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Published: September 15th 2008
Today I got up around 10am and talked to Mom and Dad back home. They said they were still getting rain from the hurricanes and more was to come. Luckily for me, it hasn’t rained here yet. I’ve had gorgeous days and today wasn’t going to be any different. At 12:20, I met Pauline outside her apartment and we walked to one of the corner stores and picked up some juice for the party. Then we hit up Dunkin’ Doughnuts to get some doughnut holes for dessert. I bought the doughnut holes since I didn’t have anything to bring, and that was fine with Pauline! We then walked over to the corner of Bone Hospital and waited for a small blue car. We talked about many different things and she told me to read a book called “Korea” because it offers many insights into the culture and it basically follows the trek some prisoners took many years ago. It is supposed to be very interesting, so I’ll have to check it out. We saw some pretty crazy stuff when we were waiting on the corner. The policemen look like pilots with lighted batons, and there was a father on a moped
who had his son in his lap (picture!) and then went into the convenient store and left the son on the moped! It is seriously a different world here. Crime is about non-existent. There was a bike stolen in another province a few weeks ago and that made national news. Yes, a bike. People here leave their homes unlocked and their keys in the ignition. There isn’t a homeless population that I know of, and cabbies try and give you your twenty cents change. People are very honest here and have very strong values and that’s one reason why I love it here! Don’t get me wrong, I miss home occasionally, but this is nothing I can’t handle.
All of a sudden we hear a voice yelling in English! So we turn and see a lady waving at us. We run across the street and her name is Megan, just like me! Her husband is Gordon, or Gord, and their Korean friend is driving. Unfortunately, I don’t remember her name. Megan and Gord were from Canada just like Pauline and her husband, Brian. We pack in this small light blue car with the three girls in the back and
start driving out of town. We pass many neat shops including a Korean battle ship (picture toward the end, sorry it’s a little blurry), and then pretty soon we are on the expressway heading to the mountains. We took a very scenic route and it was beautiful! There were many breathtaking views and the mountains were covered in green. You couldn’t fit another tree on there if you tried! I noticed many burial sites along the way and other oddities like trees in perfect rows (pictures). I asked Megan why the trees were in those perfect rows and she said that after the Korean War, there was hardly a stick left anywhere. The land was barren, so all families were required to plant a certain number of trees. Our Korean friend said that they would mainly go out on Arbor Day to do their planting. It was mainly her generation that lived through those tough times (late 20’s, early 30’s).
Speaking of age, it is different here in Korea. If someone asks you your age, you have to be specific on whether it is Korean age or Western age. They go by the lunar calendar, so it is different.
I am 22, but here in Korea, I am 23. If you have already had your birthday this year, you add one year. If you haven’t had your birthday, you add two years. Age is also important here in Korea because you are only supposed to be friends with your peers. You can’t really have much older friends or much younger friends. That is one thing that our driver said she liked about Western culture because it doesn’t matter what age you are, everyone can be friends and socialize together. It wasn’t until she pointed this out that I started noticing groups of people who were walking together were mainly the same age. They were also all men today because the women were preparing their holiday meal for Chusok.
Going on through the mountains, we pass gorgeous valleys and lakes and even rice paddies. The roads were very winding, but not so much narrow. There is a different air quality in the mountains. It is so fresh and crisp and just has an air of relaxation to it. It is nice to get out of the big city once in a while and in the mountains is the place
to go!
We finally reached a very large gazebo and some of the ladies had to use the restroom. I got out of the car and looked into the valley. It was gorgeous! I also saw two seashells on the mountain’s edge that I put in my pocket. Apparently this was the place we were going to have our barbecue, but when we called the other people, they told us to come into town because Mike was still making a pizza. My thought was, “How in the world is he making a pizza when we don’t have ovens?!” Well, we finished looking out over the landscape and got back in the car and drove another 7 minutes or so to the village of Unam-ni. This is one of the smallest villages I have seen yet and it is more of a farming community. We took a left at the fork in the road and went to see the public school. It was big and it looked new. We then turned around and drove to the English camp school and it almost looked exactly like the public school, only it had a new dormitory just built that will open in
October. The teachers stay in little houses behind the school and they’re pretty nice. I just don’t think I could live in such seclusion here. I need to be able to walk to the store or a restaurant on a whim. Most of the people here have cars to drive into Jeonju when they need something. The school pays for their housing and soon to be all meals, so they basically pay for nothing. They also get more time off because at their school, they run more of a camp situation. Public schools pay to go to their camp for three days at a time and they get to go twice a year. So all of the teachers teach the same lesson plans for months at a time - there is no preparation! They also get a lot of time off because if there is a week like this week where we have a holiday on Monday and then school on the other four days, no school is going to waste one of their trips to only come on Tuesday. They also used to get snow days off since they are in the mountains and kind of hard to get
to if there was a snow. It would be nice to teach there, except I like my location - close enough to the city where I can go shopping, but close enough to the mountains and river that I can go hiking, biking, or walking.
When we arrived, we walked in and I met Connie, Troy, and their kids. They were hosting the party, and doing a great job! They have a cat that just had four baby kittens only yesterday at 4pm! They were so cute, but if someone doesn’t take them, they have to be put down. It’s so sad. I hope she finds a shelter for them! I also met Mike and his wife (unfortunately, I don’t remember her name, but it starts with a “J”!), Terry and Ruth and their daughter, Andrew, Peter, and Pastor Bill who is Korean, but was raised in America during the war. There were some other people, but I can’t seem to remember their names.
We went on a tour around the school, but we didn’t go in because it was locked. Then Pauline and I took a walk into town and saw many different things. It was the
first time she had seen a cow in Korea, and mine as well. We also heard chickens and saw traditional houses. There were a couple places that looked run down and one even condemned. Most of it was pretty dirty and I couldn’t imagine eating at some of the restaurants. I also wondered where the cows graze because there is no place for them to do so. All spare land is covered in rice paddies. So I guess they just stay locked up and get fed hay all day long. They also chain their dogs up on short leashes. They have a different way of taking care of their pets here. At home, our pets are like our family, but here a pet is just an animal. It will take some getting used to, because when I see my kittens at home, I would never dream of not taking care of them like a part of the family. We then started heading back because we thought that lunch might be getting done. So we hiked up the one road that went through the village back to the school and their houses.
To cook, they had a barbeque grill and
made an oven out of tinfoil and bricks! Our menu included pizza, different kinds of sausages, fajitas (little weird, but tasted awesome!), garlic bread, watermelon, potato salad, pickles, donut holes, juice, and water. It was quite the spread and it was all delicious. I tried just about everything because if you didn’t grab it yourself, they would stick it on your plate for you! It was such a good meal, it reminded all of us of our homes, and it was a good break from my usual grilled cheese, bagels, and yogurt.
During and after eating we were all mingling, and I was talking a lot to Terry, whose wife, Ruth, had gone inside. He wanted to show me his house, so I went with him and found their daughter watching cartoons in the living room, and Ruth baking brownies! She is the cooking teacher at the school and the kids wanted to make brownies, so she had to find a way to make brownies with the ingredients here in Korea. Chances are none of the students have ever tasted brownies, so whatever they taste like, they should be fine! They were quite good when they came out of
the oven, actually. In the mean time, we talked about many different things including the ways the doctors and hospitals work around here. They said that there are no nurses assistants; so if I need to go to the hospital, I must provide someone to watch over me. They also call going to the doctor, “going to the hospital,” because they don’t have degrees of severity here. You have to ask if it is the overnight hospital and if they look at you funny, you know it’s just the doctor. They also don’t have degrees of severity for illnesses. They may say you have influenza and at first, you may freak out, but it is probably just a flu bug. So as long as you have a Korean friend to translate, you are much better off!
After talking for about 45 minutes or an hour, we decide to go back out and join the others, only no one is to be found. We look around and decide to call them. They said they went for a walk to the village to find me! They thought I had wandered off to take pictures! Oops! They also said that it looked
like two boys were in the dormitory and to check it out. So we went over and all the doors were locked, but the windows were open, so Terry climbed in the window and opened the door! There were also beer bottles on the construction site, and Terry said, “Only in Korea!” So we snooped around and it looked very nice inside. It had a main floor with the kitchen area and then two upper floors where the students will sleep - girls on one floor, boys on the other. We didn’t find anyone, so we headed into town.
There were people down by the river and we heard whistling and then they waved, so we turned and went toward the river. Along the road there were gorgeous wild flowers of all colors - light pink, dark pink, orange, white, purple, and yellow. On the way back I picked some to press in a book to remember Unam-ni by. Ruth and I managed to pick up two local children who were following the Wayguks. Ruth said that means “beautiful people.” I’ve heard it just means foreigner, but who knows, either way I’m a Wayguk! At the river, people
were picnicking under the bridge and Megan and Pastor Bill were wading in the water. It was flowing pretty hard and coming right from the mountain, so this was a genuine mountain spring. Although I wouldn’t drink the water (or bottle it), I will walk or swim in it! I jumped down the ledge and took off my shoes and walked in. I saw a neat rock that had many different layers, so I put it in my pocket to take home. Back home, Mom has become quite the rock hound, so I think she would enjoy seeing this one! For the most part, the rocks were slippery and uneven. I found a boulder on the shore to sit on and I sat there and dangled my feet in. If you kept your feet in one position for too long, fish would come up and nibble on your toes just like the new expensive Japanese pedicures! The stream was nice and cool on the hot day and Megan decided to submerge herself, because after all, what other opportunity will you have to swim in a mountain stream in South Korea?! I was having a great time on my rock and
Andrew came down and sat next to me, well, on the rock above me. He is so funny! It’s like having a dry-humor commentator at your side everywhere you go! When I was ready to get out of the water, he pulled me ashore and we started talking to another lady who was from Houston. I think her name started with a “V” or a “Y.” She was concerned about Hurricane Ike because it was supposed to hit the Huston area hard. All of her stuff was on a second level storage unit, so it should be fine. She also talked about the first time she came here she had a man pet her arm because she is black, the man thought her skin color would rub off! We had a good chuckle at that story because it seems so odd, but frankly she is even more of an oddity than I am here in Korea!
We started walking back up the path and we saw a huge, I mean HUGE, spider spinning a web. It was so big, we could see it from the other side of the road! I zoomed in and took a good picture of
it. I definitely wouldn’t want that in my house! Speaking of, I haven’t seen one bug inside my apartment or the school, so that is good news! We got back to the houses and packed up all of our stuff and headed for home. This time our Korean guide took us the non-scenic route and we got back a lot faster, but we didn’t mind the scenic route at all because it was beautiful! The other way was beautiful as well, but there was more to see on the way there. We drove through town and saw many street vendors and then finally arrived at Bone Hospital (Bone-byong-won). Then Pauline, Brian, and I walked home. They arrived first and I just kept going an extra 15 yards to my apartment.
When I got home, I was completely exhausted. I laid down for a rest and then video chatted with Mom and Dad. Overall I had a great day and a happy Chusok! Everyone I met today was very nice. I wouldn’t mind socializing with that group again sometime.
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Aunt Marshy
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bbq
What a fun day!!! HUGS!!!