Can We Take Turns Sleeping (30 April)

This weekend is a Seoul weekend.  Catfish and I head to Seoul to do a spot of shopping and I have made an appointment at Healing Hands for a much needed massage. 

We arrive in Itaewon in time for a delicious lunch at Gecko’s.  Their fish and chips is a guaranteed choice but we’re also in the mood for junebugs and quesadillas. Needless to say, we gorge ourselves somewhat on a delectable lunch that, to the best of our knowledge, cannot easily be found due south of our current location.  Unfortunately, clothes shopping after having gorged ourselves at lunch is not the smartest decision we make today.  Nonetheless, we head over to B & T, the “big size” store that KiwiKat showed me in January.  After a bit of shopping there, I head to What the Book while Catfish heads to Myeongdong to see if Uniqlo and Forever 21 have any suitable clothing for her.  Soon, it’s time for my massage…

As I settle in at Healing Hands, I can feel the tension in my shoulders resisting the upcoming exorcism.  I’ve booked for a 70 minute full body massage with an additional 20 minutes of a hot stone massage and the foot care package.  The 90 minutes fly by all too quickly as the masseuse slowly exorcises the tension that has been solidifying my muscles for a few weeks now.  In addition, my feet love the paraffin wax and scrub that they’re receiving today and, at the end, I’m amazed at the smoothness of my feet, which, I’m pretty sure, is something that I haven’t had since I was a baby. 

New Friends

After 90 minutes of pure bliss, I stumble out of Healing Hands in time to meet Catfish so that we can go to Tartine – yet another amazing find courtesy of KiwiKat who refers to this heavenly bakery as “the pie shop”.  We have a quick coffee and pie before meeting M and her friend Astro (self-named because he is a fan of the Astroboy cartoons) for dinner.  We decide to go to the Buddha’s Belly in Itaewon, which is a Thai restaurant that we’ve heard about but have never been able to find.  Fortunately, Astro is clearly a Seoul City Boy and confidently leads the way up a side street and down another street parallel to the main drag.  The food here is delicious and, after a few drinks, Astro becomes more talkative. 

From the Buddha’s Belly, we head to a bar down the road whose name eludes me but contains the word “Bungalow”.  Here, we sit in hanging seats in a sandy garden where we swing to our hearts’ content while sipping the most delicious Raspberry Pina Colada.  Losing track of time, we phone our hostel to let them know that we’re running a bit late but will be checking in within the next hour and then we say a hasty goodbye at 22:00.  At 22:30, we again phone the hostel to tell them how close we are since their cut-off for check-in is 23:00.  By the time we get to Blu Guesthouse in Hongdae at 22:45, we’re surprised by the rather snotty attitude with which we’re greeted at the reception desk.  Admittedly we did say that we would check in at 22:00 but we’ve been in constant communication with them in the last 45 minutes so we’re somewhat disappointed by the unfriendly greeting.

We’re shown to our room which we will be sharing with 5 other girls.  The room is quite comfortable and we’re quick to take showers, pack our purchases into our bags and make our beds.  In all honesty, we consider ourselves to be fairly considerate roommates and try to minimise our noise production in hostel rooms when other people are sleeping.  Unfortunately, we cannot say the same of our roommates for tonight.  When the party girls return at around 2:00am, they don’t seem to give a moment’s thought to their noisy entrance and movement around the room.  In addition, one of our roommates is clearly a light sleeper and someone is snorting.

Excuse Me...

I snore.  I sometimes snore so loudly that I wake myself up.  I know that I snore – other people have also told me – and I always apologise in advance to those unfortunate enough to be placed in a room with me.  I also encourage people to wake me up in any way they like if my snoring bothers them.  Around 2:00am, I wake to the complaint of one of my unknown roommates who, at the top of her voice, calls out from her bed, “Excuse me, you’re snoring.”  Who, exactly, she is talking to remains a mystery but I naturally assume it’s me.  I roll onto my side and go back to sleep only to wake a few minutes later with the same comment.  Again, I assume it’s me so I force myself to stay awake for about 20 minutes while I play with my phone. 

By now, it’s after 3:00am and we have an early start in the morning.  When the same girl issues her next comment, however, I become confident that she’s not talking to me.  Her comment, however, cracks me up: “Can we take turns sleeping?”  Ironically, I’ve been awake for the past 20 minutes and no one has actually been snoring.  Clearly, though, something is bothering her and I decide that it’s simply tough luck as I fall asleep once more but not before making sure that my snore volume is set to the max just to annoy her.  With the snottiness of the staff upon check-in and the rude and inconsiderate behaviour of some of our roommates, this is a hostel that I would be hard-pressed to stay at again in the future.

Teacher Training in Buan (24 - 25 February)

Part of our contracts with EPIK state that we have to complete a certain number of ‘training sessions’ during the course of the year: This Thursday and Friday is part of the required training.  NZ1, NZ2, Catfish, another South African and I meet at the Intercity Bus Terminal in Gunsan to catch the 8am bus to Jeonju.  We arrive in Jeonju’s Bus Terminal where it’s just a short taxi ride to the designated meeting place before getting on yet another bus to Buan – a little town only an hour south of Gunsan but which will take us roughly 90 minutes to reach. 

Our first stop in Buan is at a restaurant for lunch where shellfish soup is on the menu so I’m starving by the time we reach the resort where we’ll be spending the night.  We have a full schedule ahead of us and waste no time getting to the conference room where we’re subjected to several hours of lectures by other GETs who supposedly have words of wisdom to impart with the rest of us.  I try to get involved in the lectures but, honestly, I feel like I’m wasting my time.  I can honestly say that the only thing I learn over the course of the two days is that I’m increasingly embarrassed by the behaviour of so many other foreigners ‘teaching’ in Korea. 

I’m grateful that the ‘training’ session is only two days and by lunch time on the Friday, I find myself wishing that I could just go home.  We still have a cultural experience involving a trip to Naeso Temple in Buan.  Much as I enjoy these cultural experiences, I really just want to take a bus back to Jeonju and back to school where, even sleeping at my desk, I’m being more productive than sitting through another minute of foreigners trashing Korea, Koreans and EPIK in general.   Naeso Temple is pretty but, having just experienced a temple stay at Geumsansa, I can’t help being disappointed in my surroundings – the mountains behind the temple, however, are magnificent!

Surprise Happenings in Jeonju

We’re finally on the bus heading back to Jeonju where Catfish an I decide that we’re in need of Western food for dinner.  She proposes dinner in Jeonju before heading home to Gunsan and promptly goes to ask the coordinator if she can recommend some restaurants.  We decide on Outback Steakhouse  which is one of the places at which we can use the vouchers that we won for our teaching videos back in November. At the bus terminal, we say goodbye to the kiwis before taking a taxi to the restaurant in downtown Jeonju where we ravenously attack a platter of ribs, chicken, quesadillas and more.

With our hunger sated, we head back to the bus terminal and are confused by the massive protest happening in the streets of Jeonju heading downtown.  We’re starting to wonder if these are students protesting and what is happening – particularly since the line of protestors seems never ending.  Unfortunately, we’re not able to find out any information.  Back at the bus terminal, the smell of turpentine is strong and we notice people washing off paint on the stairs of the terminal: apparently the protestors paintballed the terminal which makes us even more confused as to what is going on and whether or not it’s safe for us to go into the terminal.   Across the road, several police men are dressed in full riot gear and heading in the direction of the bus terminal which serves only to increase our curiosity as to what is going on.

What Happened?

We follow them into the terminal, with Catfish taking several photos of them, and discover that it’s business as usual inside.  We decide to purchase tickets and get out of Jeonju as quickly as possible.  Tickets in hand, Catfish approaches several people determined to find someone who speaks English.  She finally finds a young student who, in very broken English, attempts to tell us that someone is striking.  We thank him and move away only to hear his friends (who have returned from wherever they’d gone) cheering him on with big ‘bro’ hugs about having spoken to the foreigners.

Still not entirely sure what is happening outside, Catfish approaches a woman outside on the platform and again asks what happened at the terminal: Her eyes widen, she ums and ahs for a few seconds while frantically backing away with profuse apologies of “no, no, no, sorry” as she turns and flees.  Not to be deterred, we get on the bus and Catfish asks the two women sitting behind us what happened.  With the help of their Korean-English dictionaries on their mobile phones, they manage to convey that the protest is over the inhumane treatment of pigs and cows recently affected by Foot and Mouth Disease (Korea simply buried infected animals alive much to the disgust of many people).  We thank them for their explanations and settle back to enjoy the final bus trip of the day, eager to be home once more.

Three Cocktails Not Three Koreans (1 February)

After five days of vacation spent in Gunsan, I am more than ready to head up to Seoul this morning in preparation for the ski trip that Catfish, NZ2, KiwiKat and I have signed up for through Adventure Korea.  Although we’re only leaving for the trip tomorrow, the pick up time is 7:00am so we’re spending the night at Hong Guesthouse in Hongdae which is only a five minute walk from the pick up site at Hongik station.  In addition, this long weekend is Lunar New Year (설날 – Seolnal) which, along with Chuseok (추석), is one of the two biggest holidays in Korea.  This is a time of mass migration on the roads of Korea as most people travel to their hometowns to celebrate the new year with their families.  There is a system as to who travels where (based on the hierarchal and patriarchal system of Korea) and there are various traditions associated with what actually happens at Seolnal but I won’t get into that here.

Getting to Seoul

Since we already knew that the roads would be busy, Catfish and I meet at the Gunsan Express Bus Terminal at 11:35am and manage to get onto the 11:40am bus – with only four other people.  We take this as a good sign that getting to Seoul this afternoon shouldn’t be too arduous and most people will be travelling later tonight or tomorrow.  The first two hours of the trip are great and we encounter no more traffic than usual in the two and a half hour trip. 

We’re excited to finally get to Seoul and know that we’re only approximately 1 km from the Gangnam Express Bus Terminal when we’re greeted with a sight so terrifying that only a picture can accurately describe it.  After making it to Seoul in the usual two and a half hours, we start to wonder just how long the final stretch is going to take.  We sit on the off-ramp for at least 30 minutes and watch as a passenger approaches the driver, has a hushed conversation with him and then gets off the bus.  I’m optimistic that this traffic can’t delay us for more than 45 minutes but when we’re barely off the highway 45 minutes after getting to Seoul, I’m starting to have doubts. 

Please Control the Waegooks

Catfish keeps sliding across the bus to take photos of the endless traffic and, frankly, we’re starting to go a little stir-crazy which encourages the two Korean passengers closest to us to move to the opposite end of the bus.  We’re meant to be meeting NZ2 in Itaewon after his five day trip to Japan where he proposed to his girlfriend.  We’re eager to catch up and run a few errands before heading to the hostel for the night but the traffic poses a serious obstacle.  Despite the driver’s valiant attempts to slay the many heads of this traffic dragon, it seems to keep multiplying and we’re soon in the thick of a war of vehicles that every possible police officer in Seoul is attempting to control.  It’s the first time we’ve seen so many police officers in one day and clustered in large groups – obviously for their protection from crazed travellers like ourselves.

After another 45 minutes on the bus, we can finally see the Central City sign for the bus terminal and we know that we’re just around the corner from our final stop.  However, we’ve been sitting in Seoul traffic for an hour and a half and just want to get off the bus at this point – if we only knew how to ask this in Korean!  Finally, the driver says something in Korean and the remaining two Korean passengers jump up so we take this as a sign that we’re being released back into the wilds of Seoul and race the other passengers off the bus, grab our bags and make our way across the road to the relative freedom of the subway.  After seeing the chaos on the roads, I’m reluctant to travel below ground where I once again anticipate the type of traffic experienced at Christmas Eve.  Fortunately, most people seem to be focusing their chaos-contributions above ground and the subway is no busier than usual so we’re soon in Itaewon where we hastily store our luggage in lockers and head to What the book? to meet NZ2.

We don’t spend too long at What the book? where Catfish buys a copy of Making Out in Korean to study a few essential terms to use with JH.  From there, we head to a store that does personalised stitching on beanies, t-shirts and other assorted personal goods.  NZ2 is in the market for a new beanie and Catfish and I are still debating t-shirts along the lines of “She made me do it” with arrows pointing to each other.  Standing in the shop, NZ2 chooses a beanie and asks for input as to what it should say.  Considering the speculation of our colleagues over the past month, I suggest it read “Engaged!” which makes both Catfish and NZ2 start laughing almost hysterically.  I even suggest getting one myself that reads “But not to me!” to wear to school on the same days as NZ2 which makes us all laugh even more.  Eventually, we decide to pass on this idea and NZ2 gets a beanie that reads “Too Cold :/” in Korean. By the time we leave the store, we’re starving but not in the mood for burgers so NZ2 suggests Gecko’s which apparently makes fantastic fish and chips so he leads the way to this new paradise.

Listen Carefully Catfish

We’re soon seated and salivating over a menu that lists many mouth-watering options.  We’re all keen to have fish and chips but the quesadillas also sound delicious so Catfish and I decide to share one of these too.  Before you judge us too harshly, we had barely eaten breakfast before leaving this morning and we hadn’t had time to have lunch before getting on the bus so we were starving!

Our waiter places paper place mats in front of us and we notice that there is a picture to colour in on the back.  This is probably meant for children but Catfish is the baby in our group so she asks for crayons to colour in the picture much to the amusement of our waiter. When our dinner arrives, the food looks just like fish and chips in an English pub which is something of a novelty here in Korea so Catfish and I immediately pick up our cameras to document this auspicious moment.  We’re ravenous so conversation is limited as we attack our food with relish.  We make short work of most of our meal before the conversation once again becomes lively. 

Since NZ2 was in Japan for my actual birthday – and I was told at my surprise party that I could have a week long birthday – I tell him that he has to have a cocktail with us.  We can’t see our waiter so Catfish is dispatched to order drinks at the bar.  Within minutes, she returns to the table followed by three very eager and flirtatious waiters who vie to take our order much to Catfish’s embarrassment and our amusement.  With all three 20-something men fighting to take our orders, I lean over to Catfish and tell her that she seems to have only heard the first syllable of “cocktails”.

As we finish off our meal, we’re aware of the overly attentive waiters who seem to have taken a liking to Catfish.  They circle our table on a loop, constantly looking over until Catfish engages them in further conversation.  WanSu, at only (Korean) 20 years of age, is the youngest and has just finished high school as Dan, who is (Korean) 27 years of age quickly points out when we play the Guess How Old I Am game with them.  WanSu also tells us that his English name is Jack Sparrow which prompts Catfish to start humming the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean: World’s End.  I don’t think he quite understood this response in all honesty which just added to the humour of the situation.  Clearly WanSu and Dan are having fun, however, and when they hear that we’re all English teachers, they teach us a Korean phrase to use in class when we have one boy who is not cooperating; Malicious Boy immediately springs to mind.  The phrase means something to the effect of: When I am kind to you, you be a good boy to me.

Engrish in Itaewon

We leave the pub still laughing and teasing Catfish about not getting their phone numbers and head back to Itaewon station to collect our luggage.  While unlocking the lockers, I notice the Engrish instructions that are on the screen when a locker door is open: 33 is the beginning of the locker, After you take the goods until you hear the door beep thrusting. We’re still not entirely sure what this actually means as we take the subway to Hongik station and walk to Hong Guesthouse where David, the manager on duty, seems very excited to finally have people arriving.  We get the impression it’s been a very slow day at the guesthouse and this seems to be confirmed when Charlie (another staff member) takes his time showing us around the guesthouse and finally to our room. 

Let's Play a Game or Two

We’re waiting for KiwiKat to arrive and NZ2 and I are still teasing Catfish about being a natural flirt. When he logs onto Skype to chat to his new fiancée, I join Catfish downstairs to check emails and we end up chatting to David and Charlie until KiwiKat arrives and we head back upstairs together.  Unfortunately, we’re quick to recount the Gecko’s story to KiwiKat who is laughing as much as we did so Catfish, tired of the teasing, excuses herself and heads back downstairs where she is invited to join a birthday party for David’s girlfriend/friend.  This is where we find her when KiwiKat and I head downstairs to go to the convenience store and we’re invited to join the party too.  We chat to the group for a few minutes and, once again, end up playing the Guess My Age game with this group of Koreans.  Koreans and Westerners find it rather difficult to guess each other’s ages so this game often provides great entertainment for both groups.

This game leads to the Guess how long I’ve been in Korea game between us and another English teacher.  He’s a bit pompous and tells us that he’s just renewed his contract which, of course, doesn’t impress any of us with KiwiKat by our side.  When he tries to guess how long KiwiKat’s been in Korea, he seems to find it hard to believe that someone would stay in Korea for eight and half years without: a) Being married to a Korean or b) Earning a ridiculously high salary.  OR c) Maybe we genuinely like our jobs and schools so that’s enough reason for KiwiKat to have stayed here so long which is, actually, the reason for KiwiKat’s long stay in Korea.  He can’t seem to understand this third option and we take this as our cue to leave. 

We’re all more than ready for an early night which means that, once again, we’re staying overnight in one of the biggest clubbing areas in Seoul and we have yet to even venture anywhere near these despite many invitations from David.  Maybe next time we’re in Hongdae, we’ll experience nightlife beyond just the local convenience store.

New Year Recovery (1 January)

After a long, cold and exhausting – but ultimately fun – evening that ended with us waiting for the subways to re-open at 5:30am, we quickly made our way to Yeongdeungpo station to head back to KiwiKat’s apartment to get some rest.  NZ2’s friend, now girlfriend, is leaving Korea this afternoon but we’re all exhausted.  Our enthusiasm has dimmed considerably in the cold weather as we gather for a photo to commemorate our first subway ride of 2011.  We manage to stay awake long enough to change lines and get onto the hour long train that will take us to Kiwikat’s apartment outside of Seoul. We’re barely on the train and we’ve all fallen asleep – just one more reminder that we’re apparently too old to still be attempting all night parties!

At KiwiKat’s apartment, we crowd in and quickly claim empty sleeping spots wherever we find them before promptly passing out once more.  A few hours later, we’re not quite recovered but we can function.  NZ2 and his girlfriend leave for Incheon International Airport and we drift in and out of sleep before finally waking up for the day.  By this time, it’s early afternoon and we should probably get moving so that we can get our bags from the lockers at Itaewon station, check into the guesthouse where we’ll be staying tonight and then head back to Itaewon to do some shopping at What the Book? and the clothing store that KiwiKat showed me the previous day. 

Partially Recovered

It’s a fairly easy trip back to Itaewon station were we’re surprised at just how affordable and apparently secure the storage lockers are.  We’re soon on our way to Hong Guesthouse in Hongdae which is only a short trip from Itaewon.  There, we quickly settle into our room and take much needed showers before heading out once more back to Itaewon.  Our first stop in Itaewon is the All-American Diner where they serve real hamburgers that will solve almost any craving foreigners have for decent Western food.  From there, we head to the bookstore and then the clothing store where I’m amazed to find jeans that fit me to perfectly without having to try on several dozen pairs.

Catfish seems to be continuing her newly acquired approach to shopping: Instead of dressing in sufficient layers each day, she wears layers that she thinks will keep her warm and then seems to buy additional layers in each clothing store she enters that day.  Today's purchase is a faux fur-lined hoodie.

Our shopping trip over, we return to the guesthouse for an early evening in preparation for tomorrow’s adventure: The DMZ.  Look out North Korea, we’ll be watching you!

PS. If you ever need a good guesthouse in Seoul that is affordable and a great place to stay, I can really recommend Hong Guesthouse.