Winter vacation

As a hogwan (private English academy) teacher, I don't get to choose my vacation, but I have national holidays plus two weeks, one in the summer and one during winter. The winter vacation for me started after work Christmas Eve and ran until the first Monday in January.

Want to know how I spent literately my whole vacation? Answer: sick. In bed sick. Ugh. My coworker had been sick the previous week but I like to think of myself as a pretty healthy person and had been lucky not to catch any of the illnesses my students have been carrying and spreading all fall and winter.

My luck ran dry. I decided on Tuesday I would go to the hospital. Let me explain Korea and hospitals.

Doctor/Hospital = same same. You go to the hospital if you have a cold or broken arm. You don't really hear of family doctors here. And actually, it's quite efficient... It took me off guard at first. A student would be absent and I would ask why. The Korean staff would say "hospital." I'd freak out in my mind and wonder, "Oh my gosh, is he/she dying? I didn't even know he/she was sick!" No no... He/she needed a shot or simply had a headache...

So there's hospital close to my apartment, right? I can walk there. It's not that far... And I know where it is... Easy. It takes all the energy I have to get out of bed, bathe and bundle up. I set out walking, and see a "cross" (universal hospital/medical symbol) in the distance. That's the hospital. I walk towards that tall building.

As I approach, I see a woman pushing a REALLY old man in a wheelchair. And an old woman with a walker. And another old person... Hmmm... You guessed it. I was at a nursing home, not the hospital. I took that as a sign that fresh air was really all I needed, got some orange juice and dry "cheddar cheese soup" and went back to my bed.

After two more days of still not feeling better, I try the hospital thing again. This time I took a taxi - and actually looked up how to say "hospital" in Korean. I totally could have walked there.

In American doctor's offices, the patient goes in a room and the doctor makes rounds to treat the patients. In Korea it's the opposite. The doctor is in one room, the "nurse" (not really a nurse) escorts the patients back and forth from the doctor and the other "stations" they need to go to. In my case I went from the doctor, to the X-ray department (to make sure I didn't have pneumonia), to the blood drawing department (for a blood test) back to the waiting area, then to the doctor again. Then I waited until the pay desk called my name. I paid ($10) and was given my prescription to be filled at the pharmacy conveniently located in the parking lot. The pharmacist filled my script in like two minutes and gave me nice little breakfast-lunch-dinner packets to take for three days. I didn't ask what all the pills were for. Each packet contained 4-5 pills. I've heard rumors that the "party packs" (as I like to call them) can typically include a laxative, anti-diarrhea, steriod, anti-biotic and another laxative. So I really didn't want to know what each pill was for... I just took them. And, magically, I felt better.

By then I was actually well enough to get out a little bit. One of my students invited me to her piano concert and I didn't want to miss that. My piano concerts when I was a kid lasted an hour. Each student played two or three songs, and that was that. Well..... Korean kids start playing the piano when they're like three, first of all. This was a concert for an entire piano academy. So I sat through upwards of 60 students, playing one song each. Only each song was like five minutes because they were three movements of [enter famous composer's name]'s [enter number] opus/aria/contata/etc... The level of musicianship was amazing. Absolutely amazing (a five year old played a more elaborate song that I could have ever play in nine years of lessons). But I sat there for three hours hearing minor ballade after minor ballade... My student's song was actually quite quick. Haha. I met her parents quickly, posed for some photos, and I was out of there. If anymore of my students invite me to their piano concert, I might be busy that night... Does that make me a bad teacher? lol

 Kids playing the ocarina (Google it. I didn't know what it was at first either.) 

My student is second from the left.

 All 60 kids, singing a ridiculously catchy song. I'm still singing it in my head. 

And maybe there weren't 60 but it sure felt like it.

Me and Sophia!

I continued to feel better. Better enough to party it up on New Year's Eve with some amazing friends. Then the next day was, again, spent recovering. And my amazingly wonderful friend Frances surprised me New Year's Day (apparently we talked about it so it shouldn't have been a surprise when she came into my apartment since luckily she still remembered the code - Quick note: Korea doors are amazing and have electronic key pads instead of keys! No more getting locked out). Anyways, she surprised me with McDonalds (she somehow new I wasn't going to make the big brunch I had talked about the night before) and movies! Twas a great day.

Holidays away from Home

Thanksgiving was hard. That's when it really hit me exactly how far I am and how long I've been away from family. In a way I was dreading Christmas. I wasn't in the Christmas spirit. Korea doesn't really pump up for it the way we do in the states. So even though I had Miriah's awful new Holiday album to listen to, my heart wasn't really into the season...

Luckily I have some amazing friends that were in the spirit enough for all of those who weren't (yes, I'm talking about you, Jenn*I have too much Christmas spirit for Pohang*C.)


The Holiday season kicked off with a wonderful girl's day in Dageu. We ate delicious food and did some shopping - most importantly for the upcoming ugly sweater party. Let me just tell you, Korea knows how to do ugly sweaters. We didn't even need to go to Goodwill and get the grandma/kindergarten teacher/filled with sequins and bells sweater. Korea has far better. Mine can be compared to horribly cut shag carpet with upside down reindeer. 


The aforementioned party was a delight. We had a gift exchange/white elephant and some of us ended up with great gifts (cash, mini massager, children's toys, etc). Others, well one person, got dried squid. Still fun.

My amazing coworker and me (sporting my shag carpet tacky sweater)

Group shot

Then the next week was Christmas. I had to work on Christmas Eve but it was a really fun day, beginning with my babies opening their long awaited stockings. And I got to have a party (slash make "pizzas") with all of my elementary classes. A good day all around. And what better way to end the Eve of baby Jesus' birth but with yummy Italian food and wine. 


Family, if you're reading this, I want to let you know that I love you soooooo much and I'm soooooo sad (enter mild sarcasm) I missed grandma's chili dog Christmas dinner, BUT my Christmas this year was so relaxing and enjoyable. 


Started with waking up at 1 p.m. Usually on Christmas day I'm up before 7 a.m. either going to church or cooking and getting ready to start the rush. From this house to this house, but can't stay long because I have to go here and there... blah blah blah. I mean divorced parents = double presents but double the planning and Christmas dinners you have to eat. And since I've gotten older and been of age to consume alcohol, that also means I can't partake too much because I have one more place to go and/or have to drive home. 


This year was much much different.


Like I said, I slept in. Then I went over to a good friends' (in my pajamas!) for coffee (with Baileys!) and soon another good friend joined us. Yummy brunch sandwiches followed, along with wine and ginger-bread-house-building. Once our buzz was on and our house intact (for the most part), it was time to set out for dinner. Had a wonderful Christmas dinner complete with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, mac n cheese, green beans and rolls, AND real egg nog. Mmmmm. 

Drinking festivities continued into early morning hours. 


The next day was spent recovering, but I also had a week off of work! 

Quick yoga update

I've developed a fondness for my new meditative/exercise practice... And my girlfriends and I made it out regular Thursday night girl's night get-together, so it became a regular routine in my life. Due to sickness and the holidays, I didn't go for a few weeks. This past Thursday I decided it's time to get back into the routine called life. So at the normal time, we (there are two new teachers at my school so Lia came with me) set out for hot yoga.

Now I know there are other forms of "hot" classes, such as walking (some hot yoga + walking cardio) and dumbbell (hot yoga  + weight training) but I go at the normal time for the regular hot yoga. Or so I thought...

Lia and I get changed and go in the room a little early and just stretch and chat... normal. The leader comes in, greets everyone (again, normal). Everyone stands up and gets ready (still normal). Then the leader says something, the whole room looks at us (the only two waygookins, foreigners, in the room). Leader says some more then one of the hard core women I've seen before in classes comes over to us to translate.

Super Yogic: "This is flow yoga. Much more harder than hot yoga." Hmmm... ok...
[Our eyes get big]
[All the Koreans laugh at us]
Leader: "It's ok. Try it."
Waygookins (us): "Ok"

I'm not sure if you'll really be able to wrap your mind around what this class really was. And keep in mind, some people can't handle regular hot yoga. This class was a SIMULTANEOUS cardio, ab, floor/leg, arm workout all combined (hence the SIMULTANEOUS in all caps...). Understand? No? Let me just try to explain it... If you understand the extreme-ness of what I've just explained, skip the next paragraph.

Every sequence begins with a basic touch-your-toes stretch. Keep stretching and lift your head up. Back down. Then it moves into a plank (for those of you who don't know what a plan is, you basically hold the push-up position - but be sure to keep your back and butt flat. Try it. I dare you.) Hold. Down on the floor and into cobra (whole body laying face down on the floor and flex your arms and bring your upper body up) Flex your feet. Then enter yoga body contortions or other challenging stretches. Then back to plank. Down on the floor/cobra/flex feet. Then swoop up into a pike (hands and feet on the ground, butt up, making your body form a triangular shape, like the top of a mountain), and finally, jump your feet forward for more touch-your-toes stretches.

And this goes on for a solid hour. In a room that is precisely 105 degrees with 40% humidity.

I look forward to dying in Flow class again next week.

Mom

I am happy to announce that I now have a Korean family. I have a mom, a dad, three sisters, plus one more (my amazing coworker Jenn).

It all started last week when one of my students, Molly (also the daughter of our van driver at Kid's College), invited me to her home on Sunday to bake muffins. It sounded fun so I agreed, as did Jenn - she teaches Molly's younger sister.

12 p.m. on Sunday rolls around and Jenn and I are both a bit grumbly. We had both been out the night before and weren't our usual chipper selves... But we had made promises and we kept them. So Kelly (we named Molly's mom Kelly, after Kelly Kapowski from Saved By the Bell) picked us up and we went to their home.

First of all, apartments for Korean families ROCK. It's a full house, only compact. And a heck of a lot bigger than my... room... that I live in. It was awesome. We get there and lunch is prepared for us. It's FABULOUS. Kelly is a great cook! Definitely one of the best meals I've had in Korea, hands down. And after we finally convince her we're full (we were full 10 minutes prior but Kelly insisted we keep eating), she made fresh carrot juice with her juicer. Carrot juice is surprisingly delicious.

Then we made muffins, adorned with almonds, raisins and chocolate chips. After that I played Wii with Yuna, the youngest sister. Here are some pictures...

Jenn didn't feel well so she went home, but I was having a good time so I stayed. After Wii, Kelly played the piano for me. She's a great pianist. And THEN we took a nap. Yes, I was the guest at someone's home and I took a nap. A two hour nap in fact. With Kelly! Haha. She turned off the TV, turned off the lights, laid down on the floor (me on the couch) and said "Sleep." So I slept. And it was an amazing nap.

After we woke up, the dad and oldest sister came home so I got to meet them. Then we (me, Kelly, Molly, Yuna and Lisa - oldest sister) went out for dinner. I spent the whole day with them and had a fabulous time! I told Kelly she is my new Korean mom and they are my new Korean family. She feels the same way!

In fact, she has fed me dinner three out of the last three days. Monday she brought me some fried rice (and drove me to hot yoga!) and Tuesday she invited Jenn and I out for dinner with the whole family, including Dad. Mom is a Samgyopsal (Korean BBQ) Guru. But beware: if mom is cooking at your table, she will feed you massive amounts of food and occasionally say "Ahhh" (that means you are to open your mouth so she can feed you bites.)

It feels so great to be a part of a family!

My beautiful Korean mother.

Jenn and Yuna being silly.

Mom, Yuna and Molly.

Acupuncture and Hot Yoga

At the age of 22 I basically have chronic lower back pain. That's not good. So I've finally decided to do something about it. Last week I started acupuncture and yoga. Here are some comments on my experiences...

Acupuncture: My Korean supervisor made an appointment for me a week ago but when I walked in, the Korean nurses seemed surprised and clueless as to why a Waygookin was in their office. They laughed at me when I wrote my address in English... Oh well... We communicated enough in Konglish.

A friend of mine referred me to this place and said the doctor spoke such good English. I mean he speaks decent English/Konglish but he's certainly not fluent... My back is "depressed" so I should to twice a week for needles, suction cups and tape therapy.

The needles you don't really feel, only when they first go in. The suctions cups, you can feel. But they only stay on for a few minutes. I went last Saturday and took a few pictures with my phone but they aren't very good. Tuesday when I go I hope to get some good pictures during my "treatments." I get a few in my back, a few in my toes/feet, in my knees and in my fingers...

Hot Yoga: It's yoga in a sauna. (aka yoga in a room that's 105 degrees). I never knew my body could sweat in so many places. It's a wonderful class and I now go twice a week. It does wonders for the body. Only downside, after class in the locker room there are always herds of naked Korean women...

Thanksgiving: Korean style

Greetings: Family, Friends and other Followers.

It's holiday season at home and therefore, it's holiday season in Korea too! At home, Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday because it means I probably haven't seen all my family in a while or had the amazing food for twelve months. I'm a bigger fan of turkey than ham so Thanksgiving's where it's at for me.

This year was... different. One year my mom and I went to Florida for Thanksgiving and I remember eating chicken fingers from TGI Friday's for the holiday meal. But still, mom and I had each other. This year I had the company and comfort of amazing friends.

On Turkey Thursday we had Kid's College open house. The babies sang songs and did a play for their parents then the public was invited to learn about Kid's College and what we're about, etc. Then after work I ate at Outback Steakhouse with three very good friends (before hitting the bars and celebrating the night, American style.) Black Friday was a fun day at school. Both Jenn and I had "Activity day" with pretty much all of our classes. So we made puppy chow ALL day. That plus we had "Kid's College Thanksgiving" at lunch. All the kiddies brought a dish from home. Our meal consisted of buffalo wings, salad, chicken nuggets, fried rice, rice cakes, curry and several other dishes.

Then on Sunday, we had a big Thanksgiving dinner at the Marine base in Pohang. We didn't have turkey (the commissary was sold out) but we baked a few chickens and had a bunch of potluck sides. After the meal, we all sat around and watched Christmas movies! It was a wonderful way to get into the holiday spirit! 

My family's Thanksgiving celebration time didn't exactly allow me to talk to everyone (sucks being 15 hours ahead sometimes...) but I talked to my parents and grandparents on both sides. 

Since then I've been settling into my "winter routine" and Christmas shopping and card writing. The shopping always includes some gifts for myself too so it's a win win situation! Some Christmas plans have been made - including a tacky sweater party with a paper snowflake making contest... My iPod is set for Christmas music -- I'm in full Holiday Spirit mode.

So Happy Holidays from Korea!!

Koren photographers and hospital experiences

Over the weekend I took a day trip with a group of friends to a city called Andong. It was a two hour windy bus ride that anyone with a slightly temperamental stomach would have vomited their breakfast...

There is a Korean folk village where the people still participate in the ancient Korean customs. First we went to the museum to learn about the customs then we went to the village. At the museum there was an old man doing calligraphy and he made scrolls for us for free. Mine says "May all your dreams come true." (Or something like that...)

Outside the museum we decided to stop for some group photos. There were two Korean men who wanted to take pictures with us. Then take pictures of us... All Koreans think they are photographers. They buy big fancy cameras and bring their tripod with at all times. How else can they take self portraits...?

It was a good weekend.

Last night my coworker, Jenn, thought she was dying (slight exaggeration). She had abdominal pains and other symptoms associated with appendicitis so it really wasn't something to put off for a few days. I went to the ER with her and... WOW. That is all I can say.

When we first got there there were two old people that appear to be on their death beds. Then some kids came in. Then a gurney with someone on life support came in. They started blood transfusions, plugged in a defibrillator and who knows what else.

In American emergency rooms you wait for hours and hours, but in the comfort of your own personal room with a TV. In Korea, the ER is basically an open triage center with gurneys lined up along the walls. They line patients up in order of severity. And use stainless steel chopsticks to handle medical supplies.

If you need to, for example, give a urine sample, you can do so in that personal room. In Korea you have a gurney with a curtain around it. And for urine samples, the bathroom is down the hall and around the corner. You even have to retrieve your own IV cart to be mobile. (Oh...they started an IV right away for abdominal pain...??)

So nurses and doctors are working on the patient that is dying (their head is all bandaged up, tube coming of of the mouth and there's crusted blood all over their face - yes I could see all this just walking by...) so I walk around the other way to get back to Jenn. There was a random puddle of dried blood on the floor. Completely normal and sanitary in Korea...

Let's just say my immune system is in overdrive today...