My First Week in South Korea

Greetings everyone! Annyeung Haseo!

If you are here and reading this it means that you want me. Bad. Although, that kind of goes without saying. If that not be the case, you should quietly navigate yourself away from this page.
Now that that's out of the way, let gets to business.

I am living in a small village composed mainly of straw huts, about 40 cubic feet each. I have 3 roomates each of whom does not know the definition of bodily hygiene or the word deodorant. We eat kimchi all day and have to catch our own dinners with a pole and string intended to be used as a fishing pole (provided for us by the government). This is my house below.Yes, it is truly a paradise.

Ok, so if that happens to be your impression of what South Korea is like, you might as well pack your things and go head out with the non - Neal - lovers; because that's ludicrous. In fact, maybe you should just stay so I can set the record straight.

In actuality, I'm residing in a beautiful government facility located in Yongin, approx. an hour away from Seoul in the countryside. Here is the view from my window (as seen to the right).
Here we TaLK (Teach and Learn Korean (this is the program I am here with, run by the Korean Embassy)) scholars are assembled in order to better acquaint ourselves with the vast cultural differences that exist between our culture and theirs, as well as learning styles and methods for teaching English to elementary school children.


For instance, did you know that if an elder person offers you an alcoholic beverage, you are required to turn to the left and THEN drink it. Or, for example, there should be no socializing in resteraunts; you are expected to sit, eat, and then immediately leave.

Other classes provide us with sample lesson plans by Education professors, guest lecturers, and elementary school teachers from rural areas of South Korea similar to where we will be. They teach well and provide great information.

As I have much to say I will try to be brief about the events other than this.

Void of this, the opening ceremonies by the program were fantastic. As I did not have my camera I cannot provide pictures, but I will paint a picture with words as best as I can. The opening act was the Angel Voice choir, a group 10 elementary school children who sang tradition Korean songs in perfect harmony with each other. The second act consisted of what I would describe as a tribal drum dance, choreographed with intricate hand motions while chanting gang vocals in complicated rhythms. The drums were deep bass drums that echoed throughout the theatre. Third went on what I can only describe as the equivalent of the Korean Three Tenors, except they all sounded EXACTLY the same. After that went on a solo violinist from the Korean military, playing a beautiful rendition of the classical piece Chardin, by Montini, backed up by a string quartet and a piano. Next (Yes, there is still more!) went on a kayagum (as seen at right) quartet playing arrangements of the Beatles' "Let It Be" and "Hey Jude". I'd say the most interesting part of this act was when the audience broke out into quiet song at the "Na na na na's" in "Hey Jude". Next to last was a magical act performed by another Korean soldier, however nothing mind blowing. What follow was truly applicable to the saying "Save the best for last". Emerging from the back of the audience was a fully traditionally dressed group of Koreans holding a variety of interesting musical instruments. What was most fascinating however was their hats, which had poles coming out of them with streamers attached to them (seen below). This applies to each individual except for the head Korean, whose pole had feathers attached arranged almost like the tail of an ostrich or turkey. While doing a funky dance, they would move their heads (almost like bobblehead dolls) in order to make te streamers and feathers float around them in such an incredible synchronized manner that it was hard to take ones eyes off of them. All the while they were creating difficult rhythms and awesome beats that made one's foot tap uncontrollably in a fit of ecstasy. This performance ended with a conglomeration of beats and rhythms circulating around one of the dancers who while break dancing (yes...actually break dancing; six step, windmill, body freezes, etc.), bobbled his head in such a fashion that the streamer circulated around him in both wild squiggles and elegant formations. It was truly a sight to behold. The event ended with congratulatory remarks from a few choice members of the TaLK program and then a fantastic dinner comprised everything from sushi, prized meats, fish, mussels, oysters, ridiculous salads, wonderful desserts, delicious soups, fruit, cakes, chicken, pork, kimchi, beef, etc. I emerged from that assortment of food with 3 plates , two bowls of soup, and dessert. It was only topped off by the fact that there was karoake and movies during the dinner to top it off.

Hoochie Mama that was good.

The last part of this post that I will put is my first trip into Seoul, which just occurred this past weekend. It began by going to the Blue House (The equivalent of the Korean White House, where the president lives). It was quite interesting but unfortunately were not allowed inside as there is extremely tight security. We took a walking tour around the area and were shown the beautiful gardens that were created for the President and his royal guests. Here is the presidents house, as well as our entire group in front of the Royal Guest House.













From here we went to Insadong, a popular shopping
area in Seoul where we were left on our own for the
rest of the weekend to do what we wished.
Not surprising, but there was anime graffiti present
everywhere (as seen to the right).


What particularly caught my eye was the brilliance of some of the other graffiti; it was beautiful! Here are a few picture of them:















Below is what a typical Korean lunch looks like, which consists of kimchi, soup, radishes, usually a meat of some kind, and of course, rice. This particular meal to the farthest left is basically just soup, but it stems from there.
The food farthest below consists of live fluke (top right in the picture), sea urchin (the wormy things), flounder (top right), and I'm not quite sure about the other. You choose which one you want, and they take it and chop it up for you. I guess it doesn't get fresher then that!











Above (on the right) is just some typical street food. MMMMM...Corn dogs, deep fried red bean paste, eggs, rice cakes, etc. YEAH BABY (I'm learning to expand my tastes).

Lastly, my party night in Seoul that began with some iniatory Soju (just about the most common Korean alcoholic beverage) and ended in a billiard hall left me at a Korean bathhouse. Here for about 10,000 Won (the equivalent of 8 dollars or so) you have a floor to sleep on, jacuzzi, showers, breakfast (in some), towels, toothbrushes, etc. all provided for you. Inside it is extremely hot and you really don't need a blanket, and you can stay there for an entire day for as long as you want. It is essentially a nice spa that you can stay it. It is actually illegal to take photos in there, but I managed to snag one identifying what the sleeping room is like:







(Through the lit door on the top right is a smoking room with tables set up to play what is sort of like Korean chess.)




Here I slept fantastically and woke up to a warm atmosphere, jacuzzis, and sunlight. I then scoured Seoul for a music store, bought a cheap guitar, and made my way back to Yongin. What a voyage!

I'll my description of the first week with a few interesting pictures until the next post! Anyeung Gaseyo (goodbye)!

(Below: Beautiful window outside Seoul University)














(Below: Kind of an interesting bench, no?















(Left: This ostrich like animal was in a COFFEEHOUSE...








(Below: cool brick wall divide from 3 floors up in the market)