White Water Rafting!

Hello, hello!

A couple weeks ago we went white water rafting. It was great! The rapids were kinda tame but it was still fun. I couldn't bring my camera in the boat (thank God they stopped us cause it would have been a diaster!) but I have a few pics of the before and after.




My friend Rob arranged it through the USO, but I think they have trips every so often anyway. It was fun. We went over several rapids and then stopped where there was an overhanging cliff and I sandbar in the middle of the river. The guides helped us climb the cliff and Ajenai and I jumped off. Most of the group didn't jump (chickens!) but it was fun. It wasn't really that high, but getting to the spot was a pain in the butt. There was almost a sheer incline you had to climb to reach the short cliff. Our guide almost single handedly pulled me up! (strong guy, I know!:))

The sandbar in the middle of the lake was a nice spot to sit but it had a strong undercurrent surrounding it. We almost got swept away trying to swim back to shore!


Afterwards, we went to lunch in this Korean resturant. I know they were happy to see us coming cause the place was almost empty when we got there! There were 3 little old ladies cooking and serving. So you can imagine how long it took us to get our food! Some people got there food sooner than others, Ajenai and I being ones who were served first. So I offered my food to some folks, cause we all ordered the same thing anyway. My friend Rob said, "cool" but then he made the mistake of actually dipping his chopsticks into Ajenai's bowl! Big mistake. She gave him this look (see picture below!)

and said, "she offered HER food, not mine!" He said, "this is Korea man. Everybody shares!" And Ajenai said, "I'm American." Hey, I don't teach her this stuff!

Anyway, the trip was a blast and I'm sure I'll do it again soon. But I'll be sure that Ajenai brings her own food!


bye! a:*

Ajenai's School

Hello, hello!

Finally! Ajenai attends the same school I work at! Being a teacher, it was bound to happen. And I'm so happy it did here in Korea. Of course, it's a little bit of an adjustment...for both of us. She is actually fine with the 24/7 thing. I'm a little tired though! Sometimes it's enough already! But, as a mom, I'm not supposed to admit that, right! LOL

Anyway, apparently, I work at a pretty expensive institution. Lots of students have their "drivers" drop and pick them up from school. And the majority of the students are Korean. Maybe 5, (including Ajenai) are not Korean.

So it's a bit of a cultural adjustment for her since she it hasn't been a month since she returned from America.

She's doing very well though. The teachers are keeping an eye out for her and they said that she is not shy. She has no problem going up to the other students and asking them to do something with her or talking to her. Their is also an Indian girl in the 6th grade who she has become fast friends with.

The school work is taking her sometime to get used, to because these kids don't play. The majority of their parents have purchased all the school books for them during the summer! So the kids come to school already having read a lot of their assignments! Not at all like America. Plus, most of them attend Academy after school. Similar to where I worked last year. These are special schools that teach all kinds of things, like, Korean, math, science, english, etc. So I am really trying to keep on top of Ajenai and her study skills, etc. Reminding her to write down every assignment and to speak to her teachers if she is confused on anything. Going over all of her homework before she turns it in, etc. It's hard being a teacher and a parent! As I'm sure other parents can testify too!

She asked me the other day if the all the students at the school were rich. I said most of them are. She said," no wonder they all have the best cell phones!" You know what kind, with flip screens and internet and you can watch t.v. and movies on them and stuff. I wish I had one like that! And poor Ajenai has her $49.99 english phone, with half the silver coating scrubbed off and complete with monster stickers attached to it! Hey, at least she has a cell phone!

This week the extra-curricular activities started so she is excited. She is in the soccer club, tennis club, and drama club. Hopefully, she keeps her grades together and can continue.

OK, that's it for now! I'll take pictures of my class and post them here soon!

a :*

Rooftop BBQ

HEllo!

My (military) friend had a bbq at his place a couple weeks ago. It was AWESOME. I put "military" friend because you can see (and taste) the difference between how the military live and us English teachers! He had ribs, (real bbq ribs y'all!), potato salad, a veggie platter (with olives!), LAYS potato chips (!!!!), and the piece de resistance...cheesecake! Real, live NEW YORK STYLE cheesecake! With strawberries on top!!! OMG that cake was gone in seconds, literally, seconds! The military folks were like, "what's wrong with y'all?" I said, "we LIVE in KOREA!" Not faux korea (which is what I call the base!) Anyway, there was more there than just the food but food is ALWAYS my focus!





We had fun and his roof is amazing. He can see almost all of downtown. We invited ourselves back for a night party to see the city lights!




I'm planning a trip to Busan, which is about 4 hours away from Seoul, this weekend (if I don't get deported first! Loooong story, maybe I'll share it next time!). I'll be sure and take lots of pictures to share!

a :*(kiss)

New Digs

Hello everyone! I know it's been ages and a lot has happened!

First off, I moved! To a new "smaller" apartment. But I say it has more "character" and "charm" than the bigger place I had before! I had a little housewarming and I will attach the few pics we took. Doesn't really show you my place but you can see the size of it!

You know how you don't know how good something is until it's gone? My first apartment I didn't buy anything. Literally nothing. (ok, maybe a fork or two). But this one was completely empty. I mean EMPTY. I had to buy EVERYTHING. A fridge, washer, furniture, pots, pans...it sucked. And I dropped a bit of money on it as you can imagine. But luckily I got good deals on stuff. And right on the corner near my place is this great plant store. I went in and bought a bunch of stuff. The plan is to live in a jungle! So I'm buying plants often! When we went in, there was a little girl in there and I asked if she spoke english and she just started smiling and laughing and saying no. I said she should go to the park with Ajenai and the girls mother was agreeing (her english was very little, but we were working it out). Both girls were just standing there staring at each other! But eventually, Ajenai went to the park with the girl and she was like, "her english is fine!" So they hang out at the park down the street.

I really like this new neighborhood, even though it's all Korean all the time!I got kinda used to seeing other brown faces living in Itaewon (which is foreign town). But it's a cute neighborhood. We have our corner store, where the high school son speaks perfect english and his parents speak none! He is always playing games on the computer and I tell him to go outside with Ajenai! His parents and the local drunks who sit outside say hello every, single time we pass by! Cute so far, but I anticipate that getting old fast!

Ok, more later!

bye for now!

Nigerian Males...Smooth Operators

Hello, hello!

I think it is wonderful and interesting that Africans can be found living in every country around the world (in my experience anyway). A testament to African fortitude and determination and resourcefulness I believe, that we can survive anywhere!

Anyway, today I feel the need to speak about my experiences with the Nigerians here in Seoul.

I live in Itaewon, which is considered the international area of Seoul. Most foreigners are located here (the US military base is here) and there is a large African community here, mostly Nigerians.

And it is impossible for a girl to walk down the street without getting accosted! Sometimes it is funny, but (lots of times) not!

"Hello, my name is _ _ _ _ _, can I have your number?" is usually how the convo goes. From zero to phone number in 30 seconds flat! They shake your hand with one hand and have their cell phone in the other! And if you say no, (which, invariably I say!) "Oh sister, why,why? Do you not want to get to know me. I am just a man. Can I not get to know you. I just want to be your friend. Oh, please, would you like a friend. I want to get to know you. How am I to get to know you, sister, please, please. Why, are you afraid of me? Come on sister." And on, and on, and on! I can be standing in the street, turning down a guy for literally 20 minutes! What the hell! And while this prattle is going on, they are holding your hand and trying to pull you in their direction!

They also try to walk me home! I have to stop in the street so they don't accompany me to my door! I mean, a little attention is a nice thing but, come on! As beautiful as I am (insert your favorite picture of me in your mind here!), there is no way I am so hot you want to follow me home! Sheesh!

I'm gonna have to start taking taxi's home so I can arrive in one piece!

Well, the adventure continues!

see you!

FAN DEATH-a

Hello, hello!

I know it's been forever but there's nothing new under the sun!

Today I am writing to tell you about a Korean belief called. . . FAN DEATH. or in Korean fan death-a, you have to say the a at the end!

So it's summer and of course the heat is stifling here. I mean,well. . . stifling. So speaking with my students about using the fan to keep cool and they all say

"oh,teache-er you can no fan on when sleeping. You die! Very bad!"

That's right people. The Koreans believe that if you sleep, in a room, with all windows and doors closed, you will die. FAN DEATH-a.

Now, my students couldn't explain why this is, but they fully believe this to be true. They've seen the deaths on tv and in the newspaper, so it must be true!

I found some grown ups to ask, thinking, of course, they would blow it off and tell me the origin of the superstition. Guess what I found out? Not a superstition folks! Many, many adults told me FAN DEATH-a is TRUE!!!! If you sleep with the fan on, with all windows and doors closed, you will indeed die. FACT.

How can this possibly happen? Well, let me tell you. There are two schools of thought that I have heard on FAN DEATH-a. One is that leaving the fan on makes your body so cold, that eventually your heart stops and you die. Presumably from hypothermia.

Now, I looked up hypothermia and there are 3 stages to progress through until death. And this all takes longer than 24 hours if you are not submerged in water.

I tried to tell my Korean colleagues this amazing fact but, alas, to no avail. They say FAN DEATH-a is FACT and that's that.

The second way to die via FAN DEATH-a, and I believe this is a more common belief, is through lack of air. That's right, having the windows and doors closed does not allow fresh air into the room. The fan therefore circulates old, stale air and this, indeed, leads to death.

Hard to believe I know, but hey, facts are facts. And for those of you that have a heard time believing in FAN DEATH-a, I have attached a video that proves, this can happen. . . to you. So boys and girls, don't sleep with the fan on!

A note of advice from Korea!

Korean Acupuncture!

Hello, hello!

I have a mild case of carpal tunnel and sometimes I use acupuncture to treat it. I decided to go to an acupuncturist here, in Korea. There is an international clinic near where I live in Itaewon and there is an acupuncturist there. So I traveled over there to check it out.

When I went into the suite, it appeared small but I thought I probably couldn't see the whole room from the doorway. There was noone there so I said "Annyong ha shimnikka". This man came from out of the bathroom and said hello. And it was pretty obvious that he was. . . blind. So I talked to him and he said he was the acupuncturist and it cost 20 grand ($20) for a 1 hour treatment. I said thank you maybe next time and left.

As I was walking down the hall, I thought, part of the reason I am here in Korea is for the experience. And if this man is a blind acupuncturist, he must have been in business for a long, long time. And it's not like I haven't had painful acupuncture before. So if it hurts I just won't go visit him again. So, what the heck, I may as well give it a try.

So I went back and told him I would love a treatment.

He says, right this way, and I realized the suite was as small as I initially thought. It is only one room and in the corner is a queen sized bed. Ooookkay. The bed had a bright yellow spread on it and he layed a matching yellow towel over a small pillow and then told me to lie down on my back. So I moved to the center of the bed. He asked where my pain was and I said my forearms and wrists and he said ok. He climbed to the end of the bed, got his little tray with his needles and cotton swabs and alcohol, then reached out his hand trying to find me! I finally grabbed his hand and said, "here I am!" He squatted on the bed on his haunches like a frog and prepared to insert the first needle. I cringed just like in the movie theater when the scary music starts to play. But, viola, I didn't feel a thing! So he placed a bunch of needles on my arm and shoulder. And then he moved down to my feet on the bed. . . and stayed there!

Now, as some of you may know, one of my best friends, Michelle, is an acupuncturist. She has a wonderful practice in Berkeley and I have been on her table many a time. At this point, I have got to do a comparison between Michelle's practice and the blind guys practice.

Michelle: beautiful room full of ambiance. There are soft colors and paintings on the wall and muted lighting.
Blind guy: one room studio full of clutter.

Michelle: nice massage table for you to lay on that has buckwheat pillows for your head.
Blind guy: queen size mattress with small lumpy towel covered pillow.

Michelle: soothing, calming instrumental music
Blind guy: korean talk show with lots of piped in laughter

Then, once Michelle puts the needles in, she covers your eyes with a small lavender pillow and leaves you for about 45 minutes to chill and fall into a restful sleep. My blind guy stayed, squatting like a frog, at the end of the mattress! I thought, if he stays there for 45 minutes I am going to scream! Luckily, he only left the needles in for about 20 minutes. Even though I hate conversation when I am receiving any kind of treatment, I decided I had better talk to him to take my mind off the awkward circumstances. I was trying to find out how long he had been an acupuncturist, but he would just say, "oh, long, long time!" and he asked me if I had ever heard of Korean acupuncture before because it was very, very famous.

Then, thankfully, he removed the needles and started the massage. Of course, at the word, MASSAGE, I pictured like a nice swedish rubbing motion or something similar. Of course that wasn't the case. He grabbed my shoulder and was like kneading so hard my whole body was shaking back and forth, back and forth. I thought, Oooookkkay. It didn't hurt, didn't feel good either! But, he was finally finished and I paid him and left.

Hey, I'm here for the experience and you can't get any better than a blind acupuncturist for a new experience!