So this weekend is Chuseok. Harvest festival. Korean Thanksgiving. What ever you want to call it, we have off until Wednesday the 30th. That's five days if you count the few precious hours left to us after work on Friday (and I do count them -- every second). I'll be celebrating the reap-time by visiting Ullueng, an island in the East Sea (or Sea of Japan depending on your politics).
But all of that is still 8 hours away (!!!!!!) and in the meantime, as we count down the hours, minutes, seconds until
Chuseok in the teacher's workroom this Friday in the Republic of Korea, let me tell you a few stories.
Today, being the kid's last day in school before the Chuseok break, all of our students are decked out in hanboks (those sweet, colorful robes). It's pretty adorable. I feel like all these Korean kids have a keen awareness of how cute they are. You can tell by the way they take pictures. Very practiced.
After class, we took a group of them in to the library to make Songpyeon (a traditional Chuseok rice cake/bean treat). I'm not the biggest fan of rice cakes, but the kids love them, and they seemed to be having a good time. With a little luck and a few well placed stiff arms, I was able to dodge the hands'd up songpyeon the kids were offering. Sorry, kids.
Gift giving is big here. Victoria (one of the Swans) gave me a huge box this morning when I came into the room. Inside were around nine packages of crackers, which was a TON of crackers. I don't think there was a racial pun intended. Later in the day, one of my homework class (like study hall) students gave me a wrapped present. No idea what it is, but I'm pumped!
I haven't said much about the past two weekends that Maria and I have spent in Seoul, which is a shame because they've been pretty sweet. I wouldn't feel good leaving the past two weeks unsaid, and next week I know I'll be preoccupied with whatever new species of pirate I discover on the aforementioned volcanic island.
Let's start with Karaoke.
That should clear up most of the details. Putting that diagram together also cleared out about an hour of my time.
We found ourselves at Karaoke under pretty much the same circumstances as in the states. Maria, Lauren, Andrew, Daniel and I went to an "American buffet" (there were tacos, so I guess that earns them the title. Tacos are pretty rare here) a couple weeks ago on a Friday, and went looking for trouble afterwards. As the diagram shows, Korean karaoke is pretty different than the way it goes down back home. There's no bar. You go to a special karaoke business (I think it's called a nor-ay-bong, but don't quote me), and they give you a private room (with bottle service or food if you pay for it).
I had heard about this before coming over, and was initially pretty apprehensive. I'm one of those who like karaoke. I don't even need the liquid-confidence runway that a lot of other folks seem to want. Not because I have a great voice, mind you. I just like singing on stage. If you don't have a performing art to your name, karaoke is one of the few times you might find yourself on a stage in front of people (some of who are even singing along!). I dig it. So when I heard that there were no crowds of strangers waiting to stamp their feet along to "Friends in Low Places" (the part of the atmosphere that I like the best), I was concerned it might be a little weird. And the idea of it does sound weird. You and four friends sitting in a dark room the size of a large closet with a flatscreen rolling lyrics while the in-wall speakers blare out Queen. But it's cool. A lot like road-trip singing, I would say.
Then last weekend, Maria and I hunted down a dog cafe that we'd been reading about for some time. It was either that or the Seoul Kimchi Museum. I love kimchi, but I'm pretty sure we made the right call. And yeah, you read that right. Dog cafe. A cafe where you can drink coffee, while being surrounded by 20-30 dogs. In Charlotte there are a lot of "dog-friendly" places -- restaurants and bars and cafes. I thought this was really cool when I moved there. "Take your dog to the cafe with you! What a great idea!" This is on a whole nother level.
You go to the cafe (called Bau House), buy a coffee (it's a rule that you buy something to stay longer than five minutes), and then drink it/hang out in a room packed with dogs. All kinds of dogs. Big dogs, medium sized dogs (there's another room for small breeds, but who cares). There were two Alaskan Malamutes there that were E-NOR-MOUS!
There were dogs lying on couches next to cafe patrons, dogs chasing other dogs around, dogs lying on table tops trying to steal licks from your coffee. I loved it. We spent most of the time hanging out with a German Shepard named something Korean. "The Biter", I called him. The cafĂ© sells treats that you can give the dogs, and when someone buys a bag all the dogs flock to them. Of course, we bought a few bags to feed our favorites. The German Shepard had a habit of taking semi-serious nips at your butt/chest/leg/head if he felt like you weren’t giving him his due. One of the big Malamute dogs was about 13-years-old, and looked to have had a stroke at some point. He seemed like he was enjoying his golden years though. Guy looked like a dire wolf. You couldn’t help but stare.
Our Saturdays we always try to get out and explore
someplace. Even on the slow weekends when we stay in town there’s a lot to do. We’ve
still got a good many places in Seoul to check out. Temples, museums, parks, all of which are just a subway ride away.
 |
| Assuming I don't get eaten by a dinosaur, I should have a lot more to say about this place when I get back. |
But all of that is still 8 hours away (!!!!!!) and in the meantime, as we count down the hours, minutes, seconds until
Chuseok in the teacher's workroom this Friday in the Republic of Korea, let me tell you a few stories.
Today, being the kid's last day in school before the Chuseok break, all of our students are decked out in hanboks (those sweet, colorful robes). It's pretty adorable. I feel like all these Korean kids have a keen awareness of how cute they are. You can tell by the way they take pictures. Very practiced.After class, we took a group of them in to the library to make Songpyeon (a traditional Chuseok rice cake/bean treat). I'm not the biggest fan of rice cakes, but the kids love them, and they seemed to be having a good time. With a little luck and a few well placed stiff arms, I was able to dodge the hands'd up songpyeon the kids were offering. Sorry, kids.
 |
| Boystown |
 |
| Victoria making (wearing) songpyeon |
I haven't said much about the past two weekends that Maria and I have spent in Seoul, which is a shame because they've been pretty sweet. I wouldn't feel good leaving the past two weeks unsaid, and next week I know I'll be preoccupied with whatever new species of pirate I discover on the aforementioned volcanic island.
Let's start with Karaoke.
That should clear up most of the details. Putting that diagram together also cleared out about an hour of my time.
We found ourselves at Karaoke under pretty much the same circumstances as in the states. Maria, Lauren, Andrew, Daniel and I went to an "American buffet" (there were tacos, so I guess that earns them the title. Tacos are pretty rare here) a couple weeks ago on a Friday, and went looking for trouble afterwards. As the diagram shows, Korean karaoke is pretty different than the way it goes down back home. There's no bar. You go to a special karaoke business (I think it's called a nor-ay-bong, but don't quote me), and they give you a private room (with bottle service or food if you pay for it).
I had heard about this before coming over, and was initially pretty apprehensive. I'm one of those who like karaoke. I don't even need the liquid-confidence runway that a lot of other folks seem to want. Not because I have a great voice, mind you. I just like singing on stage. If you don't have a performing art to your name, karaoke is one of the few times you might find yourself on a stage in front of people (some of who are even singing along!). I dig it. So when I heard that there were no crowds of strangers waiting to stamp their feet along to "Friends in Low Places" (the part of the atmosphere that I like the best), I was concerned it might be a little weird. And the idea of it does sound weird. You and four friends sitting in a dark room the size of a large closet with a flatscreen rolling lyrics while the in-wall speakers blare out Queen. But it's cool. A lot like road-trip singing, I would say.
Then last weekend, Maria and I hunted down a dog cafe that we'd been reading about for some time. It was either that or the Seoul Kimchi Museum. I love kimchi, but I'm pretty sure we made the right call. And yeah, you read that right. Dog cafe. A cafe where you can drink coffee, while being surrounded by 20-30 dogs. In Charlotte there are a lot of "dog-friendly" places -- restaurants and bars and cafes. I thought this was really cool when I moved there. "Take your dog to the cafe with you! What a great idea!" This is on a whole nother level.
 |
| The Malamute |
There were dogs lying on couches next to cafe patrons, dogs chasing other dogs around, dogs lying on table tops trying to steal licks from your coffee. I loved it. We spent most of the time hanging out with a German Shepard named something Korean. "The Biter", I called him. The cafĂ© sells treats that you can give the dogs, and when someone buys a bag all the dogs flock to them. Of course, we bought a few bags to feed our favorites. The German Shepard had a habit of taking semi-serious nips at your butt/chest/leg/head if he felt like you weren’t giving him his due. One of the big Malamute dogs was about 13-years-old, and looked to have had a stroke at some point. He seemed like he was enjoying his golden years though. Guy looked like a dire wolf. You couldn’t help but stare.
| Malamute Dramatization (sort of) |
You don’t really see a lot of big dogs in Seoul, and so I
feel like for many of the Koreans who come to Bau House (and I’m assuming
here), it’s a real novelty to be around so many. Heck, I love big dogs and it
was a novelty for me. We left after a few hours, covered in hair and slobber, happy as could be. The Bau House is around one of the many universities, so
the area was pretty awesome. Lots of art. Lots of shops. Colorful.
 |
| Biter |
I
hope it doesn’t reflect too much in this post, but pretty much all I can think
about right now is getting out to Ulleung. This week has been pretty killer at
work, what with the grind to break and end of the month testing going on. I had a parent call in to tell the administrator that my class was "using too many games for a private academy," which I guess, in her estimation, is supposed to be as drudgerous as it sounds for our kids. Can't please them all.
Looking forward to some R and R, and seeing that thin blue line over the
Pacific.
 |
| Still don't know what he wanted... |
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