The Ramblings of Loren Christopher

It’s the Lunar New Year holiday this weekend, which means I have Monday and Tuesday off (gotta love 4-day weekends)!  Traditionally, Korean people spend this time with their family in the countryside or in their homes.  Things are closed in Seoul and the streets tend to lose their bussle.

Last year for this holiday (yes, it has in fact been a year now that I’ve lived here), being newly arrived, I took advantage of the fact that it wasn’t as crowded and went exploring around the city.  This time though, I wanted to get away.  Originally I thought some friends and I were going somewhere together….but the closer the holiday came, no one had made any plans, and the idea of getting away on my own for a while sounded more and more attractive.

So Sunday morning I left for Asan.  It’s close-by Seoul, just an hour or so south.  I didn’t want to go far because the whole country is traveling on the roads this weekend and I knew traffic would be bad.  Three snowy and scenic hours later, I had arrived in the small city. There’s nothing too special about Asan from what I can tell.  It’s not nestled in the mountains, there’s no real river running along side of it, it’s not village-y looking.

They have an old-looking cathedral that’s nice, an old folk village, and the main reason I went….about 10 minutes away is “Spavis“, one of the biggest spa resorts in Korea.  I checked into a motel near the bus terminal right away, dropped off my bags and headed out with my camera.  The receptionist lady called after me, “Adjosshi!  Adjosshi!”.  I just kept walking.  The word “adjosshi” in Korean is typically used in reference to an old man, of at least his 40’s.  Turns out she was in fact talking to ME!  Thanks to our miming techniques I figured out she was asking if I wouldn’t rather just get some sleep at the motel first.  I explained that I wasn’t tired and wanted to walk around….heck, it was noon anyway!

This city could be a dump for all I know, but in the fresh snow everything just looked so pretty.  There were, of course, the slushy parts….and since I didn’t bring any snow boots I couldn’t wander off too far.  But it was nice to venture through the small streets and take photos again, it had been a while and I was in a creative mood.

I had some sundubu-jigae (spicy tofu stew, one of my favs) and then took a taxi over to Spavis.  Wow, this place was pretty big, certainly bigger than any jim-jil-bang I had ever been to.  It has its own water park and community pools for men and women, as well as the separate saunas.  I headed straight for the sauna.  I can’t tell you how much I love the sauna aspect of Korea….and this place knew how to do it right.

There were so many different kinds of baths.  Salt baths, green tea, mountain berry, red wine, herbal mint, bamboo, rice wine, medicinal, etc.  They had a bunch indoors, and when I felt like I was about to pass out from all the heat, I stepped outside on the patio (in the snow) and then dipped into a couple of the outdoor baths surrounded by bamboo.

I dried off and treated myself to a full-body massage and then foot massage afterwards.  Then visited the Dr. Fish spa they had as well.  I can tell you, this is the kind of relaxing and refreshing thing that stays with you for a while.  I headed back to the city later in the evening and just relaxed in my motel room and read a book.

Sometimes it’s nice to get away by yourself and have some time alone.  I think the major thing was that I just wanted to get away!  But I am back in the big city feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, and ready for my Birthday weekend (next weekend) in which much fun will be had out on the town, my friends are going to make sure of it.

Originally, a few friends and I had planned on heading down to Icheon for a day of pottery-making on Saturday.  As the week drew to a close, and the more we researched it, we decided to post-pone it a bit and just have a fun weekend in Seoul instead.

Now, I don’t know if I’ve written about the woes of shopping as a taller man of Western size here in Korea, but there are woes my friends.  Korea is a fashion-forward place, the people are an image-obsessed society and you find cool trendy fashion around almost every corner, and cheap too.

My excitement quickly turned to disappointment after trying on jackets where the sleeves went down just above my wrists, shirts that cut off just below my belly button, pants that stopped around my ankles, etc.  It’s not THAT drastic….but being almost 6′3″ (189 cm), I notice it.  There’s no point in buying clothing even if it’s slightly too small, because I won’t feel comfortable in it.  Shoes are entirely the same story.

Soooo, long story short, I bought lots of stuff when I went back to the states for Christmas.  This weekend though, we went to Myeongdong to check out the new Forever 21 store.  It’s an American company and I’d heard great things about their men’s clothing, so I was hoping for Western sizes and Korean prices.

It was….awesome.  I picked up a few things, all of which fit perfectly and are stylish.  Will be going back on a weekday this week when the crowds are more manageable.

So we just walked around Myeongdong and Namdaemun a bit….enjoyed the crowds and shopping.  Then we were headed off to Hongdae to meet up with some other friends.  Hongdae is one my favorite places to go out in Seoul.  The nightlife is great and it’s located right next to a couple big Universities so there are a lot of trendy younger people there.

I’ve posted a little about this area before, but it just bears repeating that Hongdae is FUN.  So many different people, scenes, things to do, etc.  We went to a couple different bars, saw a couple bands play live music, ate some delicious (albeit VERY spicy) tteokbokki on the street, and at some point in the morning we called it a night.

When I lived in Prague for a year, I used to have recurring dreams in which I would simply walk into a Cracker Barrel restaurant, the waitress would come up and I would order anywhere from 10-15 different American breakfast food items.  I would always wake up from shock when they were brought to the table.  Never did I actually get to eat them in my dreams.  Well luckily, Seoul is a much more modern and globalized city than Prague….there’s no sense in dreaming about ecstasy when it lies just a subway ride away.

I had heard about the restaurant “Butterfinger Pancakes” before, but only first ate there a couple weeks ago when my friend Houston suggested it.  They only have two locations in Seoul, (Apgujeong and Gangnam) and the newest location is most convenient for me to get to….so I was excited.

Sidenote for those living in Seoul, you can find the Gangnam location if you leave Gangnam station exit 6, turn left after the first block (I believe it’s the corner with The Body Shop on it…..walk down a little ways and you’ll see it on the left.  If you pass the Bennigan’s then you’ve gone too far!)

Well, where do I begin really?  When you have a craving for home cooking of the sorts (American breakfast being one of my favorites) and you’re in a foreign country it can be hard to find the real deal….done right, for a moderate price.  There are quite a few places to get American breakfast in this city, but they’re either not that great, or ridiculously expensive.  Butterfinger Pancakes has everything that you could want and more.  A wide variety of pancakes like chocolate chip, banana, even mozzarella and cream cheese (sounds gross I know, but they are incredible)….there are waffles, omelets, hash browns, fresh oven-baked biscuits, bacon, eggs, even pigs in a blanket.

The reason I feel this place deserves a blog entry is because the quality was superb, among the best pancakes I’ve ever had….even compared to back in the states.  And the prices were reasonable too (10,000 won for a full breakfast combo).  Thank you Houston, for taking me here to see what all the fuss was about!  What could I possibly miss from the states now other than friends and family?

Disclaimer:  I do not enjoy reading Korea expat blogs that are mostly about “teaching life”, which class bothered you most this week, what your co-workers or daily activities are like.  This, to me, is boring to read.  So in no way do I intend for this blog to come across as one of those ‘today-this-happened-at-work’ blogs.  That being said, let me take this one entry to tell you a little about my work since I took some cute pictures of my kids recently.

I’ll be honest, up until about a year ago I was frightened by kids.  I didn’t know how to act around them, I was afraid they wouldn’t think I was funny.  Looking back now, I know I had nothing to be scared of….kids are great!  There is a kind of instant joy you get working with kids that I just don’t think you can find anywhere else, and there have been so many moments with my kids over the past year that have left me truly touched.

It’s funny, I can be in a bad mood or stressed out, and the kids will cheer me up with something silly or ridiculous that they say.  And sometimes they say the most RANDOM things.  Likewise there are a few terrors here and there that I have to keep under tight control, but I’ve gotten much better at that.  They know when they hear my sudden soft, demeaning tone of voice, to be quiet so they can hear exactly what I’m going to say to reprimand one of them.

I’ve made a couple kids cry over this past year.  I’m not entirely proud of that, but in a way I am, because those two kids have since become really close to me and are now among my favorites.  There’s no point in holding grudges….you have to show the kids you care about them and truly want them to do better.  It’s amazing how far the slightest bit of interest you show them can go.

I don’t mean to sound like I’m patting myself on the back here….there is still soooo much to learn.  That’s one reason I like teaching, it’s a constant growing and learning process.  And I am so so so thankful that I have an amazing hagwon (private school) to work for though.  They don’t take advantage of me or over-work me at all.  It’s rare to find such a sweet deal in Korea and I’m not sure, had I gotten a job at one of the many crappy hagwons, if I would be as stoked about teaching.

So, when I reflect on this past year of teaching, and I see kids who I know I’ve made an impact on and they will remember me for the rest of their lives, I feel so lucky to be doing what I’m doing.  Like I said, there are certainly tough times with some classes, and there will always be more ahead.  Figuring out how to make the best of the situation is a challenge that every teacher should be strive to achieve.  The pay-offs are worth it.

I had a fantastic New Year’s downtown in Jongro with friends….I took some video with my new camcorder I got for Christmas:

 
Hope you all had a good one.  New Year’s resolution #1 for Loren = keeping his blog updated more often, haha!