Tight Spaces

My brief trip to the US in May/June, especially its long drives across expanses of mid-western states, reminded me of how tiny my adopted country is. The Internet told me that South Korea is slightly larger than Indiana, a state home to roughly 6.5 million. Korea's population? About 48.8 million. 

With so many people crammed onto a peninsula, it's no wonder the traffic sucks, the smog is terrible, hi-rise apartments stretch out as far as the eye can see, and the sewage system definitely leaves something to be desired (even when all those bathroom users remember to put their toilet paper in the trash bin). On the other hand, the public transportation is pretty remarkable, many places are open 24 hours, there are about nine million restaurants and coffee shops to try, and people get pretty inventive with how to best utilize the limited space they do have.

Why waste the space between two buildings? Put a vending machine in it! That tiny bit of land between the porta pottie and the driveway? Perfect for growing some corn.

Some days you might step out of your apartment to find a blanket on which a neighbor is drying chili peppers. Or you may find the landing by the elevator has temporarily become home to a tarp covered with mysterious, pea-sized brown balls. Well done, Korea.

Uh oh

Might have found a reason to stay in Korea. This little guy needs me to buy him and name him Nacho and teach him tricks and then we'll keep each other company all winter and in the spring go to parks and go swimming next summer when he's bigger.

Look at this cool playground equipment

I hope the kids from Seochang don't wander over to my neighborhood and see what they're missing in the playground department. Last month, an old playground was torn down and I worried a 7-11 would take its place. But then this magical place was assembled. Look at these bright colors, the variety of slides, the jumbo tic-tac-toe board, the bouncy animal and bug things...the sand instead of a hard rubbery surface!

And a feature that seemed dumb at first but now I realize would have come in handy on the playgrounds of my childhood - swing safety fences. Sure, they may be a bit prohibitive when it comes to jumping off the swing (usually a bad idea anyway), but they must save countless careless kids from being clocked in the temple by a swinger's tennis shoe while running amok in a game of tag.

AKFP 3

This weather-beaten gem's highlights are the shoelessness, the dad's strained hand-on-leg placement and the size of that boy's apple.

Awkward Korean Family Photos

I've spotted a lot of Olan Mills-esque photo shops around town, starting with the one where I had my Glamour Shot taken my first week here. Many of these establishments display examples of their finest work on the sidewalk, surely delighting the moms of the babies often shown in the photos. On the other hand, the look on this kid's face suggests that he had a feeling his floral pajama-clad likeness was going to end up on the sidewalk of Mansu-dong, where his classmates would frequently walk past and admire ridicule it. I'll be on the lookout for more Korean examples of unfortunate photos; in the meantime there's a website dedicated to helping us revel in other families' gracelessness.

New Friend Update Update

And just like that, Darnelius has also flown the coop. I think this adorable rotating cast of characters is trying to teach me a lesson. Two buddies have already finished their contracts and left Korea, and my first close friend here is already leaving at the end of April. Easy come, easy go, right? Hopefully I'll get to see Bill and Ted (left) and Elton (right) in the neighborhood for at least another week.

Carbivore

Not long before I left Minnesota, a little bird (named Annie) struck fear into my heart when she told me that she heard they don't have dessert in Korea. Being blessed with/afflicted by a major sweet tooth (thanks, Marge) and loving all things bread-related (I wish I could remember from whom I first heard the term carbivore and claimed it as my own), I worried about the possible lack of sweets in my future. As it turns out, desserts and breads and sweet foods of all sorts are in abundance in Koreatown. While you can't (nor would want to) order a slice of pie at a restaurant following a meal like this, the fact that options exist in a plethora of bakeries and grocery stores put my mind and stomach at ease.

Temptation waits.

There might actually be too many sweet things available, and this has thrown a wrench in my fitness plans. In the early days I thought I was making a smart decision by walking to and from work each day, but between my apartment and the school, I passed eight bakeries. Not to mention Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins. Soon the walk became a time to contemplate which bakery to try on that particular day. Not wanting to let the benefits of my walk totally be undone by layers of flaky pastry and gobs of cream filling, I started bribing myself. I sampled many of the finest offerings of Paris Baguette (pronounced bah-geh-TUH in Korean), but only after finishing an hour-long yoga workout. The pastry would sit on the kitchen counter - taunting me - while I completed every last downward-facing dog. Much to my surprise, after a while I did the workout without the reward. As I became more familiar with my neighborhood and was able to navigate the mazes of apartment complex parking lots, I found a route to work that featured only one bakery. I became more committed to following along solo to yoga podcasts and found a wealth of free options online.

I got lost many times before nailing this down.

Now that the weather's warming up and the sun is sticking around longer, I've also been able to utilize a nearby walking/biking path that follows a stream north out of my neighborhood, avoids the heavy traffic with strategic underpasses, and spills into nearby Incheon Grand Park. The park offers hiking, bike rental, space for kite flying, picnic spots and fantastic people-watching opportunities. Spring in Korea is looking much more active and less pastry-filled than the winter.

Meat Shopping Photo Op

What's that? You'd like to see a photo of a cute little old man buying meat in my neighborhood? Ok, here you go.

(Click to enlarge.)

Apples

So you know how sometimes you realize you haven't been eating enough fruit because apples in most grocery stores are nearly $3 each, grapes are $5 for a little pack, you're kind of getting sick of tangerines, and bananas are everywhere - for only about $2 or $3 you can get 10 or 15 - but it's almost impossible to eat that many before they go bad, so what's the point? Then you remember that you can get a bag of apples from a street vendor for only 5000 won, so you alter your walking route home from school to go past the apple seller.

But then the guy you've seen by the bank isn't there. Luckily there's always the guy near the post office. You head over there, but no one's attending the fruit so you kill a few minutes trying to discern into which slot of the mailbox you should drop your US-bound postcards. (Later you will realize that, of course, you chose the domestic slot rather than the one for "foreign lands," according to your cell phone dictionary. Can't you do anything right??) Returning to the fruit stand, there is still no one around and the winter wind is a-blowing. Perhaps the merchant ducked into the shoe shine/repair hut next to his strawberries? Nope, still no sign of him. Doesn't he have problems with theft?

K-pop blasts from the cell phone store across the street. Kids walk by with ice cream cones. It seems like a hundred buses come and go. You're just trying to do something healthy and it's backfiring as you shiver and loiter at the nearby socks-and-tights stand. Wow, you notice there's a library across the street that you've walked by a hundred times without seeing. You'll have to check it out soon, but for now you just want some apples and to get them back to your warm apartment. You wait a couple more minutes, suppress the urge to yell WHOSE EFFING FRUIT IS THIS? then start walking home, defeated. Out of nowhere, the fruit man is chasing you down. Fine, fine, you'll take that bag of apples, that one there. No? This doesn't happen to you? Just me?

Yum.

New Friend Update

Remember Amos? Well forget him, because he's gone. I win, because I didn't get attached. Hopefully he went to a very loving home. I'm calling my new friend Darnelius. He looks scrappy yet sensitive. I think I might be more into blondes anyway.

















Look how cute he is, drinking water with his tiny tongue! When we met he was also chewing intently on his bowl, it was just precious. And a little sad. Numerous visits from me are in Darnelius' future.

New Friend

This is a puppy at the pet shop in my neighborhood. He's the cutest one there - when I first spotted him, he was contemplatively biting the newspaper while all the others just ran around yipping and looking fluffy.

I've named him Amos. I'm afraid to go in and pet him because I might fall in love and want to buy him. Or maybe he's a she, I don't even know - I'm keeping my distance so I don't get too attached. Since we met a couple weeks ago, I've been taking the long way to get to the post office or the grocery store so I can make strange noises of adoration through the window. I think Amos appreciates my visits.

Cuteness doesn't need a caption.

Let it Snow

For some reason, I thought I had escaped snow. A few weeks ago there were some flurries that got the students excited at recess. But nothing stuck and mild temperatures prevailed.Then Monday morning brought snow showers and Monday night brought more, and now it looks like a winter wonderland is here to stay. My walk to and from school is a bit more treacherous, but prettier.













When I'm tempted to complain, I remind myself that I'm nowhere near the Minnesota-style snow that shuts down schools and quadruples commute times. I'm in an area where women still wear stilettos to the bus stop. Meanwhile, this happened in New Jersey. I can handle a couple inches.


December 2010 Blizzard Timelapse from Michael Black on Vimeo.

Monday, Monday

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. We ate all of that. 

After a night of rotten sleep, I was prepared for a rotten day. Then two Skype dates before catching the bus to school brightened my outlook, and then I was really feeling up when my co-teacher Tammy told me I looked really fashionable with my (unwashed!) hair pulled back in a headband.Very beautiful. I could be on that show America's Next Top Model, she said. But then later in the hall I'm 98% sure a little girl told me to wash my hair. Thanks.

I was eased into teaching a little more today, repeating sentences using my "crystal clear American accent" - sentences like "I play computer games at 8" "What time do you have breakfast?" This came after introducing myself again, and fielding a new crop of fun questions:
"Are you kind?" "What is your IQ?" "Are you a good fighter?" "When you get angry, will you change a lot?"
Maybe the last teacher was a raging maniac when those little terrors wouldn't pipe down? They are really loud. My yelling projecting skills will come in handy.

Mushroomania.

Last week I gave my co-teachers Tammy and Miyoung American chocolates, and today they wanted to show their appreciation. As I was asking about bus routes and whether there's a way to walk from the school to my apartment, Miyoung suggested that she and Tammy walk with me on a path she knew to my neighborhood, then we could have dinner. The path was pretty surreal - a very rural windy narrow road that leads past small cabbage fields and door factories, right in the midst of this huge city. We almost got run over a couple times. Once back in the more populated neighborhood, they took me to a place that specializes in the Japanese dish Shabu-shabu - a big pot of soup is cooked on your table, and you just keep adding ingredients and adding ingredients and eating and eating. I fumbled a couple mushrooms, but Tammy and Miyoung assured me that I am learning chopstick skills really fast. I have to or I will be so hungry. I'm also learning to read Hangeul, the Korean alphabet. I feel like a little baby, sounding things out and messing up all the time. A lot of signs actually spell out phrases in crazy broken English, like this guy's sign, which says peo-ri ha-geo (Free Hug).

The day was capped off by a visit from the building manager, who needed to check out my toilet that's about to fall apart and my shower drain that doesn't drain. Hani had written out the problems in Korean for him, but then he kept trying to explain things and ask me questions in Korean. It's not fun to just stand and shrug and shake my head and point. He fixed the problems, but I think he told me to call a number tomorrow? He wrote something down, can't wait to find out what it says tomorrow when I get to school. Like a cross-cultural game of Telephone.

Home, Sweet Home (high-rise, sweet high-rise)

Let's hope the elevator doesn't break down.

Buildings - tall, tall buildings everywhere. When there are about 2,800 people per square mile in these parts (says Wikipedia) you have to stack 'em on top of each other. So here is my new little home on the 12th floor of the New Seoul Apartments (fancy name, right?).

It's much bigger than I anticipated, and there's even a sun porch with a view of nearby hills. There's also a wall decal of a vine, birdcage and butterflies that's super charming. I have a microsuede couch. The flooring reminds me of a yoga studio, so I will soon use the living room for yoga practice. One big miracle - thanks to the previous teacher who lived here paying for Internet through the month of November, I don't have to worry about finding a PC bang (Internet cafe) to carefully craft these online diary entries for you.

In addition to leaving me connected to the world, she left behind lots and lots of stuff - some great, some not so awesome:
2 hairdryers                         2 plants in good health
sheets & towels                  bootleg copy of "The Lovely Bones"
hardcover copy of Zorro        an opened pack of pantyliners
3 tins of Spam                     a mostly-eaten jumbo bag of gummy bears
a full change dish                 Hello Kitty jelly sandals AND shower tote
a sweater                            4 bags of American red beans & rice
lots of tea & coffee               a billion long black hairs

All in all, it was a huge relief that all I needed to buy was a mop and garbage bags. Because special bags are required for each neighborhood, I had to play charades with two workers at the grocery store (next time I'll look up the word in Korean). Surprising gestures came forth from everyone, but eventually we were on the same page.

Then there was a bit of a panic attack when I tried to shower the first morning. No hot water. Not even warm. I was prepared to have an invigorating wash of the hair in the sink, but then I remembered I could ask Google whether people in Korea use hot water. Turns out they do, you just have to push a button on your thermostat box thing. Thanks, Internet!

So in this time of no friends and no cell phone, I have stayed home and have learned a little more about my neighborhood. Which is important:

Fun rides!

Outdoor gym!

Jesus daycare castle? 

Bakery with tons of samples!

I'll give you a tour of the place if you promise to send me something!

New Seoul Apt. 102-1202

Mansu 6-dong, Namdong-Gu

Incheon, South Korea

(Sorry about the scary freeze frame)