Cooking festival and AKARAKA

Last week AKARAKA, the biggest festival during the spring semester, was finally there. The whole week is full of action starting with international cooking festival on Monday. I was the only Finnish member in the Finland team and planning of the menu was somewhat challenging, as we had to find the ingredients in Korea and there was no oven etc. The Koreans in my group were so excited to make green jelly that I had a hard time refusing. I tried to explain that jelly is absolutely not traditional Finnish food, but it didn’t sound convincing to them. Moreover, they wanted to have a green food as it’s our national colour. (Why? Because Xylitol is green!) In the end we decided to make meatballs, mashed potatoes and blueberry milkshake which ended up being a success. The food tasted just like home and we sold all the food we prepared.
Inspired by our success I also prepared another Finnish dish, macaroni box (lol, people, what is makaronilaatikko in English?!?!) for my host family and they even invited a friend family to enjoy my dinner. Having good manners they ate all the food, but I have a hard time believing it would be exactly fit to Korean taste. - Actually, they said it reminds the taste of omelette!
In the pictures you can see our cool Finland booth and a meal of meatballs with mashed potatoes having a Korean artistic touch. The cooking festival was followed by dadongge, two days of partying on the campus area. Various clubs were selling food and drinks and there were different kinds of performances and bands playing. However, all this was just warming up for AKARAKA, a huge festival held in the amphitheatre. The whole university area turned blue on Thursday getting ready to celebrate Yonsei. Over 8000 students gathered together to sing cheering songs and watch the front row Korean stars and bands performing exclusively for us. I have never seen people having so much passion for their university. It was like a religious event when thousands of people sing together how much they love Yonsei and they are blue soldiers for the best university for the rest of their lives. Here’s also a video, but it doesn’t really show the passion and is also of bad quality…

Hviba, hviba!

The Finnish ministry of tourism should definitely give a price to Lotte, a Korean company doing almost anything, including chewing gum, for promoting our country. Almost everybody here knows Finland, but not because of Nokia, our welfare system, Santa Claus, Sauna, Sibelius or even our sportsmen. No, the reason is the most popular chewing gum Xylitol. When you mention being from Finland the usual reaction is that the Korean person will start making weird movements and screaming “hviiiiba, hviiiba!” First I taught that I’m just a magnet to mentally challenged, but the reason was simpler. In TV they have this advertisement for Xylitol where they tell it’s from Finland and Finnish people always eat it before going to bed. (Of course, why would someone bother to brush teeth if u can chew gum instead?!) In the end of the commercial there is this weird greenish elf-looking man who dances shouting “hyvä hyvä”, meaning “good, good” (Koreans pronounce it “hviba”) and this is the image is the one Koreans have from us. However, words are not enough to describe, so here is the link to the advertisement. Enjoy!

Korean food

Korean food is very different from everything else I have been eating before, so I’ll tell you about some of the most popular dishes. Firs of all I must say that Korean food is extremely spicy. (Especially for Europeans who are only used to salt and pepper.) They even dip chili peppers into chili sauce! On every meal you have Kimchi as side dish. It’s like a Korean version of sauerkraut, cabbage with hot chili sauce. The basic ingredient is usually rice, but in some meals noodles are used, too. Meat is often pork, because beef is expensive and it’s cut in small pieces. It’s very hard to find good steaks here, and that’s what many guys seem to miss. Otherwise, chicken and seafood are popular. Some common Korean dishes:
Samgyopsal: Very popular Korean barbecue which is often eaten in student parties. It’s a thick piece of bacon style meat and the name comes from the three fat stripes on the meat. Very unhealthy and greasy, but delicious!
Bibimbab: A bowl of rice, meat and vegetables which you mix with spicy sauce. Basic student food.
Kimbap: Similar to maki sushi. A seaweed roll filled with rice and vegetables, meat or something similar. Nice snack.
Dubu-/ kimchi jjige: A stew made out of tofu or kimchi. Kind of soup which will be good both as side dish as well as dinner.
Maeunmatjeyukbokkeum samgakgimbap: Just because of the name. A triangle shaped rice snack with pork.

WILD STUFF:
Ok, if you have problems with nerves, heart or mind the following stuff is to be read on your own responsibility. You are welcome to write your moralizations on the comments… =)

So, there is this rumour that Koreans eat dog. Is it true? Well, yes it is possible to get dog here and they have restaurants that make dog food. It is not something that you eat every Sunday and Koreans don’t really talk about it, but if you ask, many people have at least tried it. It’s also a special food, so there is no chance that you would end up finding dog in your food accidentally. In fact, you have to know where to go to get it and know what to ask for. Anyway, yesterday I had my first dog meal. It was like a stew with soup, vegetables and dog meat. The meat was very different from pork or beef because it was more tender and the structure reminded maybe a little bit chicken or something.. I couldn’t finish the whole big portion, but I did eat quite a few bites anyway. It was more of a mental thing to imagine a Chihuahua on the plate, but in reality the dog is an own breed raised just for food, not as a pet. And pork, beef, lamb, chicken, fish are animals too!!

Another exciting food experience was pondaegi, which is like a cocoon of silkworm. They sell it on street sides and also in some restaurants for side dish. You can’t really miss it, because the smell of it on the street is very strong. The taste was not exactly delicious, more just slimy and weird.

In the pictures: me eating dog, the pondaegi cocoon dish and a local food store.

The story continues...

My host mom is just too nice. After the episode described below she called to her friend who speaks fluent English and asked her to explain the situation to me. She felt sorry because I felt sorry… And you know the Asian way.. =) I keep telling her that she should be selfish sometimes, but she is definitely a person who puts everyone else before her own needs. I wish all the people were like that, the world could be a slightly better place then.

Cultural differences

Ohh, now I’m struggling again… The more time I spend here the more I grow into the culture. However, that also means that people start to treat me more and more like a Korean an expect me to know all the unwritten rules. One of the things I’m really struggling with is schedules between my host family and me. We are both very busy, and don’t have too much family time together. However, in Finland you plan things well in advance where in Korea you are more spontaneous. Today I faced this fact again when I had already made an appointment with my Korean friend for the evening. However, in the lunch table the family told that we are going to do something together in the evening.. I felt so bad and tried to tell that I already have appointment and it would be extremely rude to cancel it, but I feel that the family didn’t quite understand it. They tried to say I should cancel the dinner with my friend, but then again, I just confirmed in the morning that I will join them and they will pick me up with car at 6PM… I have had this problem so many times before, too, and I have tried to tell politely that I will arrange time in my schedule if they just tell me a few days before. However, still after 2 months they try to find hints in my speech instead of asking directly and then we end up in the cultural crash. I might have an appointment made a week ago, and then on a Saturday morning they might have everything planned for the day. When I mention that I have other obligations, they are surprised because they thought I’m free and found it unnecessary to ask… And of course I end up feeling so bad… From now on I will try to ask them more about their plans and tell about mine, so that I don’t have to disappoint anyone… =(
My Asian friends, do you have any suggestions?

A few words about the Virginia Tech shootings

People have been asking how Koreans have reacted to the Virginia Tech tragedy after it was found out that the shooter was Korean, so I will write a few words about it. Of course, the whole world has been shocked of what has happened and feel sorry for the victims but in Korea the nationality of the shooter has been even bigger news. People are afraid that this tragedy has ruined the reputation of the whole country and that Koreans will face attacks abroad. Many of my schoolmates are concerned about Koreans in USA and fear that there will be prejudices against Korean immigrants and Korean-Americans and possible riots or violence. Many Korean parents in States try to avoid sticking together with other Koreans and pick their kids up from school to avoid any possibilities of danger. The whole country here is ashamed that the boy was Korean and they feel losing their face according to Confucian belief. However, the shooters family is in the worst situation. In their view they have raised their son to be a murderer, so they have lost their face. Because of this, the only option they have is to commit suicide. I heard that both of the parents tried to kill themselves, but the mom might have survived after taking poison. However, there are a lot of rumours and speculation going on, so I cannot be sure if this is the case. Koreans feel ashamed to talk about what has happened and they keep apologizing, even it has not been their fault. Most of their concern however, is that the attitude towards Koreans will turn more negative, especially in America.

Aina ei voi ymmärtää aasialaista mieltä, ja nyt on taas tullut sellainen hetki. Olin erään pienenen taidegallerian avajaisissa singaporelaisen kaverin kanssa. Oikeastaan tässä tuli jo ensimmäinen ihmetyksen aihe – kaveri ei ollut tippaakaan kiinnostunut taiteesta, mutta halusi mennä paikalle luomaan suhteita tärkeisiin ihmisiin. (Tämä kuvaa hyvin monen kyseisen maan edustajan mentaliteettia: ihmisiin ei tutustuta sen perusteella kuinka mukavalta hän vaikuttaa vaan sen, kuinka paljon ihmisistä voi hyötyä ja millainen sosiaalinen asema hänellä on. Siellä poika sitten jakeli käyntikorttejaan ja myhäili tyytyväisenä uusista networkeistaan.) No, jatkoimme galleriasta syömään paikalla olleiden ihmisten kanssa. Ihmetyksen aihe kakkoseksi nousi aasialaisten halu olla ikäistään vanhempia. Poikaparka (23v.) pohti kuumeisesti kuinka näyttäisi fiksulta ja ikäistään vanhemmalta, kun päällä oli vasta puku, kunnes keksi ratkaisun: vihkisormus sormeen! Koulussa sormus on kuulemma jo tehnyt vaikutuksen, vaikkei kumppanista ole vielä tietoa. Killutin nimettömässä hän sitten innoissaan kyseli näyttääkö ikäistään vanhemmalta. No, illallinen jatkui ja tulinen ruoka ja kuumuus saivat kaverini korvat lehahtamaan punaisiksi, josta sitten tuttavallisesti naurahdin pöytäseurueessamme. Emämoga! Illalla tuttu raivosi mesesessä kuinka voin tehdä jotain sellaista ja nolata hänet koko pöytäseurueen edessä. Hänen suuret networkinsa olivat takiani tuhoutuneet ja kasvot menetetty. Siinä sitten rauhoittelin miestä mäessä ja kehotin olemaan stressaamatta, mutta turhaan. Myöhemmin sain vielä sähköpostia kuinka pettynyt hän on minuun ja käytökseeni ja kuinka en lainkaan kunnioita häntä ja olin sivuuttanut suuren tragedian mese-keskustelussamme. Voi pyhä sylvi!!!

There's no place like home

When I came here I said that I could never live in Asia permanently and that even I like it here, I could never feel home. Well, now I am afraid that I do start feeling like home and start turning more and more into a Korean.. I have become close with my host family and they treat me almost like their child. The father told me that he doesn’t feel that I’m a foreigner at all, because my mind is so Korean. Today Joshua, my Singaporean friend was laughing at me and told that my behaviour is starting to bee too Korean. Yesterday we went to amusement park with the host family and had good time together.. But today Tommy, my host brother dropped the bomb: Mom, I love Johanna! Owwwww, I have to see that boy after 10 years!!!! Another fun thing happened in a technology shopping mall when my friend said: Johanna, let’s not speak English so they don’t think we are foreigners and charge more.. (Like with this face they’d ever think I’m Korean!)

I also love the way the people are in my suburb. The bus drivers already know me, so I always get a good morning greeting. If I’m the only customer when I come back home they will stop right in front of my door and they also stop if you just wave on the street even there would be no bus stop. If it’s crowded the people sitting will insist to hold your bag, which would never happen in the city subway. And lot of random people come to talk, where as in downtown Seoul they couldn’t care less.

In the pictures: my dear host family

Pink…is my favourite colour =)

All of a sudden the whole city has turned pink. The spring is finally here and it means that all the trees are blossoming – especially the pink cherry blossoms which are my favourite. I feel much happier now when the sun is shining, butterflies circle around you and it’s getting warmer day by day. I just we could have this kind of spring back home, too! Well, let the pictures speak:

B-boys, fly girls

How much culture can a person take in one week? I tried it out and ended up to three performing arts shows. Well, the first wasn’t really art but my mentor brought me to see a b-boy show to increase my hiphop credibility. Actually I expected there to be the whole Seoul hiphop posse, but surprisingly the room was full of girls who came to see the b-boys. Then, on Tuesday I went to see cirque du soleil which was just awesome! I don’t have to explain it in detail – u all know it – but to put in one sentence it was like artistic circus made for adults. Music, visuals etc… Then, like that was not enough culture, on Friday we went to a show called Korean dance meets Finnish music. It was about postmodern dance which was actually really good. They did really weird things and it was different from other classical dance performances. The music part however.. well I never knew such music exist in Finland! Only one time I heard Fnnish language and the rest was something else (like French one time!)…

In the picture my mentor MiSun in green and two Japanese.

Dancing, writing and fighting

During the semester I’ve been taking part to a culture experience program. This program lasted for 5 weeks and consisted of traditional Korean activities: mask dance, calligraphy and martial arts. The mask dance reminded me more of an African than Asian dance, because it consisted of big movements and jumping wearing scary masks at the same time.

After the dance practices we changed into a more peaceful activity: calligraphy. It was writing, arts and meditation at the same time, and I totally lacked patience for it. It was fun, but I was never satisfied with the results – the one thing I hate is bad handwriting. We were doing simple Korean alphabets, but it was actually much harder than I taught. The last part of the program was traditional Korean martial arts. It was nothing like the usual things you see, for example Taekwondo or Karate, but much smoother. The idea was to kick the other person in the head, but the kicks were soft and hurting the “enemy” was not the point. This martial arts really looked more like an art than fighting and it even had some elements from dance. From the whole program this was my favourite part and I was really happy to let my school stress out by kicking my classmates… =)

Ruokaa!

Jos haluat laihduttaa, Korea on oikea paikka muuttaa sanat teoiksi! Korealaiset eivät nimittäin syö juurikaan mitään ja länsimaalainen saa olla jatkuvassa nälässä jos haluaa elää paikallisen rytmin mukaan. Seuraava esimerkki kuvaa hyvin mentaliteettia: Tänään olimme viettämässä perheenisän syntymäpäivää ravintolassa. Menimme ensimmäistä kertaa syömään länsimaista ruokaa ja ajattelin tietysti tilausta tehdessämme, että kaikki ottavat omat annokset. Tilasin siinä sitten pihvin, mutta yllätys oli suuri kun pöytään tuotiin vain kaksi annosta: minulle yksi ja yksi yhteinen nelihenkiselle perheelle. Korealaiset eivät kertakaikkiaan syö mitään! Koskaan ei myöskään tilata omia annoksia, vaan kaikki syövät pöydän keskeltä samasta lautasesta. Ei siis ihme, että aasialaiset ovat hoikkia. Jos syömme hedelmiä ei myöskään jokainen ota omaa omenaa, vaan yksi omena jaetaan viiteen osaan. Eräänä iltana puolestaan illalliseksi oli kuuden aikaan pieni kulhollinen keittoa. Kun yhdeksän maissa hain pakastimesta leipää oli perheen äiti järkyttynyt valtavasta ruokahalustani.
Ruoka-avustuksia otetaan vastaan!

Party weekend

Hard work needs hard free time activities, so after a hard week of studying I decided to dedicate the weekend to partying. On Friday two Swedish girls were celebrating their birthday, so first we I had dinner and some soju with them. It was mostly Scandinavians there so people decided to head to an ice bar. I however met with some Korean friends to hang out in Hongik University area, which is full of bars and clubs and especially one specific friday a month is the offial party day. First we visited a club full of American soldiers and Korean girls, but for some reason didn’t stay there long. Then we changed to another bar and just sat there having fun until 4AM. I planned to rest for the Saturday, but my other Korean friend had a better idea. She was going to another MT and over spoke me to join. The last MT was full of exchange students, but this time we were only two non-Asians there. The main language spoken was Korean and the party style was Korean, too. We played a lot of weird games again – in Korean of course - and ate some Korean food. Compared to the previous MT, this one was not as wild, if you don’t count the fact that the Swedish guy totally ruined Sweden’s reputation (and I got all the credits for Finland of course…).

In the pictures: birthday party, Korean friends and the area close to our university.

MT (member training)

This weekend we had our first MT, which means member training for new members in university clubs. This MT was by Mentor’s club, a club organizing parties and activities for exchange students. So we headed to a house somewhere 2 hour away from Seoul. We arrived there around 10PM, so the first thing we did after arriving to the house was having some barbecue. Then we moved to campfire, but it was all rainy and muddy so we didn’t stay outside for long. Also, even though it was a cottage trip, all Korean girls were wearing high heel sandals and miniskirts =) so it wasn’t too pleasant for them. So we went inside playing some Korean games I didn’t understand at all.. Just scream and make weird movements…?? However, I was totally exhausted as I had woken up at 6 in the morning so I had a brilliant idea to take a short powernap. Surprisingly I fell asleep and woke up at around 3AM and had to catch all others up... The MT was ok, but the stupid thing was that we went there so late and had to leave already at 9AM in the morning, so there was not that much time to have fun (especially if you wanted to sleep, too.) But I learned this is a normal Korean way: rent a house somewhere, go there at midnight and leave early morning. What I also learned is that Americans cannot drink. (I’ve never seen anyone throwing up on his own FACE, and I still don’t know how that even is possible…) In the pictures: me and one mentor, guys dressed up as gladiators, Finns having fun.

New family member

Today we got a long wanted new family member when the kids finally got a pet. My host brother Tommy bought himself a bug for 10$. I don’t know exactly what it is but you can figure it out in the picture. They made him a home into a small terrarium and now the keep doing experiments with it. We’ll see for how long, the two previous ones have already died for some reason… Anyway, in the picture is Tommy and the bug, notice also Tommy’s new hair. (Yes! They DO perm and color eight year old boys hair in here.) So cute!!

Trip to Gyeongju: “museum without walls”

So we arrived to Gyeongju safely and decided to experience some culture in the ancient city from Silla-dynasty. First we went to see some tombs and had a nice plan for the day, but of course it started to rain and getting cold so we had to change our program. After the tombs we just wanted to get inside where it’s warm, so we headed to a local museum. (I guess no one of us had ever been so happy to get into a museum!) Because of the crap weather we ended up being in the museum area for several hours and we even got a private guide there for free =).

In the evening we had a cultural overdose, so it was time to relax. First we went to a local sauna, where we were treated like dogs. The lady working there didn’t apparently like foreigners, so she kept making our time as unpleasant as possible. The sauna was not much of relaxing, but luckily you can always trust that Soju is there for you.. So it was time for some fun instead of relaxing! We headed to norebang (=karaoke room) to let our inner superstar out. It sounded more like Idol’s worst auditions, but we had a great time and it was sooo hilarious. However, Gyeongju people are apparently all unfriendly, because also the karaoke owner lost his temper with us even though we brought him lots of money and he didn’t even have any other customers.
The next day the weather was better, so we decided to see a Buddha statue on top of a mountain. Of course we had to climb the mountain first, but burning calories in a nice sunshine was not that bad. (Except the fact that on top of the mountain we found a road and heard that there would’ve also been a possibility of bus transportation.) We also visited a temple on the way and on top of the mountain had a look at the Buddha in the grotto.

Wow, so much culture in one weekend! But next weekend will be dedicated to party because there is MT coming…

In the pictures: Gyeongju landscape, Heikki and me singing karaoke, king's tombs

Having fun in bus and starting the trip to Gyeongju

This weekend we made a trip to Gyeongju, an ancient town about 4 hours from Seoul. We had a great group of ten students, half of us being Finns however. (We are altogether 10 exchange students from Finland and somehow there is one common interest to us…) Most of us left already at afternoon, but me, Teemu and Heikki had lectures and took the night bus. Of course we wanted to catch up with the others probably already having a great party at Gyeongju, so we bought several bottles of Soju* to the bus. (*Soju is the local Vodka with less alcohol though. Usually the only drinks available are Soju and beer, so you better learn to like it if you want to have fun in Korea… ;) I’ve never had so much fun just travelling with a bus, but according to the businessmen travelling with us and trying to sleep we were somewhat loud. We also invented a new drinking game you can use for studying as well: Someone says a word and you have to give the Korean meaning, if you don’t then you have to drink. Teemu kept studying Korean but he was smart enough to keep saying the sentence “Jonun SWEDEN saram hamnida” over and over again (meaning I’m from Sweden) saving the reputation of Finns. Finally at night we arrived to or destination and ready to join the others for the party. But what did we find: boring Austrians sleeping in the hostel. Of course we woke them up and tried to have a room party, but the success was somewhat low… In the next post I will tell you more about the trip itself.

In the picture me and my animal friends (I bought the monkey in Gyeongju) and the view from the mountain.

Frustration

I’m soooo frustrated right now! I was taking part to a Korean language course at school for 2 hours every day. The course was really good and effective, we had a great group and I was both enjoying and learning. Today however I was kicked out the class just like that. Reason: I have too many courses. Graduate exchange students are only allowed to take five courses where I was having eight. My school Helsingin kuppasurkeakoulu however insist me to take 5 business courses even I’ve been mailing them that you cannot live in Korea without knowing the language. (And I really wonder how you should do business without Korean!) According to them I can take it as extra, however according to Yonsei’s rules not. Why am I punished for studying?! (And being smart, haha!)
Well anyway if it didn’t come clear yet, I’m pissed.
Thanks, bye.

Buddies

The university has two buddy programs where they give foreign students a Korean “friend”. I took part to the mentor’s program, which is mostly just having a Korean friend for fun, as well as the language buddy program where you have a language exchange. I feel like a big sister to my buddies because they are both born in -88, but they are super nice and I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun together despite the age gap. My language buddy actually wanted to have a German buddy to practice her German, but as there were no Germans attending they gave me to her. I guess I have to start practicing my German, too, as I promised we can make our meetings trilingual (English, German and Korean)…

In the picture me and my language buddy at the school library.

Suburban life

Moving from one place to another is easy with bus or subway, but it takes a lot of time. I live in a suburb outside of city area, so it takes one and a half hours for me to get to the university, making it three hours a day for just commuting. Well, I got used to it quite fast and because Seoul is really hectic, busy and crowded, it’s nice to live in a quiet area. If you have seen pictures from Tokyo’s subway with staff pushing people in, it’s just like that here. The subway’s really crowded during rush hour, so if you wanna get in, you just have to push and squeeze.

Basically, here is nothing but apartments and a few convenient stores, so for food shopping you must drive to a supermarket and for clothes go to the city. We have a small hill on the back yard where people go hiking and then there’s a field area with also three cows on it. If you want any activities besides walking you have to leave the suburb, but in the other hand it’s nice quiet and empty. In the picture is our apartment.

Korean kids – just got to love them

Korean kids are just the best! Where grown ups are secretly staring the kids are genuinely interested in foreigners. It’s not that they would only stare at me where ever I go, but they do it so sweetly. One 4 year old boy came in front of me, pointed at me and kept laughing for five minutes. He had never seen a foreigner before and found me the funniest thing in the world. At the spa I was the only white person, so several kids came speaking to me asking questions like weather I speak Korean, what’s my name and where I’m from. Another kid at our home in the other hand walked towards me in the hall way and bowed several times when he passed me. Oh, I felt so old and respected! And this weekend a random little boy came to hug me on the street and wished me a nice day! Here’s one hell of a flirty generation growing up! ;)

In the picture you can see my host brother, sister and grandmother.

Kotoisa tunnelma...

Suomalaiset ovat tunnetusti juntteja, mutta osaavat ne korealaisetkin. Pahimpia täällä ovat pukumiehet, joiden raskas työ vaatii myös raskaat huvit. Suomessa nuoriso kuseksii baari-illan jälkeen kadulle ja porttikongeihin, mutta täälläpä eräskin pukumies lorotteli tyynesti kadunvarteen parkkeeratun maasturin kylkeen ja helpotettuaan oloaan jatkoi tyynesti matkaa. Lenitan toinen jalka olisi varmaan kääntynyt haudassa kun toisen bisnesherran lahkeesta pilkottivat valkoiset tennissukat! (Tosin vielä yleisempää on olla kokonaan ilman sukkia.)

Peace of nature and exotic treatments…

Today was dedicated to the family and we all woke up at 5AM to start our journey to the middle part of Korean peninsula. We visited a nature park in an old traditional village in the Korean countryside. It was interesting to see different Korea than just the busy Seoul that never sleeps. I saw where the rice and ginseng grows as well as old houses made from mud. We visited a Buddha temple in the middle of the mountains, which was a beautiful scenery. After the culture part we headed to a spa resort (like Ikaalisten kylpylä in Finland) and spent several hours there. Again, I was enjoying the sauna and different pools. (However, most of the time I spent in the kid’s pool playing water games with Tommy and Annie.)

You know how there are an endless amount of different beauty treatments: you can have a milk bath, a chocolate mask and what not. Well, today I tried the weirdest beauty session ever. It was called Dr. Fish (“dokto pishii”) and the idea was to go to a small pool full of fish. Then the fishes started to eat and bite your feet, which was supposed to be healthy and make your feet soft and beautiful. I wonder if you can try that at home as well…

Free Stuff

In the campus area they have a lot of promotions and give out free stuff. During one day I got the following:
DVD movie
Tomato juice
Tea
Soft drink
Razor
2 cell phone accessories
Post-it notes
Shampoo
4 pens
Calendar
2 notebooks
Face products

Korean Sauna

Finns cannot live without sauna they say, so today we headed to a local “chimchilbang” sauna and spa. I went there with Lea, another Finnish girl and ended up being there for like 3 hours. This chimchilbang had saunas with different temperatures (of course we chose the one with 90C degrees) as well as Jacuzzis/hot tubs and a cold water pool. You could just relax, have a massage and so forth. The spa side with the pools was for women only, but if you wanted to go to the common area they gave you a t-shirt and shorts to wear in the mixed saunas. (Like it wouldn’t be sweaty enough!) Also for the busy Koreans it was normal to use a cell phone in the sauna as well.

Demilitarized zone: a look to North Korea

Today we made a visit to the border of South and North Korea. It’s one of the most guarded borders of the world and actually I had no idea how many security systems they have even in Seoul in case of a North Korean attack. Well the border was basically full of American and Koran soldiers and they had observatory stations there. We could actually visit North Korea’s side, but only for like 3meters and the soldiers keeping an eye on us. While you were moving you weren’t allowed to stop for any reason and it was strictly prohibited to try to contact the North Korean soldiers by any sign language like waving or pointing. We could chat with the American soldiers and ask questions but mostly we had to listen to the soldiers’ dry jokes that only he was laughing to. We could use binoculars to check out the North Korean villages and Kim Il Sung’s golden statue. They also had a 160m high North Korean flag there, but no binoculars were needed to see that. Unfortunately I only saw 2 North Korean soldiers, but I took some pictures with the southern ones like you can see...

In this other picture you can see North Korea in the background.

Double trouble: Try to get a phone here

Could you imagine that getting one cell phone would take you 8 hours? Well, so didn’t I, but in Seoul that’s normal for a foreigner. First of all, foreigners aren’t actually allowed to get an operator contract here, but you also cannot get a prepaid sim, because they don’t have sim cards over here. So what we did was to go and buy a phone first. I got a pretty ok one, but when I was signing the contract they said this phone could not use that specific operator. So heading to another part of Seoul to find a shop where I could get a different contract. It was easy to find the shops, but 3 of them refused to let me sign a contract because I was a foreigner. The fourth place finally accepted me as a customer but after 1,5 hours of trying, calling the customer service like 10 times and trying to explain technology for me in Korean the said that this phone wasn’t good for the contract. I should buy a new one. However the manager was “nice” and agreed to change my new phone to an old crappy version where their contract would work. Well I really didn’t have a choice and agreed. (I tried to leave the shop already but they had my 30000W and kept saying stop so I stayed.) They really didn’t speak any English, so after several phone calls to the customer service I found out that my phone number would start working tomorrow. Great! But my fortune didn’t last long as I noticed at home that my brand new charger didn’t work with the phone they gave. So I was still forced to buy a new charger… Oh well, the phone’s still deaf, but I’m crossing my fingers that it’ll start working soon… And when it does I’ll give my number so I can finally have contact with the outer world…

Lession One: Adapting to Korean Life Style

Many Koreans as well as foreigners warn you about the culture shock you’ll face in Korea. I’m probably not yet in that phase as everything’s just new and exciting but I can tell a few things. First of all before you have been introduced to someone, you don’t exist to him. So don’t be surprised if people push you in public areas for example. For me however, this was no shock, because that’s how people are in Finland, too, but many foreigners find it confusing.
Also all Koreans tell me that they are so afraid of foreigners. This is why they won’t come to you or answer if you start speaking English. So to see how Koreans really are, you have to make a friend first.

Koreans are also very hospitable and do everything to please their guest. I’ve been trying to ask if I can help around the house, but the answer has always been no. Today when the family left I secretly washed the dishes, so let’s see what they say when they come home… They also always try to be polite, so it’s kinda hard to tell what they really think about something. If you don’t like the food you still take a new portion and praise how delicious it is. (Fortunately I’ve liked everything this far…)

Another thing is that people work here like it’s their last day. Six or seven days work per week is normal, and we are not talking about western 8-hour days. That’s why the mom usually stays at home taking care of the kids and household when the man is working and earning. What a shock it was when they heard that my mom’s a doctor! The man is the man in the house and the gender roles are very traditional.

Today we had an orientation at school and I also met May and Joshua from Hpair. Most of the exchange students live in the I-house at campus, so that’s where everything’s happening. I might be a little isolated because I live over an hour away from school, however I’m glad to be able to see real Korean family life, too. The campus is huge and there are also various activities for exchange students. Let’s see where I end up to…

Greetings from Seoul

Ok guys, sorry from now on I’ll write in English, too. So I’m here in Seoul to spend my exchange until summer 2007. I’ll study in Yonsei University and in this blog I’ll let you know how things are going… Above I just wrote a few lines about my flight, and then on 18th February I finally arrived to Korea. It was the Korean new year and biggest holiday of the year (like we have Christmas) so my host family was in another town. However, I heard about an internet site targeted to travellers called hospitality club where you can have visitors at your place and visit someone else abroad. So I stayed the two first nights at a really nice Korean girl. After two nights I moved in to my host family. They are called ‘Oh’ and besides father and mother I also have two adorable siblings. The boy Sung (Tommy) is eight and the daughter Youn (Annie) is seven. They are just melting my heart by being so happy =). The family lives in an apartment in a cosy area and I have an own room there. The room is Korean style, meaning that it has no bed in it. For the night you roll a thin mattress on the floor and have a good night sleep there. The pillow is stuffed with some dried peas. And it’s surprisingly comfortable!

Matkaan...

Lauantaina 17. Helmikuuta 2007 aloitin siis vajaan puolen vuoden mittaiseksi suunnitellun vaihdon Souliin, Koreaan. Lensin eka Pariisiin josta otin Korean Airin lennon kohti Soulia ja pääsinkin jo Aasia-tunnelmiin kentällä Kiinalaisten, Korealaisten ja Japanilaisten joukossa. Koti-ikävä ei kuitenkaan päässyt iskemään, sillä lento olisi yhtä hyvin voinut olla Aurinkomatkojen lomalento Kanarialle. Korealaiset liikemiehet aloittivat ryypiskelyn saman tien, tosin sillä erotuksella, että Suomalaiset sentään odottavat tarjoiluvaunun tulevan kohdalle. Korealaiset kuitenkin juoksuttivat lentoemäntiä yksitellen hakemaan juuri haluamaansa olutmerkkiä. Lentoemojen lisäksi joukossa oli myös yksi stuertti, jolle oli tarjoilun lisäksi delegoitu hieman miehekkäämpiä tehtäviä, kuten käytävällä edestakas kävely kiireisen näköisenä, lentoemäntien toimien tarkkailu sekä liikemiesten neuvominen tietokonepeleissä. Jostain kumman syystä olin mennyt tilaamaan kasvisaterian joka osoittautui englantilaisen keittiön ja koulun ruokalan pohjalta inspiraation saaneeksi peruna-papu-riisi-mössöksi. No, onneksi mieltä lämmitti Korean Airin lahjoittamat villasukat…