My Week Off ^^

Today was my first day back at school after an entire week off. While I enjoyed time off, by the end I was starting to get bored... so school was welcome. My students were wound up, of course, as kids are the day they return from a holiday. But they were fun. I like them more every day.

During my week off, I did a couple of really fun things. On Thursday I traveled to another town to visit a fellow Fulbright ETA. It was a really awesome experience for several reasons. Firstly, I was extremely proud of myself. I bought a bus ticket and navigated the bus terminal, which had no English. Then I rode the bus for three hours to the other town, met up with my friend and went to meet her homestay family. We had the most amazing American dinner at a restaurant, where the owner had lived in America. He knew what a real burger was :). Later that night, I booked a hotel room and had such a relaxing time. It used to be that I couldn't stand to be alone, but it was really nice. And I was proud for doing something on my own. Secondly, it was really nice to see a friend who I had become close with during the seven weeks of orientation.

This past weekend I spent in Andong while my homestay family traveled out of town for 추석 (Chuseok), which is essentially Korean Thanksgiving. I went out with some friends and generally had a good time. So I spent a total of four days and nights by myself, which is a new and bittersweet experience for me.


On Tuesday, my homestay parents (who had returned from their trip) took me to Dosan Seowon, a historic and very neat Confucian academy. No one studies there anymore, it is now an exhibit, but it was really awesome. You can read about it here. It was built in 1574 and honors one of the most celebrated and famous Confucian scholars, Yi Hwang. Here are some pictures:

The entrance to the academy.

Andong Lake, which the academy sits on.

Read the last two lines :)

Wishing well.

View of the whole complex.

Really cool lotus pond.

Yi Hwang, the Confucian scholar, used to meditate here.

Well, happy Chuseok!! Until next time ^^

Hair and other little things.

When it comes to hair, Koreans are obsessed. Everything here is about looks. Make-up and hair shops are everywhere, and it is common practice for both men and women to fix their appearance in public, causing a multitude of mirrors to be scattered in the most random of places all over Korea. Also, plastic surgery is extremely common, especially for women. There's a particular surgery that is making waves and is verrryyy popular: the double eyelid surgery. It's a surgery that cuts Asian peoples' eyelids to make them have the line above the eyelashes that white people have. Check out these before and after pictures here.

Anyway, foreigners seem to have nothing but horror stories about hair in Korea. You'd think the hair stylists would be good, because the Koreans walking around all have fierce hair, both men and women. But it seems with foreigners, they think we want bad haircuts, especially men. I had determined even before coming that I would not get my hair dyed here, as it's thin and completely different from Koreans' hair. But once I arrived, I decided I would also not get a haircut, as Korean hair stylists are clearly not to be trusted. However, three weeks ago, I started to change my mind.

During our Seoul trip, one of my good friends came back from our free day with suddenly glossy, smooth, perfect hair, after previously having wavy (but still beautiful!) hair. We were all amazed. She had gotten what is literally called "magic straight." It's a straight perm that lasts 6 to 9 months. Well, for the last three weeks I've been debating whether I wanted to risk it. My hair is very different, it's thin and fine, and magic straight is expensive. Finally, I decided to do it. Today I went to a salon recommended by another foreigner. It took 3 hours, and was a rather complicated process, during which I received a hard-boiled egg as a gift... but it looks amazing!! And my hair is so soft now! It literally looks like I straightened it, even though they only blow-dried it. Plus, they charged a lot less than the place in Seoul, so I'm really pleased ^^.

In other news, I'm ecstatic because I get an entire week off starting today. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week I got off work because all of my students are going on a trip to visit the military. While this may sound interesting, I actually feel really bad for them, because they will be doing a mock military training. Both boys and girls will be going through a "guest" military training for the next three days. They were not pleased during class yesterday.

In Korea, sometimes the military can be a touchy subject among young men, because Korea has mandatory military service for all men between 19 and 35 years old. The term is 21 or 24 months depending on the branch. Technically, South and North Korea are still at war, so a strong military is needed. Also, many of the men who are in the military get assigned police positions in the major cities. Some of this generation really don't like the mandatory service, especially because my generation is fairly far removed from the Korean War. There are little to no signs of war in South Korea, unless you are near the border. In everyday life, the war has been largely forgotten. But, I would say that the majority of Koreans take the service very seriously, as the national pride in South Korea is very great.

Anyway, I get Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week off as well because it is 추석 (Chuseok), or Korean Thanksgiving. It is pretty much just like American Thanksgiving, with mass exodus to visit family, as well as a lot of food and gift-giving. The main difference is the gift-giving itself. It seems that food and body care items are popular gifts. Considered an especially classy gift, my homestay father came home from work yesterday armed with a HUGE gift-set of none other than... SPAM. Yes. SPAM is not only here in Korea, it's actually a very "nice" food.

So a whole week off is very much needed right about now, as I'm starting to get settled and therefore... homesick. As the excitement and new-ness of it all wear away, the homesickness sets in. So, I hope to keep busy this week, take some time for myself. Tomorrow I will travel to another city, Gimcheon, to visit a Fulbrighter friend who is placed there. I will have to take a three hour bus, but I think it will be fun. I will stay the night there and return on Friday morning, just in time to beat the Chuseok holiday rush.

One last note before I leave off with pictures of my school: I found an amazing fast-food restaurant. They have chicken nuggets and mozzarella sticks that are just as crappy as the ones you can find back home!

In Korean: 비비큐 칙인

Here's the best part: the soda cup comes with a little cup inserted in the top that holds your chicken nuggets, with a small space left for the straw to stick out! That way, you can hold your chicken and your Coke all in one hand! It's amazing and the US should hop on that... immediately. Exhibit B:

There's soda underneath the chicken... GENIOUS.

Okay, and to end, here are some pictures of my school, Poongsan High School (풍산 고등학교).

The main hallway.

The entrance. The cabinets where we put our shoes after we change into slippers are there on the right.

The front door to Poongsan.

The whole front of the school property with the soccer field and school. The red building on the right is one of the dorms.

Entrance to the school grounds.

My desk in the gyomushil, or teachers' office. In Korean schools, the students stay in the classroom and the teachers move to the rooms, so we all share one big office.

Happy Chuseok! ^^