Our Year in Korea Reviewed

This is it!  We were stationed here in Korea for a one-year assignment and that year has now come to an end.  It is time to move on to an amazing new location and an exciting new chapter in our lives.  For the most part, I loved living in Korea and I will always cherish the great times we had, the amazing things we've seen and places we've been, the wonderful new friends we've met, and the memories that we've made.  We have no doubt that someday we will return to visit, to shop, to tour, and hopefully to adopt :)

I wanted this final Korea post to sum up our year, let you know our perspective of the good and bad aspects of living here, and offer some useful things to know if you plan on coming here yourself.

Highlights from our year:

• Tour of Beijing, China and the Great Wall
• Vacation to the Philippines and Apulit Island Resort
• Weekend in Japan
• Trip back to the States for weddings and a 1/2 marathon
• Ulleungdo Island, Korea
• Busan, Korea
• Jeju Island, Korea
• Visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
• Hiking in Korea
• Bike riding along the Hangang in Seoul
• Korean baseball game
• Orphanage visit
• Tea ceremonies with Buddhist monks
• Dulce's contest winnings!
• Our blog reached almost 30,000 views in its first year!

Things about Korea that we loved:

• Korean produce, especially the gigantic carrots and amazingly sweet strawberries
• Ghana chocolate
• Korean Gatorade
• The huge variety of restaurants to eat at with generally inexpensive food
• Korean food (some of it crazy... like raw octopus!)
• Amazing fruit teas such as citron tea and plum tea
• Safety (Korea is generally a very safe place with a low crime rate)
• Shopping (especially for purses, fabric, and custom-made clothing, art, and furniture)
• Korean market places
• Hiking
• Buddhist temples
• Royal palaces
• Korean Folk Village
• Korean Beaches
• Korean baseball games
• Seoul
• E-Mart and Home Plus stores
• Convenience stores
• Korean grocery stores
• Lots of huge festivals
• The amazing public transportation system (taxis, buses, trains, and subways)
• Driving - traffic rules are not enforced in most places ;)
• Nightlife (the bar and club scene)
• Incheon Airport
• Korean Airlines
• Our apartment and apartment complex
• Serious recycling efforts
• No tipping required
• Koreans are generally very friendly and helpful
• Heated floors
• Heated toilet seats
• Watching the planting, growing, and harvesting of the rice fields
• Finding "Not Quite Right" things

Things about Korea that we didn't love:

• Weather (brutally cold winters, excruciatingly hot summers, monsoon season, yellow dust)
• In restaurants, everyone's food comes out at different times
• Restaurants have TINY napkins
• Korea in general is a dirty place with lots of litter and garbage because...
• There is a complete lack of public garbage cans
• Hotels supply towels and bath mats but no wash rags
• The language barrier is frustrating
• Squatty potties (there is a technique to this that is worth learning!)
• Washing machine and dryer combo machines (everything is often left damp and wrinkled)
• Speed bumps and bad roads
• Many areas smell really bad, especially in the summer
• Driving (you must constantly watch for others not following the traffic rules)
• Lack of beer variety
• Many older Koreans (though not all) are often pushy and rude
• Apartment living can get claustrophobic after a while
• Korean's un-rational fear of dogs
• Blatant racism toward different people of different races (not always, but it is there)
• Commonly seen Juicy Girls and prostitution
• Air pollution, especially the Yellow Dust in the spring
• Parking spaces that are only the exact width of your car
• Having to use plug adapters and voltage transformers

Good things to know if you are moving to or visiting here:

• An iPhone or other smart phone is invaluable because of the maps, city guides, and translation apps
• Don't drink the water (not that it's dirty, it just has tons of chemicals in it to make it clean)
• Plugs are different and so is the voltage, adapters and converters are required
• Be prepared for ALL types of weather - seriously
• Some things are cheaper than in the United States and some are way more expensive
• You can find most anything you need in Korea, but not always the brands you know
• Clothing and shoe sizes are limited (larger sizes are not available everywhere)
• Tipping is not customary or expected
• Do not ask "yes or no" questions because Koreans will always say yes no matter what
• It is acceptable to bargain in the markets
• Pay for things with Korean Won or credit cards to avoid getting overcharged
• A T-Money Card is a reloadable card you can use to pay for buses, subways, and some taxis
• Military base taxis expect payment in US Dollars
• It's worth it to travel first class on the bullet train
• Hiking is one of Korea's favorite pastimes so the hiking trails are amazing and well-maintained
• It is acceptable to show a lot of leg but not acceptable to show your shoulders and back.
• Koreans don't like sunshine - pale skin is considered healthier and more beautiful
• Always look for toilet paper before using the toilet - sometimes it is outside the stalls
• There is a technique to using the squatty potties correctly
• Korean is a difficult language to learn but learning to pronounce the Korean alphabet is not difficult and is very helpful when traveling
• Keep an open mind and embrace the new culture you are immersed in :)

*******

"Embracing diversity is one adventure after another, 

opening new paths of discovery that connect an understanding to

caring, listening, and sharing with others who are different than ourselves." 

~April Holland

Running Cold

I am a runner.  I love to run but I hate cold weather.  The winters in Korea are brutally cold so I have barely gone running outside for the past three months.  Instead, I've been working out in the fitness center in our apartment complex.  I haven't done much running because I hate running long distances on a treadmill.  I recently really started to miss the benefits of running so I had to decide, which do I hate more:  running on a treadmill or cold weather.

There have a been a few days in the past couple weeks when the weather was actually above freezing (only by one or two degrees) when I decided to venture out for a long run.  As you can see from the photo below, the only skin showing on my body was part of my forehead once I was bundled up.  The awesome face mask is a Korean treasure I picked up from a street vendor :)  I seriously felt like a little kid putting on layers upon layers of clothing to go play outside in the snow.  It all works well keeping me warm and comfortable on my long runs.

There is a little "respect game" that older Koreans seem to like to play on sidewalks.  If two people are moving toward each other on a sidewalk, the person of lower social standing (generally the younger person) should show respect to the other person by moving out of their way.  The "game" is that older Koreans will test this on purpose.

I've come across this more than a few times on my recent runs.  I'll be running down the sidewalk and an older Korean will deliberately move into my path, expecting me to show them respect by moving out of their way.  Well guess what old Korean, if you are going to deliberately move into my path, I WILL RUN YOU OVER!  Don't get me wrong, I try to be respectful to everyone I come into contact with but I refuse to play this ridiculous game.

It happens often... I can recall three instances in the past two weeks.  My favorite instance of this was on my last run.  There was an old man who saw me coming and moved onto my side of the sidewalk.  I kindly moved over.  But then he moved over AGAIN to get into my path.  Really?!  I waved and yelled "Get out of my way!" but he didn't move, so I plowed into him and then mentally gave myself a high-five.

Funny thing is, I know I'm going to miss crazy stuff like this when we move out of Korea :)

*******

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?"

~Satchel Paige

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Being in the military is always uncertain and always changing.  Such is our life... never a dull moment!  My bags are packed for a trip back to the States to visit family, attend a couple weddings, and run a half marathon.  Originally the trip was going to be permanent, then it was going to be only 2 months leaving Dulce with family when I came back here, then it changed to a month and a half and bringing Dulce back to Korea with me, and then it changed to leaving Dulce here in Korea with Johnnie.  My flight leaves this afternoon and I think we finally have it figured out:  I'll be leaving Dulce here in Korea and I'll only be gone for one month.

I've been living in Korea for seven months now.  I finally feel comfortable here, can speak a little Korean, and can find my way around.  Some strange things have now become normal such as seeing things priced in the thousands, knowing that tipping is not customary or expected, that phone numbers have 11 digits, and that at 5'1" I'm average height here.  I'm excited to go back to the States but I'm curious to see how it will feel to be there.  There's nothing like being away from familiar things to make you realize what you've overlooked, taken for granted, or what has changed.

The first stop on my trip is western Pennsylvania where I grew up.  Living in many other states made me realize that there is a strong western PA accent, that it is a beautiful place if nothing else, that Sheetz is the greatest convenience store ever, and that my nieces and nephews are growing up too fast :)  Now that I've lived in another country, I wonder what things will stick out to me the most about America in general?

Let the adventure begin!

*******

"So kiss me and smile for me

Tell me that you'll wait for me...

...Oh babe, I hate to go."

~John Denver

  

Scenes From a Nightclub Window

On Saturday, Johnnie and I had dinner with a group of friends at an amazing local Italian restaurant and then we all hit the Shinjang.  We ended up in a small nightclub that was full of other people we knew.  This bar was on the second floor and had one huge window across the front that folded open.  The view, the open air, and the plush purple velvet chairs made this one of my new favorite places :)

Inside the bar, there were good times with good friends...

and funny moments with Shrilling Chickens and drunken monkeys :)

Outside on the street below, people carried on with their evenings.  I used my point-and-shoot camera to capture some of what we saw.  The low light and moving subjects create a blurry effect that I personally love.  This was a perfect spot for people watching.  I find it interesting to wonder where these people are going, what they're thinking, or what kind of life they have.

*******

"You can observe a lot by just watching."

~Yogi Berra

Hilltop Park Improvement

Dulce and I visit the hilltop park behind our apartment complex once or twice a week.  There is a monument on the top of the hill, a couple small wooden pavilions, and a dirt walking trail lined with random exercise equipment.  I have never been up there and not seen other people.  It's particularly popular with older Koreans that live in the area who go up there to exercise or have a picnic meal at a pavilion.  I take Dulce up there because the area around the monument is the largest area of grass we have nearby for her to run around in.

There are a few dirt paths leading to the top of the hill and there is also a long set of cement stairs.  The stairs were crumbling and broken which made them great to look at but hazardous to walk up and down.

One day, not too long ago, a construction project began.

Instead of repairing the old cement, new wooden stairs were installed on a metal frame on top of the old stairs.  A new railing and light poles were also added.

There used to be a very small cement slab at the base of the stairs surrounded by tall shrubs.  The shrubs were removed, the ground was leveled and this large seating area was made!

It's amazing how quickly this project was completed and what a big improvement was made.  Job well done, construction workers, we will enjoy this new part of our hilltop park!

*******

"Time is free, but it's priceless.

You can't own it, but you can use it.

You can't keep it, but you can spend it.

Once you've lost it you can never get it back."

~Harvey MacKay
  

Date Night in 2 Takes

This past Saturday, Johnnie and I decided to head up to the Yongsan Station in Seoul to watch the latest Harry Potter movie in a 3D IMAX theater and to have a nice dinner out.  It was a nicely planned date night... in theory.  Unfortunately things didn't work out the way we planned.

Everything started out fine.  We walked to the train station, which is only a 10 minute stroll from our apartment, and we had already purchased train tickets ahead of time online. The website, korail.com, has an English version and is easy to use.  You purchase the tickets, print your receipt, and go to the train station.  At the ticket window, you simply exchange your receipt for the actual tickets.

We had a some extra time so we hit up the little coffee shop in the train station called See U Bean.

In case you didn't notice, these are stairs :)

FAIL #1 - we didn't get seats together on the train.  Not that it's a huge deal, but I much rather sit next to my hubby for the hour long ride than next to a snoring stranger.

FAIL #2 - This train was overly crowded.  Even if all the seats are sold, "standing room" tickets still always available.  We got our seats but it was awkward with so many people standing over us.  Especially when those people are either staring at you or have their butt in your face.

The Yongsan Station which is connected to the iPark Mall which is great because you don't even have to go outside to get to the theater.  The CVG Cinema was large and impressive.  There are electronic ticket machines and there is also a customer service counter.  One different thing about movie theaters in Korea is that you get assigned seat numbers.  We tried to purchase tickets via the ticket machine first but surprisingly, there was no English available on it.  Still, we managed to navigate to the correct movie and time only to find out there were no good seats left.

FAIL #3 - Watching an IMAX movie any movie from the front row is not comfortable or enjoyable so Harry Potter in 3D was not an option.

A non-3D version of Harry Potter was also playing so we decided to see that one.  We even got center "sweet box" seats!  This movie was playing a little later so we went to find a place to eat dinner.  It seemed that our date night was on the road to improvement.

There are dozens of restaurants in the iPark Mall.  All we had to do was chose one and hope for the best!  We picked a Korean restaurant that was crowded thinking it must have good food if there were that many people in it.

We were led to a table that already had the numerous little Korean side dishes waiting on it (umm, how long were these sitting out?) and given another odd side dish of small whole potatoes, over-cooked gummy corn-on-the-cob pieces, and hard-boiled quail eggs.  Johnnie got a beef dish that came out in cute little heart-shaped patties.  They only took a few minutes to cook in the hot skillet on our table.

I rolled with the seafood dumplings (technically an appetizer) because it was the only non-beef item on the menu.  They were fried vegetarian dumplings, similar to yaki mandu, and topped with seafood.  They were tasty but I'm sure they had way more calories than is healthy for one person to eat.

FAIL #5 - The Korean restaurant food was so-so and they didn't have any kind of meat other than beef.  I'll eat chicken, pork, and seafood but not beef.

While sitting at the restaurant we looked up the train schedule on my iPhone.  We were seeing a later movie so therefore we had to get a later train.  Unfortunately, the trains were no longer running by the time the movie let out.

FAIL #6 - We had to get a refund on our movie tickets so we could catch a train home.

We did, however, purchase great seats for the 3D Harry Potter movie for the next day.  So our date night turned into a two-hour trip to get a not-so-great dinner and buy movie tickets for another day.  

Date night: Take 1 - FAILED.

On Sunday we once again purchased tickets online and walked to the train station.  Because of scheduling, we had to take the express subway (instead of the train) and ended up standing for most of the ride.  But at least we stood together :)

We already had our movie tickets that we purchased the day before so we headed upstairs and hit the snack bar before going into the theater.  They had popcorn!  In fact, they had three types: salt, caramel, and cheesy onion.  We went with the normal salted popcorn and bottled water.

We passed through Star Trek type doors to enter the IMAX theater (awesome!), grabbed some 3D glasses, and found our seats.  We sat in the dead center of the row and it was stadium seating so there were no heads in our way.  An IMAX theater, 3D movie, and center row seats... it was perfect for watching the final Harry Potter movie :)

There were a lot of Korean commercials played before the movie and a few movie previews.  Johnnie and I were assuming that Harry Potter would be played in English but since we were in Korea, there could be a chance of it being dubbed over in Korean.  We decided to walk out if we had to read subtitles the whole time.

Luckily, the movie was in English!  The Koreans were the ones who had to read the subtitles (too bad for them).  Watching it in 3D was a-mazing!  There weren't many things that "came at us" at all, it was more of a sense of being "in" the scenes.  Especially since the screen was so large and we had prime seats!  I loved every second of the movie!  But then again, I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan :)

After the movie we went off to randomly choose another restaurant to eat in.  After the Korean place the day before, we were in the mood for something completely different.  We found a place called Pasta Amigo!  Other than the odd name and the employees, there was nothing Korean about it.  They had good beer and they had chicken :)

This date night turned out like the first one was supposed to.  Great seats for the 3D movie, a good meal, and seats together for the train ride home.  Date night: Take 2... SUCCESS :)

*******

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times,

if one only remembers to turn on the light."

~Albus Dumbledore

Night on the Town

Although we live in a small town, there is always a good time to be had if you're with the right people :)

This particular evening began when I met a friend at a little spa to get pedicures.  I didn't catch the meaning of the name of the place until my friend pointed it out: "4ne1" = for any one.  How clever ;)  The pedicures were amazing.  We sat in large, plush, massaging chairs while our toes and feet got scrubbed, rubbed, trimmed, and painted.  The spa also offers a variety of other services including manicures, massages, facials, and waxing.  Something on their waxing menu wasn't quite right...  :)

4ne1 is upstairs above the Heavenly Bread bakery and cafe so the whole place smells delicious all the time!  The best part is that you can order food and drinks (even wine) to enjoy while you're getting pampered.  Pedis and wine... now that is heavenly :)

After the pedicures we did a little purse shopping and then met a group of gals for dinner at a thai restaurant.  The food is amazing (I rolled with the grilled marinated pork) and I love how this place always shapes their rice into a heart!

After dinner, we hit up a local club for a kettle (or two).  When you order a kettle at this club, you are given a metal tea kettle, shot glasses, and 3 bottles of liquid:  Soju (a strong clear grain alcohol), Baccus-D (a redbull-type energy drink), and a bottle of lemon-lime soda.  You pour the liquids into the kettle, mix, and pour.  The mixture glows bright yellow under black lights and tastes like candy.  Yummy but potent stuff ;)

Cheers!

There were a few juicy girls in the club wearing insane heels!

A group of our guys joined us girls later that evening.  A few games of darts were played before we hit up another club with pool tables.  There are cheap cabs all over this town so everyone had a blast and got home safely.  It was a fun and memorable night out!

*******

"Stay busy, get plenty of exercise, and don't drink
too much.  Then again, don't drink too little."
~Herman Smith-Johannsen