Seoul Searching

Eventually we felt ready to venture outside of our immediate area, and decided to go to E Mart, which we had heard so much about. E MART is a giant supermarket/ taste testing haven. Most of the food was unfamiliar, so we adopted for the policy of "point and try". It's not always the best policy, by the way. I'm afraid to say we still have not mastered the check out line either. We have both learned how to ask "How much?", but it is all in vain since neither of us ever understands their response, so it's always a wad of cash handed over and fingers crossed that we're not going to be completely ripped off. Once we'd finished our shopping we realized there was no way we could get all of our things on the bus, so we hailed a taxi. An easy task right? As soon as we got in the taxi, Ian and I looked at the driver, looked at each other, and that's when it hit us. How were we going to get home? We still weren't exactly sure how to get back to our house, and we certainly weren't sure how to get that across to the driver in Korean. This was when a new tradition began - phoning Mia, my head teacher, telling her the problem, and having her speak to whomever we needed her to. I cannot begin to tell you how grateful we are for that.

Korean subways are interesting places. They are very nice actually. New ones are built practically everyday, and they are clean and innovative. They are also well prepared for emergencies. Every few meters there are glass cases full of gas masks in all varieties. There is only one oxygen tank though, so I wonder who gets that. I guess its supposed to make us feel more secure, but really it's just a reminder that it's there for a reason. A very unsettling reason. One other interesting thing in not only the subways, but located absolutely EVERYWHERE are mirrors. Oh the vanity!!! It is shocking. You know how you see those people pretending to look in store windows, but you know they're really looking at their reflection? (Okay, I admit I do that sometimes) Well, you never see that here because it is SO socially acceptable to openly admire yourself anywhere that everyone does it, everywhere, all the time. The thing is, no one uses just any old glossy surface because, getting back to my point, there are mirrors located EVERYWHERE! I mean every 5 meters of this city, a full length mirror is set up. They are in the most random spots, and there is always someone in front of one. The scummiest alley way will have a mirror, the back of bathroom stall doors have mirrors on them, so you can do your make-up while doing your business. What finally made me think, "This is getting out of hand", was when Ian and I were hiking through the forest, I mean, in the middle of no where, and suddenly came face to face with ourselves.

Ian and I spent our next few weekends playing tourist. We visited the National museum, and an ancient palace. Finally we organized with some other teachers to actually make our way out of Seoul and head to the beach. Sorry, I should say the "beach". We enthusiastically boarded the bus to the beach, ready for a day of fun in the sun. As we sat chatting excitedly about our day ahead, a man in front of us turned around and told us to be quiet. We were already talking at a reasonable level for public transport, but brought it down to a whisper just to appease him. Within two minutes, he turned around again angrily, and that is when we realized he didn't want us to just be quiet, he didn't want us talking....at all. Our friend Michael who's lived here for awhile now, casually said, "Oh yeah, you're not really supposed to talk on public transport here." Uhh, right. We stopped talking, but the next two hours were anything but silent, as we were serenaded the rest of the way by the loud guttural gurgles of Korean men clearing their sinuses. You see, that IS acceptable on public transport.

We've discovered that mucous sucking men on buses aren't the only ones who can be unfriendly. Surprisingly, our fellow foreigners can also be downright rude. Since Ian and I have both traveled quite a bit, we're used to meeting and talking with other travelers. After-all, we're all away from home, all basically going through the same things. So naturally when Ian and I see other foreigners our initial instinct is to say, "Hello". Maybe it's weird because in the end we are still strangers, but we're strangers obviously not in our own country. So imagine our surprise when repeatedly being snubbed by other foreigners. What's the deal? I think it may be a complete cycle because as time goes by, I find myself more and more hesitant to acknowledge other foreigners based on growing experiences, but Ian views this as a challenge. He will go out of his way to make any rude foreigner feel like a jerk, by practically cornering them and pointedly saying "Hello!" Oh Ian, always out to make the world a better place.

Well, that's the update for now!