World Cup Disappointments

[Two of my best friends in Korea are leaving this week to go back to their respective homes.  Jen will go back to Canada.  Kyle will go back to Chicago.  I know it's part of the job to make friends only for them to leave but just didn't realize I would lose so many so quickly.]

#111.  Koreans follow you around clothing stores.  Whenever you walk into a clothing store (this pertains to other stores as well but specifically clothing) the workers of the store follow you.  In close proximity.  Now I don't know if they are just making sure you know that their clothes won't fit your non-Korean body or just to make you feel uncomfortable but I've got a tip for you Korean-clothing-store-followers.  If you follow me around I will leave without purchasing anything.  Give me some space.  Let me browse and I may give you some of my hard earned Kids College money.

#112.  Koreans are not afraid to be brutally honest.  If they haven't seen you in awhile and you've lost weight they will comment.  If you've gained weight they will comment.  They don't do it to be rude or to offend you.  To them it's just stating the facts.  In America people talk behind your back about how much weight you've gained or about how that haircut makes your ass look big.  Not sure which one I would rather have.

Well the World Cup fever is slowly filtering out of Korea.  South Korea lost to Uruguay.  USA lost to Ghana.   England lost to Germany.  The majority of the people who had teams they were rooting for are now either trying to find a team to cheer for or have thrown in the towel.  There are still many teams left that are worth rooting for but some of the magic for me is gone.  There is something about cheering for your home country while in another country that makes you feel a little extra patriotic.  I still stand by my newfound respect for soccer and will continue to watch the World Cup but I think the days of me staying up until 7am to watch a game are over.  It was fun while it lasted for both my teams.

As a Cubs fan I am the master of saying "There is always next year."  In this case there is always the next World Cup.  In 2014.  Clearly I have the time to improve my soccer knowledge.

Outside with a diehard Korea fan 

The kids of Pohang with our new Korean friends

Koreans love to throw out the peace sign

Some of the ladies of Pohang

Cheesing it up with my co-worker Kyle

World Cup Fever

[Receiving packages from home when I was in college was nice.  It was usually a care package to get me through finals or a gift for my birthday.  Receiving packages while in a foreign country is like Christmas.  Thank you Mom and Dad for the packages lately.I couldn't ask for a better way to start my day than with a package from home.]

#110.  Koreans hold grudges when it comes to their soccer.  Park Ji Sung is the best athlete on the South Korean team. He is beloved by his fellow Koreans and has always been supported...until recently.  During the game against Argentina he accidentally scored a goal on his own team.  It has been more than a week since this happened and Korea has since made it to the top 16...but the Koreans are still unhappy.  My kids at school refuse to cheer for him and tell me they hate him.  Intense itty bitties. 

As many of you know, America is not big on watching soccer.  There are three big sports that the majority of the country watches:  baseball, basketball and football (not necessarily in that order).  Here in Korea soccer is one of the only sports that matters.  Soccer fever has swept the country even more than usual when the South Korean team advanced to the top 16 for the first time since 2002.  The beaches are packed with people watching the games on a huge screen.  The bars are filled to capacity with people fighting for a spot to watch the match.  The phrase, "DAE HAN MIN GUK!" (basically meaning 'again Korea') has been yelled in the streets since the beginning of the World Cup.  

Koreans are incredibly patriotic and love nothing more than to yell their coin phrase over and over again.  In Korea there are no bandwagon fans when it comes to soccer.  They all support the team and watch as many matches as they can.  Case and point, my entire Korean staff went to our school at 330am for the deciding game to watch their team advance into history.  How many adults in America would do that?  One thing I have definitely learned about America is that bandwagon fans are plenty and right now I am one of them.  The game is fast paced, the players are hot (yes i'm shallow) and the game is relatively short (only 90 minutes).  

Yup.  I'm a band-wagoner.  Before I came to Korea I didn't watch soccer.  Didn't play soccer.  Didn't give two shits about soccer.  Now that I am here and have been playing consistently on a league (before I broke myself of course) and have witnessed the madness that is Korean soccer, I have developed an appreciation for the game. 

Soccer is without a doubt the favorite sport of people around the globe.  I may have started out as a band-wagon fan but after catching the World Cup fever, who knows.  

South Korea plays against Uruguay at 11.  USA plays against Ghana at 3am.  I'm rooting for them both.  I figure i'm an American living in South Korea so that means I can have two teams.  Right?

DAE HAN MIN GUK

GO USA

Watching the Korea vs. Argentina game at Bukbu Beach

Cheering on America at Whistlers Bar

Korean man at his finest.  Dae Han Min Guk!

The Pohang crew sporting red to support South Korea

Clearly happy with the USA win.  GO USA!

Koreanisms

[I apologize for my lack of posting.  Enjoy the Korean-isms]

#90.  In Korea it is illegal to find out the sex of a baby before it is born.  In the 80's babies were aborted because they were girls and now the guy/girl ratio is ridiculously off balanace.  In America there is the occasional baby shower where they want to be surprised so all of the gifts are gender neutral.  Lots of yellows.  Greens.  Reds.  In Korea every single baby shower is that way. Must be a bitch to plan.  Point America.

#91.  Contrary to popular belief not all Korean men are tiny.  Walking in downtown Korea there are men of all heights.  Most are very thin and usually as tall or taller than me.  Before coming here I refered to Korea as "the land of the tiny."  Whoops. Sorry Korea.

#92.  The cabbies here will sometimes give you treats during the ride.  A cold coffee.  Rice cake.  Hard candy.  It is accepted and enjoyed without wondering what drug it is laced with.

#93.  Teacher's Appreciation Day.  Every year there is this day where the teachers get treated like royalty.  Our students give us gifts like flowers, wine, candy and chocolates.  That's right.  I teach you English, you give me gifts.  Fair exchange.

#94.  Koreans do NOT practice the art of body grooming.  In America it is widely known that women and men trim/shave/wax certain parts of their bodies.  The lower region of their body if you get my drift.  In Korea this is just not the case.  In Korea they go au natural.

It's been a while since my last post.  Obviously.  Life at the good old Kids College is still as delightful as ever.  My babies are learning more and more English everyday.  I am making more friends as each day passes as well. I have been here for almost 3 months and am finally getting into a rythm that I enjoy. 

I've got a full week of school, soccer and who knows what else.  We have a long weekend coming up for big Buddah's Birthday so this will be a short week.  Only 4 days with the itty bitties instead of 5.  Off to Seoul on Thursday night until Sunday afternoon for some MUCH needed time out of the 'hang.  More to come on that later.

This was a spastic post.  Sorry followers.  The next will melt faces.

Love Motels and Soccer

#74.  The cheap motels in Korea are called "love motels."  The name pretty much says it all.  No description necessary. 

#75.  Most Koreans have two refrigerators.  One for regular food and one for kimchi.  As i've said in previous posts, kimchi is basically spoiling cabbage with a ton of spices.  Smelly shit.  After two months I still hate kimchi so the likelihood of me needing that spare refrigerator is nonexistant.

#76.  At sporting events the concession stands serve traditional korean food.  One food served in the stands was kimbop.  Think fancy california roll.  Instead of hearing "get your peanuts!  get your peanuts!" it was "get your kimbop! get your kimbop" (i'm assuming that was the translation from the yelling and hand signals)  It's unbelievably weird to watch people cheering on a team while holding chopsticks. I miss the popcorn, hotdogs and beer.

#77.  Also at sporting events Korean flags are distributed to wave during the game.  Hundreds of Korean flags waving wildly during a goal.  Point Korea for their patriotism.

This week has gone by ridiculously fast.  It's Thursday already.  I've played two days of soccer and I feel like my legs will fall off.  Can legs actually fall off?  If they can mine are on their way.  2 hours each day of running after Korean men who ball handle like it's their damn JOB.  It'll take the energy right outta 'ya. 

I did however get a Korean soccer teacher.  This little old man decided that I sucked at soccer and I was going to be his student.  Rock it.  I'll take whatever help I can get.  Obviously our conversation included more hand signals and alot of motioning but I ended up improving my game in a big way.  I can now dribble (not very well), pass (but not with accuracy) and block goals (as long as they aren't hit too hard).  Ok well maybe to you it's not an improvement but you should have seen where I started.  Imagine a small child who is JUST learning how to play soccer and is afraid the ball with hurt him.  Yup.  That was me.  Not anymore. Bring it on ball.  I've got your number.

One of the perks of having a Korean soccer teacher is that they give you soccer cleats.  Ok well maybe not ALL soccer teachers give cleats away but mine did.  It helps that i'm the only girl on the team.  It was a probably a pity gift.  I have zero problem with that.  Pity me.

If it helps my soccer game i'm all about it.

80's, Daegu, Ropes Course

[All of these pictures are from friends in Pohang.  Big big thank you to Pearl, Darin, Jared and Kyle for taking amazing pictures!  Hopefully my camera will be fixed in a few weeks!]

So this past weekend was by far the best since arriving to the land of the tiny people.  My friends from Pohang made it a birthday weekend to remember that's for sure.  Let me give you a quick rundown.

Friday was the 80's party.  It was complete with spandex, huge hair and anything florescent we could find.  The pictures pretty much say enough.

Pohang, 80's style

The ladies in the 'Hang know how to make the 80's look good

Kyle with the Pohang Steelers mascot.  Notice the peace
sign?  In Korea when a camera comes out so does that.

Saturday was my very first professional soccer game (Pohang Steelers) and our trip to Daegu.  Unfortunately the Steelers lost 0-1.  Maybe we are bad luck? 

Saturday afternoon through Sunday night was my first overnight trip outside of Pohang.  It was phenomenal but ridiculously expensive.  Good thing I get paid in a week!  We walked around to all the different shops around town and then had dinner at the Holy Grill.  It is a western bar and grill and has amazing food.  I never thought I would miss bruschetta and a good philly cheesesteak as much as I do.  Probably in the top 3 of the best i've ever had.  Yum!  (Unfortunately pictures of the bar and our travels that night are not up on good old facebook yet so all you picture lovers will have to be patient *cough cough mom*)

Sunday was the ropes course.  Now imagine a "theme park" filled with cutesy little pop up pictures, an animal petting zoo (complete with the incredible escaping monkey), couples in identical clothing and a huge ropes course complete with zip lines...and you have my afternoon. 

This Korean girl does not like her duck shirt, or maybe having
her picture taken by 30+ foreigners.

The Promise Garden

For all of you who are not "ropes course savy" here is basically a rundown of what it is.

A ropes course is basically a huge obstacle course that you complete while suspended on cables about 100 ft in the air.  Ok it sounds dangerous but it's really not.  You get a super awesome helmet, little grey gloves and a harness to wear.  If you fall the combination of all of those will save you from death.  That was my thought process at least. In all seriousness...it was super safe and super awesome. 

You climb ropes (which I fell off of), climb ladders, scale a tightrope (which I ALMOST fell off of) and so much more.  The best part of the entire thing is when you strap yourself into a 200ft cable and zipline yourself in the air to the other side of the park.  2 words for the experience of a zip line.  FREAKING AWESOME.  Nothing but air and the trees around you.  The only bad part is that all good things must come to an end...and the end of a zipline is a huge green cushion that you basically just slam yourself into in order to come to a stop.  My bruises have bruises.

A view to show you exactly how far we had to go
via zip line.  Pretty awesome. 

Green cushion.  Hard hat.  Cable.  Completely safe.

After an amazing weekend school was the last thing I wanted to do.  Trading 80's clothing, western food and adventure for snotty kids, crying kids and trying to explain to a child why the "n" on "vacumn" is silent?  No thanks.  Thankfully the munchkins behaved themselves and my day was full of arts and crafts and random assignments that took the entire class period so the day went by ridiculously fast.  Thank you sweet baby Jesus.

Wow ok.  Long post.  Sorry for the "On Friday I did...On Saturday I did...On Sunday I did."  I hate reading posts that give the lifestory of someone.  I don't give a crap that you woke up and brushes your teeth and then played world of warcraft for 14 hours.  At least I did something with my weekend.  Hopefully you weren't too bored and it inspired you to try something adventurous this week.  Maybe find a ropes course of your own?  No?  Ok well just live vicariously through me.

The next adventure?  Paintball.  It's gonna be epic.  Be on the lookout.

Fruits and Fashion

[I got a birthday card from my Uncle Bob and Aunt Teresa today.  Thanks so much! Anything by snail mail brightens up my day!]

#67.  The prices of fruits/vegetables is ridiculous.  You would think that in a coastal city that the price of fresh grocery items would be lower.  That would be a big hell no.  The price of fish and anything from the sea is cheap but anything that grows out of garden?  Be ready to give your first born child.

#68.  Mothers carry their children on their backs.  In America kids are put into backpack-eque contraptions so that mommy or daddy have their hands free.  The same is true in Korea except it's not a backpack.  It's a piece of long cloth that is wrapped around to keep the kid in.  To watch it is impressive.  The kid hands on to the back of the parent's neck and the parent just starts wrapping away.  No assistance needed.

Nothing fancy.  Just a huge piece of cloth. 

#69.  Korean fashion is a mix between prostitute and high fashion. Here is an example.  A woman will walk around the streets of Pohang in 4 inch stilletos and booty shorts...but have it be socially acceptable because she has tights on underneath.  The tights (though transparant) somehow make the whole outfit perfectly acceptable. 

This is the best I could find.  Just imagine
an outfit with less fabric and see through tights.

#70.  Korean women love their shoes.  In America you see women get dressed up to go out on the town or for a special occasion.  In Korea there is no occasion too casual to not wear their stilletos.  An afternoon walk to the market?  Bright red stilletos.  A walk to the corner store for milk?  Pointed neon yellow pumps.  At least they are getting their money's worth.

#71.  Korean children learn chinese.  At 4 years old I didn't know English.  These kids are triligual.  Point Korea.

Our weekly soccer game was last night.  I didn't get a cleat to the knee or get a nose bleed so I consider it an overwhelming success.  We added another game to our weekly schedule so now I play on Mondays AND Wednessdays.  It just increases the likelihood of getting hurt.  OR turning into a kick ass soccer player. 

My bet is on getting hurt. 

We'll see on Wednesday.

Traffic lights and Copyright laws

[ I got to talk to Mom on Easter.  Even though we are so far away that 10 minute conversation sure helped.  Thanks Mom! ]

#52.  In Korea the traffic lights are horizontal instead of vertical.  They still have the red, yellow and green but it's horizontal.  Some also have 4 lights instead of 3 for the arrows.  No more broken lights from swinging in bad weather.  Makes sense.

#53.  The respect that younger people have for older people is amazing.  If you are on a bus and an elderly woman gets on the bus and there are no seats?  Young people give up their seat.  On a bench waiting for the bus and you see an old man?  You give up the seat.  No questions asked.  In America this is considered common courtesy but itsn't always practiced in certain parts of the country.  In Korea it's just part of daily life.  Respect your elders.  It's simple. 

#54.  Copyright laws are not enforced.  Let me give an example.  On a billboard in downtown there is Tiger Woods holding a shirt from a specific clothing store.  Now when I say "holding a shirt" I actually mean someone photoshopped (poorly) the shirt into his hands.  Not legit.  You walk down the street and can see Brad Pitt in a store for baby clothes.  Mel Gibson on the walls in a lingerie store.  In America a lawsuit would be filed in a second.  In Korea?  Meh. Guess not.  It's just the way they do things.  Rules just do not apply.

So yesterday was Easter. My first holiday away from home.  No big Easter dinner. No Easter chocolates.  No Easter family pictures.  It was weird to spend the day in Korea of all places.  I tried to find a church to go to but all of the ones closest to me are in Korean and I didn't think I could handle an hour of church in a foreign language.  Especially in a foreign language where most of the time they sound completely angry.  Hopefully i'll be able to find a good church here with at least SOME English before Christmas.  Or at least be able to understand more Korean by then.

Well it's Monday and you know what that means.  Soccer.  2 hours of running and ball handling that proves just how unimpressive I am at the game.  Let's hope I don't have a repeat of the bodily injuries of last week.  I'm not sure my poor knee can handle another cleat imprint...even though it was totally impressive and awesome.

Or at least I think it was.

Traditions

#46.  When new students come to an English school without an English name it is sometimes customary to let the teacher pick one for the student.  Today I had that joy.  I named my new girl Kelly.  Thought it fit.  She looked like a Kelly.  Hope she doesn't resent me later like Apple (the daughter of Gweneth Paltrow) will as soon as she realizes that her parents named her after a fruit. 

My post today is going to be short and sweet.  Today is all about traditions.  Here in Pohang we have started quite a few.

Mondays and (soon to be) Thursdays is soccer.  2 hours of soccer with a bunch of Korean men who speak very little to no English.  The little they do know is "nice" or "Okay". The little Korean we know is "hello", "thank you", "goodbye", "two".   Not really useful in planning the teams for soccer or for general conversation about whether the ball was in or out.  If we didn't have the hand signals we would be up a certain creek without a paddle.  You know the creek i'm refering to.

Tuesday is poker.  Anyone who knows me knows that I have never played a single poker game in my life before coming to Korea.  I still have yet to actually participate but i'm going to try for next week.  Could be interesting.  Maybe i'll find out that I am amazing in poker and win a million dollars.  Remember how I thought that maybe my soccer skills would be amazing and i'd make a million dollars by going pro?  Yea.  Two words.  Pipe dream.

Wednesday is "Club TILT."  TILT is a foreigner bar located downtown.  The entire foreign crew of Pohang ( about 40+) get together and hang out until the wee hours of the morning.  It has kareoke, cheap drinks and microphones.  An amazing combination.

Every other Saturday we have our Pohang Softball games.  If you have read any of my posts about softball you understand why this tradition will continue.  So much fun.

I'm busy.  I love it.  Plus it gives me interesting stuff to write on here about.  Just think how boring reading this blog would be if it was "I went to school and taught tiny Koreans their ABC's.  I went home.  I went to bed"  over and over again.  I would have exactly TWO  followers:  my mom and dad.  Everyone knows that parents think that their kids art work or stories are amazing even when no one else does.  Unconditional love baby.

Good thing i'm social and do more than work and sleep.  Lucky for you.

Pohang Soccer League and Me

#42. Koreans think that anti-bacterial spray fixes everything when someone gets injured.  You get smashed in the knee during a game and it starts to swell up.  Spray it.  That'll fix it all and you can magically go back to the field to play.  Nope.  We're not at Hogwards.  Not how it works.

#43.  Koreans love the name Laura.  My co-teacher (the other Jen) has played in leagues here before and is called Laura by the other Koreans.  She corrects them but it doesn't matter.  They think Laura is a beautiful name.  She learned to accept it.  So any of you out there who is named Laura and hate your name?  Come to Korea and Get ready to be worshipped. 

#44.  When Koreans are being competitive they laugh.  They laugh loudly.  It seems like whoever laughs the loudest is the most competitive.  They probably get a better workout from their laughing than the actual sport itself.  A guy runs into you hard during a critical moment in the game when you could have gotten your team the winning goal?  Americans would be pretty angry.  Koreans just start giggling like school girls and run away. 

Monday night was my first soccer game in Korea.  I haven't played soccer since I was 8 years old.  There is a picture of me out there somewhere in yellow jersey and shin guards smiling in front of a soccer goal.  I had no idea how to play.  I liked the ball, liked the jersey, playing with my friends and the orange slices at halftime.  Running wasn't my thing (and still isn't) so I didn't excel in the sport.  Needless to say that was my one and only season.  Now look at me. I'm a member of a Korean soccer league and play every Monday and Thursday. Who would have thought?    Sure as hell not me.

So I play on a team of foreigners against a bunch of Korean men.  Our team consists of 4 guys and 2 girls.  We also got to have a Korean be our goalie.  The team we played against  had 6 players including the goalie.  Now anyone out there who knows basic addition understands we were up one player.  Well there's a reason.  According to Koreans 2 girls are equivilant to 1 man. Yea.  That actually happened.  Didn't like that very much. What I did like was wiping the field with them at the end of the game.  Try telling me again that i'm worth half of a man.  Ok well to be fair (I) didn't do much butt kicking.  I did my best to block shots, play defense (which consisted of me running around like a chicken with its head cut off) and to get the ball to my teammates.   For my first time in 15 years I think I did a damn fine job.  I can proudly say that WE kicked their tiny little Korean butts.

The field we played on is probably about half the size of a regular field.  This made the running part easier but made it really congested and confusing.  Add to it the fact that the opposing teams don't speak the same language and you've got quite the interesting game.  Lots of those favorite hand gestures.  Koreans have amazing footwork but not the best speed.  Our team was about average on both so we did quite well.  My goal was to not make a total fool of myself and to not get injured.  I epicly failed in both areas.  I ended up with a bloody nose and a killer cleat imprint on my knee.  When I went down after getting smashed in the knee (which happened WHILE saving a goal) I wasn't even remotely mad.  I looked at my knee with pride and just KNEW that it was going to look awesome the next day.  Boy was I right.  I look totally bad ass.

Lets just say that now I understand why soccer players wear shin guards.

Soccer Goalie...Me?!

#18: Korean schools are nothing like American schools. Specifically private schools. At times private schools run more like a business than a school. If ONE student isn't having fun and threatens to quit...the entire cirriculum is changed so that that ONE student has a good time and stays. Entire lessons are changed around ONE student. That shit would never fly in the States. You don't want to learn your ABCs today? Go home. Not here. You dont want to learn your ABCs today? Let's have a party and play games instead.

#19: Koreans are attracted to other Koreans for very different reasons than Americans. In America people are thought to be attractive because of the overall appearance, personality, etc. In Korea it is the small things they look for...like the shape of their eyes. A Korean friend of mine told me that he likes girls with big eyes. More specifically he likes Koreans girls with big eyes. Not so easy to find in Korea.

Good news! Mom found my charger to my camera and is sending it to me in a package this week along with everything else I forgot. HOPEFULLY I will have it by St.Pattys day but definately by next weekend. Ironically enough there are all kinds of foreigner sports leagues here. As many of you know I have played softball since I was in elementary school so that was a no brainer on signing up for that league. The league that I have been peer pressured into that is NOT my forte is soccer. Soccer requires skills like coordination and agility...skills I do NOT possess. My friends are convinced that I would be a "kick ass" goalie. They don't really have any specifics on WHY I would be a good goalie but who knows. Maybe I will shock and stun everyone with my raw talent of being able to block all of the shots and make a professional career out of it. Ha. Don't bet on it. My goal for the season is to block as many shots as I can without getting seriously injured and ending up in the hospital. Stay tuned.

It is FINALLY the weekend. No tiny Koreans for 2 whole days. Plans include my first trip to the big open market downtown, first softball game for the league, Alice in Wonderland (yes i'm watching it again) and who knows what else. It should be a weekend full of fun. Fingers crossed!

Oh and thank you all for the amazing comments. It has helped so much by letting me know that what I write actually is being read by my family and friends at home. It helps me feel more connected somehow. Love you guys :)