My, it has been a bit since I've updated, and so much has happened. I believe when we last left our story I had just gone to the suspension bridge and had my first meal in korea. It's odd to realize that is was only a few days ago, but it feels like weeks. This week we started classes/lectures to prepare us to teach English here in Korea. A lot has been dropped on us so far this week and the phrase "culture shock" is being thrown around a lot, but I'll come back to my personal qualms with that a little later.
Since my last check in the city we are staying in has had a Peach Festival! It was going on during the days I had been checking in, but we hadn't gone to it. Well, we went to it and I forgot my camera :( Then on Sunday I brought my camera to a Korean Folk Village, and my memory card was still in my computer back in my room :( So all I'll be documenting in this post is our orientation excursion in Seoul this past Monday.
For orientation they took us to Korea University in Seoul, where they had an intro and live performances. It was early in the morning so at first I didn't think "Oh, I should take pictures" but there was a point that I reached where I was like "holy crap, I have to document this!", that point was six-year-olds doing high kicks and breaking wooden boards like it was no big deal. Yep, we were given an AMAZING performance by the local Taekwondo school. As I am sure you will see, they are all amazing, even the little ones up front.
After that we were given a laminated map and released into the wet wilderness of Seoul to scavenge for landmarks to take pictures at. We had to go to each stop, meet up with one of our FGCs (Foreign Group Coordinator) and take a picture. The group I was in that day was full of such wonderful people, willing to take pictures, pose, and be generally happy people, even in the face of monsoon season. Our favorite stop on the way was definitely lunch! We searched for a quick Korean place to eat lunch and it was actually DIFFICULT! We even passed a TACO stand before we found a little Japanese place down a side alley.
Speaking of food, the cuisine here is just the best! I'm still not sick of Kimchi, and I am excited that I may get a chance to make it if I stick around for the Kimchi festival (still need to find out when and where that is). The other night I took a cooking class here on campus, and learned to make Tteokbokki. Tteokbokki is a traditional Korean dish made with an EXTREMELY spicy sauce, cushy fat rice cakes that resemble long gnocci, Korean-style fish cake (awesome), nummy veggies, and hard boiled eggs (the yolk of which, I learned, is used to cool down ones mouth from the spice). I'm going to try to go to cooking class again tomorrow, and I'm still working hard on my Korean. Now to the pictures I promised!
There they are, the K-Tigers, doing a routine for us!
Our first group picture! The guards stood so still at the palace that they looked fake!
I will never remember his name, but he is on the Korean Won for inventing the Korean Alphabet.
I'm near 100% this is the general who utilized the first "Turtle Ship" (an impenetrable battle ship with a steel top, spiked sides, and a dragon at the bow that shot fire).
Really big seashell. Really good photo.
CHRIS! The guy with the yellow flag is OUR FGC, so we had to take a picture with him.
A river runs through Seoul, and here it is, li'l dam 'n' all.
On the river were stepping stones and my group was so good that they humored me with a photo.
Lunch, FINALLY!
This is my Set. It's a "bento box" but with fried pork (Korea is known for it's pig) over rice, a kind of slaw, some shrimp tempura, miso soup, and lemonade. Just the right amount of food too :D
Supposedly we didn't HAVE to tale a picture here but I think it was a good photo op anyways.
Number Nine on the scavenger hunt, do something stereotypically Korean. So we shopped!
Final stop on the treasure hunt, a picture in front of the red roses.
I will never get over all of the cool pieces of art they have all over the city.
Well that's it for pictures, but since I said I would touch on "culture shock" a bit, let me begin. Talking about and calling it "Culture Shock" is probably more stressful than actually going through culture shock. First off, who came up with the name? Because when I think shock I think on the verge of death and/or life threatening. I honestly think they need to do away with the term, because it's symptoms are also...suspect. Here are a few of them: Being excited about the place you are in, not being excited about the place you are in, becoming obsessed with the culture, hating the culture, trying to force yourself to embrace the culture, not embracing the culture, etc. etc. While people can get homesick and I'm sure people are a bit rattled by other cultures, I think it's a bit extreme to A) call it culture shock and B) have all of these symptoms, including ones caused by personal disposition or jet lag ( not sleeping/sleeping too much is also a symptom of culture shock) be considered a part of your "ailment". Long story short, does "Culture Shock" happen, yes; but is it worth freaking out over if the person "going though it" can't even tell they're going through it? I'd like to think not.
Well all rants and ramblings aside I'm loving it here (maybe that's just the "culture shock" talking). Excellent food, excellent views, things to do, and lots of people to meet and learn from. It's about time for me to go to bed, but I promise I'll do my best to keep everyone informed. Until next time, I hope the world is good to you :D
-Sara
