Valentine's Day in Korea

This past Thursday was Valentine's Day. Korean's celebrate love day a little differently from back home. First of all, it isn't thrown in your face everywhere you go. I like that. Being single on Valentine's day back home feels worse than it does here. Stores do bring in some extra chocolate, so I bought some Hershey's Kisses to give to my students. I also bought some chocolate for my co-workers, and the director's children.

Valentine's day in Korea is a day for the women to give chocolates to the men in their life. It was a little strange that my male co-worker was actually expecting chocolate from me and asked me, "Where's my chocolate Emma?" I mean I did have some for him but I kind of wanted to tell him to "Slow your roll!" I doubt he would understand that idiom though. On March 15th, Korea has White day where the men then treat the women in their lives. It seems a little heterosexist to me, but Korean's don't exactly acknowledge that not everyone is heterosexual.

Most of my kids were very thankful to get chocolate from me and others begged for more. Later on in the day my students were really quite hyper and had a hard time focusing, so we played some games.

Many of my students brought me chocolate as well and by the end of the day I felt like I had eaten my body weight in chocolate.

Gyeongju & Cheongdo

Last weekend was the Lunar New Years, so we had an extra day off. Kelly and I had planned to visit Seoul again, but then changed our plans and went on a "girl's weekend" with three of her friends to Gyeongju and Cheongdo.

We left quite early on Saturday morning to try and miss traffic. We first went to Gyeongju, which was the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom. The resort we were staying at the first night was beautiful. It was surrounded by a beautiful lake and the actual resort had an indoor and outdoor heated pool and hot tub. When we arrived we first went out for breakfast and then went to a couple historical sites. The first one was Bulguksa Temple where we walked through a beautiful path and saw traditional buildings and statues. The second was Seokguram Grotto where there is a beautiful and very large statue of Buddha. That statue is actually known as one of the most outstanding masterpieces in the history of the world's religious art. They actually built a shelter around the statue to preserve it. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures of it, but it was pretty breathtaking. Some of the other notable sights at Seokguram Grotto is the three storied stone pagoda, and the guardians that surround the large statue of Buddha. After seeing the sights and having some lunch, we headed back to the resort to test out the swimming pools and hot tubs. We spent a good amount of time there and it felt really nice. What was shocking to me was that after swimming/bathing everyone heads into the showers where there is absolutely no privacy. I basically had to strip down right then and there and wait for the watching eyes. It was completely awkward for the first few minutes, but then it was fine. As I was showering, one of Kelly's friends was in the shower next to me and all of a sudden starts cleaning my back. This took me by surprise but was actually kind of nice. I returned the favor as well. This was a completely new and semi-terrifying experience. I think it brought us all together though haha. Afterwards we made some dinner and went to bed early.

The next day we were off to Cheongdo! We started by visiting one of the girl's mom and had rice dumpling soup which is traditional at new years. I also met her nephew who has taught himself English and we had a conversation. His mom wanted us to become pen pals but he was a 16-year-old boy, so I can't say I blame him for declining. After that visit, we went to a Korean comedy show. I was a little weary about this and if I would understand any of it, but it was hilarious! It's amazing how much I can interpret from actions and people's intonation. Kelly's friends actually commented on how my understanding level is high. That was a nice thing to hear. After the show, we met all the actors and got pictures taken with them. They were all very nice and even said "Emma!" instead of "Cheese!" when we took the picture. It made me feel special.

Next, we moved on to the Cheongdo Wine Tunnel. This was really neat. The wine is made from Persimmons, wich is "Gam" in Korean, so it is quite sweet. The tunnel itself used to be a tunnel for a train, so it is really interesting inside. They have decorated the dark tunnel with beautiful lights and various displays about the wine and how it's made. Before leaving, there were some street vendors outside and we got some "Odeng". Odeng is a "fishcake" on a stick in this very hot, yet delicious broth. I don't think I am selling it very well, but it is delicious and great on a cold day. After our visit to the wine tunnel, it was starting to get dark and we headed to Provence. Provence was probably my favorite part of the trip. It is this little village that is completely lit up with lights. I will add a picture at the end for you to see. It is known as a proposal spot and the theme of the place is definitely love. We had some fun taking funny pictures and then went to a western restaurant because the girls really wanted some steak. The Koreans LOVE steak. It makes me laugh a bit because I am not big on it, so seeing them get so excited is enlightening. After this, we headed to our motel and had some beer and soju and snacks.

Monday morning, we got up a little later and started our journey home. We stopped at Unmunsa Temple, which is a college for female monks, or nuns. The temple was beautiful. There is a 500 year old weeping pine tree there that is quite extraordinary. After our visit there, we headed back home and I have to say I was quite spent by the time I got home. I took an extra long nap and it was glorious!

Gyeongju Resort - Outdoor pool at night

Provence - Beautiful Light Display

Cheongdo Wine Tunnel

Umunsa Temple

Umunsa Temple - Weeping Pine Tree

Going to the Gym in Korea

My roommate, Kelly, and I have started going to the gym in the morning before work. We walk to the local community centre that is about twenty minutes away. Going to the gym in Korea is really quite similar to back home, but with a few differences.

The overall experience is the same, and many of the machines are the same. The gym we go to is rather small so there aren't that many machines. However, there usually are not too many people at the gym so it's not so bad. Some machines that I haven't seen back home are the vibration machines. There are two kinds. The first is one where you stand n a platform and two pedals underneath your feet move up and down and your whole body shakes to the vibration. I was skeptical of this machine at first, but now I love it and use it at the end of my workout. The other kind of vibration machine is the one with the belt that vibrates. You have probably heard of or seen these before, maybe a couple decades ago. This I was also skeptical about but it is really good if your muscles are sore. It feels like a really good, intense massage. They also have leg massagers there to use. They feel nice on the feet, but I am a little too ticklish for them and I start to giggle.

What I love the most about the gym is probably the people. Because it is a community centre, there are many older ladies and a few men who like to frequent the gym almost every day. The first few times I went to the gym, you could have sworn I was the first foreigner they had ever seen. It was awkward to feel eyes on me constantly especially while trying to work out. Now it is a little different and you kind of feel like a family a little bit. The ladies and I say hello and bow to one another when we see each other and sometimes they invite me to their coffee breaks. Yes, there are coffee breaks at the gym haha. They are also very encouraging to me and motion that I look slimmer.

There are still the people that are jacked and make you feel inferior, but that will always be there. Also, I tested out the cross trainer (elliptical) one day and I think I am too tall for it because it felt odd using it, like I couldn't stand straight on it. I avoid that machine now.

Kelly is a really good person to go to the gym with because she gets my but out of bed in the morning to go and helps me with my form. She is more focused on how much she weighs though, and I just want to feel good.