Wow what a weekend

Well this weekend was a pretty good one for me, and in my usual fashion here lately, I'm blogging on Sunday about the past days. 

So this weekend was promising to be neat at worst. I had plans to go and spend the weekend with a friend of mine in Ulsan. Ulsan is a smallish city in Korea, with a main Hyundai car manufacturing facility as well as an SK refinery and several several other heavy industrial businesses. In other words, there are plenty of stuffs going on there in Ulsan (factory wise, anyways).

So on Friday we headed out to the house. I was INCREDIBLY nervous about meeting the parents because of the whole politeness thing and my Korean ability, and if we could communicate, and if they would even like me, and about ten other reason why their dad would just throw me out of the window of their really nice 21st floor house (and believe me, if I had scrubs-esque fantasy powers with this blog, you would have got a hilarious version of that thought). Seriously, I wasn't even nervous, I was downright scared. 

We arrived at the house, and I met my friend's siblings, but the parents were nowhere to be found. Turns out they were down in a restaurant having chicken and beer (I love Korea). They were soon in coming, though. 

I definitely met them, but I was so nervous my Korean was terrible and I could barely say anything really. My friend's mom was really a nice woman, and her father largely silent (which was awesome, since his voice was deep and I couldn't understand a lot anyways). 

We all got past the whole awkwardness of meeting, and then they asked what we were going to do. When we said we kind of wanted to go out for food and drink, they first asked if we wanted watermelon (I love Korea). We declined, and then they asked if they wanted some chicken and beer and watermelon (I really really love Korea). There isn't many things in the world which really make everything better, but I've gotta say those three things combined could drive away any unhappiness ever. Not saying I'm some kind of alcoholic or anything, but only every once in a while I let myself experience the treat of some beverages. 

So we went out and had a good time (with some old Korean people asking me to babysit/teach english to a group of possibly 25 little kids. Unfortunately (ha!) I didn't get to do that. We came back and I went to sleep. I had a bed and the dad and mom had a bed, but all 3 kids stayed in the living room on the floor. I felt really bad, but they wouldn't have anything but me having the really nice bed. Before bed, all the family got together and really enjoyed each other's time. 

Which brings me to my next couple of points: money and Korean.

Firstly, Money. During this trip, no matter how I protested, they wouldn't let me pay for anything. It was pretty different I must say. Coming from my southern upbringing, I couldn't imagine being the man and having an older lady pay for me. It happened, though, and several times over. We had nice meals, went places, enjoyed Ulsan, all on their tab. I felt really burdensome. It really goes to show what hospitality means in Korea, though. As a guest in their house I was definitely given super preferential treatment. It felt kind of uncomfortable sometimes, but it's part of the culture that the guests are treated. I know that if my friend or her family ever comes to Murray I will definitely treat them to everything I can. 

Secondly, Korean. WTF. Here I was thinking that I was really progressing in my studies and really doing good at the whole learning a second language thing. False. 

Before I got here to Korea, I studied Korean independently. I used the Rosetta stone, and it was great. I felt like I was doing so good. I was listening to native speakers and everything and answering questions. Then I came to Korea. I couldn't understand anyone. It dragged me down for the better part of 2 months to know that for all intents and purposes, I had social ability of a 3 year old (mind you, I'm a little taller and slightly more coordinated). Things got better though, and since the Murray kids came to campus, it was like a door was opened for me in Korean and I just kind of started using it and being able to understand it, and impressing people. With the knowledge of my soon departure I felt pretty frustrated that I had to leave just as I was getting a grasp of the language. Grasp might've been too strong of a word, though.

I sat there in the house this weekend trying to make sense of the communication I was hearing. Explaining just how different Korean can be between people is hard to do. In english, we have some polite words and semantics with which we can flatter someone and show them respect, but is really simple in comparison to Korean. In this language, you have several different verb conjugations, different nouns, different verbs, and even different voice stressing if addressing someone in a polite way. Not only that, but there are varying levels of politeness. In my class, I'm learning a pretty moderate level politeness system. In the house this weekend, since my friend and her family are very close (obviously I know) they don't have to use the polite style of speech. 

That being said, the Korean I heard in the house was COMPLETELY different than what I hear in class. I was dumbfounded, and kind of sad that I couldn't understand even the most basic of sentence. All weekend I did my best to understand what was going on, but when I listened to a sentence and was then asked to tell what the person said, I consistently got the meaning of the speech wrong. Every time. It's really humbling to have all of your suppositions about yourself crushed in a day. While the actual experience of being a speechless child in the house really wasn't that fun, it really made me realize something. I'm not going to be fluent in 6 months, much less 4. I can't convince myself I am getting the language if I couldn't understand anything this weekend. Why should I be upset to leave now when I have so much farther to go. If I had 9 more months and hung out with Korean people the majority of my time, I feel like I could definitely become fluent. However, I don't have the time. Because of that realization, I feel like I've come to peace much more with leaving than I was before. 

Well, on Saturday we had a lot of stuff planned. First, we went to the sports complex for some exercise. It was fun, especially since Korean exercise equipment is pretty interesting. Anyways, after the exercise we had breakfast. It was a full meal with plenty of Kimchi and related type foods. It was really god, even if it wasn't what I was used to. There were a lot of sour foods and there wasn't anything which I could say I had for breakfast before (just kidding, we had rice). After the breakfast, we headed out to a park by the sea. The park was GORGEOUS. I had never seen the ocean like that, and I will never forget it. There were giant rocks with waves crashing over them, and along with that, people were perched precariously on rocks, trying to catch the night's dinner or the day's wages. 

After the park we visited a duck restaurant for my friend's cousin's birthday. She was only like 13 and it was funny to see her and her brother interact with the older kids in my friend's family. That night we took the birthday girl out to eat some japanese food and take a ride in the tallest ferris wheel in Korea. It seemed like she had a really good time. 

Also, we played some arcade type sports games that night. We hit in a batting cage and shot some hoops. It felt so good to hit a baseball again. I know how to hit a baseball. I don't have to worry about picking up that skill, or wondering what to do in a certain situation. It's definitely nice to just get to enjoy an activity I'm actually really good at. 

We came back home and went to sleep, again with me in the bed and no other kid had one. 

Sunday same and we had breakfast again. It was the same thing, and all the sour tastes definitely grow on you after the first time. It made me feel healthy to be eating it for breakfast, and I definitely wasn't bogged down afterwards. Breakfast was finished, and then it was off to take me to the bus terminal. I met one of the student assistants from last year's Discover Korea program for about half an hour before my bus left and then came back to campus. It was a really nice, full weekend. 

For now, 

Aron Huckaba International Vagabond

myungkyung trip!

this one is a little short.

It's been a while... again.

Well, I haven't blogged in a long time, and that's ok this time, because nothing has happened to warrant an entry. Basically, all I have been doing is studying and working in the lab here at school. I have made some progress with that, but nothing special really. 

It's really hard for me to find motivation to blog now that I know I'm leaving in like 2 weeks. I will do my best to start the blog up again when I get back this weekend. I am going to stay with a family for the weekend in a small town about an hour away. Wish me luck!

I posted today!

I actually posted again! 

Today I basically wasted time until about 1 o clock when I went to the main gate I was supposed to meet a bunch of my Korean/foreigner friends and go to a movie after being interviewed by KBS, the main Korean broadcasting station. 

However, to my chagrin, there wasn't going to be a movie, and I couldn't bring my Korean friend. I was so embarrassed because I asked him to go with me. I didn't know he couldn't go. He told me it was ok, but I was still really embarrassed. 

So about the whole KBS thing. We were never told where we were going or anything, but luckily it was really fun. We made kimchi (for reals), which was delicious, and we had lunch and spent time with nice Korean old people. I gotta say, actually understanding stuff and being able to communicate in korean is so much fun. 

This might be the dangerous part about study abroad. I kind of think as the whole experience of learning a new language as a mountain. At the bottom is the student who is newly arrived in the mysterious country which he/she is studying in. As the student progresses in his journey up the mountain (which can sometime be very steep), he/she is met with little townships along the way. Each township gives the student a sense of accomplishment and makes the surrounding time kind of nice. The harder a student studies and converses in the new language, the faster their progression up the mountain. Furthermore, as you go up this gargantuan mountainside, the townships get bigger and bigger, until eventually they turn into villages, and then to cities, metropoli and so on. At the very top is a shining eutopia, in which the student has successfully conquered the previously unassailable mountain. 

Right now, I'm sitting in a pretty big village. I honestly feel like I could stay here and just study until I reach that eutopic summit. I have real friends here. As funny as it sounds to say, I am definitely going to miss this place, and I don't think I want to go back home. Here, people are pretty much always happy to see me. I can go places, and people want to talk to me. People I don't know say hi to me randomly. I can actually communicate how I feel. I can make complex grammatical sentences. It really kind of makes me sad that right as I'm reaching the place I wanted to be in the first place, I have to leave. 

Also, and here's the crazier thing: I'm pretty sure if something did happen with N. Korea and the country was thrown into war, I (while being worried and hopeful that the South would win) would be happier than going back home right now. While that may sound radical, I'm pretty sure noone will actually read this entry anyways. I'm pretty much surprised anytime I hear from anyone back home, so that probably contributes to my feelings about going back.

Besides the trip, I just hung out with my friends and came back home. here's hoping I blog tomorrow.

For Now

Aron Huckaba International Vagabond

I just need to get motivated

I can't believe I didn't blog AGAIN for the last two days. When I got home from ping pong stuff I just basically had no motivation because I was so tired. 

That's what my Friday was, basically. I went to class, and then went to Ping pong that night. between the two I cleaned my room and got a bunch of stuff packed up. I am packing just because I want to have my stuff on the way home. 

Also, I know that there is pretty much no real danger of this, but I'm also getting everything ready in case something should come of the N. Korea threats. Historically, those threats are made quite often. South Koreans aren't even really worried about it, so I know I shouldn't be. I would definitely rather be safe than sorry. 

Saturday

on Saturday I literally spent all day on the other side of Daegu, at a school called Keimyung University. The university is statistically better than daegu university, but not by much. Not like I could attest to how good the school is, because I spent 12 hours in the gym. 

So yesterday I was really excited because I had been working on playing a different style, which was really frustrating for everyone playing me because while it doesn't take much effort for me to perform the movements, it takes an incredible amount of energy for my opponent. Unfortunately, like something out of a movie, I won my first game and was very happy going into my second when I notice that my racquet feels funny when I use it. Inspecting it further, I notice the rubber is actually pretty messed up. I try to use it further, but it ends up costing me, and my team, a game. I had a backup racquet, but being as I hadn't played with that one for a long long time, I was pretty useless. Even though I won a game and almost won another, yesterday was the most frustrated I've ever been with table tennis. I know nothing comes easy, but with the time I've put into table tennis there shouldn't be a reason why I get dominated by someone that hard. 

Anyways, when all of my team had lost we went home and I went to sleep.

I am going to blog tomorrow. I will. 

For Now

Aron Huckaba International Vagabond

P.S. this week I should have more videos up

Ugh....

Ok ok ok ok I know it's definitely been a week and two days since I last blogged. This entry might be the toughest one to write of them all. It's going to be tough because it's going to be a long post, but because I have to acknowledge now that for the duration of the trip, it's going to be me and myself. I mean, I have korean friends too, and a few that speak pretty good english, but this is going to be the test for me, I think. 

So yeah, instead of trying to play catch up forever, I'm just going to start anew with all this blogging business. I just have to accept that in twenty years (if this is still up I guess) I will just have lost that week. It's ok though, because basically I was just helping the Murray peeps around.  

Today I had my second Korean language class. It went ok. The grammar is definitely harder, though. It's going to take some serious work to make this grade turn out like my last grade. 

Well, I don't want to stretch a good thing (I actually posted) and I'm tired so I had better leave a little early. 

Also, I apologize for the whole no post/small post thing. I will be ok now that this one is out of the way (I hope).

For Now

Aron Huckaba International Vagabond

It's that time again.... gotta catch up on the blogging

It should really be easy to just post every day, but unfortunately it hasn't worked out that way. I always get sidetracked or get downright lay when it comes to posting, and it's not really excusable. After all, if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't have class all this week I wouldn't even be posting now, considering that on mornings I have class I'm usually already gone. 

Thursday

Anyways, I believe that my last post was on Wednesday, so I guess I will pick up on Thursday. On Thursday, I was busy studying for my final on Friday, so I didn't really do much of anything except for prepare myself for the test as well as table tennis. The good news is that on Thursday I found out about another championship I can participate in with my club at a university here in Korea. The guys invited me to play with them and so now I'm in training again ha ha.

Friday

Friday started off good, with me waking up early and doing some last minute preparatory studies for the final. I was definitely surprised by the test's difficulty when I got in and looked at it. I expected the listening part to be difficult, so that's not really a big deal, but the writing part was much harder than the teacher told us it would be. She said there wouldn't be a need for extensive and obscure vocab knowledge, but indeed there was. I missed a few short answer questions merely because they were the only words I didn't know. Them's the brakes I guess. I'm honestly not worried about it, though, because I feel confident I knew the majority of the questions. 

After the test, we went out to Mie's for some comfort food, and then to Daegu with the Murray group. It was the first time they would meet their student aides, so I was hopeful they would enjoy the time with them, just like my group enjoyed our time. Seeing these student aides in action definitely made me miss the friends I made last summer. Just as the aides are really nice this year, our aides were great last year too. I was assigned to an aide that wasn't really familiar with Daegu, since he was from a city near Pusan. The group was Jennifer, Vicki, me, and the student aide. We saw a lot of downtown, and it was a great time, but I definitely felt like I wasn't doing a great job of helping show them around. There is just so much to see downtown, I wanted to invent a time machine so that I could have the luxury of stopping time and they could see all the really neat things I have seen. Maybe I'm supposed to feel like that, but it's definitely not a fun feeling. 

Anyways, the Daegu trip went pretty well, I think. It didn't rain, and everyone got home safe. 

Saturday

On Saturday, we were scheduled to go to Spa Valley, which is an amusement park in Daegu that offers a full indoor spa facility as well as an outdoor water park. It was going to be a great trip, especially since all the days leading up to Saturday were almost unseasonably hot. Just like in the movies, though, I woke up for a morning run on Saturday only to find out that the weather turned from nice and warm to not warm at all (almost cold in fact), as well as an unpleasant dreary gray color. Since it had also rained the night before, I couldn't go on my run. I went back to sleep, hoping that the weather would make a turn for the better. 

It didn't. We went to spa valley, and it was definitely very cool now. When we arrived, the Murray people really wanted to participate in the Dr. Fish experience, like I had in Seoul. Spa valley's Dr. Fish was considerably different than the one I took part in, though. In Spa Valley, the Dr. Fish area was pretty much just a wading pool full of the tiny little carnivorous fish. If you were still long enough, they would swim right up to you and begin feasting on all the nasty dead skin you had to offer. 

I was kind of hoping that this time it wouldn't tickle so much, because last time I laughed for twenty minutes straight. My hopes were quelled, quickly, however, because the fish were definitely just as ticklish as before. There was a new twist in my experience this time, though, in that my last trip to the public bath had left a smallish sore on my foot about the size of a pin head. It wasn't a big deal and was healing up as it should have been. However, I completely forgot about what it is the fish did, exactly (that is, I forgot the fish loved the taste of flesh). So, as I was getting my fish therapy, I started noticing that some of the bites were tickling so much as just aggravating me via slight pain. when I looked down, I found that the fish had smartened up and had nibbled my little sore to double its size or so. I couldn't blame them, really. Given the option of prime rib or sirloin, I would definitely pick the sirloin, so for those cute little fishies, given the option of plain-jane dead skin or real bloody flesh, it's understandable they wanted the real thing. I was wise to their plan, though, and then avoided the fishy prescription for the rest of the allotted time. After all, it was just as much fun to watch the others get nibbled on.

We finished our foot treatment, and all headed out to our own destination within Spa Valley. The place offered a public bath, several steam rooms, a couple of indoor pool rooms, outside hot tubs, and a large water park. The water park was cancelled out by everyone very early, because of the rain and the cold, so everyone wanted to try the spa type activities. Unfortunately for the Murray group, much of the spa activities were in the public bath, which meant that everyone had to be naked. I definitely can't blame anyone for not wanting to get naked in front of tens of strangers. As Americans, we're programmed to be afraid and ashamed of our bodies, especially in the eyes of those we share a common gender with. 

I was proud of the group, though, especially since quite a lot of them participated in some of the "naked" activities offered. I think 4 girls got massages, and a couple of guys went into the public bath area. That was way better than what I thought it would be like. It's such a leap of faith for an American to do something like that. 

As for me, I was familiar with the public bath "scene", if you will, and the novelty had definitely worn off. Instead of being ashamed and really nervous, now I mainly assessed the public baths on what they had to offer. Unfortunately, the one at Spa Valley didn't really impress me, so I didn't stay there long (mainly long enough to try the milk bath), except to get my shower.   

The rest of the time at Spa Valley for me was spent enjoying the water park with one of the workers in the international office, Anna. Usually, Anna has been nice to me, but I had a feeling that she didn't really enjoy my company. I know it's a silly feeling to have, but clues come from the comments a person makes, and their body language towards you, their demeanor, and so forth. 

I was definitely proven wrong in that regard, though, as she was actually really friendly towards me, and it seemed like all the non-verbal cues were completely changed for the opposite. I was wondering if maybe she had been a victim of the body snatchers, actually, because the change was so dramatic. All of that doesn't really matter, in the scheme of things, because I only care that I made another good friend here. We spent the rest of the day trying to take advantage of the water park's slides as they opened. Since the weather was rainy, the waterpark only kept enough employees to run one slide at a time, on an alternating schedule. So, I devoted the rest of the time to slide hopping, so that I could get a really fun time out of it. I did pretty much everything to do in the park, even though it was almost downright cold.

The park had an outdoor hot tub, so I used that to warm myself up again after splashing into the cold catch-pools of the slides. There were twisty slides and straight slides, long (and tall) slides, and short slides. We didn't make it to one, but with that as the only exception, I did them all (even the incredibly giant one that every water park has).

Along with the slide, I also did some other things, like rope walking, gymnastics on said rope over a wave pool, and even some high diving. It was all in great fun, except that on the high dive I definitely did something to my ear, whether it be busting my ear drum, or some variation of swimmer's ear. Anyways, it pretty much incapacitated me for a while. We were about to eave, and my ear was bothering me, so I decide dI would have a beer, to try and take my mind off the pain. Other pain goes away with a little alcohol, why should ear pain be any different?

Unfortunately, that hypothesis was definitely proved wrong. Amazingly, within just a few seconds, the pain I experienced was amplified greatly. I didn't understand it, and tried to just get through it. We went to Outback, and I got my food order in (Baby back ribs...it was heaven) but the pain just kept increasing. I broke down finally, and Anna helped me find a pharmacy. When we explained what happened, and how much pain I was in, the pharmacist just smiled and asked if I had any alcohol. Turns out, that if someone is suffering from an ear problem, alcohol is pretty much the worst thing they can do for themselves. It's one of the only pains which is actually increased with alcohol consumption. 

So I managed to eat and make it through dinner, and just as quickly as the alcohol had increased the pain, the naproxen (aleve) that the pharmacist prescribed, took it away. Not only that, but the ear medicine was definitely working (let it be known that only two days later, I am completely pain free, and can hear again. 

There's definitely something good to be said about the way in which Koreans handle medicine and prescriptions. many medicines (most, actually) are available over the counter, and the pharmacists usually know a good doctor to refer to if one is needed. The pharmacist is very skilled in knowing exactly what the patient needs, and it helps to cut down on the waiting time for treatment if the patient can get the medicine straight from the pharmacist. I, for one, was very happy with the care given to me, and the lady knew exactly what she was doing. While it may not be the best system, I believe there are certainly good things to be taken from the Korean way of dealing with medicine and patient care, in general. Maybe one day the U.S. will start taking notes (hopefully from everywhere, not just Korea).

Sunday

Sunday's activities involved going to Gyungju, a very famous and historical city about an hour and a half away from the University. The reason for going to Gyungu was to see the neat historical things it had to offer, like burial mounds of old Silla kings, buddhist museums, and other historical goodness. 

In its heyday, Gyungju was the seat of the most powerful city in Korea. With almost 1 million inhabitants, it can be compared to the size and the influence of Rome. It should be noted that even though the city was huge, and the kingdom...not-so-much, Korea has always had to deal with its powerful neighbors, China and Japan. Those foreign factors definitely kept the Silla kingdom from being recognized as one of the richest and most powerful civilizations to exist. 

Anyways, we definitely saw some incredibly interesting place there in Gyungju. We go to explore the inside of a burial mound, as well as go to a traditional Korean restaurant and enjoy the "Full meal" as it's called. We toured some famous palace grounds, as well as one of the most famous buddhist temples in all of Korea. The place was absolutely beautiful, and there were some neat famous stories to go with them, including, but not limited to: a giant bell which only rings because of the blood of an innocent baby, as well as a Romeo and Juliet-esque story behind the construction of a pagoda. It seemed like the Murray people had a lot of time seeing all the stuff there was to see, there. I know I enjoyed it (I had never been there before). 

Monday

Monday went by pretty quickly. I got to sleep in, and I even did some table tennis training. the guys in the building that I trained in were pretty helpful, and I got good practice in at the same time they were improving due to our playing time together. It's so much fun to play with the Korean people, here, because it's such an easy way to build friendships and talk with them on a 1 on 1 basis. 

I went to culture class, and had a good time learning about Korean pop culture. We learned about some famous songs, movies, an other unique cultural contributions to the world that Korea has made. After class, it was time to teach my Korean students about America. When I arrived, I was informed that it would be our last class together, and that were sad we couldn't meet again. Even though it was sad that we couldn't meet again, at least in a class setting, I at least had a good idea for a fun game. The Murray people were upstairs enjoying the bounty of a successful cooking class, and I knew my students needed to see just what kind of English they could expect to hear when they came to America. They get some of that from me, too, obviously, but the more speakers they can hear, I feel like the better equipped they will be. So, I set up a little verbal scavenger hunt for them to take part in. Their task was to as assigned questions to the Murray people and find out who fit the assigned little statements I had given them to look for. 

The scavenger hunt portion ranged from "Who is a professional cook?" to "Who just had a baby?". Along with the scavenger hunt portion of the game, there were also some "freebies" I gave them, which were questions they could ask anyone. The questions were like "I'm planning on studying in the U.S., what is the most important thing I should know?", and "What is your favorite thing about the U.S.?". 

All in all, it was a great activity for them, I think. They mingled in with the Murray people, and all three of them get the majority of the questions answered. Another good side effect of the activity was that Murray really got to see a better example of "average" Korean english skills. The students I have on Monday have good english, but definitely not the caliber of english spoken by the student aides. 

What makes that special is that they haven't learned yet what translates well, and what native speakers are more likely to understand. Therefore, the english they speak is many times just directly translated from what they would say in Korean. It really gives a look into the act of "in head" translation, as well as how Koreans would react to situations (observing this one isn't as hard, but in order to know what they're saying and thinking, having the direct translation definitely helps). The Murray people seemed to like it, and that's really all I could ask for. 

After the little activity, I said goodbye to the group and headed off to Hayang with the Murray gang. Hayang is a little town outside of the university which can basically be compared with the town of Murray itself. It might actually be a little bigger, but it's basically the same thing. There's not much there, in terms of just fun things to do, but there is shopping, and supermarkets, and houses and whatnot. In Hayang, I went with Helen, Rachel, and Caroline, and we kind of aimlessly walked around, searching for nothing in particular. We did happen to find a couple of Koreans who were really enthusiastic to talk to us, and even wanted to follow us so that they could continue asking questions. We managed to break away from them, though, as they were talking our ears off, and headed back home. It was a good day, and hopefully tomorrow will be the same.

Also, let's hope I can blog tomorrow, so that I don't have to spend two hours in front of my computer catching up.

For Now

Aron Huckaba International Vagabond