Mum and Dad's Visit. First Stop: Seoul

Our first visitors in Korea!

Oct 27th - Nov 6th

When I told my parents I was going to live in Korea for a year they were happy for me, but not necessarily bursting with excitement to come visit. Fortunately though, my Mum realised she could make the trip with a 6 day layover in Abu Dahbi and that swung the vote.

It was wonderful to see them again looking so happy and healthy a year into their retirement and I was excited to give them a massive culture shock with Korean food, language and general oddness. As it turns out, this required no input from me and simply being in Asia proved traumatising enough.

Following what I can only imagine was a very dry, sober stay in Abu Dhabi, we went straight from the airport to our [small, seedy] hotel in Gangnam (Bangbae Olso Hotel, I wouldn't recommend it), and then straight to a bar where we ordered the biggest pitcher of beer we could find. To give my parents that extra special welcome to Korea there was even Premiership football on the TV!

Welcome to Korea Dad!

Gyeongbokgung
After an alcohol induced nights sleep in our pokey room we headed out for some sightseeing, to Gyeongbokgung, for some Korea history. The palace is beautiful, set against a backdrop of mountains it feels a million miles away from the centre of the capital city. The autumnal colours in the gardens and the crisp October sunshine were just perfect for our family reunion (gush gush).

Centre of Seoul? Chincha?

Family holiday shot.

I heart Autumn in Korea

The National Folk Museum is inside the palace walls

Insadong

Insadong is supposed to be the cool, arty neighbourhood of Seoul but it was so busy it felt more like a theme park. The touristy shops had some good traditional [tacky] presents and I really liked Ssamzie shopping gallery, a spiralling ramp of arty shops and boutiques with a centre courtyard and trendy cafes. We had some traditional bulgogi for lunch and my parents got their first taste of kimchi! It didn't go down well.

Ssamzie shopping

Han River
We walked all the way through Insadong to the Han River which was being decorated for the Seoul Lantern Festival. Having exhausted my poor jet lagged parents, we jumped in a taxi to go to Namsan Tower but failed when we got there and realised the queue for the cable car would take us into the early hours of the morning [I didn't dare suggest we take the stairs!].

The Han at dusk.

Next stop: Cheonan....

Gwangdeok Mountain Hike

Sunday 24th September

Lately the weather has changed a lot. It's no longer unbearably humid and sticky; it's warm and sunny yet cool in the shade. The sky is clear and cloudless and there's a slight breeze. I love autumn in Korea.

Gwangdeok temple (just before the funeral!)

Sunday was yet another gorgeous day and me and Ric decided to make the most of it and go for a hike. We headed south of Cheonan to Gwangdeok Mountain. It took just over an hour to get there on the bus.

Gwangdeok temple

At the base of the mountain there is a temple (Gwangdeok temple). Cue yet another culturally awkward moment. We were admiring the temple when the courtyard suddenly filled with sombre looking men and women wearing long black robes... carrying a framed picture of a monk. We'd only gate crashed a Buddhist funeral!! Oops! The temple is home to that famous walnut tree I mentioned in a previous blog, only we were too ashamed of ourselves to go and check it out and so we just headed straight for the mountain.

As Ric and I aren't exactly budding fitness fanatics we chose the shortest route up the mountain. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that the shortest route up a mountain is usually also the steepest, and we had to drag ourselves up for 3km, first up man-made steps, then up a dirt path, until finally we were clambering up over jagged rocks. We did get some impressed looks off other hikers who had gone up the long route and were descending the steep route.

Pure stairs: the first part of the hike.

Finally at the top the view was stunning: a 360 degree view of mountains rolling into the distance, Cheonan just a tiny square of concrete rising up in the middle. It was well worth the burning thighs and the back sweat. Whilst catching our breath at the summit we befriended a middle-aged Korean man by sharing our snacks with him, in exchange he offered us his bottle of wine! The wine was surprisingly delicious and I got to practice my Korean skills by attempting to make small talk with him.

Stunning views from the top of Mt. Gwangdeok

Cheonan in the distance

Tired and sweaty at the summit

Going down the mountain was when the adventure really started. We planned to take the alternative, longer, less steep route down the mountain back to the temple where we could take the bus home. However, somewhere we took a wrong path and got ourselves lost. When we realised we were lost Ric suggested we turn around and climb back up to the summit so that we could take the same route down as we'd taken up. Cue me sitting down on a rock and crying that I couldn't make it back to the top. Too much lactic acid burn. Although in hindsight Ric had a sensible idea.

Instead we just carried walking down the mountain, at that point anything was better than up! After about 45 minutes of walking the sun was beginning to set and we realised that if we didn't increase our pace there was a real possibility that we'd have to descend the rest of the mountain in the dark! Half jogging we made it to the village of Gangdang and although we still had no idea where we were, we felt relieved to see a couple of houses.

Gangdang, a quirky village 

Being stubborn, we continued to walk along a deserted road in an unknown direction until finally, a car approached.  Impulsively I stuck my thumb out and the car stopped. We were saved. The couple in the car were lovely, they spoke English and laughed at us when we told them we were trying to get to Cheonan. They seemed shocked that we'd managed to find our way to such a remote mountain village. We gratefully accepted their offer to take us to the nearest train station and were soon resting our aching muscles inside their car.


Finally we made it home having learnt a valuable lesson: if you're lost up a mountain in Korea in the dark, just keep walking and get into cars with strangers... it'll all be OK in the end!

Logistics
You can take the 600 or 601 bus from outside Shinsegae in downtown Cheonan and get off at the last stop. The bus took approx 1hour 10minutes (in Sunday traffic).

Communist China

China - the most capitalist communist country in the world.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) has headed the Chinese government for almost 60 years; however, the country is rapidly opening up to international trade and foreign investment, which is probably the main reason China has become such a powerful country over the past 15 years.

The photos below show "communism" in China:

A typical neighbourhood found at the base of the 100-floor skyscrapers. 

Motorbike repair; a great advert for celotape.

Everybody has a bicycle in China, but they're 50 year old bikes.

Contrasting properties.

Local seamstress just chilling outside her front door.

Typical  neighbourhood, the topless guy was washing his dog in the communal sink.

Me in the blue rain poncho asking the miniature guard if I could take his photo. He said no.

Big Brother really is watching, on every street corner in China.

Military marching around Tiananmen Square in the pouring rain (carrying but not using umbrellas)

Soldiers in Tiananmen Square; they're not too friendly.

Shop delivery being taken in through the window.

Swimming in Korea

Swimming in Korea was the most awkward experience of my entire life. I have never, ever, made so many faux pas in such a short space of time.

On Saturday me and Ric walked half an hour out of town to find ‘Cheonan Sports Complex’ – a huge area containing the city’s football stadium, volleyball stadium and an Olympic swimming pool. We thought it would be nice to go swimming as we went regularly back home.

We were doing well, we’d found the pool, managed to pay (£2.50 for both of us) and were all ready to swim, only when we got into the changing rooms things got weird.

First of all, everybody was naked. People were blow drying their hair – naked, chatting to their pals – naked, talking on the phone – naked, showering – naked, weighing themselves – naked! I had wondered whether it would be possible to get a wax done here in Cheonan – not anymore!!! Korean women definitely favour the natural look!

Once I recovered from the shock of walking in on a 70’s porno I quickly got changed and headed towards the pool, only to be stopped by a naked woman who told me “no cap no swim” and pointed to her head. After getting dressed again, going to reception, going to the swimwear shop and almost making a phone call to the absent shop owner from a Korean pensioner’s mobile, I found a lifeguard who told me “boyfriend two cap” – Ric had found me a swimming cap and was waiting in the pool.

Now I’ve never worn a swimming cap before in my life; nor have I ever tried to squeeze my particularly large head into a condom but I now realise the two are the same. As soon as I started swimming it pinged off and nearly took out a child’s eye.

Swimming cap adjusted, I realised that not only was I the only 6ft tall western woman among the 300 people in the pool, I was also the only woman wearing a bikini. All the other women were much more modestly covered up; costumes, t-shirts and shorts!!! Now that’s embarrassing.

At first I wondered why no one was actually swimming in the pool so big I couldn’t see one side from the other, but I soon learnt that in Korean swimming baths you can only swim for 50 minutes at a time. Then you have to sit at the side and have a rest for ten minutes. Public safety.

Additionally, the water was 50% chlorine 50% bleach, it stung my skin and eyes. The Koreans swim to one end of the lane and then queue at the other before setting off again.

We were both cringing so much that we barely lasted half an hour before getting out and re-entering the chamber of bush to get dressed and run home in shame.

Dressing I made yet another massive blunder. After showering (not naked) I went over to my locker to get dry and dressed again, only once I was there I realised that everything and everyone around me was bone dry – I was the only wet person by the lockers and I was leaving a big puddle everywhere I went. You’re supposed to get naked and dry yourself with everybody else in the communal drying area! Could have been worse though – Ric did exactly the same only he had a group of little children tugging at the towel around his waist and trying to shoo him back into the drying area.

I wont be in any hurry to go swimming again in Korea!!!

Our First Week in Korea

After travelling for over 30 hours, with no sleep, we arrived at Incheon airport and met our agent, Doyle, who told us ‘Korean people very hurry up’ – I think he was hinting at us to get a move on. Doyle didn’t speak very much English and quite clearly just wanted to get rid of us and get his commission.

All we wanted to do was to lie down, anywhere, and sleep. But we had to go straight to the school and meet people. Then finally we were shown to our apartment.

Our New Home

Our apartment is so much nicer than either of us had expected. It’s much bigger too. We’ve turned the living room into a bedroom-come-living room as it’s the only room with air conditioning, and we’ve even made a “chaise-bed” out of our spare bed. We’re are using the little bedroom as a walk-in wardrobe. There’s plenty of room for the two of us. I love it!

When people warned us about getting culture shock when we arrived here I didn’t expect it to happen to me, I’ve lived abroad before, I’ve travelled loads; but it really is a whole different world here.

Cultural Differences

• If you go into a building, you have to take your shoes off. This means in restaurants everyone is barefoot, and at work we teach wearing our slippers.
• In restaurants you sit on the floor.
• There’s a certain way to pour a drink, and a certain way to receive a drink. You cannot pour yourself a drink.
• When somebody gives you something you have to accept it with two hands. Where you put your hands is determined by how well you know the person and how polite you wish to be.
• Eating with you hands is social suicide. Eating with a knife is unheard of. For the first three days I was very hungry because I couldn’t operate a pair of chopsticks. I’m getting better though.
• Flagging a taxi as we would in England is rude, instead you have to make a kind of camp flappy hand gesture. You never, ever, get in or out of a taxi on the driver’s side.
• You bow to greet people.

The first week has been non-stop. We went out every night: meal with the boss, meal with all the other teachers, drinks with the other teachers, a meal just the two of us… and I’ve been observing all week at school so I didn’t even get chance to recover from my jet lag until weekend.

Me and Ric getting into the spirit

And now is my first day of teaching!!! Wish me luck!