The Land of the Morning Calm

Back into the Blogosphere

2011-09-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

Did you miss me???

Well, I'm jumping back into the blogosphere, but this time it will be less about me and more about children's clothing, starting a business, and just plain old much-needed inspiration.

Sound interesting? Follow our Dino Bebe journey here. See you there!

Wrapping up

2011-08-19T03:15:00.000-07:00

We're back in the States bringing our Korea adventure to a final close. Of course we'll be back for visits, but unless life throws us a huge curveball, we don't plan to live there again.

So we've spent the last couple weeks in Korea saying goodbyes and see you soon's to friends and family. As the final piece of closure, I finally got the answers I sought to questions surrounding my adoption and my family's history.

It's a bittersweet feeling. When I first returned to St. Louis, everything just seemed so quiet and dead. But then, we could walk without dodging people everywhere, can drive anywhere in 30 minutes or less, and the air is just so fresh. Just hanging out in our parents' neighborhood alone, we ran into or saw several people we knew. That sense of community just doesn't exist in Seoul, the city of faceless people. I will miss the people, the excitement, and the food of Seoul for sure, but it's time to re-start our lives in the States.

Obviously, a bit part of starting our lives is launching the Dino Bebe branch. Right now, we're in limbo waiting for my brother to send us the clothes from China.

So that's where we are now. We're back in St. Louis and attempting to re-create a life here. I guess this post marks the end of this blog, as it was created to chronicle our lives abroad and I'm not sure what use it will hold now that I'm back in the States. Thanks for whoever followed us out there. It really was quite a ride and I can honestly say I have zero regrets.

I have no idea whether or not I'm going to miss having a place to throw my thoughts and if I do, I'll update this blog with my new blog site. But that's a big maybe. I was never very good at keeping up with this blog when I was abroad experiencing new things all the time. I'm not sure how interesting my normal life will be or what there will be to talk about.

But for now, 여러분 제브러그를 읽어줘서 감사하고 앞으로 건강하고 행복하게 사세요.

(Thanks for reading our blog and in the future, I wish you good health and a happy life.)

Seoul Subway

2011-08-08T04:00:00.001-07:00

Yep, totally going to miss the crazy-efficient Seoul subway system.

2011-08-08T03:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our friend Ellen came over and we all had lunch with my birth father. We wanted to talk to him about the business and finalize some details and wanted to make sure nothing got lost in translation.

Ellen was amazing ~~ with her help we were able to nail down final details for shipping the clothes, creating labels, etc. Also, because of her, we learned a little more about my birth father.

Apparently he lived in Japan for 4 years when he was getting his business started and is semi-fluent in Japanese. Who would've known?!?!

Name Game

2011-08-03T02:41:00.000-07:00

In Korea, when a baby's born, the father's father names the child. There's a great deal of thought put into the name as it must derive from Chinese characters and the meaning of the name is believed to directly affect the child's personality and life path. For this reason, many people consult name experts to help with this difficult task.

My own brother, SangKwun, was given one name at birth, but was taken to a name expert and told his name was not good, so it was changed when he was about 3 or 4 to SangKwun.

As birth father was tasked with choosing a name for his first grandchild, he took this job very seriously. He met with a name expert because he was very concerned with finding a name that would be easily pronounced in both Chinese and Korean.

He came home with three pieces of paper with three different names to choose from. He passed them along to SangKwun and Emily.

I was chatting on IM with SangKwun and found out today that they chose a name!

My future niece's Korean name will be 김태연 (romanized, it's Kim Tae Yun). And her English name will be Claire Kim. (In Korean, the last name goes first.)

She's due to arrive August 20th. I can't express how excited I am to meet Baby Tae Yun/Claire!!!!

Fall and Winter Sneak Peek

2011-07-21T04:07:00.001-07:00

The professional photos from the shoot arrived and there were over 3,000 to wade through. Tough since the kids were so impossibly photogenic and cute.

But here's a sneak peek at some of our favorites of the two of them together. The photos are very deceiving as they look like the best of friends. Actually, they were really not interested at all in each other, except when the little boy wanted to take things from the girl or scream in her face. :)

We're in the middle of revamping the website. More to come soon!

Returning (finally!)

2011-07-21T02:19:00.000-07:00

I think most everyone already knows this, but our airline tickets are bought and we will be making our return to the States, more specifically St. Louis, on August 17th. It's going to be an adjustment, but we're excited about what lies ahead.

On a funny side note, Birth Father has asked us twice now if we think St. Louis is pretty boring. He commented that it was too quiet and slow there and he thought Las Vegas was more his style. Guess he wasn't too impressed and won't be eager to make a return visit to our our little city in the Midwest. :)

Photo Shoot

2011-07-16T06:32:00.000-07:00

Sneak peek at today's photo shoot.

It was a loooong day for these little kids and they pretty much soldiered through. Started at 1 and ended around 5. Then the little girl has to come back tomorrow for more. She is 3 and the boy is 4. Pretty much the cutest things ever.

Western food FAIL

2011-07-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

So Koreans sometimes try to adapt Western foods and things go very, very wrong. Remember when I was teaching and we made the canapes from hell?

Well, today we saw this gem of a commercial from Outback. Blueberry steak. Yes, that would be steak with blue cheese and blueberry dipping sauce. Gross.

If you don't believe me you can check out the commercial here.

Extreme Hoarders

2011-07-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

And, here's the downfall of the clothing industry...

Piles and piles of clothes.

I'm so glad my parents have so graciously offered to let us store this x 50 in their home. Kidding. Kind of. :)

CLOTHES Are Here!!!

2011-07-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

Well, for our Dino Bebe clothing line to be a success, I guess we'd need some clothes, right?

Weeellll.... a special delivery from China arrived Monday morning.

CLOTHING SAMPLES!!!!!

So many, many clothes.

These are the coats alone. (Kinda wish my actual wardrobe looked like this.)

Unfortunately, these clothes are not going to be available for quite awhile as these are Fall/Winter clothes. When we return to the States, it'll be the Spring/Summer wholesale market selling time. Majorly crossing our fingers that we'll have some Spring/Summer styles available to us so we can hit the ground running when we return home. We'll have a better idea tomorrow when SangKwun arrives in Korea.

Anyway, last night was spent drinking wine and creating adorable little outfits. If we can make it happen, this could be the dream job. :)

Here are a few of my faves:

So what do you think???

Oh and we've got a Facebook fan page up and running (sorta ~ as in the page is up but I don't update it almost ever. Okay, never). But if you're on Facebook, do us a favor and give us some "like". The name is "Dino Bebe USA". I promise I'll put some pictures on there as we make progress.

Dual Identity

2011-06-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

Check it out!

Korea Adoption Law Change

2011-06-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

Korea passes law to change adoption policy.

Highlights from the article:

The revised law is expected to shift adoption policy from “adoption promotion” to “family preservation.”
The new law will also expand rights for single mothers and adoptees. Under the law, adoptees will gain greater access to birth records and women will have a seven-day period to deliberate on whether to keep or relinquish their child. Korea currently has no such limitation.
The law also strengthens oversight of adoption procedures; makes birth registration mandatory, to guard against secret adoptions; and brings Korea into line with international standards for the care of children.

In a past post I've talked about how single mothers aren't treated very well in Korea. While this law may make adoption a little more difficult for foreigners, I think it's a good thing to allow mothers to 7 days think (still seems short though) before they give up the child forever. I've heard awful stories about single mothers being tricked into giving their babies up for adoption and once they realized the deceit being told they already signed the papers so they had no choice.

Also, I know I'm incredibly lucky to have been able to reunite with my entire birth family. So many adoptees have had a difficult time finding their families. Hopefully this law will make the process a little bit easier.

This new law seems like a very good, necessary step in protecting the rights of the overlooked.

Ahem...

2011-06-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

We have a little announcement to make. I've been holding off on going public with this until I knew that it was going to happen, for sure. Based on recent conversations, all signs point to YES.

For those that talk to us regularly in real life, this isn't really new news. But for our virtual friends and followers...

Mark and I are embarking on a business venture.

Yep, we're going to attempt to open a business and be our own bosses. (Which is scary, because rumor is that I can be quite the perfectionist task-master. Do this at your own risk, Mark. Just kidding... kind of.)

As most everyone knows, my birth family is heavily involved in the clothing/fashion industry. My Birth Father has a clothing factory in China and SangKwun runs a wholesale children's clothing line, Dino Bebe. And it is awesome.

Here are a couple of shots of their wholesale clothing store in Guangzhou, China.

Mark and I were looking through their catalogs and said to ourselves, "Wouldn't American kids look SO CUTE in these outfits?" (Maybe those were my words more than Mark's...) So we started talking to Birth Father and SangKwun about the possibility of opening an American branch. But up until recently, it was just that... talk.

Once our Korean classes finished, Mark and I decided if we want to make a run at this, we need to show we're serious. So we've spent the last couple months creating a business plan in both English and Korean ~ with a lot of help from Mark's amazing language exchange partners, researching every angle of of the wholesale clothing industry ~ something we honestly started out knowing very little about, contacting potential sales reps, creating an LLC and trademark, and more.

Oh yeah, and we've finally got a website up and running. The pictures aren't the best as we didn't have the originals to work with, updates will be coming soon. Promise.

Check it out: http://www.dinobebeusa.com/

A few biz details... we plan enter the market with a focus on girls clothes only (in the 2~8 age-range). Baby and boys clothes will follow. The clothing will be sold wholesale... which means we will sell directly to retail stores and boutiques. So, at least initially, we won't have a storefront open to the general public. (On a side, sales-y note... if you have a favorite boutique that you'd like to see Dino Bebe clothing in, please let us know. We'll love to contact the owner about making the brand available to you.)

So that's the real reason we've been sticking around Korea. We had a great discussion with Birth Father the other day about factory sourcing and import/export fees and SangKwun will be coming to Korea in two weeks so we can finalize our final Spring & Summer 2012 line, create our very own U.S. catalog, and nail down logistics and final details. If all goes well, we should be on a plane soon very after, bringing Dino Bebe to the States!

I can't believe this is actually happening!

Passport Process

2011-06-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

Wow, the Korean passport process is shockingly fast.

Went to the local 구청 office this morning, filled out an application for the 10-year passport, paid about $55, gave them one of my beautified passport photos, and had my index fingers scanned.

And voila... my passport will be ready for pickup in 3 days. Oh and whenever I'm ready to renew it, it can be done online. Nice.

Extreme photo-shopping

2011-06-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

After the dual citizenship ceremony, the next steps of becoming a dual citizen were turning in a pledge to only use your Korean citizenship while in Korea (goodbye casinos... not like I ever went anyway.)

I turned in the pledge, and a few weeks later got a text message that my paperwork was processed and I could come back to the office to pick up my pledge confirmation.

After that, I was free to apply for my citizen ID number (kinda like the social security number in the US), a citizen ID card, and a Korean passport!

For the ID card and passport, I needed to get some official passport photos taken. I went to a local photo shop and assumed it would be in and out. Nooo... this guy took his job seriously! He took a ton of shots, and was very picky about the way I held my head, if my shoulders looked relaxed enough...

Korea seems to have more rules about passport photos than the US. For example, you can't smile showing your teeth, you need to show your ears, and you can't wear a white or light blue shirt.

But then, what this photo guy did next totally shocked me. He proceeded to take the picture I chose and photo-shopped the crap out of it! He removed freckles, and even changed the shape of my head to make my face appear more heart shaped! Pretty sure that would be highly illegal in the United States.

I asked some Korean friends about this, and they all said that's pretty standard. Guess that explains why everyone looks so much different than their government ID. Guessing they'd hate how awful we all look on our driver's licenses...

Anyway, here was the final result... I think I look sort of plastic.

So then I took this photo to the local citizen office (which happens to be SO much more convenient and well-run than the immigration office), and applied for my citizen ID card. This involved a very drawn out fingerprinting session. But I should get my card in about 3 weeks! Next step, passport....

Understanding 엄마

2011-06-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, Mark and I finally met back up with Birth Mother or 엄마. It had been months and it was actually the first time we've ever met without SangKwun, or my uncle to help with translations.

But I can honestly say that this was our best visit yet. It provided me with a whole new level of 엄마 understanding. In more ways than one.

First of all, without realizing it... my Korean (at least my listening) has finally arrived! I was able to converse with 엄마 without the training wheels of a translator of my electronic dictionary. To be honest, she speaks craazyfast and uses a lot of slang/country dialect, so there's a lot I can't understand. But when she tells a story, I can usually understand 50%~70% and fill in the rest. There may be misunderstandings, but at least there's a degree of understanding. Finally.

Secondly, the ability to converse has provided me with some much needed perspective on my relationship with my 엄마. Ironically, almost a year ago I posted about experiencing post-reunion awkwardness. I felt that 엄마 was overly touchy-feely and didn't respect my boundaries since to me she was essentially a stranger.

But the thing is, I was not a stranger to her. This time, she described the special pregnancy dream she had about me. (This is something Koreans believe in ~ the mother or a close family member will have a very vivid dream about the unborn child and it foretells the child's fortune/life/temperament.) My special dream was about a gold ring. (That's got to be good, right?!)

Then 엄마 told me that they were so poor, she couldn't afford to go to the hospital to have me. So she had me in her house... with no drugs... and just a older lady to help her. But then once I was born, they had no money, so it was hard to keep me fed. She said sometimes all she could do was give me rice, even though I really needed milk. And I as a baby I was sick a lot because of that. And as any mother would, she worried. But she tried to keep me, and managed to until I was a little over a year.

One year old. I think about my good friends who have children who are a year old. These are not babies... these are little people who react to things, have personalities, and most importantly know who their parents are.

So what I failed to understand, was that this woman really knew me. It was I who had forgotten about her. And even though I went to America and had a whole new life without giving her much of a second thought, she was in Korea thinking of me... missing me...

Actually, when we met, she brought along a little girl. I *think* she might be a second cousin. But 엄마 told me that when she misses SangKwun and me, she spends time with this little girl and her sisters. (I apologize for this terrible picture, but it was the only picture from the day. Too busy living it to record it, I guess.)

I don't think life has been as kind to 엄마 as it has to Birth Father or 아버지. As a woman in Korea... especially a single woman... it's hard to earn a decent living. But every time we meet, she insists on paying and slips me some cash telling me to "맛있게 먹어" or "eat delicious food." I know it's a sacrifice for her so I try to refuse it, but she always insists. Impossible to ever lose that motherly instinct, I guess.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to get to know the woman I knew so well almost 30 years ago and who has never forgotten me. So I guess I'll end it with the words she says every time she sees me and every time we talk on the phone. I used to pretend not to understand, then awkwardly said it back... but now I that I opened my mind to her I can say and mean...

엄마... 사랑해 ~~~~ I love you.

Importance of English

2011-06-16T01:04:00.000-07:00

Very interesting article in the Financial Times about how English has become the "world's lingua franca."

Surprised me that:

"The majority of conversations in English today are between non-native speakers."
"English speakers earn 25 per cent more than colleagues who don’t speak the language. This is the average. In Rwanda, in some jobs the difference can be 181 per cent."
"Kent Holiday, chief executive of Eleutian Technology, a US-based teaching company, thinks the state and private English sectors spend $100bn on teaching in China, Japan and South Korea alone."

Definitely have seen first-hand the value placed on learning English in Korea. The article also stated that "English should be the 21st century gold rush." Big opportunities...

Adoption Flier

2011-06-15T05:36:00.000-07:00

I was riding the subway the other day and noticed this ad by the door:

It's basically just trying to convince Koreans that adoption is a choice. On the top (in English) it says, "Adoption is love." Then in Korean it says "Adoption is another way that you can have a family" and "Adoption is a beautiful choice."

So many Koreans are extremely strongly opposed to adoption as they believe the blood-line is of utmost importance. But the birth rate has dropped in Korea, and people are waiting longer to start families. It was kind of nice to see this sign reminding Koreans of the adoption option.

BYOG (Bring Your Own Glasses)

2011-06-15T05:29:00.000-07:00

The executive that Mark tutors at LG gave him these 3D glasses. He said they'll be coming out soon and you can take them with you to the movies so you don't have to wear the huge 3D glasses.

But does that qualify you as a big-league nerd to whip out your own 3D glasses in the theater? Or will the losers be the people who are still wearing the big huge theater provided glasses??? I know I'll certainly be looking down on them when I'm rocking these orange beauties. :)

Hangover on the Military base

2011-06-15T05:17:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago, our friend Rachel brought us on the American military base to see the movie "Hangover 2" since it never made it to the Korean theaters. It was kind of a surreal experience being on the base since it seriously felt like we left Korea and stepped into Suburbia, USA.

This is a shot of the front of the theater with our friends Rachel and Ellen. Kind of reminded of Kenrick movie theater in St. Louis. Complete with no stadium seating, old school candy, and sticky floors. :)

Before the movie started, everyone had to stand and they played both the Korean national anthem and the Star Spangled Banner.

We also made a pit-stop in a convenience store where I drooled over all the American food that is either unavailable or super-expensive in Korea.

Especially THIS:

Korea's Got Talent

2011-06-08T00:23:00.000-07:00

Wow. Just watch it and try not to cry. Makes me realize how truly blessed in adoption I was. (Though I was definitely not blessed with a singing voice like that.)

Aaand 꿑!

2011-05-29T04:55:00.000-07:00

It's official, our Sogang days are behind us. All in all, it's been a great experience, I've met some good friends, and while my Korean is still not where I'd like it to be, it's vastly improved from when we first started. I've come to realize that this is going to have to be an ongoing process and I need to accept that I'll probably never be fully fluent. The best I can hope for is to be functionally fluent, with an accent that'll always sound a little off to normal Koreans. But I'm okay with that.

Birth Father came in town the other day and we were able to have some serious conversations with him. My reason for studying was to reach that level, so I feel like this year was well-spent.

So here's the mandatory picture with my Level 4 class at graduation.

Our speaking teacher is in the middle with the Japanese beer we gave her as a thank you present.

I'd say after Level 4, there seems to be a lot of turnover among the students at Sogang. It's probably because if you start at Level 1, reaching Level 4 means you've spent a year studying. So, a lot of the people who started at Level 1 with us are returning to their hometowns.

We attended a going away party for one of Mark's friends from Turkey.

It's kind of a strange feeling to know we'll probably never see some of these people again as their hometowns are miles away from ours. Leaving Poly, it just didn't seem so final since most of the teachers were from North America, so I always kind of assumed we'd reunite at some point. But when people are heading off to Russia, Turkey, Taiwan, Japan... it'll be a bit trickier to meet up. I guess that'll just give Mark and me and major incentive to earn a lot of money so we can travel the world and see these people once again. :)

Anyway, thanks Sogang for the memories, friends, and the Korean skills~ I'll never forget you. ^^

Ajuma Palooza

2011-05-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

Well, the day I've been dreading has came and passed. I've exited my 20s and entered my 30s.

Truthfully, it was all a lot less painful than imagined. Good friends and a great party organized by Mark helped.

My actual birthday was on Friday the 13th. I still had to work, so we had a pasta, wine, and movie night. The next morning, we headed into Itaewon for brunch. I have to admit, that while I've adjusted to most Korean food, kimchi for breakfast just doesn't cut it for me. So we treated ourselves to an omelette, a sandwich, and a Bloody Mary. Then we headed back to the apartment to hang out.

Now here comes the fun part. First we met some friends for dinner at this BBQ meat restaurant. The food was delicious, but the best part was the wait staff's outfits.

Then, Mark organized a birthday party. It was a mish-mash of people we've met from all over in Korea: friends from our year teaching, Sogang friends, language exchange friends, and more. It ended up being the most international birthday party I've ever had with Korean, Japan, Turkey, Russia, Taiwan, and the US representing.

The fun place about the bar is that there's a river of 막걸리 (Korean rice wine) running through one of the tables. In addition if you pay about $4, you can drink all the 막걸리 you want for 3 hours. We didn't end up sitting at the 막거리 river table, but we did get to take advantage of the drink special. And we totally got our money's worth. :)

A 30th birthday cake was necessary, I guess.

After our 3 hours were up, our friend Alex (who happens to be a SLU graduate from St. Louis), recommended a bar down the street that had beer pong. For the beer pong uninitiated, basically you set up cups in a triangle formation and have to throw a ping pong ball into the cups.

If you get the ball in, the cup is removed and the opposing team has to take a shot of beer. So we ended up setting up a beer pong tournament with a cash prize. You may actually remember that beer pong kicked off the Metro Olympics we held with my brother and his wife.

As most of the people at the party had never played before and every American spent many college nights majoring in beer pong, we were feeling pretty confident.

But then surprisingly many of the teams seemed to have some serious "beginners luck."

And people's true competitive natures really emerged.

Mark and I got knocked out in the second round by a Turkish/Japanese team. But finally, the other American team pulled out the win.

It was a great way to spend my birthday, and playing old college games with our many new friends helped me forget I was celebrating this "traumatic" birthday. Here's to many, many more!

Picture of Success

2011-05-11T05:06:00.000-07:00

So lately I've been craving curry like craaazy. So Mark, being the amazing guy he is, looked up a recipe to make it for me.

He found a recipe online and wrote it out. It looked like this...

No big deal, he just found a recipe entirely in Korean, wrote it all out and translated it to English.

And then proceeded to make the most delicious curry ever -- proving his translating skills were spot-on. Wish I had taken a picture of the final product, but I was too busy scarfing it down.

Kimchi Chronicles

2011-05-10T00:14:00.001-07:00

Just found out there's a cooking show on PBS called the Kimchi Chronicles which features Korean cooking for an American kitchen. I tried searching on PBS's website, but it looks like it hasn't started yet.

Anyway, here's the link to the New York Times writeup.

And it looks like Hugh Jackman will be on it.

Can't wait!

Uphill battle

2011-05-06T00:45:00.000-07:00

Check out this blog post about the hardest languages for English speakers to learn. Yep, Korean's definitely on the list.

It says to achieve proficiency you need 88 weeks (1.69 years) and 2,200 classroom hours.

So... Mark and I have spent 1 year studying... and approximately 750 classroom hours at Sogang.

Hmmm....

USA USA

2011-05-02T16:03:00.001-07:00

Another kinda awkward foreigner moment for Mark...

Last night we were at dinner at a little hole in the wall restaurant in our neighborhood and a report about Osama Bin Laden's death came on the news. Then they flashed to footage of Americans celebrating and chanting "USA USA." Every single head in the place immediately swiveled to stare at Mark like they expected him to erupt out of his seat, jump on the table, and join in.

So, while we weren't performing any shows for the Koreans, we were very happy to hear the news and hope that this will mean the world will be a little more peaceful.

Photo Essay

2011-04-27T03:59:00.001-07:00

If you have time, check out this beautiful photo essay about Korean adoption by Jeanne Madderman. The pictures tell the stories better than words ever could.

The photos of the birth mothers, especially, are heartbreaking.

Minor Celeb Status

2011-04-22T04:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, the headline was just a joke, but since I was part of the first adoptee group to become dual citizens there was a lot of press at the event. Not kidding, these guys were sprinting around the room trying to capture every.single.moment. One guy was absolutely pouring sweat.

Anyway, here are links to some of the coverage:

Korea Times: A picture of the group and the article's in English too.
Kyunghyang: A small local newspaper (in Korean, but there's a pic)
MBC News clip: It's in Korean and mostly features a married couple who got dual citizenship together, but there's a quick little part where I shake hands with the Ministry of Justice and bow. ^^

Sisters Night

2011-04-21T06:16:00.000-07:00

Last night Mark and SangKwun both had prior appointments, so ChungPing and I had a "sisters night." First, we gorged ourselves on shabu shabu. Seriously. I think we still had half a pot of veggies of meat, plus noodles and rice to cook when we both started feeling full. We both said we sort of wished Mark was with us because he always eats a lot. Haha.

Then, we came back home, attempted to watch a little Korean TV, and mostly just gossiped. I managed to snap a pic of her... cutest pregnant lady ever award!

I have to say, I've really been enjoying evenings like this with ChungPing. Even though we can't speak a common language and I don't see her as often as I'd like, she's truly become like a sister to me. I can be myself around her and we can talk about everything from her feelings about the baby, plans for the future, ex-boyfriends, and what our husbands do that make us mad. Also, when she's in town and goes shopping, she almost always picks me up a thing or two to add to my wardrobe and dispenses all sorts of advice about how I should wear it. Can't get much more sisterly than that!!!!

Cooking class

2011-04-21T04:25:00.000-07:00

Last week for our Sogang field trip, everyone in Level 4 went to a cooking class in 홍대.

The place was really cool and we got to prepare 안동찜닭 (chicken and veggies in a spicy soy based sauce), 해물 파전 (seafood and green onion pancakes), and 김밥 (Korean version of sushi rolls).

When we arrived, we put on aprons. The cooking area was really nice and there were tables with ingredients for each class. There were a total of 6 Level 4 classes.

Here I am with my classmate Chika. She is Japanese and actually loves cooking so much that she is currently enrolled in 2 cooking classes. After she finishes up at Sogang, she heads to cooking school. Needless to say, she was invaluable as we sliced, diced, sauteed...

The ingredients were mostly all laid out for us, we just had to cut them up and cook them.

Here's the seafood plate. It's kind of odd, because when I first came here I couldn't stand squid, but little by little it's grown on me. I am still not at the point of eating dried and buttered squid as a snack at the movies, but in various dishes it's actually pretty good.

We added the cut up seafood to this green onion batter.

Then we fried them, and TA DAAAA... 해물 파전! This is seriously one of my favorite things to eat lately with 막걸리 (Korean rice wine).

We also rolled up some 김밥. Mine is on the far right. These Korean rolls are filled with rice, carrots, cucumbers, sesame leaves, picked radishes, crab sticks, and more. Amazing.

And finally, here's the 안동찜닭 cooking.

And here's our final product! The best part of the day was that we could eat our creations together with our class. The place also provided us with kimchi (because what is a meal without it), and oranges.

And before we left, we were all given a recipe (in Korean no less) so we can try to make some of these dishes on our own. Any requests?

Ellen's Birthday

2011-04-21T04:10:00.000-07:00

I think I've mentioned it before, but there are two girls here that I've gotten really close to while living over here: Kerry and Ellen. We worked with them last year, but since we left Poly we've become much closer.

These girls have been majorly significant in making me feel more accepted in Korea. This is a country where the natives tend to hold the foreigners at an arm's distance. But Kerry and Ellen have never treated us like outsiders. They invited us out with their friends, helped us with any language difficulties, and basically have just been the sweetest, most caring (not to mention fun) friends we could hope to find. Besides my birth family, these two are going to be the hardest people to leave when we head Stateside. We've talked about them visiting us in the US, so I'm really, really hoping that actually happens.

Last week was Ellen's birthday and she turned the dreaded 3-0. (Actually it wasn't so bad since it's Korean age 30... so according to my age counting system she's only 29. But I digress.) So we decided to go to a cute little place in Itaewon, Bungalow, for margaritas and cake.

Since Ellen is obsessed with coffee, we got her a coffee cup shaped cappuccino cake.

And here are the girls... (Mark came too, but was our photographer.)

As always, I was grateful for a super-fun night spent with my favorite people.

Love you Kerry and Ellen!

Dual identity!

2011-04-20T16:22:00.000-07:00

It's official... I'm a dual citizen! Here's the write-up (in English) from the Korea Herald. I'm going to do a post about the ceremony and everything... eventually.

Baby Blabber

2011-04-18T02:22:00.001-07:00

In August, Mark and I will be the extremely excited Aunt and Uncle of an adorable Chinese-Korean NIECE!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait!

Pretty sure she'll be the best dressed baby on the planet. Crossing my fingers that she also has a full head of dark hair -- I love that. ^^

Oh and I need to get a picture of ChungPing. Once I do I'll post it on here. Hands down cutest pregnant lady I've ever seen.

2011-04-14T04:03:00.000-07:00

Who says you can't find big shoes in Korea?????

Taken in Myeongdong on a studying Sunday. :)

Pieces of Korea in the Lou

2011-04-13T04:48:00.000-07:00

So one of my fears about returning back to the States is that I won't really have a chance to use the Korean skills I've acquired this past year and will promptly forget Every.Single.Thing. After all the blood, sweat, and tears it's taken me to get the level I am now, that would be the worst thing imaginable.

Also while I'm excited to be much, much geographically closer to friends and family, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go through some major withdrawal missing this country I've called home and come to love these past two years. So, this evening I decided to do a little investigating to see if I could still find little pieces of Korea in the middle of the Midwest.

And my search wasn't fruitless! I found....

St. Louis Korean-English Organization: This was a major shocker. This is a not-for-profit group that sponsors meet-ups, has English and Korean tutoring, and more. Um, sign me up yesterday. Oh, and interesting that they're looking for a marketing director.... ^^
Noraebangs: These are the infamous Korean private karaoke rooms where Mark and I have spent many, many evenings. And it so happens that there are TWO in West County. Oh, and they serve soju... It may be a haul, but I have a feeling that the road trip will be necessary at some point.
Patbingsu: Patbingsu is an amazing mixture of shaved ice, fruit, and red beans that makes me so happy in the summer. And amazingly enough, there is a Korean bakery in Chesterfield that serves it! Step aside Ted Drewes...

These little gems were found in about 10 minutes flat, so there must be even more that I'm not aware of... Next on the hunt, a hairstylist who knows how to cut (and maybe color) Asian hair... and possibly can even maintain my magic straight perm without charging me everything in my bank account plus my first born child...

Spring in the Concrete Jungle

2011-04-12T04:23:00.001-07:00

Spring has officially come to Seoul! Temperatures are in the 60s and I'm even debating taking our winter coats to the dry-cleaner.

I could get used to this city life in the concrete jungle, because the lack of trees and flowers means no allergies!!!! Last year around this time in St. Louis I was completely falling apart.

I may be alone in this, but I'll take acid rain and yellow dust any day over springtime allergies. :)

My Terrible Horrible No-Good Very Bad Morning

2011-04-08T03:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday may go down as one of the major low points in Korea.

To back up from the beginning... I got an email from the man who is doing a lot of work for the dual citizenship campaign claiming that I had failed to renew my F4 visa so I am illegally in Korea. If I'm illegally here, I can't get dual citizenship.

I double checked my visa in my passport and the final date was November 2011. Still time left. But then he asked me to check my alien registration card. Uh oh... the date on there read January 2011... No biggie, I'll just go to the Immigration Office, explain my confusion, we'll all have a good laugh, the visa will be extended, and everything will be just fine.

So yesterday Mark met me in Anguk and off we went. I explained to the first guy how I confused the visa expiration date with the final re-entry date and he told me that since I was late there would be a fine. Not ideal, but do-able. It was my mistake after all. So he led me down the hall to the "Offence Office." (And that's not a typo, that's how it was written.) He showed me where to go and told me once I have that taken care of to return to him. And that's where all hell broke loose.

The "Offence office" man took my paperwork, consulted some sort of a chart and proceeded to tell me that the fine was $500. $500!!!!!! Apparently if you over-stay the visa for less than 90 days the fine is $100. But after 90 days it jumps to $500 and goes up from there. And I happened to learn of my mistake a few days too late. I was 3 days past the 90 day mark. 3 FREAKING DAYS!

I tried to explain to him (in Korean no less) the misunderstanding, that it was an honest mistake (I wasn't really trying to pull anything sneaky), and that I'm a Korean student and don't have that type of money.

He didn't budge and kind of yelled at me in Korean. Then he said really loudly in English "NO EXCEPTIONS."

So then Mark started getting fired up and told him that we're NOT paying, I'm adopted, came here to learn about the culture and the language and this is ridiculous. At this point Mark may or may not have also dropped an f-bomb. ^^ Then this oh-so-kind government official decided to switch to English and said, "You are not Korean. You CHOSE to give up your citizenship so this is your problem." Um, excuse me??? Didn't realize way back my birth family fell on hard times and had to send me abroad that I had a choice in any of this.

So we went back and forth for about 10 minutes and finally realized we weren't going to win this battle. So we asked how we should pay the fine. And he said, that it's too "difficult" for him, so we need to go to a bank and pay it. And until we do, he's keeping my passport and alien registration card.

So off we went in the rain to the bank. The first bank didn't have a global ATM, so we were sent to another bank. The next bank's internet was down, so the ATM's weren't working... so we were sent to another bank where we were finally able to withdraw the money and pay the &#(% fine.

Finally we went back to the office, retrieved my stuff, and got the very, very expensive little stamp on the back of my F4 card confirming I had extended my visa.

Ugh. What an awful day. And it makes it worse that pretty much every Korean I talked to has been shocked about the way that the "Offence office" worker spoke to us and said that if we had a Korean with us, we probably wouldn't have had to pay (that much at least). They said normally in Korea if you argue, you don't have to pay or you can at least get your fine lessened. But since we're foreigners they assume 1) we're rich and 2) since we can't speak the language well, they can push us around.

So yesterday, I learned a very expensive lesson. So for anyone else living in Korea, look at the date on your Alien Registration Card and whatever you do, make sure you renew it on time.

A Necessary Re-Post

2011-03-30T22:59:00.000-07:00

Repost via Seoul Eats, "Rants! Korea is not a Third World Country" because it's so very very true.

Folks, I have to tell you- Korea is not a third world country. As someone that runs aculinary tourism business in Korea, I often encounter people that have never been in Korea before. Or, if they have been in Korea for business or layovers, they have been too scared to venture into the "scary city." When I meet guests, they often seem weary and cautious. Women clutch handbags as if every permed 40-something women holding an umbrella and every pleated-pants-wearing older man is out to rob, rape or mug them. The men often hide their wallets in hidden fanny packs and once I had a guest pay me by taking money out of his shoe.

Folks, Korea is safe (except for North Korea...but that is a remote threat much like the idea of Cuba attacking Disney World), we don't have problems with earthquakes or tsunami's (70% of the country is covered by mountains- I think Korea is a corn on the foot of the earth). I often tell my family and friends the North Korean threat is live on CNN, but barely gets a mention on local news. Also, the Japanese radioactive wind isn't going to be threatening Korea anytime soon unless the Earth starts spinning in the opposite direction.

Furthermore, Korea is not a third world country. It's one of the richest countries in the world. It is ranked 14th in the world according to the GDP and last year it was one of the only economies to grow. The currency is strong- almost as strong as the American dollar (which isn't saying much these days). Sure, you can find remnants of the old guard such as palaces and markets and monuments, but often they have been painstakingly restored costing 100's of millions of dollars. Also, the public transportation system is probably the world's most extensive, modern, efficient, and clean. Most of the people are college educated and - even though they might not seem like it- many of them can understand and read English (the society makes it difficult to gain any speaking practice). It's a country that spends 30% of their salary on education even if they are grown adults.

The cost of rent and property in this city is very high. 3 bedroom apartments in the affluent neighborhoods of Gangnam, Apgujeong, and Hannam can go as high as 2 million dollars. People that are opening little coffee shops and bakeries in the same area may pay up to 10,000 dollars a month in rent (think about that the next time you complain about paying 3 dollars for an Americano, use the cafe's wi-fi, and sit for 1 hour).

Everything is getting more expensive in the city and even though you might still be able to get cheap food, corners are being cut everywhere to get you that 5 dollar bowl of bibimbap to you with numerous side-dishes. The margins that some of these restaurants make on food is criminal- maybe 10%.

Take kimbap. If you are paying 1,500 won for a kimbap roll, you are getting processed vegetables and meat rolled with old rice (newly harvested rice is too expensive). This is the same for many of the other dishes as well. Have you noticed that buying food in the grocery store is more expensive than eating out? That's because the restaurants are suffering in order to be generous to their customers. Food for Koreans is a basic right- I mean that is why they always greet each other by asking, "Have you eaten rice?" Therefore, many regular Korean restaurants feel like they can't charge more for something that the market dictates they should.

Korea is suffering from an identity crisis. We are not North Korea. We are not Japan. We are our own country with our own unique identity. We are a modern country that is one of the safest and most convenient places to live.

An ultra-competitive game of memory

2011-03-28T23:45:00.001-07:00

So THAT'S what a trumpet sounds like...

2011-03-28T23:38:00.000-07:00

More fun with Ji Hyuk. :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T05:26:00.000-07:00

Wishing you lots of happiness and luck!

Compliments of one of the rare Koreans who knows how to Irish dance. :)

To celebrate the holiday, Mark and I treated ourselves to Suji's in Itaewon. We split an order of fish and chips and a reuben sandwich. Expensive, but TOTALLY worth it.

Just for cuteness...

2011-03-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

On Thursday nights Mark has been tutoring our friend Ellen's cousin in English. He happens to be 3 years old (American age), knows most animals, feelings, colors, the alphabet, a bunch of songs and nursery rhymes, and can count to 20. Oh and his native language is Korean. No big deal.

Mark had been telling me about how cute and smart little Aiden is, so I got to go along a couple weeks ago. It was so much fun and really made me miss my days with Sun class at Poly.

Look at the tiny little peace sign next to Mark's huge one!

After introductions, Mark, Aiden, and I played a little game of letter memory -- finding and matching the uppercase and lowercase letters. He was so cute because we were letting him win, but he wasn't having it. He was always trying to "help" us dumb older people remember where the matching letters were.

Oh and here's the cutest little video ever of him practicing phonics.

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Dual Citizenship

2011-02-25T05:20:00.001-08:00

Dual citizenship paperwork... finally completed today (with lots and lots and lots of assistance from Dae-won and GOAL -- thankyouthankyouthankyou).

So, I went with Dae-won and another adoptee to the Seoul Refugee office (yeah, that's really what it's called) to submit all the paperwork. Went smoothly without a hitch. Actually, I kind of lucked out with my government official -- she seemed like she wanted to get through the paperwork as quickly as possible and get back to her nap. Ha.

Anyway, I'm told they will have some sort of an official ceremony to grant the first adoptee group (which includes me) their citizenship mid-May. W00T! Then the fun will begin with having a dual identity... the Korean government requires that my Korean passport have my Korean name, and obviously my American passport has my English name. So there should be fun times ahead at the airport trying to explain why I have two different country's passports with two different names. I foresee exciting times in the immigration office in my future. :)

Different strokes

2011-02-22T05:18:00.000-08:00

Today we graduated from Sogang Level 3. Whew.

Mark and I have been having some discussions lately about what we should do next. We want to return to the States in May or June. So with 3(ish) months left in Korea, we've been trying to decide our final "learn as much Korean as we can" game plan.

And today, it finally came to be that our paths will diverge.

Two weeks ago, Mark decided that the best way for him to learn is through language exchanges, supplementary material, and self-studying Korean. Sogang was good for getting him started, but now he wants more "real life" conversational practice. And once he made that decision, he signed up for an awesome language exchange website, Conversation Exchange, met several great Korean people, and never looked back.

I, on the other hand, have been waffling back and forth. I originally thought I'd follow the same path as Mark. For one thing, it'd be cheaper than paying another semester of tuition (especially since I only could qualify for one free semester on scholarship from InKAS). So I met with one girl. And then I freaked out about exams and cancelled the rest of the scheduled meetings so I could study instead.

So for our language exchange scorecards so far, they read: Mark: 6+... Me: 1. Uh, not cutting it.

Today after graduation, Mark and I had a talk which resulted in me creating a pro-con list. Basically, based on my personality, I've concluded need the structure of a classroom setting with tests to keep me focused, and set curriculum that will push me.

So I will continue on to Sogang Level 4. And Mark will seek "real world" learning through Korean friends and self-study. I'm going to miss having him in the program, and talking about different lessons and tests, but based on our learning styles, I think this is the best way for us to reach our joint goal of learning to speak Korean. So, here we go..... ::deep breaths::

How will you eat KIMCHI?

2011-02-16T05:41:00.001-08:00

Remember way back before we ever came to Korea when we found the Korean restaurant? I remember being so proud of ourselves.

Well, last weekend we went to lunch with Birth Father, SangKwun, ChunPing, my aunt, uncle, and cousin. While I was off getting everyone coffee, Mark told me that Birth Father was asking how we would be able to eat Korean food when we go back to the States. (Because God forbid our diet should lack kimchi... haha, actually I have a feeling I will be totally craving it.)

He said that the Korean restaurant in St. Louis is 맛없어요... not delicious. But then he said he noticed there was a Korean market next to the restaurant that had everything we would need. So he told Mark that he needed to learn how to cook Korean food for me.

YESSSS... even with the language barrier Birth Father fully understands how our relationship works. Mark cooks... I eat. Truly the perfect marriage. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T01:40:00.001-08:00

Little Valentine's day treats from home are the best!

Mark and I celebrated totally "Korean-style" today. I got him chocolate and took him to his favorite lunch -- sushi -- something he normally has to drag me to. In Korea, Valentine's Day is all about the boys and white day (March 14) is all about the girls.

설날

2011-02-03T05:30:00.000-08:00

Today is officially Korean New Year, or 설날. Birth Father couldn't come in town, but SangKwun and Emily are here. To celebrate, the 4 of us went to Ansan (안산), about an hour outside Seoul, to my 큰 아버지 (or oldest uncle's) house. Before I've kind of commented that my family doesn't seem overly traditional... but this was, by far, the most traditional Korean get-together I've experienced since being here. At Sogang we've learned about Korean 설날 traditions, and we got to experience every single one first-hand. Amazing.

The first difference between Korean holidays and American holidays is the amount of time spent with the family. In American, you get together, eat, hang out a bit and call it a night. (At least my family does.) But in Korea, the family time is looong. Like, we arrived yesterday around 2, and didn't leave until today at 2. Yep, the entire family of 14 spent the night in this 3 bedroom apartment. Talk about getting close quickly.

When we first arrived, it was apparent there was a guys side and a girls side. The guys side had an abundance of beer, fried chicken, and some sort of Korean wrestling on TV.

And the women's side had lots and lots of traditional snacks to prepare. (Our teachers have told us that women tend to hate the holidays because it's so much work. And it really is, the women prepared all the meals, washed the dishes, and basically waited on the men from start to finish. Meanwhile, the men, drank, watched TV, and played games. Something doesn't seem right with this picture...)

First, we made these snacks out of ham, veggies, and crab meat. I was in charge of flouring each piece before it was placed in egg, then fried.

TaDaaa... the finished product. They were delicious.

Next up was shaping these little tofu, meat, and veggie patties. These were also floured, dunked in eggs, and fried.

I didn't get a picture, but lastly we fried some sort of fish in the flour and egg batter.

After we finished, we had a dinner and then played games. The games included all sorts of feats of strength, like who could do the most pull-ups. (Obviously not me. And the bar was too short for Mark.) Then was some good-old fashioned arm wrestling.

The Koreans were all very excited when my cousin beat Markuh... the American.

I am proud to say that I beat my college-aged cousin, but then was soundly defeated by my 16 year old cousin. Ouch.

Then we played the traditional game of 윷노리. This game is kind of like sorry, but instead of dice, you have to throw sticks. It's actually a lot of fun. And even more fun when the uncles sweetened the pot with a 120,000 won (~$120) prize for the winners.

Here was the homemade board with the potential winnings by the side.

You basically just throw the sticks. And the number that land face up decide how many spaces you get to go.

We played two games... my team won one game and Mark's team one once!!! Olleh! :)

After that, it was more snacking and talking and then time for bed.

The next morning, we were woken up at 7 by a loud "일어나!" (or "GET UP") from 큰 아버지 (my oldest uncle). It was time for 새배, or honoring the ancestors.

Basically, a table is filled with food and two places are set for the Grandmother and Grandfather. My family also set a little table to the side with food for the "house spirits." (I hate ghosts and that thought kind of freaked me out to be honest.)

Then, the male cousins (including Mark) went and bowed in front of the table, poured alcohol for the grandparents, and touched three pieces of food for the grandparents to eat.

Then we all bowed twice in front of the table. My 큰 아버지, oldest uncle, even wore his hanbok.

Then we bowed to our aunts and uncles, wished them lots of luck in the New Year, and received money. Normally only children get money for bowing, but I think they made an exception for us.

Then we the food from the table, as well as 떡국, the traditional rice cake soup. It's believed that when you eat this soup on the New Year you turn a year older. So because I ate it, I turned Korean age 31. Ouch. At least it tasted good...

After lunch, we hung out more, played a Korean version of monopoly with my cousins, and finally headed out. But not before taking this family pic.

Happy New Year to everyone! Hope you were able to ring in the Lunar New Year in your own little way, even if it was just ordering Chinese food and eating fortune cookies. :)

Shopping with the Prez

2011-01-28T16:59:00.000-08:00

Hey, no big deal... went with Emily to Dongdaemun to shop last night. And guess who just happened to be walking around taking pics and shaking hands???

Yep, that's definitely South Korean President Lee Myung-bak!

Things are definitely a lot more relaxed around here, sure there was secret service and all, but people were running up and taking pics with him.

Emily and I are SO mad at ourselves because we really had the perfect opportunity to take a pic with him. He walked RIGHT by us, made eye contact, and even shook Emily's hand. But we both got totally star-struck and the opportunity passed.

Oh well, here's the shot right AFTER he shook Emily's hand...

Language Steps

2011-01-19T01:03:00.001-08:00

I think Mark and I have hit a hit a big language milestone today. We had our one-on-one speaking interviews today. Rather than structuring it as a question and answer session, this semester it served as more of a counseling session.

It was probably one of the most useful talks I've had.

Basically our teacher told both of us that we're doing a good job learning the technical aspects of the language -- memorizing the new vocabulary and learning the new grammar points. However, now she'd like us to start trying to experience the language in everyday situations. Growing up the child of two teachers, I was shocked when my teacher told me to stop doing my homework and to start watching Korean dramas, listening to Korean radio, and talking to Korean people. She made a good point that I can do all the book learning on my own in the United States, but while I'm in Korea I need to take advantage of the environment... namely a country filled with people who natively speak the language I'm trying to learn.

Today's a great day because without even realizing it, I feel like we've finally reached the step I've wanted to be at since I first started studying the language.

I remember when Mark and I first came to Korea, we studied one month at a hagwon and basically learned the alphabet and to count. After that, we got a free Korean tutor through GOAL. It's embarrassing to remember what we said to the tutor... "We really don't have a lot of time to study vocabulary, so we'd just like you to speak to us and we'll just pick up what we can." Uh, we didn't know the words for come, go, look, chair, doctor, pencil.... how we thought we would just magically pick up the language from listening to her is the stupidest thing ever. That tutor was honestly a saint because how she managed to make it through those classes without punching one of us is a mystery. There was no way we could learn anything from her because we never bothered to try to learn the basics!

So now... after studying Korean for 25 weeks, we've finally reached the point where we've got the basics learnt (mostly) and we can start paying attention to real Korean in everyday life and we can learn from it. So now we embark on the next step... immersion and application. Wish us luck! :)

::Picture via Mango Languages blog::

Adoptee Culture Camps

2011-01-19T00:51:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if there are any adoptees I don't know reading this blog, but I wish I'd known about some of these opportunities to visit Korea back when I was in college.

For example, InKAS is offering a summer culture camp for adoptees aged 18-28 who've never visited Korea. You're responsible for the airfare, but the room, board and activities are all free. And it's a great opportunity to come to Korea, meet other adoptees, and learn about the culture.

Sounds pretty amazing. Coming to one of these definitely would've beat spending my summers waitressing. :)

Actually, just got an email from InKAS and it sounds even sweeter... turns out Korean Air is sponsoring it, so airfare is free too. Just an $150 registration fee and it includes a trip to Jeju. Wow!

Name meaning

2011-01-07T05:15:00.000-08:00

Compliments of a Korean friend... the meaning behind my Chinese name. :)

漢한나라(mearning) 한(sound)
元으뜸(meaning) 원(sound)

한나라는 중국의 옛 나라 이름이에요.
"Han" is a name of the old Chinese dynasty.

으뜸은 최고라는 뜻이에요.
"Utdeum" means the best.

당신의 이름은 나라의 최고라는 뜻이에요.
Your name means the best of the country!!!

How I'm Spending my Free Time...

2011-01-04T03:54:00.000-08:00

Yep, I'm doing it! Applying for dual citizenship... if I can ever figure out these forms.

Filling out government in forms in Korean = waaaaay beyond my Korean level.

Luckily my amazing Korean friend, Ellen, helped me translate some of the boxes so I know what they're looking for. And she's offered to proofread my crap explanations of why I gave up my Korean citizenship and what my life was like abroad... so here goes nothing.

Oh and I must also give props to GOA'L. They've basically been responsible for this law change, and been so helpful with putting together the informational booklet, translating documents, and even having workshops to check over all our paperwork before we go to the immigration office.

Oh one bonus of filling out the paperwork... apparently every Korean's name is formed from Chinese characters and has some sort of meaning.

Here's mine (Korean on top, Chinese below)... meaning is still unknown... can anyone translate?

So cool, though tough to write. Had to ask Emily to write it for me. :)

One Year (Later)... Lessons Learned

2011-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

This time last year I wrote a post about the lessons I'd learned. Many of those lessons still hold true, and it's hard to write a new meaningful "lessons learned" post about year 2.

My first year in Korea was more "magical." I experienced so many firsts... seeing the country I was born in, getting to know my birth brother and father, being so far away from my family and friends. Nearly everything was done with such a sense of wonderment and awe... "I can't believe I'm here doing this!"

I can honestly say my second year here has been more "real." We've much more deeply immersed ourselves in the culture by learning the language and developed strong, life-long friendships with Koreans and foreigners studying the Korean language. Also, this time around, I've felt less like an "honored guest" and more like a member of my birth family. My birth father and SangKwun are more themselves around us, and less likely to tiptoe around us constantly trying to please us. This year has been more of a feeling of, "Yep, this is my life."

This year, there have been some huge moments... meeting my birth mother, my extended family, my half brother... Emily and SangKwun's Korean and Chinese weddings... studying Korean at Sogang and being able to communicate with my birth father for the first time.

I guess the major lessons I've learned this year are more related to how I'd like to live my life.

1) Take risks, don't be afraid to try a Plan B:

When we originally came to Korea, we promised ourselves after one year we'd return to the States. Then when the time came, I just didn't feel like I'd done what I needed to do here. So, we came up with Plan B: come back and study Korean. And I can honestly say it's one of the best decisions we've ever made.

Mark and I both agree that without a doubt, the second year has been a better experience than the first. While we enjoyed our first year, we really were kind of like year-long visitors to a foreign country. If I'd left for good last year, there would still be so many aspects of the culture I would probably never understand. And there would forever be a huge language barrier standing between my birth family and me. I'm glad I took this little extra time to bridge that gap.

2) Learning about other cultures is not just interesting, it's necessary.

This is really something I hadn't put much thought into back when I was living in St. Louis. Actually, I was pretty content in my daily life surrounded by people who tend to speak, dress, and think like me. Then I came to Korea and saw people around me who have such different lives and stories to tell. Particularly at Sogang, we've met people from Turkey, Sweden, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Japan, China, and it's made my life that much more rich.

One thing we've been astounded by is when we ask our classmates (particularly the Asians) why they are studying Korean, the answer is most often "because I'm interested in the culture." Can you imagine if in the more people in the United States had that attitude? A willingness to go to another country, live there, and learn the language just for the sake of learning the culture?!??! Mark and I have promised ourselves whenever we have children of our own, we're going to encourage and maybe even push them to go, explore, and learn about the world. Because it's so big and it's filled with so many interesting, kind, amazing people.

2010 has been an unforgettable year. I honestly have no clue what 2011 will have in store for us, but I'm excited for whatever comes our way. Happy New Year!

Orphanage visit

2010-12-30T20:16:00.000-08:00

Mark joined this volunteer organization, Bean, here in Seoul. They do a lot of great things, one of which is volunteering every few weeks at an orphanage. Mark went the first time by himself, and convinced me to go with him the second time.

It was a really different feel than the orphanage we visited in Busan. At Sung Ae Won Orphanage, the kids lived there all the time so it just felt sadder. But at this orphanage, all the kids live with foster families during the week and just live at this orphanage on the weekends. These kids seemed a lot more well-adjusted and less attention-starved. It was nice (and definitely better for the kids). But being there, it felt less important that we were there playing with them.

There were kids of all ages -- ranging from 3 to 16. Bean had some arts and crafts set up, but there were too many volunteers for the number of kids, so we opted to hang out with the littlest ones.

We had some Christmas worksheets for them to color.

Look at this little one with the big thick glasses!!!! TOO cute.

Then, we just kind of played with them and chased them (endlessly). There was one little boy who was like 5 or 6 who loved to be chased. He was definitely my favorite of the day because anytime you'd give him attention or go near him he'd smile from ear to ear.

Afterwards, BEAN provided pizza, cookies, and drinks for the kids. We served them and hung out with them. Then we all went outside and played. It was cold, but the kids managed to have fun.

Snowy seasons greetings!

2010-12-28T05:31:00.000-08:00

Today Mark and I went to Coex Mall to buy each other Christmas gifts. And walking into the mall, we finally got our (albeit somewhat belated) white Christmas.

Big, fat, fluffy flakes... loved it. Since this is Seoul, it'll all be melted/gray slush by tomorrow, but definitely enjoyed the beauty today!

Christmas in Korea, Round 2

2010-12-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

Though we missed our family and friends back home, Mark and I had a really nice second Christmas in Korea.

Our last day of class before the holidays was on Thursday. After that, we get a week and a day off for the holidays. So we won't be back in class until a week from today! To celebrate, we brought Dunkin Donuts to class.

Then, since we were off for Christmas eve, we set out early in the day for some 떡복이 (spicy Korean rice cakes). I had read about a place that serves the best ones in Korea online, so since we had the time, we decided to make the trip. Totally worth it, plus the little old lady there is really adorable. It was SO cold, so when we arrived, she had us sit on a heated seat and pointed her little space heater directly at us. And then she went out in the cold to make our lunch.

I mean, seriously look at it. Obviously the red ones are spicy and the other ones are glazed with soy sauce. The green things are tofu wrapped in green leaves and pan fried. Amaaazing.

The 떡복이 restaurant is actually located off the the 경복궁 exit, and there was a big tree in the station. So I made Mark stand in front of it totally against his will. (Can you tell by his body language that he is not happy with me at all? Haha.)

After our lunch, we went to a "sweet cafe." Basically it is a private room where you can watch movies, listen to music, play Wii (if you pay a little extra--we didn't), and drink coffee. I am convinced that teenagers go there to hook up, but Mark and I being almost 30 (wah!~) instead opted to rent a movie. We watched Salt and (again proving that we're officially an old married couple) dozed off halfway through it. :)

Then later that night we met our good friends, Kerry, Ryun, and Ellen at Noryangin for some sashimi, shrimp, scallops, and soju. Then we headed out for some 막걸리 (Korean rice wine) and more.

On Christmas morning when we finally woke up, we opened some gifts from our parents. It's so much fun having packages to open! In these pretty packages were clothes, a pretty toiletry organizer, books, gym memberships, and key chains.

We also got some home-made Christmas cookies!

Hope your Christmas was such as wonderful as ours!!!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-23T05:09:00.000-08:00

즐거운 성탄절 보내세요!

새해복 많이 받으세요!

Merry Christmas and may you have lots of good fortune in the new year!!!

Now THAT'll put you in the Christmas spirit

2010-12-21T02:48:00.000-08:00

S. Korea Stands Guard Over Christmas Tree at the DMZ

By Seonjin Cha

Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- A 30 meter (100 foot) tower that’s been hung with lights in the shape of a Christmas tree will be defended against possible attack from the North, Defense Minister Kim Kwan Jin told lawmakers in Seoul today.

“We’ll retaliate decisively to take out the source of any shelling,” Kim said at a National Assembly defense committee meeting.

A South Korean church turned on Christmas lights covering the metal tower, near the border between the two Koreas, before 6 p.m. local time, Kim Han Soo, a pastor and spokesman for Yoido Full Gospel Church, which organized tonight’s ceremony, said when contacted by telephone. About 400 people were watching the event, guarded by about 80 soldiers, he said, with an ambulance and fire engine also present.

“Those soldiers seemed to remain on alert,” said Kim. “By the time we left the site, those soldiers were still there. I didn’t notice any unusual move on the other side.”

The lighting of the tower near the border is part of “psychological warfare” between the two countries, South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported on Dec. 15. Kim said the significance of the tree, which was decorated by a South Korean church, is religious, not political.

The tower hasn’t been lit up since 2004, according to the Korean-language newspaper report. North Korea, which suffers from energy shortages and relies on outside handouts to feed its 24 million people, had demanded the tower be demolished, JoongAng said at the time.

Religious Move

The church requested South Korea’s military authority to carry out today’s event after a seven-year suspension, said Kim. “We decided to resume this ceremony to spread God’s love and peace to brothers and sisters in North Korea,” Kim said.

The annual ceremony began in 1954, though it was discontinued when the South and North Koreas agreed to halt acts of “propaganda” in 2004, according to Kim reading the Church’s statement.

South Korea in May began radio broadcasts that can be heard in North Korea, ending a six-year moratorium on propaganda, after an international panel concluded the North torpedoed the warship Cheonan, killing 46 sailors.

North Korea yesterday held back from acting on a threat to retaliate against South Korea artillery drills held on an island in disputed waters along the two nation’s western sea border.

International snacks

2010-12-21T00:34:00.000-08:00

Some of our friends from Level 2 at Sogang brought us some treats from their respective countries.

From our Japanese friends...

Haven't opened any of it yet, but we're told the stuff in foil is to be eaten with rice. And in the plastic bag are some sort of cucumbers. And then there's Japanese style ramen. Excited to try it.

And then from our friend from Taiwan...

Uh, these little cake-like pastries were amaaaazing. Especially the big round one on the top left. It was kind of flaky with caramel in the middle. I'm told it's called a sun snack (or something like that in Chinese) because the shape resembles a sun. I want to travel to Taiwan for the snacks... and the bubble tea. Someday...

I want to put together some sort of American snack pack for these friends, but have no clue what to put in it. These countries have such unique foods that aren't found anywhere else. Anyone have any suggestions of special little "American" snacks I can share with these friends? I don't have an oven, so baked goods are next to impossible...

Next stop... Russia

2010-12-14T00:56:00.000-08:00

I kid, I kid.

But seriously, in class today were were talking about major holidays with our classmates. Our Korean-Russian classmate was telling us that in Russia the major holiday is the new year. Basically, for 12 whopping days (Dec. 31~January 11) everyone takes off work and parties. And since it's Russia, I'm sure you can imagine the amount of vodka that is consumed. :)

And then I had to follow that with a description of Christmas that included getting together with family, eating, and exchanging presents for one day only. Lame. Maybe we should do it Russian-style and start extending Christmas over a week at least....

A Linguistic Peephole

2010-12-10T01:21:00.000-08:00

"Learning a foreign language not only reveals how other societies think and feel, what they have experienced and value, and how they express themselves, it also provides a cultural mirror in which we can more clearly see out own society."

Chancellor Edward Lee Gorsuch, chancellor of the University of Alaska, Anchorage

(retired in 1994), member of the Arctic Research Commission

We've successfully started Level 3 Korean. Woop woop! This level means we are officially "intermediate" speakers.

As we're getting further into the language it's becoming more apparent to me how truly impossible it is to understand Korea and its people without an understanding of the language. So many things that seemed strange or frustrating in our interactions with Koreans make so much more sense now that we're seeing how their language is set up.

At lunch we were laughing because today's lesson was just SO Korean. When we first arrived here, one area of frustration (with my birth family especially) was the vagueness and inability to fully commit. It was always "maybe this" or "maybe that." Of course, as Americans, we're used to the straight facts. But today in class, we learned an entire grammar structure based around that exact vagueness. For example, "I can eat kimchi, sort of." Or, "I am kind of tall."

And then the second part of the lesson once again emphasized how important saving face and not directly disagreeing with someone is here. (Once again, totally explains how put off the Korean staff would get last year at Poly when we'd straight up tell them they were doing something inefficiently, or we didn't like how something was done.) Basically, this grammar structure is agreeing with what someone said so as not to hurt their feelings, then turning around with a big BUT. For example:

Q: Wow, it's a really nice day today, isn't it?

A: Yes, it's a nice today, BUT it's actually really cold.

This linguistic peephole into Korea's culture has definitely made this year in Korea infinitely more rewarding than our first. When I applied for the language scholarship, I think I made an analogy comparing learning Korean to opening a door. Before I knew the language, I was truly an outsider looking in. I'm proud to say that while I'm not where I need to be yet, the door is halfway open. My birth father is talking to me more with every visit and I'm finally able to respond somewhat intelligently when people ask me questions in restaurants, in the subway, and on the street. And best of all, learning the language is providing me with some insight into the country I was born.

Though we had to veer from the original 1 year game plan to make this experience happen, I can't even express how glad I am we made that choice.

Making Kimchi!

2010-11-29T06:44:00.000-08:00

Back at SangKwun and ChunPing's wedding, I asked my aunt (who can cook like a rock star) to teach me how to make kimchi. At the time, she kind of laughed and said that it's really difficult to make.

But then I got a text from my cousin inviting me to their house to make kimchi for the winter. Apparently, in the fall, Koreans make a ton of kimchi to last them through the winter.

So early Sunday morning I got on the subway for the hour and a half ride to my aunt and uncle's house. I originally thought I would be able to learn how to make it and I could recreate the process when I returned to the States. Um, not even possible since it involved a lot of guesstimating, tasting, and adding random ingredients and sauces I couldn't name if my life depended on it. But what an awesome day, especially since virtually no one could speak English. Awesome opportunity to work on my Korean skills, though the day made it evident that I still have a loooong way to go.

We made the kimchi outside my aunt and uncle's restaurant. Their restaurant is very small and they serve just a few dishes. Here's one. I think it's cow intestines or something... I have not yet tried it. But I really think I would because everything my aunt has made has been phenomenal. No joke.

Here's a shot of the inside of the restaurant. Can you see all those cabbages waiting for us outside?

Want a closer look? That's a LOT of cabbages. And notice the radishes to the side as well. We made both cabbage AND radish kimchi.

Apparently the family had spent most of the day before washing all the radishes and cabbages.

We started by watching my uncle cut up all the radishes.

We started with a brown sauce base. Here they are adding the chili power to make it super-spicy.

Next, some radishes were added.

After that, garlic, and other spices were added.

Then they added a secret ingredient that I had no clue went into kimchi... lots and lots of shrimp.

These teeny tiny shrimp...

And then some raw pureed shrimp. Tails, heads, shells and all. How far I've come because a year ago this would've totally grossed me out. But I figure now, it's all mixed in and I've eaten kimchi for a long time and been fine, so might as well just go for it.

Next, some green leaves and onions were added.

Ta-Da! The sauce is ready.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of myself making the kimchi. But I put some gloves on and smeared that sauce all over the cabbages. Clearly it was my first time, as I finished about 8 in the time it took that older lady to finish about 20. It was kind of cute though because they packed up the ones I made so I could take them home with me. They're in fridge ready to be eaten. Mark said it's the best kimchi he's ever tasted. :)

Here are the ladies finishing up the last of the cabbages.

Then they used some sauce to make radish kimchi as well.

Here's the final product... that's a LOT of kimchi!

It was kind of funny to me how many random older people just came over to watch us work. They would just stand around and chat and eat pieces of cabbage with the sauce on it. And the older ladies would randomly squat down and get to work. Korea is so funny to me in that way. It seems like people aren't that friendly on the subway and on the street, but older people will come right over to a neighbor's house and dive right in to help make kimchi and stay for lunch without a second thought.

After we finished making the kimchi we all sat down for some kimchi and bossam. Bossam is a steamed pork that is eaten with kimchi. Koreans believe that fresh kimchi tastes best with bossam, so it's kind of a traditional meal to eat when kimchi is made.

After that, I headed home with a ton of (very heavy!) kimchi and very specific instructions on how to store it. Hooray for kimchi!

End of Sogang Level 2

2010-11-29T01:28:00.000-08:00

I've read online that with each level, classes tend to get closer. Probably mainly because everyone's ability to communicate improves, and as the levels get harder it's more important to support each other.

I think I've mentioned this before, but Mark and I were in separate classes in Level 2. It was good, and bad. It gave us the opportunity to meet new people, but when we were in the private class together this break, I'd forgotten how much I like being in class together. It's really fun to see each other make progress, and to see Mark say a really difficult sentence well is such an awesome experience. So we'll see what happens next semester... but I'm secretly crossing my fingers that we'll end up studying together...

Anyway, I was really lucky to have a class of people that I absolutely LOVED. They were so supportive and fun. So on the last day of class, a couple of the girls organized a big last day party (and thank you party for our speaking teacher).

We all contributed money, so we were able to buy her a watch and the girls who organized the party put together a really cute photo book of the class this semester.

Our teacher was probably one of the sweetest people ever. She is extremely patient and was enthusiastic about teaching every single day. Here's a shot of her and me.

In December, she's actually going to be moving to America... University of Illinois Urbana Champaign to be exact. She's going to be studying English as a Second Language. She never really let us know when she taught us, but her English is really good.

Later that night, a girl in Mark's class had a party, and my class met up for dinner and drinks. A few of the students won't return next semester, so this was our opportunity to say goodbye.

As I was typing this, I am feeling kind of disappointed that I don't have more pictures of Mark with his class. I have given him the camera several times, but it always came back empty. Ah well, now I really have to hope we end up in the same class so I can document Mark's classroom experience as well. :)

Anyway, Level 2 was fun, difficult, exciting, frustrating, and ultimately rewarding. I hear Level 3 turns up the heat even more, so I'd like to apologize in advance for any freak-outs I may have on this blog or otherwise. :) But right now, I'm kind of looking forward to the challenge.

Halloween travels

2010-11-28T16:22:00.000-08:00

Well, since the next semester will start in T-minus 3 days, I should probably get a post up about some Halloween traveling we did with some friends in my Level 2 class. Over Halloween weekend, we traveled to the countryside of Seoul. Never actually did find out where exactly we went... but it was about 2 hours outside of Seoul.

The fall scenery was absolutely GORGEOUS. I mean, the different colors on the mountains made the trip worthwhile in itself.

This was kind of a fun group to travel with because everyone was very active and we did a lot. The first day, we arrived at our pension and immediately set out for bungee jumping. I initially said I was going to do it (with some convincing from Mark), but once I saw it I backed out immediately. Yep, that's jumping off a bridge toward a small rocky stream below... Mark wasn't really giving up on me, so you can imagine my relief when we found out that bungee jumping was closed for the season. Too bad so sad.

Then we all decided to go 4-wheeling. I know, I know, it's dangerous in the States... But in Korea, it was a whole different story. (This is a country that wears helmets for ice skating -- no joke.) So we wore helmets, were on special courses designed specifically for this, and were constantly supervised by someone. But hitting those bumps... SO MUCH FUN!

We also visited a spa resort to drink coffee and hang out on the deck. The view was awesome.

Here I am with the girls...

And Mark with the guys... he had a blast with these guys. They're quirky, crazy Japanese guys. So Mark fit right in (of course).

Also, one of our classmates brought her 5 year old daughter along. She was really cute, and craaaazy about 큰 오빠 or Biiiig Brother (as she called Mark).

That night we grilled some meat and shrimp and had a Halloween party. Most of these people really don't celebrate the holiday, so we got to introduce them to one of the most fun holidays of the year. So we broke out a few costumes, props, and played flip cup and beer pong. You know, cuz that's what the holiday's all about. :)

A pirate and the scream guy fought...

The next day was pretty relaxing. We rented bikes and spent a couple hours riding around the town. Again, SO PRETTY.

Oh and that last picture is Mark with two of the cutest Japanese girls from my class. Their personalities are hilarious, and they wanted English names, so Mark named them "Paris" and Nicole." Because the shop all the time and are never apart. "That's hot."

All in all, a great weekend with some great friends. Looking forward to reuniting with all of them in Level 3 and I really hope some of them are in our classes again!

Our Second Korean Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T00:23:00.000-08:00

Last night we celebrated Thanksgiving with some friends. Didn't know it was possible, but we got to stuff ourselves with a real, authentic Thanksgiving meal. And didn't have to go into debt for it. Bonus.

Remember last year's Thanksgiving dinner? Well, (besides the friends we shared the meal with last year) this meal was a million, trillion times better.

One of our American friends, Jenny was able to set this up. There were about 15 people who attended. Here's the table. (Jenny's the one on the end on the cell phone. Probably giving someone directions. Ha.)

Jenny got the turkey from the US military base.

As for the rest of the sides, Jenny had gotten to know a little Korean lady who owns a tiny brunch restaurant. This lady happened to live in Boston for awhile, so she cooked the rest of the sides for us. And they were just like home. As in, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, pasta salad, caesar salad, mac and cheese (with bacon!), cranberries, and even stuffed mushrooms. It's making me hungry just to think about it.

And here was my plate this year...

And the best part was, all this food cost us $15 per person. Half the price of last year and twice the food.

Here are Mark and I, both very happy after such a great meal.

And last night reminded me of one more thing I have to be thankful for this year. Being so far away from our family and friends back home makes me really grateful for the people who have helped to make our lives here in Korea so great. When we first arrived in Korea we had no idea who or what was in store for us. But almost 2 years later, I can safely say Korea has brought some people into our lives that we will call friends forever.

Shaolin Temple Kung Fu Show

2010-11-28T00:16:00.000-08:00

Here's the promised video from the Shaolin Temple Kung Fu show. Simply amazing. Enjoy.

Gratitude

2010-11-24T21:13:00.000-08:00

I actually didn't plan it this way, but this post is a perfect reminder of how much we have to be grateful for this Thanksgiving Day.

Our last day in China, ChunPing's Father wanted to take us to the village he grew up in. It was about 45 minutes away from the town we were staying in, and we were told it was a poor farming village. He mostly wanted to take us there because many of these people had never left the village and had never seen a white person before. So it was basically a trip to show off Mark. Good thing I married such an easy-going guy!

When we arrived in the village, the first stop we made was at an elementary school. Here's the front gate.

Here are a couple shots of the outside of the school.

Sorry it's so blurry, but here's the only pic I got of the kids in class. Can you believe how many kids are in this classroom? This is only about half the class, the rest is behind the wall.

Then the kids were given the opportunity to pose with Mark for a picture. They were all keeping a safe distance from him until one was brave enough to touch him. After that, all hell broke loose and kids swarmed him.

My camera died after visiting the school, so those are the end of my pics.

After we went to the school, ChungPing's father took us to the actual village he grew up in. It was like stepping into another world. America has its poor areas, but I've never seen poverty quite like this.

We first went to the house of some relatives of ChunPing. They lived in a small house surrounded by a fenced in yard. We never actually went into the house, as they brought out tiny stools for us to sit on in the yard. But from the outside of the house it was apparent that there was no electricity or heat. When ChungPing's sister had to use the restroom, she was directed to an outhouse. There were sheets hung over where the windows and doors should be. This is not a warm area -- it's weather is comparable to that of St. Louis with 4 seasons and snow.

After we sat at their house, ChungPing's father walked us through the rest of the village knocking on random people's doors to show off Mark. Pretty much every house looked about the same as the first. We saw children with dirty clothes and no toys.

But the thing is, these people were happy! They all seemed completely content with their lives and though they didn't have much, were pleased to see ChungPing's father and receive the cigarettes he was handing out. Actually, ChungPing's father gave his relatives some money, and they tried to refuse it several times. And then, as we were leaving, came running out with a dozen boiled eggs for us.

Kind of a wake-up call for we who have so much. It's so easy to get caught up in consumerism and the feeling that there are so many things we need. But really, seeing the contentment in these people was a strong reminder of the things we should be most grateful for this Thanksgiving.

I'll go first. Above all, I'm grateful for my loving and supportive husband, family, and friends. I'm grateful that I have been given the amazing opportunity to live in the country I was born in and to learn the language. I'm grateful that I've always had enough to eat and for a warm house.

How about you?

Shaolin Temple

2010-11-23T17:18:00.001-08:00

The day after the wedding extravaganza, we took the hour-long trip to the famous Shaolin Temple. This is the birthplace of Chinese kung-fu, so Mark was especially really excited.

Here's the whole group.

We had the opportunity to light some incense to send up to the Buddhas. We also walked through a huge museum containing hundreds and hundreds of Buddhas.

We had a guide, but she only spoke Chinese so we didn't really get much of the history. But I DID understand that this tree has finger holes from people practicing kung fu. That's hard core.

The highlight of the trip was definitely the Kung Fu show. I have some video that I will post once I get it cleaned up a little. Though it was completely commercialized (with people hawking the opportunity to get a picture with some Kung Fu fighters before the show), the actual show was absolutely impressive.

We're okay!

2010-11-23T03:36:00.000-08:00

Just to preempt any worried emails or calls, we've heard about North Korea's aggression on South Korea. It's actually pretty far from Seoul, so we haven't seen any real effects. Got an email from the US embassy and it appears that everything's settling down, though they're watching the situation closely. We're registered with the embassy and get regular updates. If anything happens, we'll be the first ones out. :)

China Wedding Video

2010-11-21T04:37:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick video of some highlights from the wedding. I apologize in advance for the narration.

The Actual Chinese Wedding

2010-11-19T00:24:00.000-08:00

Since moving to Korea, Kim and I have had our fair share of unique experiences but our past trip to China for SanKwun's wedding was by far our biggest "You're a bit far East" moment. The events I am about to describe are based on our actual experiences and have not been fabricated in any way. To support these claims, we have provided photo evidence. In all seriousness, while the wackiness of the day made us laugh (a lot) the trip was still extremely special and we feel lucky to have been there to share the day with SanKwun & ChunPing.

Let's get started.

The day started off pretty normal. The wedding started at 10:00AM. So after a quick breakfast, Kim and I headed back to our rooms to get ready. We were told to meet in front of the hotel at 9:45AM. During breakfast I asked SanKwun what a Chinese wedding ceremony is like and he told me that he did not know and was not sure what would be happening throughout the day.

In Kim's last post, she showed the billboard sized picture of SanKwun and ChunPing. A little strange, right? But not half as strange as walking out to see this as we came through the front doors of the hotel.

A red carpet AND a marching band. At this point we knew without a doubt that this was going to be an awesome day. And it continued to get better and better as we discovered that ChunPing's cousin, a wedding planner who was responsible for planning most of the wedding, spared no expense for this momentous day.

I heard that there might be fireworks at the wedding so I was pretty stoked, especially when we noticed these cannons lined up 8 in a row on each side the the red carpet.

There were also large inflatables everywhere. The one below was Kim's favorite.

Lined up in front of the hotel, was a fleet of Mercedes and 2 stretched limos.

When we asked what they were going to be used for, we were informed that

SanKwun, his friends and family needed to go to ChunPing's house and pick her up.

Well, that makes sense.

Before we got in the cars to begin the 3KM trip down the street to pick

up the lovely bride, ChunPing's little brother took me aside to show me his

arsenal of fireworks that he had stashed in his car. His plan was to was to

lead the motorcade while his cousin sat in the back lighting these fireworks

and throwing them into the street.

Well, I guess that also makes sense.

As we made our way through town, the camera zoomed around in the convertible capturing every moment.

I was still a little curious as to how they were planning on using the marching band. Once we arrived it finally all became clear. The marching band would lead SanKwun through the courtyard and up to ChunPing's front door, setting off every car alarm along the way. SanKwun was just as perplexed as we were, if not more.

Arriving at the apartment, we found ChunPing and some 3o+ members of her family waiting for the groom. There were some rituals performed, such as knocking on her bedroom door and asking her to marry him. Then they received the parents permission by bowing.

Finally, we got back on the rode for a 30 minute parade through the rest of the town.

The girls in the picture below are not ChunPing's friends, but instead hired assistants to help her throughout the day. We are still not sure why they were wearing angel wings.

The bride and groom made their way down the red carpet amid fireworks, confetti, balloons and other various explosions. Our Korean teacher would later explain to us that every Chinese wedding has explosions and loud sounds to ward off evil spirits.

We made our way into the ceremony/reception hall which seemed fairly normal except for this large fluorescent-lit walkway, complete with gold fish filled columns.

Arousing the curiosity of the guests as they entered and made their way to their seats was a rock-n-roll all-girls violin band decked out in their classiest short skirts and high heels.

After a surprisingly impressive 10 minute performance by the violinists, ChunPing and SanKwun made their way onto the stage. That's when the smoke machines also came out.

Obviously, the ceremony was in Chinese but I think that I can confidently say that there was not any religious significance behind any of it. They did play some romantic love songs like, "When a Man Loves a Women" to highlight the important moments. Later, the parents were introduced and told to come up on the stage. As they came up the walkway, the DJ played the Star Wars theme song.

The fathers then proceeded to each give a speech. Mr. Kim had his translated into Chinese by an interpreter.

After that, the angelic assistants made another appearance when they presented the bride and groom with this gift. No was ever able to explain what this was for.

When the ceremony was finished the newly married couple made their way back down the walkway with a hand full of paper airplanes that they tossed out to the crowd.

Notice the camera crane that filmed the whole event. That was actually pretty cool.

The meal was composed of various Chinese meat and vegetable dishes. There was a bottle of Chinese liquor on every table as well.

While we were eating, the waitresses passed out plates of cigarettes to everyone. I thought smoking was bad in Korea, but they literally smoke everywhere in China. At our table, there was an ash tray for every two people.

ChunPing and SanKwun went around to all of the tables while we were eating and took a shot with each person. ChunPing took shots with SanKwun's guest and vice versa. Since we were in China, SunKwun got the short end of the stick.

All jokes aside, we enjoyed the entire day. It was probably one of the most entertaining weddings I have ever been too. Coincidentally, my best friend, Joe, got married the following week. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend but from what I hear, it was a blast too. (Although as far as I know, there were no angels, fireworks, or inflatables...)

China Wedding Part 1

2010-11-18T03:35:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm finally getting around to posting about the China wedding. Only a month late, right?

I'm going to break it into parts because there's just so much to talk about.

Mark and I arrived in China on Thursday. The wedding was held in ChungPing's fairly small hometown. (I've asked hundreds of times, but can never remember the name. Sorry.) We were met at the airport by ChungPing's sisters, and brought to the hotel. It was really nice, and also happened to be where the wedding would take place.

So then, we went out with ChungPing's family, SangKwun, and some others to a Chinese hot pot dinner. We ate it about 4 or 5 times while we were there, and it never got old. Every hot pot restaurant we went to had a big revolving center for all the food. Then we each had our own individual hot pots. And the sesame sauce with cilantro... amazing.

Not surprisingly, Mark also dived right into the Chinese liquor. This little bottle is cheap (like $1.50) but the liquor is potent. As in, I took one sip and could feel my mouth and throat burning. So Mark drank the entire bottle one-shot by one-shot.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and spent some time drinking beer with SangKwun and a couple of his friends.

The next day was when things got a little weird. Birth Father was due to arrive later that day, so we met a few of his work colleagues for lunch. After lunch, they told us that they wanted to go to the Shaolin Temple, which was the birthplace of Kung Fu. Awesome, we were in.

But then, after going out and talking to various drivers, we found out that the temple was too far. So the driver offered to take us somewhere nearby.

He drove us to a place and rapped on the gate where we were greeted by a one-armed man. Then, we were led to a run-down looking building with pictures of animals on the outside. So, we paid the entrance fee and went in. Walking through these dingy, run-down rooms it became apparent that we were in a zoo. But there really weren't any animals, only a huge tortoise in a small aquarium. But then we got outside and were handed a huge block of animal food and saw this.

Yep, that would be a huge bear in a very tiny cage. It was actually pretty sad since it literally had no room to walk around and it was just like a concrete box.

After listening to the bear roar and attempting to feed it, we were directed outside to look at various fenced in areas with animals listed, but no animals. This place was making the St. Louis zoo look like animal paradise!

As we were walking around, we were kind of confused because this park was really crowded and there were quite a few people walking around. Surely they weren't all here to see this "zoo"?!?!

We walked up the hill and saw another run-down area with tons of men standing around outside. There were also a surprising number of dogs hanging out... all of a sudden, Mark leaned over to me and said, "I think this is a dog fight." Excuse me?!?!? [In case any of you wanted to see what a Chinese dog fight looked like, I apologize because at this point I completely forgot I was carrying a camera and didn't take any pictures.]

So in our broken Korean, we confirmed with Birth Father's colleagues that this was, indeed, a dog fight. One of his colleagues (holding his year old son) wanted to get closer to the action. We resisted, so we all continued walking up the hill. But then we found ourselves at a dead end behind the dog fighting building. The guy (still holding his son) walked right into the building and motioned for us to follow. Um, scariest place I've ever been in my life. Apparently this is where they keep the dogs before/after they fight. So as we walked through this darkened dungeon, pit bulls chained in various rooms lunged, snarled, and snapped at us. Horrible. I refused to watch an actual fight, so after we made it through that place, we headed out.

After we got back to the hotel, we met Birth Father, where he had a good laugh about our afternoon's "sight-seeing." What a weird day.

Later that evening we went to dinner. Mark and I had to laugh because the menu looked like this, but we were asked multiple times if we'd like to order.

Here's a cute one of Birth Father and I at dinner.

Birth Father was really cute with his colleague's son. He was constantly trying to play with him and carried him on the walk home. Cute.

After dinner, we all headed to the noraebang. Here's the group.

When we arrived at the hotel, we were greeted by this sign in front of the hotel. Yes, that would be a billboard size picture of SangKwun and ChunPing.

To get an idea of scale, here's a shot of the front of the hotel with the sign lit up to the right. It was huge!

After seeing this huge billboard, we could only wonder what was in store for the wedding the next day... The wedding day will be my next blog post. Coming soon...

Success!

2010-11-15T19:10:00.000-08:00

Uh, I feel like I have to apologize for all the complaining, worrying, and generally feeling sorry for myself in the past posts. We've both finished Level Two with really good grades. So yes, we passed -- in a big way. Woo Hoo!

We're still doing the tutoring, and we had our first session yesterday. I think it's going to be well-worth the money since we are going to be spending the entire hour and a half speaking and listening. Our teacher is really spunky and lively. Plus, she's a stickler and doesn't let a single grammatical or pronunciation error slip by her. I have a feeling that after 9 classes with her, we'll see a serious improvement in our speaking. At least that's what I'm hoping for!

G20

2010-11-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

One week from today the G20 will commence in Seoul.

3 signs that Seoul is gearing up for the big event:

1.) Mark read that in the area around the actual conference the government announced it will not be picking up any food waste for 3 days as to not offend the noses of the international visitors. Apparently Koreans living in the affected areas are in a huff over this. (Sidebar: we have to separate our food waste from our recyclables from our trash here. And then it all goes into separate containers outside our apartment complex.)

2.) At the subway station we transfer at every day on the way to school, a 5-10 soldiers have suddenly begun standing guard in the main corridor.

3.) Today we were informed that Sogang's Korean Language program graduation will be cancelled this year in case any terrorists decide to strike while the G20 conference is going on. Good to know.......... maybe I should just plan to stay home while this conference is happening.

Resilience

2010-11-02T06:12:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Mark and I went with some friends to see a documentary made by a Korean adoptee about a Korean adoptee who reunites with his birth mother called Resilience. It showed their separate lives, their reunion, and their post-reunion lives.

It was almost eerie seeing the movie. It was like I was watching my post-reunion with my birth parents. So many of the things shown in the movie I have experienced... the over-familiarity, the huge emphasis on food, and of course, the ever-present language barrier.

I think another Korean adoptee, Lee, whose blog I read, wrote a really great post that is well worth a read. In addition to a good description of the movie, he also talks about some Korean values, which really explain a lot of the things I have had a hard time with culturally here. Anyway, you can read his post here.

THAT'S a wedding gift!

2010-10-28T02:04:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about studying (besides learning another language and being able to talk to my birth family, yada yada yada) is the opportunity to learn first-hand about other cultures from my classmates.

This semester it's cool because our increased ability to speak with our classmates allows us to have really amazing conversations. More and more, our teachers will introduce how things are done in Korea and then ask us to share how things are done in our respective countries.

For example, today we were talking about wedding gifts. In Korea, people normally give money. To an acquaintance you are expected to give the equivalent of $30. And for a good friend, about $50. And for a best friend or family member, you can give more if you wish.

In Japan, money is also the most commonly given gift. But here's where it gets crazy... an acquaintance should get about $300.... and a good friend? How about $1,000+!?!?! Talk about breaking into a cold sweat when a wedding invitation arrives in your mailbox!!! Gak!

I promise...

2010-10-25T01:13:00.000-07:00

I promise the China wedding post is coming soon. Just totally overloaded right now with school. Seriously, did I mention there are only TWO WEEKS left of semester 2? Which means the midterm is just around the corner. 진짜 무서워요 [really scared]!!! Mark and I are actually investigating the possibility of some private tutoring at the hagwon we went to when we first arrived in Korea for our 2.5 week break between levels 2 and 3. Our listening and speaking levels just don't seem to be where we need them to be, so maybe some 2 on 1 practice will help move us in the right direction.

Plus, I have been limping through level 2 and was informed that level 3 is 10x worse. As in, level 1 to 2 is a step up in difficulty. Then level 2 to 3 is a LEAP up. Yeah, some extra help/practice is absolutely necessary.

Anyway, I promise a post is forthcoming... once I can get the pictures uploaded to flickr and Mark can edit some of our videos.

Back in ROK!

2010-10-19T02:07:00.000-07:00

We're back in Korea and do we have some stories to tell. But first we have to work and prepare for classes tomorrow.

So I'll just leave you with this little teaser... our trip to China included the shadiest zoo imaginable, a marching band, Star Wars, some angels, and huge pigs. More to come soon....

SangKwun and ChunPing's Korean Wedding

2010-10-13T01:45:00.001-07:00

I thought before we leave that I should get the Korean wedding post out. So here it is... I'm not including as many pictures, since most of them were on the slide show Mark put together here. But I want to tell SangKwun and ChunPing's Korean wedding story and follow up with a China one when we return.

ChunPing and SangKwun left at noon to get wedding makeup and hair done. They weren't due to arrive at the hotel until 4pm, so you counted correctly. That was 4 hours of makeup and hair.

Meanwhile, at our apartment, Mark and I got to spend some time with Birth Father and my aunt, uncle and cousin. We ate a snack and Birth Father took everyone's blood pressure. Probably not a bad idea prior to a big event like a wedding. Only better would've been if we could've taken the bride and groom's blood pressure! I wish I had gotten a picture of that, but my camera battery was charging.

Then my aunt and cousin braided my hair and helped me put on my hanbok. It's actually pretty complicated with a bunch of layers and special bows/knots.

One thing I've definitely gotten used to in Korea is the lack of modesty around people of the same sex. I've been to the saunas here and people strut their stuff in the women's area of the locker room without a second thought. (Mark tells me it's the same on the men's side.) One of the girls I worked with last year was a Korean American and married a Korean man. Upon first meeting her future mother-in-law, they went to a sauna and her future mother-in-law insisted on scrubbing each other's backs as it would make them closer.

So when my aunt and cousin took me into a bedroom and told me to strip, I just went with it.

After I was dressed, we went to the hotel. The wedding didn't start until 6:30, but ChunPing was already sitting on a little chaise for pictures. She sat on this chaise for nearly 2 hours while the rest of us posed for pictures around her.

Most of the shots were pretty formal and serious, but I got one fun one with the bride.

At the wedding, I also had the opportunity to meet a few more family members. This is Birth Father's oldest brother and his wife. When they met me, they both said that I look exactly my grandmother. Interesting.

Also, I sort of introduced him before, but my half-brother also came to the wedding. Since I posted the picture of him here, I've gotten more information. I originally thought he was my step-brother but have since found out he is actually my half-brother. His mom was my birth father's second wife. He is 22 and currently serving his required time in the Korean military.

This isn't really the best picture of him, but here's a shot of the two of us chatting.

Then the wedding finally started and it was basically the same as an American wedding with a lot more bowing. The bride and groom bow to each other and then to each set of parents.

After the ceremony, the guests eat and the bride and groom go from table to table bowing and thanking their guests for coming, then to a separate room for a Korean ceremony.

Guests don't RSVP to Korean weddings, so you never know how many people will show up. This wedding had a case of about 20 extra people coming and not enough seats in the banquet room. In this case, the extra guests are given meal vouchers to eat at the hotel's other restaurants. So Mark and I went with a few of our friends that were invited to the hotel's Japanese restaurant.

It's ended up being... sushi. Again. It was okay for me, though the sushi lovers thought it was great. I liked the fried tempura and fruit that came with it. Oh, and the beer!

Here are Mark and I rocking our hanboks at dinner.

Afterwards, we went to the Korean ceremony where there are all sorts of traditions like the bride and groom pouring various family members drinks and receiving money from said family members.

This is a cool tradition where the parents throw jujubees into the cape and the number that the bride and groom catch signify the number of children they'll have. I think they caught 4 or 5.

Mark and I had a part of this as well. As the younger sister, we sat with the couple. Emily fed me some food, SangKwun and Mark had a drink together, and we wished them luck in their marriage.

After that, the wedding was officially over. Not so much fun for the bride and groom -- they didn't even get to eat dinner!

But afterwards, all the friends and siblings went out to a bar for the after party. And apparently, that is also when the real party begins. :)

Apparently, it's part of Korean culture to for the friends to make the bride and groom do all sorts of things at the wedding after-party.

It started out with making them sing... loudly... in the middle of a bar and escalated from there.

Next was the passing of the raw egg yolk. They put an egg yolk into the bottom of the glass, then filled the glass with beer. SangKwun had to chug the beer, then put the egg yolk in his mouth and pass it from his mouth to ChunPing's mouth. Then ChunPing had to pass it back to his mouth without breaking it. Anyone who knows how I feel about cooked eggs can probably guess how I felt about this game... good thing it wasn't me getting married. :/

Then, came the worst part of all. Everyone at the table could put money into a cup, and then could put whatever they could find at the table into a bowl. So this bowl had soju, beer, pickle juice, kimchi jiggae, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and who knows what else... Actually SangKwun's friends were pretty nice and only put food in there. I've seen other groups where people added cigarette ashes, hair, and even spit in the bowl. Gag...

They, they strained the mixture through ChunPing's tights.

And SangKwun had to chug a glass of it. Which he started to do... then promptly ran into the girls bathroom to throw it up. Haha.

Aren't all of you glad that you got married in America now!?!? No solo songs, raw eggs, or mystery drinks. :)

Anyway, it was a fun night and I'm so glad I was here to experience it. Congratulations SangKwun and ChunPing! Here's to many, many years of happiness (and to never having to drink a mystery drink again)!!!!!

Visas... check!

2010-10-12T01:07:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone for the great advice. We will be going to China in two(!) short days. I talked to my teachers and got all the worksheets, etc. so I think we'll be okay. Plus we'll be hanging out with some Korean language experts, so if we have any grammar questions, we can ask them. :)

We received our visas to China today. (Side note: getting a tourist visa to China is expensive for Americans. For us, it costs $150 for a single visit visa. For everyone else around the world... $30. What gives?!??!)

Anyway, all we have left to do are our speaking interviews tomorrow, pack, then we're off to China bright and early Thursday morning for 6 whole days of fun!!! We're not bringing our computers with us, so we won't blog until we're back in Korea. But I have no doubt we'll take tons of pictures and videos so there'll be plenty to blog about when we get back. 안녕 and BYE!

Safety first!

2010-10-12T00:57:00.001-07:00

This was literally right next to our apartment building. One day there was a pork restaurant and the next day... demolition. But over the weekend, when they were closing up shop, they left the machinery parked like this for the weekend. (Please notice the loose rocks it is resting atop tilted toward the street.) Let's just hope the parking break was on. Oh Korea...

Happy Hangul Day!

2010-10-08T18:02:00.000-07:00

Did you see Google's homepage yet? Today is hangul day.... the day the Korean alphabet was invented 564 short years ago. To celebrate, I'm going to be studying these characters aaaallllllll day.

Chatting with the cuz

2010-10-08T05:52:00.000-07:00

Today Mark and I met for the first time with my cousin, Su Bin. She is a college student, and it seems that her father and Birth Father are close since I see her the most often at family events.

To jog your memory, here we are in the car going to SangKwun and ChunPing's wedding.

We've decided to start meeting regularly so she can practice English and we can practice Korean. Plus, this way I can try to get to know her better. We've had other language partners, but this is so much cooler because this is someone I'm actually blood related to and by learning the language am able to communicate better with. Seriously, this is something most people probably take for granted, but being here and getting to know people that I have the same genes and blood as is so amazing. I can't even put it into words.

We had so much fun chatting for a couple hours yesterday and though Mark and I can get a little frustrated with our level and where we think we should be, days like this remind us that we really can communicate fairly well and we just need to keep practicing.

Oh yeah... China does censor

2010-10-07T06:04:00.000-07:00

Living over here and seeing my family go back and forth between China and Korea so easily, it's easy to forget that China is still (at least technically) a communist country. But then Mark sent SangKwun and ChunPing the link to the wedding slideshow he made for them and posted on YouTube and they couldn't access it. YouTube is blocked in China! Weird...

Gak...

2010-10-06T02:11:00.000-07:00

We had our listening, reading, and speaking midterms today. Speaking wasn't bad. But listening... ugh. They had a CD of some people speaking super-super fast, the sound quality sucked, and our teachers played and replayed it really fast, not giving us much time to read the questions in between. We also have our writing midterm tomorrow, then our speaking interview next week. Blechety blech blech.

I'm actually a bit worried since Birth Father bought us our tickets to attend the Chinese wedding and we're going to have to miss more class than we originally thought. Our initial plan was to leave on Thursday the 14th and return Sunday the 17th. But there were no flights returning to Seoul on the 17th... the earliest flight returns on TUESDAY the 19th. So as things are, we're going to miss 4 days of class, which is huge at the speed these classes move.

I'm really flip-flopping on this one. The reason I'm here is to spend time with my birth family, and this wedding will be really special. But missing 4 days of class (especially in light of the most recent listening midterm from hell) completely stresses me out and could hurt my goal of learning the language to get to know my family more in the long term.

So, whoever's out there reading... please weigh in. Should I go to China? Stay in Korea and study?!?!?

Korean Wedding Slideshow

2010-10-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

I promise, a longer wedding post with descriptions will follow when I have time... this happens to be midterm week, so we're in the midst of cramming for our 2 exams on Wednesday and 1 exam on Thursday. Blargh.

However, SangKwun and Emily's wedding was perfect in every way and I am SO glad we had the opportunity to share in their special day.

For now, here's a slideshow Mark put together for them. He also took a majority of these pictures and I think he did an amazing job with both. Enjoy!

Seoul Design Fair

2010-10-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

One of the cool things about living in such a big city are the many things to do and see. Last weekend we went with a couple friends to The Seoul Design Fair. Basically, it was a huge event with exhibitions showcasing all sorts of cool designs. From cell phones to offices to bikes, there was a lot to see.

There was an international area with different innovations from around the world.

Here's a future office (or school) idea....

And if your office looks like this maybe you'll experience...

But who are we kidding. No one experiences "joy in work." :)

This is super-Korean. It kind of shows how a lot of things are packaged and wrapped here. If you buy a big, expensive box of food in a department store, a lot of times they'll wrap it in material like this. But it's never quite this pretty.

Here's furniture that's about right for Mark...

A very Asian home idea...

And the whole stadium was filled with exhibits in the seats too. These were some of my favorites:

Overall, it was a cool thing to see, but really was just a lot of walking around and looking. There are more festivals coming up in the next month or so, a fireworks festival on the Han River, a lantern festival, and more. Looking forward to going to all of them!

Chuseok Sushi

2010-09-30T23:58:00.000-07:00

Mark and I celebrated our first Chuseok with family. Chuseok is basically Korean Thanksgiving. People get together with their families and eat a lot. There are a lot of traditions associated with Chuseok especially as related to ancestors... there's a good description here if you're interested.

Our teacher told us that married women tend to hate the holidays as they are expected to spend the entire day cooking and cleaning and waiting hand and foot on the men. Meanwhile, the men spend their time sleeping, eating, and drinking alcohol. If I understood our teacher correctly, there's a belief that the men aren't allowed to enter the kitchen or it will anger the ancestors. Pretty sure that superstition was created by a man!

I was kind of hoping for a very traditional Korean Chuseok with my birth family (maybe minus all the hard labor). But the more holidays I spend with them, the more I realize my family really doesn't behave like a traditional Korean family.

My birth father was supposed to arrive in Korea on Chuseok day. So a little before 7, the doorbell rang and it was my two uncles and their families. So we chatted with them (yay! we could... a little), watched t.v. and waited for Birth Father to come from the airport.

When Birth Father arrived we headed to a restaurant. (This is my kind of family... minimal work for the women... haha.) We actually ended up eating sushi to celebrate the holiday.

Yep, complete with the wriggling tentacle things...

But I know you probably don't care about the food. Here are the family members... We actually separated into an "adult" and "kid" table. Yep, even in Korea I will forever be placed at the kid's table. :)

Here's the adult table.

Actually, I got to meet a few new family members on Chuseok, which was cool. These two ladies are my aunts! They are Birth Father's younger sisters. They were really sweet to me and had a few questions for me, which I was mostly able to answer. W00T!

Now onto the kid's table. The girl on the left is the college-aged cousin I've met before. She really came out of her shell this time one-shotting soju and she even spoke some English! She actually told me she wants to start meeting with me on a weekly basis to practice English and Korean. :) To her right is her older brother and his wife who happen to be the same age as Mark and me. Her brother could speak good English and told us he wants to go to the United States because he loves the NBA. So of course we told him we'd be happy to show him around anytime. When we get back to the States, we may have a lot Korean visitors. :)

And finally, me with my littlest cousins. They're cute, aren't they?

And here's a final one with Mark. Mark loved teasing the little cousin in the middle. She was kind of freaked out by the full fish, so when she wasn't looking Mark put one right in front of her face. When she turned her head, she saw the fish and screamed. Then later he pointed out a huge spider to her and got the same reaction. Good thing Mark didn't have a little sister growing up, or I would've definitely felt sorry for her. :)

All in all a really nice Chuseok. These truly are the special moments that I'm so happy to be able to experience over here.

Fukuoka Visa Run

2010-09-27T03:42:00.000-07:00

Before the start of our 2nd semester at Sogang University, I had to get a student visa in order to legally stay in the country any longer. To do this I had to go to a Korean Consulate and the closest one to Seoul is located in Fukuoka, Japan. The trip was fairly uneventful so I did not take many pictures but Kim thought that I should still post the ones that I did take.

I arrived in Fukuoka on a Wednesday morning and went straight to the consulate to submit my application. After that I spent the rest of the day watching TV in my hotel room since it was boiling hot out that day but I did explore the neighborhood later on that night. Unfortunately, I did not take my camera so I did not take any pictures.

Since I cannot speak Japanese and there was not much english on the restaurant menus, I had to rely on displays like the one below in order to decide what I wanted to eat. I did not choose to eat at the place pictured below but this was the only photo that I took of the restaurants. I did find a delicious sushi restaurant but I was unable to eat some of the famous Japanese Rameon that I had been hearing so much about from the Japanese students in my class. Maybe next time.

The next day after I picked up my visa, I decided to kill the time before my flight walking around one of the biggest malls I have ever been in. It even had a canal going through the center of it.

I had a 4pm flight back to Seoul so I did not have time to do anything else. I do hope to make it back to Japan sometime in the future. I am sure I will enjoy much more with Kim there to share in the adventure.

Let the Wedding Madness begin!

2010-09-27T03:25:00.000-07:00

Sang Kwun and Chung Ping arrived in Korea today... we got our hanboks... Chung Ping's entire family will arrive in Korea tomorrow...

Almost time for the wedding madness to begin! Can't wait!!!!

New international faces

2010-09-26T03:55:00.000-07:00

I've previously mentioned that Mark and I are in different classes this semester. One of the best aspects of being separated is the opportunity to meet twice as many fun people!

Last weekend Mark went out with his classmates on Friday night and I met my class for lunch on Saturday. We both had a ton of fun. Mark didn't take any pictures, so I don't have anything to show from his night out... but I did hear some hilarious stories about some intense fooseball games. I believe the Japanese girls had to be told by the bar owner to please stop screaming every time they scored a goal. SEGOY!!!!!! <-- (FYI: the Japanese word for hooray or great.)

Below are some pics of my classmates and even a teacher who joined us.

Our teacher randomly wanted Mexican, so we went to On the Border. Here I am with a few of the girls.

Here are a few more classmates. The two guys make me laugh really hard on a daily basis.

One of our classmates, Anne, is from Thailand but married to a Korean man. She has 3 children, and she brought her 5-year-old daughter with her. SOOoooooo cute.

After lunch, we went to the noraebang. We had margaritas with lunch, but singing in front of a bunch of people without having much liquid courage is MUCH harder than it initially sounded. Oh, my speaking teacher (she's also Mark's listening and reading teacher) is in the big chair in the middle.

Look forward to spending more time with these people. This semester it's pretty cool because we really can communicate better and can get to know the non-English speakers this time around. Which is good because more than 50% of my class really can't speak English at all.

4 Years!

2010-09-24T04:14:00.000-07:00

My how our food preferences have changed. Mark and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary by going to a hard-core Korean restaurant in Insadong.

Originally, we planned to go to Sanchon Korean Temple Cuisine, a famous restaurant in Insadong. I was surprised Mark agreed to it, since it is a completely vegetarian course meal similar to what you can get in a Buddhist temple. Everything that is served is gathered from the mountains/countrysides of Korea. I was pretty excited, but when we got there, it was closed for some reason. Bummer. We'll definitely have to make another trip there... looks so good.

So instead, we went to a Korean restaurant and had a course meal. They brought out a ton of little plates with different dishes.

Here's Mark digging in...

The restaurant was really pretty. And we were in a semi-private room looking out onto a little garden in the middle. I don't think you can tell from this picture...

What a fun night! It's been a great 4 years. When we got married, we never would've guessed that we'd have celebrated 2 of our 4 wedding anniversaries across the ocean in Korea!

Get excited St. Louis!!!!

2010-09-24T02:09:00.000-07:00

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch...

"Red Mango is opening locations at West County Center and in downtown Kirkwood in the next couple of months."

This is a huge Korean frozen yogurt franchise and it's amaaazing. I hope they don't Americanize it too much because they have a red bean topping here that I love love love. Oh and you can get frozen yogurt mixed with shaved ice with fruit on top...

Actually, I just looked at the website, and what a let down. Definitely not the same menu as in Korea. No red beans, no shaved ice/yogurt... Blah.

Idiot-Proofing Desperately Needed

2010-09-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

In Korea, contact lenses are sold over the counter. As in, you go to an eye-glass shop, show your previous box of contacts, and voila - your new contacts are handed to you. For an extra $7 you can even get colored contacts. (But for those like Mark with blue eyes, you're out of luck. You have a choice of brown, brown, or brown.) But it's really nice not to have to schedule an appointment with an eye-doctor and pay for a whole exam when you can see just fine with your current prescription and all you need are new contacts.

HOWEVER, when you buy contacts in the States, they come in clearly marked bags with your name on them. Also, the eye-doctor's office mark's each box with a color-coded "right" or "left" sticker. Not the case here...

I put in my new contacts, went to school and couldn't read the board. Mark wore his contacts for several days and had a splitting headache each time. Initially, we got kind of mad at the man that sold us the contacts and planned to go back and demand a switch/refund... "He gave us the wrong prescriptions!" But then we realized that 1) I was wearing Mark's contacts and 2) Mark was wearing his contacts in the wrong eyes. After we figured both of these issues we were fine.

Uh yeah, not the proudest moment for the Johnsons.

Another adoptee in Seoul

2010-09-22T18:43:00.000-07:00

Funny how random people seem to stumble across this little blog that was created just to keep the people back home updated about our lives in Korea. Recently, we had an opportunity to meet a really interesting and sweet adoptee named Anne who was visiting Korea. Anne actually lived in Sung Ae Won Orphanage for awhile. You know, the one Kevin lived at and we visited? Anne was going to Busan to see the orphanage and wanted some advice about who to contact, how to get there, etc.

So we met Anne and her husband on a dreary, rainy day in Seoul for some 갈국수 and 만두 in Myeongdong. I love this restaurant, it's famous for the handcut noodles and kimchi. Mmmm....

Here's the group:

Anne was actually adopted to France, but her husband is a Canadian-American. (I think?) They're planning to move to NYC when they return to North America. They also talk about coming to live in Korea for a year or so eventually. Such an international couple! It's always fun getting to meet new people. Thanks for contacting us, Anne!

Happy Chuseok!

2010-09-20T05:36:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the start of Chuseok here in Korea. Chuseok is basically the equivalent of American Thanksgiving, but it lasts for 3 days. Birth Father will be flying in for the festivities, so I'm expecting lots of delicious food. And maybe this time around if I get to meet extended family, I'll be able to communicate... even just a little! Here's hoping!

Sogang Level 2

2010-09-17T01:39:00.000-07:00

So here we are, several weeks into Sogang Korean classes, but at the frenetic level 2 pace. Back in the day, I blogged about how difficult Level 1 was... and now I find myself longing for those days. Yeah, level 2 definitely kicked it up a notch (or 10). The teachers don't spoon feed the information to us as much, definitely speak a lot faster, we don't get to practice new grammar and vocabulary nearly as much. They kind of teach us what we need to know and assume we'll learn/memorize it on our own.

This semester, Mark and I got put in different classes. At first I was kind of nervous to be in class without my support system. But as time goes on, I can see that it's definitely better for both of us, as it forces us to meet and mingle more with our classmates. Plus, we have the opportunity to make twice as many friends.

Speaking of classmates, our classes are still pretty diverse. Mark has South African, Malaysian, German, Turkish, Thai, and Japanese students in his class. I've got a far less diverse class, with half of the class coming from Japan.

One thing I've noticed this semester is that our classmates can speak SO much better this time around. A lot of them didn't attend Level 1 at Sogang, so came in with varying abilities. I know I can be overly modest at times, but I am dead serious when I say this time around I'm without a doubt at the bottom of the heap when it comes to speaking ability and vocabulary.

The semester is going okay, but it requires even more studying this time, which I didn't even know was possible. There are many days that I honestly feel like I'm barely treading water. But I'm not complaining. I came back to Korea to learn the language and it's not a pretty process, but that's what's happening.

More pictures next time. And now back to the never-ending task of vocabulary memorization.

Introducing my step-brother

2010-09-03T22:44:00.000-07:00

I met my Korean step-brother, Kim Ju-Yu, today. Here we are together!