The "Real" Korean Experience

I have had quite the “Korean Experience” recently! I’ve got to see a lot of Korean culture and experience some cool stuff!

On Friday I did not have to teach. My 6th graders were reviewing for a test, so English class was canceled for the day.

I asked my teacher on Thursday, “So do I need to come to school tomorrow?”
She said, “Oh, you get to sit in your classroom.”
I said, “Oh, I get to just sit there all day?”
And she said, “Yeah, you get a free day!”

Oh joy! So I prepared myself for a long day! I brought in a couple of TV series to watch and a few movies. I was determined not to sit on Facebook all day! My teacher came into my room that morning and said, “Becky, I have great news! I talked to my Principal and Vice Principal and they said we can go outside today (which means we can leave)!" Yeah, the day just got brighter at that point!

So, she took me to a traditional Korean Folk Village. We drove to Asan (which is a city about 20 minutes away) and spent the day at this village. They had examples of older Korean homes and showed what a village would have looked like. (This was an original village though.) It was beautiful scenery! It is surrounded by mountains. The sun was shining and it was a cool day… B-E-A-utiful! It was really cool to experience this with a Korean b/c she was able to explain stuff to me (which she absolutely loved to do!)

Then we met her husband at this traditional Korean restaurant in the village. We had this ball of corn and Korean pizza. Thankfully I liked the food. That could have been very bad if I didn’t! It was neat to be able to meet her husband. He didn’t speak English, but we figured it out with the help from my teacher. We ate outside under this gazebo type of things. It was quite the experience!

After the traditional village, she wanted to take me to this store with “big sizes.” A “big size” here in Korea is like a size 8. So, all foreigners are pretty much “big.” She picked out clothes for me to try on. Oh this was fun! I knew I wasn’t going to get anything, but I thought I’d humor her. She picked out some jeans with some “bling” on the back pocket. She said these were better then the ones I was wearing that day. Mine aren’t “bedazzled” enough I guess! Then she picked out 3 shirts for me to try on. A couple of them were okay, but too expensive. She asked me which I liked best and I said #1 or #3. She told me #1 looked like a University student or someone in there early 20’s would wear. She then said #3 looked more like a lady and what a teacher would wear! Ha! I just smiled and nodded. I chose to embrace the whole experience!
It was actually an amazing day! It was just what we needed! My teacher and I were having some issues, but now I think we are officially past them. It’s amazing what a little prayer can do! I feel a lot more comfortable and confident. She told the vice principal that I had been working hardly. (For some reason she can’t comprehend the different between ‘hard’ and ‘hardly.’ She thinks they’re the same. She always tells me I’m working hardly. I just have to laugh on the inside!) They decided I deserved time out! I wasn’t going to disagree with them! We really enjoyed our time together!

That was quite the ‘Korean Experience.’ But then I had the unique opportunity to attend a Korean wedding. One of the teachers from the school I teach at on Saturdays got married, so I went with my friend Heather to the wedding (this is her actual school.) We loaded a Greyhound Bus Saturday afternoon with other teachers from the school and headed to the wedding! In Korea, they get married at wedding halls. They are definitely different then weddings in America. Instead of giving gifts, you give money in an envelope (no card, you just write your name on the outside of the envelope). This is to help the couple with the costs of food and what not. When you arrive, you find the hall with the wedding you are attending in (there are more than one going on at a time). There are people standing outside and you give them the envelope. There was another wedding going on in the hall we were going to, so we had to wait for ours. There is a room off of the main room where the bride sits on a pedestal and lets her guests come in and take pictures with her. I was going to just take pictures for my friend, but the bride said, “No, no, you come and take the picture with us too!” So, I took a picture with a bride I had just met! Then, the videographer stuck the camera in my face and wanted me to say something to the couple! I froze; I don’t even know these people! So, I smiled and said, “Congratulations!” Yeah, that was a bit awkward!

After the pictures we went back out to the foyer to wait for the wedding. We began to panic though b/c we did not see anyone we knew, or at least anyone Heather knew b/c I didn’t know anyone! We just sort of stood there for a bit. Then one of her teachers came up to get us and told us to come and eat. See, there’s a banquet hall in this building and it’s just a big buffet. You get a ticket for food when you give them the envelope of money. Then you get to eat at the buffet. There were people in there eating from all sorts of weddings. You can eat any time you want. You can eat before the wedding, after the wedding, or even during the wedding! It’s an experience, remember?!? So, we ate and headed back upstairs for the wedding. When we make it up to the hall, she was already walking down the aisle. We slipped in the back and stood. This appears to be a very informal ceremony. People come and go as they please. People are talking through the whole thing. It isn’t the least bit romantic! They had a guy play the saxophone, which was pretty cool, and then they had some of her former students sing. They have many traditions that I tried to understand, but it was a bit difficult with the language barrier! They bow to both sets of parents and they cut a cake right there in the ceremony! They walk down the aisle and then they take group photos! The whole thing was such a cool thing to be a part of! I took pictures to try and allow others to see it. I hope it works!

We decided to venture to Seoul for the night. We were told about this “night shopping” in a market. We decided to check it out. We heard it does not open until after midnight! We found a market at about 10.30pm, but it was closed. We decided to find some place to sit and wait. We went to a restaurant and got a Coke, talked and waited for the market to open a midnight. We back at 12.15, but it was still closed. We were so confused. We found this hotel and asked if we could use the restroom. They said they did not have one. Then we asked if he knew where the market was. He said around the corner and it was open 24 hours! We were waiting on the wrong corner… story of my life! We found it though, that’s all that matters!
At about 2.30am, we decided to call it a night and head to the jimjubang! This is a communal place for people to sleep. It’s not the most ideal place to stay, but it’s super cheap… I’m trying to be more frugal! J We ended up sleeping on a tile floor. No mat, now towel, no blanket, just a tile floor with a small square ‘pillow.’ Let’s just say you don’t get the best sleep here! We decided to stay in Seoul Sunday morning and get breakfast! We went back to Butterfinger Pancakes… home of the best Breakfast in Korea!

It was a long weekend, but a good weekend! To round out my cultural experience, I went to the ballet last night! I never knew I was such a fan! My friend got 2 free tickets and asked if I wanted to go. Of course I wanted to go! We showed up and quickly realized that it was free to everyone! The place was packed! They ran out of seats long before we got there! There were Koreans everywhere! Every free sitting or standing spot was taken. People were standing on the sides and in the back; they were sitting in the aisles and on each other’s laps! We managed to find 2 spots on the far stairs and we actually got to sit! It was a process to get there! People don’t move here. You have to push your way through, literally. They also push… hard! At one point I was standing on one stair and I was surrounded on all sides. This lady tried to come through and pushed me! I started falling backwards and almost took out a whole aisle! I hung on… barely!

The first part was more of a showcase and the second part was a traditional Korean ballet. They were so graceful and amazing to watch. I’ve never got caught up in anything like this before, but it was an incredible experience! We just sat on our stair and took it all in. It was very “Korean” but that’s what I loved about it!

After the ballet we walked outside and it was down pouring! Not just a little rain, a constant, cold rain! You have not experienced an entertaining rain, until you’ve experienced it with Koreans. They run and scream and put their hands over their heads to protect their hair… yeah like that’s going to help! We ran to the taxi stand and waited for about five minutes. We quickly realized that there were no taxis doming! We decided to head out to the main street to try and get one. By the time we finally got one flagged down, we were soaked and freezing! We were just thankful to finally get one! That would have been a rough walk home!So, I’ve definitely got my status quo on Korean culture for now! I love it! It makes me want to learn more and see more! They have so much to do here! Korea is known for their many festivals! Every city has their own festival! But unfortunately b/c of H1N1 (the swine flu) they’ve all been canceled! I was very disappointed to hear this all! Guess we’ll just have to find our own adventures now!!