dEYEagnosis

This is going to be a short post, considering my eyes can't handle staring at a computer (or anything, for that matter) for very long.

My eyes have been hurting all week, although they didn't get bad until Saturday morning just before I was to go to NEVEREVERLAND. I went to the doctor and explained that my eyes were constantly irritated and I had trouble looking at light. I suggested they may be scratched. He didn't seem to care much and prescribed me antibiotics. From there, I went to the NEVEREVERLAND festival, which had already started.

After handing my passport to the security guard at the gate, I was told to remove my sunglasses so that he could compare my face with my photo. Naturally, my eyes were heavy and red from the light. "Have you been drinking today?" He asked. It took me awhile to convince him that I had a condition and was, in fact, sober.

The event lasted from 2 PM (I came around 4) until 10:30 PM. While the individual acts were great, the "festival" itself was a disappointment. Because Modular Records canceled 11 out of the 20 booked acts (particularly Muscles !) and there was only one stage, it felt more like a long concert...

But, back to the subject of my eyes. Having seen no improvement with the antibiotics, I spent my whole day today in a hospital waiting room to get a real diagnoses. It turns out my eyes are not infected at all-- they have multiple cuts as a result of dry eyes and wearing contacts. I have to wear glasses for three weeks, which is a pretty big bummer. I suppose it could be worse, though.

So that's the update, for now.

Happy Holidays, everyone!!

Cedar Creek, My Job and Plans.

Life has been more than active since Stradbroke. First and foremost, I'm now working Monday through Friday as a Paralegal for a company, ironically called "Law in Order." I finished my second day today. The job mostly involves digitalizing legal materials. Although it will only last the next few months, it feels great to finally feel busy and make a steady income. The hours are from 2pm until 10pm, which gives me time to live life in the morning while there is still sun.


Speaking of doing things in the sun, I went to Cedar Creek earlier this week. We hiked over rocks, trudged through mini rivers and swam under waterfalls. Because it's a place that is off-the-map (yet very close to home!) and not listed in any type of tour guides, we passed very few people.

I'm not sure about America, but most people I know in Australia have seen the movie "Australia." Although my Australian friends warned me of the movie's insufferable corniness, I went to see it simply because I'm in the country and felt I should show my respects. Although there were 234987 places where the movie could have ended before it did, I didn't think it was that bad. If anything, the cinematography (which I believe the Australian tourism board may have helped support) made up for the movie's silliness. I can honestly say it genuinely built upon my desire to road trip to Northern or Western Australia at some point in my time here.

At least that's my plan in the long-run.

In news of short-term plans, I'll be volunteering as a bar cashier at the Woodford Folk Festival December 26th- January 2nd. That way, camping and the festival will be free. It will also grant me my RSA in the process. Apparently, the Nepalese throat singers are out of this world.

Stradbroke Island

In case you aren't sick of me on beaches...

This is Kate and I, off of some rocks on Straddie. Bri's good friend, Gabby, has a place there that she invited us to use for the night. It was very spur-of-the-moment, considering I found out about the trip about 5 minutes before I left to go. Everyone in the house went (about 8 of us) except for Caitlin, Justin and Andy. Gabby, Kate and Gabby's friend Stef came as well. As far as beaches in Australia go, Stradbroke Island is my favorite so far-- stretching sands, clear water and enough shore that the beach always feels secluded. We didn't arrive until close to sunset, when this picture was taken.

This morning, some of the girls and I went for a 7am swim (it was too hot to sleep). The waves were much larger and stronger than I've ever experienced. Although my helplessness would only last for a span of seconds, I realized I somewhat enjoy the lack of control nature is able to force upon me. Similar to looking up at the stars, the giant waves curling toward me reminded me of the feeling of insignificance I sometimes forget. In other words, it gave me the humbling reminder that no matter what, there will always be forces out there greater than ourselves. It was a refreshing way to wake up.

For lunch, we celebrated Bri's birthday with carrot cake, bread, avocado and fruit. We read and played cards and when we were sick of that we grabbed a surf board and scurried back to the beach. The waves were much friendlier in the afternoon. I got Dan and Kate to teach me the very basics-- and I mean basics-- of surfing. The waves weren't big enough for me to seriously bother trying to stand, which I probably wouldn't have been able to do anyways. I got some scrapes on the front of my hips from the board in the water... I don't think I've ever been so proud of wounds.

House Drought

Bamboo Banga/Priderock's main pipe burst Saturday night, leaving everyone (there's about 11 of us now...) high and dry for the past 2 days. No showers, no flushing toilets, no tea-- you get the point.

I had an 8-hour shift yesterday, so at least I had bathroom amenities. My job basically entailed calling people all day and asking them to take a survey. I decided it's a job I can handle about once or twice a week, no more. I've also decided not to do the cocktail waitress thing due to inconvenience.

Until then, I'm still looking for part-time summer work.

The landlord sent over a plumber today and I believe the pipe is being fixed as we speak. Oh Happy Day.

Beach Front, Job Front

Two thumbs up for Surfers Paradise on The Gold Coast. We also checked out Burleigh Heads, a nearby and more secluded beach with a lot of homeless people, but we decided it got too windy to go in.

On the job front, I have a trial as a Market Research Surveyor on Saturday morning. I also have a trial as a cocktail waitress this weekend at "Twelve" at The Melbourne Hotel in West End. Australians-- they love their trials. I suppose it's an excuse for them to pay people less in case they quit right away. My only concern about the job at The Melbourne Hotel is how I'm going to get home late at night, since buses don't run as often then. Plus, I'd have to give up weekends...

Where I've Been

The following is a short summary of where I've been since I last updated (not including my 'Cat or Bird?' post).


First, is the Sunshine Coast. A little over an hour outside of Brisbane, I took this photo a little walk away from the Kings Beach in Caloundra. I liked it due to the lack of large amounts of people. Although tourists were present, there could have been a lot more. I'm still waiting to go to the Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, probably one of the main beach attractions near Brisbane.


I also met some kangaroos at Lone Pine Sanctuary. Naturally, I wore my Kangaroo bag for the occasion. Although I've heard several Aussies describe them as "overgrown rats," I just couldn't see it. Despite one or two of them getting a little handsy when it came to giving them food, they are sweet and gentle creatures. The sanctuary also contained Koalas, emus, lorikeets and a cassowary. The Koalas didn't move much, except at the end of the day when they started what I can only interpret as a mating call:



The next picture is Bri and Justin near one of the many waterfalls at Mt. Tamborine:

It rained throughout the day and because I wore Keens (close-toed waterproof hiking sandals), I had at least five leeches sucking blood from my feet by the end of the day.

That was Wednesday.

On Thursday, our house hosted Thanksgiving for 15 guests. No one here celebrates, so it was pretty easy to convince people to come. I prepared a 4.6 Kg turkey, whatever that means in pounds. The feast was largely successful.

On Friday, we saw Bloc Party. Around 1am, we went to their DJ set (with Matt Tong and Russel from Bloc Party) and got a chance to meet them later that night.

So those are the highlights.

Throughout this time, I've been sporadically applying for a wide-range of summer jobs, which has proved hard. Pay here is determined by age, so any retail/low-end positions I apply for are generally given to 17 year olds instead of me. I've applied to a few temporary agencies and hopefully one of those will come through so I can make enough to do some real traveling later on.

Cat or Bird?

I've been seeing the bird on our veranda (or in our kitchen, sometimes) just about every other day. He meows like a cat.



I haven't been updating lately for a number of reasons. Mostly, I've been busy and the Internet has been awful. It's better now, and I give you the promise of a brighter future to come.

Possum.

I was walking down the sidewalk yesterday and heard a large THUMP next to me.


He fell out of a tree and obviously isn't very happy to be awake.

What? My life can't always be exciting.

West End

Caitlin took me to West End to go shopping yesterday. It is a lovely bohemian area in Brisbane with cheap ethnic foods and shops much more to my liking than those in the main part of the city. We went through many vintage clothing stores (I bought a dress at Box Vintage. It was the same price as if it were new but I couldn't resist) and "Op Shops," aka second-hand stores. After lunch at Three Monkeys, we went down the aisles of a random Asian grocery with our eyes closed and bought the first thing we grabbed. It was coffee jelly...

That night, I ironically ended up in West End once again at a place called the Shire. Gringo, Brie, a girl named Max and I rode bikes there to meet up with Steve, Laura and a bunch of Gringo's french friends. It was an outdoor place (I suppose it could be considered a bar) packed with all kinds of people playing instruments and drinking.

I met a few people who are on their work and holiday visas like me, though none of them were American. I've only met one American here so far-- but he's lived here for 6 years and may as well be Australian considering his accent has changed.

Whenever people last night asked me where I'm from, I'd tell them to guess. Their first answers were always ALWAYS "Canada." I guess I can't be too upset, since I feel as though every foreign country seems to have a plethora of Canadians compared to Americans...Why is that?

Anyways. The Shire in West End appears to be the cool place to go when you're feeling laid-back.

GOMA

GOMA = Queensland Gallery of Modern Art.


It doesn't have as much as New York City's MOMA, but it's still pretty darn cool.

Obscure Brisbane.

Thus far, I think my view of Brisbane-- and Australia in general-- has been obscure.

But let's pretend, if only for a moment, that I've come to Australia with no previous knowledge or notions about this large island of a country. Keep in mind everyone has been studying for finals, so I haven't met a ton of people outside of the house yet. Along with this, I've been observing mostly day-to-day experiences (meaning I haven't taken any crazy coast excursions or anything).

If I were to sum up Australia purely based on experience and the people I've befriended here, it would go something like this:

--People call dinner "tea" (and it's mega confusing!)
--They end sentences with "hey." A lot.
--They like to incorporate the word "heaps".
--There's lots of French people. And Asians.
--The toilets flush funny.
--They tend to not wear shoes, even in public places.
--They have absolutely no idea what rice krispie treats are but love them.
--They love art. And music.
--They don't know what a quesadilla is. And they can't say it right.
--They recycle and conserve.
--They drink tea like 3290 times a day.
--They really do say "G'Day Mate!"
--If they're low on food, they go dumpster diving.
--It's hot.
--They all have 4-minute timers in their showers because water is low.
--They love red wine.
--They wear all kinds of funky clothes.

That's my biased view so far. I'm happy it's mine to have.

Justin's been mostly studying, which has given me lots of time to get to know people in the house.

Yesterday was an artsy day. Steve, Shannon and I went to an empty warehouse (owned by Tom's dad) to make a darkroom out of one of the bathrooms. Shannon and a few of her art friends use the warehouse to do their work.

I got the chance to look at Shannon's work, which I was extremely impressed with. They were mostly realistic pictures of people composed of vibrant, mismatched colors.

The place used to be a fiberglass factory and it's exactly how I'd imagine the shell of an old warehouse to be. It's a big open crumbling space made of wood, decorated with rotting holes and art on the ground and walls.

One of the giant walls has a fence against it so that no one will go near what is growing on the wall. I'm not going to lie, I feared asbestos (EDIT: It's been checked for asbestos, there is none).

I was most shocked to learn that someone actually lives there. Shannon's friend Jack (he was out working at the time), a fellow artist who works at the nearby post office.


At night, many of us attended the 2high festival at the Brisbane Power house (an old power house thats now a bar/entertainment venue) by the river. Just before that, we stopped at an art gallery along the way, mostly because they were serving free drinks and everyone likes free. The festival was a mesh of art showcases, photography and music. All of the walls were decorated with original graffiti made by squatters over the 2 decades that the building was derelict. It was beautiful and I'm glad whoever restored the Powerhouse kept it.

Bamboo Banga/Pride Rock

Both names in the title are acceptable for this house.

The front:
Now, get ready for the backyard...

BAMBOO:
Haphazard bamboo teepee:
Where we hang our clothes:
The weird turkey:

Another inhabitant of the backyard includes Sally:
This is Sally eating her husband's head (he's underneath her):
Poor husband :(

(GObama!)

All of the housemates are constantly checking the election results as they study for finals. Apparently their prime minister followed a lot of what the Bush administration did over the years (especially with Iraq) so that Australia could be on good terms with America.

Everyone I've met here has asked me if I've voted, even the lady I bought my cell phone from. I hate to admit it, but the U.S. election is really more like a world election, only the U.S. is the only country who can vote.

I'm too tired to think of a title.

I'm startled at how bright it gets here in the morning. At 5AM, the sun has risen. Right now it's a quarter after 9 at night and I'm struggling to keep my eyes open.

The past few days have been a blur.


Yesterday (my second day here), I managed to take a bus on my own and explore the city. I passed people of all shapes and sizes, live concerts, artists and I even came across a man-made beach in the middle of the city. I was so excited about being there I could hardly contain myself. On the beach, I passed an ibis, a funny-looking bird that I feel I see everywhere. Although I haven't seen any kangaroos yet (not counting the one I consumed), I've seen several wild turkeys roaming about the backyard.


Today I worked on my resume (resumes here are typically 3 pages, not 1) and did some food shopping. There was lots of veggiemite and kangaroo meat. I made split pea soup for the housemates and they loved it. Steve, Gringo and a friend of theirs went dumpster-diving at a grocery store and brought back bags and bags of fruits and vegetables. It was kind of comical, considering a lot of it was the same stuff I had purchased earlier in the day. It looked clean and edible, although I haven't tried any yet.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to open a bank account.

First 24 Hours.

Despite its lack of Halloween spirit, I can already tell I’m going to like Australia. I arrived in Brisbane at 6:48am on October 31st. In EST, that would have been 4:48pm on the 30th. “Goodbye Sarah!” the flight attendants waved at me. The whole flight, one of them thought it was hilarious to call me Sarah Palin, on account of my frameless glasses. And it was funny. Kind of. JC picked me up and right away I of course made the mistake of trying to get in on the right side of the car, instead of the left.

The FIRST THING I saw when I left the airport:

Crikey. After several roundabouts and a quick stop to his parents’ home, we arrived at Justin’s house. Its inhabitants have lovingly dubbed it as the “Bamboo Banga,” on account of the large amounts of trees, bamboo, and all-around vegetation that surrounds the house. It’s one of the coolest houses I’ve ever seen, as far as student housing goes. I’ll try to post a picture later, if I can get one that I believe captures the essence.

The people living here are just as wonderful. Other than JC, there is Caitlin, Andy, Steve, Brie, Dan (from New Zealand), Tom (from Zimbabwe), Shannon (also from Zimbabwe) and Ramon (nicknamed “Gringo,” even though he’s from France). And now there’s me (for now). It’s good timing, seeing as how someone (I forgot his name), a Maori backpacker from New Zealand, just left.

After setting down my bags, Justin and I got fish and chips (upon my request) and walked around the University of Queensland campus. All around the campus (and Brisbane in general), there were beautiful purple trees, called jacarandas. My inquisitiveness got the best of me, seeing as how I asked about the names of every foreign bird, plant and giant lizard we passed (most of which Justin made up names for, because he didn’t know).

After unpacking (it didn’t take long at all—I brought a lot less than I had thought), I sat down for a cup of tea with Shannon, Caitlin and Dan.

EDIT:
...Sorry. I started writing this when I woke up at 4:30am but then I got distracted. It's the afternoon now and I've lost my train of thought. I think the important highlights, however, are that I ate a Kangaroo for dinner and fell asleep by 9pm. I didn't plan to eat the Kangaroo, it's just that people were already cooking it and they offered it to me. When in Rome, right?

It tasted a whole lot better than live squid, although that's mostly because it didn't move in my mouth. Tender. Juicy. Slightly bitter. I like marsupial.

Get Nerxcited.

I think nervousness and excitement compliment each other greatly. They compliment one another so much, in fact, I think there should be a word for it…like, “nerxcitement.”

First, I’m excited because…well, it’s Australia. Next, I get nervous because I have no idea what I’m going to do. Then, I think about how nervous I am and the thought of it makes me excited again.

So yeah. I’m really really nerxcited.

I’m moving to Australia for what could be a year tomorrow. Before previous long-term living situations like Hong Kong, Korea and even my first move to Missouri, I don’t think I’ve felt so scared or nerxcited as I do now.

After lying in bed for well over an hour, I’ve realized it’s because in all of those situations, I was never in complete control. Excluding a few of my short ventures, there’s most always been a person, program or organization of some sort guiding me along. There’s always been a plan.

Now I’m going to Australia…just going. I decided to do it when I got back from Korea. I don’t know why, but I’m still not ready to settle. No matter what anyone says, now is the only time there will ever be for me to travel on my own without anyone or anything (minus lack of money) to weigh me down. I plan on taking full advantage of this for as long as I can.

My best friend from Exchange, Justinian the Great, will be there. Thanks to him and his many co-ed housemates, I’ll have a place to stay when I arrive. Having spent most all of my money on my work and holiday visa and flights, I’ll have to find a job in Brisbane right away. Then I can apply for internships for wherever I want to go next. Hopefully the details can work themselves out.


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Endings.

Moving from hostel to hostel, the ends of trips are always hard to record. This is unfortunate, because it is generally the last part of my travels I enjoy the most. Take when I lived in Hong Kong, for instance-- I spent the last two and a half weeks of my time there traveling throughout China. Those two and a half weeks were some of the most interesting and eye-opening experiences I will always remember. However, I was so busy living out the experience that I failed to update my blog.

Although I returned to Detroit on the 24th, I'll try to recap Japan, Seoul and the DMZ the best I can...

Let's start with Japan.

From Seoul, we took a train to Pusan. From Pusan, we took a 3-hour ferry ride to Fukuoka, Japan. We stayed in Fukuoka for one night. Fukuoka was much larger than the small port city we had expected. It had buildings galore, a large nightlife and even a red light district. We started our first night off with an Izakaya. All of the staff were really excited to have people to practice their English with and took turns walking into our room to ask us questions. Our waiter made us balloon animals and wrote our names with Japanese sayings.
We were so impressed with the efforts of our waiter (it happened to be his birthday) and the rest of the staff that we left an American dollar and a quarter on the table, for something small they could remember us by. We said our goodbyes and left to explore more of the city.

When we were at least three blocks away and had made a few turns, our server showed up. He was all out of breath and his face dripped with sweat. We were so shocked, we didn't know what to make of it.

"You left this on the table," he huffed as he handed us our $1.25.

"Oh no, that was for you!" We explained. After he left, we couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of what had happened. First of all, how did he find us? He must have looked in every direction. Second, did he know how much $1.25 was worth in Yen? Considering how expensive Japan is, we decided he must've thought it was worth more. Last, we confirmed that it's best not to break the "no tipping" custom in Japan, unless we really hate our server and want to watch him run after us for 3 blocks.

We took the rest of the night to explore the city. The red light district was crowded with Japanese businessmen. Although I only had four days to speculate, I got the impression that people in Japan are much more comfortable when it comes to pornography. Even when we weren't in the red light area, it wasn't uncommon for us to walk into a convenience store and see four or five businessmen glancing at magazines (either cartoon or real) with half naked women on them. On the four hour morning bus ride to Hiroshima, I sat next to a man in a business suit who was reading a graphic novel with an almost naked woman on the cover. I don't even know what to make of it all, maybe it was a series of coincidences?

This is the A-Bomb dome, one of the few remaining buildings from the atomic bomb the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima. I'm not going to go into too much detail, but it was a cool area with a museum and a lot of memorials. Naturally, they are all about promoting peace, love and harmony on Earth when it comes to nuclear weapons. Interesting fact: Even today, Hiroshima has an unusually higher cancer rate than other cities. The lingering radiation still has its effects.


From Hiroshima, we took a day trip to Miyajima Island, one of Japan's three most scenic views. The whole island was full of very friendly deer. They were so friendly, in fact, that there were several instances where I'd walk away to avoid getting my bag eaten.

On the ferry back to Korea, we had some problems involving "extra charges." Before the whole trip to Japan, we had purchased our ferry tickets about a week or two in advance. When we came to the port, however, we had to pay a $50 tax surcharge. Not only that, but we had to buy another ticket in Japan to get into the terminal itself. It was obvious we needed the terminal to get onto the ferry and I don't understand why the price of such a ticket couldn't just be included in the ferry ticket.

After Japan, we spent our last three nights in Seoul. We saw a lot of the city, but what stuck out most to me was our day trip to the Korean Demilitarized Zone. It remains the most heavily fortified border in the world with strict dress codes and behaviors (don't point, for instance) that are heavily enforced. Needless to say, the tension of the atmosphere radiated around us.
The tour was guided mostly by United Nations Command military personnel. First, we went to Camp Bonafis, named after an American captain who died in the 1976 Axe Murder Incident. The camp lies just outside of the Joint Security Area, a place where both sides can communicate with one another without having to enter one another's country. I was able to catch sight of both North Korean and South Korean guards, although the North Korean guards were at more of a distance (the picture above is a South Korean guard).
What was really interesting was North Korea's Propaganda Village. From watching the village at a distance, South Koreans were able to conclude that the village is completely deserted. The buildings you see in the picture are fake-- probably put there to intimidate South Korea. Speaking of intimidation, notice the flagpole in the middle of the village...it's the world's largest flagpole and flag. When the South erected a flagpole over 100m high near the border, North Korea erected the one it has today, over 160m-- pretty hilarious.

We also got to see the Bridge of No Return, the bridge connecting North Korea and South Korea.
In the afternoon, we saw the Third Tunnel, one of four digging attempts by North Korea to invade South Korea. It was dug for four years (1.1 miles long) before South Korea found it. When the issue was first addressed, North Korea claimed it was an abandoned coal mine from before the two countries separated. Walking through the tunnel, we saw the remnants of the vein attempts by the North Koreans to spray paint the inside of the tunnel black (honestly, who were they kidding?). When South Korea pointed out that the tunnel was comprised of bedrock and couldn't possibly have been a coal mine, North Korea then tried to say that it was South Korea who had tried to dig a tunnel to North Korea. Oh North Korea...

And now I'm back.

What's next? I'm working on acquiring a working holiday visa so that I may work in Australia for up to a year. I can't post details because I have none-- but details to come, I promise!

I ate a squid...alive.

Camp is over, and now all the English teachers are on the move. I feel like I bonded with the kids a lot more this session-- probably because their English skills are so much higher in 8th grade and it was easier to relate. Already, I've received a few endearing yet nonsensical emails from the kids. It was tense in the end- I had a lot of trouble working with Kyle, the other activities coordinator/head teacher, mostly because he didn't do anything and I always had to tell him what what was going on.

But lets move on to more important things, like the fact that I ate a live squid in Mokpo two nights ago. Please excuse the wobbliness of the video:



After Mokpo we went to Busan. We went to a fish market. There were sea cucumbers, squid and skinned eels that still moved...

In the morning, Sarah, Caroline and I took a taxi to Gukje Market. Despite the pig heads and the cab we got lost in for over an hour, it was worth the trip and I wish we could have stayed longer.



Now we are in Gyeongju, a city I'm not all the impressed with. Granted, I haven't given it much of a chance. Tomorrow we leave for Seoul, although we'll only be there for a night-- we are leaving the English teacher excursion early the morning of the 18th to make our way back to Busan and take a ferry to Fukuoka. Then it's on to Hiroshima...

Now We've Got Kids With Attitude.

I think I'll miss Cooking class. It kept me busier than busy, but I've come to realize I like busy (not that I'd ever force it). Now that the new camp has begun, I am activities coordinator. In the afternoons, I teach Math. The other activity coordinator, Kyle, teaches Math in the mornings. The original American Math teacher fell off the side of a wall at our visit to a Buddhist Temple (of all places) and broke a rib, among other injuries. She'll be in the hospital for the next week...

The kids we teach are in 8th grade. They are bigger, more quiet, fashion forward and teen angsty than the 6th graders were. It's hard for many of us to tell the difference between the 8th graders and the Korean co-teachers now. I noticed it's harder to distinguish genders with these kids as well. For instance, a girl in my class chose for her English name to be "Pirate". The first day, she had short hair, boy cargo shorts and a plain t-shirt. I had no idea she was a girl until the better part of the class was over. Some other fun names kids in my class chose are "Titus" and "Rudolph". There is even a girl named Molly.

Our last camp ended Friday. August 2nd was suppose to be our only free day for the entire camp, but it became apparent that Koreans have a very different definition of "free" than Americans do. To Koreans, the free day meant we had to go on a bus at 10am and go to the beach. Then we went to a music hall. While it was nice of them to do, I was extremely disappointed that I couldn't have even one measly day to myself. After that, we stayed the night at a Buddhist Temple. If you ever go to a Buddhist Temple, don't go with a group of 60 English teachers...it might just ruin the experience. Everything we did there was extremely planned out and all I could focus on was how forced it all felt. We only had one hour that wasn't planned for us, where we could roam free around the temple.

Needless to say, the lack of free time the teachers have on days off has made us all go a little stir-crazy. I feel as though the camp officials are worried we won't know what to do with ourselves if nothing is planned for us.

Luckily, there were about three and a half hours last Friday between lunch and dinner where 6 of us were able to escape and hike by ourselves (unsupervised! oh my...) in Wolchulsan National Park. Due to the time crunch, we vigorously climbed Mt. Wolchul to the Gureumdari Bridge. I took this picture as soon as we emerged from the wooded portion of the hike:

Once we got there:
It was worth pushing my weak little body after all.

Luckily, camp ends the 15th (we have a planned camp excursion through the 18th) and I'm not leaving until the 24th. I found out there is a ferry that goes from Korea to Japan , so some friends and I might visit a nearby city in Japan for a few days. On the 23rd, we will try to visit the DMZ, a buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea.

Criss Cross Conversation

So my friend and fellow English teacher, Caroline, fractured part of her foot this morning. She went to the hospital in Mokpo, where she got an x-ray and they gave her a variety of pills. The camp principal and nurses wanted to explain each of those pills/tablets to her tonight. Since Korean culture is deeply rooted in a hierarchal system, they wanted my other friend Jos, our native English camp leader, to take them there. For clarification of our camp hierarchy, the system goes a little like this:

Principal→ Korean staff leaders (such as nurses) → English leader (Jos) → English teachers→ Campers

When it comes down to things that need to be done, this chain cannot be broken. For instance, an English teacher may not report a problem to the principal. Instead, it should be reported to the English leader, who relays the information to Korean staff leaders and the Principal. The same goes the other way around.

Tonight (a little before 10pm), I went down to the lobby for a bottle of water. There was Principal Ahn, two nurses and a couple of other Korean staff members hanging around. The conversation I had with them went a little something like this:

Principal Ahn (PA): Leah?
Me: Yes?
PA: Have you seen Jos?
Me: Not recently. I know where his room is though.
PA: (Pause of dissapointment) Is he sleeping?

Staff: I saw Jos about an hour ago. He said he would go to sleep soon.
Me: Yeah, I don’t know. I can knock on his door.
Staff: asfjssfnnl tabloids.
Me: What?
Staff: You know tabloids?
Me: Tabloids?

PA: Yes, we need Jos to explain tabloids.
Me: Well if you need him tonight, I can knock on his door and see if he’s awake.
(Pause)
Staff: We need to tell Caroline her tabloids.
Me: Oh! Well I was just in Caroline’s room, she’s awake.

PA: She’s waiting?
Me: No, she’s awake.
PA: We need Jos to take us there.
Me: I can show you to Caroline’s room… she knows you’re coming tonight.
PA: Yes, but we want Jos to take us there, since he’s the leader of the native English speakers.
Me: Oh. Well I can go knock on Jos’s door and see if he’s awake.
PA: But isn’t he asleep?
Me: I don’t know, I can go knock and check.
PA: Wouldn’t that be rude?
Me: I don’t think so…

Staff/Principal: (Korean Korean Korean Korean Korean)
PA: Okay, you can take us to Caroline’s room?
Me: Yes.

Cross-culturalism, gotta love it.

Crack.

Today marks the end of my 3rd camp day. Is it okay to admit I'm already sick of it? I forgot how much prep work cooking takes. Not only that, we can never seem to get the cookies done on time. Although each of the teams (I divide the class into 3 teams) are able to make the ham sandwiches and eventually the cookie dough, there's only one mini-stove (maybe a little bigger than an Easy Bake) in the class room. To make things easy, my co-teacher cooks the cookies from the previous class while I teach. In effect, the kids get 1-2 cookies and we are left with a giant blob of cookie dough that grows with each passing class (4 batches of cookie dough per class, 2 classes per day). To wash the bowls, spoons, vegetables, etc., I have to send the kids to the bathroom down the hall since there is no sink available.

I'm on my feet constantly, with little time to do much else until 7pm. I think days will go faster as I get into the groove...It's going to be the small things that get me by.

For instance, we are encouraging the kids to speak in sentences. Each class, I teach the kids both verbs (such as stir, cut, crack, wipe) and ingredients (ham, egg, baking soda, etc). As students added ingredients today, I wrote "I am adding _____ to the bowl" on the board. One boy was cracking an egg into the bowl. When I asked him what he was doing, he said "I am adding crack to the bowl!"

I couldn't hold in the laughter.

Also, most people here cannot say "cinnamon". There's a punch desert they serve after lunch called su jung gwa. Some of the Korean co-teachers were describing what it's made of to the native English teachers. According to them, it's made of a certain kind of fruit and semen. After comparing stories, we figured out they meant to say "cinnamon."

Now it's time to go to bed for a fun-filled Saturday of teaching. Sunday is a field trip, perhaps I'll update after that.

First Day of Camp!

Breakfast this morning was kimchee, rice, clams, crab, shrimp and squid...looking at those poor sea creatures with their little black beady eyes staring back at me, I just couldn't eat.

Then the kids came-- it all happened so fast.

Standing in a homeroom with fourteen Korean twelve year olds and one Korean co-teacher was a bigger culture shock than I expected.

Here's some things I was told about Korean culture before today:

-Koreans are used to teacher-focused classes that have VERY little interaction with the students.
-Koreans move in groups. Instead of trailing off in pairs or threes like Americans do, the whole group sticks together.
-The children are shy and need a lot of encouragement to talk.

Okay, so take the last three things I listed... Multiply those three things by 2489742 and that was my class today. No joke.

All of my questions posed to the class fizzled into unanswered silence. Even if the students understood my questions, they just assumed I'd answer my own questions for them. At first, I thought they didn't understand me. Considering I had no means to gage their English comprehension levels (Koreans generally have a fear of being wrong, which is why they wouldn't answer me), I began to break down some of the questions in the activity directions. Then the students started to sigh. One of the little girls told me to just start the activity. I guess they understood after all.

Then break-time came. I told the kids they could have a 15-minute break to go to the bathroom and stretch their legs. To make sure they understood, the co-teacher translated for me. So a couple minutes passed and not a single person moved from their desk. They barely even spoke to one another. "You can stand up or go to the bathroom," I assured them.
"Stand up?" one girl asked.
"Yes! If you want to," I said. "You can do whatever you want until 3:40."
The girl stood up and sat back down immediately, giggling.

So a few more minutes passed and nothing happened. It was so awkward. In the meantime, I prepared what we were to do after break.

Then before I knew what happened, all of the students stood up AT ONCE (okay, someone must have started it) and shuffled out the door to go to the bathroom. I'm pretty sure my co-teacher could see my shock as I looked around the empty classroom, because she started to laugh at me.

"I'm not used to this!" I exclaimed. "In America, we go off on our own until the break is over." She said Korean students move in groups. It's so strange to learn a cultural difference and then see it put into action.

After a lot of coercing in the three hours that I had the kids in the classroom, I was able to get the kids to think of a "team name" for our class, make a poster and a cheer.

Want to know what our team name was? Crazy Cows. Want to know why? Well, I'll tell you...

I wrote a bunch of nouns on the board (some were kid's ideas, many were mine). Then, I wrote a bunch of "describing" words. One of the words were "crazy." We mixed and matched the two categories of words. One kid especially wanted "Crazy Cows." When we voted, the vote was practically unanimous.

I didn't get it, until I saw a girl draw in her notebook a picture of U.S. beef and cows that were crazy. They were talking about Mad Cow Disease, which has been all the hype in S. Korea the past few months.

I thought it was kind of funny, so the co-teacher and I made sure the kids only drew pictures on the board that had to do with cows that are crazy for English.

Tomorrow I start cooking with classes...too bad we can't make steaks.

Hello Yeongam! Hello Governor! Hello Room!

So that's me, shaking hands with the Governor of the entire Southern Province of S. Korea. It's customary to hold your elbow with your left hand while shaking hands with your right. It looks funny, although maybe that's because I did it wrong. Either way, the Governor didn't seem to mind. He was a nice man who took time to answer many of our questions.

After the fancy meeting, we said goodbye to fellow orientation members and loaded buses to our separate camps.

On first glance, I am surprised at how developed the area is in Yeongam. I should have known better-- the Korean interpretation of "rural" is much different than the U.S. interpretation. With so many people in such a small country, parks remain the only undeveloped places. I'd delve into detail, but I'm too tired to think right now.

So I'll skip to the details of my room... Remember that time I wrote that I'd have no PC access in my room? Yeah, total lie.

Since this is the first time a camp like this has taken place in Yeongam, none of the participants really knew what to expect. Therefore, the information given to us was based on experiences from past years at the other three camp locations.

We took a risk taking on the unknown, but in the end it proved fruitful. The dorm rooms exceeded my expectations! See my room below:


It has hardwood floors, a closed-in balcony (so I won't kill myself?), it's own tiny bathroom, and a LAN line. As you may see, the view includes a river and a great view of the terrain. Best of all, we each get our own rooms. As an added bonus, I really love my fellow teachers across the hall and next door to me.

Oh, I forgot to mention we are staying at a University. It has speakers placed in every room for people to make announcements. I'm praying it won't blast 50's music at 7:30am every morning like the last place did...

Whatever, it feels great to settle in at a final destination.

The kids arrive tomorrow. We also meet our Korean co-teachers tomorrow. It's going to be a busy day.

So Hot Music Video

This is a very popular music video/dance (called the "So Hot dance") in S. Korea...I thought it was funny.



Before we leave for camp tomorrow, we'll be having an early dinner with the Governor of the Jeollanamdo Province. I brought my yellow dress for the occasion, although I'll have to borrow a cardigan from someone to cover my shoulders. People don't like it when women show their shoulders here (but short skirts, okay).

Soju, the Goat and the Creepster

It‘s been a rainy day in Korea and it looks like a typhoon is heading our way. I’m actually really excited because I don't recall experiencing one in my life thus far. To make things easy and because it’s still fresh on my mind, I'll highlight the past 24 hours of my time in Korea.


Soju: I finally got the chance to check out downtown Gwangju last night. I was ecstatic to find that it had much more of a “big city” feel than expected. Compared to Hong Kong, I saw very few foreigners. We took taxis from the orientation compound to a place called “Wa Bar.” I was happy to find that basically the whole group came out that night (we had a huge area and karaoke room reserved). We drank a lot of Soju, a Korean alcohol that kind of tastes like watered down vodka.

I don’t think anyone stayed very sober that night, myself included. However, I was a little disheartened by the lack of control some people have when they are drunk and abroad. I always try consciously hard not to judge people, but it’s hard for me not to when I observe others in that kind of atmosphere. Sometimes I wonder if drinking brings out the true colors in people that they’ve been hiding all along. For instance, boys who are normally fine but get drunk and can only focus on hitting on girls. Or, individuals who think it’s okay to cheat on their significant other/spouse because they are in another country. I don’t know why, seeing stuff like that really gets me down…especially when I see it within the first week of knowing people. That isn’t to say that it still wasn’t a great night...

The Goat: For instance, someone put this little guy in Jen’s and my bathroom last night. Luckily, he didn’t seem to have any “accidents” from what we could see. After a good laugh, a group of us returned him to his rightful place not far from the compound. I’m still surprised no one in charge found out.

Today was a free day. As a result, the group and I went to Baekyangsa Area of Naejangsan National Park to visit Buddhist temples. It was very beautiful, even in the rain. Unfortunately, I can barely see out of my camera because the backlight burnt out. I don’t have a viewfinder either, so usually only half my photos turn out decent. Here's one that turned out okay:



After that, we went to a ridiculously huge department store that probably should’ve been a mall. Since the prices were equally ridiculous, a few of went to the E-Mart across the street for some camp necessities. The E-Mart had several floors, with moving walkways that people could put their shopping carts on.

The Creepster: I was behind two of my guy friends on one of the moving walkways when I felt someone’s hand brushing against my rear. I didn’t think much of it, since Korea is so crowded and people tend to give much less personal space because of it. Then I felt the same hand tap against my side, ambiguously unintentional (my first thought: is someone trying to pickpocket me?). When this happened, I looked around. I was stunned to find that there were no other people behind me—just one middle-aged Korean man standing awkwardly close. When he saw me turn, he stroked my arm. Then he raised his eyebrows and gave me the “I want you” look. A moment later, the walkway ended.

The incident gave me a mix of feelings. Not only was I creeped out, I was extremely offended. I wondered why he did it. More specifically, I wondered if it was because I’m an American girl. Going abroad has definitely taught me something about the “American girl” stereotype. Men in other countries don’t hit on Americans because they find us beautiful (as our vain minds would love to think), but because they assume we are “easy.” After all, that’s how Western media portrays us American women, isn’t it? Sultry, sexy women who drink lots of alcohol, enter wet T-shirt contests and don’t say “no.”

If I could do it all over, I’d scream at him for everyone to hear.

Dinner tonight remind me of Hot Pot in Hong Kong, except Korean style. We gathered plates of raw food and cooked them in pots on the table. Afterwards, I ate watermelon. I’ve had watermelon at literally every meal so far in S. Korea. What’s interesting about this is that a watermelon in S. Korea costs between eleven and fifteen dollars. I guess that means I’m pretty VIP.

Apologies for another very long entry. Only two more days until I leave for camp in Yeongnam!

Alive and Eating Kimchi.

Greeting from Gwan-ju! After over 24 hours in transit, I finally made it. I left from Columbia, at the ungodly hour of 4am. From the St. Louis airport I flew to Chicago and from Chicago I flew to Seoul. From Seoul, my group and I took a 5-hour bus ride to somewhere 15-20 minutes outside Gwan-ju, where I am now.

On the way, we took a rest stop for dinner. I had Udong, a Japanese noodle dish. Having been in Hong Kong a whole semester, I thought I’d be a rock star with my sweet chopstick skillz. But oh, how naïve I was..the chopsticks were steel and much more narrow than what I was used to. Although I succeeded at eating my entire dish, I must admit it was a long and slippery trial— not to mention I could feel my hand cramp up as it happened.

Upon our midnight arrival, we were paired with roommates and sent to unpack. I really love my roommate! She’s outgoing and sweet and I’m sad we won’t be at the same campsites together when orientation is over. We were allowed to choose our campsites, which made things hard for me. In the back of my mind, I wanted a site more south and not too close to Gwan-ju (just to mix things up). What made things especially difficult was so many people I liked were choosing all different locations. It’s hard, asking myself whom I’d want to spend the next month with. In the end, I went with Muan-gun-- also known as Yeongnam. The group seems more diverse in terms of personality and age (plus it’s a good Missouri/Portland ratio). All I could muster from Google is that the area looks very mountainous.

The camp is set up in 2 sessions. The first session, I’ll be teaching sixth graders to cook with English recipes. We get to make ham sandwiches and cookies (yes, I’m sure you can guess why I chose this class). The second session, I’ll serve as an activities coordinator. I’m a little nervous since it requires more responsibility than if I were a teacher, but I’m also glad because it means I get to experience a little bit of everything in the camp.

As for now, it’s 9:00pm and I’m already pooped. Jenn (my roomie) and I didn’t go to sleep until 2am last night. We were told we could sleep in until lunch. This would have been perfect if it weren’t for the music that blasted through the speakers in our room for breakfast at 7:30am. With no other option, I went to breakfast. The food in the cafeteria has been Korean so far, although I have a feeling it’s westernized compared to authentic Korean food. I did have Kimchi...and didn’t like it. People reassured me it’s an acquired taste.

Interesting things I’ve noticed about Korea so far:

--Not many people seem to speak English.
--People use steel cups to drink out of water coolers instead of paper ones. The steel cups are taken from sterilization machines next to the coolers.
--Hand dryers have red lights that turn on when you dry your hands.

I know, it’s not much so far. You’ll have to bear with me, it’s only been 24 hours and I haven’t left the facility yet.

On a side note, I found out today that my PC will be utterly useless. Although we’ll have computer labs, there is no Internet access in the dorms. Basically, I won’t be able to Skype or access the Internet as regularly as I'd like to...

So you're going to South Korea?

Yes, it's true. I'm leaving for South Korea in less than four days.

Am I excited? Not exactly. I've noticed the more I talk about something and plan for it, the less anticlimactic it is as time draws near. Perhaps this explains why I dislike having plans in general-- whether it's planned by me or someone else. Then again, making plans to visit somewhere halfway across the world doesn't leave much room for spontaneity.

Of course, I'm thrilled to be taking advantage of the opportunity to go to South Korea. Never in a million years when I left in January did I think I'd be back to Asia so soon. When studying abroad in Hong Kong, I was lucky enough to see Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and mainland China (Yangshuo, Guilin, Xian, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen..).

I should mention that I don't have a particular affinity for Asian cultures or countries, but that's just how opportunities have presented themselves so far. I'd love to travel everywhere if possible. Earlier this summer, I took a Birthright trip to Israel. Two years before that, I had brief visits to Italy, Croatia, Greece and Turkey on a cruise with my mom. Thanks to my study abroad experience, my most extensive trips were in Asia.

If there's one thing I've learned from my travels in Asia, it's that each Asian country is very different. I've never been to South Korea, but here's some information about it and what I'll be doing there:

I'll be working as an English teacher at a summer camp in the Jeollanam province for a month through a University of Missouri program for recent graduates. The first 6 days will be spent at an orientation in Gwangju. Although many of the kids will have a good understanding of English already, each American teacher will be paired with a Korean English teacher in case anything needs to be translated. When the camp is over, I'll have five days to travel, some of which I hope to spend with my friend MJ from Seoul.

As for South Korea itself, the ethnicity is homogeneous (except for 20,000 Chinese) with a population of 46,884,800. The religion is 49% Christian, 47% Buddhist, 3% Confucian and 1% other. Rainfall is heavier in summer than winter (oh, joy). Like Hong Kong, summers are hot and humid.

Yes, I think it's even worse than Missouri's ridiculously humid summers.