Good Advice

"Ok, Class, let's practice giving suggestions. So, I don't have any money. What should I do?"

"Teacha, why don't you get a job?"

"Thanks, Jinsol, you sound just like my father."


"Alright, I'm in love with someone but he doesn't know it. What should I do?"

"Why don't you forget him?"
"Why don't you attract him?"
"Teacha, why don't you get some plastic surgery?"

Thanks, kids.

Gmarket, You Are Evil But Glorious

I am a tall girl. When I told my students my height during a lesson, they actually pointed and shouted “really? 177??? REALLY??!!!” I love living here, but being the same height as many Korean men can sometimes be rough, mostly when it comes to shopping.

Point being, it is hard to find clothes and shoes sometimes. Here comes in Gmarket (www.gmarket.com). This site is basically the ebay of Korea - individuals buy and sell stuff online. It works perfectly with the Korean style of having a thousand small businesses that all sell basically the same thing. It further embodies everything Koreans seems to love by being incredibly cheap and massively overstimulating.

It can be a little challenging to navigate for foreigners, even with its “English” website, since most of the information provided by the seller is still in Korean. However, don’t let this deter you! They ship the the US too! OMFG!

With my small range of Korea skills, I've become fairly efficient at shopping. For anything larger than a medium in clothes or a size 8 in shoes, you search for "빅사이즈" - "Big Size" in Hangul. Or, you can just use the helpful tabs at the top of the screen (to anyone reading this who actually knows Korean, please don't laugh too much at my pathetic-ness).

Look! I bought this cool blazer!

And these shoes (only $20)!

And a wig!!

And so, so much other crap I don't need.

I'll leave you with this photo.

Don't I look Korean? ^_^

Dental Offices and Ballet

Seoul has many little oddities. For one, the high frequency of "barber shops" in a city of so many metrosexual men. There are barber polls seemingly everywhere.

A slightly less common business is the dental office (치과 in Korean). There are soooooo many, yet Koreans on the whole don't seem to have the best teeth. I had a dream last night that I went to go get some dental work done here, only to find out that they were all, in fact, brothels. Although it would explain everything, I have it on good authority that this is not actually the case.

I signed up for ballet classes this week at a studio in Hongdae. This may sound like something I should have grown out of when I hit age 10 or a height of 5'5. But I've been wanting to take up some new hobbies, improve myself as a person, etc.

When I went the ballet store to get proper clothes, the store clerk started asking which leotard styles I liked the best. Then I told him I was 177cm tall. He dug around for a minute and then pulled out an XL leotard, tights and shoes. Because in the entire store, there is only one single XL of everything. Oh, Korea. Or is this more a case of me choosing an activity known for its eating disorders?

Pictures to follow of me all suited up, provided they are suitably hilarious.

Hiking at Achasan

Last Sunday, Bobbie, Kara and I hiked up Achasan, a small mountain in the east of Seoul. It was a rare nice day after a week of bad weather. I even checked the concentration of air pollutants at my new favorite site, www.airkorea.or.kr. Heck yeah only moderate level pollution! Let's hike

We made it to the top with no casualties. Seoul looks pretty on clear days. And massive, as always.

On the way down, we walked by a buddhist temple.

Just so you know, should you attempt wrongdoings, a happy Buddhist holding a lotus blossom will watch you serenely as you do them. Possibly while contemplating the sound of one hand clapping.

Yay, Buddhism.

White Day

Unlike in America, Korea (and a few other Asian countries) actually have two Valentine's Days. On February 14th, Valentine's Day, women are supposed to give chocolates to their boyfriends or husbands. On March 14th, White Day, men are supposed to return the favor and give chocolates to their girlfriends or (/and?) wives. So, basically, what this breaks down to is the Korea's Hallmark is even smarter than America's.

I'm told April 14th is Black Day, when singles put on black armbands and go out to...be single together? People are still unclear on that one, so I'll have to let you know.

Look! I have friends. They'll come in handy for Black Day.

I finally went hiking last weekend. Seoul is surrounded on all sides by mountains so there's a lot of good hiking around that I've, until this point, never taken advantage of. Some friends and I hiked up Suraksan in the north of Seoul. Man, even though it rained the last 45 minutes, I've really missed hiking!

 From the top of the mountain (that nice Korean man gave us cucumbers!).