Homesick in Korea?

If ever an American is homesick in Korea, there is one place guaranteed to ease the pain. Cosco. Yep, the giant wharehouse store full of bulk goods. Just a 20 minute walk from my apartment sits a Cosco, exactly the same as the ones at home. Well, maybe not exactly- there's a bit more in the way of chili paste and fish flavored things, but look hard enough and you'll find such delights as string cheese, sour cream, ravioli, and Go-gurt. In the frozen section, taquitos, chimichangas, corndogs and all the other guilty microwaveables. At the bakery counter you can order the enormous sheet cakes with tacky icing- as blah as they are at home, I'm sure, but familiar nonetheless. L'oreal fruity kids' shampoo, Altoids, Chips Ahoy, and Otis Spunkmeyer! It's like a foreigner's fairyland. They even have the good old food court with hotdogs and pizza and chicken bakes and soft serve. And, alas, they have tortillas.

I'm budgeting myself this month so when I went to Cosco last night, I only had a few items on my list. It is easy to go overboard at a place that sells candy bars in packs of 50 and enough microwave popcorn in one box to run a movie theater for a day. First, my friends and I dined for $3 a piece at the food court. Sitting on the red plastic swivel chairs enjoying my pizza, I looked around happily at all the Koreans enjoying the same food as me. Really the only hint that gave away that we were in Korea at all were the plates of relish and onion mashed together in the center of all their tables. A pretty clever way to get the pickled side dish they require at every meal.

After eating, we spread out to shop. I secured my giant loaf of wheat bread and 2 pack Kashi cereal and began my search for the rumored tortillas. There they were, next to the frozen potstickers. I lifted it out of the freezer and admired the frosty bag. Mi Rancho Tortillas. San Leandro California. I was delighted. From home! Thinking about how the tortillas had come just as far as I had made me quite happy. Silly, I know. A whole lot of crap travels all over the world all the time. The majority of the food in that place is obviously from the States. But reading the words San Leandro made me feel like I wasn't really so far from home at all.

Seoul trip

Koreans shop like they drive. Just go ahead with what they want to do, oblivious to all other people. Start shifting through a rack and expect it to be shoved back your way by a Korean who decides she wants to have a look at the other end of it. If you spot what you need and want to grab it, there always seems to be a couple of Korean girls with their high heels glued to the floor and their thin little bodies managing to block out the entire display.

Unfortunately this didn't deter me from hitting the stores on my first trip to Seoul. I'm never completely comfortable with shopping on a trip. I mean, you can shop at home anytime, right? But to justify, there is quite a bit in Seoul that you can't find in Daejeon. For starters, H&M and Forever21. I know, I know. Forever21? Going there for clothes while abroad is like eating at McDonald's. But sometimes you just want the familiar.

And I got a lot of familiar this weekend. Every subway car I rode in had at least 2 or 3 other foreigners in it. Some cars were even nearly half white people. I'm so used to being the only blond girl on the block. And being pleased with myself to have found such a gem of a country to live in for a year. Seoul reminded that there are thousands of other foreigners basking in glow of the same gem. Now I was just part of the crowd.

And there were literally crowds everywhere. If I could sum up Seoul from the small glimpse I got of it this weekend, I would say one word-crowded. But truly amazing. The typical Korean attitude- a blend of easygoing enjoyment, brotherly love, and prideful industry- seeps from the streets. There is no wonder at all why many foreigners find a second home here. It is a happy home. Yet, I won't say I'm disappointed that I can't call it my home. I'm perfectly content in Daejeon with its one subway line, 2 dance clubs, and no Mexican food. Okay, scratch that last one.

As the bus from Seoul heaved into Deajeon, I thought of how I had secretly missed the subtle stares from strangers and the delighted waves from children I get when I pass by. I missed being special.

How is the weather in Korea?

Snowing, actually. Since my apartment window looks straight out to another building, I was shocked to see snow piled on top of cars and along the roads this morning when I got outside. I though it rather fitting for the lesson on weather that I'd been preparing. How is the weather in Korea? Crazy. I've finally made some sense of the 5 umbrellas that were left in a cabinet in my one-person apartment. You never know when it will rain... or snow. So, one umbrella at each school, one in my bag and two for when I inevitably leave one on the subway. I'm all set.

Unfortunately I have a camera curse and always abandon my camera on days when I could have used it. My bag has been getting more and more stuffed each day so to save space my camera got the boot this morning. I immediately regretted my decision when I got outside as I would have liked a picture of my street with a pretty layer of frosting over it. I said before that the city looks better in good light. I'll add to that now- white is it's color. It was still lightly snowing this evening so hopefully it will look the same tomorrow.

I was able to leave early from school today with my co-teacher to go the immigration office and pick up my alien registration card. The bus was packed with middle and high school students. I'm able to identify their school by the color of their plaid. So, although out of the 400+ students I teach I have memorized two names, I know which girls go to my schools at least. They wave and try to work out in giggly Korean how to ask me a question in English and then push one of the braver girls at me. I'm here to get them to speak English so I'm doing my job just by riding the bus.

Later on at the cell phone store my co-teacher and I sat around for over an hour waiting for them to activate new my phone. I had a cup of sugar with coffee and listened to people speak Korean. Suddenly a man in hospital wear dragging an IV stand with him rushed in. It was finally my turn to stare at someone. But no one, including the 2 clerks, acted like anything was odd about this. From the looks of things the guy was there to pay his phone bill. He handed over some bills, dropped the change on the little round plate on his IV (no pockets in hospital pants) and left. Back to the hospital I hope. There's another picture I would like to have taken- man in white cotton hospital set connected to an IV, clanking down the slushy sidewalk in the snow.

A couple of tips

Not much energy to write anything special today. I would love to take a relaxing shower after a long day at work, but showers have become remarkably less appealing to me since moving into my apartment. Having to hold the shower head while standing in front of the sink and inevitably soaking the entire bathroom is not very soothing.

So, I will just offer up a few tips about Korea from my experience thus far:

1) Chopsticks go on the right.

2) Bare feet are out of the question (I'm waiting to see how this plays out come summertime).

3) Mealtime is for eating. Don't expect more than a dixie-cup size beverage. Unless of course Soju is on hand in which case you will have a shot glass size.

4) The little puffy mats in front of the shoe shelves everywhere are for you to stand on as you take your shoes off. Let's call them transition mats. Step out of your shoes, onto the mat, then into the room you are entering.

5)If you don't know your blood type, find out! They will ask you.

6) If you don't like your age, be prepared to give a different one... often. And, in Korea, you are 2 years older than you thought you were. Sorry.

7) Don't be put off if a Korean tells you you'd better do something. You'd better leave early for work. It would be better if you took this route. This is thought of as a way to make a polite suggestion in English. Clash of cultures here.

8) Don't put your rice in the soup bowl.

9) Like sweet coffee. The little packets of instant coffee that you just add water to are convenient, but 75% sugar here.

10) Be prepared to sing. I haven't had to yet, but sooner or later I will have to sing for my students. Karaoke is popular to say the least.