On visiting home; or, the most confusing thing you'll ever do.

I'm not even going to pretend to excuse the absence of blog posts for the last several months, it would be insulting to both you, the reader, and myself. What I will say is "I Love You~ Chuuu~~"  "Sorry".

I just returned from my summer vacation in America this past Sunday. I'm finally able to see clearly again (after having a contact lens suctioned to my eyeball during the 14 hour airplane ride, yes it was very stupid of me to wear one MOM) and I feel like unloading a bunch of feelings that have sprung up as result of leaving Korea, arriving in America, and returning to Korea.

1. Pre-departure. I have GOT to get out of this country. Look at that ajumma, staring at me. YEAH I'M NOT KOREAN OLD LADY. Oh GREAT another guy spitting on the sidewalk, just lovely. Really lady, you work at a doctor's office, how do you not speak a lick of English? I guess I'll just get medicated for whatever you feel like today. UGH kimchi jiggae again for lunch? Can't I just get a sandwich?? With some honey dijon? Maybe some pretzels on the side with some not too expensive fruit? This is all usually followed by the phrase, "When I get to America, I'll/I won't have to/there will be/ there won't be any..." As you pack your bags, giggly with both frustration and delight, the 24 hour journey you are about to take seems like a breeze.
2. Arrival. So you made it to America! Home of the Free and Land of the Brave! Hotdogs and cheesy tots for everyone! Stepping off this plane and into the bright new- "Hey! lady! hurry up in the line!" Who? Me? Oh right. Everyone speaks English here. I get no grace period for figuring out how anything works because I speak English, too. Also, why is everyone so loud? Did this airport lady just roll her eyes at me? rude! AH! What's that smell? Omgggg. It's heavenly! A pulled pork BBQ restaurant in the middle of this Dallas airport. Let's eat it all! (20 minutes later) Oh.I don't think my stomach is use to all this rich food. I need some rice ASAP. Oh boy. After a while you'll get to do all the shopping that you wanted to do for the last 12 months. Shoes! Jackets! Shoes again! Never mind that you should be sleeping, and that you've been talking non-stop out of pure excitement/jet lag. Soon it will all seem like an awesome Benadryl induced dream, one that unfortunately has to come to an end. But first a few annoying "In Korea we..." statements.
3. Return. First of all, why am I sobbing?! This is way harder than my initial departure from America for some reason. Maybe it's because the time was so short I didn't get to experience many of the bad parts about living at home. Like the higher costs for just about everything, the violence, the lack of travel opportunities widely available. For a brief moment in time, everything was perfect! Also, I'm exhausted. This is...odd. I wasn't this tired when I traveled to America. So what now? I was convinced I was done with this country, and then I've had a taste of home life again (not much changed there). I thought this trip was suppose to solve every riddle I had twisted up in my head about what I wanted to accomplish in my life. Another year in Korea would be bogus, right? RIGHT? 

So, there you have it. The three stages of what I'd call manic-depressive like symptoms regarding a trip back to your home country after an extended stay abroad. Did I learn anything conclusive? No. Do I have any solid plans about the next step? Not at all. Did I score some pretty sweet shoes? Heck yeah!

With love and respect (fist bump)

Imani 

On weight loss in Korea

Every orifice of my being is getting bombarded with World Cup information. World Cup sports drinks, World Cup t-shirts for sale at my local mart. World Cup ads on every YouTube video ever. It's funny because I never knew to equate life insurance with soccer until I had to sit through 30 seconds of your advertisement. So thanks for that.

I hate you.

With the Korean countryside getting hype about sports, I was reminded that it was time to get active again. I'd gained some, let's say....kimchi weight from simply living in South Korea.

What is kimchi weight? Well, no worries, it has nothing to do with the actual food kimchi- which happens to be full of healthy ingredients and is just spicy cabbage. Rather kimchi weight is gained by all the things you eat in Korea along with the sometimes delicious, sometimes not kimchi.

Case in point. At lunch the other day we had rice ~400kcal worth, kimchi 30kcal, soup ~150kcal, and SWEET AND SOUR PORK ~a bajillion kcals. Kimchi and soup and a moderate portion of rice actually make for a fairly healthy lunch, however, at school there always seems to be something breaded, fried, and covered in sauce.

I would go so far as to argue that typical Korean food is not that healthy for you. Sure, there are plenty of exceptions, and you can always make a meal out of the heartier soups. However, when eaten like a Korean, with all the rice on the side consumed, every side dish devoured, and some sweet beverage to wash it all down, these meals pack a heavy caloric punch!

I can honestly say I am baffled by how steady Korean weight seems to be. Some of my older teacher beast out in lunch and yet maintain a slim size 4 throughout the year. I know they eat outside of school! Ah well, this isn't "Cosmos" and I'm not here to solve the mysteries of the universe.

(theme music)

The point at hand is how to lose weight while living in Korea. I'll do more in depth posts about working out and what to actually eat, but for now I'll leave with the simple suggestions of:

1. Not eating all the rice you're given. The servings are kind of outrageous and most of the time unnecessary. Try to eat rice moderately, and after eating other parts of your meal.
2. Exercise. Won't delve too deep in this one because it's mostly self explanatory. A simple walk after work would suffice, or you can do like me and try your hand at taekwondo. 
3. Drink plenty of water. This is probably the most important step. I haven't willingly drank juice or soda in about 5 years. If I did it was literally the only option at the time, or I needed some electrolytes after a rough weekend. 

delicious and dangerous

That's all for now, I'm sure I'll have more to say on the subject and I will explain how to join a taekwondo club in the future.

Much love
Imani

On guest posts

Hey all! Recently I wrote a little ditty on my friend K's page. Check it out if you get a chance, and while you're there please read some of her other posts-she's a funny gal!

http://katherineteacher.blogspot.kr/

Much love
Imani

On midnight hikes

There are several universal truths regarding life in Korea, and one of them is: when your taekwondo instructor tells you to go hiking at midnight, you go hiking at midnight.

Let's back up a little bit, shall we? The day was Friday, and like all Fridays, it was just barely tolerable. Five 6th grade classes in a row is enough to drive anyone to "happy hour". This Friday was different, though, because I had been told to meet at my taekwondo studio at 8 pm for a casual BBQ party. 

8 pm came along and I showed up in gear (long taekwondo robes) for the party. wrong move. Turns out that despite what my Sabeom said, it was casual wear.

8 30 pm returned to the party in casual clothes and sneakers. It was a little awkward at first because these are a bunch of Korean teenagers and I'm a mid-twenty year old American woman and we really don't have that much to talk about. When we're all practicing taekwondo it doesn't really matter that we don't talk that much. We mostly just race each other and fight. Communication is much easier when it comes to sports.

On top of that, the language restriction kept the topics we could discuss to very superficial levels such as:

"Oh you like Big Bang?"

"Yes, teacher"

"I like 2PM"

"Yes, teacher" (giggles)

If the actual food wasn't as delicious at it was, I'd call the night a bust. However the food (charred beef slices, kimchi, greens, rice, and soda) was delicious and helped to break the ice a little bit. Now we were having three sentence conversations! Just kidding, but not really.

Around 11 pm my taekwondo instructor tells us to get into the van.
I had heard mumbling about hiking before, however, I thought it was a miscommunication due to language barriers. I mean, how can you hike at midnight? It's dark, cold, and a sure way to end up on "I Shouldn't Be Alive".

how appropriate.

But, climb into the van we did, and hiking we went.

It took about an hour to get to Palgok mountain, and from there we basically walked up 1,000,000 stairs until we reached the top. I won't bore you with the details of walking, just know that there were a lot of people there, and the paths were well lit with street lamps. 

When we got to the top we took the obligatory photos of us and Buddha, which my taekwondo instructor said was built "one thousand years ago" which I think he meant just a long time ago. In addition, there were scores of older Koreans paying homage to Buddha and praying. There was a tape recording of some chant (in Korean) that synced up to the prayer movements that the Koreans were doing. It was pretty interesting to watch, and I was completely surprised by the amount of people participating.

When we came back down the mountain we all celebrated with various colas and fruit juice drinks we bought out of a shady (maybe because it was night?) rest stop. At this point everyone was tired and sleepy, the teenage boys (and girls) ready to head back home.

Yay! we didn't die!

When we got back to Seobu, the three girls came over to my house to take a shower before spending the night at the studio. It was really fun to have a house (room) full of girls giggling and gossiping, even if I couldn't understand everything. One of the girls is in love with my brother, Nathan, after seeing his picture on my facebook page. Apparently his big eyes and soft features make him super "kee-yo", or cute.

Despite the lagging exhaustion from walking until 3 am, I'm really happy that I got the chance to do something that wouldn't have happened without help of my Korean friends. Now, I just need to find something equally as "fun" to share with them...maybe a pig-pickin'? 

suggestions?

Much love,

Imani

On the Ddong in Insadong

Insadong~~~ I think I love you, you glorious beacon of all things good. You standard bearer of Korean culture. You crowded hot mess.

In Seoul, South Korea, there are a million places to spend your time. If I had to choose one to recommend, it would be Insadong. Maybe it was the pleasant 75 degree day that we visited on, or the fact that we met some cool people on our way. Either way I was in heaven during our time there.

Before we even arrived at the city, we met some of E's friends on the subway headed to the same palace that we were going to. E plays in the Daegu softball league, so she knows a lot of random teachers, and B just happens to be one of them. B was travelling with his family, showing them the most touristy things imaginable, so we decided to link up!

One of the most impressive things about Insadong are the Korean grand palaces.

they're grander than this, but I lost my pictures in a horrible fire

After joining the walking tour of the palace's "secret garden", led by the most gorgeous Korean woman ever(!), we decided to seek out the famed Ddong (poo) cafe. We found it quickly, and it did not disappoint.

ddong-y decor

ddong love notes inside the cafe

Ddong bread. 똥빵. 

After drinking lattes out of toilet mugs (pictures to come from T), we decided to call it quits for the day. It was time to go back to the hotel, play some card games and watch some movies. I really can't think of a better weekend than that.

Peace and love

Imani

On whirlwind adventures

It's May time in Korea, a special month where we celebrate my birthday and some sporadically scheduled vacations. I've been busy since the first of May strutting around town, buying birthday gifts for myself and planning weekend trips. *accordingly, now, on the 20th of May, I am dead broke*

On the first of May, we celebrated the labor day vacation. This vacation is only for English teachers and other government employees, not the general public, and it happens to fall on a Wednesday. My crew and I decided on a trip to Everland Korea, a magical Disney-like theme park that was mostly empty at 11 am on a Wednesday morning (score!). Our time in Everland was beyond exciting, however I lost all my photos that I took during that time, so you'll have to rely on your imagination.

Imagine a theme park that looks and smells like Disney World, with similar decades-based architecture. Now miniaturize it, I mean really shrink it down. Also, no characters, so take them out of the equation. Decrease the number of legitimate theme park rides from twenty or so to about six, throw a little kimchi in there and BOOM! Everland is born. 

Not to say it wasn't a fun day (and for a fraction of the price of Disney, who can complain?) but it wasn't what our Korean friends had made it out to be. I'm sensing a theme here. Regardless, I was able to see a hologram show of Big Bang and that's all that really matters. 

Later, on Friday, we began our four day weekend with a midnight-ish train back up to Seoul to stay in a jjimjilbang that J found for us. The spa we decided to stay at happened to be located right next to Seoul station, which made for an easy walk after we got off our train. We spent the night there in little sleeping cubicles that could be politely referred to as "quaint". The real fun came in the morning when we donned the clothes that were given to us and began to enjoy the many perks of staying in a spa. We visited several rooms including the Jade heat room, with walls of jade crystals and hot sand for a floor, and the Ice room, which, unfortunately was not filled with ice-cream, but with a fan blowing and ice crystals on the wall. It was amazing!

in our spa wear...reppin that orange and red

Next on our list of things to accomplish in Seoul was a decent American lunch. We checked into our hostel and decided to hit up a place that was always a hit; On the Border.

 

After we ate a week's worth of calories, we decided to walk around the Itaewon area for a bit. The day was nice and sunny, so we were able to see all the market stands on the street and explore some of the back alleyways.

artsy back alleyway

crowded Itaewon street

The next day was Sunday, our day of true rest. For many of my friends it had been more than a year since they've been able to order something hot and delicious from a western breakfast menu. We ended up going to the Original Pancake Story restaurant for some grub, which was close to the Gangnam area.

their berry french toast is DEVINE

Next, I'll talk about our day on Monday, when we visited the awesome Insadong area and went to the Ddong Cafe!

Peace and Love

Imani

On 25 and in Korea

Today marks the 25th anniversary of when I was blissfully born into existence. Most of the time I'd be at home in Lewisville but this year I celebrate in Korea. It's actually my third birthday abroad. When I was 21 I was in Greece and when I was 24 I was still here in dae-han-min-gook.

So what's it like celebrating your birthday abroad? I would say that, like all holidays, it's there. It's a thing, it's a day that passes, but it's not really that holiday. Like Christmas and Thanksgiving and other holidays, I've found that it's not the day that makes the occasion, but the traditions, the people. During Christmas at my house we celebrate with waking up early (forcefully), eating something sweet baked in the oven, and then going our separate ways until it's time for dinner.

Dad's working on the latest gadget, Nathan's playing video games, Nia's usually reading a book or fiddling with an electronic. Mom is cleaning up and drinking coffee and I'm recounting all my gifts to my friends over the phone.

This past year in Korea, however, I celebrated Christmas day by going ice-skating in an overly crowded park, and playing secret Santa. All of our activities for the day were Christmas related but they weren't Christmas.

15 months is a long time to be away from home, and I've felt that harder than ever now that it is my birthday.This year I've had dinner with friends, ice-cream, gifts and hugs. However, it doesn't compare to going home to that wooden table covered in birthday wishes from everyone in the family and getting to choose whatever I wanted for dinner. (Lasagna! Pizza! Thai!)

It's melancholy at times, but I know that I will appreciate the time I was celebrating my birthday abroad in the years to come, just like I appreciate the times at home now that I'm not there.

25.

Let's make this year the best one so far!

xoxo
Imani