새해 복 많이 받으세요~ Happy New Year~
Well, I suppose it's April now, but please allow me to temporarily temporally transport you back to January for the duration of this post. Then I'll take you safely back to your original time, promise. Welcome to the first month of the new year! I hope reading about these experiences has been enjoyable for you. I began writing this without a clear idea of what its purpose was, hoping that it would become more apparent as I went forward through time. Well, it's been six months now and I still don't know what its purpose is... but it exists, so maybe that's enough for now. ^_^ So, the first day of 2019. Jan 1st was exactly the kind of day you'd want after staying up late the previous night - relaxing and rejuvenating. We slept in, ate an omelet and fresh fruit for breakfast, then wandered the Chang-Dong area together. Since it was a holiday, many places were closed, but we managed to find a cozy place that was open and ate udon soup. Then we went back to the apartment and watched Buster Scruggs. By the way, I highly recommend that movie. It ranges from absurdly comedic to... the opposite of that. Check it out if you'd like some feelings. Overall, Jan 1st was a quiet day was full of small, happy moments and I wouldn't have had it any other way. On Jan 2, we converted all our stored potential energy into kinetic energy and went to Gwangjang Shijang, an enormous market in downtown Seoul. We stepped into the covered streets and were completely engulfed in all kinds of stimuli, from smells to sights to sounds. The streets were lined with well-established little stores selling everything you could think of: candy, vegetables, fruit, spices, kimchi, baked goods, and there was an unbelievable amount of raw fish - some of which was still alive and kept in small tanks. There were also many vendors set up in the middle of the crowded street selling street food like tteokbokki, dumplings, kimbap, and hotteok. These vendors had benches and chairs set out for people to eat at; luckily for us, we had arrived hungry. We bought bindaetteok first - a chickpea-based fried pancake that is one of the most delicious and unhealthy things I've ever eaten. It was incredibly rich and savory, and the soy sauce that they'd given us to dip it in heightened the flavour to otherworldly levels. When we were tired of wandering the streets, we sought refuge at a cafe and relaxed with some coffee. At the end of the day, we went back to Chang-Dong and went to a pasta and pizza restaurant for dinner (I know, not Korean food, but I dearly wanted comfort food). The restaurant was part of a large structure which was made of dozens of brightly-painted shipping containers. We also stumbled upon a strange, maze-like path on the corner of the structure. The ground was covered in tiny white stones, so it made an interesting crunching sound as you walked, and there were hundreds of tall, thin, white plastic poles lining the path. It's difficult to describe, so please feel free to look at the pictures below. On Jan 4, we rode the train to Incheon airport together; I rode it home alone. I've become someone who hates goodbyes. Here's a sad math equation for you: √A^2 = </3 The next day, as I was sitting in a kind of lonely, dissociative, hazy state on the train, a pigeon flew into the station and almost stepped into the train itself. I found myself silently coaxing it on, willing it to come in and make my morning more memorable. It didn't, but I smiled just thinking about the pandemonium that would have undoubtedly ensued if it had. Thanks for the smile, bird. Jan 5 was also my first class at the new swing dance organization called Swing Family. I found the venue without difficulty and entered the dance studio to find it already full of young Korean men and women. I didn't approach anyone because I was a little intimidated to speak Korean or force English on them. Another foreign girl eventually came in and said hello to me, but we only exchanged a few words. Then the lesson began, and it was entirely in Korean. Frankly speaking... I was overwhelmed and ashamed by my lack of understanding. I had kept up fairly well by watching and copying the teachers' bodies, but I had been too nervous to ask for further explanation in English. When it finished, I was feeling frustrated at myself and a little afraid for the future classes. Thankfully, we all went to the swing bar (called Boogie Woogie) for social dancing afterwards, and the music and dancing soothed my heart and eased away my fears. We may not have been able to communicate verbally, but we could at least dance together. We knew enough moves to be able to have some tentative, exploratory conversations. It was a start. On Jan 8, El was kind enough to accompany me to a famous shoe store where I bought my first ever pair(s) of legitimate dancing shoes. They were made from scratch to fit my feet, and I even got to choose their colour. One pair was pink and brown, the other pair was teal (I have them now and they are just the bee's knees. The cat's meow. I look like a gal from the '50s). One week later, on Jan 14, I invited my friends Joe and Sohyeon over. We made a stir fry for dinner and banana chocolate chip muffins for dessert. We played cards, listened to classical music, and spoke Korean, English, and a little Spanish. On Jan 18, I went to Hyehwa with Mai, her German friend, and Joe. We ate food at a Vietnamese restaurant and also had their beer, then went to a Japanese restaurant and ate skewers drank warm sake, then ate Taiwanese street food that was fried dough with an egg and some cabbage and salad dressing inside it. Jan 19 was dancing at Time Bar with El, Hosok, and Johnny. My dancing shoes had arrived a few days ago, so I decided to break them in. Unfortunately, I didn't wear socks that night, so it was more like the shoes broke me in. By the end of the night, my feet had cuts on them. The next week would be characterized by me having a slight limp and wearing bandages inside my shoes. The after party was at a restaurant that served sashimi, salad, and raw octopus legs that had been chopped so recently that they were still moving (sannakji). When that particular dish came out, I froze in my seat and just stared at the plate. Hosok picked up a tentacle with his chopsticks and said, "Say ah!" which I responded to by pursing my lips and shaking my head. But he kept holding it out for me and insisted that it tasted good, so I caved and decided to give it a try. I mean, I'm not going to be in Korea forever, right? Why not eat the squirming... wet... octopus tentacles. As soon as it was inside my mouth, I could feel it wriggling which caused my entire face to scrunch up involuntarily. The suction cups were sticking slightly to my tongue while I chewed. After an uncomfortable period of time, it stopped moving and I focused on the taste instead of the feel. It tasted fine, even a little bland. I think the appeal is in the excitement of eating something that is still moving. A few minutes later, I ate one of my own volition and it was significantly less exciting. In the end, I recommend trying them if you ever get the chance. Jan 26 was another teacher's conference in Suwon. Troy and Trevor were there, so we spent the day together, being troublemakers and hooligans at the back of the classroom. Afterwards, a few people went out for drinks at a bar near Giheung station. It had anime books lining the walls and board games that you could take down and play at your table. It felt really good to be out meeting new people at a new place again. I guess you can get stuck in an everyday kind of routine wherever you go. In fact, once you settle in, it's difficult not to. Suwon was a refreshing break from the routine. Music this month took a back seat to learning Korean. I dove face-first into it and have committed myself to listening to at least one episode of Talk to Me In Korean every day. As for my general musings this month... I've been thinking a lot about what I'll do when I go back to Canada. Which has led to me wondering how anyone ever manages to choose what they want to do with their careers/lives. It's so easy to become victim to the paradox of choice, where you are paralyzed into indecision due to the sheer volume of choices. Becoming skilled at something takes time, obviously. Nevertheless, you have to choose something to spend time on, or you end up not being good at anything. So... How does one choose? I think I want something that makes me happy and betters humanity. I'll be thinking about it even more in the next few months. That brings us to the end. Welcome back to March and thank you for journeying into the past with me for a little while. And, as always, thanks for reading. <3
1 Comment
Glen Stoltz
4/1/2019 09:15:11 am
Hi honey! I find your blog very interesting and enthralling! I suppose, like you said that you have been there for over 6 months and you have settled into a routine which may be mundane to you but for myself and many others your experiences and photos are very interesting and exciting so please keep writing! We miss you and love you very much but reading your stories helps us feel closer to you and is very informative about Korean culture. ❤️❤️❤️
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AuthorAshley is a Canadian teaching English in South Korea. Although between the Korean, swing dancing, and general life skills, she's probably learning more than she's teaching. Archives
June 2019
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