Murals and soups and teddy's, oh my!

Hello again!! I have now been in Korea for over three weeks. Despite being lost and confused nearly all the time, the massive language barrier, and my constant close proximity to children (shudder shudder), I am enjoying myself immensely. I am definitely still getting settled in but at least I can go to the store without feeling like I have to take a nap afterwards. Side note about the grocery store: Workers literally yell at customers to buy things or about sales but since I don't understand Korean I am impervious to advertising! Haaaaa! It's like a really non-dramatic Twilight Zone episode. Their mouths are moving but I just keep looking for the popcorn. 

Now onto what you really came here for- the pictures.

I walk past these murals every day on my way to work, which is about a 7 minute walk from my apartment through a park. It is lovely. 

Though my friend Amber looks a bit suspicious/disgusted here, I'm pretty sure she was just concentrating. All the restaurants gives you side dishes that consist of kimchi, tofu, veggies in mysterious sauces, among other things. At this place everyone eats out of the big pot in the middle which cooks in front of you. Koreans are really into cooking things at the table. At first I was nervous about something going awry and ending up like two-face from Batman, but now I poke and prod like, "is this done yet?!"

How many times have you been to the movies and been like, dude I need my squid! and there is none to be had? Never? Well, alright. 

Found this gem across from the movie theater. Fries covered in sauces/cheese. DON'T MIND IF I DO!

That's right, 5000 calories and you don't even have to walk your ass into one of the golden arched chemical factory pits of hell. 

I will do whatever you tell me sign! That yellow box is noooo bueno.

A night out in the City Hall area of Jeju. Lots of action until the wee hours of the morn (and then some) and mysterious street food rumored to be delicious. I have yet to partake. 

Though it looks like an innocent tea kettle, that shiny Aladdin lamp is full of rice wine called "makkoli". It's not too shabby.

Though it looks like an innocent tea cup, this is in fact a margarita with a Corona inside of it. My train of thought was, I like Corona, I like margaritas, so together as one? The ultimate delight! Wrong. It was actually pretty gross. It looks badass though, riiiiight?

I ventured out one stormy evening to find some soup for my cold and what a score! Got all of this wonderment for about 6000 won ($5).

This soup came boiling and we cracked an egg in it. This soup had a bunch of different types of mushrooms in it, ones I had never seen before. DELISH.

That is not tofu, that is one of the many mushrooms this soup boasted in a spicy broth. Mmmmm.

More soup. Am I the only one obsessed with soup? This is a giant pot of glory with not one but two eggs getting cooked to perfection in it...alright, done with the soup pics. Geez I need to get out more.

Part of our dinner posse who goes out a couple nights a week after work. Here we are at a traditional sit down on the floor restaurant waiting for...

KOREAN PANCAKES!!! The green one is green onion and the other one is kimchi. They both had some sort of meat in them too. Delicious and filling!

One night after dinner my friends and I went to this arcade sort of place, though it's a lot different than an American arcade. It has karaoke booths (where we totally sang "Part of Your World" from Little Mermaid and it was AWESOME), and lots of random Asian games including this one. Called "Bishi Boshi," you hit different colored orbs per the directions from one of the many random games in its arsenal. It doesn't sound that fun but it is up there with Tetris, Sequence and Rummy as the best games ever. Ridiculously fun. Side note, my forearm hurt the next day. Pathetic or impressive? You decide.

So all of that occurred in Jeju City which is the lovely place I call home. On Saturday I decided to go on an adventure to the south side of Jeju Island to a town called Seogwipo (pronounced so-gee-po. I pronounced in phonetically and my polite friends laughed openly at me). I took a VERY curvy 45 minute bus ride (during which I curbed vomiting all over the place by going to my happy place- NPR podcasts. Good to know American politics are still cray-cray).

This is one of the signature statues of Jeju Island. These are all over the place. 

 I went to this place called Alive Museum, which is a 3D interactive art museum where you become one with the art (which I guess is implied in interactive). I had a blast.

Paint the car on the screen and lights change the car in front of you. A real sense of power. MWAHAHA.

This very elaborate teddy bear village was included. I just laughed and snapped photos because what else do you do in this weird and unnecessary place?

This was one of the art pieces you can get into. I have another good one but I'm saving that for something special (ahem Christmas cards ahem).

 I also went to a waterfall! I didn't realize how nature deprived I was until I got there and felt this huge sense of exhileration and peace. The smell of ocean was potent and walking on the rocks was therapeutic.

 As I was going to catch a bus, I was directed down this long path. The sun was out but the air was crisp, and it was so beautiful.

One of those, "oh yeah I'm in Korea" moments that sporadically happen.

Classy ass wall. 

Well that completes this episode of Kim's adventures abroad. I think about family and friends at home every day as I mosey about looking for things I haven't seen before. It all reminds me of how much I love you all and how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life that miss me when I'm gone, who I will be ecstatic to see again when the time comes. : ) 

KOREA!!!!!!!!!!

Hello party people!!! Or should I say, anyeong ha kye se yo! I am on Jeju Island in Jeju-si (Jeju City. All cities have -si at the end of them, fun fact). I decided to show you some of the trip thus far with photos because let's face it, mama (that's me...) gets a little heavy with the words sometimes and we are living in a new gen (short for generation. Part of me being hip now.) where people's attention spans are shor....HEY IS THAT A BIRD?!!?

 

 

This is me at the hospital during my medical exam. The ladies had to wear these stunning pink outfits and the gents had to wear blue. Holla at gender norms! (This is me pretending to be a doctor concentrating on a chart, George Clooney in ER style.)

The Gangnam Subway Station is ALSO A MALL. YEAH. At first I was annoyed ("must we consume EVERYWHERE?!) but then I became entranced and bought some socks. My will is weak, what can I say. Also fun fact about the subway: when it's about to arrive, either triumphant trumpet music OR the rocky theme song plays!!!! dun-na-na, dun-na-na...so pumped up to ride!

This is Lotte Mart which is a huge 5 story store in Jeju. That is not what is cool though. What is cool is that you can take the cart on this sweet Jetsons escalator. And yes, I did feel a little creepy taking this pic.

Seoul, keeping it soo real.

You will notice there is not one BUT TWO conveyor belts here (the yellow part is also a belt, just empty right now...people love the sushi). The top one has an airplane that delivers what you order to your table via zooming!!! I couldn't get over it. I was so excited I ran into a glass door. Seriously. The ladies who worked there had a good laugh.

Little green guy I had to rock out with, obv.

Amber and I found this place while looking for a place to study during our insanely stressful training. Isn't it beautiful? All of the cases have models of architecture. The sun was shining and it was glorious.

Sooo I met some peeps and went out on the town. Here's the thing. In Korea there is no last call. Yeah, wrap your head around that. So I got home at 6am and thought it was like 230, and was for some reason shwasted even though I deliberately tried to pace myself. It was just that it had been like 8 hours!! Da club was still bumpin! #toooldforthisshit #butiloveit (that was my first time using hash-tags, hope it was correct.)

A random room of garlic. Not the first one I've seen here actually.

My bathroom (there is a toilet to the left also, but das it). You will notice that we shower in the actual bathroom as opposed to a separate area known as the shower. It was weird. I felt like I was a 5 year old who was just like, imma make a slip and slide in bathwoom!! But I'm not, there is no other way!

My apartment! The TV came with the place. I don't have any ability to use it so I just use it as a little table. I got a plant! I love him. His name is T-bone.

15th floor, mofos.

My weird bed. I am expecting bedding today or tomorrow in the mail which is good because I have a mattress cover and two sketchy, grossly patterned, vaguely febreze smelling "blankets" that are just a nooo gooo. Side note sheets are $30 here. ?!?!?

I got to see the darling and magnificent Leah for a night on the town!! Sorry it's blurry Leah, I was just so excited!

This is just gold to me. The best part was all of the windows and doors at this DD location were covered in this guy. Yeah. There were multiple.

 

We bought these on the street thinking they were donuts, but they are actually peanuts with dough fried around them. Pretty tasty.

YUMMMMM so much goodness here.

 

Me being as Asian as possible (minus peace sign, but something to look forward to).

 

 

SOUTH AFRICA!!!!! In the summertime when the weather is fine...

Hello! I am in South Africa! I left a week ago today, which is quite bizarre. I am not sure how long it feels like I’ve been here but with all of the changes that have occurred, certainly longer than that. Where do I begin? I am staying at Willing Workers of South Africa, a non-governmental organization that helps the nearby village of Kurland to meet all sorts of needs. It took two solid days of travel to get here and when we arrived, I could not believe my eyes. This place is absolutely gorgeous. It’s in an extremely rural area with all sorts of creatures roaming about: baboons (there is a pack of 60!), wild dogs, boars, huge spiders, scorpions, centipedes, horses, cows, sheep, antelopes if you’re really lucky…AND nearby is Monkey Land and Birds of Eden which are sweeeeet ass nature reserves for their respective animals. So I have gotten to see lots of animals which has been great! And here there is a dog, Dash, and a kitty named Jumanji, and a tiny puppy that visits with its owner, a local beekeeper, so I get to pet some too.

Living here is a trip. I live in a big tent with two beds and a little nightstand (pictures will come eventually…my camera got lost the second day so I am relying on everyone else’s uploads, which probably won’t happen til we get back to the states) with my roommate, Julia, who is kick ass. We like to talk feminism and politics and love and life when we both spontaneously wake up at 3am. The grounds are amazing. There is a hot tub we get to go in on Friday night (which is enough. Too many shenanigans!), bathrooms with cobblestone floors that sit overlooking the forest, fire pits, a homemade bar, a sometimes projector screen and lots of grass for Frisbee and cricket and what not.

Our plans for going to the village/township were delayed for a few days since my prof got stuck in the snowstorms that apparently exist since it is winter somewhere! Winter seems ridiculous to me. It is nearly 90 degrees by 9am. I am sun scathed. I went to the beach yesterday (got naked and got thrashed around in the waves and laughed hysterically and have seldom felt better.) and got to scale the side of a rock. It’s outrageous. The beauty here is endless. WWISA also acts as a place for backpackers to stay in addition to volunteers, so we get to meet all kinds of folks meandering through. Lots of interesting backgrounds and stories.

Anyhow, today we finally went to Kurland. I am still processing the experience. I don’t know how to fully describe it in a way that is complete. The good things are, the people are friendly for the most part, and there have been major repairs and improvements over the past few years, including turning dirt roads into paved ones, and getting funding from organizations to support kids going to school. There are some modest small businesses in the village. The work that is happening here encourages investment from community members instead of just distributing handouts, in an attempt to give people ownership of their life and village. Still, I cried not ten minutes after arriving, for reasons I don’t think I fully understand yet.

Some people literally live in shacks, and slanted shacks at that. Roofs are plastic sheets in some cases. The children can only go to school here until 9^th grade, and then they have to go 30 kilometers away, which is nearly impossible because there is no public transportation. Teen pregnancy is rampant, and someone told me the village of roughly 3700 buries 7-8 people every weekend due to HIV/AIDS. There are extremely high numbers of children born with fetal alcohol syndrome, and we saw a boy who was maybe five sucking on a silver bag of wine. We went to the preschool, which was so vibrant with shining beautiful faces, but that were behind barbed wire because vandalism and theft is a huge issue, even for a preschool. They smiled and waved and got as close to us as they could, and my heart broke, because they are just like any other children in the world, and they have no idea yet how the odds are stacked against them.

The most beautiful moment was meeting a woman named Johanna, who runs a soup kitchen in the village. I have NO idea how she does it, as 99% of the people here can hardly feed themselves, but she does. WWISA helped her repair her home/soup kitchen, and we will continue to help her with whatever she needs. She is such an inspiration. When we got there, she came out and introduced herself to every single one of us, and gave us a hug. I am making a point to come and talk to her and hang out with her as much as humanly possible. What a beautiful, saintly woman.

I have been doing lots of thinking about what I want my contribution to be while I am here. I definitely want to work at the school, either preschool or primary, and I want to help with organic farming, anddddddd for me the most exciting, I want to create my own project. I brainstormed and came up with what I envision when I think of the perfect program. I want a place that educates the community about healthy relationships, personal empowerment, HIV/AIDS (and all STD) and pregnancy prevention, and connects people to contraceptives. I want to create curriculums that encourage communities to not tolerate sexual assault and domestic violence, instead of making protection from violence the victim’s responsibility. I want to provide personal support, job training, life skills training, and anything else necessary to make people economically viable in their community. Because I truly feel that education and economic viability are the best avenues for people to have control over their lives, and sexual health is absolutely key in that. If you have a baby at 14, or acquire HIV, or are a survivor of sexual assault with no support, or simply aren’t employable, life has very few options. So, somehow, I hope to manifest that vision as best I can in the little time that I am here.

In other news, I get to go on a weeklong safari in a few weeks, which I think will be the absolute highlight of the trip. I am also planning on skydiving, which I am stoked about! What else? Everyone here is pretty much fantastic. I have found a posse within the crew and they are amazing. We have a good time : ) I am making sure to get alone time when I start to get overwhelmed, because we are all together from breakfast til at least 11pm and that’s if there is no dance party. I am happy. I will try and update as I can.

Oh one more thing! There is a guy visiting WWISA doing a documentary on NGO’s so I will most likely be on video! Pretty exciting!

Ok that’s it for now. Send me emails! Send me addresses! I send you lots of love.

The homestretch of Europa

Hey it is offically Christmas here in Austria and for the first time in my life, I am not spending this early morning at my mom's. I generally sleep at her house and wake up at like 4 in the morning to see what my "Santa" gift is, a fabulous unwrapped gift that appears overnight. The stockings are also full of candy by that point which I will get intimate with real quick, eating Mr. Goodbar's and cream-filled chocolate statuettes in a daze as I stare at the tree.

This year is, well, the complete opposite of that. I am awake though, at 5 am our time here so I guess some things don't change. Joel has never missed a Christmas at home either so we decided to do whatever the hell we wanted over here as strangers in a foreign city. It has been an exciting prospect, deciding what we want to eat and do. We are sort of grown up versions of Maculay Culkin in Home Alone, left to our own devices.

We arrived yesterday evening (technically the day before yesterday I suppose, the 23rd) a wee bit burnt out. We had a 10 hour train ride from Berlin, which we had only 13 hours to enjoy from about 8pm to 9am, so we decided we weren't gonna get a hostel and instead we were gonna party our asses off. We meandered about for hours, through seedy bars, snowy parks, down streets with Hamburger in the name, wherever our frozen toes took us. I made it til about 2am, got sleepy, got coffee and a kebab, perked up a bit, got sleepy again (I am officially getting old....it's so sad). Amazingly we ended up 10 minutes walking time from the train station which was damn good considering our utter lack of any information or directions whatsoever ha ha. When we got there we tried to sleep in the FREEZING, drafty train station which didn't really work out. Damn Berlin in December, you're effing coooold (duh I suppose, but shockingly so!).

Anyhow, it was a long night and a journey to Vienna the next day. When we got here, we were beyond stoked. Katie is letting us live at her home for a few days though she is in the States, and it has been absolutely perfect. We have dishes and a bed and a TV! And computers and warmth and relaxing. We get to hang out with each other and not have to worry about making reservations and we can eat stuff that's not in our backpack. It's super super super wonderful (Katie if you're reading this, you are a goddess).

So for Christmas Joel and I decided that we would make a hearty stew with pasta, have some garlic bread, maybe bake some cookies, and have jello shots. Activities on the non-existent agenda include movie watching, popcorn eating, and game playing (Cluedo! Which is Clue European-style). We set out to acquire provisions this morning, wandering aimlessly, and ending up in a little supermarket that turned out to be Muslim (see extremely awkward encounter when we asked about alcohol. The lady looked like she was going to shit a kitten. She was like, "no no I don't know where to find that!" like we asked for slow-roasted fetuses or something). Nothing else was open besides Muslim shops due to Christmas eve except of course for a little Slovekian bar. We wandered in to ask about other stores & ended up staying for a beer which was probably the best decision we've ever made.

We were there for like five hours (we left at 6pm ish, ha ha ha). There were about 6 guys in the bar and this gorgeous bartender who couldn't speak a lick of English (she did know "fuck you" though, which turns out is international!). They all know each other and love American rock (NIRVANA! We listened to a ton of Nirvana! On Christmas eve! In Vienna! Bizarro and so lovely) and all of us ended up doing like 7 rounds of mysterious liquor shots (known only as "Averna") and they taught us some German. Also I was getting my dance on, of course, and two of the old school Austrian gentlemen decided to teach me how to waltz and do a box step, and it was really precious. I bought our little posse a round and thanked them all profusely (gushed, in fact) for letting us be a part of their evening, in this bar which felt a bit like a private party, and for being so nice and hanging out with two young displaced Americans on Christmas eve. They were embarassed, perhaps because they did not have people to be with or places to go besides here. The bartender had some Slovekian friends come in who brought food, and they discussed how their families are far away, so it seemed we all had a family-less Christmas in common.

Toward the end, one of the guys came up to Joel and I and said, "Remember this feeling forever". He couldn't speak much English but he said it very clearly, smiled and walked away (not without also telling Joel that I am super :). And I am so glad he said that because he is so right. Here I am, in this beautiful country, at this beautiful time, with this person that I really truly love intensely and enjoy immensely, who I am committed to. He and I got to spend the afternoon doing what we love best, talking to each other about everything under the sun. We spent this Christmas eve drinking beer, rocking out to White Snake "HERE I GO AGAIN ON MY OWN! GOING DOWN THE ONLY ROAD I'VE EVER KNOOOWWNNN!" which we decided is our song, rolling cigarettes, with floating discussions about work and men and women and when we live together in the summer and parenting a cat properly...... And when we finally made our way out we came home and cooked dinner and chatted more and layed around, and I held his hand and put my head on his chest and... I want to remember this feeling forever.

Merry Christmas, wherever you are, whatever you do. Be with someone you love and make it really good.

prancin' in France

Oh me, oh my I am finally here. The worst quarter of my life (well, most stressful) is OVER. Not sure how I did academically, but it's pretty hard to care about that since I worked my ass off until it nearly fell off, and I am in bread-cheese-salami-wine land. It's magnificent to be here. I feel like I am myself again, which is strange considering I am two oceans and several thousand miles away from home. I was not enjoying the perpetually stressed out person I had become toward the end of the quarter. I couldn't truly enjoy much of anything because I was always thinking about what needed to be taken care of. I felt more displaced in the town in which I live than I do as an anonymous wanderer in a small French city (Poitiers).

So the whole not knowing French thing IS actually an issue. Imagine that. I sort of thought it would just...come together haha, which sounds kind of ridiculous, but alas. In Paris between my very limited French vocabulary and the decent English vocabulary of many Parisians, and JOEL my linguistic saving grace, I did OK. Lots of smiling and nodding, but not bad. In Poitiers people do not speak English and they talk to me with a look on their face like, seriously? Nothin? Half-amused, a quarter sorry for me and a quarter judgmental. Which is just fine. My first self-imposed exercise was attempting to order food at Speed Burger, a nearby joint that sells way more than any burger joint I've ever seen. Donuts and cookies are on the menu! Anyway, I wrote down what I was going to say and confidently began to execute it. Minor issue I did not account for- the responses! I had my part down(ish) but the whole them saying things back thing was problematic. It was a fail in so many ways, and I sort of panicked and said I didn't want burgers and a sympathetic Joel and friends took over. Sigh. But it's getting better! I bought pastries successfully yesterday, with proper bonjour's and au revoir's and pointing, and I was so pleased with myself, and my GOD were they fantastic! 5 euros for heaven? Um yeahhhhh.

The food is awesome. We have different kinds of cheese, veggies, rice, baguettes, homemade soup, and stuff to drink and that is pretty much it, and it totally works. Living together in a tiny studio is really fun!!! We still have lots of time to possibly drive each other crazy but I am optimistic it's not going to happen. We looked at each other last night and I said, "man you're gonna be getting a lot of Kim." And Joel said, "and lady, you're gonna be getting a lot of Joel." And we nodded our heads and smiled at each other. Joel is...exemplary. He is ceaselessly interesting, extremely caring, and has this tremendous balancing effect on me that I have rarely, if ever, experienced from another human being. My anxious tendencies dissipate and I can actually relax.

When I arrived I had gotten 4 hours of sleep in three days, and I was sort of delirious and painfully apathetic. I didn't care where we went or how we got there, I just stared at everything and held Joel's hand. I apologized that he is getting a crappy version of Kim, a Kim who has not recovered from finals and bronchitis and a lack of space and calm. I explained that I could not really speak more than I felt inclined (no small talk), or plan/organize, or do anything more than...this. He assured me that I am just fine, and he does not expect anything, but just wants me to feel comfortable and happy. And I have been. Joel is in school for most of the day, and I enjoy my own company and silence, both of which I sorely need. I read lots, clean, eat, walk around, contemplate, allow myself to not contemplate and just space out... What a life. Far cry from a week ago, holy moly.

In a week and a half we start our big 10 day journey through Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna and Switzerland, then back up to Paris where we fly home to Portland. It will certainly be insane so I am making sure to rest up for the big journey. Wandering around and taking everything in is the perfect mode of operating right now.

*Well I'm sure you are wondering, where the hell are pictures? I am not too on top of the photos but I will put some up soon I promise! Here is a link that has some info about Poitiers (lots of churches!)- http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/poitiers*