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Since I am home this blog address seems kind of obsolete. While I am going to be writing still I am changing my web address of my blog. For those who are interested here is the new web address: http://margaretbaker.tumblr.com/

Thanks to all of you who followed me on my adventure in cyber-space. Your accompaniment with me whilst I was in a foreign country, amidst people I did not know, was much appreciated.

-Margaret

Thirty Days

A girl is sitting in a hospital room with her boyfriend of one year. He has a terminal illness. The girl is starting her first days of college at a prestigious-far away university next month. She will have to leave his side and move on with her life...He may pass away while she is gone, there's no telling.
With only thirty days remaining in Korea my stomach churns...that nervous, sad feeling you get when you say goodbye to someone you love, wondering if you'll ever see them again, but knowing that leaving is something that you must do and there are no other options.
So yes, my departure date is set and now I must focus on appreciating the time I have left on this little peninsula.
You know how people say, you don't know how to appreciate something correctly until it's gone. For the first time, I feel that the phrase is completely true. I wish that there had been some way that the knowledge I have of my 'home' could be transferred to when I first arrived. Although I have accomplished quite a bit while being here there is still so much more I long to do. Granted, there is still a month...so a little time remains. It feels unreal at this point, I know I'm leaving but I'm not even slightly ready for it; I just got to feeling completely comfortable here. There's still so much to do as well (Work related things, too)!!!!

Tourism: This past weekend I went to Changdeokgung (a palace) and Chandyakgan (a river) for a lantern festival. I'll post a link so you can see photos if you want. It was a lot of fun, however, it has gotten really cold lately. I had visited changdeokgung when I first arrived in Korea (it was my first tourist attraction here), but it had been really cold and all the leaves had fallen off the trees. I had wanted to go back before it got too cold because this palace is especially known for it's Secret Garden. Unfortunately, I did not make it in time because of it's tour schedules. It was nice to see it again though.
Click for photos!
It was nice to see all the lanterns lit up at night, too. I went with my friends Hayley and Jieun, but we were freezing!!

School: My students these days are as cute as ever. A few of them had contracted Swine Influenza, but none of them got too sick from it. One of them just came back from holding today (when they stay home to study for tests) and said, 'Margaret, you know I kind of missed you.' Peppero(빼빼로) Day was last week. It's kind of like a couples holiday, but students will give their teachers things on peppero day. Actually, as I was sitting here I just remembered it, and, being hungry, took out my peppero that a student had given me. If you know pocky it's kind of like that. Addicting and super delicious! I'll put up some pics of the loot I got soon.

Culture: This is my favorite Kpop song lately, it's called Chocolate Love. It's a music video by a very popular girl group, however, it is also a cell phone commercial. You see, to combat the piracy problem lately, the artists have just decided to use their hit songs as sponsorship songs for products. So the new cellphone is called Chocolate. And you'll see that they are using it shamelessly in the video. However, I don't think it's such a bad idea...why should we pay such exorbitant prices for music, especially when our world is in economic turmoil. Music is supposed to make people feel relaxed and relieve our stress not create more. So, why not take music and let it advertise, turn profit that way to offset that lost from CD sales. With no further delay, here is chocolate love,

Farewell.

Seoul video mashup

There's no place like home?

I don't want to go home. Those words often go through my head lately.
I am going to miss my students (so much), Korea, soju, and learning Korean (although, I must admit I have been lazy with my learning lately). I miss my family and friends, but that's about it. I wish that this little place I'm living (with 10 million other people), was only but minutes away from home rather than on the other side of the planet.
Actually, one of my old students came back today, and I was so happy to see him, sadly though I will only have him for a few more weeks...then my students go into holding (to study for their exams) and that's when I leave...so I won't see them again. :( :( :(
It's heartbreaking. I didn't think I would get so attached to them.
Mark and Jameson (2 of my foreign friends here) are leaving next week! I can't believe it!
In the meantime, last weekend I carved 'pumpkins' with 2 of my Korean friends. They were actually squash because we couldn't find pumpkins, but they still did the trick.
My co-worker also had Mark and I over for lunch at her house. Which was really fun, and delicious! :)
With them leaving that's about 50 percent of my friend circle (perhaps 75 percent)...I'm kidding (kind of). I'm still going to be quite nostalgic these next few weeks...which may come out in my posts. Readers, ye be warned.

crunch time

There are a little over 50 days left in my contract here. Well I suppose technically, if I had not extended my contract I would be going home in less than a month now. It's bittersweet, and it's also crunch time (for me and my students).
I realize I haven't written much about them lately. I don't really know why either, because they are quite dear to me.

I have actually started this program where I start calling some of them once a week and talk to them on the phone for a little bit. They really are adorable.
My essay students have been under a lot of pressure lately unfortunately, which in turn kind of means I am under a bit of pressure as well. They have the same amount of days left in my contract to take their foreign language high school test. So there's plenty of grading to keep me busy.

Besides that my speaking classes are cute. One of my students told me if she were given 10 million dollars she would buy an island, and then buy me so that we could play together on the island. Then, to top it off, she said that if I was ever for sale to be sure to let her know. I haven't really told any of them that I am leaving soon, except the essay students, and I'm kind of sad to go too. At the same time though, I am really excited about going back home and seeing all my family and friends that I have missed so dearly.

Now, outside of school hasn't been as busy. I have been saving money for my upcoming trip to Tokyo. I did get to go to a Korean Wedding a few weeks ago though. It kind of blew my mind. I mean, in the States, we make really big deals out of weddings, and there are many components to them (the ritual, rite, and reception). That's all rolled into one here though. There are round tables set up all around a large hall, with a cat-walk down the middle. The actual 'marriage' takes about 15 minutes I would estimate, and then everyone just eats. The bride and groom, who were in the western styled wedding dress and tux for the ceremony, change into their hanbok (traditional Korean dress, think Kimono if you are unsure or google it). They come back out and go around with their parents and bow to all the tables and thank everyone for coming. Oh yeah, and before the wedding the bride sits in the room where you can snap photos with her. The groom sees her in her dress long before the wedding too because they take their wedding photos together. Actually, the whole process is a bit honky because they take their wedding photos before the guy even proposed to his girlfriend. But, hey, it's a different culture.

Besides that I've just been hanging out in Olympic Park a lot lately. Although, to be honest, it's getting a little too chilly. I hate how fall is short-lived. :(

This entry is a little short and hastily written. I apologize, and to make up for it I'm going to share some K-pop videos with you.
This one is called, 'Juliette' by 'ShiNee' (said, 'shiny' like, "Wow, what a shiny car!" ) I think it might be a tribute to Michael Jackson, but with these guys I'm never really sure.


And if that wasn't enough for you, Heartbreaker by a guy named 'G-dragon'. He just went solo. A Korean Kanye perhaps....guess we'll just have to wait and see, but I'm not going to hold my breath.


My students love these guys too....but even they agree that the g-dragon guys video is weird.

All that glitters is not gold, jade glitters too

Chuseok (or Korea's Thanksgiving Holiday), is a day which everyone goes to their parents' house, has a nice dinner, and celebrates family unity. What is funny is that Chuseok felt more like a real holiday to me than let's say Christmas or my Thanksgiving Day. This just proves to show, when you're alone (or semi-alone) for the holidays, the day does not matter so much as what is closed and how many people are on the street. Yes, this may make me appear slightly jaded, but lately I don't think that is such a bad thing. Being jaded usually means you are realistic, and who ever said it does not pay to be realistic? I used to think that Holidays were characterized by the company you spent it with, but if that were the case then how come every day when I was home with my parents it was not a 'holiday'? The feelings partially have to do with those around you, but they mostly have to do with the societal behaviors on a particular day. The stores are closed, people are either inside or spending their leisure time outside, and the only take-out you can get is Chinese food. So, if next year we chose to hold Thanksgiving on October 23rd instead, would it not feel like Thanksgiving? Family is exceedingly important, yet we only choose to truly appreciate them on certain days of the year when there's nothing else to do [or shop for]. Having these large, commercial national holidays might not be instilling the right values, but I suppose they do give everyone equal opportunity to cherish their families on the same day.

Quintessential semantics

Wow, I have quite a great deal to talk about, and I keep on putting it off. The longer I procrastinate the more things build up, and then the amount of things I have to catch up on expands. It's a travesty. Well, for me anyway. Primarily because I really want to document all my adventures/misadventures here.

The DMZ was good, bungee jumping was better. To be honest, the DMZ proved to be slightly anticlimactic. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was cool, just not quite what was expected. I really thought we would see some serious boundary patrolling by both parties. Really though it was just barren land in between 2 different sets of barbed wire. We saw some South Korean soldiers, but really nothing too impressive. We also didn't go to the commonly visited and heavily populated area of the DMZ either. That, perhaps, could explain it.

Our DMZ trip was mapped out into 3 different divisions, first, we went to the second tunnel. There are 3 tunnels that South Korea has discovered the North dug. We were allowed to go inside the tunnel, we walked about a kilometer, and then got to the "wide space" where we were then forced to turn around and walk back. We also weren't supposed to take pictures inside the tunnel. People did, although I wasn't one of them. Next, we went to the Peace Observatory. At this building they had a large model in the front up against really thick glass windows that allowed for a panoramic view...of a few large mountains. Like I said, not really what was expected. We were also able to go outside on a balcony and take some pictures. I think usually they have soldiers patrolling the area, and making sure you don't take pictures that are too zoomed in and whatnot. Our photos were not subject to approval though, because apparently the artillery was on lunch break. The last thing was a two in one deal. We did a drive by of a building that was once used by North Korea to torture South Koreans and POW's. Finally, we went to see an old Train site, which used to take people in and out of North Korea. Perchance of the funniest things about the tour was that at one of the stops my friend, Mark, volunteered to take a picture for this group of elderly Korean men. They were really friendly and crazy hilarious. Well, what do you know, but at the next stop we took they were there again, and requested Mark take another photo of them. Of course, Mark obliged.

After the DMZ it was bungee jumping time. I was really, really, really nervous. And I mean seriously, if I had an infinite amount of time on this planet I would have spent at least 3 months and 15 days typing really, really, really....etc.
Okay, I think you get the point. Anyways, the bus dropped us off on the bridge and they told us to make sure we didn't bring anything with us. The only thing we were allowed to bring was a camera. Brian, Jameson, Mark and I all traded off taking each others pictures and videos. Falling was not the hard part, believe it or not. The hardest part of bungee jumping is being on the brink of a very high surface and consciously making the decision to throw yourself off of it. Every fiber of your being is screaming at you to stay on that platform, where you feet are safely planted and your heart's beat is not being put in danger. Even reminiscing about the jump makes my palms sweaty. I don't regret doing it though because the adrenaline rush you feel, as you're free falling down towards what would be imminent danger, more than makes up for it. So to answer the question I've been asked a few times, yes, I would undoubtedly do it again.

Once the party was over it was time to go to our temporary living quarters for the evening. We took the tour bus to what I thought was a hotel. The 'hotel' was the small town we were staying in's city hall, semantics. They asked for 8 of us (2 pairs of 4) to volunteer to stay in a 'guest house'. Since my three friends and I all came together we figured, why not? Nothing wrong with a guest house, right. Semantics strikes again. When they said guest house/home stay they actually meant we were going to be staying in a room in someones house. To top everything off the town we were staying in was so small that there was not an ATM in the vicinity. Jameson and I brought minimal amounts of cash with us, which at this point was all spent (AND we had to borrow from Brian and Mark when we went bungee jumping). Therefore, we had a grand total of 13,000 won (about $13) to spend for the remaining twenty four hours (between the four of us).
We decided though that after the day we had drinking was a must, and our money was well spent on 4 bottles of soju and a beer. We all sat and drank by the fire until our bottles were dry...sadly, our thirst had not fully been quenched. At this point, luckily, most everyone else had retired for the evening. Some of the other remaining people went to noraebang on the bus. So Brian, Mark, myself, and a new acquaintance from Great Britain decided to clean up the camp fire. While cleaning we absconded some unopened bottles of beer and other beverages that people had left behind. Normally we wouldn't do this, but due to lack of money, our good will, and the fact that everything would have been tossed the next morning regardless, we felt we had some right to it.
The rest of the night went well, and the noraebang-ers joined us by the fire. We got back to our homestay safely.

The next day we explored an area called 'White Horse Hill'. We saw the hill that was designated as the main battle ground area during the Korean War because of it's panoramic view of both Korea's. Once we finished the guided tour we were given these 'mine detectors'(radios) that were supposed to be mine detectors. We were broken up into groups so that each group would compete to find a land mine. As we were searching our 'detector' started playing some K-pop. We fixed it by adjusting the 'frequency dial' (changing the radio station), and discovered one of the 'mines' (It's getting ridiculous now). After that we went to harvest some rice. I now am a proud owner of a nice, big bag o' rice. I must say, I could not be prouder of myself for harvesting it.

We ate some bibimbap (mixed rice) and then headed back to Seoul. I promptly passed out at home.

I'm just going to quickly document some of the other things I have been doing here below, and provide some links for you to check out if you just so happen to be interested.

+ I went to a NANTA performance a few weekends ago. Which is meant as a Broadway production mock cooking show, done in real time. Very interesting, and exciting. Nanta in Korean means "striking relentlessly" so there is a lot of drumming on random things, acrobatics, chopping, and a little cooking too.


+I also had a day off today and went to a botanical garden with my co-worker, Katie. It was called the garden of the morning calm, and it was beautiful. :)
http://www.morningcalm.co.kr

And so ends my long-winded blog entry.