Who's that boy?

So, I changed my hair. It's not nearly as drastic as it looks. Ok, it's drastic, but it's not permanent. It's a wig. I bought it because I really wanted to cut my own hair, but my mom (and probably anyone who's talked to me after one of my hair appointments) knows that I truly freak out whenever it's cut. So, I'm test driving this pixie cut for a few weeks.

It was actually pretty jarring at first. Whenever I looked into the mirror, I would be all "who is that?" before I remember it was...me.

I am slightly concerned that people on the street will think I'm a boy at first glance, because women don't wear their hair short here.

It will definitely be an interesting few weeks.

Thanksgiving, part 2

Saturday I went to a friend's apartment for a potlock style Thanksgiving. That probably doesn't sound too remarkable, but I should let you know that turkey in Korea is hard to find and expensive. The only place I know of that sells it is Costco - for $70!

For this party, my friend had a turkey, cooked and catered to her doorstep. All the guests brought a dish, and split the cost.

In true Thanksgiving style, I was running late, cooking all up to the last minute, and about 30 minutes beyond when I was supposed to arrive. Not because I cooked something extravagent - I made greens, which are fairly easy and quick - but because most of Saturday I was engaged in a major hair makeover. Which I'll get to later...

So yeah, I made my little group of thanksgiving troopers late to the party. Whoops!

Thank goodness for CPT - I mean...other people being late too, or we might have missed the turkey carving.

The spread was incredible. Everything I wanted - from mac & cheese to candied yams - was on the table. Viriginia had the idea that we should all introduce ourselves and say what we were grateful for, which was a nice pre-wine icebreaker. Other than Dutchie, everyone was local, living in Bucheon. Then, the turkey was carved up, wine was poured, and everyone tucked in.

Next, we had 20 minutes of silence.

Everyone was so absorbed with the thanksgiving-y deliciousness of our plates that conversation came to a halt. Except for the occasional twittered remark on the silence, no one really spoke until the last scrapings of cranberry sauce and stuffing were licked from the forks.

Then, the wine started flowing.

For the rest of our time there, we gabbed about Korea, poured each other plastic cupfuls of muscato, and served up slices of apple and pumpkin pie. I wished, sincerely, to be dressed in yoga pants, as my waist strained against my jeans.

Every bite was worth it.

Happy holidays everyone!

Thanksgiving at Gecko's Terrace, Itaewon (이태원)

Happy Thanksgiving from Korea!

Tonight, I had a buffet style dinner in Itaewon, the foreigner's playground in Seoul. As with most food related events, I was only able to snap one photo before I was completely engrossed with stuffing my face. Of course before the creamy mashed potatoes, whipped pumpkin soup, oysters, shrimp, caprese salad, white breast turkey, stuffing, roast veggies and cranberry sauce, we actually had to find the place.

Virginia booked a reservation at Gecko's Terrace for me, her, and Dutchie, a tall blond guy friend from Amsterdam. The three of us showed up at the restaurant half an hour before our reservation time. Outside on the steps, a doorman in a parka asked us if we had a reservation.

"Yes," Virginia stepped up, "It's for Mishi."

Huh??

Giggling internally, I realized that Virginia had put the reservation in my name, because hers is too difficult for most Koreans to pronounce. Mine rolls of the tongue a little easier for them. And yet...

The doorman looked at his list, puzzled.

"Mishi?" he quizzed us, then started muttering furiously into his headset.

"Hold on." he disappeared up the stairs, we stood shivering the wind waiting.

"I'm sorry" he came back, "but you may sit on the terrace."

This is point where I felt my stomach drop.

Now, a messed up reservation is no big deal. No big deal, unless you have tranferred about $100.00 into the restaurant's bank account to hold your place.  Even more worrying, Virginia is in the habit of riding roughshod over people who give her stupid answers when she cold and hungry. Dutchie, perversely, was looking forward to the show down.

My stomach nerves clentched, but Virginia didn't say anything and we were shuffled onto the terrace, still confused about what happened to our reservation, and buffet we signed up for. No buffet in sight on the terrace. Virginia questioned the terrace hostess who listened to our story and quickly sorted us out:

"You made a reservation at Gecko's Terrace. This is Gecko's Garden."

AAAAAahh. The light is shed.

Me, Virginia, and slightly disappointed Dutchie (who was really looking forward to a cat fight, silly man), shuffled across the street. We stepped inside a building filled with foreigners in relaxed-fit pants.

"This must be the place" I said.

And it was. With a free drink voucher and as much as I could eat, it was a very jolly Thanksgiving indeed. The absolute best bit?

An enormous chunk of apple pie for dessert. Mmm-mmm good!

On the eve of war?

In case you haven't heard, North Korea fired missiles at an island in the Yellow Sea (i.e. South Korea).  South Korea retaliated, but at least 2 soldiers are dead and 10 are seriously wounded (as far as I know). People are positively buzzing with a word that was - until recently - at the back of everyone's mind:

War.

So, what does that mean for me? Honestly, I don't know. On the one hand, yes, missiles were fired. Missiles are dangerous, I don't like danger, and I value my life. On the other hand, emptying my bank account and running back to the states seems...well...dramatic.

Believe it or not, life has continued pretty much as usual here. Sure, we talk about what has happened, but we are still looking forward to Thanksgiving and making plans for Christmas.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm ok, I'm not panicking, and as of right now...I'm just waiting to see how things turn out.

Going steady with Dr. ENT

Sorry for the utter lack of posts this month. I have - most unfortunately - been stricken by a recurring bout of allergy infections which wick away any energy not being used for teaching, or feeding myself. To combat this problem, I began seeing Dr. ENT, whose office is conveniently located in my apartment building. After a rounds of 4-day, double dose, 7 pill, personalized drug cocktails, I stopped going.

Then my cold got REALLY bad, so I punked out and crawled back for a nasal flush and a lecture.

This time though, he wouldn't cough up the goods. He thought that I had a serious sinus problem. I thought I had allergies. He repeated, he thought I had a serious problem, and that I should get a head x-ray so that he could check. I expressed disagreement. He allowed me disagree, then prescribed more of the same drug cocktail that kept me jonesing on nasal spray and sick again after a 6 hour withdrawal period.

So - 10 points to Dr. ENT, I went and got the x-ray.

Which turned out to be a C-T. Which showed that my sinuses were fine, but my rhinus (spelling?) was infected. Suffering from an allergic reaction.

So...I have allergies.

Surprise, surprise.

So, like I said earlier, I am now on allergy medication. I pop 6 pills in the morning, and 7 at night. I still have cold.

But my rhinus (spelling?) feels a heck of a lot better. I think...

A day in Gusan (군산)

On Saturday I traveled 4 hours by bus to Gunsan to attend the International Migratory Bird Festival. Sadly, the birds were all done migrating by Saturday, but there were lots of fun activities, and a country fair as a consolation prize.

Morning green tea.

A giant duck at the observatory.

Student art! This was done by a 6th grader.

A stuffed Emu. Now, I finally know what an Emu is.

Friends clownin' next to their arts n' crafts projects.

They added their boxes to the wall with the rest of the kids'.

View from the observatory tower. No birds.

A pheasant.

The fair.

An enormous compass...have no idea why it's here.

A little too familiar

Two weeks ago, I gave in to raging sinus cold. I would have been perfectly happy to go on being sick for ages, collecting sympathy and skipping my teacher's class for health-related reasons, but Ghey cut that joy ride short by making me go to the doctor.

Whenever I so much as sniffle, Ghey wants me to go the doctor. The Nurse Teacher wants me to go to the doctor. My students want me to go the doctor.

I HATE going to the doctor.

However, considering that this was my second serious sinus cold within 2 months, I agreed to go. Of course, I begged Ghey to go with me. And because she knew there was no way I would go by myself, she agreed to come along.

Go figure, the entire affair took 10 minutes.

10 minutes.

I couldn't believe it! In and out, with a $2.00 bill for my prescription to show for it. Not bad at all...except for the super-long nasal flush he gave me, not bad at all.

(Nasal flush. *shudder*)

I took my prescription to the pharmacy next door, the guy who worked there politely handed me medication and explained to me how and when to take it.

That was two weeks ago.

I had go back to the doctor every 3 days. By my last visit, the nurses were greeting me by name, and the pharmacist just shrugged and said "You know how to take these".

That was Monday, when I elected to stop going in for nasal flushes, stop picking up daily packs of pills with 5 for the morning and 6 for the night.

I'm going bad to my old standby - just tough it out.

Hot water is for wimps

There is no hot water in my school. I thought, maybe, it was just a phase. Because heat, hot air, and things are generally comfortable come in phases. The phase being, when your skin gets a layer of ice on it, the school will turn on the heat. Until then, layer up little monkey, cause it's gonna get chilly!

The air in the hand dryers is the same.

"Why is the air cold?" I asked Ghey.

"Because it's warm out!" she said. Um...ok.

Now, finally, we have warm air. Soon, we will have heat. But hot water?

Ghey shook her head, sadly, when I asked. "In some schools," she said. "But here? Never."

Playing Beyonce at Rhythm and Booze

Friday nights at R&B are pretty standard here in Bucheon. Virginia and I like to saunter over every week, and see what kind of trouble we can stir up.

Actually, she's a trouble magnet, and I am just mischievous enough to relish the mayhem. Of course, she doesn't allow me to sit on the sidelines, which is how I ended up dragged to a table of about dozen Korean Physical Trainers and  Fitness Models who kept asking me to touch their muscles. And pick the most handsome guy.

OK, I loved it.

"Do you like Korean men?" They asked. I opened my mouth, and they leaned in, eagerly anticipating my response. What else could I say, but:

"Of course!"

"OOOOH!" They nodded and winked to each other, bumping shoulders and touching elbows, congratulating themselves for being so muscular.

"What about him?" They asked me, pointing to Ian, a guy with oversized-boulder biceps and a fine-boned pretty face.

"What about him what?" I asked, to prevent the words "he has a girl's face" from escaping into the air.

"He is handsome guy, right?"

He flexed for me. I touched the muscle one more time.

"Yes, yes! Very handsome." I winked at Ian, and somebody filled up my beer.

"Cheers! Gombe!" We all clinked classes and swigged. Me and Virginia (lost at the other end of the table) drank beer, the rest of them...tequila. They sipped it like it was green tea. Tequila? It ain't no thang.

I stuck to my beer.

"Do you have a 10 pack?" Virginia asked one guy.

He rolled his eyes, "Of course!"

"Choose! Choose!" They started up again.

"You girls are so beautiful!" They said, "we love black women! Especially Beyonce!"

"Um...I think..." I cleared my throat. "I think you guys have girlfriends."

Silence.

"Well," said the ring leader to my left, "Ian does."

I turned to the girly man.

"Ian, where's your girl friend?"

"You are my girlfriend!" He said.

"I don't think so..."

"Oh...the truth! The truth comes out!"

Yeah....that didn't stop him from offering me another bicep squeeze. I accepted. I mean...duh.

Anyways.

This was the night before Halloween, so we told the guys they should come back to R&B for the Halloween party Saturday night.

"You should come as Chippendale's!" Virginia said...and they agreed. 

"Chippendale's! Yes, yes! With the bow tie!"

The night went on like that, with more tequila sipping until the owner turned the lights out on us. In the elevator, Virginia and rode down with Mr. 10-pack.

"Oh," he said, "two beautiful girls!"

Then he puckered up, and leaned into me.

His lips met my hand. "Ah ah ah!" I said.

He shrugged, then puckered up to Virginia. She clapped his face, smartly, in between her hands.

"Aigo!" he yelped, and stepped back. She clapped him a few more times. 

"Massage!" she said.

"Ah, thank you, stop, please please!" He yelped.

We got out of the elevator, and said goodnight, then walked quickly in the opposite direction. We were barely out of earshot before I burst out laughing.

On banking in Korea; Adventures at KEB

One of the main reasons I came to Korea was for the money. It sounds like such an empty reason to do anything, but it's true. I wanted a job, and I wanted to get paid enough to kick my student loans. So, banking in Korea was one thing I was really curious about before I got here.

And yet, before I arrived, I knew nothing.

This is not because I didn't ask. Believe me, I tried. But no one is really interested in being grilled about the knitty gritty of their financial lives by people like me, who create elaborate budget spreadsheets for fun.

Um - yeah, that's actually true. ANYways...

For anyone wondering about banking in Korea, I dedicate the following story to you.

Adventures at KEB


KEB, Korean Exchange Bank, is the best bank in Korea for foreigners. There are several horror stories on the internet about people getting to Korea and having a hard time getting their money out. That may be true of some banks, but KEB makes life easy-peezy-lemon-squeezy.

That is, of course, once you get things all set up.

First thing about banks - they are only open from 9AM to 4PM. This should remind you comfortably of home - in some small way, the bank is always trying to screw you. So, to do any business transactions at the bank - opening an account, etc., you must get permission from your co-teacher, the head-teacher, the vice-principal, and the principal to take off a few hours early and get your business done.

Second - you cannot open a bank account without an ARC (Alien Registration Card). And your passport. Always bring your passport.

Third - they speak English, but...I took my co-teacher, Ghey, with me. Even in a business that "speaks English", most people feel more comfortable speaking Korean. They will be nicer to you, and tell you all of the really useful information if they are not tripping up over their sentence structure.

Things that are helpful to know:

Yes, Korea has online banking. HOWEVER, using it the most horrible pain-in-the-arse EVER. Everything you do online has quadruple security. They lock that mess up like Fort Knox! You have to save your password and account on a USB that you use to log in the website, then enter a specific set of numbers from your number security card, that are ... of course...different every time. That is, once you figure out that your favorite web browsers, (Firefox, Chrome) can go screw because KEB software only works with internet explorer. Period.

Yes, you can easily transfer money to your home bank. HOWEVER, getting someone to explain to you how this magical feat is accomplished might make you want to gauge your eyeballs out with dull spoons.  When I opened my bank account, I asked - specifically - if I could use that account to transfer money. They told me yes. When I went back to the bank so set up transfers (which could only be done after I had set up my online account), they told me that I had to open a new account.

Huh wha...?

"You must open a new account" was repeated over and over. Over and over, I kept asking WHY?

"You can transfer money into that account. Then, from that account, you can transfer to your US bank." The manager said.

"Yes, but" I said as carefully as possible. "Why do I need the account in the middle. Why can't I just transfer from one to the other?"

"You can transfer money into that account. Then, from that account, you can transfer to your US bank." The manager said.

After 5 minutes of this, I actually almost screamed. In the middle of the bank, I said,

"Hang on a second", put my hands over my face and breathed slowly to prevent hyperventilation. And crazy, I-want-to-punch-you-in-the-ovaries screaming.

"Why?" I tried again.

The answer, actually is quite simple. KEB has regular bank accounts, and transfer accounts. With a transfer account, you can have the bank set where you want the money delivered. Then, at your convenience, you transfer money into this account and it automatically goes to the preset place, without you having to search around for routing numbers, swift BICs and addresses. KEB can find the cheapest transfer route for you, the money is wired same business day to your home bank.

It's so easy - I tried it. Once, of course, a new manager took over and explained to me and Ghey why exactly that second account was needed.

Now, I can take care of all of my banking needs (including paying my bills) online, without having to request time off. And the banking hours of business? They don't apply to the internet.

Whew!

National Teacher's Hiking Day (소래산)

Ok, there isn't any National Teacher's Hiking Day. But last Wednesday afternoon, it certainly felt like it. I went to Sorae-san, a mountain in Incheon. The mountain was crowded. Seriously - we had to fight for hiking room. Everyone appeared to be teachers, in groups doing day trips similar to ours. According to Ghey, most schools don't have classes on Wednesday afternoon, so it's a popular day to go hiking.

Hiking with my co-workers was a study in shame. They were all sprinting up the mountain, no bigs, and then there was me, huffing and puffing and taking rest breaks. Granted, I was recovering from a sinus cold. They excused me for being sick. Sadly, I'm aware that I am simply out of shape - sick or no, I can't run up a mountain.

Once we reached the top, we got an amazing view...of the surrounding cities, tucked right at the foot of the mountain, which was actually pretty unsettling. I never imagined I could climb a mountain and at the top get a view of a city scape.