"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Asia
June 28th 2009

Published: June 28th 2009

That is the most frequently-asked question we get here. I feel like we're in that "Can I have yo numba?" MAD TV skit.

Yesterday (Saturday), I got up at 4 and Ben and I met up with Hae-Yung to catch the 5:30 subway to Busan Station to make the 6:30 train to Seoul. Guess how you know two people are a couple here? Some of them wear the same shirt! Ahahaha. In the stores and shops, they have the same shirt in girls' sizes and mens' sizes. Adorably cute in the cheesiest kinda way? Um...YES. We would probably do the same thing if it was the norm back home. Everyone dresses so nice here, too. I wish people dressed this nice back home. No one dresses sloppy and gross.

The train ride went by so fast! I have not been listening to my iPod at all this trip because we don't really have reasons to listen to it. But, this almost 3-hour train ride flew by with Taylor Swift crooning in my ears. We got into Seoul around 9:15 and then headed to a pretty palace, which turns out was re-modeled and now made into a banquet hall. When we were heading back, we wanted to hail a taxi (so inexpensive here and they do not tip or pay tax here, either), but what did we get? A DELUXE taxi. Aahahah. I didn't even know there was such a thing. Yup, it's made for a queen. You get in, and there is so much leg room that you can barely see the passenger. All it had was more leg room and these controls to control your seat like you control your seat in a car. And just for that it was double the price...haha, nooo thank you, but it was still inexpensive compared to ours (4200ish won which is a little less than 4 bucks).
Here, they do not swipe their credit cards. All they do is put the back strip face-down on a surface, and that's it.
Afterwards, we went to another palace (Gyeongbokgung), which was the home of one of the dynasties here...the Joseon Dynasty. It was a sweltering 91 degrees here, so we used our booklet as a fan and just panted around like dogs. Luckily, the palace had an air-conditioned adjoining museum, so we looked around there for a bit. We also saw a traditional changing of the guard. So many foreigners....blaaah.

That is something I have realized about myself, too. I used to not understand what they meant by tourist traps and getting the real experience...now I do. I don't want to be around other Americans and foreigners. I love living in the dorms here and experiencing how they live instead of staying in some shwanky hotel where foreigners are just a room away. I want the real cultural experience, not the tacky tourist "trap," with vendors taking advantage of your money and stepping into a shop and hearing English. I am totally understanding the saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" and appreciating and loving it.

We then went to Insadong, which is a marketplace here where everyone pretty much sells the same stuff and you just bargain with them. Then, we took a subway to this huuuge marketplace, which Ben said was like our Michigan Ave. Ewwww. So many people! I also realized I do not like it when there are poeple EVERYWHERE. It makes you feel claustrophobic. There is a huge difference between Seoul and Busan in terms of the people and them being first and second largest cities in South Korea.
In Myeongdong, we met up with Danny (the owner from Bentley's Bagels son) and went to Nolita, which is a nice Italian place.

He informed me a lot about Korea:

-People in the same grade have to be the exact same age. There can't be an older or younger person in a grade. Other people are not your friend if they are not the same age. So, I would call Ben my older bother and he would call me his younger sister.

-Say, you are in a corporation. If there is a supervisor and you are an intern, you have to do everything the supervisor says in AND out of the office, meaning if you see him in the street and he asks you to do something, you do it. Ben said what he thought was amazng in America was that fathers came home after work. I was confused, and Danny teaches English here and he explained that the fathers go out late to company dinners and drink a lot and many times come home drunk. Danny said his kids will sometimes come to school and talk about how their dad got back at 1 or 2 in the morning drunk and woke them up.

There is other stuff I will mention when I talk about the culture clash between us...

Then, we went to the Olympic Stadium, where the Olympics were held the year I was born. We got to go inside and watch some girls play soccer in it. That must be pretty neat...
"hey, where ya goin?"
"oh, ya know, just to the OLYMPIC stadium for soccer practice."

I took a seat in the front row. I got great seats....just 20 years too late. haha.
After that, we went to TGI Friday's. I have only had that one other time in my life. That and Outback Steakhouse are the only two American places we have eaten at. Not bad.
Then, we took the train home and my eyelids were so heavy, I couldn't even change the songs on my iPod.
Oh! Speaking of eyelids, you know what it is really popular to do here? Get plastic surgery on their eyes to get double eyelids. When I heard that, it made me sad. Just beeeee happy with who you are, people! The grass is always gonna be greener on the other side. LIVE. your. life. God made you the way you are for a reason.

Today, Bong-Ki took me to a church nearby. It was smaller than last week's but really nice. They were so kind. We were walking up the stairs, and at the top, they were handing out the weekly pamphlet, and the lady saw me and said, "Welcome" with a smile. 😊 Again, I was the odd woman out with no white veil. But, it was great to experience another church here.
After that, we met up with Kylie and Min-Jee and took the bus to a professor's house. It is very rare to be invited into people's homes here, especially students being invited to a professor's house. In many ways, I think we are getting a lot more intimate treatment because last year there were 6 ISU students and this year, there are only 2. It was nice to see his home. We sat down and finally ate some bulgogi, which I thought was beef, but then found out later on that it was duck. Sah-weet.

More things that are different: they don't drink anything with their meals! I drink water like it's my job, so it is really hard to not have it with meals, and I have to ask for it when I am eating anywhere. For some reason, their water looks like apple juice. I forgot to ask why. I'll have to get back to you on that one. They also don't use napkins! It is quite hard eating fruit and meat and cutting things up without them. So, the professor's wife gave Kylie and me aprons to put over our laps. They are so accomodating.

At one point during the meal, I picked up the meat with my chopsticks and put it in my mouth whole and swallowed it. Well, I don't know if I swallowed it too fast or if it was the sauce or what, but my throat started burning intensely. I had no water left, so Min-Jee filled it up and it still burned after I chugged a glass of it. It's just weird because my whole time here, that has not happened to me, but it happened today.
The wife was in the kitchen the whole time. They do everything in the house. She came to eat later on but barely had anything, since we were more than halfway through the meal.
After lunch, the professor drove us to Haeundae Beach, which is the most famous beach in South Korea. On the ride there, after asking if we had boyfriends, he asked us if we knew where the word "gentleman" came from. I wasn't sure, and he explained it. Looove it. <3

We got to the beach, and even though I was in my Sunday skirt, I could not just go to a beach and not walk by the water. So, I took off my shoes and we walked along the beach. The sand is kinda rough with parts of shells in it, and the sea was brownish, but it felt wonderful walking among the waves. It was nice seeing families together and children laughing and everyone just having fun because it seems like they are really paranoid and uptight most of the time. Seeing them finally let loose was nice.
It's really different here because they don't like the sun (culture clash) and they bring tents and sit in them and walk around with umbrellas to shield them from the sun. Kinda funny.

I cannot believe it is already my last week here. It does not feel like it. They have made us feel so much at home. It is great.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

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