In Korea, do as Koreans do

Since being here I have tried to make myself fit in with the locals more than ever before. I think it definitely has something to do with my appearance being so blatantly different that I need to try anything to make myself not stand out any more than I am.

Marking just a little over a month here I began to reflect on the ways that I have experienced true Korean life.

Cathy teacher and Lainy teacher at shabushabu

 1.     Eat as Koreans do-
that's any easy one. I've tried anything/everything I can get my hands on. Go to a restaurant, try whatever the server thinks is best on the menu. Tonight my Korean co-teachers took Ryan and I to "shabushabu." Shabushabu is named after the sound the meat makes when you whisk it back and forth in boiling hot water to cook it. Accompanied by several sides and a mound of the freshest vegetables I've ever eaten, shabushabu is my favorite way to eat in Korea. You start by cooking the vegetables and meat (eating along the way), then you add noodles and mondu, then it turns into soup and the final dish complete when rice is added to the leftover soup to make a kind of porridge. Delicious.

2. Move like Koreans do- while walking home this afternoon Ryan and I stopped along a portrait studio who's owners looked as if they were closing up shop for good. We asked about the furniture sitting on the curb (brand new) and they said it was free for the taking. We quickly glanced over the selection and realized our apartments were about to become a lot homier. So after dinner we made the trek to our furniture pile, Ryan hiked my giant purple chaise lounge onto his head, and we began the 10 minute walk back to our apartment. Three couches, two fabulous pieces of original photography (from the dumpster) and three trips later we now have swanky new furniture. This is how Koreans trade their goods on the daily, and its also how they move regularly too, by foot.

3. Visit a traditional Korean medicine man (or woman in my case)- while visiting a traditional Korean village in Seoul this past weekend the strangest thing happened. We were walking around checking out all of the mock displays of what a true village might look like, when we rounded a corner and were greeted with several Korean women in traditional Korean outfits. They asked if we wanted a free medical

evaluation. Feeling sorry for them and their what seemed like boredom we unsuspecting foreigners agreed. After essentially being every health thing that could be wrong with me was wrong they asked me one final question- "any more ailments we should know about." My mind immediately turned to the back ache I've been experiencing since I got here. My medicine woman's response "would you like acupuncture?" Ryan immediately shouted yes with a huge grin on his face. I was immediately escorted to a screen panel just feet away where she lifted my shit and inserted her needles. It all seemed to surreal, acupuncture in the middle of a Korean village in Seoul. Oh and just before she inserted the first needle she asked me "please don't scream." Not a terrible experience but random that I was left on my own for about 20 minutes with needles in my back and a crowd of people just feet away. All for free.

4. Meet the mascot of Seoul- a critter of critters, I wouldn't have thought it'd be any different. Like the slogan found all around I wondered, was he the "Hi Seoul: the Soul of Asia?" If I had my vote I'd say yes.