Finding Normalcy

Arriving in a new place is always a whirlwind. 7 weeks ago we arrived in Seoul and for the first week it felt like we had done so much that I had already been here for a month.  When arriving in a new place there is always a sense of urgency, whether you have 3 days or 2 months to explore it. You feel like there is just too much to see and do, and if you don’t do all of it there will be regrets, and there must be more time. But what I’ve found, especially when you have the opportunity to stay in one place for a decent amount of time, is that it is equally important to recognize that the place you are staying holds more value than the number of tourist attractions you can hit in any given day. The place you are staying is home to people that live normal lives and carry out normal activities, and that probably doesn’t involve bungee jumping on Wednesday mornings. I have finally started to find my sense of normalcy here in Seoul, and it is helping me to find an even deeper appreciation for this city. I don’t feel like I’m wasting a day if I don’t make it to a palace or a temple, and sometimes you need to spend the day in your pajamas and just relax because that’s what normal people do, and there sometimes all you want is to feel normal.

My work life now feels like a routine, and that is actually one of the greatest feelings in the world. I don’t have to think about what days I’m working or what days I’m off, I recognize what day of the week it is and how early I have to set my alarm. Putting on work attire doesn’t seem like a chore, I wake up and want to make an effort to look like an adult that is doing something professional. When I get into the office, I naturally fall into a pattern of work that includes our translations, checking my emails, etc. and I find this all so comforting. One of the biggest things I will pull away from this position is the experience of working in an office, and knowing that it is something that I do enjoy. I know it is not for everyone, but for me personally I love the sense of routine, and having the regularity.

Having a sense of normalcy also means I’m more in touch with what things are considered to be average activities here. Going and sitting in a cafe to drink iced coffee is a normal part of everyone’s life and I feel like I fit in when I go and do it too. Many of the cafes here are open 24 hours, so once I officially decide that my attempt to get real work done is no longer necessary, I can sit an watch Netflix until my heart is happy. The other night Allison and I found ourselves at Tom N Toms cafe watching Netflix until about 3:30am. After a very regrettable stop at Burger King we finally made it home around 5. The funny thing was, we weren’t the only ones out and wandering on the street. Considering the fact that it was 3 in the morning on a Monday night, you would be surprised at how many people were still roaming the streets. If it weren’t for the leggings and tshirt I decided to throw on, I may have felt like I blended in.

A few weekends ago we took on another very popular Korean activity. We bought tickets ahead of time, and got to the arena early to find our seats. All of this my lead you to believe that we were going to another sporting event, and in some ways I think people might say that we were. However, what we did do was go and see a live match of League of Legends. Now, if you’re not familiar, LoL (haha) as it is called, is an online game played by millions of people across the world. Teams of 5 players battle within a game map to try and destroy the other team’s “nexus.”Now, while the list of rules and regulations are incredibly complicated, extensive, and important, they are not what you need to know about League of Legends. What you do need to know is that this was not 10 kids sitting in a basement on their computers, these are professional players that people pay money to go see, that I payed money to go see. They sit in a sate of the art gaming area with live commentators, team coaches, and I kid you not they had matching shirts with their gamer names embroidered on the front. LoL is somewhat of a religion here in South Korea, and I was happy to be there and experience it, even if I didn’t have the slightest clue what was going on. Luckily, one of the guys that we went to watch with did know what was going on, and he was happy to share his knowledge. We started picking up on different aspects of the game, and soon we understood enough that we could tell why the crowd would start cheering, and I’ll be darned if we weren’t cheering along with them. I was happy to feel like I had made another connection to popular culture here, and I could definitely understand why this game has drawn an enormous fan base. If it is still hard to comprehend just how seriously this game is taken, I have attached a link to the video of the live stream (yes, a live stream) of the match we went to. While it’s 6 hours long (yes, 6 hours) only the second 3 hours (yes, still 3 hours) is the game we attended. Obviously don’t watch the entire thing, but if you skip to about 3 hours and 15 minutes you can get a good sense of the atmosphere. AND, if you skip to 4 hours and 27 minutes, there is a close up of our jolly bunch of 5 Americans sitting in the first and second row, including yours truly stuffing an off-brand Dorito into my mouth. This is exactly what I imagined for my 15 seconds of fame.

 

Our time here is quickly coming to a close, and that is really hard to think about. While having this sense of normalcy is really important, it will eventually make it more difficult to leave, and to go back to what my “normal” life really is  back in the US. But for now I will continue to enjoy what time I have left, because I really am loving every second of it.

 

Let’s Talk about Food.

I’ve learned a few things about food since coming to South Korea:

1.) Assume whatever you’re eating is going to be spicy enough to make little beads of sweat appear between your eyebrows

2) Don’t assume that cooking your own food will be cheaper than eating in a restaurant

3) If whatever you’re drinking isn’t iced, you’re doing it wrong

Eating in South Korea has been a learning experience from start to finish. Everything from eating in restaurants to buying groceries has taken some serious trial and error. But, I have  in fact been eating, and my stomach is very happy. South Korea is a land full of simple ingredients and extreme spice, both of which I am a big fan of. Since arriving 6 weeks ago, my body has adapted to new habits and routines. I eat a lot less, because portion sizes are always smaller, and I always want a lot of sweets late at night because most of what I eat during the day is quite savory. The only things I really ever crave that I can’t have are Mexican food and fruit, but I’ll explain that dilemma a little later.

Grocery shopping here in Seoul has taken the most getting used to. Even those who know me quite well probably don’t know about my secret love of grocery shopping. When I’m back home in the states I have been known to do nothing on my free days except make a run to Trader Joe’s to buy some fun groceries. I love wandering the isles, comparing prices and sizes, and making myself hungry looking at all the options. All of these things are quite easy in the US considering that grocery stores are big enough to house an Olympic sized swimming pool. This could not be further from reality in South Korea. Regular grocery stores (at least in our area of the city) are few and far between, and most would make any claustrophobic person break down into tears. The selection at these places is nothing to brag about either. Other than the 18 different types of Rice Wine Vinegar and dried fish, everything else is quite limited. The lack of cheese would be enough to make a Frenchman cry, and is usually just American singles, and bags of mozzarella which is labeled exclusively as “Pizza Cheese.” I understand that these are more Western foods and not a normal staple here, but it does take some getting used to when you come from a country that makes you decided between seven different versions of shredded cheddar organized by varying thickness.

At least 15 versions of coffee/ chocolate flavored milk, but that tiny section at the top is where you will find the cheese

Standing at the very back of the store. There are only 4 of those shelving units in the entire place.

Produce is one of biggest changes in my diet since coming to South Korea. At home I could easily slam down 5 bananas in one breakfast smoothie, and eat 3 cups of spinach in a salad. Here, I’ve gotten used to the fact that my diet consists mostly of rice, eggs, and what veggies I can afford at the grocery store. Vegetables don’t tend to be very expensive. I buy green onion which I put in everything, bell peppers, and I recently bought a bag of potatoes for about 3,000 won ($2.64). But fruit is a different story. Fruit is very expensive here. Bananas are the cheapest option, along with some more region specific options like little sweet melons, but other than that you’re going to have a bad time. Watermelons run on average at about 12,000 won ($10.57), and there is a certain type of grape that they always advertise out front that is a whopping 25,000 won ($22.02). It also doesn’t help that nothing can be bought individually. Want some kiwis? Congratulations you now own eight of them. Need an onion for a recipe? Here, buy this bag of ten. Buying in bulk will ultimately make it cheaper but not only will I never eat ten onions by myself, I would have to spend more money than if I could only buy just one. The method I have created for getting my fruit is to do it in the form of Juice. There is a little store in downtown Sinchon that always has a line out the door, and it is simply called”Juicy.” They sell freshly blended fruit juices for relatively cheap prices and I will openly admit that I have become addicted. But it’s an excellent way to spend 2 bucks on fruit instead of buying a 10 dollar watermelon.

Here is what my average grocery run brings in. The half loaf of white bread is he only really american thing here, but what can I say, ya girl loves her toast. Other than that the eggs will get fried and put into fried rice along with the garlic and green onions, and those frozen dumplings are just about the best thing that has ever happened to me. The two colorful tubes are really cheap cookies that I always find myself eating late at night. I promise the blue tube was sealed when I bought it, but it’s a 15 minute walk home from the store and I have no self control. In total I spent about 15,000 won ($13.15) which isn’t bad at all considering I won’t have to make any more big trips before I leave in just under 2 weeks. The only thing I might need to go back in and grab some cookies or dumplings, which is find because the store is on our way home from most things.

As large as the packing may look, this is only 8 kiwis, stacked in 2 separate containers of 4 

Luckily for Zoe and I, our apartment is equipped with a kitchen which means we can cook at home and get creative with the mix of things we always end up bringing home from the grocery store. I’ve gotten quite good at making fried rice, or at least I would consider to be fried rice by my own low standards. While it isn’t always easy, we have managed to keep ourselves alive for this long, and I can imagine that we will make it through another 2 weeks.

When I avoid the painfully expensive fruit, I can get a lot of food at the grocery store for not a lot of money, but sometimes I crave something more substantial than the mess that I cook up in a frying pan. Luckily for us, eating out in Korea is often less expensive than attempting to make something elaborate and filling at home. Korean barbeque is our favorite and some of the most delicious meals I’ve had. This is where you learn that simple can be amazing. Nothing more than grilled meat and a bowl of rice with a few fixings on the side make for an absolutely perfect meal that comes in under 10 dollars. The fact that you aren’t required to tip, and sales tax is included means that your really do pay exactly the price you see. This is a wonderful break from the states where you think you go in for a $4.99 lunch at a sit down restaurant and then by the end of the meal you end up spending somewhere around $17.

My other favorite restaurant here in the Sinchon area is one that Zoe and I found on accident, but it has become my favorite for many reasons. It is close enough to walk to, my meal comes out to be $3.97, it’s really spicy, and I don’t have to talk to anyone. When you walk in you plug your order into a little kiosk machine (all in Korean, it took us a few tries the first time), insert your money, and then grab your little ticket. When your food is ready your number will flash on the sign and then all you have to go do is pick it up, easy as that. This restaurant may be one of the things I miss most about this wonderful city.

This only thing that is missing from this very thorough analysis of my Korean food experience is the very important, and very frequently visited convenience stores. GS25, Ministop, 7 eleven, and CU are names that you will quickly become very familiar with when staying in this city for any length of time. Standing at the front doors of one convenience store, it is guaranteed that you will be able to see the glowing sign of the next one down the street. These places are the holy grail of 24 hour snack food at crazy cheap prices. Chips, cookies, and cup noodles with hot water dispensers in the store so that you don’t even need to go home to eat it. Every type of cold and iced beverage you can imagine, and even a small selection of real-ish type food products if you can’t make it to the regular grocery store. Remember when I mentioned that I now crave sweet things late at night? These stores are the reason I can satisfy these cravings, and it doesn’t help that there is a GS25 located right in the basement of our dorm building. One of the other things I will miss most is stopping by the CU on our way home and grabbing this fun iced beverage that you buy in a bag and then pour over a plastic cup of ice. It’s the little things, right?

There is actually one other thing missing that will make this post complete. My absolute favorite food in this country is Kimbap, which is also spelled Gimbap because Korean characters are funny like that. It looks almost identical to a sushi roll but I looked up the difference and found out that the rice in kimbap is cut with sesame oil rather than vinegar making it a little sweeter, and it also doesn’t contain raw fish. My preferred type is the kind  with ham and other veggies like cucumber, and I can buy it at the school cafeteria for a staggering 1,500 won which is $1.32. Are you kidding me?! I don’t think I’ll ever get over how good this stuff is, and if you find me in a few months and I’m really upset it’ll probably be due to my lack of kimbap consumption upon returning to the US. So here is a picture of this beautiful creation to leave you in a good mood, because it’s certainly making me hungry.

Be… our… guest!

The perfect treat midway through my stay in Seoul was a 6-day-long visit by some wonderful guests. Two students that had been in Hong Kong, also for the IWU Freeman internship program, took a small vacation after their program ended to come see Seoul, and I could not have been more excited. While one of these guests happens to be my best friend in the whole entire world, making me a little biased, having guests can also be one of the best ways to find a new appreciation for where you have been staying. Taking Emma and Citlalli through the same streets that we navigate on a daily basis, I saw the amazement on their faces as they walked past the same things that I have forgotten are so cool. The street performers, the food stands, the crowded streets at all hours of the night, these are all things that I have grown to love, but that have also just become normal to me. Having the opportunity to re-experience some of these things with them was a really great chance for me to step back and remember all of the reasons why I have fallen in love with this city. And yes, I’m using the L word. I really do love Seoul, a city that I never even knew I even wanted to visit, has become one of my favorites that I have ever been to.

With Emma and Citlalli in town, we obviously had to take them to some of our go-to spots. A night out in Hongdae,  some street food in Myeong-dong, and (are we surprised?) a trip to the raccoon cafe. All of these places I have no problem returning again, again, and again, so I had no complaints. We also took them for some real Korean barbeque which they had attempted to eat in Hong Kong, but was obviously not as authentic, delicious, or cheap as it is here in good ol’ Seoul.

But along with all the classic stops, we also did some new and exciting things to give them a well rounded experience. One of these activities ended up being much more exciting and adventurous than we had imagined, but it was a lot of fun nonetheless. Zoe and I really enjoy hiking here in Seoul because it is a very common past-time, and the nature can be a great break from the hustle and bustle of the city. Up until this point we have only attempted portions of the City Fortress Wall, but since we had guests we figured that we might branch out and do something more exciting. About an hour and a half north of the city is a National Park that we had been wanting to try, and we thought this would be the perfect opportunity. None of the research that Zoe had done indicated that this hike would be more than a walk in the (National) park, so dressed in nothing more than my $14.99 Target leggings and armed with a big bottle of water, we set off up this mountain. The first half an hour was peachy, clearly defined trails and some gentle inclines were exactly what we had been expecting, but soon enough we started to hit some not so easy up-hill patches with only boulders to jump between, and then faster than you can say Bukhansan National Park we hit a point with nothing but a smooth rock face and 40 foot rope to pull you up it. Now, if you know me, you know that I have a relatively athletic demeanor, so this was certainly possible as far as the physical aspect went. However at this point my concern was that this easy day hike was going to turn into the plot line of 127 Hours or that one of our visitors was going to go tumbling off the mountain. Luckily we all made it safely over the rough patches and down to the bottom with only a small rip in my shoe to remind us of the treacherous hike, oh and also the fact that all of us had numb legs for about 36 hours. It wasn’t exactly what we had set out to do, but the views while hiking in Seoul never disappoint, and really made it all worth it.

You’d think  I wouldn’t be able to find that many questionable activities over the course of 6 days, but sure enough on Wednesday morning I found myself leaping off of a 45 meter platform with a bungee cord strapped to my back. Bungee jumping is one of those things that seems to be on everyone’s bucket list, but the opportunity to actually do it just never seems to come up. We discovered, however, that Seoul has many places where one can go and bungee jump, and Emma and Citlalli were down to go with me. In the end, figuring out how to take the bus to this park was actually the most difficult part of the experience. Once you are there it’s only a matter of giving them your name and birth date, signing some sort of statement that was all in Korean, handing them 25,000 won (only about 20 bucks, noice!), and then stepping on the scale so that they can attach you to the right rope. After that they send you to the top of the platform in an elevator and give you one basic instruction before you jump off, don’t unhook yourself. Should I have been concerned that it only took 20 dollars and 3 minutes to complete the entire process? Maybe. Would I do it again in a heartbeat? Absolutely. As an added bonus for reading my blog I have attached the full length video clip with sound that never made it to Facebook, because I’ve heard that my screaming is the most amusing part. You’re welcome.

Not everything I did this week required risking my life. Emma and I took a full morning to go to a Jimjilbang, which is a very large Korean spa and sauna house. For 10,000 won ($8.77), we could spend unlimited time in this place, and we certainly took advantage. Upstairs is a succession of different rooms with different temperatures and natural elements that aid with different parts and functions of the body. Some rooms, like the salt room in which you literally lay on a very hot bed of salt, are kept warm to make you sweat, and other rooms like the oxygen room, where I took the world’s most fantastic nap, are kept cooler and therefore allow you to stay in them longer. Others included the jade room, the ice room, and one of my personal favorites was the room where you bury yourself in a layer of warm clay balls. At the very end of this long row of doors was the very very verrrrry hot room where I lasted all of about 5 minutes and sweated off about half of my body weight before hopping into the ice room next door. Luckily after you sweat a lot, and probably lay on other people’s sweat, the downstairs portion is a large bath where you can go and clean yourself off. However you should probably keep in mind that when I say bath, I don’t mean the individual shower stalls that you use to shower off in the US. I mean a very large room with lots of shower heads and tubs full of women that are wearing nothing. Cultural experience? check.

As fast as they arrived it seemed that Emma and Citlalli had to go, 6 days in Seoul is not that much time when you think of all the possibilities of things to do. Before their leave date we made a stop at Seoul Tower, which is something that we had not done yet either. All in all it was a fantastic visit and I am so happy that they were able to come. I love showing off Seoul, because I feel like I get to brag about the cool place I get to live in for 8 weeks. To Emma and Citlalli, thank you for coming and being open to new experiences, I hope you loved this place as much as I do!

A Day in the Life of an IEWS Intern

Note: The internship position at IEWS is split between Zoe and myself, so we switch off days of the week. If she works Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I will work Tuesday and Thursday, and then the next week we will switch. On our days off of work you can find us writing blog posts in cafes, wandering the streets of Seoul, making trips to buy groceries, or most likely sleeping in.

8:00 – Wake up (Read: press your alarm 47 times and then get ready quickly in work attire between the time of 8:40-8:52) (Breakfast may or may not be involved)

8:52 – Approximate time that I aim to leave for the office every morning. One of the wonderful things about this internship position is that our office is housed on the 7th floor of the building directly adjacent to our dorm. It only takes me a few minutes to walk to work, and the buildings are attached so when it is raining or I just don’t feel like embracing the morning sun (Read: I don’t want to go outside until lunch time) I can take the underground path that will bring me right to the elevator I can take upstairs.

9:00 – Arrive at the office, say hi to Mr. Cho if he is already there. Mr. Cho is our boss for the summer. He is the Chief of Staff for the International Students and Scholars Service Team and works in the office where we were placed for the summer.

 

My desk

 

9:02  – Make coffee. This isn’t always our job, but our internship position involves all jobs that will make the office run smoothly. This week, the office assistant that is usually in charge of making the coffee is on vacation, so we have taken over for the time being. Making coffee in the office actually took a bit of explaining because while it may look like a normal coffee pot, the hot water needs to be poured over the coffee grounds manually by way of a tiny plastic cup, but burning my fingertips is often one of my favorite early-morning activities. This also gives me a chance to snag a Snickers bar from the office kitchen because there is always a small try of candy, and I’m pretty sure that that is how adults feed themselves in the morning. Remember when I said breakfast may or may not be involved? It’s usually not involved.

9:10 – Start work. Our schedule for the day is really up to us at this point. We have projects that we need to work on but the order that we do them in is determined by us. Our major project of the summer is designing and creating a pamphlet about IEWS. If you are not familiar with the institute, which I can guarantee that you probably are not, it was established on Yonsei’s campus in 1972, and is one of the prominent research institutions on campus. The Institute of East and West Studies, as the name implies, focuses on political science research aimed at improving relations between the East and West, as well as mending relations between North and South Korea. By creating this pamphlet we are not only able helping them create something useful, but we are learning about all of the activities of the institute such as their publications and programs. To be able to work in this office environment will be very useful experience for future job positions, and it gives us the chance to be around professionals who currently work in the field that we are interested in.

10:46 – Bathroom break, maybe another Snickers, who knows.

10:50 – Back to work. Our other major project of the summer is assisting in the translation of a newsletter. While it is originally  written in Korean, it needs to also be translated into English, so Zoe and I are able to help after a certain point. The rough translation is done by an outside party and then emailed to us in installments. The basic idea and wording is there but it is our job to smooth out the edges and change anything that doesn’t read properly. This is also another way to learn more about the programs and activities of IEWS, because that is the subject of the newsletter.

12:00 – Lunch. Luuuuuuuuuunch. By noon it is time for our lunch break and it is always an adventure. Sometimes we are on our own, and sometimes we eat with Mr. Cho and the other office assistants. On these days we will go with the assistants to the main cafeteria on campus and pick up a selection of food for lunch. This might include tradition Korea food, or pizza, or even western food, and some days it is all of the above. What doesn’t go better with some traditional spicy Tteokbokki than garlic bread? But no matter what we end up with my stomach is always full, and my heart is always happy. I usually have some time left over because our lunch breaks are rather long, I might have time to go back to the apartment for a minute to hang out, or I just jump right back into work, it all depends.

1:30 – Back to work. When it is time to go back to work I’ll start up again with where I left off in the morning with either the translations, the pamphlet, or anything else that may need to be done in the office. As I mentioned earlier, one of our biggest jobs is to be available for anything that may need to get done. Sometimes is means reading over and translating an abstract, making runs to the Post Office, and Zoe has even been teaching English to a woman in the office. Our daily schedule can vary depending on who is here in the office and what needs to get done.

Trips to the Post Office

3:05 – I might mix it up this time and grab a Twix instead of a Snickers, I live an unpredictable life.

4:00 – 5:00 – The time we get off work can vary from day to day. Sometimes we stay longer and sometimes he lets us go early. The time after we get done with work is up to us, our weeknights and weekend are when we get our chance to explore the city, and when we have free time to do whatever we wish. As part of our internship credit, Zoe and I have also been working on research papers, so some free time also goes into doing research and writing.

So far I have loved my experience here at IEWS, and I am so happy for the opportunity to experience what it is like to work in a real office environment, especially one that is geared toward political science research. I look forward to the second half of our time here, and all the new experiences that will come both inside the office and out!

 

I Made Friends

Well, I should specify that it was Zoe and I together, and by Zoe and I together I mean that it was Zoe dragging me to the lobby and insisting that we talk to the new students moving in. While we are the only two interns at IEWS, we are far from the only students currently on campus. Yonsei University has a very popular summer program and hosts about 1,300 students every summer. When we moved in 3 weeks ago we were overlapping with the students who had already been here all semester and would be leaving about a week later, not the ideal situation for making connections. Luckily for us,  the arrival of the summer students means that the dorm is once again full, and this time with kids who are just as new to South Korea as we are. We’ve met a bunch of new people who are all very nice and happy to hang out with us. We also have the advantage of having an apartment style room which means that we have more room to invite people over to hang out and we can let them use our kitchen and such which is fun for having dinner together. I’m not trying to imply that we have bribed people to be our friends by allowing them to make grilled cheese on our stove, but I’m also not saying that no grilled cheese has been made on our stove.

Tuesday we attempted to cross the Han river and locate a bridge to see a Moonlight Rainbow Fountain show. I use the term attempted because 12 miles and 20,000 steps later, shout out to my Fitbit for keeping track, we still didn’t manage to find it. Instead we had a lovely nighttime stroll and a gorgeous view of the illuminated city skyline. Something that we’ve found out is that we’re really good at making a plan, and then getting distracted with 15 different things along the way. We’ll set out for a monument, building, etc., and then 3 hours later we’ll realize that we never actually made it to what we are looking for. However, I’ve found that this is one of the most enjoyable ways to explore a city, and the perfect way to ensure that you discover the hidden gems off the beaten path. So we never made it to the Rainbow Fountain show, but we’ll make it back one day.

On Thursday we decided that to make a trip out to Bongeunsa Temple and it was absolutely breathtaking at night. Behind the front gate were thousands of hanging paper lanterns and an extensive maze of temples and other buildings. I don’t know everything about Buddhism, but it was incredibly interesting to walk around the grounds and have a nice break from the bustle of the city. One of the most interesting things about Seoul is how these historic places are often nestled right in the center of shopping centers and sky scrapers. I could stand there nose to nose with a Buddhist Temple, but turning my headed even 90 degrees in either direction would allow me a perfect view of a towering building covered in neon lights. Just across the street from this temple is another of Seoul’s most popular attractions, but it isn’t another temple. No, just across the street is COEX mall, otherwise known as the largest underground shopping mall in Asia. Fitting right? But the temple was a wonder all on it’s own, with one of it’s biggest highlights being a giant statue of Maitrya, which is the future form of Buddha.

Remember how I mentioned the thing about friends? Well the nice thing about friends is that they also have friends, and so an activity that may have otherwise just been Zoe and I can turn into a whole group. In honor of America’s birthday, which obviously is not celebrated widely here, our group decided to do one of the most American activities possible: baseball. Much to my surprise and enjoyment there is an entire league of Korean baseball teams that play at various stadiums in Seoul and around South Korea. While baseball rules are pretty universal, the atmosphere at these games is not entirely the same as the atmosphere at MLB games. I’m talking cheerleaders, full meals of fried chicken, and singing. So. Much. Singing. Every player on the team has their own cheer and/or song, and the fans know every word by heart. We opted for seats in the outfield which were a whopping 8,000 won ($6.92), but the infield seats still rang in at only about 12,000 won, not too shabby. These infield seats are where all of the magic happens. Every fan is on their feet for the entire length of the game and they can all follow along flawlessly with the cheerleaders who are leading the crowd from the front. As much as I would have loved to know what all of the cheers were and what they meant, our seats were a perfect and relaxing view from left field. While the LG Twins didn’t win the game, they have gained some new die hard fans and we are looking forward to going back to another game. The cheap food, drinks, and sunset also made up for the loss.

 

Getting into the swing of things

Week number 2 was far less eventful than our first 7 days here, and I think that’s okay. Trying to maintain the pace we were keeping of seeing all of the major destination in Seoul would have left us in a head spin and exhausted. Having a week where we were able to relax a little was helpful for the mind, soul, and sleep schedule.

What we did manage to do in this time is take a step back and take a closer look at the everyday culture here in South Korea. One of the most valuable things I have discovered when traveling is that the tourist sites are only half of the story. Are they important? Certainly. Are they fun to take cute Instagram pictures in front of? Undoubtedly. But having the opportunity to live in this city means that we have time to dig deeper and see those spots that aren’t listed in the tourist brochures and can give us more of an idea about how people truly live and thrive in this environment.

Something we had both heard of before we got here is this Korean beauty culture that is incredibly important. However, we didn’t really start noticing and paying attention until last week. We started paying attention to the fact that not only are there a lot of beauty stores, but they outnumber any other type of store, except for maybe coffee. Every building has display windows stocked full of every type of cream, emulsion, and scrub know to mankind. And the craziest part? Every store is also always full of people, and people that use all of these products. Our initial observation of “wow the women are really beautiful here” didn’t even begin to scratch the surface. Beauty is everything here, and you don’t leave the house unless you are ready from your straight and shiny hair to your high heeled shoes. Skincare is one of the keys to this beauty secret, and if you have a problem with your skin I can guarantee there is a product here for you. Want to smooth those line? Try a cream with the goo they take off of snails. Unwanted acne? Try the face wash with bee venom. Want to splurge a little? There’s a face cream with real flakes of gold in it. What does it do? I haven’t the foggiest idea, but I’m guessing it will make your skin immaculate. Zoe and I had only just walked past these stores until I shared the little secret that most of them give you free samples just for walking in the door. So of course that is what we did. By the end of the week we had been completely swept into the whirlwind of this beauty culture here, and we were up to our necks in free samples and purchases. Trying all of the free samples also meant that the backs of our hands were incredibly soft and supple. I have the high expectation of returning to the US looking like a supermodel. Here is a small selection of the fruits of our labor:

We have also found ourselves hiking on Sunday mornings which seems to be a very common Sunday past time here, and another cultural aspect we stumbled onto. Our first conquest was Inwang mountain, and this past Sunday we reached the summit of Bukhansan. Stocked with about 4 liters of water and my Fitbit to offer physical evidence of our effort, we found that hiking is a great way to mix physical activity and breathtaking views. We also have discovered that hiking here (at least along the city wall) is less of traditional hiking experience with boulders and muddy trails, and more of a glorified StairMaster. Last week my Fitbit reading came in at 106 flights of stairs, and the hike was only about 2km long. But as much as my calves burn along the way, the views from the top are always well worth the climb (shoutout to Miley Cyrus)

Along with work we are kept busy with food and wandering the city at a more causal pace. We continue our attempts to eat at Korean barbeque restaurants but it seems more and more difficult each time we try, but no matter the frustration the allure of eating 3 plates of meat cooked before your eyes keeps us coming back. We have also discovered that Korean street food and markets are just about the best thing since sliced bread, not that you can really find sliced white bread here. We manage to wander around these markets and eat a full meal on what is really only a couple dollars. I’ve tried Bulgogi and noodles, a fish shaped waffle filled with vanilla ice cream topped with a honey comb, and the creme de la creme was most certainly the fried cheese. Yes, that is correct, a skewer stacked with ooey gooey cheesy goodness grilled on a hotplate. It is was only 3,000 won ($2.56), but if we’re being honest I probably would have chopped off the majority of my limbs to pay for it, because it really was as good as it sounds.

I hope that the coming days continue to bring us more joy, adventure, and yummy food!

 

The First Week

We ended up having Monday off of work because our boss thought we might be too jet lagged, and he was probably right. A 14 hour time difference can really mess with your head. With our free day we decided to go rock climbing at a local gym that Zoe found, which also happens to be home to the Korean National Climbing Team. As a first time rock climber I was clearly prepared for this experience. What I did discover was that a.) my fear of heights starts at about 10 feet off the ground, b.) there are muscles in my forearms that I didn’t know existed, and c.) rock climbing is still really really fun.

Tuesday was our first day on the job and a chance to get acquainted with the office. The staff who work in the Institute of East and West Studies at Yonsei are incredibly nice, and I look forward to getting to spend the summer with them. The particular office that we are working in is in charge of mostly administrative organization, so we will be assisting them however they see fit. Our boss has expressed that he would like us to learn Korean so that is what I have started to do, and some basic Korean will be a very useful skill to have for the following weeks here.

Thursday was a very eventful day that started with a trip to a raccoon café after I got back from work. Yes, indeed, a café that is home to 2 raccoons, named Milk and Bean. Domesticated raccoons are very popular here and I never thought I could love something that normally runs out of the sewer in front of my house. But here I am, hand in hand with my new friends.

 

The café is designed with a separate room so that you can drink your beverage and hang out with the furry bandits in separate locations. When I walked back there they were asleep but one of the workers came back with some ice cubes and let me feed them, which promptly woke them up. Raccoon hands are probably the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced. You know that lady with baby hands from Saturday Night Live? Yeah, it was kinda like that.

We stayed for a while and finished our drinks and then headed to a really cool place on the Northern side of the city called the Dongdaemun Design Plaza. It is a very large modern building home to a large “design lab” and a ton of different little shops with various goods. Shopping in South Korea is like shopping in Barnes and Nobel and Hobby Lobby and HomeGoods all mixed together, everything is cute and decorated and somehow still useful, such as sticky notes designed to look like sandwiches. Our favorite place in this building was a store where you could buy any type of pen or marker imaginable and even assemble your own pen. Zoe and I both have a love for any sort of thing you can write on or with so this store (and this entire country) is perfect for us.

We took our second attempt at Korean barbeque on Friday night and we still relied on a lot of guessing. Pork neck? Pork belly? There was no way to be sure of what would end up on our plate so we had to be bold, and it turned out alright as it usually does. Korean barbeque is a great way for us to connect with Korean culture in the fact that it forces us to disconnect with the American habit of rushing through your meal. The Chili’s Bar & Grill practice of sitting down, eating, and paying your check all within 23 minutes and 54 seconds just doesn’t happen here. When you go out to eat you enjoy the company of who you’re with and you enjoy the time together. It isn’t uncommon to stay at such a restaurant for upwards of 2 hours. And the best part? It isn’t even expensive. It is sure to say that we will be having more Korean barbeque throughout our stay in Seoul!

Our First Adventures

The first few days in Seoul have been jam packed with activities! Zoe has a long list of everything that she wants to get done in our 8 weeks and so far we have done an excellent job of checking things off the list.

I fell asleep wearing the same outfit I had worn on our 13 hour flight on Saturday night after our flight in. My body found itself waking up at about 3:3o am, and then again at 5:30 am, and so on and so forth. Luckily Zoe was in a similar situation so we both were awake and ready to go at a terribly early hour. With a whole day in front of us and no plans, we decided to start exploring the city and seeing the important sights. The first place we set out for was Gwanghwamun Square and the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The first step in finding these places was figuring out the public transit system, but luckily for us, it is as straightforward as it could possibly be and we had absolutely no problems trying to find where we were going. Since we will be here for 8 weeks we opted to buy the reloadable card since it will make each of our trips cheaper. The card came out of a vending machine packaged in it’s own little cardboard box, I’m not sure why were were so amused by that at the time, it might have been from the jet lag.

The first thing we saw when we emerged form the subway station was the beautiful Gwanghwamun Square. Towering at each end were statues of King Sejong and Admiral Yi, both very key players in Korean history. We also found a museum underneath the square which has free admission (noice!) and plenty of information about their individual contributions to Korean history such as the hangeul alphabet by King Sejong, which allowed the lower classes the ability to learn to read and write with a much simpler alphabetical system. Here is a picture of me with the man himself, King Sejong.

At the museum we also had the opportunity to learn how to write our names in Korean with ink and a brush!

Directly behind this square is the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Admission was only 3,000 won and it is incredibly beautiful. The ceilings are all painted in gorgeous colorful designs and we were amazed at how big the grounds are. Once we entered with our ticket we just kept walking and walking, finding new places and obviously being confused at which way was forward and backward. Of the 5 palaces located in Seoul, this one is the largest and located the farthest North in the city.

In the area right next to the palace grounds we found some streets to wander and a place to eat lunch. Neither Zoe nor I speak Korean so ordering food is a mixture of pointing and having faith in the person taking our order. We ended up with some noodles that were quite delicious, unfortunately I was limited with how quickly I could eat my delicious noodles due to the fact that we were only afforded chopsticks and my chopstick skills are probably at the 3rd grade level of chopstick eating. Regardless, we had a wonderful day and are very quickly becoming acquainted with our new city.

We are here!

So, we made it.

13 hours is certainly the longest I’ve ever been on an airplane, and all I can say about the experience is that it was not fun. All I wanted to do was sleep, but being over 6 feet tall and sleeping on an airplane is a similar situation to my 30 pound cat trying to sit comfortably in a shoe box, it’s just not going to happen. But, 2 and a half movies, and some mediocre plane food later, we made it. We are here. We are in South Korea.

 

Reaching the end of those 13 hours was bordering on the edge of relief and horror. Once I stepped off that airplane I knew it was real, that I was really going to do this and I couldn’t turn back. Well, technically when they took off in Detroit was when I couldn’t turn back, but you get the idea. Everything about this experience is going to be new, and I didn’t know if I was ready. But the excitement slowly took over the fear, and once we made it through customs and immigration I remembered why I love traveling and seeing new places, I couldn’t wait to walk out of those airport doors and see what this amazing country has to offer. So, that is exactly what we did.

Out taxi driver was a lovely man who commented many times on our “so heavy!” luggage, but he was more than happy to chat with us on the way there and teach us some very important Korean such as “I’m hungry.” As we approached the city in his taxi I had my first glimpse of Seoul, the city which I will call home for the next 8 weeks. As night was setting in, the lights were coming on, and to my surprise we passed more Starbucks than Korea restaurants, and I saw more “Chicago Pizza” than I would have bet. I think I solidified my idea that globalization has really taken hold in this city when we sat down for dinner at an Italian restaurant with our future boss. But hey, the shrimp pasta was pretty good.

We’ll be staying in the SK Global house at Yonsei University. The building is a dorm but we have a room on the top floor that is more similar to an apartment. We have a bathroom two bedrooms, a small kitchen and a washing machine. The view out our window looks out over the campus which is absolutely gigantic.

While I am so excited to explore absolutely everything, I can see that it is going to take some time to get used to living in an entirely new part of the world. Stepping out of our building on the first morning, one of my biggest fears about coming to South Korea finally set in: I am not going to fit in here. For me, not blending in is one of the most uncomfortable situations you could put me in, so I try my absolute hardest to do what it takes to look like a local. While I was France last semester I could mostly get away with it. Even though I was still taller that most of the women in that country, I could fit right in as long as I had a mostly dark colored outfit, spent a few minutes putting on makeup, and my hair wasn’t a mess. The only real giveaway was when my American accent slipped through my French words. But here, I can’t even being to explain how out of place I feel. Almost every person we pass on the street has to do a double take, and to be frank I think I scare some of the children. My 6 foot 1 inch frame and my blonde hair make it physically impossible for me to blend in here. It only took about 6 hours before a woman came up and asked for a picture with me, and sitting in the front window of a restaurant eating lunch, a man stopped on the street and aimed his camera right at Zoe and I. I had to quickly realize that there is nothing I can do to make myself blend in here, no outfit or makeup will allow me to feel like I completely fit in, and it’s not worth feeling uncomfortable. Yes I am tall and yes I am blonde, but I am here as a competent person who is eager to learn and to discover this culture and there is nothing wrong with that. I’m looking forward to settling in to my new home and seeing all that Seoul has to offer!