My New Digs

So far my living situation in Seoul have consisted of being stuffed into a co worker's extra room and living day to day from my suit case.  Per usual.  BUUUUTT today I got the keys to my new bachelorette pad - or what they call housing here in Korea.  

The purple smart chip is what opens my door (which verbally greets me btw) which is a bit terrifying because it is quite small and oh so lose-able.  

Smart key

                                             

When you first walk in immediately to your left are my cute little kitchen and my closet.  

There is a see through cabinet whose door stays propped open and is what I call my "library"

Next to my fridge (which is currently serving as a coat rack) is where this Diva keeps all her threads.  I'll let you gaze at the magnificent wardrobe that is mine.

I know, super impressive 

My washroom is separated from my house and also is kind of my exotic patio, by exotic I meant arctic.  

and since everything is in Hangeul, I pretty much close my eyes and press buttons in hopes that my clothes come out clean.

Can't read this? That makes two of us!

Korean bathrooms take some getting used to.  Mainly the shower is just a long steel hose hooked into the wall that you hold above your head in the same room as the toilet and sink.  It's all just a bit odd for girl who has had the luxury of having shower walls.  And a shower head that holds itself up.  It's like these people think I work out or something.

Sink, metal hose, drain in the floor.  Shower. 

This is my floor/water heating system.  It's pretty baller.  And another thing I don't know how to operate.

Well crew, that was my episode of cribs.  Just to recap and put everything together for you:

here's the view from the bathroom

Here's the view from the door:

Voila

Killing Larry

My teaching skills for seven year olds have already reached some new territories.  I teach everything from art, to math, the science, to having fun.  It's not complicated or anything, today for Math we counted how many fingers I was holding up.  

I was however, suuuuuuuper pumped about the fact that we got to have a real live fish in class for science. Why you ask? To teach children about animals and the science of life you might guess?  HAAA NO.  

That fish was straight up leverage.  Those kids eyes LIT up when Larry (the fish) entered the room.  To them, there was a new magical, shiny creature, bubbling about a beautiful little talk filled with water.  To me, it meant that I could bribe them with behaving well by promising whoever was best to feed Larry at the end of the day.  

Turns out, if you need to bribe children with a goldfish, you should be aware of how much food a goldfish needs in a day and not allow your shining star of a student, Sophia, to feed him half the can in one day.  

So, the next morning along with Larry, my new found scientist/political mafiosa career was found floating belly up in a bowl.

Back to the drawing board.    

Barber Shops

I took a little walk on the wild side today.  And by wild side, I don't mean wild side, there is not danger in South Korea, but I was with a Korean co worker who has been known to kill a few tunes in Karaoke...  

Anyway, when walking the streets of Seocho (my hood) and as I imagine anywhere in Seoul, there are tons, and tons of these spinning old timey, red, white and blue barber posts.  Like, they're everywhere.  A ridiculous amount.  Why so many barber shops I asked?  Are people seriously that obsessed with getting their hair did that these shops are popping up to quench the demand of well coiffed Koreans?  

The answer is, not every barber shop is as it seems here in Seoul.  

There are two different types of spinners to indicate two different types of barber shops.  First, the universally classic single spinner signals a place where one can walk in, snip snip, walk out.  

.......aaaannnddd then there's the double spinner......

.....where you can come it, snip snip, and then fix your grumpy day with a "happy ending" so to say.  

You get my drift.

White Girl Issues

My day started with me pouring salt on my blistered white girl tongue due to my annoying inability to withstand any sort of spice/fermentation combo.  Thank you Kimchi, you shall be fun for me this year. 

"I'M NOT FUNNY!"

Only one day into teaching and I'm already won over by these incredibly cute faces.  Unfortunately, along with loving my class, I was nice to them, which means they apparently think I'm a door mat.  So lesson number one: be stern to small children or they'll eat you alive.

Lesson number two: Korean children CANNOT say Suzannah.  It comes out something along the lines of Sujiannah.  Which is adorable, and I've been called worse, so I feel like I'm alright with it.

Lesson number three: Bless their hearts, I forgot how impossible it is for children to hide their emotions.  And since these ones don't speak English well, when they are made mad by another laughing in their expense, they angrily yell "I'M NOT FUNNY!" and it's true.  They do lack a sense of comedic intuition.  They also like to yell "I'M ANGRY!" funny enough, they have yet to learn to yell positive emotions.  I think I will teach them to yell "FUCK, I"M HAPPY!"

Asian Grocery Goodies

Well Toto, we're not in Whole Foods anymore.  Here is what my grocery shopping experience looks like these days. Enjoy. I know I do.

Dehydrated fish 'chips'

Dehydrated fish on a stick

Fish Cicles.  Rows and rows of frozen fish attached by a yellow thread.  No packaging.

Seoul Searching

An idea has been growing in the back of my mind like a little plant to go try my hand at teaching pretty much from the time I tried my hand at giving a tour on the history of Paris to a group of my former co workers. Ok fine, I only got to give a historical run down of one monument, but I'd like to say it was a damn good run down.  Working in the environment of giving tours, is definitely very similar to being a teacher, only instead of giving tests and making a curriculum for a year's worth of studies, you're the four hour cliff note edition, condensing all of the important historical event spanning a few hundred years into four hours.

It wasn't until I was put in charge of the development of an artisan food store in Greenwich village NYC that I decided to make the commitment to pursue an adventure abroad in teaching.  Not that I'm knocking developing a little business into something that could actually be profitable one day, but for me, continuing that life had about as much soul nutritional substance as the products I was pushing.  (Just to clarify, that would be no nutrition, devoid of, lacking..)

I have loved every second I have spend in New York City, this place is a metropolitan sprawl just bursting at the seems with creativity and ingenuity, but I'm coming up blank when I try to picture a solid future in this city.  It's so transient that I get the feeling a lot of people don't even think it a worthy attempt to actually invest, further than superficially, in actual human relations.  I am constantly hungry in the city.  Metaphorically and literally.  It seems like no matter how much I consume I am still hungry for more: more of a purpose, more of a sense of self, more of a sense of belonging or community, and quite frankly, it's kind of exhausting.
And maybe it is just that I am addicted to travel.  Maybe, I am just energized by moving and exhausted from staying still.  Anyone who has ever traveled extensively knows what I am talking about.  It's a drug that we inject in ourselves.  It's a hit that starts skin deep and then seeps gradually into our veins and is carried deep into the recesses of our bodily cavities to our hearts, our minds and our souls.

With that commences the obligatory "this is what I'm doing and how cool I am" blog.  Seoul Searching is really more of a way for me to remember what I do, and hopefully to entertain and inspire you in some way. Hopefully it achieves its purpose.