shauna in south korea: Time and Time again

For the past 8 months we have had a running joke about to the fact that everything that happens in Korea or everything we do/like in Korea is completely different from everything we have ever known about ourselves prior to this experience. Comments such as, "I would NEVER have eaten this in the US," or "I have never enjoyed this before," or "My friends and family would die if they ever knew I was doing this or enjoying this," are constant. Time and Time again our response to one another is the same- "Dang Korea." :) It's gotten so out of hand that we usually just have to laugh, but it is also a little scary. Over the past 23 years of my life I felt (note the past tense) as though I knew myself so well; food and activity likes and dislikes and how enjoyed spending my personal time. Now, in Korea, almost EVERYTHING I do, EVERYTHING I eat, and EVERYTHING about my life is not only different but it involves things that just 8 short months ago I would have told anyone I hated. Will this change back when I go home or is this who I am now? I don't know. Only time will tell.

Because our Korean food days are numbered, our serious Bibimbop addiction keeps me, Britney and Christine going back to our favorite little Korean restaurant multiple times a week (some weeks it's almost every day). We call it Tomato Place. We have grown to love the older couple that owns the restaurant, and they love us; calling us by name and serving us extra treats that most customers don't relieve. They even know that I don't like mushrooms in my bibimbop and will make a point to leave them out!:) People often ask me about the foods that I miss from home or the restaurants I am excited to go to in 4 months and my honest answer is...NONE. I wish I could eat at Tomato forever.

The weather in Korea is finally starting to catch up with the weather in Minnesota; slowly but surely. I feel a little bitter about the fact that I have been wearing my winter coat up until recently while my brothers have been running around outside, and playing sand volleyball with their friends! Either way, the weather here has been beautiful lately and I am thankful for that. Unfortunately, it makes it very difficult to teach indoors for 9 hours a day, but it makes the weekends much more enjoyable. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom, and old, hunched-over, Korean women with their long-sleeves, hats and face masks (no one in Korea allows any part of their body to see the sunlight) are frantically planting flowers in the very few spots where pavement and buildings don't exist.

With the beautiful weather in store and the realization with every paycheck that 4 more weeks have gone by pushing us closer to the end of our contracts, we have been out n' about trying to experience the millions of things still left for exploration in the Seoul area and Korea in general. A couple of weekends ago we headed to the Noryangjin Fish Market. It was inside a huge warehouse right on the river, and it consisted of more slimy, disgusting, and unidentifiable sea creatures than I have ever seen in my life. The fish were not the only thing disturbing about the market, however, the people were too. I would never recommend anyone to ever go alone, especially not a female. As three American girls walking through the fish market, we felt as though we were walking through a not-so-fun Fun House! I don't know how to describe it other than it felt like every single person at every stand (there were hundred's of stands) were in on playing one big joke on us. We were in a different part of town than usual; a part that probably doesn't see a lot of foreigners, and I felt more out of place than I have since I came to Korea. We didn't walk by one person that didn't try to talk to/harass us. Like usual, some people just asked if we were from Los Angeles or New York, but most were not so friendly. Workers would pick up an octopus and act like they wanted to just show it to us and then try and throw it on us or at least pretend. They were flashing their huge fish killing tools pretending to hit us. Bloody hands, tools, and fish were being shoved in our faces while multiple people stood around and laughed at us. One man actually tried to use his bloody hands to try and shove food in my mouth. At one point he even grabbed the back of my head to try and use force. I closed my mouth tightly and put my hands over my face. When he couldn't get me to eat it he walked over to Christine and put her in a HEAD LOCK (no joke) while she covered her face, squirmed, and yelled "NO." It was one of the most interesting places I have ever been, and frankly speaking I am glad we made it out alive.

Walking into the market..

This is just one of MANY stands that looked exactly the same: fish, fish, and more fish.

Octopus! It is actually one of my favorite foods here, but I could never eat it like this:)

Who knows..

A large table full of octopuses

I will add a link to the "photos" section of my blog if you are interested in seeing more..

Adding to the list of 234023497 things I have never done and never thought I would do is: staying out until sunrise on a Friday or Saturday night. It seems to be a frequent occurrence for many reasons: bars, noraebong's, and many restaurants are open all night here. I live an hour outside of Seoul so when we make the trek into the city we want to make it worth it, and most importantly in our attempt to fully immerse ourselves into a new culture that's just the way it has to be done. Two Friday's ago, I enjoyed a delicious galbi dinner with some co-workers. After dinner Britney, Christine, and I were not feeling as ambitious as everyone else and decided not to venture in to Seoul. However, that did not mean we were ready for bed. We ended up putting on sweats and enjoyed an evening of snacks, Soju, and good conversation. But of course the night did not end there. I am sure you all know where I ended up next...noraebong!! At about 2 in the morning, just the three of us headed to the local noraebong and sang the night away. We only paid for one hour and the owners just kept adding extra time on the clock (about 2 extra hours). Number 1 rule for noraebong: you NEVER waste free minutes. We generally go with a bigger group, so we tried to take advantage of our opportunity to choose songs we wouldn't normally sing. We spent a lot of the night bringing back songs from our younger years; Hanson, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, N'sync, etc. It was fabulous. I made it back to my bed as the sun was rising at 5:30 am. It's hard for me to believe that for the first 23 years of my life I had never stayed out past 1 or 2, because now I can't imagine ever being home before 4. Number 2 rule of Noraebong: when someone is in the mood to go, you NEVER turn down the invitation.

Last weekend started off with one of our favorite Friday night pastimes: we headed to the movie theater (another thing I never did at home). Instead of going to the theater close to our houses, we ventured to the COEX mall for nothing other than... the popcorn. Sorry to keep saying this, but my family will for sure attest to the fact that I do NOT like popcorn before I came to Korea. I never have. I THOUGHT I never would. Now, the thought of going to a movie without a big bucket of popcorn is just absurd. The COEX mall has 4 flavors: butter, cheese, caramel, and garlic. You can make and combination that you want. It was fabulous. This is the one habit I think I will leave in Korea and not bring home, but who knows. We saw the movie The Hurt Locker: highly recommended.

On Saturday we headed to the Kyungdong Oriental Medicine Market which was nothing short of a small city. The atmosphere was much more inviting than the fish market, and we enjoyed strolling down aisle after aisle looking at all the herbs, medicines, fish, and meats. I even bought some loose leaf tea. The only really disturbing thing I saw was dog-for sale as a food item. It was presented in a way that looked like they just sliced the dog in half and laid both halves out on a table. The feet were still attached and on some I could even see partial faces and a snout. I had been contemplating the idea of trying dog (since most of my co-workers have) and I changed my mind after seeing that. Overall, though, the Medicine Market was fabulous and I can't wait to try my new tea.