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!

Meet your co-teacher...in a typhoon!

We arrived in Seoul this morning in the middle of a typhoon and I finally met my co-teacher! I bowed and said Anyong Haseyo(sp) in Korean like I had been told to do. She smiled and gave me a big hug. I was quite surprised as it seemed like such a Western thing to do. We spent an awkward few minutes just smiling at each other and trying to figure out what to do with my suitcases. She answered the phone, said a few things in Korean that I couldn't understand and a very nice car came roaring around the corner. An older woman jumped out, gave me a hug and said "Welcome to Korea," another one of my co-teachers and a very friendly woman. They followed me down the steps in the pre-typhoon weather holding an umbrella over my head. When we got to the trunk it was quite clear that my suitcase might not fit. They smiled, giggled and began furiously re-arranging the trunk. In two minutes I was all packed up and ready to go. She leaned over and said I made you lunch! It was a bag of baked potatoes and a bag of grapes. I smiled at the gesture.

When I arrived at my apartment I was surprised by how nice it was! I will be living in an officetel. I looked around and it seemed to have everything- a table and chairs with a bouquet of roses,a fridge stocked with beer, microwave, rice cooker, stove, washing machine, shower separate from the rest of the bathroom....just one thing missing....a bed! My co-teacher told me I would be staying with her for the night, so I grabbed some things and took the subway 40 minutes out to her place. When we arrived I was a bit anxious about meeting her mother. Again, I bowed and said hello. She ran over and gave me a big hug. She spoke very little English but her smile was so bright. They gave me a mattress pad, led me to my room and let me rest for a while. I had casually mentioned to my co-teacher that I loved Indian food. When I woke up she had made me an amazing Indian curry with loads of sides and lots of dessert. To say I was humbled, would be an understatement.

I was so surprised to have someone be so kind upon first meeting me, particularly because I felt like I might be a bit of a burden. We sat around for a few hours, listening to the Typhoon and talking about all the places we had visited. We had a lot more in common than I thought we would. She shared teaching tips, told me about the students and promised to help make my time in Korea as fantastic as possible. I feel very blessed! Tomorrow I head to school at 8:30 am, observe the classes and meet all of the teachers. At 3:30 I will attend my first staff meeting, complete with Soju....this should be a very interesting day!

A Few Things...

1. My visa arrived on saturday!
2. I turned in my notice at work and I managed not to do the Bernie out the door.
3. My flights are booked.
4.My Korean language tutor is too attractive for words and it is super distracting!
5.I have one suitcase fully packed
6. I have literally listened to 2NE1 "I love you" and BigBang "Fantastic Baby" on repeat all week.
7. Several family members have asked me when I plan on seriously dating or getting married, since I am always traveling..
8. I don't plan on ever getting married ....just didn't make the cut for my bucket list.
9. I don't do serious and I plan on traveling a lot.
10. I was offered the opportunity to coach kids while in South Korea.
11. I accepted this offer.
12. Shit, did I just over commit?
13. Nope, I got this.
14. Orientation is in 32 days.
15. My Korean is getting better and I have learned phrases other than "what is that man's name?" and "How much?"
16. Last immunizations on July 24th! I AM A PIN CUSHION.
17. I have a horrible heat rash from this stupid weather and I can't focus on writing this semi coherent blog post because I am so damn itchy.
18. Hopefully Calamine lotion will help
19. Kimchi.
20. Kimchi

I'm a Seoul Sista

Last night I woke up from a ridiculous and very unattractive Plague-ish coughing fit, A La Game of Thrones, to find I had an email from my coordinator that said "placement results."  So, after a very long process, months of collecting documents and weeks of stressing, I opened the email and  found out my EPIK teaching placement is in Seoul! I am ecstatic, although, I'm not sure it will feel real until I have my NOA and contract along with my visa, in hand! Big props to my awesome coordinator for keeping me up to date, organized and fierce! I'm smizing right now. Can you tell? So in honor of my pending departure (pretend I wrote honor with a "U" if you're British) I thought I would take some time to point out some of the awesome highlights of Seoul!

1. Seoul truly is the city that never sleeps...well unless it happens to be folks on the subway. Cafés, PC bangs, restaurants, spas, shopping centers and fast food chains are open any hour of any night. Which means I can totally feed my late night Kimchi cravings.

2)Beautiful Men! Even though it may take them longer to get ready than me....I'm cool with that and I can totally get over the fact that they all wear BB cream :)

3)Desserts- Seoul is famous for it's plethora of amazing and ridiculously delectable desserts! For example, green tea tiramisu

4) K-Pop- It's addictive! Korean pop music is like crack! Not to mention, the girl groups are completely dominating the global market at the moment. Seoul is the center of it all, producing polished, pop princesses with perfect hair (check out that alliteration!)

5) Bio recognition- Many homes in Seoul are equipped with technology that's security  is dependent on a persons eye or fingerprint. Some apartments can even be completely operated using a cellphone. Imagine all of the lights in your apartment shutting off the second your stalker ex tried to call you? It could happen!

6)Palaces of the Morning Calm- Just stunning! Where would I ever see this in Wisconsin?

7) Coex- Asia's largest underground mall and it even has a Kimchi museum!!

8) Seoul Metro- Anyone who has ever braved the subway of NYC or the dregs of Boston or even the London tube, knows that you meet some crazy characters there. Seoul is no exception and with a city so packed you are bound to get up close and personal!

9) Being a Badass- Seoul offers the opportunity to devour a semi-live octopus and nothing makes me feel more powerful than a tongue battle with octopus tentacles!

Okay so it won't look quite like this scene out of "Old Boy" where he devours a whole live oct

10) Lotte world- The Guinness World Record largest theme park.It's magical

11) FC Seoul- Korea's professional soccer team and lets be honest, Lee Eul-yong is a total stud! Sadly, he's retired...but he paved the way for even more fantastic players!

12) Rugby-Seoul is home to the "Seoul Survivors" and the "Seoul Sisters," two awesomely talented teams!

13) Hiking on Mount Bukhan

14) World Comic Convention-Twice a month the SETIC convention center hosts Seoul's World Comic con Festival. Loads of Korean teenage dress up as the anime characters, which for me, screams nerdy "PHOTO-OP!" Love it!

15) Spas, Saunas and Massage Rooms-Korea is pamper heaven!Some saunas also include sleeping areas for overnight stay. These are known as 찜질방, or jimjilbang, and can be a cheap alternative to hotels when you're just passing through an area. Seoul literally has thousands!

Rugby and Requests

Woop! My CRC finally arrived from West Virginia this afternoon, big ups to Tammy Baldwin and her office for all of their help. This was possibly the icing on the cake for today, after a very tough rugby match in new position (Lock and Flanker). I can honestly say I have never been so sore in my life, feels like I was in a car wreck or something. Sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself. Haha, yet I have started doing some research into playing rugby in Korea. Don't know where I'll be placed yet, but I found a  video by these lovely ladies. "The Seoul Sisters" It made me smile!