How to Pick Up Women in South Korea

How to pick up women in South Korea? Get yourself a Western baby! Noah, our grandson was a huge hit his first full day in South Korea. We went out in front of our apartment building the first day to blow some bubbles so mom and dad could get some sleep after the long flight. These were girls on their way to school.



We visited our Home Plus store and our son-in-law wanted to get a Korean haircut. While he was getting his haircut, I entertained Noah in the hallway. As we walked by the nail salon, Noah was whisked away by a nail technician. She just reached down and picked him up as he ran by.


Noah was a huge hit with the Korean ladies on the subways in Seoul. This girl gave him a Mickey Mouse phone charm.

This group of girls gave Noah a sucker.

It was so nice to get onto a crowded subway with a baby to always find someone giving up their seat for you. As I was sitting with Noah, the woman next to me took him from my arms and really didn't want to give him back. I tried repeatedly to no avail. His daddy was finally able to get him when he became cranky. He did so well with all these strangers. I was really surprised.

It wasn't only women that were drawn to Noah. As we waited for a subway, this gentleman reached out to hold Noah. Noah never hesitated to go to anyone. I think we made a lot of Koreans happy! More to come.

Shabu Shabu

Yesterday saw the end of my group maedeup classes. I will be continuing on with private lessons during the week to prepare for the certification test. I will be taking the test in September. It was also my 28th wedding anniversary. My Korean girlfriend wanted to go out for our anniversary since we didn't have any plans so we went to one of her favorite shabu shabu restaurants.

Shabu shabu consists of a broth, mild or spicy or both like we ordered above. The red side is the spicy side. You bring the broth to a boil and then add whatever you ordered. We ordered the beef and seafood.


The beef is paper thin and you place it into the broth until it turns color. The green noodles in the center of the beef were green tea noodles. I thought I had heard of everything possible where green tea was used but I hadn't heard of it in noodles. The top right dish is the veggies along with some mandu (dumplings) and rice cakes. In the center is kimchi and the bottom of the picture are onions.

It was served with soy sauce and a spicy red sauce which was sweet and spicy. We also got two trays of a rice dish. I forgot to take a picture of it. It was a small scoop of rice with other ingredients added, placed on a lettuce leaf. In the center of the dish was a spicy sauce to spoon over the leaf before you shoved the whole thing in your mouth. It was very good.

The whole meal was delicious and the conversation, as usual, very information. A new here in South Korea is girls are no longer wearing their bras all the time. Yes, I mean all the time, even to sleep. The only time they take them off is to bath. But the latest news is that wearing a bra all the time can cause breast cancer. A Korean woman will NEVER go out without a bra on so this must mean that they are not sleeping in them. I never tire of these stories. I find them fascinating.

Tonight our daughter, son-in-law and grandson arrive from the States. I haven't seen them since Christmas and I can't wait to sight see with them. We have done so little sightseeing since we arrive. That is, if I can stop hugging them long enough to do anything. I hope I don't embarrass my daughter or my husband tonight but I have a feeling I will.

Simply Beads Magazine - June 2008

Check out page 38 of the June issue of "Simply Beads" to see a necklace by me. It always feel so good to see my name in print.


This is the necklace featured in the magazine. I bought these lampwork beads from Lynn Bauter which was the inspiration for this necklace.

I went to the grocery store today to pick up a few things. As I was leaving, I saw an old Korean man struggling to put some glass bottles into plastic bags. His hands were pretty arthritic and I saw no one around him. I set my bag down in front of him and took the plastic bag and helped him put the bottles into the bag. We ended up placing the bottles in three bags. I could tell he was pretty worried about them and he kept saying, "kamsamnida, kamsamnida." (Thank you in Korean). He was very grateful and I walked away thinking that maybe I changed his opinion of Westerners if he indeed had one. Oh, one more thing, what was in the bottles?
American whiskey.

The Haircut

Curt (hubby) needed a haircut so off we went to Home Plus to get one in their beauty salon. You don't make an appointment so it is first come, first served. As we waited, we discovered this cutie patootie waiting not so patiently for her mom. In this picture, she was staring at Curt.


Then she began to lift her arms and make heart signs in the mirror. She was a darling but she had a hard time sitting still. She eventually left the salon and went to the play area down a few shops from the salon. It still surprises that children can roam around unattended with no worries.

I've Been Tagged! Six Random Things About Me Today

When Holly tagged me and I needed to come up with six random things about myself TODAY, I thought I would struggle with the list. I really don't find myself that interesting but here goes. Little did I know that leaving my apartment today would give me plenty of things to talk about. Only in South Korea:

1. Why am I not bothered that my cleaning lady dresses better than me? These are the shoes she wore today. I don't even own a pair that look like this. I met her at the door in a t-shirt and jeans. She wore a very smart looking black outfit. This to clean my home. It just makes me think I should step it up a bit.

2. I needed to go to the post office so I left the apartment building by the front entrance instead of the usual back entrance. There are small businesses in most of the storefronts with a few that are empty. As a passed one of the empty stores, I noticed a golf bag with no one around it. As I actually passed by the bag, I looked up to see an older Korean man inside the empty store practicing his golf swing WITHOUT A GOLF CLUB IN HIS HANDS. I stopped to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me. He looked at me as he took another swing. I hightailed it out of there. Now am I the only one who thought that was strange?

3. At the corner of our street is a police station. I often wonder what the police do here in Suwon. I know they don't arrest red light runners. As I waited for the light to change (which takes FOREVER), I saw a police car drive into the station. There are always two officers in the vehicle. The officer that was driving got out and then the other officer got out of the back seat of the car. He then reached in and grabbed an older Korean man. An officer each took an arm of the Korean and forced the Korean into the station. The Korean was clearly fighting and trying to break the hold each officer had on him. I was first surprised to see that one of the officers sat in the backseat with the suspect. We don't do that in the U.S. The second surprise was that I actually saw the police doing something.

4. I crossed the street and proceeded to the post office. I've been there at least once a month since we have moved and I still get the terrified looks when I walk in. I am getting used to it. Today when I walked in, I was the only customer. The postal clerk looked at me and smiled as she beckoned me up to the counter. Wait a minute, am I in the right place? It was so wonderful to be treated like a normal person. I left with a smile.

5. I left the post office and I approached the corner to cross the street. An older Korean man on a bicycle was stopped at the corner. He began to start pedaling directly at me. This is not the first time I've had to dodge a bike or a scooter or a Korean pedestrian for that matter. I try to anticipate which way they are going and move in the opposite direction. This guy was having none of it and headed straight for me. I just stopped to see if he would really hit me. He stopped less than a foot from me and started yelling at me in Korean. I took off my sunglasses and told him in Korean that I didn't understand him. He started using his hands to gesture something about my feet and I kept repeating that I don't understand. We had caught the attention of other Koreans waiting to cross the street. This was going nowhere fast so I bowed and said goodbye in Korean and walked as the light changed for me to cross. I wasn't sure if he would follow me but I kept walking. I don't know if my tennis shoes irritated him or what it was. I was just minding my own business.

6. I didn't have yoga today so I needed to kill some time before the cleaning lady left. I went to Home Plus and got a few things. I still had about an hour to kill so I returned to our apartment and decided to sit in the playground area and work on my maedeup. After about a half an hour, a mother with her little toddler came up. When she saw me, she immediately came over and wanted her son to say hello to me. He was a cutie and I told her so. She said thank you in English. After they left, I thought, this would never happen to me back home. I think I may just miss all the attention of being different brings. It brings good and bad at times.

A Visit to Ajou University Hospital

Suwon has a University Hospital and when I came over for to South Korea for the first time, Hellena took me to visit. Ajou University Hospital has an International Clinic and the doctors speak English. She also took me to the Emergency Department and I was impressed with how it resembled it's counterpart back in the U.S. Little did I know that I would be visiting during our stay in Korea.

Curt (hubby) has been fighting a cold he caught in Jeju and for the past two weeks it has been steadily getting worse. I went to maedeup class and was explaining the situation to my Korean friend, Hannah. She really thought he should see a doctor and I agreed. I decided to leave class early and headed back to Suwon. I met Curt at a local pizza joint and after filling his belly, I informed him that we were going to the hospital and I wasn't taking no for an answer.

There are clinics and hospitals all over our neighborhood and we struck out to find one. Hannah had given me the Korean word for hospital and all we could find was a women's clinic. I finally asked so middle school kids and only one spoke English. He tried to find us one and failed.

So we walked back to Home Plus where you know you can find a taxi and off we went to Ajou. I had a business card from the hospital so I gave that to the driver. Traffic was awful but we still got there in less than a half hour. He dropped us off at the main entrance. We walked in and found the International Clinic which was closed so back to the Information Desk we went. They really didn't understand English but I kept repeating "Emergency Room." Finally, one of them understood and off we went.

He brought us into the actual Emergency Room NOT the entrance or registration area. We stood there for a while and I thought someone would kick us out like they would have in the U.S. but we were basically ignored. I finally went up to a nurse and asked her where registration was. She took us to the main lobby in the Emergency Department and we were immediately waited on.

They sat Curt down and did the vitals while another Korean came up to me with a note in English that said that the total could be 80,000 WON ($80 US) and if that was okay. It sure was and I really didn't believe it would be that cheap. Next a grandfather came over to me with his grandson and the grandson was reaching out for me. Well, you think I would pass up an opportunity like this? I reached for the toddler and he went willingly into my arms. All of the sudden the whole family was with me; mom, dad, grandpa and grandma. They were so excited that I was holding him. He was sure a cutie but after a few minutes, he wanted down so I set him down. I was thrilled. The family was thrilled. The only one not thrilled was Curt. He couldn't believe I had managed to hold a baby in less than five minutes of arriving.

Next a very young looking Korean man and let me say he looked about 16 and not shaving yet, came and took us into the exam room. His English was excellent. The picture above is the exam room. He asked Curt all kinds of questions, listened to his breath tones, looked into his throat... I thought he couldn't possible be a doctor so I asked him if he was. He smiled and said he was. I told him that I was just shocked that we were able to see a doctor so quickly. It's just not like that in the U.S. Curt was really mad at me and felt I had insulted the doctor. I never meant to do that and I hope he didn't take it that way.

The doctor asked if he wanted an I.V. or shot or pills. Curt said that pills would be fine. He led us out of the exam room to wait in the waiting area while he conferred with the other doctors. There were a ton of kids in the waiting area. It looked more like a pediatric clinic. A little boy a few seats away from us was trying to sleep in the chair while dangling an I.V. line. He looked so sick and miserable. Where was a bed for him, I wondered?

It was only a few minutes when the doctor came back and said that since Curt had been ill so long, they wanted a chest x-ray so off he went. I made a lot of new friends while waiting for Curt. The kids were as interested in me as I was in them. Some were brave enough to come close but most enjoyed just walking by.



Curt came back and we waited for the results of the x-ray. The cart above was just sitting in the waiting area. A nurse came up and brought it over to an older woman. She proceeded to put an I.V. line in her just like that in the waiting room with people all around. I also saw a nurse draw blood in the same manner. No private room, no privacy whatsoever. There is no way I could have done that. I need my privacy when someone is trying to stick a needle in me.

The little sick boy was sitting all alone for a while when his mom came over with some oral medication. You could tell he wanted no part of it. She squirted the medicine into his mouth along with some water to wash it down. It came up a few minutes later when he vomited all over the floor. We quickly changed seats and the little boy disappeared. A janitor came a few minutes later and mopped it up but then proceeded to mop the whole waiting room with the dirty water. I thought that was gross but now I see why they think the floor is so filthy. Yuck!

The doctor came back and said that the x-ray was clear but he was going to put him on some medication and we would need to wait for that. While we were waiting, he said we could pay our bill. When Curt had first registered, they had taken his Alien Registration Card which would be returned upon the bill being paid so he was anxious to get that back. The total bill which included the ER visit, x-ray and prescriptions was 69,310 WON ($70 US). I was shocked.

Here are the prescriptions he got. It took about 15 minutes. We were out of the hospital in less than two hours. This is something that has NEVER happened to me in the U.S. I also cannot believe how cheap it was. When I told my Korean yoga buddy about this morning, he was upset we went there. He said it was very expensive and we could have gotten out for less than 20,000 WON ($20 US) if we had been able to go to a local hospital.

I've never experienced socialized medicine firsthand until now but I know a lot of Americans are against it. I'm really wondering why. It seems so much more efficient than the U.S. and A LOT cheaper. I have become a big fan of this type of medicine. We got excellent care at an excellent price.

This is the medicine guide we were given. We were wondering what some of the medication was for but I can tell you he is feeling A LOT better today. I know he wasn't happy with me but I think now he feels it was the right decision. Men! He said I was doing it for a blog entry. I'm glad he is feeling better.

So don't be afraid to go to the hospital in South Korea. This certainly makes me never want to visit one in the U.S. any time soon.

Maedeup

Another maedeup piece is finished as you can see above. Class is over in a couple of weeks. The teacher wanted to know what I wanted to do next because most students take the certification test which completes the program. I told her that I want to continue with classes as long as I'm in Korea. It is an opportunity that will end when our stay here in Korea ends. She was baffled by that answer and continued to ask my girlfriend what I wanted to learn. I kept repeating that I wanted to perfect my knots and to learn whatever she wished to teach me. We never did resolve what that was.



This is a necklace I had to make for homework.

On another note, I was at the grocery store a few days ago when my arm was grabbed by a Korean man. It has been months since this has happened to me so I expected to see an older Korean man or woman. I was surprised to find that it was young Korean man who looked like he was in his early 30's. He asked, "Are you an English teacher?" I replied, "No," He asked, "Do you want to be?" I replied "annio" which is no in Korea. End of conversation. I've never been approached for jobs like I have been here in South Korea.

Tailoring in South Korea

We have been meaning to get to Itaewon since we arrived here in South Korea. There is a tailor shop there that caters to Westerners. They have great prices for custom made clothes. It is especially nice when your husband is 6' 5" (almost 2 meters) and clothes are hard to come by in his size.

Hamilton Shirts is located a couple of stores West of the Subway sandwich shop in downtown Itaewon. I hadn't had a tuna sandwich from Subway since we've moved almost a year ago so we stopped there before preceeding to the tailor. The sandwich tasted just like back home and I devoured it.



As you enter the store you notice that one wall is covered from top to bottom with shirt fabrics. The opposite wall is covered with suit fabrics. You can order future clothes through their website once you have been in the store and measured.



This is Curt (hubby) getting measured. The Koreans were really impressed with how tall he was. He is especially tall here in South Korea. So how many Koreans does it take to measure my husband?



One?

Two?

You win if you answered three. He was measured for two shirts and a suit. The shirts came to about 80,000 WON ($80 US) and the suit was 470,000 WON ($470 US). He has to go back this week to have the shirts and suit final fitted. Hmmm, maybe I can get him to take me to Subway beforehand.

The store was really busy with a constant stream of people. We were the only Westerners in the store during the time we were there but we sure saw a ton of them walking the streets of Itaewon.

I'm Getting Pretty Korean

Hellena called me Friday and told me that we were going to Subway sandwich shop in Itaewon for an early lunch and then off to a famous Korean fortune teller before preceding to maedeup class. I arrived at the Sadong station before the girls and was waiting near one of the many columns holding up the station. All of a sudden I found myself surrounded by 30-50 middle school girls. The questions came rapidly: "Where are you from? How old are you? Why are you here (in Korea)?..." We caught the attention of the other Korean subway travellers as some just looked as they walked by while others paused to see what the commotion was all about. I asked if I could take their picture and they excitedly posed for me. I wish my camera came with a wide angle lens because I was only able to get a few of the students in the frame. I am always amazed when Korean children are excited and come up to talk to me. It is definitely different back in the States.

The front door of the Korean fortune teller. I'll be truthful and tell you that when we approached the door, I was scared to death. It could have been the spiders on the door. I HATE spiders.

When you open the door, you are greeted by a Korean woman. The room is dark with a red hot fire going in the fireplace with the smell of incense in the air. There are statues and trinkets all over the place. The woman led us to a narrow stairway. On the stairway was a bucket of figurines and she had me choose one. I looked and picked one up. We proceeded up the stairs and into a room full of more figurines and trinkets. Sitting on one side of the room was the fortune teller.

I sat in the chair directly across from her and I started to shiver from a sudden chill in the air. My girlfriends sat on mats next to my chair. The fortune teller looked me directly in the eye and began her reading. My girlfriends did the interpreting for me. She asked my birth day and the time of my birth which she wrote down. The first thing she said is that I would be moving this year. It's not really a surprise because there are rumors at Curt's (hubby) work saying the same thing but it was interesting to hear it confirmed, maybe. The next thing she said was that the figurine I chose represented great wealth and that this wealth would begin to materialize next summer.

She proceeded to tell me how many children I had and she was right. She said so many things that were true but too private to share. I was freaked out at how accurate she was. If I was skeptical before the reading, I am not now. The reading ended after about 20-25 minutes and I had to place 50,000 WON ($50.00 US) onto a tapestry.

She then wanted me to come over to her. When I did, she pushed my bangs off of my forehead and said that I shouldn't cover my forehead. It is too nice to be covered. I disagree but didn't say anything. She then took my hand and wrapped a bracelet around it. She said that it would keep my circulation good in my body. I then asked if I could get a picture taken with her. She said that it would be ok.

Here we are. Isn't she mysterious looking? Fortune telling is very popular here in South Korea. Business deals, moving, marrying... are not made without consulting a fortune teller. It is most popular during the Lunar New Year where you will see tents all over the place including my Home Plus store.

My bracelet from the fortune teller.


We couldn't believe how empty the subway was. I had never seen it like this.

My girls.

Jeju Island - Part 5

The next stop on our way around the western half of Jeju Island was Miniature Word. It's a place that has miniature replicas of famous architecture from all over the world. At first, I wasn't too interested in the miniature architecture but what did catch my attention was the Korean families. This place was a major photo op for them.


Here is some of the architecture.


Scenes like these were extremely fascinating to me.

So we ended up taking pictures of Koreans taking pictures.

Everywhere we went, we heard "hana, tul, set" which translates to one, two, three. In the U.S., the usual phrase is "say cheese." In Korea, we've been saying, "say kimchi."

This was the youngest photographer we saw. It took her a few tries to get the camera into position. It was a little too heavy for her.

Mount Rushmore located in South Dakota in the U.S.

They really wanted the little girl to kiss the dwarf.

I guess she needed a little help. I wouldn't have wanted to kiss that dwarf either. To be honest, I can't recall the last time I saw so much picture taking going on.

We also noticed that some couples wore identical shirts. This is a common practice among couples that are dating but I hadn't seen it in married couples.

The next stop was O'Sulloc Tea Museum. Admission is free and features tea related items that span from the present to thousands of years ago. They also sell many different kinds of tea. When you have finished your tour of the museum, you can sit and enjoy some green tea products like green tea ice cream.

The final stop before heading off to the airport was the Bunjae Artpia which is a park that houses bonsai trees. There are over 2000 plants which range from 30-250 years old. I really enjoyed reading some of the signs in the park. I like the statement, "Do not make a thoughtless evaluation." Only if we all could live our lives that way.

How old do you think this tree is?

This is me in a swing we found in the park.

As we were leaving the park, we saw these women picking weeds with their hands. Back breaking work. It doesn't look like they use weed killer.

I never knew all the benefits of bonsai trees.

Lava trees.

As you are leaving the park, you cross over this pond of koi fish.

We saw this little boy come with some fish food that he had bought. The koi went wild for the food. Some even tried to jump out of the water. It was a feeding frenzy.

Our taxi driver wanted a picture with us so of all places, he had us pose at one of the statues at The Museum of Sex and Health. I can't believe where they put their hands. I didn't know that until after we had returned home and I downloaded the pictures.

Our taxi driver turned out the be a celebrity in his own right. He was the personal driver of former President George Bush six years ago when he visited Jeju Island. He spent two days with the President and said he was really a very nice man.

Curt (hubby) had to snap this picture for proof. He had it on the glove box in his taxi. He asked us how we liked his car. He owns the car and was really proud of it.

It was a wonderful getaway. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much during the hot summer. The weather was perfect. We also were surprised at how little traffic there way. It is really rural in most places. We are deciding where to go next. I'm thinking of Bali.

I am definitely becoming Korean. I did something Saturday that was VERY Korean. I even have the pictures to prove it. I know my mom will disapprove but I did it anyway. How's that for a tease?