Torie and I are slackers

Torie and I are slackers. As this blog continues we will be switching back and forth in who is writing, but since we are using my computer we decided that I should be the one to begin. We both have blogs that are supposed to be keeping everyone updated on our absolutely surreal lives in Korea, but for about the past month we have been getting D’s in the “documentation of my trip to Korea” subject. There are so many things to write about, and since we sadly but surely spend most of our time together we decided that this blog should be written together and posted on both websites.

Maybe I should start by describing how and why Torie and I are spending so much of our trip together. When we first came to Korea, and especially to Sejong High School, everyone thought that it would be best to pair us together, because then we would have each other to lean on and talk to when we didn’t understand Korean and when we were homesick. So, Torie and I began our life at Sejong High School in two desks next to each other and next to our host sisters at the very front of our homeroom classroom. When we chose our schedules we chose them together. This was easier for the school to just make one schedule and it was nice for Torie and me to begin our school year together. Then we joined Tae Kwon Do at the same gym. It was will elementary children, so if only one of us had been in Tae Kwon Do we would have no one to duel against. Later we found an English speaking church which helped bring me back into Christianity and served as a place for Torie to stay strong in her Christianity not because of the English speaking, but because of the fellowship we found in its members.

Since we were involved in all of the same activities and we are both exchange students from Minnesota many people began viewing us as one person instead of the two individuals with very different strengths, weaknesses, and personalities. Since we are already being looked at in this view it is very difficult to come out and show how incredibly different we truly are. We realize that we were sent to Korea together for a reason. We have spent this past three months getting to know each other inside and out because that’s what we were supposed to be doing. But, now it is time for us to separate. We have been working to make our own separate friends and find outside activities such as possibly yoga at separate gyms. (we both quit Tae Kwon Do in October for complicated reasons) In school we have always been sat in the front of the classroom where we can’t even see the rest of the students in our class, much less get to know them. In the past two weeks we have just begun making bonds with our classmates and one day I was even invited to go out for hot chocolate with two girls in my grade as an individual. Teachers always invite Torie and me to go places with them, but it is always as a pair. We are always looked at as “the foreign exchange students” and not “Torie” and “Kim”. This is only just beginning to change.

Something that scares both of us though is that we are changing host families in December. We haven’t met our families yet. I think we even have classes with at least one of our sisters, be we don’t know who they are. We are scared that the changes that are taking place in becoming individuals might relapse and we will be seen as one person again. Something that excites us though is that we might have separate homerooms. Then we will truly be able to be ourselves and interact with the other students in our class. It has been very difficult for us to get to know people so far no matter how much Korean we try to speak because people always assume that we just want to spend time together and the other is always there if we want to fall back on English.

So, that being said, (hey, this is Torie, by the by)  we should review what has happened to the both of us in the last month, as a tribute to the past, as we head into the future.  
October was a great month.  The weather here was warmer than MN.   The leaves started to change, but at first they were a bit dull.  As time went on they have gotten brighter especially in the mountains, where the trails for walking will shower you with leaves.  

• tangent:  they have these plastic brooms that have green plastic straw things as the straw things.  They are multi purpose as they can be used for dirt, leaves, snow.  The funny thing is, that every city worker, apartment guard, and janitor has the exact same ones.  

October was  (insert emails here, and edit them so that they flow with everything we have done in nice order)

Today is 11/ 21 and I am sitting here in Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf with EJ and Angela and Kim and Torie.  (do you know who is writing this?  Probably the person who would insert her own name into that group…. And spell insert wrong)  We just went to Flight …Plans… or Ajenda…. Or Process…. Procedure…. >  I have just been informed I am right.  “Flight Plan” with Jodie Foster.  * I have just been requested to write Flight Plan in Korean. (플라이트 플랜 )  okay…. I didn’t do it.  I couldn’t figure it out without the letters on the keyboard…(Kim’s compie).  

Hi~ I’m Angela.. Kim and Torie are making me type something….. oh well~ I met Kim and Torrie at STEM so called Sarang Teen’s English Ministry. My favorite color is blue  and my birthday is October 18th and I love presents I will be always… I mean ALWAYS be willing to receive presents…. I’m loosing my English so I’m not sure if I’m writing all of this correctly…. ;;; I’m handing this to EJ

Hi, whoever gets to read this, Hi again! ( My name’s EJ, short for EUN JUNG, and I lived in Denmark for five and half years. That’s where I got to learn English properly.
To be continued…    

The following is  part excerpts of emails that I sent,(as they are the only documentation, beside photos), and part me filling in the blanks.

Monday, Oct 8th,   was a small holiday of when Korea was made.  It is an interesting myth, actually, because it starts off with a God that comes down to earth.  He is the grandson of the God of the universe.  Created the land of Korea, from an egg in the sea.  Then he impregnated an ex- bear, and started the Korean royal blood line.  He at first was considering whether he wanted to impregnate a tiger or a bear, so he put them in a cave and told them not to leave for 100 days- and the tiger got frustrated and got out after a month.  


Sunday evening, Oct. 13th I went out with a group of English Teachers from church, and we went to the Seoul Drum Festival.  Some kids from school want to hang out, and take me places, but it gets kind of hard as there are language barriers and I am really busy.   In my free time I am reading.  I have read so much.  I thought that a foreign exchange trip would be like summer camp, where you are able to fit in so many things during a day.  Sadly, if I do something in Korea, it takes all day.  I don't really have too much free time.   
Oct. 24th- they asked me to say something for the school newspaper.  It ended up sounding something like this:
Oct Before I came to Korea, I had no idea what I was in for.  I had attempted to prepare myself by packing everything that I thought that I couldn’t live without, and talked to as many people as I could about Korean life.  Most importantly, I tried to keep my mind open.  
 
    I was amazed in my first week how many similarities and differences there were between our cultures and as time went on, I began to notice the differences in languages.  In English, there is a lot of room for mistakes, and so many different variations on pronunciation.  English is spoken in England, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, all as native languages (well, sort of).  Each one of those countries has their own accents, and different regional accents.  Korean is a much more exact language.  If you don’t pronounce one letter, then somebody else won’t understand what you are taking about.  If we were talking about mouths, and I said ”짓솔”(jit sol), nobody would know that I am trying to say     “칫솔”(chit sol).  However in English, if I said “twobrush”, it would be understood that I was trying to say “toothbrush”. 
 
Sometimes it is really hard to know what I should be doing as far as customs go.  I never know when I should just say, “감사합니다” or “감아워”.  I never know how I should great someone who is younger than me, but who I respect greatly.  It is also really hard to know sometimes when I should use American customs, and when I should use Korean customs. 
 
This year, it is my goal to know the Korean culture.  I want to be able to share what I’ve learned with everyone at home.  This year will take a lot of work, and I will make many mistakes, but I am excited for its challenges.
Oct. 28
By the way, I am making up new words, since I no longer have English as my language.  Some of the words that I want to use, sound like i am making them up anyway, so I figured, "why not?".  Boon shinners, is when you have a noun, and you can't remember the name of it.  Or sometimes I use it as gerand, or sometimes, also, as a describing word.   Instead of 'a book that  was kind of shaped like a boon shinner', you can just say "boon shinner book".  Its really good.  Speaking of making words, you can spread this one around- poi (say it in a frenchish way- poo-ah).  It is for when you are about to tell a story, that really isn't a story at all, but more of a little useless information.  Poi stands for 'piece of information'.  So, instead of "do you want to hear a really good story", it is "do you want to know a poi?"  I think it adds some class.
Today is Halloween, but you can't really tell.  Holidays are not very big here- I think it might be because there is  not enough space in Seoul.  The only major holidays that a foreigner would notice is Chew- sok (thanksgiving which was sept. 18)  and the Chinese New Year.  I had school today like normal.  I had only an assembly and Korean today.   We have assemblies every other Monday, and they are televised, so pretty much it is an hour of sleeping through the school.  I think the only people who congregate are the first years.  We do have to stand up when we sing the school song and the national anthem at the beginning, and then we can do whatever from there.

I ended up dressing up crazy at Kim's house and watching saved the  last dance.  Pretty fun, but I don't think I had one piece of candy all day. For sure, next year, I am living every holiday to it's fullest- including the lame ones like Presidents Day.

Nov. 1
This afternoon I will be going to an English Speaking Festival with my school.  I am not sure what is actually going to happen, but they told me to keep my schedule open.  *** Actually, I we ended up not going, but I can’t remember why!  

Nov. 2
I never see police officers in korea.  I think the government only works to develop foreign policies, while I think people think of thier elders as police.  If you are doing something wrong, soon, like in a small town, soon your daddy will know, and you'll get the living day lights kicked outta ya.  I think that is why 'crazy ' is so bad.  Like, fitting into the culture is a way to get honor for your family.



Nov. 3
Today, I sang infront of my whole school.  It was pretty scary.  Every Thursday morning, we have Chapel, and so the teacher asked Kim (the other foregin exchange student) and I to sing some English worship songs.  We sang "Every Move I Make" and "Santuary".  I think everybody liked it.  We sang Santuary into one mic, and it blended splended like.  I was the harmony.  Then we sang Every Move I Make, and my mic wasn't on!  It was fine, because that time we weren't doing accapella, but they turned it on just in time for me to do the 'how can it be'5X fast part, and we did motions to it, and arms waving for the na na na nas'.  I decided just to go up there and be an idiot and 1 of 2 things could happen: 1- they hated it.  we had crossed too many cultural boundaries.  people would stop talking to me at school and I could move onto a life of solitude and substance.  or 2- they would love it.  they would flock to me even more, and always ask us to sing again.  Well, I've only had one day from the expericance, and I think it's a combination of both.  They now think that I am a radical who doesn't care about cultural boundaries, and am really weird (remember I explained this word here), but amazingly enough, still cool.  I would have thought it much better experiance if they followed along with the hand motions, but oh well. 

Nov. 5. 
Originally, the Rotary Club was having district conferences, and so they told us to prepare a 5 min. speech, and I thought, "what on earth could I talk for 5 min. about?".  After I wrote my speech and translated it, it ended up taking about 10 mins.  I kept trying to do it faster, and pronunciate better, but it was still uber long.  So, last min., on the bus to the hotel, my sister and I took out a pen, and crossed off the unneccisary sentences.  It was about a 6 min. speech.  Each time I read it though, my brain would be cooked.  Finally we got there.  It ended up being a bigger deal than I thought.  About 400 people were there from Korean and some from Japan.  We were supposed to go on a 5 oclock, just after a group of adults from Minnesota who were here for one month got done talking.  (they had a translator)- but after them, they passed out awards, so I was worried that they forgot about us.  Finally, then they announced Kim and my name and Eli and Alex  (IN, and IL).  So we all came forward, and stood there on stage, waiting for some one to go first.  Then the announcer  called Kim's name, and she stepped forward.  Her speech ended up being about 8 mins- and it was good.  While she was talking, I looked at the other student's paper.  Mine was neatly typed on two pages of computer paper.  It had about 6 paragraphs in size 15 font.  Both of the other students were written on lined paper ripped out of a notebook.  The closer was in pencil and took up about half a page.  Oh man.  I over pre-pared. (When do I do that?)  And then I got nervous that maybe I couldn't say thank you just right.   So I kept saying it in my head.  Over and over. 
It sucks, because, in English, public speaking comes with ease.  If I were preforming, it would still be easy.  Infact, looking out at the crowd was not a problem.  I wasn't nervous about the people, heck, I wasn't even nervous about being understood or not.  I was petrified that I would not be able to pronounce thank you.  I have used that word three times a day every day, and if I couldn't say it right, I would have been a complete loser. 
So, after Kim's speech, they called my name.  I inhaled one long deep breath as I scaned the crowd.  I bowed my head in the traditional way and began, (this will be written now as if I were attempting to speak English, for your sake.) " Hello.   My name is Victoria Scovill.   My nick name is Torie.  I am from USA, MN, Wayzata.  I am nine art in, its,"  my mind started to blur.  All I could see was each individual syllable instead of words.   My eyes skipped lines as I began to blend words.  "It's nice student host in my hool".  I started to panic.  "Opps."  I admitted.  " I am nineteen years old" my eyes corrected themselves for one high moment, as though an eye of the storm. " I art sim hool fannary... ah, family".  I sighed.  At that moment, I knew that I'd been beat.  They was only one way not to loose.  I dropped my speech and said," I am learning Korean." deep breath. " Thank you." - and I said it right.  A wide smile of champions swept across my face.  I got laughs and claps.  I think my speech showed them more of who I am then I could have planned.
On Nov. 8th, we went to go see the Korean-version of the CIA tomarrow.  Kim's host dad does something mysterious for them, and it seems to be "take your host daughter and friend to work day", so that will be cool.  I don't think I can bring a camera, but I'd really like to. *** That ended up being an extremely cool visit.  They were all secretive with guards and cameras and James Bond.  I’d tell you more, but then I’d have to kill you.  In the end, Kim, May Kay, and I all got these super cool plaques with the photo of the building and a photo of us with our names.  They also gave us this really heavy little silver case thing that  ends up holding a manicure set.  It has a seal on it and looks quite impressive.
Thursday (11/10) Kim and I are went out with David to get our hair cut.  How fab.  David had these two “free protein hair treatments” that he wasn’t going to use, so it worked out nicely- and the hair cuts in korea are really really cheap.  I have super thick hair and so it took two people a really long time.  Kim, in fact was done by the time that they set the treatment and rinsed it out  and started to blow dry my hair before cutting.  Then the stylist guy “shagged it”, which I learned was a technique developed in China.  They chopped off probably 2/3 of my hair, and it fell to the ground it a  huge pile.  I have no hair.  (David later informed me, since he speaks Korean, that they were talking about making a wig out of my hair)  
Ah, food.  I went to Costco. They have three, and it seems like everybody goes there.  It has like 8 floors, and is just massive.  I felt like I was being hugged the whole time- well, from both the crowds, and from the sheer joy of seeing so many western things in one place. 

Now, here it is Kim’s turn:
Lucky girl who writes emails, huh? If I find the time to write it is usually on my blog, in my journal, or letters home. Plus I talk to my parents on the phone more often than her, so the stories only get told to them and then lost in the depths of history.
Since this blog is already six pages long I’ll give you an abridged version of what I think needs to be said.
So at the beginning of this I touched on Christianity. On Sundays we spend basically our whole day at church. By the way, David, the person who she was talking about with the haircuts is another of the seniors in high school at our church. The day begins at with 9:30am STEM (Sarang Teen’s English Ministy) service with all the highschoolers. After the actually service ends, we meet in groups according to our grade in high school for bible study.  Then sometimes we go to lunch. We used to go to a new members class, but now we have bible school with young adults from 2-4pm. That’s church all day.
I really have to post this now. It’s been such a long time and I just moved host families today so there is so much new stuff to talk about. I promise to keep you updated on a regular basis. So does Torie. If you’re reading mine check the link to hers.