Tea with a Buddhist Monk

Today, the plan was to go to the old part of Seoul, as there are lots of traditional houses and buildings there. There aren't too many old buildings because of the war. Instead we (Leesa, Michelle, Gillian and I) decided to do one of the walking tours in the Seoul Lonely Planet book. It was nice out and hey, when in Rome.

Attraction 1 on the walking tour: taking pictures of taking pictures (Michelle, Leesa, Gillian)

A man saw cameras and wanted in on the action (Michelle)

Side bar: Gillian is from Scotland and has been in Korea for 2 months. Leesa met on her on Facebook and she also teaches English. She is really nice and cool and I've hung out with her a few times. Thanks for making new friends, Leesa!

Vancouver didn't make the cut

Attraction 2: closed (Michelle)

The tour started at a subway station and wandered through a very artsy part of the city. The first sight on the tour was an old watchtower, which we took pictures of from accross the street. Next was an english bookstore that was closed. Third item on the tour was a Buddhist temple and shrine. We went inside. There was a cool shop on the main floor that sold prayer beads, rugs and books. At the back of the building was a small room for prayer, meditation and chanting. The walls an ceilings were painted with ornate designs of turquise, white, red, orange and blue. The floors were wood and we had to take our shoes off before going into the room. The front of the room had large figures along the wall. Massive bouquets of orchids were placed along the front ledge of the room. It was so beautiful. I took picures, even though I wasn't sure if I was aloud.

Changing trees

We wandered upstairs to the second level. There were a few closed doors, but nothing really to see. Then a man came out of one of the doors and he asked us if we had any questions. We wanted to know if we could go to the third floor and if we could take pictures. He said yes and yes. Then he brought us into one of the rooms on the second floor that is used for meditation. It was very plain, with a few candles and mats on the floor. He asked us if we knew how to meditate, we said sort of. Then he asked us if we would like to meet the monk that is in charge of the temple. Uh yeah! He went away for a few minutes, came back and told us it would be a few minutes and if we wanted to go upstairs to the main shrine, he would come to get us. So we did. We only spent about 5 minutes upstairs then he came to get us. He was Korean but spoke very good english. He asked us where we were from. Canada, Canada, Canada, Scotland. He said he spent 3 months in Toronto and he has been to Vancouver.

The shrine on the main floor

Huge orchid bouquets

Orchids are everywhere

This man, we never asked his name, now that I think about it. Lets call him Mr. Park. Anyway, he led us down a hallway and into a room where the monk was sitting at a low table with cups, tea pots and fruit on it. He was wearing a grey robe. We stood in front of him in a row and Mr. Park arranged cushions in front of each of us and taught us the traditional bow one must do when joining a Buddhist monk. Its 3 bows. Hands in prayer position, bend at the waist, hands and then knees down on the cushion. Forehead to the cushion. Flip hands so palms are facing up, then back to standing position. Then we sat cross legged in front of the monk and we learned about the lotus position. It hurt, but after much practice, I think I could get it. The monk made us tea and Mr. Park said we could ask him questions and he would translate. We asked about meditation, and Mr. Park said that this monk was a meditation master. He told us about the mind/body connection, enlightenment, breathing. We were in the room for about 45 minutes. It was very cool. Except all of our legs were cramping up because us westerners are not used to sitting on the floor for long periods of time.

Then we went into another room, with no furniture, just mats. We learned about posture and more about breathing. Mr. Park and the monk told us about cause and effect (karma), how we will bring good things to our families, cities and countries through meditation. We can meditate anywhere, and it takes lots and lots of practice.

We said goodbye and thank you to Mr. Park and the monk. They were so kind and hospitable to us. And we felt so special! I don't think its too common for foreigners to go into a temple, and get a personal lesson about meditation with the temple's master.

Outside the main shrine

We quickly went upstairs to the main shrine. It was amazing. Three large gold Buddhas were at the front of the room. It was a large room, and again, the ceiling and walls were covered with these painted designs. There were mats on the floors, and candles all along the back wall of the room. So beautiful. I got some pictures and then my camera battey died. Then a man came into the room and said we weren't allowed to take pictures. OOPS!

It was so cool! We left the temple about an hour and half after we entered. We felt so grateful for the experience. I think we will definetly go back to meditate.

It was raining outside as we continued our walking tour. We made it about a km down the road, then the rain turned to monsoon status. We ducked into a cafe and had a snack and figured out what to do. As we headed back to the subway stop, the rain got even harder. We called it a day, and decided to continue the tour another time.

I'm not a doctor but I play one on TV

I discovered a new medical condition yesterday.

Name: Purse Shoulder
Cause: Heavy purses, carried on either shoulder. Can be aggravated by sleeping on that side of the body.
Symptoms: Pain in the shoulder and neck, tightness, knots, tingling fingers, headaches.
Treatments: Minimize the crap in one's purse, limit acquiring new items when away from one's dwelling for significant periods of time. Robaxacet Platinum, or any other type of pain releiver available. Ignore recomended daily dosage, keyword: recomendation. Massages regularly from a certified professional. Retail therapy should be avoided.
Possible side effects: dry mouth, dizziness, fatique, a burning sensation when ingesting fluids, hair loss, eye twitching.

Teaching Strategies

I feel more comfortable with teaching lately. I finally got everything done for my classes including planning, marking, writing report cards and having everything inputed to the computer system.

Some of the kids are really awesome. They are smart, funny and eager to learn. Some of them drive me to drink. I find that making fun of them every now and then keeps them laughing and gets their attention. I often make fun of myself, or I will say one of the few Korean words that I know. I hate the term "shut up", but its something they understand and for some reason think its hilarious. A good punishment is having them stand in front of the class holding books about their heads. I've even heard of making them hold downward facing dog for 15 minutes.

My students eat weird food and make me try their new snacks all the time. They write in their diaries every week and ask me questions, like what is my favourite season or what did I do on the weekend. They mix up their words and have names like Eunice, Albert and D.P. They are amazed at the speed at which I can speak English, and laugh at me when I try to speak Korean.

Learning the Language

Last week I was extremely productive. I became an official alien, I opened a bank account, I got a multi-entry visa, I did a wire transfer, learned Korean and caught up all my work. I feel so much better.

I was an unofficial alien since my arrival. I had to have a visa to get into the coutry, and because I'm employed, I needed an id card. I had to visit the immigration office to apply, leave them my passport, wait 10 days and then go back to pick it all up. I needed my id card to get the bank account, get paid and get my multi-entry visa. The visa I got in Vancouver was for one entry. So if I want to do any travelling in the area, I need to get another permit. At least all the stuff is done though. The process was not too bad compared to getting a Canadian Passport or getting some of the things Brendan Baker needs in the UK .

Learning Korean was quite easy. And by learning I mean learning the alphabet. I can now read signs and stuff, I just don't know what a lot of the words mean. However Korean, or Hangeul, is a young language. Many of the words are modelled after english pronunciation. For example computer is cam-pu-ta. Guitar is gi-ta. Town is ta-un. Since I learned that helpful tidbit of indformation, if a Korean dosen't know what I am talking about through my excellent miming skills, then I just break down the syllables and get rid of the l's. Done.

The alphabet was easy to learn. Its about memorizing the letters and then understanding how sounds are put together. I bought a book called "How to learn the Korean language structure in 40 minutes". It was just that. After more studying I can advance to another book that will help with vocabulary.

The funny thing about going to a foreign country for me is that I have tried to use words in other forign languages that I know. I have used "oui" and "et". I tried to buy "huevos" one day. I tried to order "agua" also.

All in all, I can get by with what I know already. Thank you, I'm sorry, come here, hello and goodbye, yes, no, not me, how much, some food items, some numbers and prices. I can even pick out words when I hear Koreans talking.

The subway

My first package contained...

The local people

Introductions

I keep mentioning random people all the time so I thought I would make introductions. If I haven't mentioned them, it means that I meant to, I just met them or they will be mentioned.

Leesa: I met her in my second year at UNBC. She dated the guy accross the hallway form me in residence. She was the instigator for teaching in Asia. Seeing her in Seoul was the first time we'd seen each other in 3 years. Leesa is a teacher in Canada too. She likes meeting new people, travelling and visiting the immigration office.

Denise: Teaches at my school and lives down the hall from me. Also a proud owner of a new bike, Denise is from Halifax and is a great teacher. Our shared interests: movies, sum gup sil (Korean BBQ), wine, learning Korean and riding our bikes. We have a secret bell signal too.

Michelle: Leesa's friend from the Education Program at UNBC. She has been in Korea for about one month. I met her then. She lives in Bundong, about 1 hour from my house on the subway. Originally from Quesnel, BC.

Stephanie: I never meet any other Stephanie's and here is one at my school, hence my new name Sam. She's from Pittsburg and is the only American on our staff. Steph is also a teacher at home and is hilarious. She is my new walking buddy.

Mark: Michelle's new friend. I met him when we were visiting Michelle in Bundong. Michelle met him 4 days before that. He's from Toronto, is a fantastic photographer and likes The Daily Show.

Lindsay: The only Brit on staff, Lindsay is from Newcastle. She's been here for 3 years, teaching at Lass, but is leaving Korea on October 31st. She's someone I would have liked to work with for much longer. She's going home for a visit and then is going to India for a month. After another trip home for Christmas, Lindsay will teaching in Columbia for 2 years.

Alicia: Leesa's co-teacher at her school. She's from Ohio and just adopted a little doggy.

I think that's all. If there are new mentions, it's safe to assume that they're a new friend.

Last weekend in Bundong

Last Saturday, Leesa and I went to a place called Bundong. It was about an hour and a half from my house on the subway. I'm sure the bus is faster, but I will never take the bus again.

Her neighbourhood is very rich and very nice. She lives in an amazing building with tons of security and has a really nice apartment. We got there just after noon. We dropped off our stuff and then went for a walk around the river and to Central Park. This park was amazing. There were old temples and a traditional korean house. There was a small hill that people could hike up. Halfway up was a cemetery. All the cemetaries have giant mounds, and I guess they are like tombs. We got there just in time to see the sunset. It was beautiful. We finished walking up the hill to find an outdoor gym. There were probably 40 different machines scattered amongst the trees and big spot lights everywhere. Lots of men were working out. But it was in the middle of a forest! We just stood there and watched them for a while because we couldn't beleive the randomness of the whole thing.

We turned around and went back to the main area of the park. It was now dark, and all the bridges around the pond were lit. The lights turned from red to green to purple to orange to blue. One of Michelle's friends, Mark, was with us and is a wicked photographer. He has a sweet DSLR camera, and I was trying to learn as much as I could from him. He passed on a few pieces of information which were quite helpful.

It was now dark and we were hungry. We walked back to Michelle's neighbourhood and had Korean bbq for dinner. Then we hit the soju. Soju is like vodka or sake, but not as strong. It is served cold and consumed in a single shot. One can mix it with juice if they wish, but real Koreans just knock it back. So "when in Rome" Michelle and I knocked back a bottle wth dinner. We went to her apartment after to get changed to go out. We had more soju, but this time we mixed it with aloe juice. Delish. After a few rounds we headed to an irish pub called Dublins. Some guy from Facebook organized this "Bundong Social Club" and planned a pub night, so we went. It turns out that the Bundong Social Club is made up of all the socially inept foreigners. It was totally fun though. Leesa started talking to one guy for a while. He had grey hair and was tall and lean. He had grey "pedophile" eyes. So we called him Stephen Harper.

We lasted a few hours. The walk home was interesting. Some bad decsisions were made, like eating McDonalds. Leesa and I decided to entertain some Koreans in a park. The pictures are not flattering. When we got back to Michelle's, the three of us fell asleep on her double bed. We slept the opposite way with chairs to hold up our feet. It was surprisingly comfortable.

On Sunday, we wandered. I was hurting pretty bad. We saw some kids practicing their dance moves near a mall. They were really good. The weekend came to an end. We got on the subway to get back to the big city. I was exhausted. I can't wait to go back.

Bus 6637

Tonight I got lost on the bus. I went grocery shopping after work and took the bus home, normally a 5 minute ride. I stayed on after my regular stop so I could go around the loop and get off on the other side of the block. It went to the end of the block and turned in the other direction. I thought, ok I guess I will get a bit of a tour and find out where the bus goes. The bus crossed the river, into a totally different part of town, and kept going and going and going. I saw the a last guy get off and then it was just me and the driver. Then I saw the bus yard, and the driver opened the door, indicating that it was time for me to get off the bus. It was 11 when I got on. I had all my groceries. Just before we got to this place, I saw farmland, and greenhouses. Not something I have seen in any part of the city ever. I could smell manure. I couldn't see a building or a city light at all. So I shit myself a little, then regrouped, grabbed all my groceries and walked about 1 km to a gas station. The attendant didn't understand my "taxi" and telephone gesture to the ear with the hand. He said "Keep walking. Straight" Aweomse, thanks. Then I saw another gas station another km away and around a corner. This attendant was sooo nice and helped me flag down a cab. I told the cabi in my limited korean where to go. Normally, a smart person would have gotten their alien card already, and just shown it to the cabi without having to say anything. But not me, I like to be different. The cab driver was extremely kind. With my poor Korean and his limited English, we managed to have a conversation.
"England?"
"No, Canada"
"I am 61 years old."
"I'm 27 years old."
"WHAT! 27 and not married!"
"Nope. Single."
Good talk. He spoke better English than my Korean though. I made it home. Turns out I was only about 20 minutes away from my house in the cab. It was a $15 ride, a huge relief. I walked in my door at 12.45.
The moral of the story is don't assume a bus will do its loop at 11.00 at night.

a month already?

I've been here for one month. It feels like much much longer. And at the same time, it feels like one day. Teaching is improving. Some homesickness has kicked in. The weather is changing. I miss home. I miss friends, family, CBC radio, Vancouver rain (yes, its true), Bean Around the World coffee, creamo, Frank.

My one source of live english radio is the Armed Forces station. Its run by the American military. I get a kick of the ads the most. "Choose your friends wisely, or they might sexually assault you" is one of the best. Because its your fault if you get sexually asaulted. There's one narrated by a female "therapist type" who has to remind men that if they buy a drink for a woman at a bar, that doesn't mean the she is "his" for the evening. Also, if a woman dresses in a way that is risque, then she is not "asking for it". And another, with a catchy jingle about how the Curfew Police know your neighborhood, "so don't bother hiding somewhere after curfew, because we WILL find you anyway." Sucks to be them.

I'm reading "A Complicated Kindness" by Miriam Toews. Its about a teenaged girl, growing up in a Mennonite town in the prairies. Its very cleverly written, and very funny. I'm about halfway through and I appreciate the familiarity of the story. I want to pick up the book about Mao next. They sell an English copy at the bookstore nearby. One of the most appealing things about the book is that is not for sale in China. If anyone has any book suggstions, let me know!

Some shout outs. Happy birthday to Grandad, Young Grasshopper (J.McG.), Tyler, Denise Teacher, an early one to P.Diddy (daaaaaaad), and Andersson. Congratualtions to Captain Andrew Martin and Constable Annemarie Unheim.

Sunrise. October 4

Tip #1

Next time you have the urge to eat peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon, try it with a chop stick. Its different. And it feels like you're camping.

Another Korean Holiday

An interesting week...its not even over.

Work has been really stressful. A foreign teacher got fired on Monday (it was his second day). He looked like a child molestor anyway, so its a good thing. But the really bad part is that they gave me 3 of his classes. I now teach 12 classes in total. I don't even think I took 12 classes at a time in anything in my whole life. Now, most of the people I've met here would say that it doesn't matter how many classes they teach, because it is all so easy. I don't know if its only my school, or only me, but I was already feeling very overwhelmed with the 9 classes that I had, so this was an overload. It not just the teaching, its also marking tests, marking diaries, creating word tests, photocopying, marking homework, entering lesson plans into the online system, entering grades into the system, writting report cards and planning every class. Its tough. I had a bit of a meltdown on Tuesday. I was mostly just so pissed off at the situation.

I had yesterday off. Hurray for Korean holidays. It was a welcome break, from the 3 days I have worked in the last 2 weeks. HA! I played tourist again. Leesa and I went to the Prison Memorial/Museum in the northwest part of the city. It was totally heartbreaking.

This wasn't a prison for criminals. It was for Korean Independance protestors from the early 1900's, who stood up against the Japanese during 2 different invasions. I almost couldn't look at certain displays. Both men and women were prisoners. They were brutally tortured. The women were also "sexually tortured". Nine of the 15 buildings were still there. The cells were small. There was a Leper building and an execution building. I will post photos soon. It truely was one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever seen. I didn't realize there was such resentment against the Japanese but I can now see why.

We then wandered around one part of the city called Hongdae. Its very funky...lots of shops, nightclubs and restaurants.We saw a very very cool art gallery, and got some free schwag (posters and post cards). We had sushi (ironic) for lunch. It was some of the best sushi I have ever had. We then headed to Leesa's neighbourhood to see her insane grocery store (E-Mart) and then a movie. It was a great day off.

Then back to work today. I felt way more comfortable with the three new classes. I know it will be even easier as time goes on. I also asked my employer for an advance. Korean people get paid once a month, and I was getting down to the last of my funds. They said no. I was pretty shocked (and pissed) because a lot of people I know here have received an advance from their schools when they've asked for it. Plus I have already worked for a whole month. I will get my revenge somehow.
I arrived in Seoul 4 weeks ago today. I can't believe its been that long. It feels like one week. The weather is turning into sweatshirt weather, which is much better than the "sweating from walking 2 blocks in the humidity" weather. Leesa reminded me that this weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving. We are going to the Rocky Mountain Tavern for poutine to celebrate.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Censorship

Since I started this blog, I have been torn between what I really want to say, and what would be more appropriate. I like to think of myself as a smart adventurous young woman. I have opinions based on my experiences and my culture. I like to be an observer of humanity.

What I want to say does not fall anywhere between denying the holaucast or popularising polygamy. Seriously people. My opinions of religion, travel, world affairs, the media, Vancouver, 9/11, family, comunism, art, relationships, etc, differ from many, I'm sure, and the last thing I want to do is preach. However my views have shaped who I am.

It is particularly interesting for me living a completly different part of the world. Or am I. This may sound odd, but living in Vancouver is almost like living in a small part of the rest of the world everyday. Minus many many things of course. I'm glad that I'm from a city where less than 50% of the population speak English in their homes. I'm glad that I'm from a city that can host the world through the Olympics. I'm especially proud to be from a country that values diversity and is not afraid to question and challenge the things that are laid out in front of us. Despite all these wonderful things, I felt the need to leave the complaining about the Canada Line, the Olympics and construction. All of which I support whole-heartedly.

What am I trying to say? I'm not really sure. Perhaps I will just dance to the beat of my own drum and write about whatever I want. Perhaps I will not say it, but show my experiences through the lens of my camera. And then maybe tomorrow I will simply write about some new nifty Korean product I found.