Coolest thing I’ve done in Korea…

Upon hearing the name Sean Paul, the majority of people say, “Hmm i don’t think i know who that is.” BUT if you play them a Sean Paul song, 100% of people will recognize it and even know many of the words. For example, “Shake that thing, miss kana kana, shake that thang..” (see now you know who he is, right?)

WELL anyways. on the aforementioned Children’s Day we did not have school so we got to wander the neighborhood and enjoy the nice weather outside. The lovely day outdid itself, however, when my friend Rob said he could get us all onto base (I live next to a giant U.S. army base… have i already mentioned that?) for a free Sean Paul concert. We don’t say no to free things, ridiculous things, OR music things, soooo the “couple tickets” we wanted turned into 8 and we made a big party of it. It was a fun/funny concert and we even got a picture with him afterwards. As we were walking out of the picture area, Dorian spilled a beverage all over Sean Paul’s feet (on accident, he swears) so I’m sure we left our mark. If not on his memory, at least on his shoes…  Afterwards we discovered a cool club in Bosan and stayed until 3am. On a school night. Oops? Maybe we won’t have to go all the way to Hongdae for a fun night out dancing anymore. The juicy girls is all we need…  

PS: dear amelia, this awful font is just for you. xoxo.

(May 4, 2010)

The elementary schools in Korea have a lovely holiday called “Children’s Day” where they celebrate children and there is no school. In honor of this holiday, most schools have “Sports Day” during the same week, where the kids get to run around outside all day and play games with their class. It operates a little different at each school, but here at Nammyun Elementary there were about 10 various “sports” and games set up for the kids to play, all of which I have never seen before. The kids all showed up in white sweat suits and colored visors (gift from the school) ready for a day of play. Not sure where the everyone-wear-white-on-a-dirt-field idea came from, but everybody’s totally on board. It was fun to wander around and watch the kids play and just have some care free fun.

me: HI I WATCH YOUR SHOW ALL THE TIME, I LOVE IT!                                                                    

him: Really? Wow, thanks. (he speaks perfect English. awesome.)

me: YEAH I THINK YOU’RE SO AWESOME!

him: Thanks, you’re awesome too! *HUG* (ok maybe i made up the “you’re awesome too” in my memory, but the hug was real.)

me: Can I get a picture with you? Totally lame, I know, but I think you’re great.

him: Yeah, of course.

me: WHO HAS A CAMERA? TAKE A PICTURE TAKE A PICTURE!!!!

I wouldn’t be surprised if he tracks me down sometime soon to interview me for his show. I mean, obviously he saw my killer sense of fashion and I played it totally cool when we met…After the interview we’ll probably fall in love and I’ll become co-host of Most Wanted. Guess I’ll be in Korea longer than I planned.

Apparently, however, something has been lost in translation, and it should actually be called Seoul Park. It is big and cool, and a nice change of pace from the rest of the city, but it is by no means a “forest.” I think there has to be a certain tree per square yard ratio to qualify or something. But anyways, we went there last Saturday to celebrate Mieke’s birthday and had a lovely picnic in the park. The theme was “Madhatter’s”, so everyone sported a variety of unique headware. It was really nice to just have a quiet afternoon in the park and soak in some much needed sun rays.

Afterwards a few of us went to Sinsa for dinner, which is definitely one of my new favorite areas in Seoul. The architecture, shopping, and cuisine transcends into a whole new dream world that you think only exists in movies. (Annalicia, you would simply die if you saw it.) I definitely can’t afford to spend much time there, but it sure is beautiful.   

I decided the best way to celebrate the holiday would be to finally install the porch garden I’ve been planning since I arrived in Korea. I have a few little herbs sprouting up already, but I’ve been slowly gathering soil, pots, and seeds to expand the project to a full ordeal. My porch is pretty small, but comes equipped with a GIANT sliding glass window so the sun pours right in all day long. Hopefully I’ll have pictures of the process (and the lovely final products) coming soon.

For now, go and watch this VIDEO on YouTube. It’s cute, short, and in my opinion inspiring. I love our planet! It’s tragic to think about what will happen if we don’t reverse our current rates of consumption and pollution. The earth gives us EVERYTHING we need to survive and thrive, and it’s our responsibility to give back a little and do what we can to take care of it. Regardless of your opinion on global warming and environmentalism, we can all do a little more to take care of our planet. Go recycle, plant some flowers, or hug a tree to celebrate!

On Saturday a teacher at my school invited me to go with her and her son (one of my 5th graders) to Dae Jang Geum, a ‘walking theme park’ in Yangju. In 1993 a TV drama called “Dae Jang Geum” aired in Korea and was insaaaanely popular. It’s based on a dynasty from the 1400s and is about the 1st female royal physician. Basically it’s a show all about old Korean lifestyle and culture, and like half the country tuned in every week. After the show ended (not sure why it ever did since it was so popular?) the Korean government purchased the giant open set, which is a recreation of an old Korean palace, and turned it into a theme park. Now you can walk around and see what a palace from the 1400s actually looked like. Sooo it’s kind of like touring a “Friends” or “Seinfeld” set… except it’s all outdoors, and based on life hundreds of years ago.    

I also got to try on Korean traditional clothing called a Hanbok. They let me walk around the giant palace and I got to pretend I was ancient and rich and famous and queen-like and Asian. The famous part was mostly true though, as about 10582 people who thought it was SO FUNNNNNY to see a foreigner wearing Korean clothes/wig asked to take my picture. Typical. Let’s just all be thankful I was born blonde and in the 1900s, because ancient Korean Chrissy is not very cool.

Magically, the kids of 4-2 were on their best behavior all day and we had a really good time together. I think it helped to work with them outside the regular classroom because we all got to see different sides of each other. They showed me their cute, curious kid side, and hopefully I showed them that I’m not always a crazed, authoritative meany. We watched K-Pop videos all the way to Suwon (2 hour bus ride…) and the kids of course sang along to every song. Their parents also provided them with a PLETHORA OF SUGAR and I was given random cookies, sweets, and drinks from every single one of them. It was a site comparable to the New York Stock Exchange, replaced with 4th graders trading junk food. No wonder they were so excited about a “cultural walking tour” field trip.

The place we toured is called Hwaseong Fortress, and is a big wall and some palaces that used to surround the city of Suwon (just south of Seoul). It was built like over a thousand years ago by a King to bury/honor his father, who was killed by his father for refusing to kill himself. Complicated, eh? The wiki link is quite useful. Current Korean culture is verrrry westernized now, so it’s really interesting to learn about all the old history. It’s hard to connect the old with modern times because just as with any modern culture, they have made a lot of transitions in the past several thousand years.

We also gorged on a giant KIMBAP picnic, which was of course delicious. Apparently it’s standard for everyone to bring some kimbap (kind of like a sushi california roll, the Korean version) and fruit in plastic containers and everyone just sits around and shares. I tried to imagine my elementary school field trips and my reaction if someone stuck their chopsticks (ok, fork…) into my lunch pale. American kids aren’t much for sharing their Lunchables, surely I would have freaked out. It’s fun to watch and interact with a culture that is ALL ABOUT SHARING. Sharing drinks (like cans they’ve already sipped from), chopsticks (like shoving their chopsticks in my mouth with a big peice of kimbap) and soup (like 4 people to one soup bowl) are all common occurrences. Could explain why my cold is being so persistent….. this place is like a giant germ pool. Despite the perpetual cold, I do love that aspect of the culture here.