Sunday, September 21, 2008

Rain, Rain, Go Away


Hi all,



Well, we had planned on heading up to Hwaseong Fortress to see the other half of the wall surrounding central Suwon, and to check out the palace itself. However, as soon as we got outside, I realized I had made a none-too-modest mistake.




It was raining. Now, at first, it was nothing more than you might expect from a cloudy spring day in Kitchener, Canada, or the same in Timmins or upstate New York. Unfortunately, when it comes to rain, like everything else, Korea doesn't do anything by half-measures. We walked out to Kyung-hee-dae to catch a taxi, and, upon arriving on the main street, decided that discretion was the better part of valour and that we really, really, ought to just go to the Subway station, instead. Because it's indoors.




We arrived at the Station, wandered around a bit more, checking out some neat shops and stores. In addition to the ubiquitous collection of stores like the Gap, which even Korea has not managed to escape from, there's also dozens of smaller stores here and there in every city and on every street that sell cheaper alternatives to Western mainline clothing and other brands.

What would have cost me about six dollars back home for the glue stick, eraser, and thumbtacks I bought for class was a whopping 1,000 Won, or 1 dollar.



I think this country is spoiling me. Let's review: the food here is cheap, and if you're willing to avoid going to too many snazzy restaurants, you can eat out for most meals and pay less than five dollars a person--indeed, one of our favourite soup shops below our school does a great beef and noodle soup for about 3.50. You have to be willing to just go with it, in order to do this. What I mean by that is that you have to be willing to eat what Koreans eat, and be okay with being stared at or laughed at occasionally when you get something you don't know what to do with.


Example: Oliver White, a colleague and friend of Jen and I went out with me to the soup shop. Previously, Jen and I had had a chicken soup kind of thing--it had the texture of chicken put into a blender, but tasted really good. This time, I thought I'd be smart and try the red-coloured one (Jen and I are still having to rely on the "point and pray" method for some forms of communication--we're still learning Korean). It turned out to be extremely hot. One suspects this soup was formerly used for other purposes: stripping wallpaper, preserving the dead, and killing small vermin comes to mind. Now, this does not mean that the food is not good! Despite burning our mouths and leaving both of us sure that our innards would be very displeased with us over the next few days, the food tasted great.


So too a lot of Korean cuisine: the national dish is Kimchi, a side-dish served with literally every meal. It's fermented cabbage, spiced. They do a lot of different vegetables and fruits in the same fashion, mind you, but cabbage is the big one. It's an acquired taste, but we're coming to like it.
My point, here, then, is that if you're willing to dive right in, Korea's food and culture are like an onion. You'll find layers upon layers the further you go. And everything is a thousand-times less expensive, whether it's the five dollar meal, the 1 dollar bus trips, the dollar-and-a-half giant bottle of soju (a form of light vodka), everything can be done on less money, and with more people to do it with.


The only thing that costs a lot is Western-style food, or some of the conveniences one might get at large chains like Home Plus. This may be because of the cost to import: since South Korea is cut off, on land, from China, and because everything has to be shipped in either literally or by air, I suspect the price goes up due to numerous levels of administration and handling fees. An example in a moment.


Koreans are communal, social people. Dinner is done out together, with friends, around the BBQ in your table in a restaurant or over a hot stone bowl of bibimbap, and a bottle of soju. It rubs off on the foreigners at our school, too: we do a lot of things together, and it breeds a strong sense of camaraderie. It's one of the reasons I'm grateful that I'm at a bigger school, because it helps dull the inevitable pangs of homesickness. Jen and I are blessed by the fact that we're married, as this helps even more, and I hope our communalism at the school will help other new teachers, like Oliver, Daniel, and Ashley (Ashley and Sarah pictured above), to adapt.


One thing, however, that I've yet to come to grips with is the sheer amount of smoking going on in Korea. Jennifer and I both are non-smokers. I used to have the occasional cigar and did smoke a pack or two when I was young and full of more angst than brains, but we both can't stand it now. Jen has asthma, as well, so her presence in my life helped me decide not to smoke anymore. Also, there's all the new laws in Canada, especially about not smoking in bars!


After our excursion to the Seoul Subway Station, we went back home. Jen and I went out for Pad Thai, which was pricey: again, if you eat "non-Korean," you pay more for it--now before our friend and host, Sarah, gets mad at me for complaining, yes, the food was awesome, and tasted like home.


We went to the pub, after having some drinks at home (bar costs also high), including an interesting cocktail of energy drink, cider, and soju mixed with ice in a tea kettle. The dancing was awesome, with a ton of happy, semi or fully-inebriated Koreans and foreigners, with good hip-hop, trance, and pop music flowing. The band, a pair of Korean rappers, was also good--I can see why they're famous.


The only bad side of the night was that I nearly passed out from the smoke: everyone in the bar was lighting up, and with little to no ventilation to speak of, and a couple of drinks in me to begin with, I was about five minutes away from turning green.


Still, despite the smoking, it was a fun night, and I will happily go again--I may, however, try to see if I can't wear a shirt saying something along the lines of "designated breather" or something. I'm willing to go local on everything else: the smoking, however, is one area I may have to get used to.


--------------


Kim Jong-il remains a mystery, down here: no-one's sure about whether or not he's still alive, or what the outcome will be should he be dead. Last week, I hesitantly put forward some thoughts as to what might happen, should he die. The Chinese have suggested that many of those ideas are bunk: that the regime's main players are not so stupid as to allow the country to collapse into chaos.


Let's hope they're right.




Oh, and on the political front, the election for Canada for October 14th. That's right, the week of Thanksgiving.


And we have to make sure our ballots get in early, because we're abroad.


Thanks, Stephen Harper. Nevermind that your politics, which I completely disagree with. That voting date has officially lost you my vote.


Well, fine, so he didn't have it to begin with. Anyway.


Best regards,


Chris

1 comment:

Poorlittlelamb said...

You're completely right about the cost of food if you're willing to eat Korean. I think you guys are great at embracing the culture and trying new things. I haven't heard any complaints at all ^^ I appreciate that. It can be easy to get sucked in. (I was a part of that myself in the past, so I'm trying to stay away from it! I hope I'm not annoying anyone.)

I also enjoy the friendly/family feeling there is at work. It really does keep us from feeling major homesickness.