The Constant Crafter in South Korea

Bo Go Ship Da

2009-05-13T08:01:00.003+09:00

I miss you, South Korea. This blog has served as a diary for my time spent in South Korea. It is a a record of all my adventures and the wonderful times I had in Korea. Of course, there were some tough times but I learned from everything I experienced and am forever changed. I left my heart in Korea and plan on returning a few times a year to visit the life long friends I had made during my stay.

I've been back in the States for a month and a half and there are so many things I miss:
1. The food: from kimchi to buddae jjigae, the food of Korea is incredible!
2. The television dramas: I am totally hooked and look forward to what comes in the future. Thank goodness for http://www.dramabeans.com/ where I can go and watch with subtitles.
3. The crafts: I learned maedeup (Korean knotting) and chilbo (Korean enameling) and will continue to improve my skills.
4. The people: So many opened their hearts to us and I will forever remember their kindness.
5. The traffic: no this isn't a joke! I will NEVER complain about traffic here in the States again.
6. Ajummas: The older Korean women who are headstrong, sassy, and a thing to behold. I brought back a little ajumma in me so watch out world!
7. Coffee: It always followed dinner with our Korean friends and was a time to share.
8. Noribang: Which usually followed coffee where you could get a room and sing your lungs out to your favorite songs.
9. Korean newscasters: They always bow at the end of the broadcast and I miss it.
10. Korean food on television: You could always turn to a channel and see a reporter checking out a small restaurant showing how the food is prepared. I could watch it for hours.
11. Bowing: I still catch myself doing it. I may never stop.
12. Public transportation: From the bus to the subway. It's convenient and cheap. Now, I have to drive everywhere I want to go.
13. Korean yoga: I thought it would kill me but I survived and continue with my exercises here. I still don't think I will every be as good as my 70 year old plus classmates.
14. Korean palaces and gates (forts): We don't have anything that old here in the U.S. and it was all around me.
15. Kim Bum Soo: My favorite SINGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My adventures in crafting will continue on my new blog: http://www.theconstantcrafter.blogspot.com/

Parting Gifts

2009-05-05T08:44:00.003+09:00

Our Korean friends gave us some wonderful gifts to remember our time in Korea. I wanted to bring back a Korean tea set before we left Korea and never had taken the time to get one. We were so lucky to be given this tea set by one of my husband's co-workers.

This was from another of my husband's co-workers. The ducks are for good luck.

Mr. Choi, my yoga buddy, gave this to us.

We were given this by the entire staff at my husband's plant. It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and I can't wait for our ocean shipment to come (is it really another month?) so I can be reunited with these gifts. I have been VERY homesick for Korea and my friends I left. I miss Korea so much and all that I learned every day that I was there. I can honestly say that every time I left my apartment I never knew what to expect. It was exciting and wonderful.

Say Cheese!

2009-05-02T01:51:00.007+09:00

Koreans LOVE to take pictures of themselves or have their picture taken. I have no idea how to use the camera that comes with my phone but I knew I just had to ask one of my Korean girlfriends and she could show me. They are also not shy about taking pictures of themselves in public. I can't tell you how many times I've seen Koreans holding up their phones especially on the subway and snapping away. I've also had the privilege to be invited into Korean homes and the first thing I noticed in most homes was huge family portraits on the wall.

The Korean wedding and 1st birthday pictures rival any professional model shoot here in the States I've seen. They are taken by a professional photographer and it puts my wedding pictures and any that I've had taken of my children professionally to shame.

I was at one of my Korean friend's home and the shade was pulled. The shade was a black and white picture of her little girl. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen!

I have a big family reunion coming up in June. My parents, sisters and their families and hopefully my kids too. We have booked a photographer and it's not a conventional everyone sit together and smile. Oh, they can do that, but they are known for their unusual posing. We'll see if my family is up to it.

Our Korean Apartment

2009-04-28T05:07:00.003+09:00

Shorty before we left Korea I videotaped our apartment mostly for myself to remember when the memories start to fade. I'm really glad that I did it and it gives you glimpse into our life in Korea. We had a wonderful apartment and being the only foreigners everyone knew us.

The Move

2009-04-23T03:27:00.011+09:00

Jeff and Jennifer came down to coordinate our move on April 2nd. They work for the agency that helped us move in and with any problems we encountered during our stay in Korea. I just had to play a joke on Jeff and when I saw these stickers, I was able to sneak one on his back. Don't you love his perm? It's quite the thing for guys to do since that recent Korean drama "Boys Over Flowers." The lead character had a perm.

The packing begins.

I found another sticker. We did finally tell him about it.

Jeff and Jennifer handling our move.

It was noisy in the apartment and I walked by the bathroom and found Jeff talking on his cellphone to my bathtub.

We also had our first pipe leak on moving day. This is Jennifer and Jeff fixing the leak in the kitchen sink.

Everything boxed up. We left with a lot more boxes than we came with. I told my husband that they must use smaller boxes in Korea than back in the States. It couldn't be due to all the great shopping I took advantage of.

One of the movers had blue toe socks. I wore them in the 70's and hadn't seen them since. I found out that he wore them for athlete's foot. You learn something new every day in Korea.

Me and Curt. Everything is gone.

We all went out for dinner and had a great time. Hannah was also there to help us in the move.

Me, Curt and Jeff.

Jeff, Hannah and Jennifer.

Hannah and me at the airport right before our flight. We both were crying after this picture as we said goodbye to each other.

Our luggage at O'Hare waiting for the bus to take us to Rockford, Il. We flew into Chicago and took the bus to Rockford to visit the folks for a few days. We then rented a car to drive to the Twin Cities.

It was great to get back to celebrate our grandson's 3rd birthday.

Luke, our son, with Noah. It's so good to be back but I miss many things about Korea. I still have a few blogs in me before I wrap up this adventure and start the next.

I'll Miss Yeo Jong

2009-04-08T20:12:00.002+09:00

Yeo Jong and her mom invited me over to their house for lunch.

I couldn't believe all the food and how much work it took. She wouldn't let me help so I played with Yeo Jong.

I love her strawberry chair!

She loved me taking pictures of her and then showing them to her. We also play with her toys and had a wonderful afternoon. She is going to have a little sister in September. I will miss her very much!

I'll Miss Yoga

2009-04-06T19:51:00.000+09:00

Here are three of my yoga teachers.

We do twenty minutes of warm-ups before class starts. Most of the people don't show up until the class has already started. I've always tried to make it to the warm-ups.

This is Grace, one of the yoga instructors. She speaks English very well and also gives a great massage.

This is part of the class. The rest were washing the floor which we do after class and they just wouldn't quit for the picture.

One of my yoga buddies.

Me with Grace.

The lady on the left is the manager of the yoga studio and on the right is one of my instructors. I didn't cry at all until we were all in the changing room and while I was trying to change into my street clothes, the women kept hugging. That was all it took for my eyes to fill with tears. They told me that grandmothers never cry and they all took turns wiping away my tears with their thumbs.

Someone told Grace because she came in suddenly looking very concerned but I told her it was hard to say goodbye. She was also the one to tell me that the women were saying that grandmothers do not cry. She said she had never heard that before so I don't know why they were telling me that. I think they felt bad that I was so emotional. These Korean women are tough! I will miss them all dearly.

My yoga buddy, Choi, was pretty upset about my leaving and he was having a hard time keeping his emotions in check. We went out for coffee while I waited for my lunch appointment. I will miss him so much!

I'll Miss My Cleaning Lady

2009-04-04T19:46:00.000+09:00

She came in every week and cleaned the apartment and did our laundry. She even made sure I never ran out of kimchi. Cleaning ladies are very reasonable in Korea so unfortunately I'll be back to cleaning our house once we move back to the U.S.

This is the note she left along with her email address.

Things I Miss: Crazy English T-Shirts

2009-04-02T15:47:00.000+09:00

I love to read Korean English t-shirts. Sometimes they are unreadable with just a bunch of letters. Sometimes they include words that don't make any sense. Some are downright obsence like seeing a child wearing a t-shirt with the "f" word on it. But most of the time I find them a source of entertainment.

Shopping with Hannah

2009-03-31T15:22:00.001+09:00

I went shopping last week with a couple of my Korean girlfriends near Ewha University. We saw a bunch of girls in line so we went to investigate. The KPop group 2PM was signing autographs. I would have joined the line but they had cut it off. Popular Korean bands are booked almost every minute of the day. I was shocked to see the daily schedule these bands.

We also had ddukbokki for lunch. Instead of the usual red sauce this particular restaurant had it in all different colors. We got one in the traditional spicy red sauce and this one in a white sauce. They also had black sauce and yellow sauce.

The Goodbyes Have Started

2009-03-30T14:09:00.009+09:00

I had my last chilbo (Korean enameling) class on Wednesday. I also asked my teacher (through my Korean girlfriend) to put together a chilbo kit so that I can continue doing chilbo upon my return home. I brought Curt (hubby) with me to pick up the supplies last Saturday. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was a lot more than we were prepared to carry on the bus. Curt had never been to the shop and he was so impressed with her talent that I had a hard time getting him out of there. He did buy something though.

She was shocked at how tall Curt was so I took a picture of the two of them and will email it to her.

These are the finished panels for my chest. She had it glued and packed when we came so I'll have to wait until we are back in the U.S. to take a picture of the completed chest.

We decided to take a taxi back to the apartment since we were loaded down with supplies. First my husband tried to hail a taxi and when that didn't work, I tried also to no avail. After a half hour my chilbo teacher came out (she had been with a student) and was shocked to see us still there.

She told my husband to hide against the building and we tried to hail a taxi. Available taxis kept passing us by and my teacher told me "lunchee" meaning they must be on their way to lunch. It was kinda funny that every available taxi was going to lunch. Finally, she told me to go hide with Curt and as soon as I walked away she was able to get a taxi.

We ran to the taxi door and she gave the driver our address and we said our final goodbyes again. Of course, the first time in the shop I was crying all over the place and she kept wiping away my tears with her fingers.

What started the tears in the shop is that she gave me one of her paintings.

This is a closeup. I was so touched by her generosity and I will miss her tremendously. I learned so much from her. Tomorrow is my last day at yoga and I'm sure I'll be a watering pot again.

Change Is Coming

2009-03-29T18:26:00.002+09:00

After many emotional discussions between my husband and I, we are decided to return to the United States. It wasn't any one thing that was the deciding point but more of a decision that it is time. I miss my family. My grandson has gone from a baby to a toddler and my kids, even though they are grown, I think they still need their mama from time to time.

Since we decided to move back, we proceeded with implementing the move as quick as possible. We fly out of Korea on April 4th. I have completed my last maedeup and chilbo lessons, leaving my teachers with tears streaming down my face. I have a week left with my Korean friends but I also have to decide on what goes ocean, air or in the suitcases. The movers are coming on April 2nd.

Korea has forever changed this Midwest girl and I will never forget the time I have spent here. I have made many lifetime friends. I've had to endure some hardships which can come from living in a different culture but the good vastly outweighs the bad.

I still have a lot to say about Korea and the updates will continue. It's time for a new adventure!

Taiwan Part 2

2009-03-28T10:57:00.036+09:00

The flowers were blooming all over Taiwan.

Most of the taxi driver's in Taiwan had some maedeup (Chinese knotting) hanging from their rear view mirror. I didn't notice until putting this picture into the blog that the driver was watching me as I took the picture.

We went out to dinner with some of Curt's (hubby) co-workers. We ate at a Thai restaurant that came with a cute puppy that made his home in our booth while we were eating.

He also spent some time watching us from the counter after we had finished eating.

This is a famous statue and she is there to protect the fishermen of Taiwan.

This is a dessert we had. The creamy part of it had not taste but the little brown things and the juice was very sweet.

Street vendor.

Lots of scooters.

The caption on this t-shirt cracked me up: When did you first discover you needed glasses. At least, it did make sense.

Squid drying in the sun.

A couple of dogs relaxing out in the middle of a street.

The roof of a temple.

This temple was really popular so I decided to venture in.

You lit some incense and brought placed it into a huge dish of sand across from these statues. Then you went and picked up a wooden thing and held it over the incense to capture some of the smoke. Then you brought it in front of the statues and waved it around and then bowed. There was a huge glass box in front where you then placed money. An older couple showed me how to do everything.

Another section of the temple.

Closeup of part of the roof.

Everyone drives scooters and they must start really young. Actually, her dad was in a local restaurant at the time picking up some take out food.

The last day I spent in Tainen, I took a taxi to a more remote section of town. After walking around for a while, I noticed that I had not seen any taxis. I waited and looked for a while and came across this police station. I walked inside and the two officers were instantly concerned that something was wrong.

I was able to tell then that I couldn't get a taxi and so they called one for me. They told me it would take six minutes. Then they sat me down in a waiting area where a bunch of old men were hanging out watching television and drinking tea. They made me some tea and had me sit with them until the taxi arrived.

I had given one of the officers the business card for the hotel and he came over to me when the taxi arrived. The two officers escorted me to the taxi, one patting my back as we walked. The other officer told the taxi where to take me. They opened the taxi door, closed it for me and waved goodbye. They were wonderful.

We went into a restaurant near the hotel but we left after looking at the menu. I kinda lost my appetite.

Funny sign I saw in a store.

Kimchi in Taiwan!

Seaweed potato chips. I wasn't brave enough to try them.

These turtles are made out of shells.

Our hotel was missing a few floors.

This sign is in front of the high speed train station.

The first sign we saw from these protesters caught our attention. This was in Taipei. It looked like they were protesting China's wish to rule Taiwan. We had to walk through them to get where we wanted to go and usually in Korea that is not a good idea. But they smiled at us as we walked by.

Lots of scooters.

This is the place to go if you want to by Taiwanese crafts. It is four levels and has everything. They didn't allow pictures once you entered the building.

I had also heard about the jade market in Taipei. I was not ready for how huge it was.

Tables everywhere and you have to bargain. Another good hint is to actually walk away and they will meet your price. It's not as cheap as I've heard jade is in China but I bought a few items.

More pictures from the jade market.

I found this box while waiting at the departure gate at the airport.

This is what I bought at the jade market.

These are some of the things I bought while in Tainen. It was a wonderful week. The weather was perfect and the food incredible. The next chapter of our life has already been implemented. I'll tell you in my next blog entry.

Taiwan Part 1

2009-03-23T13:32:00.029+09:00

Curt (hubby) had a business trip come up suddenly to Taiwan and I decided to tag along. We flew China Airlines and we were shocked when we were upgraded to business class!

I thought this sign was funny.

We then caught a bus to the high speed train and rode the train to Tainan. I think it was under two hours and the train did stop several times. The ride was so smooth that at times I didn't know we were even moving.

Housing in Taiwan. I don't miss the cookie cutter high rises that you see in Seoul.

Curt took Monday off of work and we did some sightseeing.

It was really warm, in the mid to upper 70's and quite humid but it felt wonderful!

Another funny sign we saw in a temple.

This guy was scary looking.

I think this is where you write and leave your wishes.

A close up.

While we were sightseeing we went by this shop. We didn't venture in.

This sign was also in the same window.

I thought Korea had a lot of scooters. I had never seen so many scooters in my life. The big difference between Taiwan and Korea is that the Taiwanese obey traffic lights.

The crafty side of me caught this in a window.

I bought a bunch of things in this Taiwanese handicraft store. Curt was working during the day so I spent each day exploring Tainan.

I found these temples all over the city. One of Curt's Taiwanese co-workers said that it's a place to go and pray for the fishermen.

Inside one of these temples.

I also walked by a hair salon and decided to get all my hair cut off. I also got rid of the blond. The girl on the left spoke perfect English. They also gave me a half hour head and neck massage. I ended up spending close to three hours there. They even brought me some dessert. They were wonderful. Curt was really surprised when he got home from work that day.

A nearby school was having a relay race. The boys really gave it their all. It was fun to watch. Each day I would take a taxi to a certain area and then explore. I would always get lost and I was amazed at how friendly the Taiwanese people were. Some even spoke English. Everyone I met carefully looked at my map and got me going in the right direction. Part 2 coming.

Wedding Coming Up

2009-03-20T20:27:00.000+09:00

My maedeup teacher is getting married in April and she showed me her wedding pictures. They take all the couple pictures at a photography studio prior to the wedding. Her pictures were beautiful.

She also asked if Curt (hubby) would be the videographer for the wedding. I told her Curt has NO experience doing this but she was really insistent that she wants him to do it. It's not like we weren't going to stick out like a sore thumb anyway. He's being a good sport about it because he knows how much she means to me.

She also wants us to attend the family ritual that occurs after the wedding ceremony. The bride and groom have to bow to the parents. It is only attended by immediate family I'm told so I feel really honored that she wants us there.

Now we have to make sure we are not late to the wedding and it looks like we won't be eating and running afterwards. I can't wait!

Progress on My Chilbo Chest

2009-03-18T16:09:00.000+09:00

I finished painting all the background on the tiles. I'm getting better at blending all the time. The next time I will be adding a bunch of tiny flowers. This has been so much fun.

My teacher had some new pieces for sale and sometimes I just can't resist. She was so happy she gave me one free and put it around my neck.

My teacher is so good and making cat faces. She never usually does one in a pendant so when I saw this one, I bought it immediately. I will be using these pendants with my maedeup.

My New Chilbo Chest!

2009-03-16T15:32:00.000+09:00

I picked up the chest this past week at chilbo (Korean enameling) class. It is about 14 1/2" tall by 11 inches wide. I love it so much!

I forced her into letting me take a picture of her with the chest. She was not smiling for the other picture so I took this when she really wasn't posing. It's my favorite.

She is getting an award in April and wants me to attend. She even offered to pick me up.

Flowers Always Make You Feel Better

2009-03-13T20:49:00.000+09:00

Yesterday my doorbell rang which is an uncommon occurrence for me. I saw that it was a Korean man in some sort of uniform. After the week I had, I was a little hesitant to answer the door but I did. I opened the door and he had this huge floral arrangement sitting on the floor.

I looked down at it and he said in perfect English, "floral delivery." I said, "Annio, must be another apartment." (How's that for my Korean?). He looked at the slip and said, "Bec-ky Mev-er-den." He showed me the slip and sure enough there was my name.

I thanked him and brought the basket into the apartment. It was from my husband's company hoping that I was feeling better. Wow! I was so touched at their thoughtfulness.

Lunch with Yeo-Jong

2009-03-13T15:08:00.005+09:00

I had the pleasure of having lunch with my favorite little girl in South Korea, Yeo-Jung. Her mom was an English major so her English is excellent. We went to a local restaurant chain called VIPS which is a lot like Outback Steakhouse. The biggest difference is they have an out of this world salad bar.

What was most unusual about this salad bar is that you got to have your own plate. Most of the restaurants we have eaten at here in Korea only provide one plate or bowl so everyone shares. The biggest problem we have with that is that I like dressing on my salad and hubby hates it.

They even had desserts. I had some tiramisu which was fantastic. I had never been there before but it is somewhere I will definitely go to again. Yeo Jung was a sweetie.

I want to thank everyone for their kind comments. I really appreciate it. It was a rough week and I am finished with feeling sorry for myself because there are so many wonderful things in my life here in Korea like Yeo-Jong, her mama and all my Korean friends. They all rallied around me.

Victim

2009-03-12T08:40:00.004+09:00

Yesterday was the end of my innocence here in South Korea. I had chilbo class at 1:00pm and decided to do a little shopping around Paldalmun Gate. I bought some CDs I had been looking for and decided to eat at the Lotteria which is a Korean burger chain.

I had a lot of money in my wallet, about 750,000WON ($750US). We were going on a Costco run (which only takes cash). I still had a little time to kill before my class so I was window shopping wearing my IPOD minding my own business as I walked towards my class.

It was lunchtime and there were a lot Koreans out and about. I had also noticed that there were a lot of people begging including one with no legs right in the center of the sidewalk. This is not unusual to see in Seoul but I had never seen this in Suwon or at least our area of Suwon.

Suddenly, I noticed a scruffy looking man approaching me. He stopped me, grabbed my arm which had my purse and put his palm out to me. He said something in Korean and I said, "Annio!" which is no in Korean. He wouldn't let go of me and kept speaking Korean with me yelling, "annio!" He then grabbed my purse and we struggled. Luckily my purse was under my arm and I clamped my arm down to keep him from taking it. During the entire time I was yelling "no" in Korean looking for help from the many Koreans that passed us by. All I received were looks with an occasional stare but everyone continued on.

It seemed like forever when I'm sure it was only seconds. I finally shoved him hard and he let go of my purse. I ran off to my class, not bothering to look back. I was a little scared that he might go the police and it would all be my fault. Believe me, I've read many stories about this happening to foreigners here.

I was so relieved that I didn't bother to look inside my wallet. I saw that my wallet was in my purse and that's all that mattered to me at the time. I finished my chilbo class and rode the bus home. After awhile, I took out my wallet for some reason and noticed that it wasn't very thick like it should have been with all that money in it. I opened it up to find NO MONEY. He had somehow got my money.

I called my husband in tears. He asked if my purse had been opened while I was walking. I couldn't remember because since it's under my arm, I sometimes leave it open if I'm shopping. I called my Korean girlfriend and she thinks I was set up. That there were probably two guys involved and to be honest, I had my ear buds in so I wasn't aware of anything going on behind me. Also, the shock of it left me numb.

If you wonder if I will file a police report? I wouldn't waste my time. After our treatment by the City of Suwon when we were ripped off by a Korean taxi driver, I know there would be no resolution. This happened during lunchtime on a very busy street with many people and I was left to defend myself.

I'm thankful that he didn't pull a knife but I have lost my innocence here. I was under the fallacy that since they don't allow guns, I was safe and I learned a valuable lesson yesterday. I will not listen to my IPOD when walking, I will not stop if a Korean man comes up to me, I will always be aware of my surroundings as if I am being watched. I will not be visiting Paldalmun Gate ever again without my husband.

This was the first time in my nearly two years in South Korea that I told my husband I want to go home. This has been so hard for me to accept. I've been spit on, had cigarette ashes flicked on my chest, had a Korean man pull his pants down right in front of me, rode a bus with a drunk bus driver, been yelled at for being an American (during the beef protests), hit in the stomach by a ajuma... So for this small moment in time, I will wallow in self pity.

Maedeup Anyone

2009-03-10T14:03:00.004+09:00

It's been a while since I've posted any of my maedeup projects. I finally conquered the maewha maedeup. It's one of my favorites but it has a lot of steps. My maedeup teacher is so patient with me. I made this bookmark which also incorporated a chilbo (Korean enameling) piece.

One of the reasons I wanted to learn chilbo was that it compliments my maedeup. I can make a chilbo pendant and then make it into a necklace using maedeup. Korean cording is so inexpensive which makes it a a great option in these scary economic times.

A Little Korean Fashionista!

2009-03-08T13:49:00.003+09:00

We were invited the home of one of Curt's co-worker Friday night for dinner. There were a total of four couples along with their children. Each couple had a girl and a boy. It was so cute that all the boys played together and all the girls played together. They had a separate play room for the kids with all the toys in it. I went into it and played with the boys and the girls.

We had a HUGE Korean dinner, there must have been 30 or more dishes on the tables. I felt so sorry for our hostess. She did a lot of work to prepare the meal and then I thought about all the dish washing she had to do. I offered to help before the meal and after but it is not the custom over here. The food was delicious and all the couples spoke English which always is a big plus.

Then one of the little girls came over to me and talked to me in Korean. I didn't understand her so she again looked me in the eye and repeated what she had said. Her dad didn't understand what she was trying to say so she went over to her mom who said that she wanted me to go and play with her again. So I did! She was only about 3 years old.

As we were all preparing to leave, one of the little girls put on this fabulous fluffy white cape complete with an attached hood with ears. I had to get a picture with her! They sure know how to dress to impress here! I loved it!.

Chilbo (Korean Enameling) Chest Update

2009-03-06T16:31:00.005+09:00

Last week in chilbo class I had to paint all the large flowers that will be on the chest. It was a lot fun of taking my drawing and then copying it onto the copper panels. It was also the last week with my Swedish friend and she is now back in Sweden. We had a great time during class and now it's so quiet without her to talk to.

This week's class I began filling in the background. It took a long time to get the enamel the right thickness over each panel. I only got through half of the panels during class. My shoulders got really sore and my teacher understood what I was feeling.

When I first walked into the shop for my class, my teacher showed me a chest she had just completed. I fell in LOVE! I had wanted to buy a larger work done by my teacher as a keepsake and I knew this was it. It was hard to get her to understand that I wanted to buy it if it was for sale. So finally I asked her how much it was in Korean. She pointed to my chest which I was working on and had a puzzled look like "why do you want two?" I told her I wanted one that she made so she typed in an amount in her calculator and I bought it!! It still needs to have the panels glued down so I won't have it until next week.

It's unusual for the shop to have customers when I have class but it is a retail store also. While I was working on my chilbo, a Korean man came in and he was my teacher's silver supplier. He was surprised to see me and to see me working. He was talking to my teacher when two women came in shopping.

One of the women saw the chest and wanted it. First my teacher said she didn't have any and then the women wanted a price which my teacher wouldn't say since the chest was already sold. I could tell that she didn't like that it was unavailable.

My teacher must have told everyone that my shoulders were sore because suddenly the Korean man came up behind me and started massaging my shoulders. I was a little surprised and said "kamsamnida." (Thank you in Korean). He stopped after a few minutes and then each woman came over and massaged my shoulders. It was strange to me but I'm getting used to all kinds of things here in Korea. They were just trying to be nice.

It soon became time for me to go and I left with the woman who wanted my chest still discussing it with my teacher. I hope it's there when I return next Wednesday!

Dandelions Anyone?

2009-03-04T15:42:00.002+09:00

We found dandelions for sale at our Home Plus. They were expensive too, 11,000 WON per kilogram ($11US). I was shocked to see them but then I have never seen a dandelion in Korea. I wonder what they do with them, dandelion soup?

Now onto my unscheduled dental visit. A veneer fell off while I was eating and it was one that had fallen off before so I thought it would be just a quick trip to the dentist to glue it back on. I called my Korean friend Jennifer and she made the appointment for me. They told her they were really booked that day but would squeeze me in if I came right away.

I arrived 15 minutes later with my tooth and only waited a few minutes before being led to a private room (almost unheard of) which I was grateful for. The dentist came in and he spoke very little English. He looked at the tooth and my mouth, the tooth again and my mouth again. I knew something was up so I tried to tell him in simple English using my arms to demonstrate. Glue tooth. He really seemed baffled what to say so I called Jennifer.

She spoke to the dentist and it turned into a long conversation. The panic set in when the dentist gave me the phone. Jennifer said that part of the veneer was still on the tooth and the dentist needed to do a crown. She said it would take two hours and they wanted to start right away. If you read my blog, you know I have a nasty dentist phobia and the last place on earth I want to be was getting a crown by a dentist that doesn't speak English.

I told her to tell him okay BUT I wanted/needed Novocaine. I wanted NO PAIN. My girlfriend Hannah had just told me about her recent visit to a dentist where she had a lot of work done and no Novocaine. She said it was very painful. The dentist and the two assistants saw that I was terrified so they did try their best to calm me down.

The first thing that happened was a guy with a really nice Canon camera came in and took some pictures of my teeth. He also brought samples to match the color of the new tooth to my other teeth. Next the dentist came back and rubbed some blue gel on my gums. It was pretty potent stuff and made everything numb including my throat. But then his assistant made the mistake of handing the dentist the Novocaine filled needle right in front of my face. It looked huge!! My dentist at home keeps it hidden from me so I don't actually see what the needle looks like. But it was pretty painless as far as shots in your gum go.

The dentist left while the Novocaine did it's thing. He came back and gave me more even though by then even my nose was numb. The next thing I knew the lights went out. The assistant had draped a green cloth which covered everything but my mouth. The dentist started drilling and I lasted for a few minutes before I had to yank the cloth off. This went on several more times during the drilling when the dentist finally told the assistant to stop putting it over me. (I could tell that's what he told her in Korean because the green cloth disappeared.)

Every time the assistant suctioned me, she went for the back of my throat which made me gag. She finally got the message to stay away from that part of my mouth after the third or fourth time. Water also dripped down my mouth into my hair and shirt. I wasn't sure why that was happening. The dentist drilled for so long that my mouth became really sore from staying open so long. Finally, he was finished and I saw that he used seven different drills bits.

Next came the impressions. First, the assistant used a glue gun to squirt blue plastic all over my front teeth. She then asked me to bite so it hardened into an impression of my bite. Then she made regular impressions of my top and bottom teeth. Finally, she made the temporary tooth which took about 45 minutes. I thought it was a lot of time to get a tooth looking and feeling great when it was only going to be in for a week.

I have an appointment on Monday for the new crown. Total cost: 600,000WON ($600US).

Seeing a Korean Doctor

2009-03-03T17:32:00.007+09:00

I needed to get my Vitamin D level rechecked since I tested low while we were home for Christmas. My Korean girlfriend called Ajou University Hospital to make sure they had the same test which they did and to make an appointment for me.

I had never been to the International Clinic and it was a wonderful experience. Curt (hubby) went with me for moral support. The staff in the International Clinic can speak English and we saw a few foreigners like ourselves. When we got there, I gave them my name and had just sat down when someone came to take me to my appointment.

We had an escort and proceeded to the third floor of the hospital and we waited for my name to appear on the television screen. A nurse came out and escorted us into a room. The doctor came in right away and wanted the specifics as to why I wanted a Vitamin D test. He then ordered the test and we left his office. The hospital worker that had brought us up to the doctor's office said that we needed to pay before they could take the blood sample.

The cashiers are on the second level and you need to take a number then wait your turn. It goes pretty fast. We paid for the tests and the doctor's visit then we were escorted to the hospital lab. We had to take a number in this area too.

I panicked when I looked around to see about 20 or more people waiting for blood tests and they were sitting with a clear view of the area where your blood is drawn. I'm used to my blood being drawn in private not with an audience. Our escort saw that I was upset but I thought I would have time to get used to it but our number came up immediately. I was thinking, "What about these other people?" I told the escort the reasons for my hesitation as we approached the nurse. She was surprised at my reaction since she said they see a lot of U.S. military and they never acted like me. It didn't make me feel any better.

As a sat down before the nurse, I was resolved to go through and not think about the Koreans watching me cringe. My escort was speaking to the nurse, explaining my situation. She immediately scooped up the vials and we went into the next room.

We entered the largest laboratory I had ever seem. It looked like 50 or more lab workers in front of all sorts of machines. By then, I was embarrassed, scared, humiliated, you name it. She took us to a tiny room and had me sit down. She quickly took the blood samples and that was it. I thanked her profusely and also our escort. Now I think back on it and wonder why I made such a mountain out of a molehill. You would think I would be used to surprises that come from living in another country.

We went back a week later for the results which we are still trying to decipher. They measured the Vitamin D level in a different type of unit. The doctor said that my Vitamin D level was too high. Curt looked at the results and then mentally did the math and it came out that I was 1/1000 of my initial test back in the States. So Curt and the Korean doctor were both doing the math to try to figure out what the discrepancy was until I finally called a halt to it. I said, "I either have too much Vitamin D or less than 0 so let's go with too much." I got a copy of the results and off we went.

I emailed them to my doctor to see if he can decipher them. It's funny how the same exact test can yield contrary numbers. It's all how it is measured. Tomorrow, the story of my trip to the dentist.

Bus Driver Gone Wild!

2009-03-02T14:08:00.002+09:00

I take a city bus to class on Wednesday and I had always had an uneventful ride until this past week. The bus stopped for me like usual, I got on like usual and found an open seat. He went around the corner and that was the last place he stopped. He blew by all the bus stops. He did stop at stop lights and slowed for traffic but that was about it. He weaved between the two lanes and cars managed to stay out of his way.

I was really freaking out by then and wondering if I was going to ever get off this bus. Finally, an ajumma (older Korean woman) started to yell at him and then the whole bus joined in. Most of the people on the bus were standing by now since their stops had been passed by. He finally stopped and we all rushed to exit the bus. He drove off to who knows where.

I told myself that the next time I got really upset, I WASN'T GOING TO CALL MY HUSBAND. I whipped out my cellphone and phoned him to mainly calm down. I was pretty scared and shook up. He listened and wondered if the driver had a seizure or some medical problem. I didn't know but he didn't slump over the wheel and he did obey traffic signs. I'll never know what his problem was and it doesn't matter know. My husband did ask if I could smell alcohol on his breath. Like I get THAT close to the bus driver. It did make me laugh.

I went onto class and explained to my teacher why I was so late to class. I had ended up about a 30 minute walk beyond my regular stop. She didn't seem surprised by my story which I had to tell with lots of arm motions because I don't speak Korean and she doesn't speak English.

The picture above is NOT the bus that was involved in this incident.

And The Winner is.....

2009-02-28T08:49:00.001+09:00

Shari said...
What a truly kind thing to do. I will find the thread on TAM so I can keep up with your adventures too. Thanks so much for doing this!

Congratulations Shari!! Email me (becky@meverden.net) your mailing address.

I had so much fun doing this that I will be doing it again in the future.

Free Giveaway!!! Enter for Your Chance to Win a Maedeup Bracelet

2009-02-23T10:40:00.005+09:00

With all the bad news in the world these days, I decided it was time for some good news!!! I am giving away this maedeup bracelet handmade by myself. It is 7 3/4" long end to end and is made using Korean cording. The heart is silver plated and 3/4" - 1" in size. I will ship anywhere in the world.

All you need to do is a leave a comment in this post. You may enter only once. The drawing will be on Saturday (Feb. 28th) morning, Korean time. Good luck!

Chibo (Korean Enameling) Chest

2009-02-19T14:44:00.005+09:00

My chilbo teacher had my chest when I arrived at class this week. I will be making chilbo panels to cover the front of each drawer, 12 if you are counting. The bottom three open up as one drawer. Yesterday was spent prepping the panels. I first had to sprinkle powdered glass over the back of each panel. One firing. Then I had to apply the silver foil. Second firing. She then took out a sketch of the drawers and a possible design. I wanted flowers and she had sketched a sample. I had to draw my own sketch which I am horrible when it comes to drawing. I did my best and I think it will look great in chilbo. Next week I start making the flowers.

Goodies from Taiwan

2009-02-18T17:40:00.003+09:00

Curt (hubby) had to travel to Taiwan for business a couple of weeks ago. I would have tagged along but the hotel the company had booked him in wasn't close to anything like shopping. He was also going to be working alot of hours so I would be on my own for the most part. He did do some shopping in the Taiwan Airport. He is always on the lookout for Asian knots and brought me back these goodies.

Health Insurance

2009-02-16T12:31:00.004+09:00

We found this on a shelf at Walmart while we are back in the States for Christmas. How cool is that!

Insurance: (promise of reimbursement in the case of loss; paid to people or companies so concerned about hazards that they have made prepayments to an insurance company)

That is the definition of insurance. The point that U.S. health insurance companies have forgotten the "promise of reimbursement in the case of loss." I've been very lucky. My husband's company offers insurance at a good rate to it's employees. I'm very thankful to have health insurance coverage when so many Americans are living without it.

The reason for this post is I've had some minor problems with our insurance company. We had always had Blue Cross Blue Shield back in the States and I personally had never had a problem with them. I took it for granted that we would pay our portion, the insurance company their portion.

With our move to South Korea, the company switched us to CIGNA. The first year with them was fine even with the bills occurring in South Korea. Last fall, I went in to a local Korean doctor for my annual flu shot. I submitted the bill 10,000 WON ($10 US). I received a letter from CIGNA that they had rejected the claim even though they had paid for it the previous year. CIGNA has told us that they pay 100% of preventative care. I guess a flu shot is no longer considered preventative care.

The second incident occurred while we were back in the States for our annual visit. I had a physical with my doctor since I'm living in Korea. I had been feeling really fatigued and achy since summer so I brought that up with him. He ordered a full blood workup including a Vitamin D test. The test came back that my test number was 6 when a normal range was 50-70. My doctor was very concerned and called in a script for Vitamin D pills, 50,000I.U., one pill a day.

When I went to the pharmacy to pick up the pills, they informed me that my insurance refused to pay. It was around $50.00 so I paid. Apparently, you can buy Vitamin over the counter and that's why it was denied. At the level I need, I would need to consume either 50 1000 I.U. pill or 25 2000 I.U. everyday. I don't know if I could even keep that many pills down. I was fuming and I was only able to find 5 bottles to take back with me to Korea.

I wrote a letter to CIGNA, copying my husband's company and I'm waiting for an answer. But the whole health care problem in the States has been bothering me for a long time. I don't have any feelings one way or the other for Michael Moore but his film "Sicko" made me sick. I live in supposedly the greatest and most powerful country in the world and yet everyday Americans are getting ill and dying from lack of health care even those who have health insurance.

While I'm at it, when did this "pre-existing conditions" come back into policies. I thought that was banned back in the 80's. As most of us age, you are lucky if you wouldn't have a pre-existing condition but many Americans have something that would fall under this category. I have family members where the company switched health insurances and now they have no coverage for what falls under the black hole called "pre-existing." It needs to be abolished once and for all.

And whenever I hear the word "bailout" I want to shout it from the top of lungs, "HOW ABOUT A HEALTH CARE BAILOUT!" I would gladly pay more in taxes to insure that everyone have affordable health care. Why can't we seem to do it when other countries do? 119 (911 in the US) is a FREE service here in Korea. My Korean friends are shocked that ours is not.

I've also recently heard from several sources here in Korea that if you, God forbid, have something catastrophic happen to you like a serious car accident or heart attack that your U.S. insurance won't cover it. I don't even want to think about that and I pray to God I never have to find out.

These are just my feelings. RANT OFF.

New Neighbors

2009-02-14T18:36:00.003+09:00

Living in an apartment complex always brings people moving in and moving out. Back in the States, it seemed the big moving day was the last day of the month. Here in Korea, it is anytime of the month. I noticed one day this past week that the laundry room would darken and lighten quickly. When I finally went to see what was happening I saw the lift. It goes pretty fast so it was hard to capture on camera. We got new neighbors above us.

I'm kinda sad because there were a couple of young kids living there. Often late at night, sometimes after midnight, they would come home and thump, thump, thump around the apartment. My Korean girlfriend was over once when that happened and she was surprised that we weren't upset by the noise. I told her I felt sorry that the kids were getting home so late at night (many nights were school nights) and I'm sure they had energy to burn off. I just wish I had a tenth of the energy they had. I never met them but I will miss them.

One of the good things about new and old neighbors is that they tend to throw out junk while moving. I found this Korean traditional drum in the garbage this week Curt (hubby) thinks it is junk and I should throw it back out. I think it just needs some TLC like getting the wooden center aligned and some scrubbing to clean it up.

It is really ironic because just this week I stopped by a drum store that sells this type of drum, along with drums with beautiful painting on the sides. The store is on my way to chilbo class and I dropped in one day. The cost of this exact drum there was 300,000WON ($300 US). I thought this was expensive but I told Curt that I saved us a ton of money. Then he came home from work and I said, "Look, honey, what I found in the garbage." He was not as excited as I was and still looks at it with disdain. Well I'm happy anyway!

Chillin" at Chilbo (Korean Enameling) Class

2009-02-12T16:12:00.003+09:00

Last week I learned how to bend the wire to make mountains and also how to straighten the wire to make star bursts.

This week I made these pendants. I also forgot to mention I have a new friend from Sweden who walked into the shop a few weeks ago and fell in love with chilbo. She is only here to the end of the month but I'm having so much fun taking classes with a fellow foreigner. Her English is excellent and we have a great time sharing our experiences here in Korea.

After seeing the beautiful chests in the chilbo exhibition, I knew I wanted to make one on a smaller scale. The chilbo teacher has a small 12 drawer chest in her front window so I managed to convey to her that I would like to make one. She drew it all out and it will be 6 weeks of classes, two panels a week. I'm so excited! I'm leaving it to her to decide what I should make but I did point to some of the flower pendants she had in the shop.

Kimchi Kourtship

2009-02-10T13:43:00.002+09:00

If you've been a reader of my blog, you know that I've had some problems with my 72 year old yoga buddy in the past. He seemed to get the message that I wasn't in the market for another husband, Korean or not. But a few weeks ago, he called before yoga and said he was bringing over some mandu his wife had made for me. Being one to never refuse food, I said "sure" thinking I would pick it up after yoga class. He ended the conversation by saying he would drop it off at my apartment before yoga. Ooops.

He knew where my apartment building was because he and his wife have picked me up for several excursions. He showed up at my place at 9:30 am, a full half hour before I needed to leave for yoga. He had never been inside my apartment so I showed him around, put the mandu away and then we sat in my living room. He then asked me if a wanted a "massagee" (Korean for massage). I shook my head and said, "NO!" He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, can I have some coffee?" I made him a cup of instant and we watched TV until it was about 10 am and time to leave for yoga.

This week, he called on Monday to say he had some kimchi he wanted to drop off. I told him just to bring it to yoga but he said the kimchi would go bad if left out of the refrigerator for more than two hours. This had me wondering about all those kimchi pots I see outside and unrefrigerated. Anyway, I told him that the yoga studio had a little kitchen with a refrigerator and to bring it to yoga. He agreed.

I picked up the kimchi after yoga and it was about five pounds of kimchi! I couldn't believe how much he brought! Now I wonder what his wife is going to think when she finds some missing mandu and kimchi. By the way, my husband is not amused.

The Constant.....Eater?

2009-02-08T14:20:00.006+09:00

I'm beginning to think this blog should be called "The Constant Eater" because a lot of times my posts are about food. It is true before we moved to Korea I was a picky eater (no onions in anything, didn't really eat veggies, would never eat anything unless I knew exactly what was in it...). The only thing that I have refused to eat or try here in Korea is octopus. My husband is shocked and thrilled at the change in me. I even eat cooked carrots now. I'm surprised at all the vegetables I am eating. Also since beef is so expensive we have pretty much cut it out of our diet. I think we are both healthier for that and all the other changes in our eating habits. When we do eat out in Korea it isn't fast food but homemade food made fast. That's a big difference.

Here in Korea my bread gets moldy in a few days instead of a few weeks. My milk and eggs go bad so much sooner than back in the States. It's got to be all the preservatives that are added to everything back home. I now buy only half a loaf a bread and go to the grocery store almost every other day instead of once a week when we were living in the States.

Su-Mi (my maedeup teacher) took me to lunch before the chilbo exhibition and I had mandu guk which is Korean dumpling soup. It is one of my favorite foods here in Korea. The picture above is of my soup.

Su-Mi had bibimbap.

Here she is! I love her smile!!

While Curt (hubby) was in Taiwan this week I had all my Korean friends over for an American dinner. I made tacos with hamburger and also chicken. I had brought back about 20 packages of taco seasoning. It was so good to be with friends and we had a great time. They didn't tell Jeff that Curt was out of town for fear he wouldn't come but he took it well when he found out Curt wasn't going to be there.

KEA Exhibit

2009-02-06T16:28:00.022+09:00

My chilbo (Korean enameling) teacher had to reschedule class this week due to her participation in the Korean Enameling Association Exhibit being held in Insadong. I knew I wanted to go and my maedeup teacher, Su-Mi, was kind enough to take me. The piece in the picture above was done by my teacher.

I love this chest but I'm sure one would cost a fortune.

At one point, a Korean woman came up to us with two glasses of orange juice. I didn't really want one because I was taking pictures but I took it and drank it quickly. As soon as I got rid of the glass another woman came over with more orange juice. I politely said, "annio" (no in Korean) but she kept insisting and wouldn't take no for an answer. Su-Mi didn't really know what to do either.

A Korean man came over and said in perfect English that I had to accept it, so I did. A few minutes later everyone was gathered round for some speeches and then we drank a toast. I guess that's why I needed a glass in my hand. Then they uncovered a table, spread with a ton of food. I had eaten a large Korean lunch, then went for coffee and cake so I was definitely not hungry. I stood my ground though as countless Koreans tried to feed me. They really want the foreigner to eat at these things but I truly could not eat another bite.

We even found some maedeup (Korean knotting).

This was Cinderella.

This little guy just wouldn't get out of my shot. I forgot I was trying to take a picture of the earrings. He looked so cute.

My chilbo teacher was shocked to see me. It was so much fun to surprise her. This is a picture of (from left to right): me, my chilbo teacher, Su-Mi's teacher(she is teaching her how to dye fabrics using natural dyes) and Su-Mi (my maedeup teacher). Su-Mi was surprised to see her teacher there. She knew her teacher does chilbo but she didn't think she would be participating in this exhibition.

One of the fun (or not so fun) parts about being a foreigner is that you often are the center of attention. I was the only foreigner at this exhibition and there was a fair amount of surprise by the Koreans. I'm getting pretty used to being stared at and at least everyone had smiles for me. I also had my picture take with a lot of people I didn't know. Many were surprised to find out that I am a student of chilbo. I only hope to be able to someday match up to the talent that was present in this exhibition.

My Blog was Nominated for a Golden Klog Award

2009-02-04T17:48:00.000+09:00

I'm truly honored!! WooHoo!!! I'm on the second section under Best Personal/Diary Blog, 2008 and Best New Korea Blog, 2008

To Vote

Chilbo (Korean Enameling) Update

2009-02-03T19:26:00.004+09:00

More wiring bending in chilbo. My teacher also introduced me to doing chilbo on ceramics. I love how it looks! The only difference comes in when it's ready for the kiln. Instead of having the kiln preheated to 760 degrees Celsium, the ceramic piece is put into a cold kiln and ramped up to 760 degrees and then the kiln is turned off to allow the piece to cool slowly. Otherwise if you put it into a preheated kiln, the piece would shatter. Fun, fun, fun!

It's Time to Eat!

2009-02-02T18:45:00.004+09:00

At our local Home Plus you can also get a delicious meal as well as do other shopping. Located at the front of the ground level of the store is a bunch of cases containing plastic food samples. You order by the number so Curt (hubby) is always practicing his Korean especially if we order a 23.

The prices are incredible for the amount of food you get. We usually order one of the 11,000-12,000WON (about 11-12 US) food choices and we end up leaving food. Don't tell my mom.

You can usually find these cases easily because there are tons of Koreans standing in front of them deciding what they want. This time we went doing the Lunar New Year and the whole store was pretty empty. It was the only reason I was able to get a good picture of some of the cases.

Interesting Menu Item

2009-01-31T13:04:00.002+09:00

We ate dinner last Saturday night with my Korean girlfriend(who we had also had lunch and coffee with). We stopped at a hamburger and hot dog joint in Seoul. It was hilarious to see this as a menu choice. It means that you get beer with your set.

In the U.S. a set is the same as ordering a burger, fries and Coke or a #2 or #5. In Korea, you don't order by the number instead you order by the description. At McDonald's, if I want the #1 set, I have to say "cheeseburger set" v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. When I first moved here and ordered by the number, the cashier would always have to look behind them to the menu board to see what I was ordering. I learned pretty fast after that happened a few times.

Lunch and Coffee in Seoul

2009-01-29T14:40:00.008+09:00

We hadn't seen my Korean girlfriend since we've been back from our visit to the U.S. We got together last Saturday for lunch. This is a kimbap assortment.

We also ordered ddukboki which is spicy rice cakes. It was too spicy for me.

I ordered the scrimp risotto and it was delicious. So what do you do in Korea when you have a full belly? You go to a coffee shop.

This coffee shop had a unique name.

The interior was really cute. We spent a lot of time here and saw quite a few young couples hanging out.

I loved the bathroom sign. The bathroom was located in a stairway next to the coffee shop. The girl's bathroom was on the next level. I thought the girl's bathroom should be the closest but this is Korea. Tomorrow dinner!

More Chilbo (Korean Enameling)

2009-01-26T10:34:00.004+09:00

My second chilbo class involved learning how to work with millefiori glass. It is an Italian word that means a thousand flowers. It involves working with canes of glass and making very complicated patterns. The glass is then cut into slices and we were working with theses slices of millefiori. The picture above has mine piece on the left and my teacher's piece on the right before firing.

This is a second piece we did. This is my teacher's before firing.

These are my two pieces after firing. I have so much fun at class and I'm always amazed at what comes out of the kiln.

No Left Handed Koreans in Korea

2009-01-23T15:22:00.004+09:00

I found out recently from one of my Korean friends that there are no left handed Koreans. If a Korean child shows left hand dominance, the school teacher and the parents change it right handedness. They feel that left handedness equals less intelligence. My friend said that her sister and brother were both left handed and really struggled to become right handed. She says even today it is very difficult to read her brother's writing.

I went to my local Home Plus and took a look at the scissors to see if I could find any left handed scissors. There were right handed or the both sides of the scissor handle was identical. I did find a site devoted to famous lefties. It's funny to me because growing up, the few lefties I had as schoolmates were always at the top of the class.

I'm still on the hunt here for writing left handed Korean.

First Chilbo (Korean enameling) Class in 2009

2009-01-21T10:54:00.004+09:00

Last week was my first chilbo of the new year. My teacher was so happy to see her and it was good to be back. I brought her an American book on enameling and she was thrilled!

This week I learned how to work with stringers which are very thin rods of glass. I was familiar with stringers from my lampworking days. You just break off the length you want of the stringer, dip it into some gooey liquid which keeps it from moving while it's in the kiln.

I have chilbo again today and also my first maedeup class of the year. It will be a busy day.

I Love Korean Airlines

2009-01-19T13:55:00.002+09:00

We flew Korean Airlines to and from the States instead of Northwest Airlines which had always been our choice in the past. The first difference is we flew from Incheon to O'Hare, had a three hour layover and then caught a flight to the Twin Cities. The flight we had taken on Northwest in the past was Incheon to Tokyo with usually a 1 1/2 hour layover (sometimes we were running for the gate because they were boarding) and then Tokyo to Minneapolis. The Korean Airline schedule is worse because of the long layover in Chicago but other things well make up for it.

Korean Airlines seat layout makes for a lot more spacious seating area. There is plenty of room between you and the seat in front of you even if that seat is inclined. On a long flight that is an important consideration. They also have an extensive choice of movies and television shows that will keep you entertained the entire 13-15 hour flight.

Both airlines feed you a lot of food in my opinion but that is to be expected on the competitive overseas flights. But what happens when you eat is that you will need to use the bathroom. The flight home we sat in the exit roll with the bathroom right in front of us. I was shocked to see a Korean Airlines flight attendant tidying up the bathroom. I had noticed this on our flight to the States too but I wasn't sitting where it was easy to monitor the bathroom activity. A flight attendant tidied up the bathroom at least once an hour. That really helped to keep the bathroom from becoming a "pit" after a long flight.

We did see a first on our flight back to Incheon. We were taxing to the runway with clearance to take off and we were taxing at pretty fast pace. We were sitting directly across from a flight attendant who was sitting all buckled in when one of the overhead bins popped open. She immediately unbuckled and raced over to shut the bin. She returned to her seat just was we were preparing to take off. As the pilot put the engines into full throttle for take off, another bin popped opened. As the plane raced down the runway, this same flight attendant got up and dragged herself up the seats to the open bin and struggled to close it as the plane lifted off. She secured the bin and returned to her seat as the plane climbed into the sky.

Curt (hubby) and I were really shocked. We have been on a flight where a bin has popped open on takeoff but the attendant waited for clearance before leaving her seat. We have never seen a flight attendant leave her seat during takeoff. I'm pretty sure that is illegal under FAA rules but maybe foreign airlines has different rules. It was a pretty exciting start to a long flight.

The picture above is what we received from our Korean Airlines flight. It consists of socks, mask, toothbrush and lanyard (not sure what that is for). I also took an air sickness bag. Sometimes I'll decorate the bag and use it as wrapping for a present. It always gets comments.

They Missed Me!

2009-01-16T20:07:00.003+09:00

My yoga class really missed me while I was in the U.S. I went back on Monday even though I was still feeling some major jet lag. But I didn't see my two favorite yoga ladies until Thursday. When I walked into warm up that day and they saw me, they put their arms out to me to give them a hug. Hugging is not big here in Korea so I was really surprised.

Then during the warm up, everyone was looking at me and talking to me in Korean and I didn't understand what they were saying. I asked my English speaking yoga buddy what they were saying and he told me that they are saying that you've never looked more beautiful and that you have lost weight while in the U.S. (not true). I was deeply touched that they cared so much for me.

Even when the time came to do our 10 minute walk, they came up to me and hugged me some more and held myhand as we walked. It was really overwhelming.

After class, I had brought gifts for everyone. Thank goodness for Bath and Body Works. I bought gift sets for the teachers and hand lotion for all the women. The men were a little more difficult and I settled on pens with English written on them.

As I was handing them out, the men also wanted some hand lotion and then some of the women wanted a pen. It was hilarious but everyone appreciated the gifts. I had ordered everything on line and I was surprised at how heavy gift sets and hand lotion can be. The suitcase they ended up going in weighed in at a hefty 69 pounds!

Thank goodness my husband is still Platinum with Northwest but that will end in February.

Theft and Rudeness

2009-01-14T15:03:00.003+09:00

I realized on Christmas day that one of Curt's (hubby) presents never made it under the tree. I was a frantic wrapper as soon as we arrived home in prep for the trip to Illinois. I had printed out everything that I had ordered on-line except this order from Amazon. It was the first and second season of 30 Rock.

When we returned home, I checked on the order and saw that it was delivered on December 9th. So the only conclusion was that it was stolen off of our front porch. I'm relieved it only happened once since I had ordered quite a few things online. It was hard to find the place on Amazon where you inform them that you did not receive a shipment. They don't make that easy but I was able to report it as never received and received an instant credit.

Then the day after Christmas, the phone rings and it's our credit card company. They asked about the last few charges on our credit card which turned out to be fraudulent charges. One charge was for a little over a $1.00 from a photo company and the next week we received these four pictures. The other charges were $30 or less.

The credit cards were cancelled and new ones were reissued. It took about a week to receive them and luckily I have a business credit card which we used in the meantime. We were in the States to stock up on clothes and shoes and needed to do some serious shopping.

I ran through a million emotions from shock to disgust to finally settle on disappointment.

There were also two acts of rudeness that didn't help my mood. I was leaving Target with a couple of bags and expecting to exit through the automatic doors. Two women were stopped right in front of these doors looking through their bags and talking like they were the only two people in the store. They never gave a second look to the people that had to go around them or even that they were bottle necking traffic. I was steamed.

The second act of rudeness occurred at O'Hare Airport on our return flight. We had just gotten onto a tram to take us to our gate. Curt and I were both holding onto the same pole when a woman and her husband barged onto the tram. She was on her cellphone with someone from an airlines and there was clearly a problem with where they needed to be.

With her back to me, she shoved me out of the way and leaned onto the same pole we were holding onto splitting us up. I pushed against her to let her know I was there and was ignored. She was talking so loudly I'm sure the entire tram heard the conversation. I looked over at her husband who was standing patiently by another pole and gave him a not so nice look. He looked away and didn't bother to retrieve his wife.

Curt was just as surprised that this had happened but just shrugged his shoulders. She finally looked around , realized what she did and went to stand by her husband as her phone conversation continued. They got off the next stop without a "I'm sorry" or even a glance our way. Again, I was steamed.

I also have to tell you about the little old lady at my hometown grocery store. I had stopped in to pick up two items and I saw that the 10 item or less line was really long so I got into one of the regular lines. This wonderful little old lady who had to be in her 80's saw my two items and asked me to go ahead of her. I refused but thanked her and I left the store with a big smile on my face. It had meant so much to me.

We're Back!

2009-01-13T15:29:00.010+09:00

It was a whirlwind trip back to the States, our first in a year. Three weeks to see family and friends, do some serious shopping (keeping in mind it has to fit in our suitcases) and numerous doctor and dental visits plus try to fit in Christmas. The time flew but it was anything but unlike this gas station sign, it was anything but a quick trip.

While waiting for our flight at Incheon Airport, we found the Traditional Culture Experience Zone where you can try Korean crafts for free. You only have to show them your boarding pass and you are ready to go.

I decided to make a miniature panel using hanji which is a Korean papercraft.

It was well organized and the Korean teachers knew English and were very helpful.

I am putting the hanji onto the panel. Our plane left on time and 13 hours later we were at O'Hare in Chicago. The weather was perfect without any snow to worry about so we thought. We had a three hour layover so we found the nearest Chili's and pigged out! It was delicious. We really love their chips and salsa.

We got back to the gate only to find out that our plane, which happened to be coming from Minneapolis then returning to Minneapolis was delayed due to weather in Minneapolis. They were having five inches of snow. No big deal. The plane finally arrived about 45 minutes late and we boarded only to find out that we were being delayed two hours.

The pilot said that the weather had taken a turn for the worse and Minneapolis was having trouble keeping runways open due to blowing snow. Luckily, we took off after about an hour. The flight is only 45 minutes long and after we had been flying about 45 minutes, the pilot informs us that Minneapolis is down to one runway and we have been diverted to Madison, Wisconsin.

We landed in pretty snowy conditions along with a few other planes. We pulled up to a gate and a few passengers actually got off and decided to rent a car and drive to Minneapolis. The pilot kept us well informed and said that we needed to be refueled before we could take off even before we got clearance from the air traffic control. After another hour or so, we were fueled, deiced and given clearance to take-off.

We landed in the Twin Cities eight hours after our original scheduled arrival. We had a ton of luggage and proceeded to get our rental car for the week. The drive home was a little dicey with plenty of slippery spots and my poor sleep deprived husband at the wheel.

We arrived home to be greeted by our daughter and grandson. It was fantastic to see them after so long. They stayed overnight and we hit the bed about 10 pm.

We were planning on heading down to Rockford, Illinois for Christmas with the folks on Monday but after getting home so late Saturday, we decided to drive down on Tuesday. It turned out to be a lousy day travel through the Midwest.

We saw car after car in the ditch. I finally got out the camera to shoot a few pictures.

Traffic was at a crawl at many places and rightfully so. It was snowing heavily and extremely windy.

Our normal 5 hour trip took 8 hours and we arrived tired and dazed. My sister was having a family party that night but we graciously bowed out and hit the sack early.

Christmas was great and we left that day to have Christmas night with our kids. Both had work conflicts so they couldn't come to Illinois. Luckily, the trip home was uneventful.

Just Doesn't Make Sense To Me

2008-12-26T16:26:00.000+09:00

Whenever we go to our local Home Plus, we find these traffic markers in front of each of the handicap parking spots. I can't imagine having to get out of my car to move the cone before I pull into a parking spot especially if I'm handicapped. It just doesn't make sense to me.

Up, Up and Away

2008-12-19T13:34:00.008+09:00

We are flying home tomorrow for the first time in a year. It's amazing how fast the year flew by. Curt (hubby) decided we needed a Christmas tree here in Korea so we bought this pre-made miniature tree at our local Home Plus.

I had maedeup (Korean knotting) projects sitting in a drawer from class so I pulled a bunch of them out and used them to decorate the tree.

It was a great idea! I think I will make some maedeup ornaments for next year.

My maedeup teacher was so impressed she took out her phone and shot a bunch of pictures of our tree.

I'm not looking forward to the 13 hour flight, 3 hour layover at O'Hare before continuing into the Twin Cities but it will be soooo good to be home. I hear there is a big snowstorm hitting on Friday so hopefully it will be completed before our flight arrives on Saturday.

Hopelessly Addicted!

2008-12-18T14:55:00.003+09:00

Hopelessly addicted to Korean Holiday cards! They got some last minute ones in at my local Home Plus and I just couldn't resist.

We also see here in Korea the same Salvation Army bell ringers that we have back in the States. They ring their bells a little differently and I can't read their signs but the message is still the same. The Salvation Army is an organization close to my heart. My grandparents were officers in The Salvation Army and served as missionaries in India.

I grew up going to church every Sunday at The Salvation Army. I played trombone in the band and also stood for hours ringing a bell at Christmastime. I saw firsthand what The Salvation Army does for those in need. So when you hear a bell ringing, remember every little bit helps especially during these trying times.

Dirt Cheap

2008-12-17T14:30:00.003+09:00

Idiom: a phrase whose meaning cannot be made sense of from the literal definition, but refers instead to a figurative meaning that is known only through common use.

My Korean friends ask me from time to time to explain the meaning of an English word or American phrase and I sometimes find myself at a loss for words which can be embarrassing when you are the English expert in the bunch. Idioms fall into this group. I never really thought about some of our sayings or slang that I use in everyday life such as that's a "piece of cake" (easy to accomplish) or that costs "an arm and a leg" (very expensive). If you look at what each word independently means and compare it to what it truly means, it's no wonder how difficult the English language is.

I was at the grocery store this week picking up carrots when an idiom popped into my head and made perfect sense. At my Korean grocery store, you can purchase carrots and potatoes dirty or washed. There is a huge price difference between the two. The two dirty carrots I purchased above came to 600 WON (40 cents US) and the same carrots, cleaned and in a cellophane bag were 2000 WON ($1.60US). Both prices were cheap to me but the washed carrots were three times to price of the dirty carrots. Dirt cheap. It now totally makes sense to me.

Constantly Crafting

2008-12-16T15:45:00.005+09:00

Tis the season to be crafting, fa la la la la la la la la. I have been busy making Christmas gifts along with continuing my weekly maedeup and chilbo classes. I have been thinking about continuing the chilbo whenever our stay in Korea is over. I do have a kiln thanks to lampwork beadmaking but I have a feeling that the enamels can get quite pricey.

When I started making glass beads, I spent a small fortune on supplies and ended up leaving it all when we moved to Korea. I'm not sure I will light the torch once we return. It's hard to think that far ahead.

I made this compact last week in chilbo and the teacher wrote my name in Korean.

In maedeup, I am perfecting the knots and also learning more complicated and traditional ways to do the knots. I can't tell you how good if feels to make these knots and create a piece of jewelry.

The big news is that I have a U.S. company that is selling the actual Korean maedeup cording that I used. Although my book won't be out until September, I am going to have a couple of tutorials on their site in January so you can learn a maedeup and start making your own jewelry. The company is The Satin Cord Store.

Homemade Budae Jjigae

2008-12-14T14:06:00.002+09:00

Last week my yoga buddy, Mr. Choi, invited me over to his house for lunch after yoga. His wife wanted to make budae jjigae for me. At first, I was a little apprehensive because of the previous incident. Everything is back to normal between us and he assured me that, of course, his wife would be there. He knew I wouldn't do the cooking.

When we arrived at their apartment, his wife was busy preparing all the food. I tried to help but she shooed me out saying that was the Korean way. Choi gave me the grand tour of their apartment which is located right next to a mountain so they have a fantastic view. They had two large family portraits on the wall. I asked and he told me that they were of his son and his family. Mr. Choi and his wife were in both pictures with their son and his wife and family. The pictures were taken a few years apart. He also had several pictures of his son's two children.

I knew he also had a daughter so I asked about her. He confirmed he had a daughter and she was married with a couple of kids. I asked about pictures of them and the answer was that there weren't any pictures. I think he meant that they had not taken any formal portraits but the total exclusion of his daughter and her family had me offended.

The picture above is of the side dishes. She made them all from scratch.

Here is the budae jjigae. I guess every Korean family owns the tabletop gas stove which you find in any budae jjigae restaurant. She made a ton of food for the three of us. After lunch, she refused my help in clearing the table.

I had made some homemade chocolate chip cookies as a gift. For dessert, she cut up a Korean pear, apple and a persimmon and a few other fruits I had never seen before. She also broke open a cooked and room temperature sweet potato. I'm not a sweet potato fan but she was very insistant that I try everything. I was surprised how naturally sweet it was.

She doesn't speak any English but through Choi I found out that maybe I should not have brought the cookies. She let me know that cookies along with what a lot of food Americans eat was not healthy and made you fat. Ouch! I have a feeling the grandchildren (probably just the son's) will be eating the cookies. Just for the record, his son lives in the apartment building right next door.

Choi's wife knows how much I love Korean culture and crafts. After lunch, she showed me her handmade Hanbok. It was beautiful and to think that it was entirely hand stitched. She then went into the bedroom and put it on for me. I had to take a picture.

I had a great time and lunch ended up lasting over three hours. I had to excuse myself to get home in time for my maedeup class (Korean knotting). I had a great time and Choi told me that she wants to make me bulgogi next time.

Pampering Perfection in Seoul

2008-12-12T12:34:00.009+09:00

With the stress of the Holidays and our pending visit back to the States, my Korean girlfriend suggested a day of pampering in Seoul. We had been to this hair salon a month ago for perms and a touch up on highlights I had done a week before at the hair salon at Home Plus. For some reason, Home Plus stylists won't highlight down to the root so when it was completed, it looked like I had a month's grown already.

Hellena told this salon to touch up my roots and to give me a perm. The stylist used a curling iron to curl my hair into tight curls, then applied the neutralizer... I told Hellena as he proceeded to curl my hair that it wasn't going to work but the stylist was afraid to damage my hair and refused to give me a "normal" perm. I had to relent. By the time I arrived home, the curls were completely gone. The cost of touching up my roots and the perm was 170,000 WON ($125 US).

This time Hellena was insistent and I got the Korean perm with the heating hair rods. No charge. While I was getting hooked up to the perm contraption, I felt like I was in a science fiction movie and my entire head would be fried. The stylist was constantly checking to make sure I was not getting burned. I would definitely have said something if it did happen.

Another view of the perm machine.

We were at the hair salon for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours so we were hungry when we left. Hellena found a Korean style restaurant close by that was known to have great food. This is a picture of the fish. It as delicious but I'm always so scared of fish bones so Hellena used her chopsticks to remove the bones as she gave me pieces of the fish. She always takes good care of me.

We also had kimchi jjagae.

The sides were also delicious. We are definitely going to go back with Curt.

The next stop after lunch was at a nail salon. I had a pedicure and then a manicure. This guy was sooo funny. The only English he knew was the word WOW and he would get excited and then just yell it out.

He was a very talented artist and I decided to have two of my nails painted.

Here we are after my nails were dry.

He put teddy bears on each of my thumbs. A manicure was 10,000WON ($7US). It was an extra 10,000WON per each painting. He showed me his cell phone where he had pictures of other nail designs that he had done. I had a blast and will definitely go back.

It was one of the best days I've ever had. I am constantly being amazed at what Seoul has to offer. It has everything! I'm still discovering things even after being here a year and a half. Everything we did was in the Hongdae area of Seoul.

Another Korean Wedding

2008-12-09T15:13:00.003+09:00

We had another wedding in Seoul a couple of weeks ago. The bride was a co-worker of Curt (hubby). Luckily this time, he made sure to get TWO buffet tickets. The bride walked down the aisle on this lit platform.

After the vows, the bride and groom faced the singer. She sang a song half in Korean and half in French.

As they walked down the aisle, a canister shot off releasing streamers all over the couple. It was a terrifying pop that shocked Curt into snapping a picture. Perfect timing.

My pictures got out of order as I uploaded them onto Blogger and I'm too dang lazy to rearrange them. This is the happy couple at the conclusion of the ceremony. I rarely see Koreans smile especially when pictures are being taken.

Is she darling? We've been out to dinner with her and her parents several times. She was flirting with some of Curt's single co-workers. She is going to be a heart breaker.

DMZ - Part Three

2008-12-06T18:28:00.007+09:00

The final stop on the USO DMZ Tour was to The Third Tunnel of Aggression. It was dug by North Korea and discovered by South Korea on October 17, 1978. Two other tunnels were discovered previously and it is rumored that there are 17 tunnels either completed or being constructed at any given time along the DMZ.

This tunnel is located only27 miles from Seoul. It is approximately 73 meters from the surface and is 1.1 mile long. It is said that it is 2 meters wide and 2 meters high. I disagree that the height of the tunnel being 2 meters unless it has shrunk since 1978.

It is said that if used by North Korea, 30,000 troops and equipment could have passed through the tunnel in an hour. South Korea perceived these tunnel discoveries as a direct threat to South Korea. North Korea's answer was that the tunnel was part of a coal mine and even went so far as to spray paint areas black to look like coal.

A warning to those who wish to venture down into the tunnel. If you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, have bad knees or legs or are TALL (like my hubby), I wouldn't recommend the walk.

The initial entrance consists of a 358 meter descent with such a steep angle, it was hard to keep your feet from running. I found my knees really sore by the time we got to the bottom which is the entrance to the actual tunnel. In the back of my mind, I realized we would have to walk back up from where we came.

They have hard hats for you to put on before you begin to protect your head. Poor Curt (hubby), he is just shy of 2 meters and was bent to his waist just about the entire length of the tunnel. IT IS NOT 2 METERS TALL! I even had to duck my head most of the time and I'm only 5' 5". I heard a lot of groaning from Curt and when I would asked if he wanted to turn back, he never really said anything.

You are not allowed to take any pictures in the cave. At the end is a steel wall which seals the tunnel off. We looked at the wall and turned around to begin the journey back. By the time we had to climb the 358 meters back up and out of the tunnel, I was dying. It was tough.

The exit from the tunnel. The roads into the DMZ had roadblocks so that the bus had to do a zigzag pattern to get through. We were not allowed to take pictures of these roadblocks but it would be impossible to maneuver around them at a high rate of speed.

On the bus ride back to Seoul, we saw many of these guard shacks about every 100 yards. If you look closely, you can see three South Korean soldiers at the bottom of the picture. Almost all the shacks were occupied by at least one South Korea soldier.

The DMZ is the most heavily armed border in the world. I've also heard it contains the most land mines. We saw many mine warning signs. On the bus ride back to Seoul, I was surprised to see miles and miles of barbed wire.

Traffic back to Seoul was stop and go. We have often seen people selling food in the traffic jam right there on the highway.

Interesting rims on this car.

I was surprised to find out that Korean citizens cannot tour the DMZ without special authorization. It usually takes two months for the authorization. The reason is South Korea is worried some of their citizens may defect to North Korea. I find that hard to believe.

If you want a thorough and informative tour of the DMZ, I highly recommend the USO tour. Right now, it runs on Thursdays and Saturdays. I learned so much and have even more respect for those who serve in the Armed Forces.

DMZ - Part Two

2008-12-04T09:13:00.012+09:00

One of the stops on the USO DMZ tour was the site of The Panmunjom Axe Murder which occurred approximately 11:00 am on August 18, 1976. A UNC work force was pruning a poplar tree that was blocking the view between two guard posts. It was considered routine work and had been done by both sides in the past.

A group consisting of 4 UNC guards and 6 Korean Service Corps workers gathered to begin the work of trimming the tree. A KPA (Korean People's Army) guard told them to leave the tree alone. The JSA commander in response placed a 10 man quick reaction force nearby along with additional guards and cameras.

Work began at 10:30 am when at 10:50 am, a KPA lieutenant demanded the work to stop. The officer in charge, Captain Bonifas, directed the work to continue since it was needed and also routine. The KPA lieutenant dispatched reinforcements which grew to about 30 by 11:00 am. Once more the KPA officer ordered work to cease. When it was ignored, he removed his watch wrapping it in a handkerchief and placed it into his pocket. He then ordered his men to "Kill the Americans!"

The KPA took the axes that were being used and attacked the two American officers. The fight lasted a total of 4 minutes. The attack was halted when a truck driver pulled his truck forward to try to protect the American officers. The KPA guards retreated across the Bridge of No Return. Captain Bonifas and Lietenant Barrett were brutally murdered while 4 U.S. soldiers and 4 ROK (Republic of Korea) soldiers were injured. KPA casualties were never known. This all being caught and recorded on numerous cameras. The photo above is from just before the attack occurred.

This is the memorial for the fallen men. The base is the exact size of the original tree. You can see up to the right of the photo one of the guard houses that was being obscured by the tree.

Another view of the memorial. The tree was cut down August 21, 1976 after troops were scrambled ready for deployment to the area. The removal of the tree was known as Operation Paul Bunyan.

We also were able to see the North Korean village of Kijong-dong which is known as Propaganda Village. It was known primarily for its extensive loud speaker system that broad casted the praises of Kim Jong-Il. They used to broadcast 6-12 hours a day, mostly at night. The village is uninhabited with 15-20 caretakers that raise and lower the flag and maintain the facilities.

The flag pole is 160 meters high and flies a 30 meter long flag.

This is the Bridge of No Return where prisoners of war were returned. The prisoners were given the choice of remaining in the country of their capture knowing they could never return to their home once their decision was made.

Big brother was watching everything!!

View of North Korea.

North Korea.

Panoramic view of North Korea.

DMZ - Part One

2008-12-02T13:52:00.004+09:00

The best way to tour the DMZ is through the USO. We were very impressed with how organized and informative the tour was. We had to be in Seoul by 7:15 am. to get checked in at the USO office at Camp Kim in Seoul. We were told which bus to report to and at what time. We ended up with about a half hour wait.

The trip took about an hour and we arrived at Camp Bonifas which is the base camp for the United Nations Command Security Force - Joint Security Area. It is located 400 meters south of the southern boundary of the Demilitarized Zone.

We were given a briefing in Ballinger Hall prior to visiting the JSA (Joint Security Area). We were allowed to take pictures during this briefing. We were also told that we would be told when pictures were allowed and when they would not be.

The picture above is of the current leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Il and the picture on the right is of his father.

We had to sign a document and I didn't read it so I couldn't tell you what it said. We went back into the bus and proceeded to the JSA.

This was our U.S. guide for Camp Bonifas. He briefed us on how we should conduct ourselves (no gesturing to the North Korean solders) and pointed out what each building was in the area.

You can see the North Korean solder underneath the sign. They added the third level to be taller than the building we exited out of.

A South Korean soldier standing in a Tae Kwon Do ready position. He never moved.

Cameras watching everything.

This is a North Korean building. We were told that North Korean soldiers will mock and gesture to South Korea soldiers from time to time.

Better view of a North Korean soldier. I heard that the North Korean soldiers must serve for 12 years and that North Korea puts the sons of wealthy (if there is such a thing) families in the DMZ because they would be less likely to defect. Their families would be severely punished.

Another view of the North Korean building.

Inside the JSA, we were standing in North Korea. This is the table where talks between the two Koreas occur.

Curt (hubby) with a South Korean soldier and he is standing in North Korea.

North Korean soldier.

We had to get a picture of us in North Korea.

That's me with the South Korean soldier. Nobody else would get close to the soldier. They said it was fine as long we we didn't go behind him.

The Korean soldiers also wear ball bearings sewn into their pant cuffs which ching when they walk. It is meant to sound like there are many of them. Part two coming.

Thanksgiving in Korea 2008

2008-12-01T13:23:00.003+09:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving the Wednesday before Thanksgiving because it was the only day all the girls were available. It wouldn't have been the same without them. This was the first time Hellena and Jennifer had ever had turkey and I was excited to see if they would like it.

We bought the turkey at Costco several week prior and had a hard time getting it to fit into our freezer and our refrigerator. When it came time to cook the bird, it barely fit into our oven. I spent most of two days preparing the food and I was exhausted by the time it was over.

I forgot about my camera until dessert time. The girls brought us a Baskin Robbins cake.

It was cute and delicious.

I did manage to take a picture of my green bean dish. This was a new recipe which I found on The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog. Here is the recipe. Everyone loved it along with everything else. In addition to the turkey and green bean dish, I made stuffing, make ahead mashed potatoes, gravy and shrimp with shrimp cocktail. I also baked some peanut butter cookies with a Hershey kiss center. Curt (hubby) loves them.

We packed up a bunch of leftovers and sent them home with the girls.

2 Weeks of Chilbo (Korean Enameling)

2008-11-28T15:44:00.004+09:00

This week in chilbo (Korean enameling) I learned how to make flowers. I made a pill box cover and a pendant. It took a total of six firings to finish. My teacher had completed the first four firings before I arrived.

Last week I learned how to enamel over silver foil. The enamel is applied very thinly and this mirror took me forever to complete. I wrote my name and my teacher wrote the "Happy Suwon." Her handwriting is better than mine!

Tomorrow we have another wedding Seoul. I'll be back about our Thanksgiving. It turned out great except I forgot to take pictures until the end.

As of Thursday, there is now U.S. beef at our Home Plus. Luckily, I didn't go on Thursday as there were 3o Korean protesters against U.S. beef and they even protested inside the store. It was best to stay away.

2008 Korean Christmas Card Parade

2008-11-26T13:46:00.007+09:00

Home Plus is full of Korean Christmas cards. I just had to buy since they were so cute. This one drew me because it has some maedeup (Korean knotting) embossed on it.

I love the little Hanbok girl on the left so I went back a day later to buy some more. All these cards I bought were gone already.

I don't know why this picture is sideways on Blogger. I tried everything to no avail. It's been two busy days spent in the kitchen cooking. If you know me you know how much I love to cook (NOT). The girls are coming over tonight for Thanksgiving dinner. This was the night that worked out best for everyone. I'll post my menu tomorrow along with pictures.

Korean Rappers

2008-11-23T13:28:00.005+09:00

On Saturday night, we were passing through Sadang Station in Seoul on our way back to Suwon when we saw a crowd gathered and heard some singing. You can often find performers in the subway stations especially on weekends. I happened to have my video camera and was able to catch this group.

We only caught half of this song. We unfortunately wtinessed a drunk ajoshhi causing a scene. When we exited the Sadang subway, we encountered the longest line for the 7770 bus in our entire time here in South Korea. Other bus lines were also unusually long. We found the end of the line and began our wait. There were four to five lines waiting for different buses and the buses were few and far between.

All of the sudden, a drunken ajoshhi starts yelling and another ajosshi (who was in line for a bus) complaining about the wait. His hands were flying and he directed his anger at the ajosshi waiting patiently in line. The arguing went back and forth until the drunken ajosshi pulled out his knife case and showed a knife with about a five inch blade. This stopped the argument immediately.

This is when Curt (hubby) and I started to get real nervous. Luckily, he put the knife back into his bag and then cut into the front of line. Flashing an exposed knife does give one the ability to cut in line. Their bus finally came and as the drunk ajosshi entered the bus, he stopped and started screaming at the bus driver. Passengers were unable to enter the bus and everyone just stood around trying to ignore what was going on. Finally, a Korean man took the guy and shoved him to the back of the bus. The bus driver was smiling and shaking his head the whole time.

I thought about videotaping this whole thing since we had our camera but Curt was against it since the guy had a knife and he could direct it on us. I'm really hoping not to see any more of this type of behavior because it is really disturbing especially when you are witness to it. Traffic turned out to be horrible to Suwon and that is why the buses were so sparse.

The Korean Scooter Guys

2008-11-21T15:57:00.003+09:00

You can't walk a street or drive a car in Korea without encountering the scooter guy. They are everywhere including the sidewalks. They can maneuver around you before you even hear them and can stop on a dime. They aren't afraid of cars and we once saw a scooter guy come out of a side street and plow right into a taxi. They deliver your dinner and then come back to pick up your dirty dishes. Even our mail carrier is a scooter guy.

A scooter guy has his own rules of the road. A red light means to look both ways and then go. Most will stop for pedestrians but don't count on it. They will thread their way through stopped traffic to get to the intersection. I've seen police cars at same intersections and have yet to see a scooter guy ticketed.

Korean scooters guys are always in a hurry so be careful when in Korea. Sometimes a scooter guy will decorate his basket but nothing like the one in the picture above. Scooter guys can also be crafty. Who wants to look at an ugly yellow basket when you can look at a bunch of stuffed animals.

My Maedeup Book!

2008-11-20T14:58:00.003+09:00

My Korean maedeup book is scheduled to be out in August, 2009. You can preorder it at Amazon. I was also honored to have the Queen of Crafts, Carol Duvall write the foreword for the book. It includes 10 maedeup knots with detailed instructions along with 30 jewelry projects.

This book would have never been possible without my move to South Korea and the good friends I have made here. This book will introduce the world to the talent of South Korea. I just wish I didn't have to wait so long for its release.

She Works Hard For The Money

2008-11-19T16:21:00.002+09:00

It's not uncommon for me to encounter one of the many cleaning women that work so hard to keep our apartment building spotless. At times I find them on our elevators scrubbing the floor as the door opens to let me enter or washing windows as I enter the apartment building. I used to get look of shock expression but now they just smile and we greet each other in Korean. Korea has the shortest broomsticks I have ever seen. They are about three feet long which means these women have to bend over to use them.

I was surprised to come home the other day to see the cleaning supplies but no cleaning lady. Maybe she was taking a well deserved break. Did you notice the Marlboro cigarettes? I have yet to catch one idle. I wish I could let them know how much I appreciate how hard they work.

Kids Just Wanna Have Fun

2008-11-18T14:51:00.003+09:00

When your backyard consists of concrete and asphalt, it's was hard for me to imagine where kids would play. I thought you needed a yard or at least a patch of green grass but I was wrong. The kids across the street from us found a few places to cop a squat and have fun. This is the view from my 10th floor window.

A little closer view.

An even closer view.

We even find kids playing on the roof of a building across the street from our apartment. Maybe that is why the roof is painted green. It was fun to watch.

Hopefully My Last Post on Korean Men (At Least For A While)

2008-11-14T13:52:00.003+09:00

It was definitely a week full of Korean men behaving badly. On Sunday, we were in our car on the way to our local Home Plus when my husband noticed traffic was having difficulty navigating the intersection. We found this drunk Korean just standing in the middle of the intersection. One driver decided to stop and an argument ensued between the two.

Another view of the busy intersection. It wasn't the first time we have seen a drunken Korean but it was our first time to see one in the middle of the street. I keep wondering if a life of working yourself to the bone, first during the school years and then working for a Korean company leads a Korean man to a retirement consisting of empty bottles of soju. It's a depressing and disturbing thought.

My last Korean man reflection comes from when I was reiterating my latest story about Korean men to my Korean girlfriends. They shared stories of the Korean "Burberry" (trenchcoat wearing) men they encountered growing up. Apparently "Burberry" men hang out at the local schools and when the school girls are on their way home from school, the men open their coats and flash the girls.

My girlfriends grew up in different parts of Korea and both had the same story. It is common knowledge and they felt it was just part of life. I asked if the school and their parents intervened but they said that the men showed up at different times and only occasionally which made it difficult to catch them. I just shook my head in amazement.

Korean Chilbo (Enameling) - The Adventure Continues

2008-11-13T15:05:00.005+09:00

This week in chilbo class we worked with silver foil. These are the two pendants I made during class.

While I was working on my pendants, my teacher painted this. It already had the base coat on the copper and I watched as she painted the grass, flowers and words. I had no idea she was making it for me until she used my name card (business card) to spell our names.

Of course, I had to get a picture of her with my painting.

This is one of the pendants right before firing.

Thanks, But I Already Have a Husband

2008-11-12T14:57:00.003+09:00

You can see from the photo above how "comfortably" my husband fits into a Suwon city bus. This leads me share a story about another first for me in Korea, being propositioned. If you are a reader of my blog, you will know of my yoga buddy, Mr. Choi. He is 72 years old and spent about a year in the United States in 1970. He hadn't spoken a word of English since then until he met me and it amazes me how well he speaks English. He has also been a big help to me in Suwon.

A few weeks ago in yoga class we had to pair off and do a massage on our partner. He has been my yoga buddy since my first day in yoga so we were paired together. The yoga instructor was really particular in how we did the massage so she was also helping each of us out as we went along. I felt so relaxed and good after mine that I turned to my yoga buddy and said, "Hey, you should be my husband." He laughed so hard everyone asked what was so funny and he told them in Korean. Everyone laughed and that was the end of it.

The following class on Monday, Mr. Choi asked me if I remembered what I had said the previous week. As we talk about many things before and after class, I told him that I didn't recall anything in particular. He got agitated and told me, " You know, about being your husband. I want to very much!" My eyes got wide with surprise as I told him that I was joking. He told me that he wasn't.

He then told me a bunch of personal things about his relationship with his wife and the reason he wanted another wife. I made it quite clear that I didn't want or would I ever want another husband. This one took too many years to train (just kidding). I thought that was the end of it.

The next day of yoga he told me that he is really 50 because he is in such good shape which is much closer to my age. I didn't dispute it at all but I told him that I'm more like an 80 year old and therefore too old for him. Again, I pointed out that one husband is enough.

This week we were back to normal but for the fact that he showed up at my chilbo (Korean enameling) class. I had shown the business card to another friend at yoga and he apparently remembered the address. He said that he just wanted to make sure it was a good place. I was already finished with class with my coat on when he walked in. He said he was on his way to a computer class so after he talked to my teacher for a few minutes we left and he walked me to the bus.

I've learned a valuable lesson about kidding. Don't kid about husbands in Korea or you may end up like me. This was on top of an additional first for me in Korea. I was walking home from yoga and was about 1/2 block from my building. There was a Korean man walking toward me which is usually no problem. He stopped about 20 feet from me, pulled his pants down to his knees, then turned to do his business. This was on a busy street where children walk to school and cars are everywhere. It was totally disgusting!

Class #2 in Korean Chilbo (Enameling)

2008-11-10T13:36:00.004+09:00

I am learning new techniques in Chilbo (Korean enameling) every week. Last week I learned how to cover the pendant with a base coat of enamel. A thin layer of some type of liquid is painted thinly onto the brass pendant and then powdered enamel is tapped over the entire pendant. There is definitely a touch to be able to turn the pendant with your fingertips while your fingertips are holding the pendant. I dropped two which had to be wiped clean before I could start again. My teacher is incredibly patient with me.

After the base coat, I dropped small shards of glass onto the pendant. The pendant was placed into the kiln and as it was melting, the teacher put a long metal rod into the peep hole of the kiln. The rod was bent at a 90 degree angle at the end with a pointed tip. When the pendant was melted, we quickly took the rod out, opened the kiln door and drew a circle through the enamel and closed the door. The rod was put into cold water immediately. The whole process took only seconds but it made a beautiful pattern on the pendants.

This is a blurry picture of the top pendant in the first picture before it went into the kiln. I've ordered an English book on enameling to help me better understand exactly what I am doing. This week I will learn how to apply silver leaf. I can't wait!

Seoul Food

2008-11-06T14:24:00.008+09:00

A new Kraze Burger has opened up at the Suwon Station. We were surprised to find that they spoke English which made ordering easy. Curt (hubby) ordered a chili burger along with chili-cheese fries.

Curt is still learning how to say "no tomato, no onion" in Korean. This is my Caesar salad with a cheeseburger. It's always great when I don't have to pick anything off of my burger especially tomato guts. I know I'm picky!

This is a shot of the inside of the store. We were the only customers. The music was blasting but then we did sit right next to one of the speakers.

When we went to Seoul last weekend, I had heard about another Mexican restaurant. Since they are few and far between here in Korea and we both love Mexican food, we had to try it out. It's called Tomatillo: The Taco Place. The ordering is very similar to Chipotles back in the States. You pick what you want (taco, burrito...), then your meat and fixings. They spoke English. I was even able to get extra sour cream on my burrito!

This is the outside of the restaurant.

A picture of my burrito.

We also got an order of nachos. Curt thought it wasn't as good as Dos Tacos in Gangnam while I thought it was really good. I LOVE Mexican food so I'm not going to judge the differences. It was really easy to find. Subway Line #1, Exit Jongak Station and it's on the right.

As if we didn't need another Korean food addiction, we discovered Rotiboy. It is a mouth watering experience.

It doesn't look like much on the outside but inside is a buttery confection that is really hard to describe. You can also get it flavored with a hint of coffee which is what we prefer.

They are also really reasonable and one just opened close to where we wait for the bus to take us from Seoul to Suwon.

Here is the outside. Hellena brought a box of them when she visited a few days ago. You just have to pop them into the oven for five minutes. Luckily, we don't know if there are any in Suwon but they are pretty prevalent in Seoul.

My Etsy Shop is Open

2008-11-04T14:32:00.005+09:00

I have been able to make a few maedeup (Korean knotting) necklaces and earrings to start my Etsy shop. The findings (pendants) used in the jewelry were purchased here in South Korea. It is so much fun to take a pendant to my wall of cording and decide what color cording to use. I am also busy making Christmas presents.

Belated Halloween Scare!

2008-11-02T15:11:00.007+09:00

On Saturday (the day after Halloween), we went into Seoul to do a little shopping and to try out a new Mexican restaurant I had read about on the Internet. We were about a block from the Kyobo bookstore when we ran into this spider walking down the sidewalk. Halloween is not really celebrated in Korea but with all the Western influences things are a changing.

This is the creepiest costume that I have ever seen in person. The guy even walked like a spider. He came right at me and all I could think of to do was grab my camera and start shooting.

We noticed as we approached the spider that there were a couple of busloads of police officers just standing around. I'm still not sure why they were there - maybe security for the spider. Although they tried to ignore him as he walked by.

One of the best costumes of all times!

Korean Chilbo

2008-10-30T13:38:00.011+09:00

I've become a lot more adventuresome in my neighborhood now that I know what city bus to catch. Last week, I took a bus to one of the gates and got off to explore. Korea has to be the capital of tiny shops. Everything you can imagine you can find if you know where to look.

I was walking down the major street where all the buses run when I walked by this jewelry shop. I was talking on the phone to Curt (hubby) at the time and I cut him off in my excitement to enter the store. Inside was the most beautiful jewelry I had ever seen.

The picture above is the store owner and artist.

It is called chilbo and it's Korea's version of enameling. It involves melting glass onto a brass surface. I knew the minute I walked into the store that I wanted to learn how to do it. My Korean girlfriend called the owner and she was willing to teach me. My first class was yesterday. Hellena went with to help translate this first class but it turned out that we communicated really well. I watched everything the teacher did and just repeated what I saw.

My first class involved learning how to paint the enamel onto the surface. The powdered enamel looks a lot like wet sand and also acts like it. It was harder than I thought. You use a regular paintbrush to apply the enamel but it was tricky making it even and spreading it out to the right thickness. The above pendants have a base coat of enamel and then are sprinkled with glass shards.

You have to have a kiln to melt the enamel. She placed the finished pendants on top of the kiln so that they would dry out first. Then she placed them into the kiln and had me watch as everything melted down. It only took about 1 -1 1/2 minutes.

She then removed them from the kiln and let them cool for a few minutes. They were finished by running water over them. She then glued them into the pendant holders.

This was the first one I did and it was to see what the matte colors looked like and how the glass moves when melted in the kiln.

These are pieces I bought last week when I was in the shop for the first time.

She only charged 10,000 WON (about $10 US) for each of these pendants. I thought that was a steal.

This pendant is also a pin and was 20,000 WON ($20 US).

The chilbo is very lightweight so it is a perfect match for my maedeup (Korean knotting). She had many pieces in her shop with maedeup. I am taking private lessons every Wednesday for five weeks. The price was 200,000 WON ($200 US) which includes all supplies. I'm in crafter's heaven!

Korean Wedding

2008-10-28T13:40:00.006+09:00

We attended our first Korean wedding on Sunday. One of Curt's (hubby) co-workers got married. We arrived a few minutes late and the ceremony had already started. A Korean wedding ceremony can last 20 minutes to 1 hour.

The first thing you do when you attend a Korean wedding is to give your envelope (money) to the groom's family or the bride's family. That is also when you get your ticket to the wedding buffet. Curt only got one ticket so a co-worker took him back to get a second ticket.

We stood at the back of the wedding hall since all the seats were taken and I was surprised to see the family members already counting the wedding money. The money goes to the parents to help pay for the wedding expenses.

A recent article put the total cost of a Korean wedding at 186 million won ($164,000 US). This figure includes the apartment paid for by the groom's parents and the furnishing of the apartment which is paid for by the bride's parents. There is also the buying of gifts for the relatives like mink coats, Rolex watches and high priced handbags.

The ceremony also included balloon hugging between the bride and her father-in-law and the groom and his mother-in-law. They were told to hug each other to represent how close they felt to their new in-laws. Of course, the balloon was broken in both cases.

They also had a singer.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, the wedding cake was brought out with the fog machine turned on and the couple cut the cake. They then proceeded up the aisle. They greeted everyone including Curt and I only to return to the front of the hall to begin taking pictures.

Some of the wedding flowers. A few of Curt's co-workers had eaten before the ceremony and by the time we got down to the buffet, everyone had eaten. The buffet had everything from mandu (Korean dumplings) to spaghetti. We ate and left in under two hours. It was so different than an American wedding.

It's pretty common to attend the wedding of a co-worker without your spouse. So we were surprised and delighted to see that others had brought their families. We met this little guy of one of Curt's co-workers.

He was a cutie patoodie. This is Curt and me with the little guy.

The wedding party.

Koreans like to do something funny at weddings these days. This is NOT the wedding we attended but you get the idea.

The "F" Word

2008-10-23T15:27:00.002+09:00

Foreigner! We have always been treated wonderfully by the Koreans with few exceptions like the city bus ride to Hongdae. As you can see in the photo, the seats aren't made for a guy 6' 5". When a seat opened up in the back of the bus, Curt (hubby) and I switched with Hellena (my Korean girlfriend).

A Korean man sitting next to us started a conversation with Curt using his limited English along with Korean. He asked Curt the usual questions: How long have you been in Korea? Where are you from? What do you do? Curt patiently answered him. The Korean then scolded Curt for not speaking fluent Korean since he has lived here over a year. He also told us that he learned English by stopping foreigners in the street to have conversations in English.

When he didn't understand something we said, he asked my Korean girlfriend Hellena who refrained from answering him and basically ignored him. He then told me that I speak like a Korean two year old which is probably true but it's wasn't a nice thing to say.

It got better. He told me that Hellena was not pretty and not sexy. In her defense, I got very angry and instead of speaking simple and slow English, I told him he was a jerk and that it was really rude to say that about my friend. He wouldn't stop and said that Hellena knew she was not pretty and not sexy which made me more furious.

I asked him if he had a girlfriend which he replied that he didn't. I told him that I was not surprised and he probably would never have a girlfriend with his attitude. He then changed the subject to inform me of what a great cook he is. I was done at this point after hurling all the English words to describe his behavior: arrogant, inconsiderate, egomaniac, thoughtless, cocky, conceited jerk... I wish I would have wrote them down and sent them home with him to look up in his English dictionary.

The bus ride seemed to last FOREVER but finally our stop neared and we gathered near the rear exit of the bus. Just my luck, he was getting off at the same stop. He tried to apologize to me by saying that he was only speaking the truth about Hellena and it was for her own good. Hellena was a really good sport about it and just considered the source. I told him that he should never say that about a girl EVER. He wanted to continue the conversation but I was beyond finished with him.

I've had time to cool down and I don't think I would have reacted any differently. I've a loyal person and if someone is talking smack about my friend and to my face, I have no choice but to defend. Hellena thought I should have just ignored him because he wasn't listening to anything I said anyway.

A Night in Hongdae ( Hongik University)

2008-10-21T13:26:00.010+09:00

We decided to spend part of the weekend in Hongdae which is also called Hongik University. The best time to visit is at night when the streets are packed with young people. It is also only at night that the street vendors are out and you can buy handmade items especially jewelry. I bought some incense and an incense holder.

We ate at a restaurant famous for a spicy chicken soup. It was so good. The wall was lined with pictures of famous Koreans who had eaten at this restaurant.

We found some business names with the oddest English names.

Here's another one.

The Hongdae area of Seoul is known to be a hangout for young people. We saw a ton of Westerners also. The streets are lined with the most unique coffee houses like the one above.

Our course, we had to visit a noraebang. This is Curt (hubby) with all my Korean girlfriends.

Hannah and me.

I was singing the new Wonder Girls song "Nobody." Curt was helping out with the tambourine along with deciding what to sing next.

This is Jennifer singing.

This is me with our view from the noraebang room.

Hannah went outside and took a couple pictures of us.

We had a blast!

After an hour of noraebang, we went and had some snacks. This is Jennifer, Hellena and Hannah.

That's me and Curt. We ended up leaving Seoul on the last subway run at 12 midnight. We would have had to take a taxi if we had missed it. The bus line from Sadang to Suwon was still pretty long even though it was pretty late. We had a great time!!!

Making Korean Kimbap

2008-10-19T13:00:00.004+09:00

My Korean girlfriend came over and taught me how to make Korean kimbap. It is pretty easy to make and your local Korean grocery store sells the ingredients ready made.

Here is Hannah, ready to roll!

The ingredients we used from bottom of the picture to the top: SPAM (already precut for kimbap), fish cakes, eggs (Hannah fried these ahead of time), some kind of brown vegetable and yellow radish. The rice is the regular Korean sticky rice which she added vinegar to and the seaweed sheets.

My virus protection would not let me upload videos to YouTube but luckily, Curt (hubby) finally had time to fix the problem. I have lots of videos to share and I'm slowly uploading them so stay tuned. Enjoy watching Hannah make kimbap. It was delicious.

Found A Maedeup Shop in Seoul

2008-10-15T16:06:00.005+09:00

I've been concerned about locating a maedeup cording supplier for a long time. The maedeup owner where I had been taking lesson had given me the run around for over a year. Hellena to the rescue! She found a maedeup shop in Seoul and we went for a visit. That is Hellena in the doorway.

There it is! I would have never found it on my own.

This is the owner adding up my bill. He's been in business for over forty years. I was shocked to see what he used to add up my bill. Hellena said that it is commonly used with the older Koreans.

A closer view of the "calculator." Hellena told me what it was called but I forgot. She double checked his addition using a standard calculator that he also had and his total was correct. He tried to show me how it worked but it still looked like a toy I had when I was a kid.

Some view of the shop. Maedeup heaven! There was cording everywhere!

They also have classes and offered to help me if I needed it. I'm going to continue to take private lessons with my teacher.

It is definitely Fall here in South Korea. The burning of the fields has begun so the days are hazy and it is harder to breathe. The big trend is "going green" even here in Korea but I wonder if the farmers will ever stop this practice. They feel that it is best for the soil.

It's Halloween Time!

2008-10-13T14:44:00.004+09:00

It's getting to be Halloween time and to inspire those creative juices I'm sharing a polymer clay bead pen I made recently. I bought the pen from The Beadpen Group.

I again unintentionally made my whole yoga class break out in hysterical laugher. We were doing a new yoga move where you are standing and holding your ankle. It reminds me of what a sleeping flamingo looks like. I, along with the rest of the class ,was having a hard time holding the position. I continually lost my balance and either had to put my leg down or hop around.

I found the perfect solution in my yoga buddy, Mr. Choi. He was positioned perfectly without a smidgen of wobbliness so I moved closer to him and used his shoulder as my anchor. As I began to teeter, I grabbed onto his shoulder.

This idea was not my intention of disturbing the class but it did. The entire class started to laugh including the teacher. Choi asked me why I couldn't do the move without hanging on to him. He really didn't understand why I was having so much difficulty. Let's just say my balance needs improving. It doesn't help my self esteem to also know that I am the youngest where everyone else is in their 60's or 70's. I am amazed at how limber and the endurance of these Koreans I take class with.

I don't know if I will ever be able to sit cross-legged for 20 minutes like they do or any of the other 100 yoga moves that I can't do but it keeps me striving to be more. They are my inspiration!

Parade in Suwon

2008-10-11T19:56:00.009+09:00

How many of us can walk out our front door to a parade! That's exactly what happened to us today. This weekend Suwon is celebrating Hwaseong Fortress and this parade was part of the celebration.

My favorite picture of the day.

These cutie patooties were sitting right in front of us.

Curt even made a friend. Don't worry about that look he's getting. He gets that A LOT.

Helping Out The Economy

2008-10-09T15:46:00.005+09:00

By spending money!!! I've been wanting one of these since I first saw them here in Korea. It is a replica of a Chinese medicine cabinet. You can find them all over the place and they come in many different sizes. I'm using it as a jewelry box but now I need to buy more jewelry to fill it up.

We also bought this lamp. It comes with a red light and a white light. My Korean girlfriends happened to be over and they were surprised it came with a red light and told us to never use that. A red light is used as advertising for Red Light District type services.

Not Just An Ordinary Day Grocery Shopping

2008-10-07T13:51:00.002+09:00

We usually do the majority of the grocery shopping on Sunday since we only have one car. We would occasionally eat at the TGI Friday's which was located near our Home Plus (Super Target) and then grocery shop. Curt (hubby) remembered that there was one near another Home Plus so off we went to eat and then grocery shop.

We were on the wrong side of Home Plus so Curt made a u-turn along with a lot of other cars only to be flagged down by the Korean police along with the other cars. They were set up right in front of the Home Plus and we never saw them. I thought they were doing DUI checks but then it was 11:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. As the officer approached, Curt said to me "I did an illegal u-turn." I was shocked! Illegal u-turn. This is the country of u-turns and I didn't know that you were only supposed to u-turn when you saw a sign. This is also the country where a red light doesn't necessarily mean stop.

The officer was also surprised to see us. Curt made sure to speak ONLY in English. The officer told him that he did an illegal u-turn, the legal area was 50 meters beyond where Curt had turned. I was scared! The officer asked Curt for his license (he has a Korean license) and looked at it for what I thought felt like forever.

He gave Curt his license back and told him to obey Korean traffic laws. We were allowed to leave without getting a ticket. I don't think the other Korean drivers were quite as lucky. I told Curt that he better not make any more illegal u-turns. I asked him if he was worried he was going to get a ticket and he said that he knew he wouldn't because they wouldn't have been able to explain it to us and it would be too much trouble for them. So I will add this to my list of good reasons to be a foreigner in Korea. But I also want to make it clear that I don't want to test this theory again.

As we were parking, we noticed the parking was different than the Home Plus near our house. It is really ingenious. They put red and green lights above each parking space. When the space is empty, the light is green and when the space is full, the light is red. They also have a larger green or red light that is lit to let you know if there are any open spaces in the entire aisle.

Working in South Korea

2008-10-05T08:32:00.005+09:00

Last Saturday we went to Curt's (hubby's) work to pick up some packages and mail that had come from the U.S. He works south of Suwon near a city called Hwaseong. I had never been to his work before and it was interesting to see where he spends his days. This is his desk. I was really surprised at how uncluttered it was. He usually would have piles of papers all over the place but then he has only been here a little over a year. It has been many years since I had visited him at work. I used to bring the kids down once in a while when they were little and we would go out to lunch.

I was also surprised to see how short the partitions were. You can see anyone sitting at their desk so there is no privacy there. I was also surprised to see that all the desks faced the plant manager's office. It reminded me of a school room where all the desks face the front.

I had to get a picture of all the toothbrushes in the women's bathroom. They are diligent about brushing their teeth. I have seen Koreans brushing their teeth in public restrooms too. I have never seen this back in the States.

This is a picture of one of the trees that Curt could have possibly hurt. Many months ago, he decided to back into a parking spot and was informed later that morning by the guard that he had to move his car. It seems that if you back into a spot, it will pollute the trees.

This is one of the roads Curt takes home. It is extremely narrow with no shoulders.

The problem arises when have the unfortunate luck of meeting another car. The solution is that one of you has to back up. Curt runs into this problem a few times a week.

This part of the road is a little more treacherous. This is a drop off on both sides of the road because the road cuts right through a rice field.

It was a beautiful drive and I'm glad I got to go.

I Feel Like A Celebrity in Korea

2008-10-02T16:02:00.002+09:00

Foreigners are less common in Suwon than Seoul so you get A LOT more attention like these kids I met just outside of my apartment building. I was coming home from yoga and found myself suddenly surrounded by these 13 (12 US) year old Korean boys. They were excited to see me and to also practice their English.

They were even more surprised when I stopped and conversed with them for a few minutes. The sentences were simple but they clearly were having a blast with English. They t0ld me their Korean and English (Koreans choose an English name) names. The one that stuck in my mind was the cutie on the far right. His English name is Stephen Spielberg and yes, he does know who that is.

They all live in my apartment building and they also knew my husband. They said that EVERYONE knows him. I'm sure it's because he is just shy of 2 meters tall. One of the boys also told me that my husband is very handsome. It isn't uncommon for a Korean to tell you that you are beautiful or handsome. It must be in the curriculum for English 101. It's always nice to hear.

Kid Alert at Hwaseong Fortress

2008-10-01T16:48:00.009+09:00

There is a good chance that upon visiting one of the many palaces or fortress in Korea, you will find Koreans in period costumes. My yoga buddy, Mr. Choi, suggested we visit Hwaseong Fortress after yoga class yesterday and it was just a short bus ride away. I had been to the Fortress many times but not near the South Gate.

It is also a popular place for field trips for children. We saw so many and I was again amazed at how well behaved the kids were. There were no parents chaperoning, only the teachers and they easily kept the kids together.

I'm always looking up in the pagodas to see the amazing talent of the Korean people. I find it so beautiful.

More kids!!

This group was really bold and came up to us saying, "Hi." along with the usual questions: where are you from? They were so excited to talk to me. Choi asked me if this happens a lot. He was pretty amazed at the attention. I told him it happens more in Suwon than in Seoul.

They loved to pose for me.

They were having so much fun and it was a beautiful day in Suwon.

They sure weren't camera shy. As we left, we decided to get a cheeseburger at the local Lotteria (like a McDonald's). After we were done eating, Choi got up to leave and was surprised to see me taking the tray. I told him you had to throw away your garbage. He never knew that and had always just left it. He said I was more Korean than him.

We waited for a bus which took awhile because Choi was not sure which one to take. Finally, the right one came after he talked to a nearby teenager. I got on the bus followed by the teenager and Choi waved me on. I panicked not knowing where the bus went and when to get off.

The teenager stood right next to my seat and finally I saw my apartment building. I wasn't sure when to get off but he told me and made sure I got off just fine. Apparently, Choi had enlisted this young man to see me home without informing me. I was grateful and now I'm not scared to take the city bus.

Totally Creative Will Be Out October 1st!

2008-09-29T19:31:00.003+09:00

I'm so happy to be apart of a new magazine concept. "Totally Creative" is full of projects for anyone who loves to craft. It is only available on-line at: http://totally-creative.com/Home_Page.html. This is the second issue which is 65 pages and contains 40 holiday projects. That's 65 pages with NO ADS! How cool is that. The price is $7.95.

Inside this holiday issue you will find the instructions to make my polar bear bead pen.

My First Visit to a Korean Dentist

2008-09-27T19:00:00.004+09:00

I went to the dentist yesterday for a tooth that had been bothering me for months. Hellena, my Korean girlfriend, came down from Seoul to interpret and for moral support. They put me in their only single room made especially for special (high maintenance) patients like myself.

As soon as I sat down a technician came in and took me into the x-ray room. I am used to having the x-rays done in the dental chair and involve biting down on strategically placed pieces of cardboard. I hate that part because if feels sometimes like I'm going to gag on the cardboard. This is the x-ray machine. I stood in from of it and had to bite down on a piece of plastic that was fixed to the machine. The whole process took seconds. It was fantastic! No waiting for film to develop, the x-ray was on the computer screen the moment we came back into the room. I wonder if I can get my dentist to get one of these???

Hellena snapped this picture of me right before the dentist came in. He glanced at the x-ray and began to ask Hellena questions. He came over to me and began by blowing air on all the teeth in the area of my pain. I had no sensitivity. He then took a metal probe and put pressure on each tooth. Again, no pain or discomfort.

His immediate diagnosis: it's not the tooth. What!!!! I told Hellena to tell him to take a closer look at my x-ray and he did. He said all my teeth looked fine. He then came over and took my face into his hands and pressed his thumbs into my jaw. Ouch!!!! The left side brought shooting pain. I ripped his hands away from my face. He smiled and then did it one more time for good measure. It hurt even more.

His treatment was to put heat on it and that should resolve the problem. If not, to come back and he would see what else he could do. The most amazing part of it all was the total bill: 21,000WON ($21US). The x-ray was 10,00oWON ($10US) and the charge for the visit 11,000WON ($11US).

When I talked to Curt (hubby) about it, he said that the dentist probably looked at the x-ray before he even came into the room. So that made me feel bad for questioning his diagnosis which I'm still not sure what it was. I think it was inflammation.

I worried and stressed about it going for months and it turned out to be a wonderful experience. I will still get nervous every time I go to a dentist but hopefully it will get better each time.

Curt arrived home last night from being out of town for two weeks. I rode the Suwon-Incheon Airport bus to meet him at the airport. Traffic was horrible and it took a half hour longer than usual. I spent a lot of time looking out the window and I noticed a few things. First, when traffic was stopped, most Koreans put their cars into neutral. I watched as the drivers went from drive to neutral to drive, again and again. It made absolutely no sense to me but Curt heard that they think it saves gas. We are not sure whether it does or not but it seemed like a pain.

The second thing I noticed was that a lot of Koreans with GPS systems also had the ability to get television stations and they were watching television while driving. I was really surprised by this and wonder if it's even legal. I wouldn't think so.

A Night in Seoul with Jeff and the Girls

2008-09-25T19:08:00.003+09:00

I went to Seoul for dinner on Tuesday night meeting up with the girls and Jeff. Jeff works for the same company the girls do and I hadn't seen him since we moved in over a year ago. I had to do the Korean thing and so I gave him my purse to carry. He took it without complaints. Curt (hubby) won't carry my purse even though we are in Korea and Korean men do it for their girlfriends (not wives). Jeff was a great sport!

We had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in the Sadang Station area of Seoul. This is Jennifer and Jeff.

I wanted to really get Korean so that included a heart picture. Jeff reluctantly complied. He is the nicest guy!

This is Hellena and me.

Just one more picture of Jeff carrying my purse. I had never been to noribang (karaoke) in Korea and it's very popular for Koreans to do after dinner so that is where we headed next.

This is Hannah and me singing "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor.

This is what the noribang room looks like.

Here is Jeff singing my current favorite song "Bo Go Ship Da" from the Korean drama "Stairway to Heaven." He sang it as good as Kim Bum Soo!

Hellena took this picture of us. Jeff played a mean tambourine. I couldn't believe how good everyone sang. I was amazed at their talent. I also sang "Hit Me Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears and "Lithium" by Nirvana. It was a blast!

Tomorrow the dreaded visit to a Korean dentist. My tooth has hurt for a couple of months and this time I can't wait until our visit at Christmas. Hellena is going to go with me. I am terrified but I'm sure it won't be as bad as I anticipate.

Up to Nothing

2008-09-21T16:08:00.004+09:00

With hubby out of town, I've been working a lot of my maedeup (Korean knotting). The maedeup test is a few weeks away and I'm on the fence whether I will take it or not. I was told originally and many times that this was a government regulated test and I would be the first foreigner to ever take the test. The test is comprised of making a complicated maedeup piece. You have two hours to finish it halfway and are watched by three judges which are my teacher, the owner of the shop and her husband. It costs 350,000won ($350US) and they only accept cash. I was surprised at this because I've always paid for my classes with my debit card. Even if you don't pass the first time, you only have to pay once. But with our future in Korea uncertain, there is a possibility we will be back in the States when the next test comes which is in January 2009.

A month ago I had the opportunity to meet a maedeup master who was appointed by the Korean government. Only the government can issue you the title of master. I forgot to talk about my visit with her so I will do that soon. As we were talking, I mentioned that I was going to take the certification test for maedeup. She gave me a puzzled looked and asked me what I was talking about. I thought it was strange I needed to explain it to a maedeup master but I did. She told me that there was no such government certification.

I was shocked and felt totally betrayed. My Korean girlfriend talked to my teacher about it and found out that the certification was a community certification. The shop owner wants me to take the test because it will be good for her business having "certified" a foreigner. After talking it over with my husband, teacher and girlfriends, I had, at this point, decided to take the test.

I have also become pretty upset with the "private lessons" I am attending. It is fine when the owner isn't in the shop which is rare because when she is there, my teacher has no time to help or teach me. The owner keeps her constantly busy even to the point where they left for over an hour once leaving me in the shop alone. I spend three hours in the shop and average about 1/2 hour of my teacher's time. I had more time with her when I was taking class with 30 other students. I feel like I paid a lot of money for nothing. My teacher feels really bad about this but there is little she can do. I only have two more classes left which is good because I am fed up.

Hannah (my Korean girlfriend) stayed overnight the other night and she saw how stressed I've been. We talked a lot about it and how much time I've been spending on getting ready for the test. I've been averaging about 12 hour days on maedeup for the last two weeks. She is taking a quilting class at the same shop and is going to talk to the owner on Monday and lay it all out on the line. I told Hannah at this point in time, I don't think I will take the test. The cash payment is really shady to me and I don't feel like handing the owner 350,00won. Let's see what happens after Monday.

A Night in Seoul

2008-09-19T13:23:00.003+09:00

Hannah teaches an English class on Thursday nights and since Curt was out of town, she invited me to her class. She said her students would be shocked to see me there. I met her outside of the Gangnum Station in Seoul. This is one of the the most congested areas in of Seoul especially at night.

I was waiting outside the exit and watching this Korean woman (the one at the right in black) try to give away advertising cards. Almost everyone that walked by ignored her but a few did take her card only to throw it on the ground a few yards away. When she saw a bunch of them on the ground, she went over and picked each one up and then threw them away in a garage can. I was really surprised that people would just throw them on the ground and even more so that she cared enough to pick them up.

I also noticed I got another picture of a devoted Korean boyfriend carrying his girlfriend's purse.

I met up with Hannah and we decided to eat dinner at Omuto which specializes in Korean type omelets. They are loaded with rice and all kinds of things.

I was surprised at how they advertised their salads, especially the one if you wanted fair skin.

We ended up splitting a curry and a cheese omelet. They were both delicious but way too much food.

Hannah has three students and they were shocked to see me. We spent the two hours with me doing most of the talking along with trying to coax them to speak to me. They were pretty timid but did really well. I had a great time and got back to Suwon about 11:00pm.

Korean Show "We Got Married"

2008-09-17T19:24:00.004+09:00

As if I don't watch enough Korean dramas, I've found this show called "We Got Married." In the show, ten famous Koreans are paired up and pretend to be married. Each week the pair has an activity to do as a couple like cooking a traditional Korean meal including grocery shopping to babysitting.

It is one of the hottest shows on Korean television and I find myself enjoying it even if I can't understand what they are saying. I'm learning even more about Korean culture. You can find episodes on YouTube. The episode above is when one of the couples has to babysit quadruplets and I found found myself laughing out loud through much of it.

The Long Ride Home From The Full House House

2008-09-16T17:30:00.002+09:00

It was a little bit of walk from the ferry launch to the bus stop. We really appreciated how far the bus driver had gone out of his route to drop us off near the launch. We were in a really rural part of the country near the Incheon International Airport. A 710 bus pulled up and before boarding, my Korean girlfriends asked if this would take us back to the subway in Incheon. The bus driver surprisingly said no and to take a 301-1 bus which there was a sign for near the bus stop. We were surprised because it was a 710 bus we took to get to the ferry launch.

The 710 buses came every 20-30 minutes and was the only bus to come along. We were near a intersection and saw many cars pass us. Most slowed way down to stare at the foreigners probably wondering what the heck were we doing out here. After a few minutes of the gawking, I started to wave at the starers. Most drove off, but a few almost stopped and I thought we should ask them for a ride. I was voted down. You do not hitch hike in Korea I was told by my girlfriends. It is too scary for the driver. We let another 710 bus pass us by when we figured out that was they ONLY bus going by.

So it was decided the next 710 bus that came we would take it. After about an hour total of waiting, we got on a 710 bus. When asked about the 301-1 bus, the bus driver said there was no such bus. Hannah tried to ask him some more questions but he was in no mood to talk. We rode for a few minutes not really knowing where we were going when Hannah decided to go up and have a little talk with the bus driver. He asked her if she was with the foreigners. She replied that she was and he was instantly very informative as to where we should go.

We left the bus and parted ways with the girls. We took the subway back to Suwon which is usually a lot slower than than 7770 bus but considering we were in Incheon, it was the fastest way. We ate dinner at Burger King in Suwon Station which is something I haven't had for 6 months or more. It was delicious.

Curt's (hubby's) itching is remnants of a work "team building" overnight. They stayed at some remote resort and he came home with what he thought was mosquito bites. I told him that they don't look like mosquito bites and I think he'd been bitten by bed bugs. We immediately through his suitcase into the enclosed patio off of our bedroom and washed his clothes.

If you google bedbugs it will tell you that bites can appear up to 9 days. As of today, he is still getting red bumps. They are hard to kill if they get into your bedding. I had heard about the rise of bedbugs a few years ago and was glad when Curt didn't bring any home through all his travel in Asia. They are in the U.S. too so there really isn't anywhere they can't live.

He is having trouble with the itching and benadryl along with topical cream for the States. We even went to Korean pharmacist but what he prescribed doesn't seem to be working either. It's funny because it smells just like Vick's Vapor Rub.

We'll have to see how bad it is when he returns from his trip. It may be another visit to Ajou University Hospital.

Korean Full House Visit - Part 2

2008-09-15T16:19:00.012+09:00

Picking up from yesterday, this is Young-Jae's (Rain's) bedroom.

A view of the beach from the upstair's deck.

The view looking the opposite way.

The backyard.

Young-Jae's (Rain's) bedroom door.

I'm entering the gift shop. It was all Rain souvenirs. I was surprised that all the souvenirs were of Rain as he currently looks with shorter hair. I was looking for souvenirs from the drama and I wanted Rain to look like he did back in 2004. My Korean girlfriends said that Koreans always want the most recent look of their stars.

This is Han Ji-Eun's (Song Hye-Kyo's) bedroom.

The closet that Young-Jae (Rain) hid in when Han Ji-Eun (Song Hye-Kyo) opened it and he fell out.

Han Ji-Eun's (Song Hye-Kyo's) bed.

That's me at Han Ji-Eun's (Song Hye-Kyo's) vanity where he had placed her wedding ring after she had given it back to him. She promptly put it back on.

A view from the second level.

View of the kitchen from the second level.

The window is dressed with a gorgeous metal cut out.

The gate to the house.

The house from the beach side.

The famous bench where the two sat resting.

That's Curt (hubby) and me.

That's me with my good friend Rain.

Another view of the back of the house.

That's me with the Rain and Song Hye-Kyo.

The bike that Young-Jae (Rain) bought for Han Ji-Eun (Song Hye-Kyo). She didn't know how to ride a bike so he taught her how.

The road that leads to the house. It appears a lot in the drama.

Me at the front gate of the house.

A view from the front of the house.

The bridge to the house. You also see them driving on this in the drama.

Lunch on the island. These are the side dishes.

Hairtail fish soup. The fish had tons of bones in it and I'm just too lazy to work that hard to remove them. Hellena showed us a way to do it easily. I was still nervous so she took the bones out for me.

We paid for the ferry ride on the way back. While waiting for the ferry, these bicycle dudes showed up. Their entire face and neck were covered up with handkerchiefs. Hellena told me that was to keep the sun off their face and neck. They still looked to me like they were ready to rob a bank. It as also pretty hot and humid so I would think this would have been uncomfortable especially waiting a half hour for the ferry.

Hannah bought some shrimp treats to feed the seagulls. But she couldn't resist eating a few herself.

Curt itching. That's a story in itself. I'll tell it tomorrow. Suffice to say, it's been a nightmare.

Grandpa and his granddaughter feeding the seagulls.

On the ferry ride, we feed the seagulls. I tried to get Hannah to hold on until a seagull plucked the shrimp treat but she got too nervous so she just threw them.

A scene from the deck of the ferry.

I ended up having about 5 or more seagulls pluck the treat from my fingers. The last one drew blood so that was it for me.

A view of the island from the ferry.

Waiting inside the air conditioned part of the ferry.

Curt, Hannah and me.

Curt and me. It was so much fun and we had a great time. If you ever have a chance to see the drama, do it! It's fantastic and is sure to get you hooked on Korean dramas. Tomorrow, I'll talk about the adventure getting home. It wasn't as easy as getting to the island.

Rumor around South Korea is that the screenplay has been written for the sequel to Full House (it took two years) and now they are in the process of casting. The Koreans are hoping the Rain and Song Hye-Kyo will reprise their roles. I'm not sure how a sequel will do but it would be a great asset to have the original cast members.