Becoming Family

For the first time since I've been in Korea I really, truly feel like I am part of a family. My new host family in Chuncheon does an amazing job fully integrating me into their lives. I've never felt so at home and comfortable with a Korean family before. I really feel like a 경 and it's nice to know that I'll always have family in Korea, even after I return to America.

This week my brother, unni and I went with friends to a cookie-making shop in Chuncheon. My brother's friend's mom works at the shop and she invited my family and another family to come and make cookies. It was really fun but much different than I expected. The biggest surprise was that really all we were doing was cutting the dough into shapes. I was expecting to make the dough and make all sorts of cookies. Maybe I was just overly excited though. Since Koreans don't have ovens baking is super rare and is something I've missed. Another surprise came when we tasted the cookies. I don't know what kind of dough was used but the 'cookies' were basically those hard biscuit things you are sometimes served at fancy coffee shops. I later found out that no butter is called for in the recipe- no wonder they were so hard and dry! But the whole experience was really fun. I liked meeting more of my unni's friends and I could tell the moms were are thrilled to have me talk to their children. 

That same night our family went out to dinner with three other families. The parents of all the families went to University with my parents and they have been friends for over 20 years. The dinner was a lot of fun and their friends were so nice. I felt so welcomed. It was pretty funny though because in the beginning they would only talk to me in Korean but then as they drank more alcohol they began to try to speak to me in English. It was fun trying to talk to them in English, but talking in Korean was definitely more efficient. The dinner also reminded me a lot of Breezy. After dinner the four families went to a bar with all the children in tow. The children loved it because they were able to stay up late and play with friends and the parents loved drinking and catching up. It seemed exactly like something that would happen anywhere in Breezy and actually made me a little homesick. Luckily, it's hard to feel homesick when I am surrounded by wonderful people who I know really care about me. 

I'm Now a Korean TV Star!

Yesterday SBS News did a live segment exposing Korea 재키스피닝 , my spin studio. The news show wanted to show what a class is like and interview the instructor plus a few students. Obviously, my spin teachers asked if I would be willing to be interviewed. They are really, really proud that a foreigner comes to their spin class and they know that more Koreans will want to join the studio if they see that foreigners attend. I told my teachers I would participate and they couldn't have been happier. I was reminded about the interview everyday for about a week. The morning of the interview I received the two questions I would be asked in Korean and began rehearsing my answers with my unni. I was really, really nervous about having to answer on Live TV in Korean, especially since one of the questions was rather difficult. Luckily, when I showed up and the TV crew met me they told me it would be best if I spoke in English. They also changed the questions that I would be answering because they thought it was amazing that I had never attended a spin dance class like this in America. The taping for the TV show was really fun. Various members from all five classes attended and we did two of our dances while the anchor walked around and interviewed people. We did a few trial runs before we were filmed Live and I actually thought we were still rehearsing when we were being filmed. I guess I wasn't paying attention when they announced that we were being filmed. I'm still working on procuring a copy of the video and will post it when I do!

My spin class is probably one of my favorite parts of living in Chuncheon this month. It has been an awesome way to bond with my unni and I have met so many nice people through the class. I have met several of my unni's close friends but also have met a few people my own age. I've also loved how much the other class participants support me and check how I'm doing everyday. It's so nice to be able to bond with people even when you don't speak the same language. For example, every class one of the spin instructors will come up to me and grab my hand, smile and speak rapidly in Korean. I only understand what she is saying about 50% of the time but I always understand her gesture of friendship. Today the 9:30 and 10:30 had a 회식, which basically means we all went out for lunch together. Since my unni doesn't have a car we caught a ride with the two instructors who live in the apartment across from us. Lunch was so fun and was another great opportunity for me to bond with my classmates in a more natural setting. I was also really touched when multiple people expressed how upset they were that I would have to move back to Hwacheon in March. Although I'm excited to teach again, I will really miss living in Chuncheon and the friends I have made here.

Lunch with my spin class

새해 복 많이 받으세요!

or HAPPY NEW YEAR! Today is 설날 (Seollal) or Lunar New Year. This, along with Chuseok, is the biggest Korean holiday and is a time all Koreans spend with their extended families. I was lucky enough to be invited to spend the holiday with the Korean family I am living with. The four of us traveled to Seoul to spend the day at my host father's sisters house with all of his brothers and sister and their families. Relatives were also going to be hosting me overnight so my KyuYeon, my host brother, and I decided to make a dessert to bring to the gathering. My host family does not have an oven, like most Korean families, so I had to be creative in my search for a good recipe. Finally my host brother and I decided on walnut and craisin bark. Unfortunately, the recipe was not in metric units so I had to guess the amounts of the different ingredients. Chocolate is also hard to come by in Korea since there's very little baking so I had to just buy unlabeled chocolate chips and hope they were bittersweet like the recipe called for. Luckily, the bark came out perfectly and my brother and I had lots of fun making it.

On Friday, the day we arrived in Seoul, I spent a lot of time getting to know the extended family. They were unbelievably kind and even took me out to get coffee at a really fancy restaurant floating on the Han River. We also played the traditional Korean New Years game called Yunnori. The game is a kind of board game but instead of rolling dice you throw sticks to decide how many spaces to move. The next day I was able to observe and take part in some of the more formal traditions. We woke up at 6AM to start preparing the house for the bowing ritual. The family first prepared a table with lots of food to offer to their dead ancestors. The quantity of each type of food must be an odd number, although I never figured out why. The family then performs sebae, which is the most formal bow, to pay respect to their ancestors and to bring them luck in the coming year. The family then opens the door to the home so that the spirits of their ancestors can come in and eat with them. After the family bows to the ancestors they bow to each other. First everyone bows to the oldest member of the family, who was the grandfather. He then gives sebaedon, or some pocket money, to thank them for their blessing and to bring them good luck. This is then repeated with all of the younger members of the family bowing to those older than them. Since I participated in sebae I don't have any pictures of the bowing ritual.

After the rituals we then ate breakfast, which was the food we placed on the table as an offering. We then all piled into cars and drove to Chuncheon, where the family's grandmother and uncle are buried. When we first arrived in Chuncheon we paid a quick visit to other relatives and performed sebae. We then all drove to the graves and performed sebae in front of the graves. It was really special to partake in the ceremony. I was also taken by how beautiful the grave sites were. The graves were buried in a mountainside and it kind of seemed like you could just bury people anywhere you wanted near there. There were other graves but it was by no means a cemetery. Everything was very open and scenic. It actually reminded me of my time in Copenhagen, when I learned that Danish cemeteries are often designed to double as a public park. After we visited the graves we ate lunch and then said our goodbyes. Most of the family returned to Seoul but my family stayed in Chuncheon because tomorrow we will spend time with the mother's side of the family for her father's birthday.

The mountainside graves

The family performing sebae

Graduation

Yesterday was graduation for the 6th graders at my school in Hwacheon. I went back to Hwacheon in the morning for the ceremony and although I could not follow everything that was happening I was glad I was there. All of the 5th graders also attended the ceremony so it was a great chance to see all the students I taught last semester. The ceremony was really sweet and included a video montage of all my students. It made me realize how much I'll miss having them around. Luckily, I'll be able to work with a few of them again through my FKAK Grant.

Eunchan receiving his diploma. Did I mention kids don't dress up for this. Many students wear wearing sweats.

The ceremony was particularly important because my host brother, Eunchan, was graduating. I really enjoyed being able to watch and celebrate with his family. In true Korean fashion, celebrating consisted mainly of eating. We went out to eat with his grandparents immediately following the ceremony and then went out to eat with just the family for dinner. It was a nice opportunity to bond with my host family since I am not living with them this month.

My brother and sister at dinner.

One of the things I learned when talking to my host brother and sister about graduation is that the kids aren't excited about it at all. In fact, no matter what year they are in school they most likely aren't excited to advance to the next grade. This is because every year you are expected to study even more. My host brother is dreading starting middle school because he already studies every night until 10 or 11 and now he will be expected to study even later than this. My sister is also starting her final year in high school and is absolutely dreading it. My parents actually very seriously considered not letting her come to dinner with us to celebrate Eunchan's graduation because they believe she should be studying. She's not even in school currently- she's on vacation! (Although I guess she is still kind of in school because she still lives and boards at the Academy and takes classes there.) I'm not sure I'll ever feel 100% comfortable with the Korean Education System, it just seems too tough on kids.

Bonding through Exercise

This past Saturday I moved in with a new host family in Chuncheon. I will be living them for the month of February and will be helping their son learn some English, while enjoying life in a slightly bigger city. The family has been absolutely wonderful so far and I've really loved getting to know them. One of the ways that we have been bonding is through exercise. Although, the parents speak English fairly well it is still always easier to establish strong relationships by doing things together. Since they are an active family I was able to simply join right in!

On Sunday, after a massive lunch with the father's family, the four of us headed to the gym together. The mom and I hit the pool while the son and father went to the actual gym. Unlike at pools in America where showering beforehand is a rule that no one follows, here in Korea you must shower beforehand. And you must do so completely nude in a communal shower. Therefore, I had to shower naked with my unni after having known her for less than 24 hours. I, of course, felt a little awkward but Koreans tend to be much more comfortable with nudity and she thought nothing of it. I guess it can only make us closer.

Today, my unni invited me to go to spin class with her. I have always enjoyed spin classes in America so I decided to check it out. I figured it would be interesting to see how it compared to spin in America because Koreans tend to exercise very differently than Americans. My unni goes every morning at 9:30 so at 9:10 she called me over and told me I could watch a video of the class before we left to decide if I really wanted to go. This is what she showed me. I obviously was even more eager to go.

When I arrived at the spin class I was welcomed warmly, albeit with lots of giggling, whispering and pointing. Despite the number of foreigners living in Korea, Koreans still always seem surprised to see foreigners doing normal, everyday things like them. The class was so much fun! Today, we learned a new dance so it was a little bit slow at times as we practiced the choreography but fun nonetheless. At the end of the class I decided to sign up for a ten-day pass and will go every morning with my unni. She was extremely pleased that I liked the class as were the instructors.

The class was very different than spin classes in America though. Like I initially expected, the class was less physically demanding than the spin classes I took during college. We took more breaks and surprisingly you couldn't add resistance to the bike. This meant the entire time you're peddling and dancing your legs are almost in free spin. It actually scared me quite a bit when you had to let go of the handlebars because it was hard to balance with no resistance pushing against your legs. Also, this spin class involved way more cutesy peace signs in typical Korean fashion. Humorously, the song we danced to was all about couples falling in love. I was not surprised at all given that you are almost a social pariah if you are over 18 and don't have a boyfriend. Korea is a couple-oriented country in every sense of the world. There are many couple holidays and many businesses cater to couples. For example, movie theaters have special couple seats. LotteWorld, an amusement park, has special couple discounts and free gifts. Even more shockingly, the bike rental place near my house only rents bikes that are built for two people! It's really interesting to see since many Americans take pride in being single and independent.

Anyways, I'm glad I have had such great opportunities to get close to my new family and I'm looking forward to cycling with my unni every morning. Hopefully next time we can both star in the 재키스피닝 (Jackie Spinning) promotional video!

Embracing the Freedom of Winter Break

Now that I have finished my winter camp I suddenly have a lot of free time. I will not teach again until March and don't really have any responsibilities or commitments until I move in with my new host family for the month of February. This situation could be very boring but luckily other ETAs are in the exact same situation. This means that I have great opportunities to travel and see other parts of Korea while reconnecting with my Fulbright friends.

Earlier this week I visited my friend Amber is Daejeon, which is one of Korea's biggest cities. Daejeon is known for being the transportation hub of South Korea because so many trains, buses and KTX lines go through the city. It is also famous for being a huge tech city and is home to KAIST, the top science university in Korea. KAIST is actually where my host brother wants to go and is one of the reasons he works so hard in English- all of the classes at KAIST are taught in English. Coming from little ol' Hwacheon I was amazed by the size of Daejeon. It took an hour on city bus to get from the bus terminal to Amber's homestay, where I would be staying. In Hwacheon, you can walk the perimeter of the town in about 25 minutes. 

When I arrived at Amber's I immediately fell in love with her host family. They were so welcoming and friendly. Her younger brother, who is in 2nd grade, was absolutely adorable too and playing with him made me excited to play with my new 3rd grade home stay brother in Chuncheon. We hung out with Amber's family all night and ate lots of food while playing card games, Rummikub, doing puzzles and even dressing up in Hanbok. Hanbok is traditional Korean clothes. 

HyeonTae (Amber's brother) and me (in Hanbok!)

The next day Amber and I went downtown for a terrific lunch and some shopping. The shopping area was surprisingly similar to Chuncheon, my closest city, despite the drastic size difference between the two cities. It was really nice to have a relaxing day just catching up with Amber. We then returned to her house for another feast that her mom prepared for me. Her family was unbelievably gracious during my entire stay.

Our delicious lunch!

Later that night Amber and I met up with another ETA, Nina, and Amber's Korean friends. Her Korean friends then took us to the Daejeon World Cup Stadium bowling alley. Bowling was a lot of fun but I was not very good at it. I was the typical bad, unpredictable player who will get three gutter balls then whip out a strike out of nowhere. Needless to say I was on the losing team both games. It was a great chance to get to know some Koreans though and I really enjoyed making new friends while reconnecting with old ones. 

The losing team

I also was able to catch up with my co-teacher and her two daughters, who I hadn't seen since December. Normally, I see her daughter SoHui everyday at school but it had been a while because of break. The four of us went to a great dinner buffet in Chuncheon and I had a blast playing with the girls. I bought them English books in Daejeon, so we also read while we ate, which was fun. Her daughters are so smart and are getting very good at English, even though they are both too young to study it in school. I am excited to have the opportunity to spend more time with the girls during February when I live in Chuncheon. Now, I just have to finish packing for my big move on Saturday.

Sancheono Ice Festival

For the entire month of January my small, rural town of 8,000 people transforms into a massive tourist attraction bringing in visitors from all over Asia and the world. Hwacheon is home to the Sancheono Ice Festival, which is a month long ice fishing festival. The festival includes way more than just ice fishing though. There is zip-lining, snow-mobiling, pony rides, ice- skating, life- size ice castles, massive ice sculpture displays, concerts, and more. The festival is the country's largest and most popular winter festival and attracts over 1,000,000 tourists a year. I was actually pretty shocked to find all new shops and restaurants in Hwacheon when I returned from my traveling but I then found out they are only open during the festival to accommodate the large number of people. The Sancheono Festival was even named one of CNN's 7 Wonders of Winter- something my host family never lets me forget. 

This weekend was the final weekend of the festival and my host family was eager to show me and my friend Amber, who was visiting, around. My host father works for the Hwacheon County Office and is a pretty big deal in town so attending the festival with him on Friday was like being with a celebrity. We were able to do anything instantly and for free! We started the afternoon with some ice fishing in the 'Foreigners Only' area. Apparently in this area it is less crowded and easier to catch fish because the Koreans want the foreign tourists to enjoy themselves. Despite the site's reputation for being an easy place to catch the fish I had no luck. I flicked my wrist over and over again but nothing bit. My host brother, father and Amber all caught two fish each, though so maybe I was just bad at it. 

After you catch fish at the festival there are several places you can go to eat the fish. You can go to a sushi area where they will fillet your fish and give you sauces with it or you can bake your fish in the oven. One oven bakes over a hundred fish at a time. My family decided to bake our fish and it was really tasty.

We then checked out some of the indoor events because it was a frigid 10 degrees outside. This included the first 3D art gallery in the world, which was your typical gimmicky Korean attraction, a 4D roller-coaster ride and trying on winter clothes from famous winter cities around the world. We also went to the Light Illumination Plaza, which was by far the best attraction. It is a huge tunnel built into a mountainside that houses extensive ice sculptures, including an ice slide you can play on. It was really neat and very beautiful. 

The next day my host mom took Amber and I to a nearby mountain to watch ice-climbers in the morning. We then returned home to warm up and prepare for the biggest event of the weekend- bare- handed fishing! Basically, you sign up and are given a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to change into. You then march outside with the other participants and stand around a 2 degrees Celsius pool of water with mountain trout swimming in it. The MC then warms up the crowd and gets certain participants to splash and swim in the pool a little before the main event. Then, all at once all of the participants jump in the water and reach around until they grab a fish. Once you grab a fish you must stick it down your shirt to store it. You can catch up to three fish total. Amber and I were resigned to participate but were really nervous about how it would turn out.

When we were standing on the blocks of ice for a few minutes as they talked I began to doubt my ability to get in the water, let alone catch a fish. My feet were already frozen and my entire body was shaking. I then just stared in disbelief as some of the other participants volunteered to get into the pool early and splash around and even dunk themselves under water. Amber was just sitting next to me cursing and trying to grab onto my arm and the arm of the stranger next to her. 

Amber and I are freezing in the center as people volunteer to get in.

Then all of a sudden we had to get in. I'm not really sure what empowered me to get in the water but once I was in there my competitive side definitely came out. I immediately started plunging my hands in the water and to my surprise was one of the first people to catch a fish. I was in disbelief and kept holding it up to show my friends who were watching and in the midst of my celebrations it wriggled free. Amber was then pulling on my arm because she didn't want to catch one and wanted me to get out with her but I was determined to catch another and chased her away. I was able to touch a few more but wasn't able to grab another one before the men started helping the participants because we had to get out of the water. I was then given a fish and after quickly debating whether or not to take it I took it and stuck it down my shirt. I then raced out of the pool but quickly found that I could not feel my feet let alone move them. I had to try three times to put my feet in the slippers they provided us with for the walk to the hot tub to warm up. It was insane. After sitting in the hot tub for a few moments I felt much better and was so glad I participated and caught a fish. It was a wonderful, once-in-a lifetime event!

I'm in the back right corner with the fish I caught.

Stuffing the fish down my shirt.

Amber and I after the hot tub.