Autumnal Adjustments

It's ok if you don't read this
Nov 3, 2015
6 min read

Oh my gosh. It has been almost a month since my last post, and (almost) 4 months since I moved to Korea. The time has been folding into itself- racing foward and collapsing backwards and sometimes standing still. So much has happened and I've felt so many ways in the past month that it's hard to capture-especially after the fact. Life abroad, I think, is made up of highs and lows with very few days in between- but I'm finding that to be such an incredible, exhilarating growing experience. So here is a summary of some of those days.

(Also if you are my family or one of my best friends in the world but you live in the US and we can only talk on weekends HERE is why I have been so out of touch)

Oct. 2-4

The first weekend of October I visited Busan- this beautiful coastal city- the 2nd largest in Korea- with my host family. They were astonishingly generous throughout the trip- paying for us to stay in the Park Hyatt- a beautiful hotel overlooking the beach- and to take me to some incredible places. We arrived on a Friday off from school and visited Gamcheon Village- a town that was once home to poor and struggling fisherman but is now being redeveloped by the city of Busan and local artists. It was full of small galleries and adorable, eccentric murals and sculptures.

At night, my host sister and I went swimming- we pretended we were mermaids- and then we rested. The next day we had a brunch that was honestly too good to be true- inredible food from so many different cultures- and then we visited the Busan Museum of Art which was showing an exhibit on Myazaki. It was faciniating! Later that day, I met up with my friend Emily who also lives in Daegu and we explored the beach before I headed back to the hotel to take a luxurious bubble bath (life is hard.)

Oct 7-9

The next weekend, I went back to Busan! This time with my friends to visit the Busan film festival. The festival attracts directors from all over the world to release new films and also revisit old ones. We got tickets to 3 Korean films playing at various theatres across the city. One was a very old movie called "The General's Moustache" which was about a young Korean couple in and out of love. The other was called "4th Place" a drama about what some Korean parents will do in order for their children to be successful. Essentially there is a boy who is a good swimmer but can't get better than 4th place and his mom is so desperate for him to be 1st that she pays for a private coach who is notorious for being "rough." The rest of movie shows the family grappling with the knowledge that their son is being beaten at every swimming practice but also begins to win consistently. Though I'm sure it was exaggerated, it was still a thought-provoking look at how cut-throat Korean culture can be.

The last movie we attended was unique- it featured a sassy brunette CEO and a senior citizen turned Intern at her office...... um.... we accidentally saw "The Intern." We were late for the Busan Film Festival screening and took a cab across the city to make it to the theatre in time. Seeing a large theatre ahead, we ran from the cab without question, flashed our tickets at the door as we headed up the escalator- several confused staff pausing as a huge group of waygooks ran past. Little did we know that we had just ran into a random movie theatre and with sheer confidence alone managed to get into a theatre. Not the best cultural ambassadorship or the American reputation....

Oct 16-17

The NEXT weekend was Fall Conference! I actually got to leave on Friday for a small city called Kyungju which was absolutely beautiful. On the train (KOREAN TRAINS ARE ACTUALLY MY NEW FAVORITE THING- It's like metra in Chicago but with literally no hassle- you can show up 5 minutes beforehand, hop on, and chill aaah so fun) anyway, On the train, I was reminded of how much I love traveling, especially independently, and how lucky I am to have chances like this. It also drove me to commit to traveling alone at least a few times while I'm here.

Conference was refreshing. It was so nice to see people from Orientation, but more mellowed out now that we are all placed and sunken into the realities of teaching. I got some more ideas for the classroom but mostly just felt good knowing that every kind of feeling I have had here- exhilaration, exhaustion, excitement, disappointment, frustration and elation- are all pretty run of the mill.

Oct 23-24

The only weekend in October that I stayed home. Ahh. And it was maybe my busiest. I'm lucky to live in Daegu- one of the largest cities in Korea and one with a particularly unique group of foreign teachers. Many have lived here for over 5 years and there is an especially strong theatre group. I've been eager to get more immersed in the community here but literally haven't been home to do it. So I was so grateful for this weekend- actually it might have been my favorite in October!!!!

On Friday night, I went to a skincare treatement thing with my co-teacher.... So I told you that here, my skin is "worrisome" and that many Koreans feel comfortable, in fact obligated, to tell people they care about how they can look better. So my co-teacher made me go to Mary Kay (um an American brand) consultation haha. My other Fulbright co-teacher- Bella, who is ridiculously sassy, came too and it was actually a very fun time with face masks and lotion and talking about wrinkles. Then after we went to a famous Daboki place- Daboki is a spicy, soft, chewy noodle that makes my mouth water thinking about it. Then, for our 2nd course, as is common, we went to a coffee shop and kind of had girl talk while drinking out of adorable mugs with little plastic people hanging on the side like they were about to dive in. (Korean Cafes are maybe the cutest places known to man.)

Then, I met my Daegu friend Emily, who teaches at an academy here and arrived at the same time I did, and we went to this thing called Story Slam. At story slam, people put their name in a bucket as a volunteer to tell a story about the nights' theme (ours was "The first time I...) and then you have a to tell a TRUE adlibbed story about it. It was such a cool experience- so much vulnerability and honesty when often here I feel the need to be polite and avoid the truth. Next time, I'm telling a story for sure.

Then Saturday I went to a running club at a beautiful campus nearby and then met up with my host family to shop downtown. That night I went with Emily to an English Language Party- we were exhausted and two hours late but still had a good time.

Finally on Sunday, I met with my North Korean Defector mentee for the first time. She is adorable- we get along really well- she is in middle school and very outgoing- I can't wait to keep working with her.

Oct 29-Nov 1

Omg the last weekend (you definitely don't have to be reading this, its a novel)- For Halloween- my favorite holiday- my Fulbright friends and I planned to meet up in Seoul. We rented an Air Bnb which i promptly decorated with decorations from my amazing friends and family in the US- and ate the orange oreos (which taste better than all the other ones).

On Saturday we went shopping in Dongdaemoon where the huge department stores are. It was amazing slash made me want to cry because all Korean clothing is beautiful and I can own so little of it. I did get a fabulous coat- see below. Then we met up with a large group of Fulbrights at a Mexican restauraunt for dinner because the entire organization is aparently basic and then we went out to a "Club/Bar" thing decorated in scary things. It was a super fun night and I really, truly, love Seoul. It's no New York, but I'm starting to think it might be equally cool. As a side note, every person in Seoul is gorgeous- Koreans believe that you are not born pretty- you work for it- and so they work insanely hard. So if nothing else, Seoul is easy on the eyes. I came back this Sunday EXHAUSTED and tutored my mentee for a little (more like talked about KPop) before coming home and passing out.

So there you have it- "what I've been up to." In between the activities I've been feeling: immensely grateful, excited, tired, lonely, homesick, and proud :-).

Check back in late for posts of more substance. For now, enjoy this picture of a group of Korean witches.