Eventually we felt ready to venture outside of our immediate area,
and decided to go to E Mart, which we had heard so much about. E MART
is a giant supermarket/ taste testing haven. Most of the food was
unfamiliar, so we adopted for the policy of "point and try". It's not
always the best policy, by the way. I'm afraid to say we still have not
mastered the check out line either. We have both learned how to ask
"How much?", but it is all in vain since neither of us ever know what
their response is, so it's always a wad of cash handed over and fingers
crossed that we're not going to be completely ripped off. Once we'd finished our
shopping we realized there was no way we could get all of our things on
the bus, so we hailed a taxi. An easy task right? As soon as we got in
the taxi, Ian and I looked at the driver, looked at each other, and
that's when it hit us. How were we going to get home? We still weren't
exactly sure how to get back to our house, and we certainly weren't
sure how to get that across to the driver in Korean. This was when a
new tradition began - phoning Mia, my head teacher, telling her the
problem, and having her speak to whomever we needed her to. I cannot
begin to tell you how grateful we are.
Korean subways are
interesting places. They are very nice actually. New ones are built
practically everyday, and they are clean and innovative. They are also
well prepared for emergencies. Every few meters there are glass cases
full of gas masks in all sorts of varieties. There is only one oxygen
tank though, so I wonder who gets that. I guess its supposed to make us
feel more secure, but really it's just a reminder that it's there for a
reason. A very unsettling reason. One other interesting thing in not
only the subways, but located absolutely EVERYWHERE are mirrors. Oh the
vanity!!! It is shocking. You know how you see those people pretending
to look in store windows, but you know they're really looking at their
reflection? (Okay, I admit I do that sometimes) Well, you never see
that here because it is SO socially acceptable to openly admire
yourself anywhere that everyone does it, everywhere, all
the time. The thing is, no one uses just any old glossy surface
because, getting back to my point, there are mirrors located
EVERYWHERE! I mean every 5 meters of this city, a full length mirror is
set up. They are in the most random spots, and there is always someone
in front of one. The scummiest alley way will have a mirror, the back
of bathroom stall doors have mirrors on them, so you can do your
make-up while doing your business. What finally made me think, "This is
getting out of hand", was when Ian and I were hiking through the
forest, I mean, in the middle of no where, and suddenly came face to
face with ourselves.
Ian and I spent our next few weekends
playing tourist. We visited the National museum, and ancient palace.
Finally we organized with some other teachers to actually make our way
out of Seoul and head to the beach. Sorry, I should say the "beach". We
enthusiastically boarded the bus to the beach, ready for a day of fun
in the sun. As we sat chatting excitedly about our day ahead, a man in
front of us turned around and told us to be quiet. We were already
talking at a reasonable level for public transport, but brought it down
to a whisper just to appease him. Within two minutes, he turned around
again angrily, and that is when we realized he didn't want us to just
be quiet, he didn't want us talking....at all. Our friend Michael who's
lived here for awhile now, casually said, "Oh yeah, you're not really
supposed to talk on public transport here." Uhh, right. We stopped
talking, but next two hours were anything but silent, as we were
serenaded the rest of the way by the loud guttural gurgles of Korean men
clearing their sinuses. You see, that IS acceptable on public transport.
We've
discovered that mucous sucking men on buses aren't the only ones who
can be unfriendly. Surprisingly, our fellow foreigners can also be
downright rude. Since Ian and I have both traveled quite a bit, we're
used to meeting and talking with other travelers. After-all, we're all
away from home, all basically going through the same things. So
naturally when Ian and I see other foreigners our initial instinct is
to say, "Hello". Maybe it's weird because in the end we are still
strangers, but we're strangers obviously not in our own country. So
imagine our surprise when repeatedly being snubbed by other foreigners.
What's the deal? I think it may be a complete cycle because as time
goes by, I find myself more and more hesitant to acknowledge other
foreigners based on growing experiences, but Ian views this as a
challenge. He will go out of his way to make any rude foreigner feel
like a jerk, by practically cornering them and pointedly saying
"Hello!" Oh Ian, always out to make the world a better place.
Well, that's the update for now!
