Adventures of a LuLu

Mischief and Mayhem in East Asia

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Location: Seoul, South Korea

Steer away from the beaten track and leave a trail for others to follow.

29.6.05

Rainy Days

요즘 날씨가 나 쁩니다. 날씨가 덥고 비가 많이 옵니다. 이 날씨를 싫어합니다.

The weather is bad these days. It's hot and raining alot. I hate this weather.

Everything is damp. My apartment, my clothes, my bedsheets, me....I can't stand it. I have a huge mildew problem on the walls by my washing machine. I walked in from work the other day to be greeted by two humungous, stinky mildew patches on the wall, that appeared in the 6 hours that I was absent from my apartment. Both myself and a friend tried to removed it will bleach and got nowhere...I will have to tell the boss.

Clare, the woman who will replace me, will not be very happy.

28.6.05

Classic Moment

Just one of those classic moments came and went while I was sat here at the PC bang.

In the past I have commented on the Korean man's obsession with computer games. I was chatting to Matt when I looked over the side of my kiosk and noticed a hospital drip trundle past. Attached to the drip was a Korean man in his mid twenties, dutifully wheeling his fluids behind him as he walked over to his friend who was glued to the computer screen. This man had a log-in card in his hand...obviously he had been playing games himself.

It has never ceased to amaze me the apparent addiction of the Korean nation (or at least the male half) to computer gaming. This was the icing on the cake.

27.6.05

Gomdo & Me

About a month ago I stopped Gomdo as I needed to establish a better routine for my body. I regret quitting but I have little choice. Every time I went there I felt utterly exhausted, unable to concentrate any amount of energy into practicing this noble martial art. I struggled with learning the sequences due to my perpetual exhaustion, and so I could not enjoy it as much as I would have liked. My movements were weak, unco-oridinated and often hackish, and I hated it. It just wasn't me.

Gomdo, or "way of the sword" requires concentration of the mind, body and soul into one, channelled directly along the length of the sword. On a good day (and these were rare) I could almost feel the fluidity of my movements stroke the air like that of running my finger-tips in a pool of clear water. There were times when it felt like dancing, my dance partners being Trust, Honour, Strength.

When I had to hold the So-do-sae pose for minutes at a time, at first it hurt and often I would collapse, but then little by little I was able to focus and push the pain from my burning legs and aching arms along my sword, giving me strength to hold that position for longer. I remember the first few weeks of So-do-Sae, when I would whinge like an infant and my legs would collapse from under me. I would laugh at my embarassment, and Kim Sa Boo would say "first time, me too. Jogum...jogum....jogum... (little, little, little)". The last few weeks I was able to hold the position along side him, without faltering. Even if everything else I did was a complete disaster, this at least I am proud of, and I could feel that he was proud of me too.

And now that my health has improved, when I feel the need to be set free, I rush home, pick up my sword and climb 10 floors to the roof of my building. The roof is dark and fairly private, allowing me the chance to relax and brace myself without arrogant eyes criticising my every movement. It is in these moments that I perform better than I ever have done, and in a way I wish those eyes could see it. The enfolding darkness protects me as I turn and turn, slicing, blocking and thrusting, my energy coming from the core of my body and flowing to the tip of my sword. I am representing Truth, fighting for Understanding and against Ignorance. Then I would suddenly start dancing; movements I have never been taught nor witnessed but seem to the suit the sword perfectly. To an observer, my movements may not be correct or graceful, but I can feel the beauty in it. Sword-dancing is poetry, a form of expression that is me. Not the discipline and rigidity of Hae-dong, but the free-flow of core energy that knows no boundaries.

I am a free-spirit; I cannot be tamed.

The Final Count-Down: Asia (not 'Europe')

The Final Countdown-Europe

We're leaving together
But still it's farewell
And maybe we'll come back
To earth, who can tell
I guess there is no one to blame
We're leaving ground (leaving ground)
Will things ever be the same again
It's the final countdown...
The final countdown
Ooh oh
We're heading for Venus (Venus)
And still we stand tall
Cause maybe they've seen us
And welcome us all
(yeah)
With so many light years to go
And things to be found (to be found)
I'm sure that we'll all miss her so
It's the final countdown...
The final countdown
The final countdown (the final countdown)
Ooh ooh oh
(interlude)
The final countdown
Ooh oh
I'ts the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown (the final countdown)
Ooh
It's the final countdown
We are leaving together
The final countdown




After some panicked reasearch, I have discovered that I need a visa to enter India. This would take at least 3 weeks to process...plus an extra week either side for postage (3-5 days special delivery):that's 5 weeks altogether. I leave for Jejudo (short vacation) on a domestic flight smack bang in the middle of my 2 month count down, and thus need my passport . Therefore the dates are looking pretty tight. To add insult to injury, the Indian embassy is requesting the visa fee to be paid in Pound Stirling via postal cheque...exactly how do I do this from South Korea in the given time frame?

Tomorrow will be spent ringing around Korean friends requesting immediate assistance on trips to my bank and post office, and another phone call to the Indian Embassy in London, for advice.

It looks like the original plan: Malaysia-Thailand-India-Christmas cake will be changed to Singopore or Phillipenes-Malaysia-Thailand-Christmas cake.

I had adjusted to my routine here in Korea far to well. It was only last week that it dawned on me that

1)This is not a permanent place of residence
2)My contract ends in 2 months
3)If I don't leave when I should I will get heavily fined and then booted rather uncerimoniously out of the country.
4)If I want to travel hassle-free, I need to get my white, western rear-end into gear (probably a low one to assist in acceleration).

Yes, I know I only have myself to blame.

My research tells me that I can stay for the following lengths of time without requesting visas:

Phillipenes: 21 days
Malaysia: 3 months
Thailand: 30 days.

Each country requests proof of onward travel upon arrival, thus I have to pre-book. To do this I must confirm exact leaving dates with the Boss, who is making this very difficult for me, as
1) he never has time to talk to me
2) he insists on a Korean teacher present to translate
3) He wants to keep me after my visa expires and is messing around with the dates.

The travel check-list so far:

  • Confirm leaving dates with boss
  • Seek advice from Indian Embassy
  • Book flights between each county. This means phoning airlines/travel agencies in each country.
  • Buy Travel guide for the Phillipenes
  • Get all neccessary medication, especially malaria tablets-this involves the Boss as he pays for my Medical Insurance.
  • Buy 3 months Travel Insurance
  • Continue reading up on Thailand, while waiting for delivery of books on Malaysia and Phillipenes.
  • Photocopy all important documents and send them to my parents.
  • Speak to my bank again and get them to understand that they MUST deliver my debit card to my address in Korea, not expect me to pick it up from the bank in England, as I will need it for my travels
  • Withdraw enough funds in travellers cheques from Korean bank account.

The general checklist:

  • Sort through belongings: what will stay in Korea, what I will send back to England (by ship) and what I can carry.
  • Get email addresses off EVERYONE
  • Get contact details from potential referees.
  • Get the boss to understand that HE CANNOT KEEP ME FOR AN EXTRA WEEK AFTER MY VISA EXPIRES AND HE MUST GIVE ME MY LAST MONTHS SALARY & SEVERANCE PAY. IF HE DOESN'T I WILL SPEAK TO MY AGENCY, AND PUT THE HAGWON ON THE BLACKLIST.
  • Transfer surplus funds to English bank account, and close Korean account.

I have a return flight to England on the 5th September. If the boss continues to be a nit-wit, I'm on it, with or without my last month's pay.

25.6.05

9월 5일 한국에 떠나겠습니다

So here it is people, my final decision. I have been at the crossroads for 2 months, and stopped off at the local cafe for a very long cup of coffee. My friends, colleagues, boss and various other potential employers individually joined me for a chat to try to convince me to stay. I know that if I do stay indefinately, while I will live a more comfortable life than anything I can dream of compared with living in England... my personal life will suffer. At such an important turning point in my life I need to be far-sighted, and consider all things that matter to me now, and will concern me in the future. Yes, I have friends here; they are fantastic, I love them, and I will miss them, but I will never be able to settle down and have a family.

The foreign men stay here temporarily and move on. During their time here they are drawn to the novelty of having so many Korean women to pick and choose from, and will not look twice at a foreigner who is fluent in their language.

Even if both were fluent in both languages, Korean men will not marry a foreign woman. They are too cowardly to ignore their parents' protests. Here in Korea, a Korean woman will ignore their parents and marry a Western man, whereas the other way round is extremely rare, even in the capital city. Parents are concerned over keeping the blood pure, and often threaten to disown their son should he choose a foreign woman, even if he has an elder brother with sons. Koreans are not independent enough from their parents (at any age) to be able to cope with this, especially the men.

Over the past couple of weeks I have made snide remarks to fellow foreigners that the reason why Korea got invaded some many times is because the men are cowards, and that they
should have sent the women into battle instead. Meanwhile Korean friends, both male and female have confirmed the typical Korean man's character, pointing out that Korean men are too cowardly and narrow-minded bridge the race gap. Other than the colour of my skin, what frustrates me the most is the Korean perception of the 'huge' culture gap between Westerners and Koreans. I cannot account for the other Western countries, but with the exception of (in my opinion) exessive emotional dependence on parents, between England and Korea the gap is quite small. Any differences can easily be discussed and overcome.

The vast majority of Koreans have not set foot outside their own province, let alone in a Western country. Moreover, despite American TV programs on their TVs, the presence of foreigners and American- influenced concepts on every street corner, they remain naive to the idea that we are ALL HUMAN and basically all think and feel the same way in the vast majority of situations. A Korean man will not even stick around long enough to discover that this is true. A few individuals in particular have known me since my first week in Korea, and still cannot grasp this concept. To a Korean man, I am nothing more than a potential 'experience'.

Just like the majority of foreign women here, everytime I get in a taxi, or am introduced to someone new, I am complimented on my looks. In the past I have received a discount from the sale price on shoes and clothes without haggling, and even been given a USB cable for free (not at the same time as buying the camera) because of my perceived good-looks. However, I need two hands to count the number of months between being approached by a man of the appropriate age for a date. I have had a few 50 year olds spot me on the street, run to the nearest flower shop, and then chase me down the street brandishing a huge bunch of roses. "I want you boyfriend" they say, fumbling with their English and covering their wedding ring. "Not on your Nelly" I'm thinking, as I turn them down politely.

So after all that waffle and whinging, the conclusion is to travel through Malaysia and Thailand, then to India, and then back to England for Christmas. Will I ever come back? Maybe one day to visit my friends, if I have a spare 500 pounds lying around somewhere.

Now my spare time is occupied with researching for my travels, and I have no longer any time to study Korean. Besides, I have lost the motivation to continue with my studies. I will continue the narrative of my adventures in Asia on this website, and I have added sidebars titles relating to Thailand, Malaysia and India. I will add to these lists while I am researching these countries, and of course while I am travelling.

On Monday I will have to break the news to the Boss that I do not want to renew my contract. He insists that if I leave the students will follow. He will not be a happy man.

16.6.05

짜증나

선국을 좋아 합니다. 저는 외국인이기 때문에 선국의 부모는 나를 안좋아 하십니다. 그러니까 지금 선국은 제 남자 진구이지 않습니다. 겁쟁이 입니다.

항상 선국을 생각하니까, 마음이 많이 아픕니다.

선국....보고 싶어. 왕짜증이셔.

11.6.05

Message to the Teacher


Message to the Teacher
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
When I am not looking my students get hold of my chalk box and write me a message on it. That's my name in Hangul in the big letters (although the second to last letter is wrong-it should be 루이스 not 루이즈). Below is my name spelled correctly.

Things like this make me feel appreciated by my students, and sorry that I will eventually leave them after interviewing a replacement. I am determined to chose the best teacher for them.

5A Girls


5A Girls
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
The 5A class is on of my favourite classes. In fact, 5A-5C are my favourite classes. They are quite smart, and they are up for playing almost any game, making life easier for me when I want to use games to get them to use their English.

Left to right from the back: Christina,Jennifer, Sara and Jenny.

5A Girls and Boys


5A Girls and Boys
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
From the back: on the left is Boris, on the right is Bryan, Lily is holding the fan, Sophia is covering her face, and Emily is trying to ignore the camera.

Just for the record, I would like to point out that I did everything I could to change Boris name to something less ugly. I even told him there is a song about a spider named Boris. Nothing would sway him from this name. Henceforth, when I call out the names it's...Christina, Bryan, Spiderman....(which he answers to).

The Menu


The Menu
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
On Friday, after studying Korean and helping my friends with their English we went to a restaurant/shiktang and had this menu, costing us W5,000 each. It was mostly seafood, with two soups and the usual side dishes, kimchi, pepper, lettace etc. It was very delicious, and I would like to go there again.

Random Baby


Random Baby
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
At the shiktang there was this little girl who took an active interest in everything around her (thats her family behind her). She toddled over to our table and tried to climb it. Realising that this was impossible, she took to bashing Daddy's mobile phone on the table. 어마...재미 있어!

7.6.05

Busy Week, Boring Title

This week has been super busy. Wednesday night I dined with some university students, thursday I went to american restaurant with Matt, Marc and KNC hagwon owner, Friday was Joseph's birthday gathering. Saturday I wound up at an World Cup Stadium, Saturday night I took a walk round the lake, Sunday was spent in Seoul and Monday at the beach (it is some kind of memorial day today and thus a national holiday).

I have taken some photos and you can enlarge them by left clicking on them.

Iksan cinema


Iksan cinema
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
The other week I went on what turned out to be a 'date' to the cinema, in Iksan, a neighbouring city. I took this photo just to show people back at home that it is really just the same as any cinema you would get in England.

6.6.05

Flowers-close up


Flowers
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
Close up of a flower with my amazing new camera. I am so glad I bought it; its not top of the range but it has enough functions and clarity to keep me satisfied.

Flowers


Flowers
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
Now that the blossoms have fallen from the trees, the streets are now lined with these kinds of flowers, which are simply beautiful.

Kalbi 1


Kalbi 1
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
This a typical set menu when eating Kalbi at an eating house. I have done this many times, but thought a photo of this is overdue. Food is placed in separate dishes that are shared between the diners, and the meat frys in the middle of the table. (Koreans share their food in this manner at home too).

In the nearest dish is green pepper, garlic and spicy red paste. Next to that is kim, seaweed that has been flattened waffer thin. I cannot see what is behind these dishes, but I think one of them contain onion.

Typically, you take a piece of fried meat, place it in the middle of a lettace leaf, add whatever you want, scrunch to a tight ball and stuff it in your mouth. As I was with a bunch of university students, we had kim instead of lettace.

Kalbi again...


Kalbi 2
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
Kalbi/Pork frying in the middle of the table.

Trees opposite Gomdo dojan


Trees opposite Gomdo dojan
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
Not a particularly exciting photo, but these represent the trees that line the streets of Gunsan. The camera, has also captured the light...this is how bright and hot the weather is these days.

Joseph's Birthday


hello 009
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
Oops I've done this back to front. Anyway. this is from the Friday night birthday bash for Joseph who turned 50 (?). That is him blowing out the candles on his cake, and his Korean-Canadian wife in the background.

Jane's students


Jane's students
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
Friday afternoon I visited my ex-colleagues new hagwon and met some of her students. These three boys are in the first grade, and are 6 years old Western age.

World Cup Stadium


Stadium 1
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
Saturday afternoon, Mr Ee, the owner of KNC hagwon took myself, Marc and Matt to the World Cup Stadium in Jeonju that he had hired for the day. Here two teams of 'old boys' from the same university played a football tornament, and Marc was brave enough to join them.

Matt/Marc


Matt/Marc
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
A terrible photo of both Matt and Marc, but simply had to make it to my website.

The Teams


The Teams
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
The opposing teams in the deserted stadium.

View from Stadium


View from Stadium 2
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
While Marc was playing football, Matt and I made a sharp exit and ran round the stadium like lunatics, investigating all the dark corners and opening all the doors that were unlocked. We climbed all the staircases, and even climbed a 7-foot fence. Here I took this photo of the view from the stadium.

AJUMA!

After spending the day at the football stadium, Matt and I donned our walking boots and took a trip round the lake as it started to get dark. Here we thought it best to investigate the Mystery of the Ajuma.

When a Korean woman becomes a certain age ( age depending on the individual) she undergoes a spectacular transformation. An agassi goes whooosh is a ball of flames, and steps out of it with short permed hair, abnormally white face, bright red lipstick and sun-visor to become (drum-roll...) AJUMA!!!!

Ajuma's can be seen everywhere, yet have never been captured on camera, for they only leave a shadow when photographed. However, one of the most popular AJUMA! spots is the track that circles the lake. Here they can be seen marching in regimented fashion (often in pairs) along the track, sporting out-dated shell suits, a mask and sun-visor pulled low over the face. One cannot look them directly in the eye, for the sun visor is pulled too low down over the face, but THEY CAN SEE YOU. However, if one was unfortunate enough to establish eye contact, they slowly suck your soul out of you. Many an unsupsecting husband has left their home in the hands of an agassi, to come back and find it occupied by an AJUMA! whereupon the hapless husband leaves home to find himself another living, breathing agassi.

Yes, the AJUMA! patrols the streets of South Korea, instilling fear into small children and foreigners alike. It is a mystery that has yet to be solved. They are seemingly invincible; if you try to attack one, all AJUMA's within a 5km radius will be upon you for they have a collective conciousness. This proves useful for keeping law and order, but the number of AJUMA! is growing and these regimented zombies are slowly taking over the world.

The agassi to AJUMA! transformation appears to be genetically programmed into the DNA, and as yet we are unable to prevent it before birth. However the AJUMA! does have a weakness: if you make them laugh they become human again. Towards the end of the day's investigation, we were handed smiley plastic inflatable toys for free by a stall owner. Here we realised that these are AJUMA! protectors. It is our mission to wave our AJUMA! protectors at every one that marches by, in the hope that we will eradicate this problem once and for all...

Sekyong


Sekyong
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
I thought I would test out night functions on my camera. Those lights in the distance are Sekyong apartments, were I now live. Behind me were Miryong Jugong, were I used to live.

Church


Church
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
This is of one of the main churches in Gunsan, as viewed across the large pond. This photo I am particularly proud of, but my favourite is the next one below.

Eunpa flowers/night


Eunpa flowers/night
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
This is a photo of some flowers and reeds on the bank of the lake. That is mine and Matt's shadows stretching upon the reeds, true X-files style, as we continued our investigation of the mystery of the Ajuma.

Drama


Drama 3
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
Matt and I went to Seoul on Sunday. After him buying a digital camera, and myself an mp3 player at Yongsan, we decided to head to the City Hall area to see the palace and museums. Upon emerging from the underground we immediately stumbled upon the Migrants Festival. Here there was a large crowd of migrant factory workers from various countries in south Asia. Each country had a tent displaying foods, crafts and so forth that represented their country. This is a drama from Bangladesh, about a woman who is preparing to get married.

Crowd


Crowd
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
There was a large crowd at the park, all laughing, singing and dancing as they watched the various performers from the different countries. The atmosphere was exciting and uplifing, bringing many people from all round the world to one understanding: that of music and dance.

Dancers


Dancers
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
Possibly representing Pakistan, these people were drumming and dancing in a circle. ("you put your left leg in, you take your left leg out...")

Dancing spectator


Dancing spectator
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
At another of the tents on of the spectator tried her...feet...at dancing these poles. One person held the poles at each end, banged them on the floor, bringing them together and pulling the part, while this woman skipped and danced.

Making Music


Making Music
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
These men were sat on the grass singing and hitting drums. I am not sure which country they represented.

Concert


Concert 2
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
At around 4pm a concert started at one end of the park, with Korean performers. Here a band was playing some kind of modern tubular instruments on stage, while others danced and hit drums (made out of plastic bottles) on the ground.

Concert in the Evening


Concert 5
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
The fading light did not prevent the concert from continuing. In the foreground is a TV camera from the Arirang TV channel filming the event. Pop songs from Korea, the West, and the attending south asian countries were sung to an appreciative audience (consisting mostly of migrants).

At the Beach


Beach 001/Worms
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
Today Son-guk and I planned to climb Daedoonsan but unfortunately he did not get out of bed in time. Instead we went to the beach, the first time I have been to a beach in Korea. There were many restaurants and market stalls selling fish, eels, muscles etc, swimming around haplessly in tanks, waiting to be eaten. At one stall I saw a plastic bowl containing worms, the name of which escape me. I declined from trying some.

Sandcastles


Beach 002
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
Ahhh, sandcastles, that brings back memories. In the background you can see people queueing on the platform waiting to hire a speed boat.

Horse and Carriage


Beach 003
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
A couple of horses were pulling a carriage each along the beach. The children inside seem to be enjoying it, though I cannot imagine that the horses were.


Beach 004
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.
Children playing on the beach, which stretched for miles in the burning mid-afternoon sun.

3.6.05

Cultural Assets

In many of my blogs I have mentioned "National treasure no..." or cultural asset no..." etc. I have now found the website that ties them all together and puts them into context. Also, I have found the website for statistical information about Korea.

Both have been added to my sidebar.

Enjoy.