Food and Fun over the weekend

Hello all! This is Haley!!! I am guest blogging to let you know about our weekend experience from my point of view...

Yesterday (Sunday), we went to lunch at this side dish place. It was a very traditional style eating - basically you get a bunch of little dishes of different types of veggies and share it with everyone at the table. I took some pictures. It was a tiny little place that had like five tables (almost every restaurant here has that), and you could either sit on the floor, or on benches - always on a pillow. The walls had Korean writing and the ceilings were old wooden beams that looked like tree branches.
Then we went to a coffee place (we go to a coffee shop at least twice a day), then to Hil's church. After church, we went to Meyeondong, which is a huge area with a bunch of shops. Unfortunately, it was raining, and was extremely crowded, so we kept getting poked in the face with umbrellas, because our faces were at the level of everyone's umbrella!
After that we went to a restaurant with a bunch of Hilary's friends - whom are VERY cool. Very nice, friendly and easy going people. We had to wear bibs! This was another family style seating where they cook the meals in front of you. They made us a sort of pizza type thing. It tasted like spicy spaghetti without the pasta. There was sauce, spices, chicken, sauce, peppers, onions, sauce and cheese. VERY saucy :).
Then we all went to Doctor Fish. This place was CRAZY! We went up to the seventh floor of this crappy building and when we walked into the spa, it seemed like we walked into a different world. It was so nice and had an instant relaxing atmosphere. Everything here has either wooden or bamboo floors, and this entire place was covered in bamboo. We took our shoes and socks off as soon as we walked in the door and put them in lockers. There were beautiful ficus trees with lights everywhere, an L shaped pool in the middle - raised above the normal floor - and chairs and tables for seating. We ordered some tea and smoothies (I got a mango smoothie- mmm) and then went over to these sinks in the ground to wash our feet off. After we finished washing our feet, we went up to the pool. You look in and there are little fish swimming around. You stick your feet in these pools and the fish EAT the dead skin off of your feet. They come up and swarm around your feet and legs and just start munching away. It felt SO WEIRD. It tickled and pinched and ... I don't know all at once! We kept our feet in there for as long as we could, took them out, wiped them off and sat down for our drinks. We talked for a while and then went back again! This time I put my hands in the pool along with my feet. I could really feel them biting on my hands. When they were eating your feet, it just tickled, but on your hands, you could almost feel their little fish lips rubbing your hands. WEIRD! Then we put our feet back in the sinks in the floor in hot water with some lavender oil. This was called aromatherapy. I felt very relaxed after this! Once we were done with this, our feet felt sooooo soft!
Then we went for ice cream at this little cafe at a neighboring building. It had bananas, strawberries, kiwi, pineapple jello, ice cream and ice in it.

Today (Monday), we got up and met one of Hilary's former co-teachers for coffee. After coffee, we met Hil's friend Jessica for lunch at a place where you get something called shabu shabu. This style of eating takes over an hour and has three stages. Once again, they cook the food right on your table, but this time it had broth instead of sauce. I guess shabu shabu is actually Japanese food. It had very thin slices of beef, broth, cabbage, onions, bokchoy, dandelion leave looking things, fish dough balls nuggets EW (we didn't eat those) and sprouts. You dip some of the food in some hot sauce that reminded me of tobasco, but thicker, mixed with garlic and hot peppers and then mmm eat it! After we cooked and ate the veggies, we got noodles to put in the broth. It thickened. After we were done eating the noodles, we get rice and egg put in the remaining broth and cook it up. It turns into a kind of porridge or risotto. I mixed that together with my spicy broth and ate it! YUM!
Now we are resting at one of Hil's friends' houses before we go hiking. We are going up to Namsan Tower. nam = south, san = mountain. Hil and I are hiking up to the tower and mom and jess are going to take a cable car up. I'll take lots of pictures!
After that, we're meeting some more of her friends for dinner. Every meal is an experience, so I'm pretty excited.
I hope you are all doing well! Mom and I are having a blast here experiencing new cultures and experiences! Some of the sights are WONDERFUL and amazing and some are downright weird!
We still have four and a half more days of great times, and will keep you all updated!
:)
Haley

Haley and Mom are HEEEEERRRREEEEE!!!! And, they say I smell like Kimchi....

It's been so exciting having my family here, but also extremely weird! Living in the same space with my mother and sister for the first time since I was about 17 is a very trippy experience. Trying to decide who sleeps where and who does what... very surreal. I've never had an experience where people where "overnight" guests at "my place!" Weird!


But, what's even more weird is how STRANGE Haley and Mom find everything here. They're flabbergasted by the fish being sold out on the sidewalk, alternately disgusted and delighted by the dishes (the food) and, frankly, sickened by the smell of the city!

I don't blame them. I was a newbie once too. Everything was so strange and intimidating. Everything was so surreal... now it's just old hat.

But, seeing everything through the eyes of my mom and sisters has reminded me about how strange this country really is! I mean, really; who eats acorn jelly anyways? Really!

Now, my precious mother and sister are both fast asleep (it's 9:30p.m.) after a long and eventful day! I can't wait for tomorrow when they'll experience the more traditional aspects of Korea along with the more... ridiculous.

We're going Noribanging!

Oh yeah!

We'll see what happens tomorrow! Until then.. Annyeonghekasayo!

Hil

Dancing and the Olympics!

I had a fantastic weekend this last weekend! I went salsa dancing Ruda! We had a blast! We're not very good at dancing, but we sure had fun trying!

After about 45 minutes of lessons, we were let loose on the dance floor to try out our new dance moves. I think, of all of the people there, Ruda and I were definitely the worst dancers... but it was ok. Everyone was really friendly and encouraging. Around 9, a bunch of people started coming and everyone was dancing with everyone! Ruda and I both danced with some other people who made us look good!

There was one man in particular who really knew what he was doing and when I danced with him.... ooohhhh.... I think I fell in love! He was so intense!

It was marvelous.

I also had a bunch of church activities to do on Sunday.... I'm not a total heathen!

Teaching Sunday school here has been so fulfilling for me. I have about 6 high school kids who come pretty regularly and I really enjoy them! They're so insightful and challenging! They remind me so much of how it was to be in high school again... teaching them reminds me of my calling.

Then, after church, some friends and I went to the center of Seoul to see the Olympic torch come into the city. I guess there weren't too many protesters in Korea and there are so many Chinese people here studying or living abroad that there was a lot of positive support.

It was pretty neat to see. I saw some of the biggest guns in my life while there! And, yeah, the torch was there too! Neat stuff!

Here are some pictures of the torch and the celebration...

The torch runner coming into the arena.

A shot of the stage with all of the Chinese flags in front of it.

Nate, Jess, Ruda and a I pretending to be Chinese... Ok, not really. We were just there and had flags! If you notice, I'm trying to promote peace and China at the same time.... hmm...

In other news... MOM and HALEY are coming to visit in... 3 DAYS!!!! YAYAYAYAYAAYAYAAYAAYAYYAYAYAYAAAYYYY!!!!!!

Love,

Hil

Oh Dinners. Koreans are too polite!

I went out to dinner with my "department" today. I'm not sure what I do in my department, but they invited me along, so I went. We had a nice dinner (shabu shabu) and then went home.

BUT... I really think the dinner was a disguise for "getting to know Hilary teacher" time. It wasn't too bad. Actually, I really enjoyed getting to know some of the other teachers in my department. Particularly one teacher who I always look at and grin at but never talk to. She sat right across from me and we were able to "talk" quite a bit over dinner. There was also the young male teacher who sits right in front of me.

At the beginning of dinner, he asked the waitress for a fork for me, but then all of the other teachers said that I use chopsticks better than they do. So, when the fork came, he told the waitress it was for him... it was really funny... maybe you had to be there.

Also the Principal and the Vice-principal came, which made everyone terribly uncomfortable. I guess the Principal lives with his daughter and she's so busy she doesn't have time to cook for him. Sooooo..... he was looking for dinner plans and just decided to join us! I thought that was.... nice. Actually, no. No one was comfortable with him there.

Then, after dinner, my head teacher wanted to drive me home. Now, I don't live very far away from where we ate. All of these teachers were standing around discussing how I would make it home... I was like "Bus...." But, my head teacher REALLY wanted to drive me home. But, when he offered, everyone was like "OHHHH!!!" I guess because he wanted to drive me home it implied that he likes me.... ew! He's old enough to be my father!

But, he insisted. In fact, he grabbed my wrist and started to run with me to his car.....

Yeah!

But, some of the women in my department saved me and they came along too. I got to sit in the front, which was awkward... but after learning that this man's nickname is "the Hunter," meaning he likes to hunt females.... (yeah freaky, I know, but this guy is a good guy!) I made it home!

Oh goodness. Also, I wanted to kill Myeongsook because she kept telling everyone EVERYTHING she knew about me and everything I've ever said about anyone. She even told my head teacher that I thought he was cute when he smiled and that he looked like a little boy! (Again, this man is old enough to be my father, so his cuteness is like an old-man cuteness... you know...) She told EVERYONE that.... even when the principal and the vice-principal were sitting there!!!! After a while I told her to stop otherwise I was going to kill her!

Chalk another one up to Korean hospitality... Koreans 848; Hilary 4

There is a truth in silence

There is a truth in silence.

It whispers in your heart and
it comes in your stillness -- in your tiredness.

You can feel the life vibrating through your body,
but there is no spark behind your eye...

There is no love in your life.

Only holes.
Only vacuums.
Only times to be filled.

So, what do you do with this life that stubbornly pounds through your veins?

Plunge it into things that have nothing to do with you...
Lose yourself in others --

Lose yourself.

Maybe then you'll survive --

maybe.


H

Self-Preservation or Self-Sacrifice....

I had a very sober day today. I had this dumb mood going on today... one of those days were I could see past my own nose or feelings.

I think one of the things that makes being here hard sometimes is the fleeting nature of so many of my relationships. And, because I'm especially stupid; I tend to give my heart to these people... I can't help myself.

I love deeply... so thick.

"It's so difficult to be tethered to people that have no idea they mean so much to you. Living here comes down to either self-preservation or self-sacrifice."

Sometimes, I want to preserve....

Days like today.

Pictures

hehehe..

hehehe... so cute!

*sigh* it was a fun night!