Hiking in a Winter Wonderland

Hello! Monthly update here!

The last month I've still been fighting a futile battle against the cold, or more accurately cowering inside to avoid any confrontations. But, I finally decided to give in and get outside a little bit. I got a chance to do a little hiking in the past few weekends with a friend and hiking buddy Heidi, which was literally a breath of fresh air. Winter really wears on me here!

If you weren't aware, Korea is quite mountainous, filled with modest peaks reminiscent of the Appalachians I am used to. Even Seoul is surrounded by mountains, which was once for strategic protection against enemies. Luckily, today that means lots of nice parks for hiking and getting into the fresh air.

My first attempt at hiking went pretty well - we basically climbed out of the smog right in the southern part of Seoul. Just a few hours, and the view was just of the city, but it was still very refreshing. It's always fun to be amidst the Korean hikers, who are a devoted and well-equipped bunch. When you are trying to make your way to the mountains using public transport, you can easily follow the throngs of other hikers who are recognizable by their extensive gear. However, it's rare to see young hikers. They are nearly all ajumas and ajushis, meaning older women and men.


Our second hiking expedition was a longer trip. We took the bus 2 hours to Daejeon (where my roommate's family lives) and visited a national park called Gyeryong-san (impossible for me to say with my terrible Korean pronunciation). It was absolutely gorgeous because of at least a few inches of fresh snow everywhere. Unfortunately, the snow was a bit unexpected and Heidi and I were not so well-prepared as our Korean friends, having only tennis shoes and no hiking poles. Hiking a couple of hours to Sambulbong peak was no problem, with just a few tricky parts. However, the descent was much more trying, especially for me. I was slipping so much on the snow that I had to walk at a snail's pace. Finally, a nice guy behind us offered for me to borrow a traction device that slips over your shoes to use on snow and ice. It wasn't exactly a crampon, but just a smaller "ice cleat" that rests at your instep. In Korean, it was called something like Ai-jen. Not sure...but it basically saved me life! Overall, it felt like a winter wonderland there, and restored some life to my body.



















Last weekend's trip to another national park was canceled because it rained, but I know there will be many more chances to explore Korea's peaks this spring.

With warm wishes and thoughts!
Alison

Hi everybody! As usual, the longer I procrastinate updating the blog, the worse it gets...I thought when I finished university I would have no more need for procrastinating, but that assumption has proved wrong! I suppose it just might stick with me throughout life if I am not more proactive. We'll see what happens in 2010.

Since September, I have settled in both at work and in my "new" apartment. I've spent a lot of time with friends, and not a lot of time doing anything "interesting", but here's a run-down anyway. Last I posted, it was just before Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), which I spend in Daejeon with my roommate Sharon's parents. We made (and happily consumed) a lot of yummy Korean foods, most of which I have forgotten the names for, but included Korean pancakes, a cucumber dish where they were cooked and sliced and filled with egg, carrot, or meat (like little cucumber sandwiches), and of course songpyeon, a Korean rice cake cooked among pine needles, made especially for Chuseok. I also made the famous Kitto family Dusky Dream cake because it was Sharon's mother's birthday. We went to a park that night and rented tandem bikes and mini motorbikes for an hour. Not a typical Chuseok activity that I know of, but there were a lot of families out enjoying the park. Their hospitality was wonderful, and I enjoyed my short stay in Daejeon.













During the fall we had a lot of visitors to our apartment, and thus broke in our kitchen very well. I enjoyed the Borscht, made by former roommate Kat (from Uzbekistan), and Sharon's "Puchu Japchae" among others. Honestly, I don't contribute much except for baked goods, which is more of my forte. In fact, for Christmas I had a Christmas cookie baking party, in which I managed to cram nearly 20 people into my little apartment to bake dozens and dozens of holiday favorites. Some of my guests got creative making shapes out of the Russian teacakes, which you can see below. All around, it was a great time, but next time I might opt to have smaller gatherings!



























I also got to be a part of my church's annual Christmas gala, which was a musical this year, called "The Prodigal" based on the prodigal son parable (Luke 15:11-32). I was in the choir/chorus, and was blessed to be a part of it and get to meet some new people. Sharon was the director, so I barely saw her at home that month! Then, as most of you will know, I headed home for Christmas around the 20th. I had a WONDERFUL time at home, though I spent the first week adjusting my sleep patterns. Not only did I get to see my parents and my adorable and genius nephew Asher - and his parents :) - but also many friends who were home for the holidays, my family in Fuquay, and my grandparents who I hadn't seen since going to Korea! After missing 3 Christmases at home, it was such a treat and well worth the 24 hours of travel it took to get there!





























The way back was a bit more difficult, as I was stuck in China overnight due to a snowstorm. It was very chaotic and I spent all night in lines, but met some nice folks ad ran into people I already knew actually! I had good fortune and got on the first plane out in the next afternoon by being persistent and flying standby. I arrived in Seoul to 10 inches of snow...and like NC, they don't know how to handle it too well! It took a week to recover from the stress of the total 50 hours of travel time, but I bounced back!

Since then, I have mostly been trying to avoid being out in the elements...the temperatures have hovered at or below freezing for quite awhile. But, I am still enjoying meeting with friends as much as possible, and reading lots of books on my new Kindle :) One highlight last month was a "snow walk" I took with my friend Vanessa when we visited a palace called Gyeongbokgung in Seoul and it started snowing. You can see some pictures below. Also, check out the rest of my photos at my Picasa site.















Hope you've all been healthy and well, and having many adventures of your own! Check back for updates, hopefully at least monthly this year. (Mom - try to pester me more frequently, OK?)

Love from Seoul,
Alison

Fun in Summer

Here's a few pictures from some fun events I attended late this summer: white-water rafting, church anniversary BBQ on the army base, and servant's retreat (where we had a bonfire!) By the way, has anyone ever played the game "Bohnanza"? It's a card game about beans, and is fun despite how it may sound! I learned to play it at the BBQ. Well, fall still hasn't "fallen" in Korea, but I would expect it any day now. I'm hoping for a couple of free weekends in October for hiking and enjoying the scenery, so hopefully more pictures to come! Next weekend is Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving holiday, so I have a couple of days off of work, and will be traveling to another city to visit my roommate's family. More to come...

With love,
Alison

Pretty tame for white water rafting, but also really fun.
Our guide was nicknamed "Bear"...pretty appropriate.

The army base feels like being in America but in the middle of Seoul.
They even had veggie burgers at the BBQ~

Some lovely ladies: Jessica, Sharon, me, Julianna *Note the bleachers
in the background...not a common sight in Korea.*

Amused by this sign at the army base entrance.
This is one of my roommates, Sharon.

Roasting marshmallows! I miss camping...

The New Pad!

Hello! So, it's been a few months of some major adjustments. After a wonderful 5 weeks in the States (home, beach reunion, D.C., Boston...) I headed back to Korea. About a month after I moved back, I finally moved out of the church and into this glorious apartment! I have 2 roommates, Sharon and Sarah, who are both Korean Americans though Sharon lived in Korea until the end of middle school before moving to Ann Arbor, MI. We absolutely LOVE our apartment because it has a living room, a nice big kitchen with an OVEN (very rare in Korea!) to satisfy my love for baking. It also has a washer and DRYER (also, not to be found in Korea), and a bathtub (another rarity). It's in an area called Noksapyeong, which is near the army base and thus became a district with a lot of foreigners living around here, but also a lot of great ethnic restaurants! We even have American electric outlets as well as Korean ones in our house. I have a cute little room and it really feels homey now. Here's some pics & I tried to do a video of my room since it's small and hard to photograph. Anyway, I thank God for the blessing of this house and my roomies, and it really feels like a haven after a long day of work, etc.

View from our veranda

View of Namsan tower lit up at night

My bedroom video:

Things at the school are going well. We have filled up a lot of our classes and are still growing. My hours are long and not the best, but I am trying to be positive and to take care of my health as much as I can. Hope you're all doing well, and I'll be back sooner than 4 months ;)

Swine Flu

So...I am wondering how the swine flu hype is affecting everyone in the States and elsewhere?

Last year in Korea it was protests against U.S. Beef because of non-existent Mad Cow Disease, or "Crazy cow" as they called it. Now, here in Korea, there are definitely some cases of swine flu, brought back by both Koreans and foreigners, and it seems to be spreading a little bit. Still I don't think it's a huge cause for concern at this point. Interestingly, a MAJOR English academy here in Seoul called C.D.I. (Megan used to work for a branch of this academy) is under quarantine because some of the teachers had H1N1 flu. They have branches all over Seoul, all of which are shut down, and the offices where the infected teachers trained and taught are under quarantine. Teachers are forced to stay in their apartment buildings, and there are checkpoints and everything in the lobbies to see if anyone else in the building has fever or symptoms as they come and go. Actually, this includes one of my friends who isn't able to go out for 10 days, though so far he has no symptoms. Apparently they have been treating them kind of rudely, and their internet connection was down for a long time, pretty much isolating them.

As of now...I am considering wearing a mask when I go to the airport in a couple of weeks to fly home. Although, it might almost be better to have the flu now when it seems pretty mild rather than later if it starts to become more virulent. These masks are pretty popular in Korea for average colds and yellow dust season anyway, so I will fit right it!

A Day for Kids - Young and Old

This year I celebrated Children's Day, not with a trip to Japan like last year, but just hanging out in Seoul with my favorite Korean family. I am still close with my old coworker Hyo Sung and her family, who I also went to Lotte World with. Her 2 daughters are adorable and they were sweet to invite me to join them for Children's Day (a national holiday in Korea). First, we went to "The Drawing Show" which is an entertainment show based on drawing (I would compare it to Blue Man Group, but for art). It was really impressive! They recreated a lot of famous artwork as well as some original stuff using all kinds of crazy methods. They had a ton of tricks up their sleeves and were pretty humorous over all. Best of all, I didn't need to know any Korean to enjoy it! :)

The main characters of the show

Final drawing (made it in about 2-3 minutes)

After the show, we headed to Gangnam area where they took me to a vegan buffet for lunch (if you don't know, that is extremely rare in Korea). Usually vegetarian food is Buddhist temple food, but in this case it was based around something called "Supreme Master" which apparently is not a religion according to a man working there, but is based on environmentalism and followers agree that being vegan is necessary to stop global warming and save earth. They had supreme master TV playing on the wall...which was...interesting. Definitely seemed a bit religious, but people define religion in different ways I suppose. Nonetheless, the food was great and I could eat everything without worry! They were so sweet to go out of their way to take me there.

Finally, we finished the day by going to Achasan (mountain in Seoul) to relax and hike. Hyo Sung's sister and her family joined us there as well, so it was nice to get to know her sister a bit. It was a full day, and really did make me feel like part of a family on a pretty important family holiday.

With the kids on Children's Day

Flat Stanley

Recently I had my very first visitor come see me in Seoul! She happened to come in an envelope in the mail, and her name is "Flat Stanley" :)

My cousin Elise sent me this doll for her 3rd grade school project based on the book "Flat Stanley" in which a boy is flattened by a bulletin board, and then gets sent in the mail all over the world. I had to take Stanley around with me and take photos and write about our adventures. I think Stanley may have been a bit bored because I pretty much just went about my daily life, but we did take some photos of the things I experience on a regular basis, so I'll share some of these photos with you guys too. I had so much fun showing Stanley around, so now that I have some tour guide experience, feel free to come visit anytime :) haha

Riding the subway...not too crowded tonight.
Asaaaa!! (That means "YESSSSS! in Korean)

Four 3rd graders I am tutoring once a week privately. They are a lot of fun! From the left: Cindy, Stacy (with Stanley), Me, Edward, and Sunny (English names). I had them write a short letter to Elise in English too!

The view from my new (temporary) home...a definite contrast from the last place! The north part of Seoul is older and less developed, though it is changing too.

I posted the rest of the pics here.

Now Stanley has gone back to be with Elise, but it was a fun visit while it lasted!

Why I Like Korea

Jess, Ness, & I try out "street mail" in Gangnam

Well, this is just one, rather superficial reason why I like Korea. Recently in Gangnam, a busy area of Seoul where I spend a lot of time generally, they installed these really tall pillars with interactive screens that do all kind of things. They have maps and all sorts of other features. You can take a picture, add a border, write something, and email it to yourself too. Plus, these pillars also give off wireless internet to the entire area. Sweeeeet! When I thought about why Korea has things like these in public places and the U.S. doesn't, I realized it's because sadly in the States somebody would take a baseball bat and vandalize it nearly immediately, whereas Korea doesn't have this kind of problem at all. There's all kinds of technological gadgets in public places like malls or on the streets and nobody damages them.

In a Nutshell :)

Hmmm, I pretty much exactly hit the one month since update mark, which means I have been thinking of updating for about 3 weeks ;) whoops!

So, here's the summary of a few weekends...
1) Moved my apartment around Feb 24th, so I packed for one whole weekend (how did I accumulate so much STUFF in 1.5 yrs??)- pictures of the new place to come if it's ever clean (fat chance!) haha. It's a little bigger than my last place, but really far north in the city, so I will move again in the summer.

Like I never lived there...

2) 3 weekends ago went to Lotte World, an indoor/outdoor amusement park in Seoul, with my ex-coworker and her family, including 2 young daughters. It's basically a very scaled down Disney World imitation, but it was so fun to spend "family time", and I am really enjoying continuing our relationship after changing jobs. I am also tutoring her older daughter and some friends still, so I see her weekly. I'm surprised she's still friends with me in spite of making her go on the "Gyro Spin" ;)

With Hyo Sung's younger daughter, Su Min

3) 2 weekends ago, I spent the whole time in the hospital. Actually Wednesday to Sunday I was pretty much there, because my friend Vanessa was sick. She's had an ongoing problem with terrible stomach/chest pain that was undiagnosed, and they finally discovered a large gall stone and gall bladder infection. Friday they removed the whole gall bladder, and she went home on Monday. I became her coordinator and mommy during that week, staying at the hospital as much as I could, and coordinating people to stay the rest of the time. It was hectic and hard to be in the hospital for so long, but it was so much harder for her, having surgery and all of this pain, far away from her family, and where the nurses pretty much only spoke Korean to her. Yikes! She pulled through wonderfully and is gonna be like new soon. So glad I could be there for her! Korean hospital was interesting as well. We were in a room of 7 people, so there was a lot going on, and it was surprising to me how all ages were put together. There was an infant in the same room, which was also very sad, though most people were older. Other children were mixed in with the adults, and the atmosphere was just not catering to them at all. I know childrens' hospitals do exist, but perhaps they are more expensive.

Pre-op...hehe this was a tight squeeze. The eye mask says "cute devil" on it.

Post-op visitors...in good spirits, all things considered!

4) Last weekend...I recovered! I was playing catch up all week after that week in the hospital, so I really needed the rest.

Hope you feel updated at least a bit! I'll post a few pictures from Lotte World and the hospital and a few others on my photo site soon. I don't have a lot from Lotte World because I am still waiting for my coworker to share them with me.

Love to all!
Alison

English Zone

So my public school just created an English classroom to be opened for the next school year... just in time for me to leave! What a difference it would have made to have a classroom so that I didn't have to make everything portable, deal with 11 different classroom set-ups and computer systems, and set up everything time and again in each homeroom class. But, I am excited for whoever the new teacher is. He/she will have a great co-teacher (she was the 5th grade English teacher when I arrived, and a 5th grade homeroom teacher this year) and a nice new classroom. Here's a few pics I took of the new room. Pretty cool! They have a lot of English picture books, so I hope they actually make good use of them for the students. These days most school are creating an "English Zone" though I'm not sure it makes any difference in effectiveness since the curriculum is still lacking. Time will tell!

Window shades & little robot stations

English conversation robots...

These little rooms will be role-play stations (like pharmacy, grocery store, etc)
They aren't finished quite yet though.

Books! There's a whole wall of picture books.

This year they added English phrases to all the stairwells.