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Korea fighting!
Korea shirts at work for the 2nd Korea gameIt's almost 1AM and I've just returned from scooting around Cheongju with Jake. As of Tuesday, Jake is a 2 time scooter owner. Nancy and Vicky. It was great to get see other parts of Cheongju. I have not seen much of this city because we walk to and from work everyday and that's about it. Otherwise, we are in a taxi or on a bus, and on the weekends we are usually out of town. Jake has been cycling everyday for about 3 months now so he has seen much more of the city than I have, and he promised to show me as soon as he got the scooter. So tonight after work, he played tour guide. We picked up McDonalds downtown and then went up to a lookout where you can see most of Cheongju. It's actually pretty darn big. Most days here lately are smoggy, humid, and cloudy but tonight it was clear and cool so it was perfect! Then we went up and down and in between mountains that surround the city. It was pretty dark, but the the mountains are awesome.
Jake and I decided we are officially adults this week because of our
Weekend at the lake
Wake boarding and skiing at the lake! big spending. Jake with the scooter, and me with Lasik. Last Saturday in Seoul, I had my consultation and I'm all set for surgery this Saturday at 2. Although each of these purchases are less than $2000, it's the most expensive thing each of us have purchased without our parents! Ha ha that may be pathetic but exciting nonetheless. Yay for supporting ourselves!
My friend who is from Florida, and also lives in Cheongju, told me about the place she had Lasik in Seoul. She has consistently had nothing but great things to say about it and she also knows 2 other foreigners who have had it done at the same place. She had her 3 month check up on Saturday and I had my consultation so we went to Seoul together and she hung out during my appointment. It was unclear at first whether I would need LasIK or LasEK (which costs a little more and takes a little longer) but fortunately for me, the doctor decided I was a good fit for Lasik. I am getting it done at Dream Eye Center in Myeongdong. They have pictures, names, and occupations on their website of at least 100
other foreigners who have had it done there. Lots of people come from Japan I guess to get it done there. My consultation was free...and I was very happy with the service. My nurse was extremely nice and helpful and friendly and she had great English. I only talked to the Doctor for a few minutes but he also seemed nice. This Saturday they will provide me with a hotel, and then Sunday I will have a follow up appointment. The surgery, the hotel, 4 follow up appointments, and unlimited eye drops are all covered in the price, which is less than $1,700 so I'm pretty excited! The staff was so professional and kind. And, any problems or additional surgeries are free for life. But let's hope I don't have to deal with that 😊
The only downfall to all that is the 2 weeks I've spent in my glasses. These things drive me crazy and I can hardly wait TWO more days to be free of them! I have dreamt for YEARS about waking up and being able to see. It seems to good to be true! I hope I'm wrong!
Last weekend was the fourth of
July. A perfect time to reflect on the awesomeness of America. And so I did just that. There are so many things here everyday that seem so backwards and strange to me. Part of it is the language barrier and the other part of it is just cultural differences, but you grow up one place and just assume that everyone else does everything the way you do. And it is so not true. Jake made a comment over the weekend that sounded something like "Korea has made me so much more proud of America." And it's true...America is wonderful but there is so much to be gained from other places as well.
Things that I miss when I think about home:
*summer: lakes, music with the windows down, mt rainier, grilling hamburgers, being outside in FRESH air, hanging out with friends and family
*common sense
*sarcasm
*trash cans
*pretty buildings, parking lots, and proper sidewalks
*clean everything
*toilet paper in public restrooms
*public restrooms
*the every once in a while friendly customer service
*being able to speak english to anyone I see (I swear I'm going to jump on strangers when I get home and hug then and
say "ENGLISH?????")
*water in restaurants with ice and with actual cups
Things I have learned or hope to keep with me from Korea:
*deep respect for elders
*hard work ethic
*public transportation
*healthier eating (lots of fruits and vegetables)
*crazy amounts of hiking
*norabong (karaoke)
*jimjilbangs (naked spas)
*heated floors everywhere
*TV on your GPS
Okay so this list kind of turned into "cool things in korea" ha ha
Anyway, some things are really different here and there are days that I like it and some things that I think are interesting...but there are days that it's really frustrating and I wish everyone was American. Ha ha! A trip to Seoul usually fixes that. Crowds of Americans and other foreigners gives you the feeling you are at home. Until you get pushed around and knocked into by Koreans, then you remember where you are.
It's so interesting to me that here in Korea, if and when you see a white person, or a foreign person or anyone that is NOT korean, you think: FOREIGNER. where are they from? But in America, I could pass 100 people of them and everyone could look completely different
License
This is the building where they tested our eyes and had us show the ten fingers and they could all be as American as I am. I know this is a basic concept but when you think about it, it's pretty incredible how diverse America is...and how many countries do NOT have anything like that.
So, back to the 4th of July! Ha ha, I got a little sidetracked. I took Jake to Muuido Island which is a small island off the coast of Incheon (where the international airport is). It was quite difficult and frustrating to plan being as everything on the internet was in Korean. I had to rely on other foreigners blogs to get me there, which was more difficult than I thought it would be. From Seoul we took the subway to Incheon, which I thought may be an hour or something and ended up being at least two. Then we were supposed to get on a bus somewhere near the station and take the bus to somewhere near a ferry. This would have been easy if things were in English or I could speak Korean. However, that was not the case. Somehow we got on a bus, with no idea where we were really going or WHEN we should get
Licensing place
in the middle of no where off. (not to mention how much to pay when we got on the bus) Anyway, I thought this part would be like 20 minutes max and it was closer to an hour and a half. Meanwhile, the weather is MISERABLE. Like unbearably terrible. The visibility is zero because the entire country is coated in a thick smog/fog/cloud/pollution/whatever you want to call it. It's about 90 degrees though...and raining off and on. Great weather for a weekend on an island! And Jake had no idea where we going....I was feeling like my plan was pretty lame at this point. THEN we missed our bus stop and went way past it and got off and waited for another bus going the other way. We paid for that bus, waited for our driving to smoke for 7 minutes, and then kept going. Finally we get to the right bus stop....then we have to walk about 20 minutes over a bridge to another island and to the ferry terminal. We caught THE LAST ferry over to Muuido. I can't imagine the disaster of a weekend if we would have missed it, ha ha...and we made it by minutes. We got on the ferry, crossed
Muuido!
Beach hut the water for about 4 minutes, and got off the ferry. Then we had to get on ANOTHER bus which dropped us off at our destination: Hanagae Beach. I read about it in a magazine for foreigners. I saw a picture of the beach huts and I was sold. When we got there it was almost dark, most restaurants were closing and there wasn't much besides a beach and some huts. You can imagine our excitement! Ha ha anyway, we found a restaurant that was still serving food so we ate, then walked around the beach and got lots of mosquito bites. Before crashing for the night, I pulled out my roman candles, bottle rockets, and sparklers I had packed. Happy 4th of July! We shot them off into the blanket of smog and a few other foreigners did the same thing.
The next day was supposed to be thunderstorms but everything cleared up and it was sunny and beautiful! We had lunch on the beach and then walked around the beach. At night it was dark and foggy so we couldn't see much but the island is really pretty with lots of mountains and cliffs. You could ride
USA
fireworks horses or 4 wheelers on the beach too. I was really excited for the sunset and the stars. I guess it's one of the only places near Seoul where you can actually see stars....and the sunsets are supposed to be great but we didn't see a single star or a flash of sunset. We may have to go back for those things. But we had a great time. The beach was refreshing and it was a great get away. We explored, we got sun burnt, we were tired and we had fun. Success.
I think I missed 2 or 3 weekends of blogging...but I put pictures on facebook so that was my update. We had a great couple of weeks of excitement with the world cup going on. Korea and the US were each one win away from playing each other which would have been awesome! It was a sad night when we went out to watch them both play, Korea at 11pm, and the US at 3:30am. It was long and depressing, complete with over time. Both teams lost the same night and it was 6:30am before we were catching a taxi home to go to bed. We
Beach Hut
hanagae beach all bought Korea t-shirts and it was fun watching all of the Koreans go nuts every time the ball was kicked. I have really appreciated being in a country that cares so much about the sport and has so much pride in their team. Jake had a vuvuzela sent from South Africa so he blows on that every hour or so at work and it shakes the walls. The kids act like they hate it but they love it.
The last thing I will mention is getting our Korean drivers license. That was quite a process. The law got stricter this year for Americans getting a license in Korea so we had to go to the US embassy in Seoul at 5AM before work last Thursday. Then we had to drive to the license place and wait THREE hours to take a test in English on the computer. That in itself is an entire story. The sentences were completely incorrect. The grammar was wrong and I had trouble interpreting the meaning of at least half of the questions. A 60% was required to pass the test. Considering the time we spent waiting there, I got more and more nervous
during the test about whether or not I could pass. I was completely sure on one question and that's it. They didn't make sense and it was confusing. One question said, where is it NOT okay to stand and park?
A. In front of a fire alarm
B. On a bridge
C. Next to fire materials
D. In a crosswalk
Um....ALL OF THE ABOVE!!! Are you telling me it's okay to park and stand in a crosswalk or on a bridge?! Which one is okay!? I don't get it. Anyway...after my heart pounding and palms sweating....a 60 popped up on the screen. Ha ha...I passed! Jake got a 65 and then we were off with our Korean driver's license. Mine was complete with my name: B GRAECE DEVRIES. Yes, my name is B graece and yes GRACE is spelt wrong.
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Jeanne Curtis
non-member comment
B Graece!! A new nick name!! Thanks for the blogging!! I'm going to forward your blog to those people who only get Jake's and hence don't get any! I love the fourth of July antics and am so proud of you for your adventuresomeness!! Also so excited about your surgery and will send positive vibes your way for Saturday! Take good care of each other!! Love you!! Jeanne