Paul and Mary do Korea!

On a cruise off the coast of Busan.

What a fantastic past few weeks we've had!  The highlight---a two week visit from my parents!  The two weeks were packed with visiting my school, a trip to Seoul, viewing North Korea and visiting the DMZ, eating all kinds of raw (and sometimes still squiggling) seafood, and hiking in the beautiful mountains. 

After 2 delayed planes, a missed flight, and a night in Tokyo, Japan, my parents made it to Korea!  My school was kind enough to let me skip out on a few classes so I could meet them at the airport. Upon arrival, I rushed them to the apartment to drop off their stuff and then, after only 2 hours in Korea, they ended up in the principal's office.  But rest assured it was on a positive note.  He greeted them with tea, and true Korean generosity, offering them anything and everything they said was "beautiful" or "interesting" including a wooden tea table and teapot.  My dad kindly declined at the time, but little did he know...

The next day we went to the ocean and Jalgalchi Market, an "aquarium" in which you can choose your dinner from a tank and have it ready on a table within 10 minutes!  My dad bravely ate the still squiggling octopus.

No fear!!

Aaron and I were lucky enough to have 4 days off of school for Chuseok, Korea's version of Thanksgiving.  Many things were closed for those few days so we headed to our favorite temple in the mountains.  We also ate at a very traditional Korean restaurant on Chuseok and both my parents tried and spat out silkworm larvae as well as dozens of fermented vegetables (which they enjoyed a bit more than the silkworms).  

The beautiful rice paddy fields behind Tondo Temple.

At Tongdo Temple.

Mom being interviewed by some English students at Insadong Market in Seoul.

Our next adventure was to Seoul and to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone).  Going to the DMZ was something Aaron and I have wanted to do since we arrived in Korea.  We went on a tour through the USO (the United Services Organization). The border between North and South Korea is the heaviest guarded border between any two countries.  Perhaps the most startling thing about the tour was realizing how close the DMZ is to the second largest metropolitan area in the world. It took us a mere 45 minutes to get to the border from downtown Seoul.  

Standing beside a South Korean soldier in the Military Armistice Commission building.  This is where joint meetings have been held for the observation of the armistice signed between North and South Korea.  We are currently in "North Korea" at this moment hence why we weren't quite sure if smiling was an appropriate reaction.  

One particularly interesting thing you see when you look over the border is what the South Korean's call Propaganda village.  Until 2004, this "fake" village blared North Korean propaganda from huge loudspeakers.  Now all it boasts is the world's highest flag tower which stands 525 feet tall and flies a 600 lb North Korean flag.  Apparently when the nearby South Korean village of Daeseong raised a South Korean flag, the North Koreans had to one-up them. 

During their second week here they were finally over the jetlag and feeling good.  We hiked, ate some pretty unusual sushi dishes including raw whale (which Aaron and I had vowed not to eat after seeing The Cove documentary), drank tea, norebanged (Korean karaoke), and toured Busan with my co-teacher.  It really was fantastic having them here. 

Drinking tea in Sanseong mountain village.

Hiking up Geumjeong Mountain.

On a coastline cruise with my co-teacher Ms. Park.

And remember that tea table my principal offered them on the first day?  On the last day my principal gave them a table, tea, and a beautiful traditional tea set.  My mom got tears in her eyes after experiencing the incredibly generosity of my principal and the others she met here in Korea.  Of all the things I will take away from my time in Korea, it is the incredible generosity of the people here.  I'm thrilled my parents were able to experience it first hand as well. 

Cabbage Crisis!

I never thought I would be so affected by a cabbage shortage!!  But to my dismay, there is a cabbage crisis sweeping the nation of South Korea.  It has even become international news!  You can read the NPR article here.  As a result, we do not have cabbage kimchi at school lunch nor do we get free refills of kimchi at restaurants.  To me, this is as unKorean as it gets.  Now you may sense a bit of a sarcasm in my typing and yes, I do have some towards the subject.  But for many Koreans this is a serious thing.  It is part of their livelihood and what defines them as a culture.  Some even believe it cures many things.  I suppose you could compare it to a lettuce or potato shortage in America...but not even because in America we don't eat lettuce for literally breakfast, lunch, AND dinner or think that they can cure/prevent diseases. 


I know this may be a stretch, but all sarcasm aside, this kind of event makes me think about how more of this kind of stuff could happen in the future. Not only food shortages, but natural resource shortages due to our changing climate and overuse/abuse.  Maybe not in our near future, but certainly in our future.  I suppose it goes to show we should never take anything (not even a red chili paste and fish oil covered piece of fermented cabbage) for granted. 

Appreciating Art in Many Forms

Aaron outside of the Busan Modern Art Museum.

So even after a year in a city, you can still find plenty of new and exciting things tucked away in back alleys or just right off the subway line. We'd always meant to check out the Busan Modern Art Museum but never did...until now. We really were incredibly impressed by the quality and thought provoking exhibits it contained. The main exhibit was entitled "Living in Evolution" and explored human evolution over time as well as what the future may hold. Some of the exhibits certainly touched on the question Aaron and I always pose, "Is our human evolution going in the 'right' direction?"

This was amazing! All of these are cut from thin sheets of metal and set on top of a perfectly smooth layer of sand. It is part of the main exhibit entitled "Living in Evolution.

My new friend...well, at least half of her.

Aaron has been enjoying the architectural art outside of our apartment window. There was a HUGE crane there for about one week and his goal was to see it actually doing something (for some reason it never moved when we were awake). Then, just yesterday morning, he was doing his morning "crane check" and with no luck, was off to take a shower. But when he came back from the shower, the crane was down and being dismantled. He was sincerely disappointed. ha.

The sunset outside of our apartment window. We're continually in awe of the beauty as well as how quickly they are getting the bridge done!

In other news, we're ANXIOUSLY awaiting the arrival of Mama and Papa Runestad in 2 days! They will arrive on the 19th and we'll spend 2 weeks frolicking around Korea (including to the DMZ) together. We can't wait!

Quirky Korea--Konglish

Yum.  I LOVE rice creakers!

A new car

This morning I came to my desk to find a small bottle of apple yogurt on my desk. I looked around and realized every teacher had one of these on their desks.  I am usually the last to know why these random snacks appear, so I decided to take the initiative and ask my teacher where it came from.  It turns out one of my colleagues bought a new car this weekend so he brought in yogurt for everyone.  This type of thing used to surprise/perplex me, but now I simply smile and enjoy my yogurt.

You see in Korea joy is not something to be kept, it is something to ALWAYS be shared.  If someone gets a new car, has a son/daughter who performs well on a test, or even gets a new haircut, he or she will bring in something that will bring joy to everyone else around them (usually food of course!).  It's not considered selfish or bragging--it's simply what you do when you are part of a community.  You're never alone in anything. You share, you love, and you feel together.

I love it.

Sulsa vs. Salsa

So today in class I was showing a picture of my father and me eating salsa, and every time I said "salsa" my students would giggle and just be silly. After class I asked my teacher what was so funny and she said that in korean the word for diarrha is "sulsa" and is pronounced very similarly. Who knew that all day I was saying that my dad and I were eating diarrhea!! AWESOME

Here's to a New Year

Well, it’s been a while.

What a fantastic summer Aaron and I have had so far.  Since June, we’ve had the opportunity to be Korean tour guides for Aaron’s best friend Reid, swim in the ocean, climb the beautiful mountains around Busan, and take a trip to visit our family and friends in the USA.  It has been full but only of the best things in life.

Reid’s Visit  (best explained through pictures)

Aaron and Reid in front of the Gwangali Bridge.

Of course we had to take him to a Lotte Giants baseball game.  And you can see him sporting his new Korean glasses.  He was Koreatized. :)

Reid was also here for our final book club meeting (he even read the short story!) as well as our farewell dinner to many friends who were leaving.  Such a good lookin' crew.   

Home

Our time home was nothing short of fantastic. Before I came home, my dad asked me what I wanted him to have ready for me when I walked in the door.  My requests were sharp cheddar cheese, a sampler pack of New Belgium beer, and dill pickles.  In true dad style, all was ready for me in the fridge as well as my favorite cereal in the cupboard.  And, although I came home to a NEW house, I have to say I didn’t miss the old one at all.  Everything from the big oaks, the din of frogs and cicadas, Jake’s piano playing, and the smell of pancakes frying in the morning uttered home.  

Like mother, like daughter.

But I did experience a bit of culture shock as expected.  Perhaps the thing I enjoyed the MOST as well as the most shocking was being able to eavesdrop on conversations.  In Korea I’ve gotten used to being surrounded by “white noise” as I usually do not understand what is said around me.  But, when I finally got on the plane from Detroit to Chicago it was English overload!  I felt like a kid in a candy store.  Which conversation should I choose—a high school boy who just got back from Germany who’s telling a girl about how he drank beer for the first time or a family of four with a little girl asking her mommy how to draw a horse.  I know they weren’t incredibly enlightening conversations, but at that point, anything seemed entertaining. 

And then there were times during my stay at home when I wondered why I was leaving again.  Whether it was hiking through the woods with Toby, eating ridiculous amounts of cheese, catching up with old friends over coffee and swedish pancakes, outdoor concerts, family game nights, and having a big kitchen to cook in!  Saying goodbye to my family and friends was surprisingly more difficult than it was when Aaron and I first left for Korea.  But, that being said, I'm learning more and more everyday that my heart likes to multitask and it's getting really good at being in 100 places at once.  In other words, thank goodness for the internet.

A New Year

A new contract year is upon us and for Aaron this means a new school.  He is now the Native English teacher in one of the highest scoring and wealthiest middle schools in our area AND has only a 5-minute walk to work everyday.  This is in stark contrast to his last school, which was the lowest scoring high school in Busan and took an hour bus ride to get there.  He will greatly miss his beloved male teacher friends at his old school and their Monday soccer games, but he’s excited to be teaching students he can actually converse with and are eager to learn.  I’m absolutely thrilled he’s so jolly about this coming year.  His teachers have already pointed out how happy he seems everyday.

Although it was hard to leave home, we’re now back in the swing of things and trying to figure out what we need/want to do during our last year in Korea.  The few things on our list thus far are: save money, buy more food from the outdoor market/eat locally and seasonally (I’ve become kind of a stickler about this since Koreans are SO good about it and after reading “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver---I recommend it!), find more volunteer opportunities, learn how to really make Korean food, and explore more of this beautiful country. 

We are looking forward to my parents’ visit coming up in a little over 2 weeks as well as fall weather.  Here’s to another year!