Being Normal

Our conversations revolve around it here. Our blogs report on it. We complain about it. We love it. It's the reality that every single ex-pat faces when leaving the house, when arriving at work. You have lost your anonymity, which gives you privilege when you want it, and too much attention and focus when you don't want it.... You live in a hub-bub of noise and sounds that, sometimes (rarely), turn into meaningful words.... A trip to the bank or post office takes twice as long...

But sometimes, you can communicate just enough, or understand a new word, or just pretend for a morning that you aren't all that different from everyone else. And it feels damn good.

I find that I tend to frequent the same businesses repeatedly. In my mind, they have become classified as "Foreigner friendly" (or at least "Virginia friendly") businesses: Places where a group of noisy foreigners with minimal Korean skills are tolerated, or encouraged to return. Places where I've been served with a smile instead of a stare, or just wonderful discoveries that are (generally) delicious. Most of the time, there isn't anything special (like an English speaker) at these places, it's just that they understand that we are simply paying customers like everyone else. They understand that we might take an extra 5 minutes to do something, but that their patience is greatly appreciated. There are kimbap and dak galbi places on every corner here, but if I tell a friend to meet me at "the dak galbi place", he or she will know exactly which one I mean.... but I digress.

I wonder sometimes if businesses like the kimbap place or the dak galbi place (or the shabby family-run corner store up from my apartment or Waltz or Texas Moon or P-Club or Cafe Manon or the gynecologist in Hadang or the vet who all the foreigners use or my acupuncturist or... or...), I wonder if they realize just how much of their business comes from word-of-mouth in the ex-pat community. We trade business cards with each other, and draw elaborate maps to show each other the way to these places... not a week goes by without one person or another sending out an e-mail asking where to find a good optometrist, or passport photographer, or hair dresser (I'm still waiting on a good tailor or seamstress, by the way....).

Well... anyway... that wasn't the point when I sat down to write this.

I really just wanted to talk about my morning, and how cool I felt just being a normal citizen here, recognized as a customer, but not as a freak... So... okay, here goes.

With errands to run, I headed downtown. One of my students passed me and we had a nice little conversation (How are you? I'm good. It's hot today. Yes). I stopped at a plant store to buy a nice plant for Ty's desk at work - I've been there before, the 100-year old bent-double halmoni (grandmother) recognized me. The entire transaction was in Korean... including the instructions on how not to kill the little plant with my decidedly brown thumb. Waiting to cross the street, an older man approached the woman next to me, asking her how to find the ferry terminal. I understood him and was able to tell him how to find it, whereas she couldn't. He nodded and replied with a nice "Sang you"... there was no look of shock on his face that I understood the phrase "yeogak teminar", and no giggling from the 4 younger women with him when I used the most basic phrases to get them where they wanted to go.

My next stop was a dochang (Korean name stamp) place where Madeleine had bought stamps for herself and a few friends when she was here. Transaction (buying dochang as gifts) done through Korean and interpretive dance/miming. Next stop, the bank, where "my lady" helped me out - and gave me juice (nothing special about that, everyone gets juice at Nonghyeop) - and the bank manager stopped by to proclaim his love for me (Hello. I love you. Thank you. I love you too.). Okay, maybe that bit was special.... I think I might be the only foreigner who goes in there regularly, and they are used to me by now.

Finally, I headed to "the kimbap place" to meet Ty for lunch, where the new plant was inspected happily by all the waitresses, but where (once again) we were just another part of the lunchtime crowd.

I didn't get pointed at by any children today... Nobody that I wasn't dealing with shouted "Hello!" at me, then ran away to laugh with their faces covered... I didn't get leered at by any old men thinking that I was a Russian prostitute... I interacted like a regular, average person, communicated what I needed (in Korean, English, and charades) and was understood. I got everything done that I needed to do, without wasting a ton of time and without having to return to the same place with a Korean speaker.

And that shouldn't be that big of a deal... but it is!

Flickr updates

My Flickr page is updated, and finally includes things like Cambodia and Madeleine's visit.

And Ty has finally started uploading things to Flickr too (he has different privacy settings on his photos, though, so I'm not sure which of his photo albums are public).

One more week until Amsterdam!

Vacation Time...

It's been a good week so far. I had to go to school on Monday (my classes featured a, um, guest speaker on that day, in the form of the Disney Tarzan movie), then on Tuesday morning for one hour. Other than that, it's been a week of hanging with friends, taking Sonagi to the vet to be spayed, reading, TV and general chilling out as I countdown to Europe.

So, yeah... not much to report.

Summer Itinerary / Obvious sign of insanity...

With vacation time fast approaching, I finally decided (at 7:00 this morning) to sit down and figure out where I'm going and how to get there.

See, I'll be meeting my mom in Amsterdam, where we'll spend a few days. From there, we head to Copenhagen, and then she goes on a cruise back to Canada, while I head up to Gothenburg, Sweden for a few days (staying with a girl I met by chance in an airport in Indonesia).

But then... where will I go? What will I do for the next few days until my flight back from Amsterdam to Korea?

With 3 free days and a credit card (and an inability to live within my means), I have just booked a flight from Copenhagen to.....

PARIS

... where I will spend a full 48 hours (an evening + one full day + a morning) before grabbing a train to Amsterdam.

Am I insane?
Is this the heat of Korea melting my credit card numbers into the computer?
Is this a lack of sleep?
Am I too fueled by caffeine?

Yes to all of the above... But WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW.

Gwangju, Mud Fest and Madeleine's Last Days in Mokpo

Alrighty... I have my computer back, my photos uploaded, and now, I can finally sit down and write all about last weekend.

On Friday, we (Madeleine, Ty, Camille and I) headed off to Gwangju for the evening. Madeleine and Camille were in high spirits - which became the theme of our whole weekend -

Madeleine and Camille having fun...

...Ty isn't

Our first stop, after booking the huge VIP at the Windmill, of course, was the Outback for supper. We then headed to a neat cafe that Camille knows of that is really cute, with an entire wall lined with books (mostly in Korean).

Madeleine examines Camille's book

Striking a pose on the streets of Gwangju

She was bringing them a pulpy mystery novel thing. Afterwards, we went to the Speakeasy, but were much too tired to make a late evening of it.

Madeleine and Camille having fun...

The next day, bright and early, we boarded the bus for Boryeong and the famous Mud Festival. Now, before I go any further, I'll have to admit that a) a girl I used to teach with in Montreal told me that it was the festival to see in Korea, so I was initially really excited about it before I moved here and b) I've been kind of avoiding it for the past two years.

See, most of the stories I've ever heard about the Mud Fest just made it sound like some sort of nasty Spring Break where foreigners made asses of themselves. I'd also heard the opposite, and that it was a big enough festival that you can really make the most of different things, without succumbing to drunken mud wrestling in your bikini, which of course, sounds like soooooo much fun.

Fortunately, the Mud Fest is super well organized... it's like the whole town (village) is a part of the festivities, with volunteers everywhere. It's also really really big. There was a stage way down at one end of the beach (we could hear the music), but we found ourselves at the opposite end, surrounded by more Koreans than foreigners (which was much better, methinks... as it was, we attracted a lot of attention from photographers anyway).

Our first job was to try to find a reasonable hotel room, which we sort of managed to do. Our hotel was pretty comfy, with a kitchenette and a... balcony! Yay.

The Mud Fest is also wicked awesome because you can walk around in your bikini all day, without being the only person on the beach who is doing so (Koreans tend to spend their beach time - and swimming time - fully dressed). And, since you're covered in mud, you sort of feel like you're "dressed" anyway.

(I've promised a minimum of bikini shots because, really, who wants themselves on the internet covered in mud and half-dressed.... but anyway....)

Buckets of mud to paint your friends with...

Madeleine and Camille having fun...

... Ty isn't

Being painted with mud...

Fun for the whole family!

Muddy Me

Muddy Ty (still pouting)

In the afternoon, we were attracted by drumming noises, and stopped to listen to (and dance to) some traditional drummers. We then followed them into a parade (right, what was I saying about foreigners making asses of themselves?) which led us further up the beach where we found a few Suncheonites.

Dancing in the parade (they gave me an umbrella!)

Balinesian dancers in the parade (we ran up the parade until we joined them)

That evening, Ty, Madeleine and I sat on a table on the beach and watched the fireworks over the water before being rained off the beach and back to the hotel.

Madeleine and Camille... still having fun (the day after!)

Sunday morning breakfast was provided by Madeleine (yay, the kitchenette), and we spent the rest of the afternoon suntanning... I mean... burning ourselves on the beach. Since the long long long beach is made of sand, we are still trying to figure out where this amazing curative mud is supposed to come from...

Shabu Shabu (no, I didn't eat the meat)

On Monday, we took Madeleine out for some shabu shabu, then to the famous "Audrey Hepburn cafe", which is the pinkest place in the world. The shiny pink vinyl couches are all surrounded by dangly pink beaded curtains. The best part though, apart from how it's decorated in Meron's favourite colour, is that you can get really awesome milkshakes there. Yum.

Pink enough?
Note our tans from Mud Fest coming through...

Ty is finally smiling!!!

Tuesday night was Madeleine's last evening in Mokpo, so she hosted a wee get-together for all the people she'd met and befriended during her stay with us. On Wednesday morning, she went back to Seoul, before flying out to Tokyo for a few days en route to Quebec.

She did so much while she was here - it's like she put a whole year's worth of food, day-trips, hikes and adventure into only a few weeks. I can't get over how nice it was to visit with someone who knows me "from before", and not just as an acquaintance over 2 years or less.

Hope you enjoy all the photos.... It's been a fun few weeks.

Alex...

Before I write all about the glorious-ness that was the Mud Festival, let me announce to everyone that my friend Alex is finally on a more accessible blog.

Find him here and leave him a nice comment about his godawful fluorescent shirts.

Okay, no really, Alex is the only person in the world who can wear godawful fluorescent shirts and look better than okay.

MUDFEST!

... check back later for full details...

Island school....

Madeleine returned from three days on Jeju and accompanied me to my island school today. The kids treated her to an impromptu recorder concert... here is Hayoung, Songmin and Seongmyeon performing for her...

(Keep scrolling to the other posts - I've uploaded some more fun photos of Madeleine's visit...)

The Weekend and Blog Updates

On Friday, we went out for samgyeupsal (a kind of Korean pork barbecue thing) and drinks, followed by a few hours of noraebanging (Korean karaoke). As everyone knows, a night in a noraebang means the next day is generally a wash, so Saturday became a relaxing day of wandering around Old Mokpo and showing Madeleine the sights of Hadang.

We're singing the Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK (and it shows)

With a green tea latte at the Happiness House

Unfortunately, we ended up missing out on Mokpo's first Open Mic Night - the trade-off being that we were in much better shape on Sunday to visit Daewonsa.

I'd tried (unsuccessfully) to book us all for a temple stay there. Instead, we had to make do with a day trip.

We arrived in Boseong with over an hour to spare before the 11:45 bus to Daewonsa. Following Madeleine, who had been there a few days earlier, we went to see a tea plantation.

Awwww....

How is it that I've spent so much time here and never made it to the green tea fields?

"surfing" on the bus to Daewonsa

From there, we went to Daewonsa (my 5th visit there in 2 years... but a first for Ty and Madeleine) and poked around the Tibetan museum and the temple.

Posing with His Holiness...

Madeleine at Daewonsa

Lunch was bibimbap made with edible flowers (yay!).


Now, Madeleine is spending a few days on the island of Jeju... and we're stuck in school.

This weekend, we'll hit up Gwangju and the famous Boryeong Mud Festival (we're hoping for a much less Spring Breaky/Full Moon/drunken frat boy/mud wrestling experience than what is shown on the site, with plans to check out the beach more than the random idiots - yeah, don't expect me to be crowdsurfing in my bikini anytime soon).... then Madeleine only has a few more days here before she heads back to Quebec via Tokyo.

I've updated my blog links a bit.... A few links that have been added have more information than the personal blogs. Personal blogs are great (naturally, having maintained this one for 2 and a half years, I'm a bit biased), but if you want more information on things in the Korean news, or a meatier commentary on such things as gender issues in Korea, you should check here and here. For people who want to find out more about Mokpo, look here before you send me an e-mail saying, "Can you tell me about Korea". Not that I mind getting random e-mails, in fact I think it's great, but I don't have all the answers....

Samgyeupsal and Noraebang

Madeleine now knows what those two things are.... and loves them both.

Madeleine's Continuing Adventures in Korealand

The past week has been pretty cool. Madeleine has been able to get used to traveling around Korea, and has experienced first-hand the pitfalls of not being able to read menus etc.



On Tuesday, we met up with Alex and Nicola for some kimbap, then wandered along until we found a neat ice cream parlour with flowery swingy chairs by the window. The decor was hilarious and the food was quite good -- well... okay. It wasn't ice cream, but ice flakes with syrup and fruit. Still, it was good. Madeleine went ahead and ordered a "Wild Thing" and was quite surprised to be served cereal and milk with fruit! Still, she ate it all.

On Wednesday, Madeleine ventured out to Gangjin to find out about traditional Korean celadon pottery. She was absolutely dumped on by the rain as she wandered around the (tiny) town of Gangjin, searching for pottery. Still, at the end of the day, she had a pretty good time, and was able to get herself a nice celadon teapot.

For the past two days, she's been in Boseong and Yulpo, enjoying the tea fields and the seaside spa. Tonight, she'll be back in Mokpo, then over the weekend, we're looking at wandering out to Daewonsa. Next week, it looks like Jeju, with the Mud Festival next weekend... Should be fun!

p.s. All my students are still speaking French!

Madeleine's Teaching Day

Even though she's only just finished up her own school year (and is supposed to be on vacation), Madeleine came to school with me all day yesterday and taught my kids French. As Hangeul (written Korean) is a phonetic language, we were able to say the French words to them, that they wrote down in Hangeul, and were able to say back to us nearly perfectly. They really loved learning French, and were super excited to have an exotic Canadian visitor.

After school, we hopped on my scooter for a ride around the top of Yudal mountain. We were stopped by the police (who started off by saying, "Hello, my name is ________"), but he let us go rather than deal with 2 waygookin.

For supper, we met up with Zach, Alex and Ty (and Jessica who stopped by) for dak galbi - spicy chicken that you cook at your table and eat wrapped in a lettuce leaf. We wandered around the downtown area a bit, stopping to have silly photos taken in the photobooth that lets you add words and designs to your photo.

Finally, we ended the evening at the Magic Sparkle bar, where Madeleine got to drink a flaming cocktail through a straw (while it was still on fire).

All in all, a classic example of a normal day here in Mokpo.