Entries about korea

Even though my adventures in Korea have been over for quite some time now, I've decided to keep posting some stuff that I didn't post while I was there, or that I just thought of, so you will see some more posts popping up over the coming weeks/months.
Besides, I have to keep this blog warm for when I'm going back to Seoul, right?

So this post is about living in a guesthouse in Korea.

It can be pretty rough; every time you want to take a shit, someone's taking a shower; when you want to sleep because you have to get up early, someone's going/gone clubbing and thus crazy loud; and when you want some privacy you're shit out of luck because you're sharing your room with 1 to 7 other people.
But even though, especially in the first months, I considered moving to a hotel many times, it didn't take me that long to discover the positive sides to living in a hostel.

The first full month I stayed there was December, and my room (8 bed mixed dorm) was always filled with incredibly loud and obnoxious people. Unlike when doing volunteer projects, the people you meet in a hostel definitely aren't all awesome. In fact, most of them are assholes. But after the neverending waves of clubbers and "I done gon' screw me sum yellow pussy" people in December, I got to experience the real guesthouse life.

I shared my room with one, sometimes two people, and they were usually very well behaved. Some people came in who would also start living there for a longer time; my Korean hyung Kwang Bong, who was in his thirties but always acted like a kid; the Kpop crazy Swede Caroline and later on the tallest and manliest motherfucker ever, Daniel.
Aside from that, the staff was also incredibly homely. Watching TV together, eating pizza, drinking somaek, Jin always greeting everyone with a cheery 'good morning!' even though you stumbled out of your bedroom looking like a zombie at 15:00; it's all stuff that you would never get to experience in a hotel room.

On top of that, I realized living in a hotel would be so lonely. At Pencil (my guesthouse) I met about 10 new people each week, if not more. And even if 9 of them were assholes, that's still 1 good person every 7 days! I thinking living there has made me a bit more social, and I'm sure it kept me from getting depressed because of loneliness many times. Hell, I even let myself be persuaded to head out clubbing with them sometimes, and whenever there were some people there who were just in Seoul for the weekend to get drunk, we had drinking games and lots of great times in the communal living room. Maybe knowing the chances of ever seeing one of them again was so small had made people a little less cautious, but there's a lot of great stories I got to witness while I was there staying sober while people went out and came back from clubbing.

One situation stands out in particular..One morning I woke up and stumbled to the downstairs bathroom to take my morning wee, but found it was locked, a big sign saying 'BATHROOM IS BROKEN, I HAVE CALLED THE PUMBLER -DJ' plastered on the door. All morning people were talking and complaining about it, wondering what had happened. Some rumors started flying right away, because people had heard some drunk chick had flooded the upstairs bathroom which had led to water damage even downstairs. A little later, a guy came down to explain to us what had happened; one of the American guests had had a liiiittle bit too much to drink the night before and had decided to take a shower. Subsequently, she passed out while the water was still on. The drainage in the upstairs bathroom wasn't very good, so the water started to rise and fill the room almost up until the threshold when he walked in and saw the girl sleeping on the floor, water almost completely covering her mouth and nose. She could've drowned if he hadn't lifted her up to put her in bed.
That wasn't the end of it though. I didn't actually know who he was talking about yet, because he didn't mention her name, but somewhere in the afternoon one of the girls came down the stairs. As most other people, she was complaining about both bathrooms being locked and unusable when I asked her about her night. She said she only remembered stepping under the shower and then woke up in her bed. Some pieces of the puzzle started coming together and the guy explained to her it was her that caused all the damage. It was totally hilarious to see this sudden realization, let me tell you. "I DID THAT? FUCK. I ALMOST DROWNED? I BROKE THE HOSTEL? I BROKE THE HOSTEL! FUCK!"

Even though I learned to enjoy such antics and the constant presence of other people, I sometimes needed some time for myself. I usually retreated to the table in the kitchen that no one ever used, hooked up my laptop, and ignored everything else. The table was kind of out of sight so usually I'd be ignored while people were talking in the living room.

Over the course of my time there, Pencil really started to feel like home to me, and I miss it dearly.
Even though I am planning to get my own room when I go back to Seoul, I'm pretty sure I will try to stay there again, if only for a little while.

Been back in the Netherlands for a few hours now.
My time in Korea feels so far away, like a dream that's constantly slowly but surely disappearing. All I have left now is a ton of pictures, 22kg of stuff and a heart twice broken. I don't feel at home in my own country, and I miss every single thing about Korea.
And I miss you, my love.

안녕~
I’ve been meaning to tell you guys about my trip to Wando last weekend, and I have some free time, so I thought I’d give y’all an update.

I had been thinking about going back to Wando before I’d leave Korea for quite some time, since I had missed my kids from the second I had left my beautiful island and I thought I’d feel regret if I didn’t at least go back one last time. However, the costs of going all the way to Wando from Seoul are about 35,000 won for a one-way trip, and I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing Sahmonim again, so I was kind of on the fence about it.
Cue the two awesome Frenchies who I met at the Kimchi Project (that I surely should’ve blogged about, but contained too much awesome to be put to words in a small post) and who would be taking care of my old project starting in February; meeting them was the last push I needed to decide to venture back to Wando before my time here was up.

And I’m so glad I did. Sure, it cost me ₩70,000, but it gave me many nostalgic moments and happy memories. Driving back into Wando, I felt like I was coming back home after a long time, instantly being flooded by memories of my time there. The taxi driver must’ve thought I was strange, sitting in his back seat with a giant grin plastered all over my face.
I arrived around 16:00 after a 5 hour bus ride, so I had only missed one class. Most of the students instantly recognized me, and I was glad many of them were so happy to see me. Even the kids who used to ‘hate’ me seemed to have softened up to their sonsaengnim and talked to me in that lovely broken English I had missed so much. Unfortunately, not everyone was there since there was some sort of school holiday going on, but still I got to see most of my students so I was very glad. Not surprisingly, many of them asked about where GaHui and Anne were, and I got the feeling some were quite disappointed I didn’t drag GaHui along with me.

Donia and Mikaël (the Frenchies) were kind enough to host me so I didn’t have to sleep in a motel, and I got to sleep in nostalgia as my designated room was GaHui’s old bedroom, a mirrored version of mine. Naturally the evenings were spent in true Wando fashion; by drinking soju and beer and going to bed late without actually really doing anything.

The next day I could finally meet my kindergarteners: the kids I’d missed the most. They all seemed to remember me, and were so happy to see me again. It made me feel all warm inside, but when I think of the fact that I won’t be able to see any of them again, it makes me feel really sad.. I spent as much time as I could playing with them and hugging them and they were all just as cute as they were when I left them. Especially my favourite (the girl with the big mole under her eye) and my second favourite (the girl with the glasses) had missed me a lot. The one with the glasses was actually ignoring me the first 30 minutes because she felt so strange to see me again, but when there were 20 kids pulling my legs she told them to leave me alone and hugged me. Aigoya I want to be a kindergarten teacher in Korea ;_;

In the evening, the kids had a church camp, which took place (surprise!) in the church, so it was a perfect opportunity for me to impose and just tag along without asking anyone for permission. Surprisingly, Sahmonim hadn’t even tried to bother or even talk to me at all, and all of the church mothers were happy to see me, so things were pretty relaxed.
This way, I got to spend all day until 21:30 with my kids, and I even met some new ones who weren’t at church camp before.

Saying goodbye was difficult, but not as difficult as the last time.
I think this way I got some closure on the whole thing, and I know my students didn’t forget about me and still hold warm feelings for me in their hearts. Li Ha, my favourite elementary school student who wrote us the cutest little letters and hugged all of us crying when we left, kept holding my hand whenever she could, even in spite of the constant “EWWWW ARE YOU CRAZY!?” complaining of her much, much less cute classmate Soo Bin. That really made me feel like we made at least a small difference in this community, and I feel like that’s something to be very proud of.

[p.s. here is a picture of a crab holding a cigarette]

Hey guys,
I know it's been a while since I posted anything, and actually there's a bunch of stuff I want to post because some really cool stuff has happened recently, but as you might know, this is my last month in Korea, so I'm trying to enjoy everything as much as possible which leaves little time for sitting down to type here.

However, I've been wanting to post this, so I will :3
It's a compilation from various sources, with some of my own added in.

You know you've been in Korea for too long when...

You no longer come to a complete stop at the stop sign and you never yield the right-of-way. <Koreans drive like fucking madmen!>

You enjoy slurping your noodles as loudly as you can.

You walk down the street holding hands with your buddy. <Because when you hold hands with a girl, everyone stares at you, but when you're giving your buddy a soapy massage in jimjilbang no one bats an eye.>

You ask your wife to stand outside with a baseball bat to protect your public parking space in front of the house.

You look forward to winter in your off post housing so you can store beer and frozen foods in your bedroom or bathroom.

You can fall asleep on the city bus and wake up at your stop.

<Your favorite beverage is carbonated milk.> <FUCK YES MILKISS!>

You can shovel in an entire bowl of rice and half a course of bulgogi into your mouth before you swallow.

You can make a left turn looking only to the right.

You think that Korea's greatest natural resource is good looking young women. < >Implying it isn't >

You only lock your door if there are lots of "Mi-gooks" around. <I've seriously only started feeling conscious about my valuables around other foreigners..can't trust those fuckers, man.>

People ask if you want to go by car and you respond, "No, I'm in a hurry."

You realize that it is safer to jaywalk than use a pedestrian crosswalk.

You wear white socks with a dark suit.

<You start saying "Aigo, chuwa" when stepping outside, even before actually registering if it is indeed cold.>

You crawl back into your house to get your coat, rather than take your shoes back off or walk on the floor with shoes on. <Did this like 4 times. ONE MUST NOT DESECRATE THE LIVING ROOM FLOOR!>

Someone says breakfast, you think of "fish, soup and seaweed." <In my case, ramyun.>

You'd rather sit on the floor than in a chair.

You start believing that you can blend into a large crowd of Koreans. <Even though you stick out above them at least 10cm>

You let your eyes be drawn towards any female whose hair isn't black.

Someone says "mansion" and you think of a two bedroom flat in a 400-unit apartment building.

You mutter "Aigo" when lifting a heavy objects. <Or when sitting down, getting up, entering your house, and pretty much whenever. I will never stop doing this.>

You suck in air through your teeth before saying "no" to anything.

You start growling and spitting inside your mouth to add emphasis to what you are about to say.

<The first thing you think about after you've had a few glasses to drink is "I want to go to noreabang!">

You always wave your left hand to signal you are going to cut in front of another driver without looking first.

You select shoes based on how easily you can get them on and off. <I wish I had done this before coming here.>

You answer "Nhe" even when speaking English to non-Korean friends.

You carry chopsticks in your back pocket. <I carry them in my backpack.>

You don't freak out when the salad arrives with octopus legs still wiggling on top of it.

You are not embarrassed when old ladies are standing in a bus while you are sitting down.

You like OB or Cass better than <Bavaria or Franziskaner>.

It no longer bothers you when an Ajumma bumps you out of the way. <I still rage every time. Especially when they cut in front of me in line FFFF~>

You eat shrimp chips and seaweed with beer.

You know the mystery of the missing 4th floor. <Protip: it has to do with language and superstition.>

You know how to properly pronounce Hyundai. <Protip: when I get back to the Netherlands I will never say it wrong again and none of you will have any idea what I'm talking about.>

A motorbike drives up the sidewalk toward you, and instead of jumping aside, you refuse to move out of the way on principle.

<You wait in front of the red light even when it's the middle of the night and there is no traffic whatsoever, just because 'it feels right'.>

You go to a "Western" restaurant and can't seem to use a knife and fork.

The loudspeakers on the trucks driving in your neighborhood don't wake you up. <Y'ALL WANNA BUY SOME FLOWERS? NO? WHAT ABOUT VEGETABLES?>

You stop being surprised after huffing and puffing up a mountain and running into a young woman in lipstick and heels, or being passed by a 90-year old who isn't breathing nearly as heavily as you are. <Every fucking time.>

A roll of toilet paper at the dinner table no longer phases you. <I'll start doing this at my home. Shit's useful.>

You hate Japan for no apparent reason.

You move back to your home country and go through DVD bang withdrawal.

You start wearing a surgical mask in winter.

You make a midnight munchies run for shrimp chips and pre-packaged kimbap triangles. <God I will miss the kimbap ;_;>

You know which stall in Dongdaemun will give you the best deal on a Prada knock-off.

While standing in a crowded line at a government office, you ask yourself, "What would an ajumma do?" - and then you do it.

You don't mind paying more for coffee than dinner.

<You're not wondering what that pair of scissors is doing on your table in the barbecue restaurant.>

Every time you meet anyone who is older than you you shake their hand with two hands.

Your wife reaches her 40s and you expect her to be permed and wear unmatched clothes and anklets.

You think 10PM is the normal hour for kids any age, be it 8 or 18 to get home from school or tutoring.

<You're unfazed when you see 12 year old kids playing FIFA Online in a PC Bang at 5 AM.>

You start cursing when for some reason any shop is closed before midnight. <Lazy fuckers.>

You think it's odd that the bus driver doesn't play the radio out loud back in your country.

You are talking on the phone or on Skype with someone back home, and keep asking “Are you there???”, because they aren’t saying “mmmm” every five seconds. <YOBOSEYO? YOBOSEYO?>

You know now that “meeting up at 8pm” really means “8.30″. <Korean thirty minutes. Add another thirty when meeting a girl.>

You don't even react when you see an ahjusshi with his hand deep into his fly when he is still fifteen feet from the Men's Room door.

<You don't feel unsafe at all leaving your bag open, your wallet and expensive camera sticking out.>

You associate Itaewon with crime and danger and would never even think of going there alone.

You use so many Korean words in your regular conversation that your friends and family back home have to request a translation guide for your blog. <Sorry guys!>