Work Hard. Play Hard.

In Korea, work takes priority. It is not unusual to see businessmen in their suits on a Saturday, or to spot teenagers in school uniforms late in the evening hours. It's normal to leave my roommate in the kitchen grading papers when I go to bed, and to find him still editing essays early the next morning. Work is work, here in Korea, and there is much to be done.

For my students, English is a gateway to a successful future. Though many Americans take it for granted, speaking English as a first language is a mighty privilege. Korean parents push their children to study study study, and focus on English in particular. Many parents send their kids to private after-school academies, known as hakwons, in order to "get ahead"--a tradition that is now easily the standard. The lucky will go abroad to attend the finest high schools and universities in America.

With this in mind, I try not to feel bad for the students sitting in my "intensive" TOEFL class each day of summer vacation. Even though they come to school for four to eight hours a day, five days a week, and take on hours of homework in the evenings, they are the lucky ones.

On the other hand, you can only memorize so many vocabulary words, and color in 10,000 bubbled answer choices. A little fun is in order...

(sticker pics with the students)

By my watch, that means, teaching the students absurd handshakes and dances during classtime and making them perform these routines in order to earn extra credit. Dances like Madonna's "Vogue," "Ahhh, Freak Out," and "Hoyah Hoyah Hoyah, Juliana is the Best" were at first hated by some, but with time, a game the students enthusiastically enjoyed. For added entertainment, my coworkers and I occasionally dropped tidbits of personal information to our students and let their imaginations run wild. A simple lunch with Paul returned back to me, in the words of my students, as a "date." A lunch with Paul and Christine became a vicious love triangle, developing into love, heart break, and one teacher punching another. It's just all part of the daily humdrum of life.


Things like this make the days a little bit more enjoyable.

As for the teachers--our fun happened around planning lessons, grading papers, and writing student comments. (But hey, it was better than being a student and doing homework--at least you have the answer key). The hours making notes in the textbook and writing vocabulary quizzes were balanced by the sacred moments of lunch hour.


We often organized special meals for our "lunch bunch." Lunch hour occasionally turned into a special "teacher meeting," including lots of talk about our students, Mr. Pizza (potato gold), and Taboo.


And of course, lunchtime practice sessions at Norebang.

All with incredible awards...

Work hard. Play hard. That is the key.

Full, but not too full for ice cream...

You know, even after eating the biggest, most satisfying meal-of-a-lifetime, there’s still room for dessert. You know you shouldn’t, but you do anyways.

The same is true with travel.

Even after having one million snapshots of scenic landscapes, interesting foods, and colorful people, there's always still room for more.

I've spent a total of 633 days abroad over the past four years, reaching approximately 17 countries (Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Korea, Thailand, Japan, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Germany, England, Ireland, Turkey, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, China) and earning more frequent flyer miles than a girl knows what to do with, you would think I've had my fill. Well, let’s be honest: I’m a bit worn out. Yeah, I’m tired. Exhausted. Okay, I'm downright drained. Perhaps I’ve seen enough temples, taken a few too many photos (you know that’s true), and said hello / goodbye a few more times than is really good for a person. All with considerable rewards, of course. And then...

Another opportunity arises, the chance to have one more adventure, see one more culture, and indulge another spoonful of delicious goodness...and BOOM, I'm on an airplane again. I just can’t seem to resist!

"Where to this time, TravelingJules?" you may ask. Argentina? Next time. There's still more to see while here in Asia.

For weeks, my buddy Christine and I had casually discussed going on a trip. When we got a high priced airplane ticket quote from my travel agent, we made a gutsy low ball offer, and to our suprise, paid him six bills that very same day!

Leaving for Laos tomorrow! :O

Itaewon and the Bookstore

Today, I went to Itaewon. It’s nothing like the rest of Korea. The mainstreet is lined with American, and Indian food restaurants, a few kabab stands and even a taco joint--a typical traveler hotspot--and a far cry from the usual bowls of rice and soup. Itaewon is a place where all the ex-pats, Military folk, and general “way-gu-gins” (foreigners) like to hang out. Compared to the rather homogeneous rest of Seoul, Caucasian, African and other foreign faces may even outnumber the few Koreans seen on the street.

At first, I dispised Itaewon, because it was so "un-Korean," although, it’s really convenient to have an International area so close in reach.

I go to Itaewon every time I need to buy a phone card or a used English book. On this occasion, it was for both. There are two used English bookstores in Itaewon: one of which I found while aimlessly wandering around, and the other I sought out while on a serious mission with the famous John Evans.

I usually swing by and browse the travel section when I'm in town. There's something magical about finding a book at the used bookstore: You just may happen to come across a recently abandoned treasure. Just about any book you find there has been stamped with a seal of approval by the mere fact that it's included in the collection. Here's my theory: If someone liked this book well enough to bring it on their trip (meaning they bothered to pack it and haul it among the other necessities), and then went to the trouble of recycling it at a used book store, it must be a good book. Not every book is worthy of this treatment--just the few handpicked golden choices. Give a penny, take a penny, that's how it works.

If by chance I stumble upon a used guidebook to Laos or SE Asia, I thought, I will be thrilled. I like to see what other people have marked in their guidebooks; they are clues to unchartered territory. Sometimes I find really great travel books, like the grimy, beat-up copy of Backpacker I found in a small village in Kho Phang Ngan, Thailand. I spent several afternoons enjoying that book, reading in the hammock of my beachside bungalow. I have since found a number of interesting stories at used bookstores.

This time, I happened to stumble upon a tale from the Lonely Planet collection, one called, By the Seat of My Pants: Humorous Tales of Travel & Misadventure. Seems like the perfect book for me to read in Laos...SCORE!

Dancing Around the World

Apparently I haven't been dancing enough...



http://www.stridegum.com/#/mattsplace/
http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/about.shtml

Why didn't I think of that?

Norebang

is the place to be: belt out a few tunes, sway those hips, and tap your feet to the rhythm of a jingling tambourine. Finally, there’s a place to sing all the numbers you were too embarrassed to sing in the shower. In America, we call it karaoke, after the Japanese version, but in Korea, this celebrated national pastime is known as Norebang (which literally means "song room").
Hire out a private singing room for an hour and see your “chin-goos” (friends) in a whole new light. When the music starts, neon lights dance around the room, glittering in the eyes of your companions. Song lyrics appear on the giant widescreen TV, and rising stars perform before your very own eyes. Audience members bop to the beat, while scanning the songbook to plan upcoming hits. It’s not a crime to sing off key, however, the worst of all sins is to let silence creep onto the playlist. Don’t drop the ball, every minute is cherished at Norebang.
The best of venues provide "service" (free time) to dedicated customers and are equipped with wireless mics and even a stage (so you can really feel like a celeb). Stage fright? Check it at the door. Get ready for pop songs and love ballads: Whitney, Mariah, and a whole lot more.

Even though I’m on vocal rest (and have a doctor’s note to prove it), I often find myself at Norebang cheering on my friends...after dinner, after hours, and for the hardcore, even during lunch break. Major props to all the talented vocalists.

Finding a Gym

I found a gym today. It may seem like a small feat to most people, however, it was a tricky task for me. In Korea, I am nearly illiterate. Despite the exhausting amount of information available to even a first grader on the internet, it is not available to me without the guidance of a good and patient friend who is fluent in the Korean language. I suppose I could have asked someone to help me do a search on Naver, but, I wondered if I could accomplish it alone, using basic animal instinct and curiosity.

I suspected there would be a gym just a few steps from my house.

My downtown Seoul apartment is situated among hundreds of restaurants and bars, hair salons, hagwons (schools) and dance studios in a quarter-mile radius. But, since I cant read (or choose not to, given the unusual span of time needed to comprehend everyday ads and billboards), I had to resort to alternative methods.

So I wandered. I wandered around my neighborhood looking for a place to stay fit and healthy. Eliptical machienes positioned against the third floor windows of an office building would be ideal. I tried to walk to work a different way each day, hoping I would bump into something great. I walked uphill to Kukiwon National Taekwondo Center, and downhill back towards the main street. I weaved in and out of the city side streets and alleyways, scanning buildings six floors high, but still, no gym.

Though I often came up emptyhanded, I began to enjoy taking the scenic route, whenever I had plenty of time and energy. It was a time for me to be alone and listen to the voice of curiosity. Like my snowboarding buddy Gergz—who can't ride a single chairlift without mapping out his route for future travel and exploration, without scoping out a line to ride on one of the many picturesque snowcapped-mountains in the distance—I, too, have become more curious about the world. I often find myself wondering, “What’s behind that building? What’s beyond that street?” But not everyone feels this way.

I captured my roommate Paul one Sunday afternoon, on a mission to do some necessary“wandering around" in exchange for a suitable lunch buddy. I asked him, "Do you ever feel the need to, you know, see what's over there?" “No,” he said contently. Just plain no, and that’s okay.

I’ve found a number of places while wandering around my area. There are a couple of small shops located just behind my house, including a very mini-sized grocery store with select vegetables and fruits available, a meat shop, and a place to buy kimichi and other banchan—-which is handy when I don’t have enough energy to make the trek to E-mart. There are a few bunshiks too, for those many times I want to grab some mandu or kimbab pojang (take out). There are even a number of snowboard and wakeboard shops one big street over. They are surprisingly still filled with winter coats and boarding gear during the height of summer. Score!

I've discovered a number of places which I've added accordingly to my mental map. I’m not even sure what a real map even looks like. But, I do know what the urban alleyways of Gangnam look like, even though I can never figure out if I'm traveling East or West. There are trucks loaded with fruit in the evenings around 8pm. There are street stalls filled with purses for sale on Sundays. There are run-in's with handholding couples and taxi drivers alike on Fridays. A zoo of young professionals parading around in the evenings. Alass, more calming, sobering early mornings; a time just for me and the streets be be alone. Restaurants and shops change overnight, but the buildings are always the same. Cars park wherever they can fit, squished alongside the shop doors and electrical poles.

I sometimes read the posters posted on these poles as I walk to work, curious if one will lead to the fitness center of my dreams. I was surprised to sound out the symbols“hwuah wit tuh ness sen tuh” (fitness center) with a mini map attached below. Yoink. I ripped one off and began to follow the map like a pirate seeking treasure. Within a few minutes, I found myself on top of a small hill just above my house--in a direction I rarely traveled. And here it was. My gym. Only a five minute walk from my doorstep.

Seoul Searchin

I once thought there was nothing left in Korea for me to discover. Over two or three summers, I had seen all the sights I had wanted to see, tried all the hot red spicy food I had wanted to try, sang all the Norebang pop songs I wanted to sing. I felt satisfied with my experiences from the Land of Morning Calm, and felt there was not much else I could learn--before learning more of the language.

So, while searching for greatness during late mud season, I listened to the loudest of all wispers in my head. It was the voice that desperately wanted to name all the vegetables in the refrigerator by their Korean names; the voice that pronounced ice cream with five syllables, adding an gut punching "uh" sound at the end (as in typical Korean pronunciation of English words). After browsing a variety of job listings, finding nothing particular to get excited about, I took one last look at my estimation of potential summer earnings in Korea, and booked a plane ticket departing two weeks later.

The first day in Korea, I signed up for Korean classes.

.....

So, what does Korea have to offer this time around?
-Another round of garlic and samgyopsal. Kogi Kogi Samgyopsal. The sour taste of yogurt ice cream. Milkshake in a bag. Banana milk. Mmmm....

(potbingsu)
-The comforts of a home away from home. I've got a visa, a bank card, and a cell phone (ghetto as it may be). Korea is still a challenging and foreign place to me, albeit, a nice spot to resume my summer routine.

-Korean class, aptly titled Survival Korean 101 (After learning how to read and mastering vocabulary in food and shopping, verbs and sentences seemed to be the next big thing...)

-A chance to go somewhere and leave the guidebook at home. There is no longer a magical list of things to do and see. This time, I can just be. I'll go to Myeong Dong or Hongdae when I get paid, when I need clothes. No need to just go there just to "experience it".


An Update:
I'm doing good. Living a surprisingly lavish life, while also tortuously waiting for my monthly paycheck to come (three days left). I have not yet been shopping, but still find ways to spend my money. I often buy an obligatory frappuccino at Tea & Purple so I can sit in a comfortable chair and internet my heart out! Korean class is good. I enjoy the opportunity to understand and use Korean. I'm not quite a star student but I do my best, and that's what counts! I joined a gym. More on that next time.

Working at Hoyah is good, like clockwork, in a comforting way.

My students are great, some funny, some sweet, some super awkward, but always an entertaining subject of conversation between myself and my good friend, roommate, and fellow coworker Paul / "Pole".



Korea this time has been everything but carefree summer fun. With continued trips to the ear, nose & throat specialist, I try not to cry everytime he tells me: no spicy food, no fried food, no drinking and worst of all, no chatting! It may have killed me if it were my first summer in Korea, but for a fourth go, I suppose I can handle having a less exciting trip. In fact, I haven't even left Gangnam or crossed the Han river once since I started working. I'm a 9-5 kinda girl now. Well, more like a 7-8 (7AM to 8PM) kinda girl on some days. More next time...


Meanwhile, for those of you who have not been here to visit yet, a little taste of Korea is in order. Checkout this episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations on the Travel Channel on YouTUBE Korea:

Part 1
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=y-9SOq_QgsQ&feature=related

Part 2
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=NDrH6bBCbHA&feature=related

Part 3
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=gxXatYZXrfo&NR=1

Part 4
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=TOs6Qf58OP4&NR=1

Part 5
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=3lpoGAQpj3E&feature=related

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Years have past since I was last in Pittsburgh. I was here once in college, I think. I have photos. Most of my memories are from childhood. I rarely call upon these memories, but when I do, I see my grandma with a big smile, happy to see us; my aunts and uncles; my cousins; the tiny, windy roads viewed out the backseat car windows; the color green. We used to catch fireflies; I loved watching them glow like stars in the sky. We used to play with the secret door in my grandma's old house, the laundry door that connected the closet to the next room. I used to push Charlotte around in a stroller, and look at pictures with my grandma.

My family used to make regular trips to Pittsburgh every two or three years, but, well, great distances, travel expenses and busy schedules made it difficult to visit more as we got older.

And now, this time, my trip to Pittsburgh was sadly for the purpose of attending my grandmother's Memorial Service. My grandmother passed away in April. Despite the sad circumstances, it was a nice time revisit Pittsburgh and remember the life of Ann Hershey in the company of several branches of my family tree. Family reunions are cherished whenever they do come.

A Time for Home

This year's post snowboard season plans included, NOT the giant grand finale end-of-the-season party trip to Mexico or Costa Rica or the DR, the trip my friend's and I've so often dreamt about...but never really had the funding or concrete "plans" to makes such ideas a reality. Rather, I booked an indefinite stay at the five star Chateau on beautiful Mountain Pine Drive. My own bedroom and bathroom, delicious, healthy, home-cooked meals, free internet, and weekend excursions into the city on demand. ;)

Throat and knee recovery was top priority. So was backing up my entire photo library. And, of course, finding a job. I was going to be busy. A different kind of busy.

Despite being glued to my computer for hours on end, I was able to make the most out mud season, vamping up my resume, catching up with old friends and hanging out with my padres--making up for months spent far away on the other side of the world.

Here are a few of the photo highlights from May, in no particular order.

B-day margs at the Rio--Kitty time!


Good times catching up with college buddies


A visit with Cyn Wag / mini high school reunion



And one last warm day tailgating at A-Basin


The Denver Art Museum




Rockies vs. Twins Baseball Game with Dad


Lunch with Mom at my FAVORITE Restaurant EVER, Thai Hiep

(The usual: Wonton Soup and Shrimp & Egg Roll Noodle Bowl)

Walk around the neighborhood




Mother's Day Shish Kabob


Hiking with Mark B.


The Grey's Anatomy Party Scene / The living room


Happy 25th



The revival Jeopardy on CD-ROM (Quarter century old, but not wise enough...)


Cool Cloud Pic