Blogs from South Korea, Asia - page 343

....Photobooth? Well lots apparently when you have sooper dooper photo booths like they do in Korea! The idea came from Japan, basically you go in, act like a goon and then have very little time to decorate the photos with backgrounds, borders and motifs. It's so much fun! You really need a Korean with you tho to explain to you what the hell is going on, it's a little like a crazy glittery girlie production line! ....Toilet? Well lots apparently when it's floor to ceiling covered in mirrors! Nothing like having your behind reflected and beamed back to you many times over, I think many a diet resolution must have been made in this loo. Really tho, why you would want to watch yourself doing your dirty business on a toilet is beyond me. Korea is ... read more

So every year a modern art exhibition comes to Busan so I thought I'd best check it out! I went with one of Wills students, a guy called Joey. His English is really good and he's a really cool guy to hang out with. Although I love all of my Korean friends sometimes there are moments when it can be testing for both parties, especially when it comes to humour. Sarcasm can sometimes go way over their heads! Joey spent a year living in Guatemala so his English is good, and he's travelled so he's open minded and laid back. So basically he's cool to hang out with as there is no real language barrier. Off we trotted to the Busan Museum of Modern Art which is one of the three sites where the art exhibition ... read more

Sorry again for the span of time between these. Chuseok is the one of the biggest holidays in Korea and it's celebrated from the night before until the day after. This year, it was October 5th, 6th and 7th. Since I myself don't know enough about this holiday to give an accurate summary...I found this site and it has a better explaination than I could give. (http://www.askasia.org/teachers/essays/essay.php?no=2) We were invited to my friend Eun Mi's (pronounced N Me) house on friday to have a traditional dinner and meet her family. After meeting in the subway and a short taxi ride, we had come upon some of the most narrow streets I have seen. I took a picture, but I didn't quite know what made me do so. Something I couldnt figure out caught my attention to ... read more

Why, you may ask, did Alexis have all this time off in the first place? Well, let me tell you. For the conference, it was over a weekend, plus my school was required to give me Monday off. But the rest of the glorious days off were because of a wonderful and huge holiday here called Chuseok. Chuseok is the biggest holiday in Korea and can be considered equivalent to Thanksgiving. People go to their homes, exchange gifts (not quite in the same way as Christmas, I should say-- usually they give food items or gift sets or things, from what I observed), meet with extended family, make traditional foods (including some delicious, sweet rice cakes-- soft kinds, not the hard stuff you're thinking of that they sell in the US). It's an important holiday here ... read more

Hello, hello, Well, here's the promised blog detailing my current living situation. It took me a while to get settled in and force myself to sit down and start writing it. But here I am! Let's start at the beginning. So, I flew into Incheon international airport on September 17th in the evening, after a very long and sleepless flight. After collecting my luggage, I headed toward the exit doors and tried to find someone holding a sign with my name on it. I was really looking forward to that but no luck! So there I was, standing in the airport arrival area, without my recruiter or my boss' phone number because I didn't think to write that stuff down! Smart move. So I walked in circles for a while and started looking for internet while ... read more