People, People Everywhere!

I find it interesting that on this, my first weekend in Seoul, the amount of people mulling about actually bothered me! Never in Shanghai did I find the intense crowds overwhelming but this weekend for some reason, I found myself unprepared for the large numbers of people crowding everywhere.

Saturday – first visit to Itaewon and Myeongdong

Saturday we ventured out to Itaewon to attempt to get connected with the world again. We were told we were unable to purchase cell phones without our arc cards (alien registration) which led us to Itaewon. A co-worker told us of an alley in Itaewon where you only needed your passport to purchase a used pay as you go phone. Everything was straight forward, we located an alley and tried to find a shop where the shop keepers looked like they wouldn’t take horrible advantage of us and charge us an arm and a leg. We picked out our phones (mine was 30W with a 10W credit in minutes included in the price and a charger). Sure it’s a phone from 1985, but it’s a phone capable of texting and has some amazing K-pop ringtones, so I don’t really mind.  I didn’t picture myself buying a phone from some guy in an alley, but after having travelled to Asia before I understand that sometimes this is just how these things work! I was surprised by the amount of foreigners in Itaewon; It could be any street in Toronto and every nationality seems to be represented here!

After Itaewon we ventured over to Myeongdong (also referred to as ‘Little Tokyo’). This is where the claustrophobia (that I don’t have!) began to take over. Venturing down these few blocks in this little corner of Seoul, I felt like I was in a mosh pit. There was literally no room to move as you were walking down the street. My feet and heels were getting stepped on constantly and if you wanted to stop moving while you were in the crowd to find something or go to a store, good luck! NEVER, do I remember this much ‘people congestion’ anywhere in China. I attempted to take a look through H&M but there were so many people in the store I found myself deciding to return outside to face the crowds again simply for fresh air. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy this part of town, I did… I think maybe I’ll head back one day after school on a weekday when, hopefully, the crowds will be a little thinner!

Sunday: Coex Mall and Aquarium

Today we had plans to go for a hike in the Northern End of Seoul, but when we woke up to pouring rain, those plans changed! We decided it would be better to stay inside so we planned to head over a few subways stops from our hotel and get acquainted with Coex mall. This mall is a bit of a maze and I found it difficult to navigate. It seems to go on forever, with endless stores and places to eat. We ate lunch at a little joint called ‘Mr Pizza’ where we had pizza with crust that was stuffed with sweet potato (it was delicious!). We waited in a line the length of three football fields to get into the aquarium which left me wondering, where are all these people coming from?! I’ve only been in Seoul just under a week, but again, even in China I didn’t see this many people queued, for anything, anywhere! The line went quickly and finally we were inside the aquarium, which turned out to be the hottest day of my life (because there were soo many people in such a small space!). The aquarium was ‘nice’ but not impressive compared to others I’ve visited. There were lots of varieties of fish and they had them everywhere! The displays were creative - have you ever seen a vending machine with fishies? There were beautiful reefs, sea turtles, sharks and even some manatees. Will I go back? Maybe, again, on a day when there are less people around!

As I sit here writing, Sunday night is here. I don’t fully understand why or how weekends go by so fast! Going to spend the night relaxing with my Pepsi Zero (they don’t have diet here – GAH!) and a box of almond ‘Pepero’ aka Korean POCKY!! Hopefully I’ll get to move into my apartment on Tuesday or Wednesday where I can return to the lovely world of INTERNET. I can’t even get on the wireless at Starbucks anymore without an AR card… it’s incredibly frustrating!

Cheers for now,

Sarah 

Money Makes the World go Round

Today I observed my first Gaepo PSA graduation ceremony where I learned a few things. They are as follows:

-          The student’s parents paid more for their children to attend preschool than my entire university education cost me.

-          These children received more bouquets of flowers for graduating preschool than I have received in my life, period.

-          In Korea, attending a prestigious private elementary school is regarded so highly that the students have to take an assessment/placement test when they apply. The highest scores are then pooled into a random lottery where a very lucky minority will obtain a spot. The remainder of the students attend public schools, which are considered substandard.

-          Children in China run around in split pants. Children in Korea wear Burberry pants – and they’re authentic.

-          Women in China walk around with knock of Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Dolce. (I mean really, who can tell the difference… it’s ‘Chinese’ leather after all!)  Women in Korea walk around with REAL Louis, Chanel and Dolce, sometimes all within the same outfit, and you know they have loads more sitting at home. 

Myth Busters

Days in Korea: 3

Prior to coming to Seoul, I did a lot of research, well what I thought was research anyways. I read lots of blogs and subscribed to several you tube channels for expats in Seoul. I didn’t want to arrive unprepared or find that I was unable to get something I really needed part way through the year.  I ended up being in desperate need of a straightening iron (for whatever reason, mine won’t work with my voltage converter… but my curling iron will so go figure!)  and was given some advice from some foreign teachers at school on where to find one. On this adventure, I ended up in one store called Olive Young that left me very happy, yet slightly disappointed. This store has everything (and I mean everything) you can get at home, either in a drug store or a cosmetics store. All the popular western brands of makeup are sold here, so don’t worry that you can’t find your type of mascara, or that you can’t get the shade of foundation that you use… it simply isn’t true! I immediately found a selection of flat irons at reasonable prices. As I continued around the store I dispelled several myths about products that simply didn’t exist here… trust me, look hard enough and they do! Here’s a quick laundry list of what I found: Aveeno lotion and hand lotion (just like home! Same sizes, packaging and everything!) Vaseline Intensive Care lotions (again, the same), DEODERANT (I was told this was IMPOSSIBLE to get, and expensive if you could find it… the Nivea deodorant sold here is only 4900 W… that’s under 5 bucks Canadian!), Tampons and normal pads, Shave Gel (trust me, they do shave here!), hand sanitizer (it’s all over the place), candles (in a jar) (and a wide variety of fragrances too!), fragrances (every American brand of perfume you can think of sold in Shoppers Drug Mart is here) and the list goes on. Basically, when you come to Seoul, don’t bring anything, you can buy it ALL here – and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! I’m regretting all the clothes I had to leave out of my luggage at the last minute in an attempt to fit within the weight restrictions that were wasted by all the things I was told could not be bought in Korea.

 A brief walk around the area in Gangnam where I will be living also took me to an amazing store called Daiso. In short, Daiso is amazing, basically it’s a low rent E-Mart for those that here me rant about it in China! It’s sort of the equivalent to one of our dollar stores in Canada, except it’s full of awesome things and is incredibly Asian (Hello Kitty Loofa anyone?) Apparently there is an Emart close by as well, but we’ll save that adventure for another day!

Cheers for now!

Sarah

Day 2: First Day of School

Today was my first day at school. I feel like I'm comparing this adventure to Shanghai, far to much as it is an entirely different experience which was proven to me today, several times. The subway was a breeze (I have Shanghai to thank for this!) but as I was exiting the terminal, something entirely different happened. I reached the top of the escalator to find my exit and a lady looked at me and said 'Sarah! Hello!" Needless to say I was a little shocked, but it turned out to be the schools' HR Coordinator that I have been conversing with for the last several months, getting off the same metro train as myself! We chatted and she walked with me to school, pointing out several buildings in the area. Seoul is SO different from Shanghai, for one thing it is GORGEOUS! There's trees and greenery everywhere and there's always mountains off in the distance. The school itself is huge; apparently it is the largest private English primary school in Seoul. The building is impressive, 4 floors, beautifully decorated and CLEAN (unlike Shanghai!) and bright, with lots of natural light. Walking in, it looks like any regular elementary school you would find in Canada; bursting with life energy and lots of hard work! There wasn't much to do today as graduation is occurring this week, so I sat and observed for most of the day.

I have no internet, so hopefully I will be able to check back in here before I move! If not, I will write down my thoughts (daily) and update when I am able.
Cheers for now,
Sarah.

Day 1: Seoul is surprisingly familiar!

 30 hours later, I’m finally ready for bed and have a few minutes to journal my day! It started with an early wakeup call as my flight to Toronto boarded at 5:10 am. The plane rides to both Toronto and Vancouver went smoothly and I was able to take in the breath taking snow -capped rockies for one last time as I flew out of the country. The flight from Vancouver to Seoul went gruellingly slow. With a little assistance from some extra strength ‘Sleep-ez’ I was able to nod off on the plane for a few hours.

Finally as the plane passed over the outer edges of the country, the flight got interesting. Picture any Asian watercolour portrait of mountains that you’ve seen - that’s what I saw! There was a little misty layer of clouds hovering above jagged black mountain peaks that seemed to dissolve into a faint grey into the ground; it was an absolutely inspiring landscape, that to my delight didn’t change much as we traversed into the country. Seoul is surrounded by mountains and buildings seem to effortlessly fall within and around them. This surprised me after having spent time in Shanghai and seeing any ‘natural’ green for the duration of my stay.

After proceeding through customs and collecting our bags we managed to find the ‘limo bus’ we were instructed to take to meet a school coordinator. Immediately when I stepped outside of the airport, that familiar smell I described in my Shanghai blog (www.sarahsfyishanghai.blogspot.com) as being what one would typically expect  from a ‘giant Asian city’ reappeared. My mind was racing with China memories (and still is with every inhale). It’s weird to be back; in a way I feel as though I have been to Seoul even though I’ve never set foot in Korea before; everything feels surprisingly familiar. We arrived at a very ‘classy’ (and I use the term loosely as you will see by my pics!) hotel next to Gangnam station.  T-cards were purchased and loaded for the subway and a first ‘Korean’ meal at Burger King was eaten. Now I’m ready for bed – waiting for all the adventures that await me tomorrow as I venture off to my new job as an ESL teacher for PSA academy. Sending you all sweet dreams from my lavender and golden rod – gilded walls this tired traveller is going to get some well needed rest

Packing my life into 2 bags...

Days in Korea: -6
Packing an entire year of your life to fit airline baggage allowances is difficult. How do you decide what is truly important? What you positively, 100% cannot live without for a year? What you think you may be able to get there, so you intentionally leave it out, only to find out you actually can't get it... This is the dilemma I have found myself in this past week. I leave in 5 days, am I packed: No. Am I looking forward to the travelling part: No. It's interesting when you're restricted to a limited number of things, that you realize what actually has true worth and value in your life. Some things have sentimental value, others have practical value and somethings may have no value, but can't be lived without.
As this week draws to an end, I feel myself getting more apprehensive everyday. Have I made the right choice? Why couldn't I just leave things as they were? But when I actually sat down to think about it, this is how I like my life! A chaotic (but orderly mess); not knowing what is coming next and just hanging on for the ride.
A lot of people have asked me how I can just up and leave it all behind for a year. Simply put, I don't see it as leaving everything behind. The rational reason that drew me to sign myself to life in another country for a year was something I couldn't find in Canada: steady work in my chosen profession (teaching); which as a result has left me with a lot of student debt to pay down. Sure I had a good job, great pay, excellent hours, benefits and a yearly bonus. I had what so many young graduates don't have and strive for: job security. I suppose maybe I don't like to feel as though things are too 'comfortable' for too long. Is a job worth doing if your heart isn't in it? Yes I had a job that paid my bills sufficiently and gave me some freedoms, but what's it worth if you don't feel any passion for what you do?
Hopefully my upcoming year in Korea will be a fresh start to do something I actually have passion and a talent for. Having traveled and taught before I feel like I know (relatively) what to expect.In the end everyday will be an entirely new experience with a lesson in life; a blank page waiting to be brought to life with the richness of daily experiences of life in a different culture.