For a couple of photos and blogs from one of the crew I hang out with
here in Seoul:
http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=gallery&go=trentham
WHY TEACHING CAN BE FUN...
Female Student: "I got my boss satisfied.."
Me:
Female Student: "Yes, I satisfied him.."
THE BEAR AND GARLIC MYTH
According to another student of mine, Korean people originated from an
ancient myth that goes like this: One day a bear ate some garlic, and
low and behold became the ancestor of the Korean people today.
I can't say the Koreans resemble or have the strength of a bear, but
the garlic breath - definitely!*
*Koreans love garlic, roasted on a Korean barbecue in vast quantities,
downed with much meat, kimchi** and soju/beer. It's an awesome meal to
share with other people.
**I never thought i'd say this, but I'm now addicted to Kim chi. Where
before I wasn't sure I could eat every meal with the everpresent
collection of small pickled spicy garlicky vegetables and seafood, but
now I'm not sure if I can have a meal without them! I'm not even
longer adverse to the idea of Kimchi burgers (since they put kimchi in
almost everything!) However this is still no love with the coffee,
nope, nada, low caffeine hazelnut flavored brown water just doesn't do
it for me. At all.
"WHATS YOUR BLOODTYPE"
Just as we foreigners ask things like "Whats your star sign?" or
"What's your Zodiac sign" etc, Koreans (or maybe Asians in general)
tend to ask the bloodtype question. Why? Because they believe that
people with certain bloodtypes exhibit certain characteristics.
Below is a summary of the characteristics gleaned from a student of
mine. Whats your bloodtype?
A = Most common bloodtype in Korea. They tend to be shy, introverted,
honest, emotional, sensistive, diligent, worry about what other people
say or think about them.
B = Less common bloodtype. Act unusual, unpredictable, erratic. Not
shy, don't care about people or anything really. Not the best
characteristic for men. Apparently theres a famous Korean movie called
"B-Type Boyfriend" which is all about a guy with these
characteristics. I'll have to watch it one day...
0 = Extroverted, social, talkative. Envied by A type people. Always
happy. Don't care what other people say or think about them, happy to
do as they please. Sensual.
AB = Least common. Similar to B. Make great leaders. Have great
managing skills. Also don't care about what people think.
I don't really know my bloodtype. My parents are A and O respectively
so I could be either A, O, or AO.
I've been told if you don't know, just say O, because thats the best
one to have.
Sammy, the girl i'm seeing, is O but tends to exhibit A
characteristics alot.
MY APARTMENT
Is coming along nicely, i've cleaned it up quite alot, and i've killed
many resident flies and cockcroaches (the last Korean tenant was quite
messy, she never cleaned up much). Thankfully they're dwindling in
number. Thanks to Sammy's assistance I now have food and cleaning
equipment bought cheaply at Emart, and a huge 26"? screen TV that she
gave me since her family no longer needs it. The only problem is
Korean TV is in Korean, so I'm looking at cable and DVD options.
Sleeping on the floor on a futon is good for the back, but still takes
some getting used to. Koreans like being close to the floor, they eat
off low coffee tables with cushions as seats, something i'm looking
into for my place also.
I should really invest in a washing machine. Handwashing just does not work.
The apartment is situated slightly up a hill, where one would sit
inside facing the open front door to admire the "beautiful" views of
concrete and brick apartments, stairways all over the place in
escheresque fashion, and the pouring pouring rain.
Anyway, I'll write more on things like the monsoons, floods and the
mud festival etc in another long winded email soon.
Ciao!
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