Korea...the land of the hot physios!

Woo hoo! Cool little injection bandaids!

So here is my run in with the Korean medical system, part 2. My calves have been pretty tight and sore the last few weeks, then after attending an Irish/Scottish dance practice, one in particular was terribly sore. The irony, is that I  injured it while old men and women danced circles around me. At our game on saturday, right before we started I attempted to take a lap of the pitch. I felt a tearing sensation and then at work on Monday there was a massive"pop" in my calf and my older kids helped carry me up the stairs. Needless to say, it was time to head to a doctor. I went to Sky sports clinic in Seoul for a thorough and very interesting experience.

I walked in and looked like your standard confused foreigner, until a very kind Korean lady took me by the shoulders and directed me to a waiting area. I pulled out my medical insurance and a paper with my ailment translated in Korean. "I hurt my calf,it is very sore, I heard a popping sound and it is hard to walk." I felt like a little kid being lined up for class. They nodded, smiled and called down an incredibly attractive young Korean man with perfect hair! "Hello Maggie. Where is you pay point?" It took me about 3 or 4 times asking him to repeat it, before I realized he had said "pain paint." I pointed at my calf and made a frowny face,  I was immediately embarrassed at how juvenile I was.
"We will get you taken care of, come with me" he said, before whisking me away on a 9 floor journey around the hospital. The first stop was in the X-ray ward where the man managed to stammer out "please take off your underwear!" I looked at him- shocked, before he directed me to a corner that had robes and shorts. When I came out he adjusted me into positions my body has probably never attempted and we played an awkward charades game of "which way is this man telling me to turn," in Korean. I flopped around like a fish out of water until he placed me in the next position and finally sent me on my way.

The handsome Korean doctor was again waiting outside with a big smile on his face. He grabbed my bag, gave me his arm to hold onto and directed me to the consultation room. I felt like a celebrity. When I arrived, I was greeted by a large smiling man, who gestured me to sit. "Hello Maggie, I don't know English. Climb on my table" he said. Without hesitation I took off my shoes and sat down. I wondered if every Korean person in a medical practice sounded so accidentally demanding and sexual when they spoke.  He poked at my calves, slapped them and said "does this hurt" before chopping the back of my calf. He showed me a slide of my X-Ray and said "see this. this is a good calf. and see this? this is your calf. It is bad. It is torn and swollen. No good." He gave me 3 options "do nothing and wait 8 weeks, get surgery or start with injections that will help it heal in 2 to 3 weeks." I chose injections even though he said it was very likely I would need surgery anyway.

He carefully flipped me over on my stomach, prodded me some more and yelled something at a Korean nurse who promptly brought in 5 needles. The handsome doctor came over to hold my hand, which of course made me more nervous. "You are strong girl, you play rugby. This will be pleasurable" he said. If getting five injections is pleasurable, I would be very interested in knowing what this man does in his time outside of work. One by one, they stabbed each needle in. I winced at first, but by the fifth needle, my leg was completely numb and very large. The handsome doctor helped me off the table, but my leg was so stiff I could barely walk. I later thought, I probably should have asked what they gave me.

Before I could get in a word they whisked me off to the 7th floor and into a "rehabilitation room." Now please believe me when I say, and I kid you not, this room was full of the most attractive physios I have ever seen in my life. Large,buff Korean men in tight fitting t-shirts with overly trendy hair and big silly smiles. My face immediately turned red and of course I made quite the entrance by literally tripping through the door. I am so smooth. 4 physios came running over, scooped me up and directed me to lay down on a table. Yep, I was pretty much in heaven...with the small exception that none of them could speak much English and my Korean definitely leaves something to be desired. A man came over, smiled, waved and starting pulling my pants legs up. He then grabbed my legs,twisted me into some crazy position and began kneeding at my thighs and butt. Normally I can control myself, but I began laughing hystercally and so did he."I'm sorry" he said "my English is very bad. Maybe you can take Korean lessons." I nodded and told him to continue. Then he flipped me on my side, pressed his body against my legs and began pulverizing my hamstrings. It was actually so painful that I forgot the obscenely awkward and sexual nature of the encounter. He gave me a thumbs up, to which I nodded and he applied more pressure before moving on to my calf. "Pain" he said.I nodded again and he began pummeling my calf with a massive smile on his face. He must have been of the same thinking as the very handsome doctor, because he giggled everytime I winced. Now, I am pretty strong and I can take a little pain, but I swear this physio made child birth seem like a fun and easy option in comparison to enduring even 20 more minutes of his masochism. When he was finished I couldn't move. He gave me a massage, hooked some electrode type of pads to my legs and brought me a blanket. "I'm gentleman" he said and placed it over my body. "you killed me" I muttered under my breathe. "yes, I kiss you " he said, laughing, and trotted away.

30 minutes later I was awoken by a very soft spoken Korean man "you go now" he said. See you tomorrow. I grabbed my bag, said "Kamsamnida" and hobbled down the hall. When the door closed I heard "oooh, Mi-gook" as they burst into a round of applause.

Can't wait for my next physio session!

Getting Rid of My Mixed Kid Complex

Facebook, while it is many things, is an outlet for social debate. I posted a comment today about white people dressing in black face for Halloween. It sparked some great conversation and interesting theories....but it also deeply hurt me and made me realize I have a chip on my shoulder. All the way in Asia, I thought I spent little time actually worrying about my race, when it is quite the opposite.  I mean it's obvious I am a foreigner, but that applies to black people, white people and folks of any persuasion other than Korean.

Race is such a tender topic for me and I guess it always has been. When I first got to Korea I made a slide show with a photo of both of my parents, my mother being white and my father black. So many of my kids gasped when my fathers image came up on the screen. "Ooh, very black" "Ooh Africa" they said, which was followed shortly thereafter by questions about whether I tan or not and if I think I am pretty. An interesting question, which made me realize. I spend so much time "being mixed" that I never just get to be me. And really whose fault is that? I can't blame past experiences, or racist people I've encountered. It is something I have let become a part of me. As a result, I think of myself in terms of black and white or gray, always the other. This complex has made me incredibly tolerant of every person I've ever met, but more than mildly judgmental of myself. I never feel "pretty," because I never feel like the standard. I'm not even sure I know what the standard is. When people say I am intelligent, I assume they mean intelligent for my background, or upbringing, but I never see myself as being properly included. I know that I am so much more than a color, but I just don't know what yet.

At the age of 25, I still feel like a kid again, every time I have to justify how I feel about race or myself in relation to a particular ethnicity or group. I always feel like I am outside looking in, no matter how close I am to the situation or people. I want very badly to focus on me, not my place in a group and certainly not whether they are thinking of me as strange or different, or the exception. I've never felt black enough, or white enough or really anything enough to have a place to identify. When I was a kid, I made sure that I was funny. If I was the funny kid, I didn't have to be the mixed kid. When people would say something horrible about my hair, my features, my family or my skin tone- I would make it into a joke. It was a defense of sorts, but it is also something that has carried over into my adult life. It is something that makes me very angry and more sad than I often care to admit.

 How do I forget about it, when it's everywhere.On my ID when asked to pick a race, I sat there for 45 minutes refusing to select just one. Every time I fill in a survey or a box I see reminders that I just don't fit neatly, I can't just "please choose one." When I'm in a relationship and my boyfriend's mother says, "you're so sweet, I just wish he was dating a black girl" or a "white girl," how do I ignore it. When the media says "beautiful for a black woman" or "alabaster chic" do I acknowledge that I will  be called "exotic" which has become code for, uncomfortable with our inability to define you.

I'm pretty tired of being tired and I'm even more tired of being the "other." I really just want to be me for a while, whoever that is.

2 months and 10,000 readers!

Today marks two months in Korea! It is also the day my blog hit over 10,000 page views. I am incredibly humbled and overwhelmed with the support I have received on my journey and during the process in planning for Korea. When I started this blog I never imagined that I would have regular readers or even many folks interested in what I was doing/saying! So today, I am astonished and totally in awe!

Korea has honestly been one of the craziest adventures of my life, even just 60 days in. I can't imagine that I would be too sane without this blog as my outlet and without the reader comments and questions  I receive on a regular basis.

So 6o days in: this is what I know
1.I love my school and my kids!
2. Korean food is right up my alley, even though I don't like seafood
3. I have some excellent friends here- from all over the world, who are incredibly supportive and lovely.
4. I could spend 10 years in Seoul and still never see everything there is to see.
5. I am so lucky to have found such an awesome rugby team.
6. I am truly blessed and I need to acknowledge that more often
7. Now would be a good time to stop, slow down and realize that I will never get these moments back, so I should make the best of them!
8. I have no idea where I will be next year, but I can't wait for the adventure!

When My Kids Start Hitting Each other In The Middle of My Lesson

I'm Like....

Korean Healthcare At It's Finest!

After four days of a sore throat, one mildly itchy, red eye that migrated over to the other and feeling generally crap, I decided to take my first trip to the doctor in Seoul. This was also my first sick day at my school, a scandal to say the least. "What's wrong with teacher Maggie?" At the recommendation of a few friends I called up the International Clinic in Itaewon and headed out for my appointment. It was lodged between a 7Eleven, 5 floors above a delicious smelling Indian restaurant.

I walked into one of the most comfortable waiting rooms in the world. It was cozy and patterned and filled with glorious Konglish signs like "knock the door for answer." This place meant  business and there really was minimal talking. "First time" asked the women at the desk and handed me a consultation paper, shooing me away with her perfectly manicured hand. When I finished, I returned it and she extended her hand, I pulled out my health insurance, which she hastily snatched, scanned, stamped and handed back to me. She then guided me through a set of doors into a back room where she set me up to a blood pressure monitor.  "this is too high" she said and adjusted my arm, before taking my blood pressure 5 times repeatedly. She poked at my stomach a bit, but seemed satisfied with the lack of fat she might have been suggesting. She then took my height and weight, reweighing me 3 times; a common practice in Korea. Apparently I am deceptively small to weigh as much as I do. She shook her head, called in another nurse who then proceeded to shake her head at me. After about a minute of their simultaneous head shaking they decided they had cast sufficient judgement and sent me in to see the doctor.

The doctors name was doctor Kim, and although he was Korean born and bred he sounded like a spaghetti western version of John Wayne "Have a seat" he said with a slow, Southern drawl. It took everything in my body not to laugh. He looked at me, asked what was wrong and then answered the question himself "you have red eyes. head cold, congestions, feeling tired" I nodded in agreement. "Okay, how long has this been happening?" "about four days." "That's fine" he said, before checking my ears and throat and sending me out of the room to be tested for strep by judgmental nurse A. She sat me down, leaned me back and shoved a long Q-Tip towards my tonsils. "Not enough" she said, before jamming it further back. "You have loose throat, no gag" she smiled and placed the sample inside a tube. I was then ushered back out into the comfortable waiting room, offered a tootsie pop and asked to wait for 10 minutes while they got my results.

"Good news" said Doctor Kim "you don't have strep throat, but you have a bacterial infection in your eye which is making you sick. No worries, your prescription is waiting in the lobby. Have a nice day Maggie!" without missing a beat he opened the door and let me back out into the lobby where my prescription paper was waiting for me. I paid for my visit, a whopping total of $15.00 and picked up my meds (all 3) for $7. My first experience with Korean doctors was pretty steller! I can't imagine going to a doctor in the U.S and being diagnosed, in & out in 25 minutes with a tootsie roll and a bag full of pre-packed drugs! Well played, Korea, well played!

Viewer Question:Do Korean Men Like Western Women

Ashley sent in a question asking me " I am moving to Korea in 2 weeks and I am wondering,are Korean men attracted to western women, even though we aren't as small as Korean women? Will any Korean men still find me attractive?" Here is my slightly Sojued response!

I Stare At White People

The randomness that escapes my lips!

Seoul Sisters in Cheonan

Rugby Overdose! Saturday I went to a KTA touch tournament in Onsu. After being here for over a month, one would assume that I would finally stop getting lost all of the time, but no dice. I showed up about a half an hour late, but with enough time to change, eat and apple and talk smack before our first game. The tournament was a really good combination of Koreans and Foreigners with a rather large splattering of the Maoris, Samoans and other Polynesians who always seem to beautifully dominate such tournaments. Touch tournaments always remind me that I am not very useful outside of full contact rugby, but they encourage me to try different approaches I wouldn't normally try. For example....actually learning how to pass a ball before I am hit! Once we got a rhythm going it was actually quite impressive and my team mates are pretty fantastic. Of course, I wouldn't be me if something didn't go wrong and I managed to break my finger in the first game and continued to play like a fool. Ashamed to admit I actually broke my finger by jamming it off of some buff Korean (high school kids) chest. I really need to come up with a better story.

If Saturday wasn't enough, we headed to Cheonan Sunday morning for a full day of rugby, Korean formality and shenanery. The field we played on had temple seating, which is the coolest and craziest thing I have ever seen. Imagine playing to that backdrop? We were warmly welcomed and immediately the organizers yelled something in Korean at some boys sitting under a tent. They began gathering their things and making space for us. There was an opening ceremony for, which was nothing short of brilliant and incredibly strange. I am not certain if it was dance, martial arts or circus, but it was definitely something to see. My favorite part was watching the shirtless Korean man shove a nail through a board using his chest!

Our first match was against ourselves as a sort of "Foreigners play rugby in Korea" spectacle. I didn't realize how out of shape I was, until I started sucking wind about 5 minutes into the game; a bit shocking, considering we were playing 10's instead of 7's.

Our next match was against a boys "middle school" team. Now I have no idea what they put in the water here, but these boys were ridiculously mannish to be in high school  As a matter of fact, two minutes into the game, I took one of the hardest hits I have ever taken in my life. I'm not a big girl, but I am definitely hard to take off my feet...or so I thought. The game was actually incredibly challenging, but it was awesome to watch the team playing at a much higher level than we were when we scrimmaged ourselves. Although, I must say there was a lot more groping than I am used to, which is saying a lot because women's rugby is full of gropers!

The Cheonan Boys

Stiff arming the "children"

These boys ran circles around us and it was an awesomely fun game! Afterwards we were fed some of the best fried chicken I've ever had, given beer and asked to take part in a "ceremony." Korea has this habit of being wonderfully formal in very interesting settings. All the teams lined up in rows, they played some music and made presentations in Korean that I didn't understand. Then they presented us with a plaque, which Natalie graciously accepted, despite the fact we could not read it!

5 people (who looked very important) came up to speak and we clapped after each one. Then at the end, this crazy Korean lady who was acting as DJ for the day, began playing Gangnam style and asked us to dance. I love to take a every opportunity I can to be an an idiot. This was the result:

All in all it was an excellent day of rugby, which we ended by going to the Cheonan world dance festival, where I ran into this little character! She is so much cooler than I was when I was a kid!

For Tina

I made this video as a response or rather in solidarity with my friend Tina and fellow Epik teachers who may be hitting the "blues" mark. It is pretty common when you move to another country, to  crash hard when the honey moon phase is over. I still love Korea....but man this week has been frustrating! Check out Tina's blog and original video below.

Tina's Tumblr

Korean Beauty Products

My Favorite Korean Beauty Products:

1. Arsainte Eco-Therapy Moisturizer by The Face Shop

2. Mild Papaya Peeling Mask

3. Nonco Tea Tree Stick by A'Pieu

4. Real Nature Mask in Pomegranate by The Face Shop

5. Honey Black Tea Jelly Foam by Skin Food

6. Parsley & Mandarin Toner (for troubled skin) by Skin Food

7. VOV Aloe Essence Hairspray

8.Elastine Avocado Conditioner

Seeing Psy Live

So last night I found out Psy had a free concert at City Hall in Seoul. Not realizing the amount of planning it might take to get there, I decided to leave at 7:00pm and meet my friend Erika. Bad life decision, the subways were heaving and even if I had decided against going, there was no way out of the exit. I had planned to meet friends at exit 5, which of course was blocked off due to the high numbers of Korean fans. I maneuvered out of another exit and raced down the street, dodging old ladies and bounding past cars to get inside before the gate closed.

absolutely heaving subway!

Of course I had trouble Kakao-ing anyone because as you all probably know, Koreans love their phones! There were more phones than people in the area, making reception and internet usage damn near impossible. News crews kept stopping and asking me questions, obviously wanting the Waygook opinion of Psy in Korea. My response was the same every time "I love Psy. He's great and I am so excited to be here. Woo hoo, go Korea."

By the time I finally found Erika we were on completely separate sections of the gate. We waved sadly at each other long enough that some of the news crew and camera men noticed and helped me climb behind their gear to finally meet her. An old woman next to me (who I thought was a volunteer) began bumping me, fanning herself and screaming something in Korea, I ignored her until she put her hands on me. Anyone who knows me knows I can control my temper until I get touched! A guy next to me said the woman kept saying she was "hot" and we needed to move further into the crowd, basically she didn't like foreigners and thought she would attempt to punk us. She definitely picked the wrong person and we pretty much had a 10 minute verbal row, which ended with me telling her if she was feeling hot she needed to move and we would have issues if she touched me again. All of the young Koreans around us were laughing and one even translated for her...so she got the message. I have a tendency to believe people should maintain their composure especially when representing yourself as a foreigner in a new country...but...sometimes things happen and it turned into an epic-ally hilarious argument.

As it got later and the crowd filled up, people started pushing and shoving each other against the gates. This was not normal rock concert shoving, this was rock concert shoving in ASIA! Highly populated with tech savvy, adoring fans, many of them out of their heads on soju. This was the most diverse crowd I've seen, from young kids to old men and women, it was definitely surprising, but nice to see how much pride South Koreans have in their entertainers and how much support PSY receives. When it was no longer safe to stay where we were, we desperately tried to make our way through the crowd, chatting up each cute Korean man we encountered on the way. We were not moving more than an inch for every ten minutes.

Finally, a super funny Korean boy behind us started yelling something and it was as if he was Moses who parted the crowd. People were bowing and apologizing all over the place. It took us a minute to realize he was saying "pregnant women coming through" but hey, whatever works. We found a sweet spot in the back near some insane business men (one of whom picked Erika up so she could see better), cracked open some Hite beer and went mental to Psy. Towards the end, a man leaned over and said "only five minutes left,now he play Gangnam style." We ran towards the subway and perched behind a crowd of people and just like he said, Gangnam style started. I have never had so much fun dancing with folks in the street. Watching the excitement and pride that people felt about Psy's success was inspiring and dancing to Psy live has definitely been the highlight of my time in Korea so far!

The Glory That is Chuseok

Sonpyeon!!

Last Friday went by so quickly for me! In classes we talked about food and world holiday's, all while eating candy and eventually watching music videos. What is to attribute to this sudden lack of work and teacher apathy? Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) and all of the delicious Songpyeon my student's made for me. Chuseok celebrates the harvest season and is a 3 day holiday full of amazing food, cute children in Hanboks and some pretty interesting party games. The kids  were so excited to finally have a break that teaching became much harder to do and lesson planning pretty much went out the window. Yet, somehow this was one of my most productive classes and it got the students using English without even realizing it.  My teacher informed me that I would have off until Thursday and then the kids would have midterms for the next few days, so no teaching again until next Tuesday.

Woo Hoo!  At 4:30 I ran to the subway station, started my long and arduous journey to pick up my suitcase from FedEx (got lost 3 times) and fast tracked it back home to clean for Angelique's arrival and get ready for a night out in Gangnam!

My first strange encounter was with a guy drinking a bottle of extra stout Guinness, making faces at a small dog on the subway. I should have known such weirdness had to come my way and he ended up going out with me and my friends for the evening, one of the best nights I've had in Seoul, but I shall spare all of the details.

At 7:00 AM I lost to Gangnam! I made my way home, staggering like the last survivor in a Zombie apocalypse film. The streets were empty because everyone had already left for Chuseouk, it was eerily beautiful.I made it back to my apartment in time to buy a bed for Angelique, clean my apartment and make it to the airport before her flight landed.

We headed out with the Epik folks to get some beer and chicken, meeting the craziest taxi driver I have ever encountered on the way. His name was Sam and his English was absolutely perfect. He danced, joked, sang and at one point pulled over the taxi so he could play Gangnam style for us on his Ipad and do the dance. We invited Sam to dinner and thanked him for his kindness. In return he gave us a free taxi ride to our next bar-The Ho Bar.

2 bottles of Soju and an endless amount of beer later, we ended up at a club called Cocoon where the giant pipes blew out air-conditioning at huge hoards of dancers fighting for prime space. The second I found one, I was there for the night! So far, Cocoon has had my favorite music in all of Seoul and the drink prices were pretty reasonable for a Hongdae based night club. Most clubs are filled with K-Pop and EDM or strange house music, which is alright after much Soju...but Cocoon had an excellent DJ who actually played more old school hip hop than I hear at a lot of clubs in the U.S. When I heard "Love Like This" and "Gravel Pit" I knew I was in good hands!

The next few days Angelique and I went to church, celebrated Chuseok with her pastor,bummed around a bit, did some shopping and then went on a Seoul City (hop on and off) bus tour to attempt to take in some culture and work off my Soju hangover. This city is absolutely stunning. It's so crazy to see traditional architecture to a cityscape backdrop.

The little cutie to the left managed to make it into the shot

Angel's last night in Seoul we headed to Itaewon for a night cap with the Irish boys. My plan to remain sober  was demolished the second we started playing beer twister.

All in all it was an excellent break and with only two days until my next huge weekend (a rugby tournament and end of the year party as well as our first away game)I think it's time to do some detoxing.