Say Cheese!

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.

Wedding Coming Up

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!

No Left Handed Koreans in Korea

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.

The Korean Scooter Guys

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.

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

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.

Thanks, But I Already Have a Husband

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!

Korean Wedding

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.

I Feel Like A Celebrity in Korea

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.

Shoe Repair in South Korea

You will find throughout South Korea shoe repair shops which resemble tiny one room homes. They come equipped with slippers for you to wear while waiting for your shoes to be repaired or you can drop them off and pick the shoes up another day. I've also noticed that most also offer key making services too.

As we were heading to lunch the other day with Hellena, she stopped suddenly and said that one of the heels of her shoes needed repair so we went to the nearest repair shop.


She needed a new tip put on her heel and this is a shot of her shoe being worked on. It only took a few minutes and cost 2000WON ($2US). I'm sad to say that whenever I had a broken shoe, I would simply toss the shoes. Hellena couldn't believe it and now I will reconsider doing that in the future. I'm not sure where I would find a shoe repair store back home but I will look into it.

Hellena had another crazy ex-boyfriend story. She came home late one night to find him waiting in front of her apartment building. He proceeded to get down on his knees and begged her to take him back. Hellena was so embarrassed as there were people observing the whole thing. He pleaded for an hour until he finally gave up and she could get into the apartment building. He told her he would not do it again but she has had that feeling of being watched when she comes home at night. It's been a few weeks now and she hasn't seen him although he's been texting her. She doesn't reply and she just hopes he will give up. It's ONLY been two months.

Disturbing Behavior in Seoul

I found this video on roboseyo's blog. Upsetting and disturbing to say the very least.

What's The Big Deal?

What's the big deal? It looks like a box. To you, the photo above may look like an ordinary box from a Korean post office but looks can be deceiving even here in South Korea. This box represents what I've been working on for the past 3-4 months. It's my next book and Friday was the day I had to box it all up and ship it to the States.

I've talked about this in a previous post how traumatic it is for me to put all the book projects along with the other things required into a box and then trust strangers to deliver it to the appropriate people, meaning my editor. It is even more traumatic when I'm mailing the box from South Korea and speaking to a postal clerk that speaks no English.

Curt (hubby) took Friday off and went with me to deliver the box to the post office. He was surprised at how long it took me to fill out the paperwork. I usually can handle it by myself but I had put a US value on the box higher than my normal $50.00 so the postal clerk was really reluctant to process the package. A quick call to my Korean girlfriend, Hannah, got the postal clerk to proceed and finish the paperwork.

As we waited for the finally processing, I found myself touching the box and reluctant to let it go. It represented months of hard work and diligence. It finally came time to pay the postage and turn my back on the box. I did give it one more glance before exiting the post office. There was nothing more I could do and it's up to the postal Gods to get it to the States.


My second big deal has to do with the bathroom situation in a lot of places in Korea including the building that houses my maedeup classes. Yes, there are separate doors for men and women but when I enter the women's side, this is what I am greeted with. The left door is locked and actually the men's side and the right door is the only women's stall.

Even after a year, I am still freaked out when I encounter a bathroom like this. But this past week, I was more freaked out than usual. As I approached the bathroom, there was a Korean man standing in front of the bathrooms. As I went into the women's, he entered the men's. I hurried up to you-know-what while I heard total silence on the other side of the partition. I kept looking up to see if I was being spied on.

I then heard the women's door open and as I left the stall, an older Korean women was in the process of spitting a nasty glob of who-knows-what into the only sink. I was unable to hide my look of shock and she responded on seeing me, a foreigner, with an equal shocked look. We just stood there looking at each other. She then realized (at least I hope) that she should turn the water on and wash out the glob. Well, just turning on the water didn't remove the nastiness and she looked at me to see another shocked look, still left over from the first look. She she turned the water on again and this time she used her hands to flick water all over the sink therefore removing the glob.

She started bowing and saying something. I just said, "kamsamnida" (thank you in Korean). She left and I washed my hands. When I told my Korean girlfriends about this incident, they wondered why I had been so shocked and that it was a normal thing to have occurred. I do know all about spitting here in Korea (I'd only seen men do it until now). They were really surprised that such a little thing shocked me.

Because of the cultural differences, I can be shocked or surprised as soon as I leave my apartment. In fact, now I enjoy the adventures just outside of my door. But I guess I need to work on my ability to control my reaction. I should have covered better and not had the eye raising, mouth dropping reaction to what I saw. I'm sure I embarrassed the poor woman and I feel bad for that.

But back to the bathrooms, am I the only one who thinks that a partition just isn't enough to divide the men's room from the women's room? Another thing that my girlfriend's pointed out is that in a public bathroom in the States, the stall door does not go to the floor. I had not noticed that before in Korea but it is true, the stall doors go all the way to the floor. They think it's disgusting that you can see someone's feet while they are using the bathroom. So, it's just another one of the cultural differences that makes me go hmmm. I do that a lot!

Hannah is Cooking in Da House!

With deadlines looming, my wonderful friend Hannah came over for the weekend. She cooked and just plain took care of us. She never follows a recipe and seems to use a million different ingredients to create her masterpieces. Here she is preparing homemade budae jjigae which is one of my favorite Korean foods.





She always has a smile on her face and a peace sign ready. I asked her why Koreans seem to cook everything on high (with the flame screaming). She said, "Is there any other way?" She always makes me smile.



Here is the budae jjigae. It was sooooo good!



The next meal she even brought the groceries. She wanted honey which I haven't had in my house since the kids were babies but she improvised with sugar.


I forgot the name but it was a chicken dish. It was spicy and sweet. I told her that I have to videotape her cooking and put it here on my blog.

One funny thing that happened on Saturday at Home Plus. Curt (hubby), Hannah and myself were on our way to lunch and on the escalator when we heard a little boy who looked about three crying very loudly. He was about 10 feet behind us with his grandmother. Hannah started laughing and asked us if we wanted to know what his grandmother said to him. Sweet little Korean grandmother told her grandson that if he didn't stop crying that the big foreigner was going to take him away. Who was the big foreigner she was talking about? MY HUSBAND!

The little boy only cried louder. I looked back to see the grandmother bending over her grandson while pointing at Curt. Hannah said that she again said that the foreigner was going to come and take him. I was shocked but Hannah said it is very common for Koreans to use this tactic with their children when they are misbehaving in public.

I still feel bad about this incident for a lot of reasons. Mostly, that this child would look at foreigners as something to be afraid of.

A funny thing happened in yoga today. It is still hot enough that I sweat in class so today I thought I would go in pigtails. A pony tail doesn't work because we spend part of the time on our back and it would be uncomfortable. I changed into my yoga clothes and walked into class a little later than usual. The entire room stopped warming up and starting pointing and laughing at me. Then they started calling me "ae-gi" which is the name for baby in Korean. Some even came over and yanked on my pigtails. It lasted for a few minutes until the teacher came in and got the class under control. My yoga buddy told me that NO ONE my age would EVER wear pigtails. It picked up again after class as we went into the changing room to change into our street clothes.

I had to do some shopping after class so over to Home Plus I went, pigtails and all. Did I get more stares than usual? I'm not sure because I'm always stared at but no one came over and yanked on them so I was grateful for that.

I was glad to see that at least today I could put a smile on a Korean's face. That doesn't happen every day to me. The U.S. beef import controversy had made things a little uncomfortable here at times. Will I wear pigtails out of my apartment again....... maybe.

Korean Kids in Da House!

Hellena came over last weekend with her nephew and niece. Unfortunately, I had spent most of the day in bed with the stomach flu. She called from the road to let us know they were coming so it was too hard for me to say no. She had an old boyfriend drive her down with the kids and I must say he was really attentive and great with them. Her nephew is 3 and her niece is 9 months and already walking. Isn't she a cutie?



This was one of the rare times when they weren't running about, curious about everything in the apartment.




Hellena just got her hair cut. She was tired of having to style it all the time, a must in Seoul! Here she is with her niece. She told me that she was the one who styled her niece's hair.



Her nephew was really shy and it took a long time for him to become comfortable with us. Of course, I had
M&M candy which he loved! We sent him home with such a sugar high just like a U.S. kid.


They went a mile a minute!



I couldn't believe how well the 9 month old walked! I was shocked. Our kids were both 14 months old before they walked. We had to really watch her around our water cooler. We have a hot tap and a cold tap. All of the sudden you would look up and she's just about ready to press the hot tap. Yikes!!

Both kids knew how to bow. It must be the first thing a child is taught over here. Hellena's niece also would shake her head side to side if you said, "dorae, dorae, dorae." Here I thought dorae was just the name of a maedeup knot.

We had so much fun even though my stomach was pretty upset the entire time. When it came time for them to leave, her nephew wanted to stay. Hellena said that her sister and brother-in-law was so excited to have a evening to themselves. We will have to have them back again.

Hannah was already at our apartment when Hellena arrived. When she saw how sick I was, she wanted to stick a needle into my thumb and draw out some blood. She didn't have her needle in her purse and wanted to borrow one of mine but they were too tiny for her liking. She said it cured stomach aches. I was almost tempted to let her but then when she said if it didn't work, she would then prick all 10 of my fingers, I wanted no part of it. They had never heard of "Maalox," let alone chewing on a tablet for a stomach ache. I am reminded of how many of us in America think a pill can cure anything. I am learning so much about Asian medicine. Now, if I didn't faint at the sight of my own blood...

The Royal Decoration Culture Exhibition in Seoul

I was thrilled to be able to attend the Royal Decoration Culture Exhibition in Seoul. I was able to attend the pre-show which was only open to those exhibiting and their invited guests. The owner of the maedeup shop was exhibiting and she invited me and my Korean girlfriends.

Hellena meet me in Seoul and Hannah was coming later. We met up with the owner, my maedeup teacher and a few other girls I had seen in the shop from time to time. It was steaming hot and humid in Seoul that day and I was praying that it was air conditioned.

The exhibition took place in Seokjojeon Hall in Deoksugung Palace. As we entered the palace, we were greeted by these Koreans wearing traditional clothing.

In 1964, Korea created "Important Intangible Cultural Properties" to preserve Korean culture. Maedeup is number 22. This exhibition featured the work of many "masters" of Korean culture. The gentleman in the photo above is a master in Hanbok shoes. They are made with silk and are hand embroidered. They also have a leather sole. He is very famous in Korea.

Of course, I didn't stop with one. These two are also masters: one in jade carving and one in woodworking. They both gave me their namecards (business cards). I was thinking about what Hannah had told me many times, "Just don't give out your namecard to everyone you meet (I had been)." So I didn't give them one but I should have.

This is some of the amazing work I saw. I am in awe of the talent of the people of Korea.

On the right side of this photo is braiding that the maedeup owner created. She weaves using a loom and it is incredible the amount of time and talent it takes her.

Some shots of the palace grounds.

Unfortunately, the air conditioner in the building was broken and I was dripping in sweat by the time we were done. They also provided refreshments afterwards. It was funny all the Koreans that were trying to get me to eat everything they had to offer. I could only eat so much since Hellena and I had eaten right before the exhibition. But I didn't want to offend so I finally asked Hellena if we could go. The food was beautiful to look at and delicious. I forgot to take a picture of it.

As we were exiting the palace, we encountered this line of police officers. It was so hot and humid I felt sorry for them. I asked Hellena why they were there and she asked me if I really wanted to know. I told her that I did so she went up to the end guy and asked. He said that they were there for security for the celebration that would start at 8pm (it was 4pm at the time). I had forgotten that it was Korea's Independence Day.

Something Smells Kinda Funny Around Here

We are into the steamy, hot summer here in South Korea. I've noticed recently as I pass by the oriental medicine clinic on my way to yoga a very strange odor coming from the clinic. To be perfectly honest, it smells a lot like marijuana. I know it is illegal in South Korea so I am really wondering exactly what it is I'm smelling.







Another stinky thing in South Korea came when I recently had a cheeseburger set at my local McDonald's. The tray came with this paper on the tray. The part that irked me was the "Clean & Safe." You wonder why Koreans are reacting to the U.S. beef importing when we have even American owned (at least last I heard) buying into the hysteria. It just offended me by insinuating that American beef is not clean, let alone safe.


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