Chuseok: Part I

[My earlier post hit on the specifics of what the Koreans do for Chuseok vacation.  It is similar to Thanksgiving and they spend it with their families.  The foreigners in Korea spend it with friends in other parts of the country or in another country entirely.  The next few posts are a look back on the ridiculousness that was my Chuseok vacation.  Enjoy.]

Tuesday
After extensive planning between 16 or so people that been recruited for my island paradise vacation...it was finally time.   At 8am on the dot I was at the bus station waiting for the one and only, Tim Reedy.  Thirty minutes later he comes meandering down the street with a guitar in hand, sporting his yellow sunglasses and donning his "island" sombrero.  All it took was one look from him to know this was going to be a week to remember.

The island vacation outfit

The bus terminal.  Chuseok traffic is the American
equivalent of Thanksgiving traffic.  Times 20.

After we made it on the bus to Busan I met some new friends.  A good friend in Pohang, Ryan, had 4 friends come and visit for the long holiday.  I don't think that Kevin, AJ, Kelly or Corey knew quite what they were getting into when they signed up for this week-long adventure.  Or maybe they did because they knew Ryan.

Our first bus of many headed to Busan

Eventually we made it to the ferry headed for Geoje island.  Little did I know that I get ridiculously seasick on ferry boats.  Like if I would have been outside I would have had half my body over the side of boat kind of sick.  I spent the majority of the ride in 1 of 2 places:  in the ridiculously small and smelly bathroom on the first floor with all of the other motion sickness afflicted people or on the floor with my head between my legs staring at anything that wasn't moving.  Thankfully the trip was only 1 1/2 hours.  Not something I will be wanting to do again anytime soon. After we were finally on dry land  we began the task of figuring out where we were going.

Now even though this trip was relatively well planned out, we still got lost with no place to stay.  We ended up taking cabs ALL AROUND THE ISLAND and eventually found a decent love motel to stay at for the night.  After stashing our stuff and getting the ferry smell off of ourselves it was off to the island we went.  We walked around for awhile and eventually saw a sign for "foreign bar."  Now our thought process went a little something like this.  "We're foreigners.  This is a foreigner far.  It looks kind of rockin' from the outside.  We'll give it a chance."  Little did WE know that apparantly on the island the term "foreign bar" is actually code for "sleazy Filipino  bar with hookers who dance around in barely there clothing and sell the most expensive soju cocktails in existence."  Guess we were wrong.

Cheesing it up on the ferry before the motion sickness took hold

The first dinner for the non-teachers.
They look a bit skeptical to me.

After following a few of the boys into a "secret shot" bar, we ended up at one of the sketchiest Noraebongs i've ever seen.  Imagine cramming 15+ people into a tiny room and then fill it with alcohol, fish jerky, multiple microphones and every popular kareoke song...and you have our evening.  The cherry to my evening was bruising my leg from my mad tambourine skills.  Excessive tambourining can be dangerous.

Nick, Amber and Nick mid-song

Wednesday
Now my Tuesday may not seem to be all that exhausting but try excessively playing the tambourine for a few hours and maybe you'll understand.  We were all up relatively early and decided to figure out where to go and what to do for the day.  Unfortunately the rain made our planning skills a little improbable.  After stopping for some Korean food we all took cabs (yes more cabs) and somehow found our SWEET pension for the next day.  Now in Korea a pension is somewhat like a house that is rented out.  It is usually bigger than the average love motel and has annemities like multiple rooms, sometimes hot tubs, fully equipped kitchens, etc.  Basically we had the perfect place to party and relax whenever we wanted.

Cute little house complete with flat screen tv, fridge and microwave

Fully equipped kitchen

After dropping off our things at the pension, the adventurers of the group (yes this time I was included in the adventurer category) went to a nearby waterfall.  We made the hike up the mountain and waded around in the waterfalls, in the rain.  Just take a look at the pictures I took and try to tell me it wasn't beautiful.

The boys walking up the hill on the "massaging rocks."

One of the coolest sights i've seen since being in Korea

The last of our night resulted in a seaside bonfire where guitar playing and endless stories kept us entertained until the rain became too much to handle.  Great start to a stellar vacation. 

Noraebangs and Korean Movie Theaters

#22. Koreans love their Noraebangs (Korean Karaoke). There is one literally on every street and arcade. It is also a worst nightmare for a claustrophobic. The ones in arcades are a small room (think telephone booth) with a few seats, microphones, television screen and big book filled with the latest songs. The ones in streets are just like a Karaoke bar at home except they are 1/2 the size and play a random ass music video in the background. And playing the actual video for the song doesn't really work for them. For example we did "Dancing Queen" the other night and the video behind us playing was Brittany Spears' doing "Toxic." Totally the same right?!

#23. Korean movie theaters usually have assigned seating. You want to sit at the top to get a better view? Too bad. You have the spot right at the bottom where you break your neck looking up at the screen. If a movie isn't packed it's not a big deal to get up and switch but if it is a sold out show (like Alice in Wonderland 3D was) then you suck it up and deal with it.

#24: The majority of Korean phones are pay as you go. There aren't plans. You don't have to sign a big contract. You can pick any phone you want. It's pretty much the shit. I know they have this in America but it's just not as popular as it is here. I have yet to meet someone who has a cell phone plan with a company. It's just not how Koreans do it. Shocking. Yet another difference from America.

Right now i'm sitting in the office of my school listening to my Korean substitute (basically the baby sitter while the English teachers are eating lunch or doing prep work) try to corral our kids. For the foreign teachers the kids listen and do (basically) what they are told because they know we won't take their shit. They do not listen to other Koreans at all. Let me say that again. They do not listen to other Koreans at all. Somehow the foreign teachers have a way of giving a look or saying something that sounds threatening enough to make them sit down and quit running around. The hand signs I wrote about in an earlier post makes the biggest appearance during this part of my day.

I reached another milestone today. I once again made it downtown and back by my lonesome. I managed to pick up some pretty sweet gifts for a few special kiddos back at home (i am sorry to Shannon and Amy in advance) and managed to put more minutes on my phone. Putting more minutes on my phone is what I am most proud of. I walked into a cell phone store where they promptly pushed me down the street to a different store where not a single soul spoke any English. My hand signs came out in full force until I figured out that all she needed was my phone number and money. Duh Jenn. I am a brand new resident of Pohang and I feel like now I can finally survive (almost) on my own. I can cook food (not a large variety but food), get around downtown, put minutes on my phone, call family and friends AND do laundry. I know i've still got a ways to go before I am am truley one with Pohang but I think i'm on my way.

Quick shoutout to a few people who have recently commented:

* Aunt Natalie--I am so glad you are reading my blog! I hope everything is going amazing for you and I hope you tell the family I say hello. I miss you and love you!

*Shannon--I am so glad you are enjoying my blog so far :) I love reading your comments! You should tell Adam that the Certain family is definately gaining on the Hoovers (which should make his day) and as for what I would like in a package...honestly ask my mom. She is putting together a big package for me now and i'm not sure what she included/didn't include but it's the small things I miss like gum, bobby pins, anything in English...that kind of stuff. haha. I miss you guys and love you. Watch the mail this week...you should be getting a lil' surprise sometime soon :)

*Dan Hay--Thanks so much for the comment. I love that you guys are keeping up with me. I hope to hear from you soon! Give my love to the family!