Places I Go (part 2)

This is the place I probably go to the most, besides work.

This is Dasan Mart - the grocery store I frequent. They have 2 floors. The first is groceries, and the second is kind of like a Big Lots type store (but all one store). So if you need peppers, cereal, a frying pan, a steering wheel cover and WD-40---- they have that. 

Maybe one day I will get brave and take pictures inside the store. I just feel weird doing so. I don't really know if people do that. Granted, Koreans take pictures of all kinds of things, but I rarely see them taking pictures inside stores. 

So instead, here are 2 chocolate bars I bought there. The first is the kicker bar. Mmm. It's a dark chocolate, bigger, 1 stick version of a kitkat. It's about 1.5 cm wide by 1cm tall. It's delicious. 

The second one I haven't tried yet. I'm saving it for the weekend. It is supposed to have a chocolate filling (much like a carmello bar, i hope). It looks dangerous for a lactose intolerant person like me... but I had to buy one. I mean - it has golden lips on it, for goodness sake. It practically screams "buy me for weirdness factor." So I did. 

I buy most things at the grocery store simply because it's cheaper than a convenience store. So soda, candy bars, batteries... I probably buy at Dasan. There are only two things I definitely buy from convenience stores. One is bottled water.

Koreans don't drink tap water. Or otherwise they filter and/or boil it first (yeah, and boiled water, they put rice or something in to change the color and flavor to mark it, so they know it's been boiled). 

I buy 2 liter bottles of water. No way I'm carrying it very far. So I go to the closest convenience store. 

The other convenience store go-to --- toilet paper. There is a nearby convenience store that sells 24 packs of TP for buy one get one free. TP isn't cheap, so getting this deal means I save a bit. It also means I don't have to walk forever carrying 48 rolls of toilet paper.

Places I Go (part 1)

My sister recently asked me to take pictures of places I like to go, or places I go to often.

That led me to an idea of taking lots of pictures - glamorous and banal and not so... good smelling.

So this is the start of a series of posts. Let's start with the most basic of places - the bathroom.

Ladies and gentleman - I give you the modern squatty, with flusher!
You can thank my sister for this picture as well. I was trying to describe to her this 'marvel' and so I braved the weirdness to snap a picture.

All of the bathrooms in my school have these. They have no western toilets (ok.. there is one i know of... in building 2 on the 1st floor, middle area, teacher's bathroom - special needs/handicapped stall... but really who has time to go that far?).

Let's start with how to use one - a survival guide for the new user.
1. Before considering doing any business - check for toilet paper. It's either in a dispenser outside the stall, or somewhere inside the stall. At my school, the roll is hung from the hook where you might hang up a purse.  No paper? You're sore outta luck.(very common in public) Consider always carrying a packet of tissues with you.

2. Toilet paper in hand, you can now proceed to do your business.

3. This next part is.. awkward for Western folk. You must place one foot on either side of the basin and squat.

4. Convince yourself you are not peeing on the floor. (this is harder than you'd imagine)

5. HOLD YOUR BREATH BEFORE GOING. There is some water in the basin. Not much. The smell from one of these things is much much stronger than a Western toilet, so unless you're somehow immune to the smell of bodily excretions, be prepared. (breathing through your shirt is also a good option)

6. Ok. You're done. DO NOT throw the paper in the basin. See that pink bin? Yeah. ALL toilet paper goes here. ALL. They say Korea's sewerage systems are old, or the pipes are small, or whatever reason you might get from someone who doesn't speak English natively might tell you. It doesn't matter. What matters is not clogging the thing. I mean... I have never seen a rectangular plunger.. and I'm not ready for the kind of adventure that might come from plunging a squatty.

Steps 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12  are to be done quickly.
Stand, pull up pants, step on flusher, zip pants, open door, exit stall.

13. Wash your hands. (oh yeah. there's no such things as hand towels. well... there are.. but no place ever really has them. unless you're in some fancy place.)

---
There you have it.
I find most bathrooms in Korea are smelly. Squatty or Western. Also rules 1 and 6 applie to all bathrooms Korea-wide. It's common to see signs inside stalls that tell you not to flush anything.
Don't ask if you're supposed to face away from or toward the flusher. I have no idea. I have never asked. I don't plan on asking.

Two tone lipstick

Anyeong! It's been a while. I guess that's my style. *guilty*

I moved. I've "settled in" but I'm not ready to take pictures of my place. I haven't decorated, nor have I gotten rid of this one piece of useless furniture. So maybe when I get a couch I'll show you my place.

On my way home today I could stare directly at the sun. This is thanks to the "yellow dust" from China.

Until I get a couch and finish house stuff, you can see the view from my window.

The sunset out of my living room window. 

Looking left from my window. Trucks, cars and an apartment complex in the distance.

I get to see this lovely view if I lay on my bed and have the window open. Oh but those are mountains in the distance.... They're not super clear because of smog (aka yellow dust). 

But this is not the reason for my post! I'm such a tangential writer! A while back I bought 2 orange lipsticks and a lip concealer. My friend wanted to see them, so I thought I'd write a small piece about this fashion in South Korea. The fashion is called ombre lips, or two toned lips. 

I applied the makeup to myself since I lack a model. I will say that I like it better on Korean girls. They really know what they're doing when it comes to makeup. Whereas I just kind of attempt things. 

These are my supplies: 

From left to right - Etude House lip concealer, Color Pop (Dear My   Lips Talk), Sweet Recipe (Dear My   Jelly lipstick)

The idea of lip concealer is to apply it to even out and tone down the redness of your lips so that paler colors will show up or be more vibrant. 

The color pop lipstick is a basic matte orange. 

Sweet Recipe jelly lipstick is a glossy more sheer color, also orange. 

This is the color pop orange, applied with no concealer. I applied it thickly so you could get the gist of just how orange it could be (the red of your lips makes it quite showy).
I would not wear this like this outside the house!!!

This is the jelly lipstick. Notice its sheen is quite different. The color is light. 

If I were in a hurry, I'd put this one on as is. 

Okay. On to the concealer. 

Apply concealer either from the outside edge - blending inward with your fingertip. 

Or apply the other way - inner edge blending outwards. 

For 2 tone lips, I've read applying concealer to the inner edge is key. 

I just kind of fudge it up. I just blend it out as you see in the second picture. 

Now apply your color to the inner edge, like so. 

I've seen girls go around with lipstick just like this. I've seen a few variations too. Usually I see "two tone candy lips". It looks like a gloss is applied, and the colored area is even less. 

I have yet to master this look. 

Feeling rather hesitant, I usually add another color to my two tone. I use the jelly lips over the whole thing, lightly on the outer edges and more toward the orange center. 

This is pretty much what I'd walk out of the house wearing. It's more conservative. I try to look as normal as possible here since my skin makes me stand out enough. 

So there you have it. Orange lipstick!

I moved

Sorry no pictures. This is a quick update from school. (shh!)

I moved 2 weeks ago. It was tiring, and the new place was left quite dirty. I am still adjusting and rearranging things. I am still cleaning. If anyone has tips for removing long, stuck on grease from tile wall or stove areas, please leave a comment. I don't know where to buy things like goo gone, and I've tried hot water with dish soap. Scotch brite scrub pads are my best friends ever.
The metal burner parts to my gas stove are still brown. They were black, but I soaked and scrubbed them with a brass brush. (that was exciting)

Last week was my 'first week' at school. This week is my first week teaching, though, because English classes just started today.

My schedule is very full. 3 days have 5 back to back classes, and 2 days are 4 classes. I'm one over the 22 class limit. They're supposed to pay overtime for classes above 22, but they didn't want to and asked if I would do 23. The former teacher here didn't know how to say no, and agreed; they had him call me and ask this as a favor. Ugh. I kind of had to agree. I will see how busy this week is, and let them know how I feel, and see what can be done if necessary. I know they want me to do afterschool classes as well, which they will pay extra for --- but for me it's not about the money. It's about having the time to plan good lessons, and not feeling too tired.

My office is cold because I missed 2 times in a row the 'heat time'. You have to go to the thermostat and turn on the heat, but it only comes on at certain times. I missed 1pm and it did not come on at 2:30. I'm hoping for the 4pm time.

Just a few weeks til it is warmer, I tell myself.
Don't worry about me. It's only like 45 outside.... probably 45 inside too. Lol! But I bought this big down coat just for days like today. :D

New Year, New school - almost

Hello.

It's been too long. I'm a lazy blogger, and a busy living.

I think I last left off  talking about Seoraksan. What's happened since then? Lots.

There was Christmas, and "winter break" with its "winter camp" and then I had 2 weeks of vacation (it's actually 10 days plus any connected weekends... but they jipped me one day citing some day they gave everyone in school off (cancelled school) back in June. i had no choice in the matter).

That's life in Korea. Things are fudged over in many areas and aspects.
Things are also last minute. And you have to ride it out like it was the plan all along.
These are some low points (or cons) of life in Korea.

Winter break started on Christmas Day. <3 Then I had "work from home" days - because no one from carpool was going to school either, so I couldn't very well get to school. Then there was New Year's for which J and I went to Jongno (district of Seoul) and we watched them ring the huge bell at midnight. :)
It was packed!

Jan 6 ~ 10 was winter camp. The kids seemed to like it.

Then I went home to the States on the 13th. Came back to Korea on the 26th. I worked from home til school opened again on Feb 4. So here I am back at work.

Dealing with the transfer is a bit annoying, I will admit. Ok, a lot annoying.
My school has told me nothing, except a few things - that the person in this job next school year will work at 2 schools. They have to share an EPIK teacher. And just now my manager teacher asked me where their new teacher should live - in Jeungpyeong or Goesan. I told her Jeungpyeong because no one lives in Goesan, except 1 lonely teacher. He is so lonely in Goesan.

As far as when I'm supposed to move out, or how, this is crazy. I can't "move in" to my new place til the 25th, but I also have to show up to the new school on the 25th. So essentially I have to put all my stuff in the new place on the 24th, sleep in my house that night, and "move in" on the 25th - aka when I come home, I go to the new place.
Luckily, the new place is just one floor up, and J is the person who lives in the house I will move in to. He's more than willing to help and let me put my stuff in his house.
I can't imagine what other teachers do when they transfer! If they have to go to school, how do they move their stuff? I mean they couldn't take their stuff out of their house on the 24th and put it in the new place -- because the other person would still be there. They'd have to do it after the person left on the 25th - during school time.
Crazy.

I'm also annoyed right now, so it's hard to be dispassionate.
My manager had told me before winter break that we'd go to renew my resident card today (feb 7). She had me write it in my calendar. So I got everything ready today, but she forgot. I asked her and she didn't seem concerned and was like "what time are you done with classes?" on different days. So I'm praying she means she'll take me on the day she pointed, at the time she said.

Stuff in life is never easy.

Oh yeah - here's the kicker. So my boss-boss - the person who I report to at the education office, emailed me to give me the new school's head english teacher's phone number. She said to call her and ask about details. So I called just now, and awkwardly spoke in Korean. It turns out the number was for some other elementary school! No big deal, honestly, because I know the native English speaker at the school. So I sent him a PM. He calls me and tells me "they really don't know anything they're doing at school since the head english teacher is leaving, and they haven't scheduled classes." (&etc & etc.) So between the two of us, we hammered out no real plan - just that I have to show up at that school at 8:40 the date the contract starts. I barely even know where to go or what to do. And it's not like he can help me because he is leaving. Packing up the car and leaving.  The new head teacher might call me at some point before then. We'll see.

All this to get to the kicker - as I was talking to J (the teacher whose place i'm taking) he was actually sitting in the dentist office or hospital, I'm not sure which, RIGHT BEFORE his wisdom teeth surgery.

Life just doesn't stop. You have to take care of other people's business even right before your own surgery. I felt really bad that he was calling me from there.

This post is 3 months late

Better late than never, I'm hoping.

I think it was the first Saturday in October I went to Seoraksan with Jongsoo and his aunt. It was very beautiful, but I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

We had to get up at the waistband of dawn - so early it wasn't even the buttcrack of dawn. And drove about 2 hours maybe 3 to the north.

This is before ascending, just after entering the park. 

As with any beautiful place in Korea, there are temples here. 

The summit is far, up and away. I forget how many kilometers, but it's a very long hike... hours. We bought a cable car ticket instead. You have to wait a few hours before you can ride it, so we hiked in the meantime.

Another temple on the way.

 It was such a beautiful day, albeit the morning was chilly. 

Hiking you will often see rocks stacked on rocks. I heard there is a belief that if you can balance a rock on one of these, you will get your wish. 

Sometimes the road/path was packed dirt, other times wood (for steps or bridges) but sometimes it was these stones. It makes hiking more challenging I think. 

The trees did not disappoint. 

From the cable car, you can appreciate the rock face of the mountain. I was glad this cable car was more steady than the Namsan Tower cable car. We didn't rock very much. Whew. 

A selca after getting off the cable car. You can't see the view for the trees. 

And so we ascended.

 Up, up, up!

I'm making a terrible face here. It's partly due to sun in my eyes, but mostly due to being uncomfortable sitting that close to the edge. Jongsoo was all "let's get closer" and I was "definitely and certainly not!"

The view behind me.

 The flag up there marks the summit. 

I didn't go up there because to get there you have to shimmy along a ledge while holding on to nothing but a rope and to make matters more uncomfortable there are all these people in front of you and behind you. Yeah. I don't want to be pushed off the mountainside! So Jongsoo went while his aunt and I waited. 

Waiting was fine because the view up here is fantastic. And there was a chipmunk scurrying around! Too cute. 

I forget the name of the town. It's the closest one to the mountain... hmm. Anyway it's pretty. 

In the opposite direction there is nothing but mountain faces. You could sit and stare for ages. 

I'm pretty sure this guy did.

When Jongsoo came back from the summit, we all went back down via cable car. There's almost no wait to descend. Lol. Once we got back down, J found the orangest tree and had to have a picture. 

So there you have it. 

Season's Greetings!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

I am terrible for not posting in months. It's been months, hasn't it? 

I've been busy plugging away at making lesson plans, teaching, and getting through the daily things.
I had a yucky head cold for about a month - from late October to mid November. 

I've gone so Seoul a few times, but mostly stayed around town here. 

Last I remember was that I promised pictures from Seoraksan. Ooops! I'm a turd for forgetting! Maybe I'll get to that over the short time off I have before winter camp. 

The biggest thing that's happened is I have a new laptop. I'm still getting adjusted. 

Oh wait, that's the second biggest thing. The biggest thing is that I've signed a new contract for another year teaching here in Korea. 

December 12th there was a decent snow fall. We've had a lot of snow here - for South Korea. I was eating a quick meal before an English teacher's meeting and was just thinking to myself "It's like it can't decide if it wants to rain or snow." when it suddenly started coming down in ginormous flakes. It was a slushy, snowy mess, beautiful but eww. The next morning was ice. 

They don't really treat the roads or get out snowplows. I finally saw some snow tactics in action kind of last week when it was really hazardous. They seem to put down dirt, and use their backhoes and other big construction stuff to pull/push snow. This is on the highway... regular city streets can fend for themselves. 

This was an early December evening as I was let off from my carpool. The sunsets here can be very nice. Next semester I won't be seeing these ginseng people every day. I'm transferring schools!

I went to Lotteria with Jongsoo. 

What is Lotteria? Well - it's South Korea's version of McDonald's! 

It's decidedly for Korean tastes. They have a "wild shrimp burger" and this "corn salad." It came free with the 18,900 won fried chicken (it's a big basket of fried chicken). I tasted the corn salad. It pretty much tastes like macaroni salad - but with corn no macaroni.

This. This was a chocolate-needs day. Sadly, the brownies are only about an inch cube each. For 2,500 won you only get 4 or 6 of these things... I forget.. all I know was 1 was certainly not enough and ended up eating about 3 in one go - such was the need for chocolate. 

The packaging of these brownies really makes me laugh though. Each wrapper is a different design and says stuff like "My Love" and "Dear Sweet Brownie."

Anyway it's Christmas eve here. I'm making pie crust and waiting for the pizza guy to come. 

It's going to be a very merry dairy-mas! 

Hangul Day - way back on the 9th of September

I'm a bit of a procrastinator when it comes to working on this blog.

Today is one of those windy, weather is changing days. It smells like it could snow, but the air isn't cold enough. The sky looks beautiful though.

This cloud was more golden in person. 

I finally took pictures of the clothes I bought in Cheongju on one of the last public holidays before Christmas.

I kind of have too much burgundy in my wardrobe. Ha. But at least it is easy to coordinate.
The other thing I bought, not pictured above was a beige cable-knit cardigan. I think I'll start a cardigan collection.
Koreans tend to wear more.... vibrant or muted colors. It's hard to explain... They'll wear a peachy color, or a mustardy green, or navy. Not so much flat hues like you'd get in the crayon box - but when you do see those colors, there's usually a lot all together. Anyway. I hardly know about Korean fashion, so I'm not the person to ask. I can merely comment on what I've seen.

 Hangul Day - is like Alphabet Day. It's the day Koreans celebrate their written language, which was invented a long long long time ago by the Great King Sejong. He was a cool guy. He set about making a written alphabet for the common citizen so they could read the laws and stay out of trouble. He reasoned that the law is for the people's protection, but it can't protect them if they can't read and understand it. Or something along those lines. (prior to this, all written stuff was in Chinese)

Here's something J bought me yesterday when he was in Itaewon. (i didn't go because i have been sick.)

It's a blue plush Doraemon hat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is ridiculously cute. I love it.

A Korean Drama Mystery Explained

Hello! It's been a while.

I've been busy with school and with going places on the weekends. A couple of weekends back I went to Seoraksan (a beautiful mountain) with my boyfriend and his aunt. I don't think I've posted about it yet. Sorry I am lazy, and I don't want to take the time to pick out photos. Not just yet. I took upwards of 200 photos there alone. I have to pick the best pictures for you to see.

So today I'd rather tell you about my school staff hiking trip. We went to a mountain by a lake in Goesan. While it was not as precipitous, rugged or high as Seoraksan, it was still very beautiful. I was also glad it was easy hiking since I am feeling under the weather.

Here are some of my coworkers, posing for pictures and just having fun. 

This spot was very scenic. They had benches and swings for people to stop and enjoy the view. 

 So here is a shot of the lake, and across the lake, on that low hill on the right is a cemetery.

I tried to get a close up shot, and this is the best I can do. My dad asked me about how they have mounds over graves. It is an interesting thing. Even after burying, they erect a mound of dirt on top about 2 to 3 feet high. They have very pretty cemeteries, and they are usually in very beautiful locations like this one. 

That brings me to my post title. 

I don't know how many of you have ever watched the Korean drama called "Secret Garden" but if you have you will know what I am going to talk about. 

I doubt it's a big spoiler to say that in the drama, when mountain biking, the leads find themselves at some mountain shack and decide to go in despite it seeming majorly creepy. As Americans, we would be "warned" and just turn around and go back. I found myself asking "Why on earth would there be a restaurant out here in the middle of nowhere on the side of a mountain?" I've been hiking some in the States, at State parks (though not the big ones out west), so my understanding is - there will be stalls and food/water at the head of the main trail, or in the "entrance" area of the park (and maybe not even - maybe just vending) - but from there on out you are by yourself. You must carry your own water, food and whatever it is you might need.
Not so in South Korea, not so. You can be a few kilometers into a hike and come upon something like this.

I believe we had gone 2 kilometers when we started seeing things, and they're not mirages. Before this tent, was a pavilion and a spring with running water. I should take a picture of the next spring so I can show you, sorry I don't have a picture right now. Anyway, it's spring water that they have tapped and it flows constantly. You can drink some with a cup or dipper spoon they have there for just that purpose. So you don't absolutely need to carry a drink.
And if you want something with actual calories, walk no further. They have that too. Around 2.5 kilometers, we reached a water wheel place where ladies were making tteok (chewy glutinous rice squish) by hand with huge wooden mallets. The place sells tteok and shikhye (a sweet rice drink). 

The same was true of Seoraksan. Every 2 or 3 kilometers, there were rest areas with people selling food, snacks, drinks, and souvenirs. Actually, there is a coffee shop up there that has amazing coffee. It's expensive, but it could just be one of the best cups of coffee I've had in Korea. 

Come to think of it, there were similar stalls at Maisan (see a post from last May, I believe it was). The only difference was there were more temples at Maisan, and that made the food stalls a little less obvious to me. The food was before the hike mostly, but there were still small snack vendors in places.

After all my hiking experience, I can see why in that drama the characters do not find it very odd that there is a restaurant stall so far off the beaten path. The only suspicious thing about the place is that there is only 1 (Koreans are famous for putting 3 or more of the same thing right next to each other. People say it's a competitive streak. I think it has more to do with collectivism.)

So if you're ever hiking in this country do not fear if you come across a random food cart/vendor. It probably has something yummy to offer... that or some dried fish, cuttlefish, sea creature... and I guess you can try it if you're into that kind of food. *blech!*

Korean hiking pros: You won't starve or go thirsty. 

There are pre-made paths, so even the elderly can hike.
There are plenty of people out there hiking too, you probably won't get lost.
If you have a medical emergency, there are people to see it happen and call for help.
Cell phone service is everywhere, people CAN call for help.

Korean hiking cons: In a hurry-hurry culture, it feels like Koreans hike too fast.
There are plenty of people... sometimes too many. If you came for peace and quiet - you will be sorely disappointed.
The pre-made paths might insult your sense of rugged American pride if you fancy yourself an off-road kind of hiker.