a couple of men and "cheerleaders". And what I mean by "cheerleaders" is more like girls dressed in short skirts and tees dancing along to the cheers. I felt bad for how hot they must have been. Then that thought passed quickly and I moved on. Somehow we were able to accomplish the wave. Multiple times. Yes, the wave made it's way full circle at least 5 times. That's dedication. The spirit that everyone has for baseball is so contagious! Anyway, it was great fun.

I'm finalizing all of my packing and will be embarking for Japan in just 3 days!! Thinking about going back home is exciting and also a bit nerve-wracking. I'm more concerned about leaving and having to say good-bye to such wonderful people who I've been so happy to get to know. Saying that I'll miss Korea is an understatement. This past year has been a roller coaster of an adventure like none I've ever experienced before, and when I return home it will be the beginning of another new excursion in that little thing called life.
Btdubs, kudos for making it through this. I always end up writing way more than I originally intended. And sorry if my farewell seems lame. There are so many things I would like to say, but words are failing me right now. I just refuse to accept the fact that I'm leaving until I'm on the plane. I'll do another blog about my short stint in Japan, and then that might be it for this here blog...eek!

Season Finale??

This very well may be my last post on this here blog. I entitle it "The Bad Things About Working At A Hagwon (Academy)"


When I first came to Korea, I didn't really think anything too bad about my job. My director treated me pretty well, which isn't bad compared to a few other directors I've heard about. When I started to get extra projects and had to work outside of work, it was a pain. I can't really complain too much about that, though, since doing that project got me my laptop. Work was fine. I worked long hours (10-7), but all in all, it's wasn't too bad. Over the months we lost a few students, not too uncommon here for a few reasons:

1) The parents want to send their students to the brand, spankin-new academy with the fancy computer lab. "Newer is better"
2) The parents decide that they don't like the program/books you're using and decide to take their kid elsewhere.
3) The parents decide they don't like the teacher (hopefully this hasn't been the case for our kids!!)
4) The student doesn't want to study anymore
5) The student wasn't to take a break from learning english

Moving on, after our 7 year olds "graduated" from our kindergarten program, we lost more students. When I say "graduated", I mean the 7 year olds were starting public school so they couldn't come in the morning anymore and had to change to coming in the afternoon instead. We didn't pick up a whole lot of new students in the morning, so we started to get a little concerned.

Then the really big concerns started coming about a month ago. We started to not get paid. Maybe just a part of our paycheck came in. This is also one of those things that stinks about working at a hagwon. If you ever have the desire to teach in Korea, you have to make sure you get paid. For some people, it's not a big deal, but for others it might be something you have to deal with. Reminding our director became a recurring issue, and what he would do was pay a part of our paycheck, then maybe the next week pay some more, pretty much stretching our one payday into pay installments over a duration of about 3 weeks.

The past 2 weeks have been a definite eye-opener of how serious our situation is here. When the water in my co-teacher's and my apartments was shut off, I thought it might have been contributed to our director having not paid the rent. I'm about 90% sure that's probs the reason why. Then I found out that rent is due in multiple places, including the building our school is in. My landlord wants me to move out of my apartment. Our school could close any day now. There is no money.


Scary. I've taken this week to pack things up and start shipping them back home. I'm basically preparing myself to be ready to leave at any point. I've thought about possibly staying longer, but since it's so close to the end of my contract, I've decided to just go home. The big concern is "Will I get paid??" Right now I'm owed a month and a half's worth of pay, which will equate to about 3 million won (approx. $3,000). If our school were to close at the end of today, then I'm owed 2 and half month's worth of pay. My contract also says that I get a severance at the end of my year. I'm hoping I get that! Even though I didn't work the whole year, I'm not the one quitting, so I should be able to get that money. I'm also supposed to be given a paid flight back home. Sure hoping I get that too. A friend of mine told me about a government office I can go to to get my money. And though I'm sure they can get my that money, I'm not sure if they'd give my the severance pay and money for the flight back. Gotta check my contract! Though I'm not sure if there's anything in there pertaining to if the school closes...

Anyway, that's the situation. Like I said, I'm preparing to come home and will most likely be home before my contract officially end. So for peeps back home, you'll see me soon! For those here in Korea, I'm going to miss you all. I've had a wonderful time here. The experiences I have been blessed to have are beyond numerous. To think that just a year ago I graduated from college! I definitely plan to come back, whether it's just to visit or to come back and teach (definitely choosing a public school job next!) I'm extremely thankful for everyone I've met and come to know (even if it was just once). Truly, how many people can say that they've taken a chance like this?!?! Well, really, quite a number of people can, because Korea is kind of obsessed with learning english, so there are a lot of teachers. But besides that, even though my english has slowly become terribly bad, and I've gotten used to Korean practices and customs (don't be surprised if you randomly here me speaking Korean or not saying "Bless you" after you sneeze), my time here in Korea has been extraordinary. I really can't say how much I've loved living here! Gah! Now I don't want to leave!!!! I'm beyond excited to see everyone back home and begin a new adventure back in the States. Gosh, I'm gonna start crying...no, I refuse!! Not yet! Ok, I need to stop. I'll keep everyone updated, so don't worry!!

random. mer. title fail

So it's been a while...

There's been a lot happening now that the weather's much nicer. Festivals, trips, awkward situations, the usual. Korea's a great place to be in the spring because of Festivals. I've been to a few, mostly all flower related. Here's a list of the ones I've heard of:

The Sea-Parting Festival (I don't know if that is it's actual name, but I don't know otherwise)
Cherry Blossom Festival
Tulip Festival
Green Tea Festival
Strawberry Festival
Hi Seoul Festival
Lotus Lantern Festival

I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones I've either been to/heard of that have already happened. There's also mud-fest coming up in July, which I'm super psyched for. Lately I've been thinking about how much I love living here, and that I definitely want to return here after coming home. Then that got me to thinking about things that I don't think I'll ever get used to while I'm here:

1) spitting
  It's just nasty. Especially when they do that narsty sound that comes from getting prepared to spit. ugh.

2) "health" habits
  Korea has some interesting perspectives on what is healthy for you to do. Such as smacking your stomach after eating to help aid in digestion, or really just hitting anything that seems tense or in pain. I've done it before, but I'm not sure if it's actually doing anything. There's also the idea where if you're experiencing indigestion, you can wrap your thumb with thread, then poke the area just under your nail bed with a needle. Supposedly if the blood is a dark red, then you definitely have had some indigestion, but the release of the "bad" blood will get rid of the indigestion

3) Public walking
  Ok, I've been here for a little over 9 months and have STILL never figured out which side of the sidewalk to walk on. For reals. It doesn't help that Korean people will NOT move from their path, making you the decision maker. I've done everything. Gone on the left, right, through the middle, and the awkward 2-person shuffle while you both try to go the same direction at the same time. In Seoul, they have signs designating which side to walk on (the right), but how often is it followed? Some of the time. Oh well.

4) Physical ideologies
  The mentality around plastic surgery is very different than back home. Back in the states, if someone has plastic surgery, it's almost a scandal and very looked down upon. In Korea, plastic surgeons are the most prevalent. So many surgeries are done, and it's not a big deal at all. Surgeries done on eyes, noses, everything. Which, first of all, I don't understand why Koreans want to get surgery on their eyes to make them bigger. I've tried explaining this to some of my korean friends, that their eyes are gorgeous, they don't need to go on a diet, etc. But it's just a completely different perspective for them. They are so bombarded with western advertisements and concepts that they feel they need to have whiter skin, big eyes (or in some cases, a double eyelid) and high noses.

5) The school system
  I've mentioned a few things before, about how kids study for most of the day, moving from school to academy to academy to academy until very late at night. You can see it the most in middle school and high school students. Completely ridiculous. On the other hand, it definitely makes me feel like I don't study enough and that I can learn so much more if I were more dedicated to learning (*ack* *cough* korean studying fail *cough*)

Well, there you have it. Kind of a lame post, but I couldn't think of anything else at the moment. Tomorrow is Buddha's birthday, so we have the day off. Woohoo!!!

Things to Do: The Sequel

Alright! Time for some more things to do here in Mokpo!

4) Movies

Mokpo has 4 movie theaters. The unfortunate thing is that the movies are shown for a very short period of time. Say around 3-4 weeks. After that, it's GONE. I've been wanting to see Tangled recently, but waited too long and missed it by the time I finally went over to Lotte Cinama. Shame. But wait! In Korea, everyon downloads everything! Movies, music, you name it! It's downloaded. Which is actually really sad if you think about it. Not exactly the best mindset to have about those kinds of things. But I digress.

5) Bowling

If you don't feel like hitting up Lotte Cinema, just head down a few floors and go bowling! That's right, the bowling alley is in the same building as the movie theater. Crazy. Here's a warning: if you ever go bowling in Korea, prepare to get beaten. Koreans have some kind of supernatural ability when it comes to bowling. They're all good. And they're hardcore too!! Lots of older men wear the hand contraptions that do whatever the heck it is that they're used for.

6) Screen Golf

Screen golf? What's that? Well, my friends, it quite an amazing thing. There are many golf places around town, in which most of them have a small practicing area so they can work on their game. Some places, however, will have screen golf. These are separate rooms which your party goes to. Inside said room is a platform. On the platform you can practice your swing by literally hitting a golf ball at the screen alongside a wall. A few friends of mine have already tried this. Let's just say that is was fantastically awesome as well as slightly embarrassing. Not only were men looking into our room and watching us most of the time, but we also took the longest amount of time possible for 9 holes. For reals. One of the workers came into the room and told us we set a record for taking the longest. We still had a hilarious, fun time.

7) Hiking

There are many mountains in Korea, and most mountains will have some kind of trail that you can hike up. Wait, let me clarify that. Most mountains will have thousands of sets of stairs that you can climb up. Also, there's usually some exercise equipment at the top, so after you spend all that time climbing stairs, you can do some more exercising at the top of the mountain before heading back down! It's not that bad, though. It's when the old men pass you in their hiking clothes that you feel bad about yourself for not being able hike any faster.

That's a majority of the things that are possible to do here. On a completely different note, I went to my first k-pop concert last week!!!!!!!!! We went to see only the best group of all time, BIGBANG. The excitement cannot even be expressed here. Anyway, once we got to Olympic Park (where the concert was being held), we noticed the massive amounts of young girls in our midst. Oh dear. Whatevs, can't let the young-ins bring you down! I even bought a light stick and awesome headband with the shape of a crown on it (a symbol for BIGBANG apparently). So when we were finally being let in, we get to the bag check when we're stopped!! We weren't allowed to bring our cameras in. The only way I got caught with mine was because I had the case in my purse. If only it weren't so! So we were then "shown" where to take our cameras. And by "shown", I mean the person gestured to an ambiguous area and said "There." K thanks for the help. Not. Anyway, so we had to say goodbye to our cameras, get back in line, and get our bags checked (again). Whew. Anyway, we made it in!! We were pretty far back, but the set up for everything was actually a lot better than I had expected. I snapped a few photos on my phone (which they didn't make us leave behind), and my anticipation grew as the starting time moved closer. Let me tell you, it was......FANTAWEWONDERSUPERSCRUMPTIOUSLY AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are an incredible group to watch live. They know how to work a crowd and had great transitions between old and new songs. They also showed a video about halfway into the concert. It had to deal with a korean drama that was super popular a few months ago, in which they did their own parody version. HI-larious. I was able to capture a couple videos on my phone, when--what?!?! One of the security people called me out of the stadium to delete the videos I had taken. FOR REAL?!?! They're hardcore about capture content at concerts. Lame. Anyway, it was so spectacular, I don't even think another concert can do any better. Yay, long blog! And finished.

Things to do in Korea (yeah, I know, real creative...)

I feel like I've had an epic blog fail, due to the general lack of all things Korean on it. Lots of people have been asking me what there is to do here in good ol' Mokpo, so here are a few:

1. Coffee Shops

Korea has about a bajillion coffee shops. Of course, there's the chains like Caffe Bene, Angel in Us, Tom n Tom's, Holly's, and so on. (Sorry, folks, but Starbucks is completely absent in Mokpo. It's in other- bigger -cities though!) Then there are the independently owned shops, which offer their own unique vibe. And don't forget the cute baristas (hur)!! We frequently go to coffee shops because, well, there isn't that much to do in Mokpo. Unless you do the few number of things ALL. THE. TIME. Anyway, I've gotten much more into coffee shops. Stamp/point cards fill my wallet.

2. Noraebongs

Into karaoke? Don't want to go to a bar and have to sing in front of complete strangers? Never fear, just hit up a noraebong!! Noraebong is literally translated as a "singing room", and that's basically what it is. Once there, your group of friends are shown to a separate room just for you. Each place differs, but there are couches, a table, a ginormous tv screen, some neat lights, microphones, tambourines (some of them light up!!), and you're good to go. Feel free to goof off without embarassment (usually ^^). Sing whatever kind of song from the selection, and have a blast!

3. Shopping

If there's one things that all Korean's love, it's fashion. For cereal, I've never been in a place where looking good is so important. I feel awkward going out in just jeans and a t-shirt. This also means that I've gotten much more into shopping here. Like coffee shops, there are a gaggle of clothing shops, Some being brand name, and others are small boutiques (some of which can only hold a few people comfortably). The downside to shopping in Korea: things are much more expensive than back home. But to be completely honest, if I'm going to wear it that much, and it's better quality, then I'm going to buy it.

Then of course, there's the fashion statements. While tons of people back home wear flip flops, Korean women wear heels. Yes, heels. Everyday. And not small heels either; some of these shoes are killer. High school and college students also love their Converse shoes. In the winter season, there are some pretty sweet fashion staples. Here they are:

1) Shorts with leggings: I thought this was such a weird thing to do at first, but now I think it's fantastic and I can't wait to try it. I'm a bit nervous about it, seeing as it would probably look totally different on a non-asian person. But whatevs.

2) Puffy, shiny coats: I don't know what it is about these kind of obnoxious coats, but people love them here. Fubu (yes, Fubu) sells them. Outdoor clothing stores sell them. Millions of Koreans have them.

3) Green coats (usually with some kind of fur lining): they're everywhere. Guys, girls, they almost all have them. The styles vary, but the general army green color is seen anywhere you turn.

4) Uggs (or Fuggs): Unfortunately, these shoes are also popular here. I don't care about them enough to comment on them.

5) Skinny everything: Since Koreans are so stick-thin and have no hips, they can pull off having everything being super tight. Skinny jeans, suits, skirts, you name it. This also makes it practically impossible for me (or anyone else with hips) to buy pants here, because they don't carry larger sizes.

6) Lots of loose fitting things: Despite the coolness of skinny things, most girls will also have loose fitting shirts, sweaters, and sweater dresses. They're able to pull off so many looks, it's ridiculous.

7) Couple outfits: There is nothing as fantastic as a couple wearing matching coats, shoes, shirts, or all of the above. They look so cute when they do it!! There's even couple lingerie. But there is no possible way that matching outfits will fly back home. You'd just get straight up made fun of. People would think you're crazy ridiculous. Shame.

How adorable is this??

There are even more fashion styles I could talk about, but I first started off that last point with the amount of shopping that can be done. So yes. You can do a huge amount of shopping here.

I'll continue with more things next time. Until then, 잘가!! (Literally means "go safely", but it's used a lot when saying goodbye)

Halfway there!

The time has finally come when I've been here for 6 months. Let me tell you, this last month went by so. slowly. I felt like I kept saying "I've been here for about 6 months" for the past 2. But that doesn't mean that it wasn't eventful! Here's the lowdown:

The last few days of December and early January were spent in Seoul. My mom and sister came to visit!! Words couldn't describe how excited I was. They would say things that they noticed were interesting, which made me realize how immune I've become to the way things are here. Anyway, it was also my second time in Seoul, so I was the fearless (or maybe not-so) leader as we navigated our way through the city. We had some pretty stellar times.

This month is pretty much a gateway to exciting things to come. We had originally planned on going to Jeju for Lunar New Year (this Thursday), which is pretty big. The few traditions I know of are: the consumption of 떡국(duk-gook, or rice cake soup), spending time with family, and playing 윶놀이(yut-nori). Nori mean "game", and the game involves 4 wooden sticks. The giving of gifts is a big deal, and I've gotten a few gifts from my students already. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

In the meantime, I've moved to a new apartment. I love my new place, but the entire moving ordeal was...interesting. First of all, I didn't know that I was moving until the night before, when my director came into my classroom while I was teaching and asked "Is it ok to move your furniture to 208?"

...What? 208? Why does my furniture need to be moved?

After we got on the same page, it was settled that I would move the next day. Fortunately, I already had 1 1/2 suitcases packed. The worst thing about the whole situation is that the landlords have zero communication with me. They would come and show my apartment without letting me know beforehand. The first time was ok; I was at work so it's not like I had to talk to them. Then again, who's to say that they couldn't take anything? The second time wasn't as great. It was a Sunday and I was just about to get out of the shower when my doorbell rings. I stood there thinking "Who could be at my door?" It wasn't until I heard my door unlocking that I started to freak out. So I did as much as I could: "Hello?...Yes. Hold on a minute." (This was all in Korean) So I rushed out and hurried to get some clothes on. I don't think she realized what she was about to walk in on until I answered the door with towel around my head. So there I stood, waiting as these strangers looked at my mess of an apartment for a few minutes, then left.

..awkward..

I brushed it off. Moving back to the day before I moved. I slept on the floor (my bed had already been moved, and it was actually nicer than I thought it would be). The people that moved my furniture did a fantastic job, let me tell you. They removed the food from my fridge before moving it to the new place, my washer, and my bed. They must have thought "She's probably a strong person. Let's let her move the tv, couch, and desk as well as all of her other stuff." AWESOME. Thankfully my couch can be separated into 3 chairs, so carrying them wasn't that bad. The kicker was Saturday morning, when I was woken up at 8am by the landlady coming into my apartment to clean the bathroom. Yes, please, just kick me out of my apartment. Anyway, I'm officially, officially settled here (it only took this long).

Ok! That is quite a lengthy story. I apologize. I tend to go into too much detail.

Since the Jeju trip fell through, I'm going to Seoul! That's always an exciting time. The end of February is going to be the series of LEGENDARY events (yes, that is stolen taken from the book series). Friday kicks off the weekend with only the BEST CONCERT Seoul will see in a long time. That's right. Big Bang. The Fantastic 5: G-Dragon, TOP, Seung-ri, Daesung, and Tae-yang will bust a move at Olympic Park in front of thousands of adoring fans. I'm psyched. Saturday night I'll be hitting up a different show: Elton John and Tim Rice's "Aida". Korean style. I've been meaning to see a musical, and I had to take this opportunity!

From here on out, instead of counting how long I've been here, it'll be how many months are left (eek!) So much time, not enough to do! Strike that, reverse it. So much to see, experience, and explore! Anxiously awaiting warmer weather...

PS: I feel like I should add some kind of Korean phrase to show off--I mean, demonstrate my Korean skills! Also, you can learn how to say something in Korean! Ok, let's learn: "I can('t) play the piano"

Alright, let's build it up:

I = 저는 (jeonun)
piano = 피아노를 (same pronunciation + r/l-ul)
can play = 칠수 있어요 (chilsoo issoyo)

Here's the grammar: 저 is the formal version of "I"
는 denotes the subject of the sentence that focuses on the object.
를 denotes the object of the sentence.
치다 means to play and from what I know so far, is used for playing at least piano and tennis
     -since you want to say that you can do it, take the verb before the infinitive ending (다).
     -this verb's last sound is a vowel, so all you have to do is add -ㄹ수 plus the verb 있다 (which is not
      conjugated at this point and means to be)
     -let's use the informal formal verb ending (that's right, within the formal conjugations, there is a
      formal and informal). Separate 있다 from the infinitive ending. The last vowel sound is ee, and
      when that is the last vowel sound, the next vowel sound in the verb ending is uh. The final "yo"
      sound isn't needed if you're talking to:
           -a close friend
           -someone younger than you
      but I'll keep it in here because you add it for everyone else.

And that's how it works!! So here's how it is all together: 저는 피아노를 칠수 있어요 | jeonun pianorul chilsoo issoyo.

To say that you can't, you only have to change one thing: the final verb. Instead of saying issoyo, say ohbssoyo (which looks like this: 없어요 and means to not be)

Yay! You're a trooper for making it through my language explanations.

Oh, there’s no place like Korea for the holidays…

I’ve been trying to figure out how I would feel about Christmas for a while now. To be completely honest, it still doesn’t feel like it’s going to be Christmas tomorrow. Then again, that usually happens every year. There’s something about being in a different country that alters your mind set. You stop thinking about how things are usually done in your home country and accept whatever new situations arise, despite how different they may seem. So that’s what happened with Christmas.

Yes, I miss home. I miss the overall Christmas spirit that everyone is a part of, Christmas carols, lots of snow, fires roaring in the fireplace, but mostly the family togetherness. At the same time, I’m really excited that I’ll get to spend Christmas here in Korea, with my friends. There will be laughter, food, movies, and friendly togetherness. A fairly low-key Christmas. The biggest difference between Christmas here than back home is that it isn’t a huge deal. People don’t peruse catalogs and ads Thanksgiving night thinking of all the swag they’re going to try and score in the wee hours of the morning on November 26th.. There’s no big hullabaloo about working on Christmas Eve (even though I did that back at good ol’ Chili’s). I’ve been asking my students and friends what they plan on doing Christmas Day. Most responses have been “nothing much.” The normalness of Christmas is such a huge contrast with how it’s celebrated in America, and that’s the oddest thing for me. Although in the past few decades or so, Christmas has been a growing holiday here. The part that’s celebrated, however, is the secular aspect. Gift giving is done by some, although with the rise of Christianity in the area there are a growing number of people who celebrate the religious aspect (woohoo!).

So that’s my Christmas observation. On a completely different note, there have definitely been some interesting things that have happened lately. Sticking with the Christmas theme for now, I’d love to mention a great commercial that’s been showing. It’s for a bakery called Paris Baguette, and I think they’re trying to advertise to singles around this holiday season. It shows a man sitting in a couch alone watching a romantic movie. He then hangs his head, somehow showing that he is in such misery, when lo and behold! A snowman comes out of his tv, handing him a cake. If that isn’t odd enough, then the additional music tagline “You are not alone” will surely get to you. Thank you, Paris Baguette, for telling me to feel miserable for being single and alone. Oh wait! If I eat cake, then I’ll have food for company and feel great!

Moving on, what did I do Christmas Eve? I worked. But I was super excited to walk out of my apartment and see snow falling!! It snowed a good majority of the day, so it looks like Mokpo will have a white Christmas (another side not, it is impossible to find White Christmas online to watch. Terribly depressing). I headed to school with my bag of goodies for the students, as well as gifts for the other teachers. Kindergarten went well; we made snowflakes, played games, and made reindeer cookies. We also gave out presents that the students’ parents’ brought in. And guess who got to dress as Saint Nick? Yours truly. Of course, the moment I walked out, everyone kept saying “Maria Teacher!!” I then had to firmly deny this. But how can you do that well when costume resources are low and I decided to do it the day before? I did as well as I could, I guess. Anyway, everyone got to open their presents and many, many pictures were taken.

 Some of these parents go all out, man. There were 2 students who got a cell phone. Let me remind you that those kids are 7. Seven. 일곱. Siete. Sette. But it’s Korea. Everyone and their unborn children have cell phones. Another student got a Nintendo DS. There were Lego sets, books, toys, and other gifts. It was still a great day. The afternoon was less exciting, since we weren’t doing anything Christmas-y for those students. How is it that we have a whole day of Halloween, but only a half-day for Christmas?

Anyway, the rest of the day went by, and then it was time for church! One 25 minute taxi ride later (thank you traffic/snow) and 6,300 won poorer, I got there! Usually it takes 10 minutes, and only costs around 4,000 won (depending on traffic and lights). Anyway, Mass hadn’t started because of how bad the traffic was. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but I’m the only American that goes to this service. Mostly everyone else is Filipino. Not that that’s bad, because it’s not, but it just shows how many Korean people are Catholic (actually, that’s not a good statement. 1- It’s the English service. 2- there are Korean people that go to said service). Anyway, after Mass, they all eat dinner together on a different floor. I went a couple times when I had just started going there (and they asked me to join), but since then I haven’t gone. Today was a different story. After Mass, they all wanted to take a “family” picture. I got to be in it too. Little awkward, slightly embarrassing. Then one of the younger guys wanted a picture with me. Sure, I’m the token American, take a picture with me! I was then invited to dinner. I gave it a shot. I really do want to be a little more engaged there so that the culture difference isn’t so palpable. Boy, am I glad that I did. Another guy, Neb, started talking to me, and we got talking. We ate, talked some more, and I got to meet his friends. We have a huge thing in common: we’re all foreigners living in Mokpo. A few usual antics pursued, such as a guy named JV (not sure if there are vowels involved or not) asking if I could teach him English, whether or not I have a boyfriend, etc. Today I got a new one: “Do you need a bodyguard? I will apply.” AWESOME. They were a hilarious, friendly group of guys, and I am so glad I stuck around.

Well, that’s it for the Christmas edition. Sorry for making it so long. I have lots more to talk about, but 1) it’s not Christmas related and 2) I’ll just write later. Wait, I’ll have even more to write about because I’ll be going to Seoul to see my…….MOM AND SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess you could say I’m a little excited. Oh my. Look forward to reading more from me soon!!



Merry Christmas to all!! Stay safe and warm, and enjoy it!!

It says Merry Christmas in Hangul. 메리 크리스마스!