English Church

I didn't think I'd be posting two days in a row, but since today turned out to be a rather special Sunday I thought I'd tell of mine and Kristen's adventure. I mentioned yesterday how I've been trying to find an English speaking church in Gwangju and last week I contacted one of them to see what they were about. They seemed to be what we were looking for so we figured this morning we'd check it out. On their website and in an e-mail the pastor sent me, I figured I knew how to get to the church. Or at least in the general area of the church. Turns out the World Cup Stadium they are across from isn't the stadium I thought was near our place. This is the third time Kristen and others have taken a bus based on my research. This really should have been a lesson, but like a true blonde, she followed me blindly and I led us on a goose chase no where near the World Cup Stadium. After missing the stop we thought was the right place, we walked about 15 minutes to the stop we should have got off. Then we walked, and walked, seeing nothing that said Vision Hall or Mission Building. See, the church is on the fourth floor of the mission hall so looking for a church didn't help. Since we didn't want to be late, I asked the first Korean I saw. Now when I speak in French I can convey generally what I want to the francophone and they'll understand. In Korean I know hello and thank-you (well, that's all I remember at least!). So I tried reading the English lettered Korean words that the pastor gave me and the guy eventually understood. Then another lady came by and called the phone number for the church that I had written down. She got directions, hailed a cab, then sent us on our way. We figured 5 minute drive tops. HA! The whole way this cab driver, who could speak a little English, went on and on about my "beautiful gold hair". No matter how much Kristen corrected him to say blonde, he called it gold. We got dropped off at this building and he said go up. Ok... so we stood outside like the waygooks (foreigners) we are and we like...uh.... so we walked into this hair salon where the lady and her kids tried to decipher what our destination was on the sheet. Eventually she too got out her phone and called the number we had. Elated, the lady and her kids practically dragged us out of the salon and into the next building which turned out to be the right one. Due to all the phone calls along the way, they were expecting us (15 minutes late mind you!) and shooed us up stairs where we met in the elevator another western woman who is now our best friend (you'll see why in a minute). So we came in late, but since it's very informal no one noticed (not like Sauble girls...). Everyone did notice though when they asked us to stand up and talk about ourselves when they found it was our first time to that church. Joy. But it really was joyful because for being new we got presents! Turned out to be these hand clothes with the church name stitched in. They are really nice and it means I don't have to buy one! We also arrived the Sunday they were having a potluck with some amazing food and even some western-ish desserts! Delicious. So, this lady we met ended up giving us her map of Gwangju and the bus system and pointed out all the buses we need to take to get where we want to go. She also told us about the Costco in Korea and offered to take us next month! apparently it's pretty much exactly like the ones in Canada with only a few differences. I was so excited! Since only my Mom has a card though, we're getting in with this woman's card (I forget her name...). She even got us on the right bus back home and is taking us to get these Mybi card things to make busing easier. She's a lifesaver! We had been so stressed from getting lost and were convinced we wouldn't find the church, but God prevailed like he always does and it all turned out better than we could imagine.
On the way home, we got a little lesson in Korean robbing. Yes, robbing. We were waiting for our bus transfer at the terminal and some fat guy eating chips comes up to us and starts muttering in Korean (actually, it didn't even sound like Korean). He looked like a bum begging for money because he had about 2,000 Won in his had and held out his palm to Kristen. She said no, but he persisted, took her left hand and put in 1,000 Won. So she thought he was trying to get change from her since she had two 500's and he gave her ten 100's. He grabs her right hand and takes her money. Ok, fair trade right? uh, not quite. He then tries to get back the money he gave her, when she pulled her hand back he practically grabbed her to get it back and starts making these whinning sounds. So she opens her hand, he takes the money back and who knew a fat man could disappear so easily? So it was only 1000 won ($1), but he still stole it. We were like, did that just happen? Thankfully we still had enough money to get home, but if I ever see that bum again... he'll be sorry he met us. Shouldn't be too hard to pick out either. Very few Koreans are fat and none are as fat as he is.
Don't worry Mom, that was our first "trying to be nice in Korea, but getting skrewed over" event and now we know that even if they don't speak your language, don't let them take money out of your hand. Unless of course they're a cashier and you're just too stupid to realize how much you're supposed to be giving them :)

Visits and Exploring

My first weekend in Gwangju City is half over already. I spent the past week doing NOTHING! and for those of you that know me well, I can't stand doing nothing. I always have to be doing something productive. Ok, maybe not productive, but something anyway. Unlike some people I know (Kristen), I can't spend an entire day on the internet or watching TV shows! So since Kristen was being bored at school and I was being bored in the apartment, I spent my time doing a few things. Looking up churches on the internet, finding places to visit all over Korea as well as in Gwangju itself, walking around and checking out shops, almost getting hit by cars, and finding somewhere to run. There is no place I can find where I can run. It's rather depressing considering running is how I release stress. You might be thinking, um Tara, just go down the sidewalks. Not that hard. Well, actually it is hard. Every three feet there's another intersection to cross and a lot of them you have to wait awhile. I did manage to find the National Museum which you cross this rather long highway to get there so running there and back, plus around the parking lot should work ok until I can find an actual park.
Thursday Uncle Ron came to visit for a few hours. We went out for lunch and then out for drinks. It was rather amusing since he came and then asked where's a good place to eat and Kristen and I went...uh... we actually haven't looked around much in the city. So Uncle Ron had to show us around OUR city! haha. He found the main food area so now we know where to go. We had a pork BBQ which you cook the meat yourself, put it in a leaf of lettuce then put in sauces, bean sprouts, greens, Kimchi, or whatever else you want. Then you fold it over and stuff the whole thing in your mouth and try not to gag on it! It was awesome!
Today (Saturday) Laura and Amanda, both from Caledonia, who we met on this trip came to visit us from Hwasan and we explored the downtown area near the bus terminal. Last night when picking up Laura we had major difficulties getting to the terminal. We were told to take bus 51...bus 51 did NOT get us there! we ended up who knows where and had to take a taxi back which cost us 7,400 won ($7 CND). Then we took a taxi back to our house and it only cost 4,800 won... we were really out there. Today though we looked up on trusty ol google maps and figured out what bus to take so now we know! We even met an American Korean man who took us everywhere we needed to go since we had no idea how to get there! So now I'm feeling a little more knowledgeable about this city! What I learned though is that the department stores are insane! You can go up about 10 flights of escalators for one store. Which also means you can't buy everything on one level. I found guitars too. The cheapest I could find was 100,000 Won ($100), but I'm going to check out side stores first before I buy one from the big department stores. I would also love a key board, but that would be not cheap so I'll survive with a guitar. I can't wait to find one. I need something to play in my tons of spare time!
Lets see, what else... oh yeah. Korean Chips are disgusting. There were these deals on in the grocery store, three bags for 800 won (80 cents) so being the good dutch girl, I bought them. ew. that's all I have to say. I also got cereal half price plus it came with a free spoon! AND our grocery store is basically like COSTCO. They give out free samples! Which includes fruits...it's awesome. I should just eat my dinners there. Ok, so since there was nothing TOO interesting in here, I'm going to end this post and update it when I have something to write that you actually want to hear about :)

Gwangju and Samgye Middle

It's been an interesting few days since I've left the countryside of Gurye for the city of Gwangju and it'll all been a bit overwhelming to say the least! Our neighbourhood is nice, if a bit rusted looking. There's trees lining the streets and the buildings look like they're run down inside. But, once you get inside, the apartments are very nice. Kristen and I got lucky. Most of the other teachers have half the space we have. I think living in this apartment will go alright.
Living in the city however is another story altogether! I honestly don't know how I'm going to make it alive to the bus stop every morning! part of the route I have to take means crossing a two lane road with constant traffic. The woman who took me to the bus stop yesterday just started walking across the road and the cars would slow down! I just kept praying that my body would be intact once we crossed. Then she says, "I don't cross when it's busy like the Koreans do, I wait for a gap." I'm thinking: "what gap?!?!? what was NOT a gap in traffic!" Today, Kristen and I literally sprinted across the road when there was an actual gap. Apparently that's normal in Korea though.
Though our neighbourhood is fairly quiet, the city definately isn't. Going to Samgye Middle School yesterday was nice because it's in the middle of the country. Beautiful lake nearby and no high rise buildings. The teacher for Samgye used to live in the town, but because the teachers always complained it was too isolated they moved them to the city. So not only do I now have to pay $3 each way for a bus ticket, I have to bus 45 minutes twice a day and live in the city! I'd much prefer the countryside, but that's not really my choice so what can I do?
Kristen and I plan to travel a lot...but taking the bus to school was an adventure in itself so now picture two country girls trying to make their way around South Korea when they can't speak Korean...yeah, it's funny, I know!
The school is very nice though. My principle and VP are both friendly as are most of the other teachers. I'm not quite sure what they all think of me yet though. The teacher before me is a happy-go-lucky very creative 50 year old Australian hippie so going from that to a 21 year old Canadian farm girl in business clothes is a big change around. I've already been frowned upon for not taking a TESOL course before I came here (ok, they didn't say that was bad, but their expression said it all) plus they keep telling me that I'm not 21, but 19 and way too young to be teaching. I should mention that since Koreans are born at 1 years old, 19 really means in our years they think I'm 18. I guess there's not much difference between here and Canada since everyone in Canada thinks I'm too young for everything as well!
Korea is also full of death drivers. Their driving makes no sense at all! They stop in the middle of traffic lights, turn on red lights, honk like there's no tomorrow, drive on the wrong side of the road, drive REALLY close to pedestrians, and some how they don't kill each other.
On Tuesday I managed to figure out how to do laundry. Dump in detergent, push a couple buttons that look like they say "on" or "start", then cross your fingers and hope your laundry comes out clean!
Their playgrounds are a joke for a playground. They have them all over the apartment complex's, but they're tiny, rusting down, and very over grown. There's also no grass. Even the school's soccer fields have no grass. I miss grass. But then, I've mentioned that already!
I also miss western food. As good as Asian food is, it's difficult to eat it every day three times a day. Sure they have the same fruits as us as well as some other stuff, but things I never thought I'd miss I'm missing. Like REAL cereal, not this...I'm not really sure what to call it stuff I'm eating. Whole wheat bread. They've never heard of it. Butter. Sandwich meat. Cheese. Tomatoes that they don't force you to buy in bulk. Seriously, I went to the tomato stand in the grocery story and there was prepackaged tomatoes. I only needed one, so I went to the open box to pick one out. Some Korean came and started gesturing and talking really fast and motioning that I'm not allowed to buy just one, I had to buy the whole box. What am I going to do with 50 tomatoes?
I also miss understanding things. Trying to do things that I never even understood in Canada make it all the more frustrating here. Like the city bus for example. Those that know me know I don't take it alone because I don't understand it. Try it here when the old ticket selling lady can't even understand what the Korean's say let alone what I say! Buying stuff gets confusing. I really need an alarm clock, but they don't sell with batteries. I can't even ask where to buy batteries. It's all going to be a huge learning experience for me for a few months until I catch on to some things.
Last but not least, those of you who gave me King and Wilhelmina peppermints as a going away gift, they were gone last week already! I really wish I had some now, but you guys saw me at Elim...if there's peppermints there, I'll eat them. If there isn't, no big deal. But they were here and they're all gone! I'm pretty sure Kristen thinks I'm messed up. I had A LOT of peppermints here!
Until next time!

Costs

Ok. This topic deserves special attention because I'm so much more lucky than all you people stuck back in Canada right now!
We got a 2 L bottle of water in Jirisan for 1000 won which is about 87 cents Canadian. In Gwangju we can get 2 L for 640 won or, 56 cents. It's amazing considering how much water I drink. On the other hand, a tiny box of Special K cost me almost $3 Canadian. It was really really small and isn't even real special k. I'm so disappointed and really wish I remembered to pack a bag (which I serious was going to do, until I forgot).
Apparently you can get passport photo's for a couple bucks...I paid $14 for two back home. You can also get your wisdom teeth pulled here for $20 a tooth. A doctors visit and medication can cost about $20 if you go to a clinic, but $100 if you go to the hospital. Apparently prescription sunglasses (well, glasses in general) are really cheap too so I'm going to get me a pair while I'm here! Dentist is cheap. So Mom, be thankful that I refused to go to the dentist back home because of the cost. I'll just go here! maybe. :) Electronics are the same cost, unfortunately. I really wanted to get one of those gorgeous digital cameras for cheap here...
For beer drinkers, Korea is heaven. For a bottle double the size of the ones at home, it costs just over $1. Soju, Korean's specialty also costs less than $2. I don't remember the exact prices. But if you want Soju in Canada, it costs almost $5 because it's imported. Which is also why my cereal is bloody expensive!

Leaving Gurye

I'm leaving the small town of Gurye today to move into my apartment and meet my co-teacher and possible go to my school to meet the principle as well. Apparently we could be teaching as early as tomorrow, but our company wants the schools to let us have the week to settle in and start next Monday. I wouldn't mind a few days to meet the teachers, visit the school, and assess what I should be teaching. Although we have been given lesson plans for the first few weeks so I think I'll be ok. We also have to get medicals, our alien registration card, health stuff, and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember. Uncle Ron is in Pusan right now...only a few hours from me. We were hoping to meet up in Gwangu where I'll be living, but since today was the only day that worked for him and I have all this running around to do we don't think it'll work. Which is too bad. But that's life.
Yesterday we went for our last hike up the torturous Jiri Mountain and then for a last swim in the waterhole where we found fish heads and bones everywhere...rather gross, but we were hot and wanted to swim. Then Kristen climbed up the rocks and fell down then...rather funny (once we realized she was ok), and she has a massive bruise to be jealous of! It's sweet really.

A Little About Korea

So I wasn't going to write anything today, but since I'm unloved and don't have many messages I've decided to write a post anyway. Plus, both times I've been on here I keep forgetting the things I really want to talk about so last night I made a list of them so I wouldn't forget. I've been mostly telling about what I've done so far, but I want to tell about the people and the country more. So here goes:
The mountain's here are phenomenal! Most days it's been rather cloudy (but still insanely hot and humid!) and even with the sun out in full force, the mountains look like they're foggy. Today however, Kris and I were walking to the internet cafe and just stopped and stared. You could see every jagged peek, every bush, tree...it was so beautiful! I wish I had my camera on me right now! The mountains surround us completely and you think you can't get out of them, but when we're on the bus, you just keep driving, yet you're still surrounded on all sides! It's amazing how God created this country! The people here are fantastic and SO accommodating! They make us huge meals everyday and go out of the way to make us comfortable. Last night it while it was pouring rain and thundering a Korean man named Hyung came up to us and taught us a Korean version of Jacks. It was a lot of fun and passed the time nicely! We also have this one cook who constantly bugs us (in a good way!), gives high fives (though I've learned not to be going up the stairs when I give one!), and remembers our names. He also keeps trying to get us to eat all kinds of crazy food...most of which we're not so sure we want to eat. So he eats it, then makes fun of us for being to chicken. All the Koreans take pictures of us too...it's kinda creepy at first since you see them very obviously take a picture of you, smile, and point straight at you. They're definately not discreet! Which I think I'll like since it's more weird when you're not sure if the person is pointing at you or something else. Might as well just make it obvious! Even if they are laughing at your blonde hair or insane height...
Korean's have learned to utilize every spec of space available to them. Where we would have huge garden's, grass fields, and parks, the Koreans plant rice fields, beans, or gardens. It's weird driving on a highway and instead of seeing a flower bed, there's a cluster of bean plants. Even in the ditches...it's weird! The thing I miss the most so far (besides Dustie and Gem) is GRASS! All I want to do is lay down in a grass field and smell freshly cut grass! So if anyone wants to send me a gift...freshly cut grass would be nice! ok, maybe not.
Bathrooms... it is impossible to take a shower without soaking the ENTIRE bathroom! The tubs are tiny and there's not such thing as a shower curtain and the shower heads are those take off thing that you have to squeeze to work and if they're upside down they shut off...annoying! You should see the toilets too...girls, if you ever come here, learn to pee while squatting over a hole in the ground. The bonus is it's not a dirt hole and it's in doors.
Yesterday I promised a video...but apparently youtube doesn't let me upload one because there's a block on it in Korea. Don't ask why. So until I figure out some other way you'll have to live with pictures! That's all for now!

End of Quarantine

Kristen and I just got kicked out of our room by the cleaning ladies so here I am listening to some children Korean show over the speakers outside the convenience store. It's starting to get annoying actually and since English children shows are annoying, when you can't understand the language...
The last couple days Kristen and I have gone on a major hike. The first time we did it I swore I wouldn't do it again, but the very next morning there I was climbing the same insane mountain as the day before! The bonus is we head out to our swimming hole that we found at the trail head right after the hike so we can cool down. There's always someone at the swimming hole and we couldn't figure out why there were never any Koreans there. They're always at much smaller rivers and swimming holes. Then one of the girls saw a Korean lady washing a dirty bucket there, we saw one of those big cement storm pipe things going into the swimming hole. It didn't stop us swimming though. There's fish alive in there so if they can survive, how bad can it be? right?
All this hiking and swimming and sweating has me in dire need of a washing machine though... I've run out of summer clothes to wear!
Our last official day of Quarantine brought us to a Buddist Temple about a half hour bus ride from our hotel. It not what I expected. I was thinking more along the lines of a Mosque type building, but it's a whole community basically. There's an area we weren't allowed the housed the monks and other families. I'm not sure exactly who. It all looked kinda like a middle ages village with a market square in the middle and shops on the outside. This took imagination, but that's what it felt like!
oh! I've tried Octopus! It doesn't really have a taste. It's really really chewy though. Not my most favourite dish. We ordered pizza last night though. It was so good... and I don't even crave it ever, it just felt nice to eat something western for once!
We had an interesting lesson yesterday. We learned Korean dinner etiquette and at 3:00 in the afternoon learned how to properly drink Soju or, Korean alcohol. It's served pretty much at every gathering of some kind and we're told our schools will serve it to us as well. Apparently you have to drink it, but once you have one, you can refuse more. But oh man! these Koreans can really drink.... I can't believe it! Soju is 20% alcohol too... something I didn't check right away. It's also not the best tasting stuff. It's tastes like it's watered down, but with Orange juice it's good.
Tomorrow we start orientation officially so I'm guessing our daily hikes and swimming adventures will be rather minimal or non existent. I've made up a video of some of my adventures so far, but I can't seem to post it on here so internet savvy Kristen is going to help me get it on youtube and I'll post the link here so you can all see it!

Arrival in the Land of the Morning Calm

Well, here I am! South Korea! I haven't had the chance to write anything here so far so I'll do a quick update on what's been going on so far.
The flight out here was LONG! 13.5 hours. We left at 11:30pm Ontario time and basically followed the moon here because it was dark the entire way. The longest night of my life! We (oops, I'm here with Kristen Blyleven... so the we means me and her!) took Korean Air on a Boeing 777 here...nicest plane I've ever been on! We had computer screens to watch movies, play games...it was a nice way to pass the time. The airline skrewed with our bodies though...we got served "dinner" at 2am, slept a little, then got breakfast. I never knew what time it was so I never knew if I should be hungry or what. Needless to say, I didn't feel so great after eating two meals at times I normally wouldn't be eating anything! They were a great airline though...constantly served us snacks, juice, water...it was amazing!
So we arrived in Seoul at 1:30am in the morning here which would be 12:30 pm in Canada. We immediately took a bus supplied to us by our company Canadian Connection (there were about 20 of us on the same plane from Toronto) and drove 5 hours to Gurye (I think the spelling might be off here). Here we get to have our "quarantine" since they are paranoid about us all getting swine flu. So orientation starts a week late and we basically get to do whatever we want all week! Best quarantine I'll ever have!They do check our temperature every day and if we're 37 or higher they act like it's the worst thing in the world and we have to come back an hour later to see if it's gone down! It's funny really. They lady who does it is hilarious! It doesn't help that our meals are always so hot so we're practially sweating after them when they take our temperature!
Speaking of the meals... They're good...to an extent. I'm kinda getting sick of having the same thing over and over again with only slight variation. We basically have burner things in front of us cooking our stir fry (which is why it's so hot at meal times), we have a bowl of rice, and the rest of the food is in the middle of the table that we have to share. It varies, but we've had whole fish completely intact (none of us ate it...), octopus which Kristen tried, but as much as I like to say I've tried weird things, I couldn't bring myself to eat that one!
*side note* apparently it used to be a tradition for a person to eat a live octopus at a celebration, but on average 4-5 people died a year so they stopped the tradition. I couldn't even eat it dead! maybe if it was breaded...
anyway, we've had squid, plus other things I just ate without knowing what it was. The fish here is really good though (when it's not whole of course!). Breakfasts are good, egg, toast with jam, bananas, and cereal. I have to say though...I'm rather glad I went to Chicoutimi, Quebec in May/June, because being forced to eat white bread prepared me for eating it here! I'm actually not wanting to throw up each time I eat it....I just pretend it's whole wheat and healthy for me... right.... oh! and their jam containers are genius! there's two small packets attached that you squeeze onto your toast! Don't have to use a knife to get it out of the packets! (not like they've ever given us a knife to use...even for meat!)
The first day here most of us crashed way before dinner time and missed dinner...the cook was NOT impressed! they apparently had crab, which I LOVE, so I'm sad I missed it! Kristen and I slept until 4am that morning and then were wide awake so we watched a movie. The next night we managed to stay up until 8pm so we slept until about 5:30am...then watched another movie! this morning we managed to sleep until 7am then went for a run. Hopefully jet lag is over now!
This morning I talked to my parents and brothers on webcam. We finally figured out how it works! Took us forever to figure out! Our calls were dropped several times, but then it stuck so hopefully it works good from now on. Speaking of the internet, our hotel doesn't have it. boo. So we went to the internet cafe until we figured out that you can pick up the wireless signal outside so we all sit here with our lab tops which creates quite a scene since no one else here seems to have one. Plus, there's always someone here since there's about 50 or more people with our company so someone's always here. We are getting internet though...but they're being slow about it! That's ok. This'll do for now! So if you want to talk to me, add me to skype. I think my name on there is just Tara. Or maybe it's Tara Heeg. I don't remember. Anyway, my battery is running out and I think I got most of the information so far. I'll write more later!