My South Korea Top Ten Gratitude List

While in South Korea for my graduation, I was glad to have time to spend with people who had helped me while I was there and to say goodbye. I also tried to enjoy doing things that I liked as a way of saying goodbye to the country where I had spent much of the past four and half years. As I travelled to Seoul and back and spent time visiting the city, I thought about the many things I appreciated about South Korea.

Below is a list of the ten things I most appreciate about South Korea at this point in time (in no particular order):

1. Noraebangs (Singing rooms): I love singing, but was always intimidated by singing Karaoke at a bar. The music tracks at Noraebangs are much easier to sing along to and the small rooms provide enough intimacy to make almost anyone comfortable with giving singing a go. And you can sing whatever you want (I think so anyway). Picture me singing "You spin me right round, baby right round" by myself on my birthday. If this makes you sad for me, don't be. I was having the time of my life! :)

2. Saunas/spas: There's something great about being able to shower, bathe, go in different saunas, sleep and relax all you want all for about $10. My favorite spa is one in Seoul called Spa Lei. It's a women's-only spa, with wonderful white robes instead of the short sets you get at other Korean saunas.

3. Fast service and delicious and healthy food: I keep looking for the button to push on the table when I'm at a restaurant. I was shy to use this at first in Korea (it's like a doorbell that customers use to call the servers), but I really miss it now. Nothing like asking for and getting what you want quickly and efficiently, with hardly any lines or waiting. I have to remind myself to be patient again when I am waiting in lines in Canada.

I also gained an appreciation for "food as medicine" in Korea. I wasn't always able to practice this in Korea as much as I wanted to, but I have definitely made a commitment to eating more healthy food now that I am home and I'm not necessarily being pressured to eat something. I am a much better eater after going to Korea. My mom would be proud.

I recently read a book called the "5-Factor World Diet" and South Korea was included in it as one of the countries' traditional diets from whom we in North America could learn a lot. The picture below shows banchan (side dishes, like tapas, that are usually served before a meal). According to the book, eating side dishes like these helps to slow down eating and reduce portion size, particularly when you're using chopsticks (although I never really saw anyone eating slowly or in a small way in Korea...there's the food--go! ;). Also these side dishes help to ensure that there is a variety of tastes, including sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and spicy (the five-flavor approach often used in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cooking). The picture above is of a savory pancake-like dish made with buckwheat and scallions. The red fermented dish is kimchi and the other side dishes are mushrooms, black soy beans, some soy sauce for the pancake, and some kind of seaweed (I still don't eat seaweed yet so I'm not familiar with the different kinds).

4. Eclecticism: There's a great mix of old and new, of history and modernity, of different styles and ideas being tried on. When people try something on in South Korea, they really try it on. I admired this passion. I guess this is true of many places around the world, but it seemed like there was a focus on promoting old and new and everything mixed in between and that really struck me.

5. Healthy skin and a sense of style and focus on appearance: There are drawbacks to this, of course, like not feeling like you can go out when your hair is all messed up and you are wearing your oldest and most comfy sweatpants. But, there was something about people's concern for their appearance and health that I liked. It made me take care of myself better.

6. Broadband speed and Wifi: Everywhere you go you can access wifi, even in the subway, and...it's fast (like most things in Korea).

7. Safety: I rarely felt unsafe. Maybe this is because there are usually so many people everywhere you go. Also, I could easily tell where and when it was safe to walk by myself. My laptop was stolen from my one-room apartment, and then safely returned in the wee hours of the next morning (through the gaps in the bars of my window while I was sleeping--see picture below). I'm not sure why it was returned--maybe because it had an English O/S and couldn't be sold on the black market? But, regardless, I was happy to have my laptop with all of my PhD data and research on it back. Some people also suggested it spoke to the "honesty" of the thief who stole it.

8. The sea and the mountains: Love having both so close to each other.

9. Public transportation: Reasonable, clean, and efficient. I especially loved the Express Buses, taxis (the ones with the friendly drivers), and subway system in Seoul. Having travelled back and forth from Cheonan to Seoul often, I spent a lot of time on them and really miss this level of efficiency and how reasonable public transit was there.

10. The smiles and passion: This helped me somehow feel at home in South Korea. There's always something happening and people doing it with passion and an openness to trying new things and to change. I appreciated all of the smiles I received and people's intent to connect, which I could sense, even though they might have been too scared to actually talk to me because they thought I was going to speak to them in English.

Goodbye and thank-you, South Korea, and all those I met and who touched my life. Until we meet again! :)

Dankook University Cheonan Campus Institute of Korean Studies

One of the things I need to do in order to get my Ph.D. degree is pass Level 5 of the TOPIK test (Test of Proficiency in Korean). So far, I passed Level 3. Because of cost and time I usually study by myself, but this past fall I decided to take a course to give me a much-needed boost.

I was lucky to find a class at a university here in Cheonan. There are two that I know of--one at Sun Moon University and the other at Dankook University--where I ended up going, again mostly because of cost and because it's much closer to where I live.

Soon enough, I was on campus every day just like in under-grad, with students in their early 20's (no mature students that I could see). I often experienced people nodding at me, probably thinking I was a teacher, although they also probably wondered why I was usually wearing a sweatshirt and jeans.

All of my classmates were from China, taking the class so that they could pass the TOPIK exam in order to get  into university here in Korea. As the only "westerner", I felt like I was representing my whole country and all westerners every time I answered a question. Since we were learning about Korean culture and issues as part of the class, my teacher would often ask what it was like in China and Canada to compare. In Korea, it is more common to have one kind of standard or accepted way of doing things. Not that everyone follows this, but you can speak more generally about Korean culture than you can about a Canadian one, I think. I kept saying, "It depends on the person." "Every family is different." or more often, "I'm not sure." Mostly I was afraid of speaking in case someone used what I said to tell others what all Canadians are like.

Anyways, I was thankful that my classmates and teachers tolerated me. I was older than all of them and the only "westerner" so they had to make adjustments for me. For some reason, I never felt old or conscious of my age in Canada, but I often do in Korea and I definitely did taking the class. One of the teachers decided that since I was older, that everyone including her should call me "Onni" or "Nuna" (meaning older sister, depending on if you are a girl or a boy). I've never had this happen in Korea before. It felt strange. I just wanted to be a student like everyone else.

Despite all of the challenges though, I learned a lot. I had practice doing presentations in Korean, discussing different topics, and did a lot of writing and preparing and homework each day. I think I definitely improved my Korean grammar, vocabulary, and study habits. Hopefully, it will help me when I go to write the TOPIK test at the end of this month. I guess I will find out soon!

Brain Education Cultural Center in Cheonan

At the beginning of October 2011, the Brain Education Cultural Center opened here in Cheonan. Like many other cultural centers here in Korea, it is meant to provide members of the community with opportunities to take workshops and general interest courses at a fairly reasonable cost. Most department stores and big discount supermarket chains like E-mart have cultural centers while others are located in the community.

What makes this center unique is that in addition to some of the courses normally offered like Sports Dancing or language classes, there are also courses specifically geared towards Brain Education, like mediation, parent coaching, or Brain Education English classes.

At the end of December, we celebrated the end of the first Children's and Adults's BE classes in English. Congratulations!

Ginseng Festival in Geumsan

This is the one of the logos for the town of Geumsan.

This Sunday I went to the International Ginseng Expo in Geumsan (about an hour and a half from Cheonan). Ginseng is a really important product here in Korea and I understand much better the health benefits and why it is so important. I'm not usually a big fan of ginseng--I usually find it to be quite bitter but I found some ginseng products I like (for example, those made of Hongsam, which is a milder ginseng) and realized what a difference eating fresh ginseng can make.

Samgyetang: Chicken Soup with ginseng and lots of other healthy ingredients (Delicious and good for you!)

Selling fresh ginger

Korean ginseng grows for 6 years so it contains a larger amount of saponins. After 6 years, the ginseng looks like a human, thus the name "insam" in Korean or "human-shaped plant".

A Russian electric violin group

This is how ginseng grows in the U.S. and Canada

This is how ginseng is grown in China

This is how ginseng is grown in Korea

Deep-fried ginseng (Delicious!)

Some of the many products made from ginseng

Cheonan Dance Festival Street Parade

This weekend is the annual International Dance Festival here in Cheonan. Last night I saw the street parade with all of the different teams from each different country. Countries included Korea, Japan, China, Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and countries from the Russian federation.

Enjoy!

 

Beautiful Busan

Busan is the second biggest city in South Korea. It's a port city on the south-east coast. Ever since I came to Korea, I've wanted to visit Busan because I love the sea. Finally, this past weekend, my roommate and I made it for one night and one day (1N1D).

I was really glad we did. There's a different feel to Busan than Seoul--it's more relaxed and open, which makes sense since Seoul is a capital city. People were more talkative and even the foreigners I saw seemed to be more relaxed and comfortable than in other cities in Korea.

My roommate and I had a tight schedule and budget but we managed to fit a lot in. Busan is a 5-hour by slow-train, 2 1/2 hours by rapid train ride from Seoul.

We arrived late at night and stayed in this jjimjilbang on Gwangalli Beach. It was called Aqua Palace.



A jjimjilbang is a Korean sauna with showers and public baths separate for men and women. There's also a "resting" public area, where you can sleep. If you are okay with sleeping on a hard floor in a room with lots of people with snoring, talking, cellphones ringing, etc., it's a cheap place to stay and you can have a relaxing shower and bath.

This jjimjilbang was nothing fancy but it had a great view of the beach and the sea from the bath and resting areas.



The next morning we headed out and saw Gwangalli Beach by day. This is the view from the beach.


After that, we visited the "World's Biggest Department Store", the Shinsegae Department Store. It has an ice rink, a spa, a golf course, a roof-top park, and boasts the largest amount of retail space in the world.



We then visited one of only a few of Korea's Buddhist temples on the sea. This one is called Yonggunsa. Isn't the view beautiful?







After that we stopped off at the famous Haeundae Beach. We dipped our feet in the water where there were lots of people bobbing in floating tubes. The sand has lots of crushed shells and stuck to our feet. In the busy season, this beach is normally packed full of umbrellas so even though there were lots of people it wasn't considered to be crowded at all.


We ended off the day by going to the Jagalchi Fish Market. We saw lots of interesting live and dried fish, including these octopus below. There are lots of restaurants, too, where you can choose the fish or seafood you like and have it cooked right in front of you.




While waiting for our train back to Cheonan, we were treated to a light, music, and water show at the fountain in front of the train station. I think this might be common in Korea in big cities (I've seen a small one in the stream in downtown Cheonan behind our apartment building) but this one lasted for about 40 minutes and lots of people gathered to watch.





When I first arrived in Korea, someone asked me if I liked the mountains or the sea. My first thought was to say, "Both", but my answer came quicker than my thinking, "The sea". I like the mountains, too, but there's something about water that makes me feel relaxed, happy, and more connected with nature, with other people, and with myself. I'm glad I had the chance to visit Busan and if I get the chance, I'll definitely be back.

Introducing...eatyourkimchi.com

Or should I say...Simon and Martina.

I've wanted to do this for a long time. Simon and Martina are Canadians--a married couple who originally came to Korea to teach English. They started making videos to share about the culture here and it has now developed into a full-time thing for them.

They do v-blogging about K-Pop (Korean pop music), Korean culture and food. Besides me, they've got quite a following, including people from all over the world. They have done videos about all of the interesting things I wanted to write about (see especially eatyourkimchi.com/archives). I think they do a really good job at presenting things in a way that shows their curiosity and humor. They acknowledge the cultural differences and their love for Korea, but also share their opinions.

Anyways, they make me laugh and feel like I'm not alone so I wanted to share. If any "foreigners" (as we're known here) are in or coming to Korea or if you are Korean and want to understand foreigners' experiences in Korea better, there's something for you on their website. If you've never experienced anything Korean, you might wonder what is going on, but if you become familiar with Korean culture, especially pop culture, it will all make sense...trust me. :)

BR English Korean Spirit Speech Contest

In June, I was honored to be one of the judges for the BR English Korean Spirit Speech Contest. The contest was held on June 6th, which is Memorial Day in Korea, and was sponsored and hosted by the Institute for Traditional Korean Studies (Kukhakwon).

At BR English, students learn English in a way that includes brain-based approaches to learning and learning a language. Students of all ages (the youngest was 5 to high-school) made speeches or presentations about Korean history or culture. Some examples were about Mugunghwa, Korea's national flower; Memorial Day; and Dangun and Gojoseon, the founder and first Korean nation. I learned a lot. The students memorized their speeches, spoke confidently, and used really good presentation skills. I was impressed. Great job, everyone!

A Korean Wedding

Fraser and Venus are a couple I know from Canada. I was honored to be part of their wedding celebration. As you'll see from the pictures, the ceremony included both traditional elements of a wedding in Korea and those unique to the couple (including English translation which I was excited about). Best wishes to Fraser and Venus, their families, and all those whose lives they will touch.