Must-See Korean Stationary

In the basement of the building in which I bank is my favorite store - the stationary store. Pens, erasers, pencils, sharpeners, paper, cards, stickers, art supplies, office supplies, notebooks, schedulers.... more than you can ever imagine, and more creative than you will see anywhere else. Some of you have already been the recipients of my love for this store, as I could spend all day there! Many of you will soon receive the world's greatest Christmas cards, all purchased from this store. The best part about it all is the price - Stationary is such a hot commodity, a fashion item, here in Korea that things are incredibly cheap! That makes the shopping more dangerous than you can possibly imagine.

Among the stacks, racks, rows, and shelves are some really great finds, including the schedulers pictured here. Browsing through the English writing on the books makes for an entertaining hour or so! I had to share these two with the world.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Though I'm on the other side of the world, in a land where turkey can't be found, I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving! Eat extra turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and corn for me! I'll be thinking of all of you sitting down to dinner together, and I wish I could be there with you!

Bukhansan trek

A few weeks ago, I set out to climb a new mountain with 2 coworkers, Nola and Kelsey. You can see the peak in the photo above... the one WAY in the background! This mountain is located in a National Park just outside of Seoul. In fact, it is the world's most-visited National Park per square foot. Amazing fact, isn't it?

The leaves were absolutely beautiful during my THREE HOUR HIKE UP THE MOUNTAIN! Yes, you read that right - it was a THREE HOUR HIKE UP THE MOUNTAIN! That does not include the time going down, which was close to 2.5 hours! It was the most physically exhausting thing I've done in a long time, possibly ever.

There was not so much a marked path up the mountain as a place where there were fewer trees. I scrambled up rock piles for about 2.5 miles up the mountain, often coming across piles that seemed like a wall, not quite knowing how to get up them!

Luckily, the three of us were of about equal physical conditioning and needed about the same amount of breaks.... toward the end of the 2.5 miles, the breaks were quite frequent. We set visual goals for ourselves, though it seemed like we stopped every 10 steps!


After hiking 2.5 miles up the mountain, in about 2.75 hours, I was faced with about 6 flights of stairs that led to a fortress wall running along the top part of the mountain range. So, I hauled my cookies up these six flights of steps, exhausted, yet inspired that the wall MUST mean that I was close to the top. Deception! Once through the wall, I turned left to discover another 10 flights of stairs leading to a granite peak. Now, I'm not just talking about a small granite rock... No, it was a good half kilometer of granite peak until I could finally stop at the top! But, the best discovery was yet to come...


At the top of that last 10 flights of stairs, I could see that the physical challenge of climbing Baekundae (the highest peak in Bukhansan National Park) was not climbing for nearly THREE HOURS UP THE MOUNTAIN, scrambling over rocks, trying to find the path, then being confronted with about 16 flights of stairs. No, the challenge is AFTER all of that, when your muscles have been worked to the point of exhaustion, when you think you cannot take another step because your bum is screaming at you, your quads are calling you all sorts of names, and your knees could use a hot tub. The challenge is in the form of a granite peak and a metal cable attached... a granite peak that is so steep and is impossible to scale without using all of your strength to pull yourself up the metal cable using your arm muscles (that have been exhausted by climbing for THREE HOURS UP THE MOUNTAIN) for another half a kilometer!

It's amazing more people don't plummet to their death due to an inability to hold onto the cable. This was insane!



The exhiliration in getting to the top was completely worth all of the exhaustion, frustration, and challenge of the day. The feeling of being on top of the world, well... at least on top of Seoul, was wonderful!


It was a great place to eat lunch, which we all had been needing, wanting, craving, almost breaking down and eating before we actually got to the top. We huddled behind some rocks to try to get out of the COLD wind and ate our sandwiches.

The hike down was nearly as dangerous (if not more so in places) than the hike up... And, it took just about as long. We spent the walk down wondering how in the world we actually made it the entire way up, as the walk seemed to take forever!

Our legs no longer functioned as we wished. I think it was Nola that said her feet stopped going where she tried to put them. We were EXHAUSTED! Knees, ankles, quads, bums, feet... you name it, it was tired and screaming at us... using very bad language to call us mean names! The memory was worth every moment of agony, though!

Strep Throat in Korea

Yes, from the title of this post, you can all guess that I've been sick! It's been going around my office, since my managers won't let people leave and get the rest they need and deserve when they're sick! They're making people stay at work with contagious diseases, and it's now spread throughout the entire staff. So, when we're all tired, cranky, and hardly functioning, they only have themselves to blame! Such is Korea.

The healthcare system here is great, though. I just get about 2% of my pay deducted each month, and I'm covered for any normal thing that could happen to me. It cost $3 to go to the doctor, and I didn't even need an appointment. Being a foreigner is a bonus, too, because they know me after just one visit! The doctor was wonderful, and he speaks very good English. Though, no words were really necessary, as he only looked at my throat for half a second before backing away! Being allergic to pennicillin is a great thing here because I got put on wonderdrugs instead. My strep throat cleared up in 3 days, where everyone else took over a week to recover. I am really grateful for that!

Pharmacies are amazing, as well. They package everything into dose-sized pouches. So, I'm on 3 medications, but I don't take them all everytime I'm supposed to take medicine. So, the pharmacy puts all of my morning pills for one day in a pouch, the afternoon pills in a pouch, and the evening pills in a pouch - FOR EACH DAY! So, for 3 days worth of medicine, I had 9 labeled pouches. This is what service should be like for everyone - no more fumbling through bottles trying to read the small print and open the child-proof caps! They're tear-open pouches! Wonderful! I did have to get a prescription for tylenol... I guess they don't sell that over-the-counter here in Korea. I know they have some type of Korean acetominophen, but not name-brand Tylenol!

Anyway, I've spent the weekend recovering and resting in my apartment. It was beautiful weather outside, too... I went to the farmers market and for short walks around town just to get some fresh air (well, as fresh as Korea gets around here). I'm all better, now, ready for the new week ahead!

The first REAL day of Fall

You know that feeling of the air biting you as the wind whips your hair into a mess. The first REAL day of Fall. Not the scientific start of Fall in September, but that first time you realize that Fall is here, and Summer is behind you. That was yesterday, and it was glorious! The first time you have to wear a warm jacket because it is actually cold (the other times were for mere comfort, but you would have been fine without). The first time you wake up to a chilly room and realize you might want to close your windows now. The first time the wind picks up and blows the clouds across the sky. In Korea, all buildings have a lobby with double doors that open to the rest of the world. Since I've been here, these doors have always been open, even in the rain. Yesterday, for the first time, the doors closed. Fall has announced its arrival. Every year, I forget how much I love the Fall... until it happens!

Scenes on the Street

It's time for another montage of pictures you'll only find in Korea!

This is a case, yes a CASE, of Spam sold at Walmart during Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). Chuseok is a time of gift-giving (instead of Christmas). I don't know what the fascination with Spam and this country is, but it's strange... Note that the light blue can is "Mild" Spam...???



Yes, people actually buy the Spam casses en masse... those 7 blue cases are Spam containers ready to be loaded onto a bus... Someone's family is super-lucky!





Another bit of merchandise from Walmart. Now, if it seems like Walmart is the only place that sells such strange things, don't be fooled. They're just the ones that don't care if I take pictures!







Every Sunday, the restaurant on the first floor of my building receives a shipment of vegetables. Now, in North America, would the FDA approve of veggies being stored on the street sidewalk?




What would you do with the cabbage on the street? What else but make kimchi ... on the street! Needless to say, I haven't eaten at this restaurant. I can't get over the street-grime!

Performing Arts in Seoul

The past month has been one of performances! I attended the Seoul Drum Festival in the beginning of October... loved it so much the first night that I had to go back the second! Then, I attended a performance in the Seoul Performing Arts Festival.... that was strange... billed as "A transvestite Alice in Wonderland meets a dwarf Little Prince." Who wouldn't be curious about that free performance? Below are video clips of both.


The Seoul Drum Festival ran from October 7-9. The setting was one of the many palaces in Seoul (a lesser-visited one), and it made for a very picturesque evening.



This first video is of a group from Belgium, New Dimension. They remind me of STOMP! in their use of non-conventional percussion instruments. For example, they use kneepads and chairs to create rhythm here.


If the video won't play in the blog, click New Dimension to access it!

The second video is also of New Dimension, this time using garbage cans!

Click New Dimension 2 if you can't see it on here!

This third video is of the Korea Percussion Orchestra doing Mozart. They are incredible.

Click Mozart if you can't see the video.

If you liked that, you'll like their version of Carmen, too!

Click Carmen if you can't see the video.

Finally, there was a Korean contemporary percussion group named Jamstick. Watch how they fly across the stage and are still able to play the flight of the bumblebee!

Click Jamstick if you can't see the video.


Now, onto the Seoul Performing Arts Festival. I found online a free performance of Alice. The following quotation directly from the website sums up my feeling on the performance: The result is that the audience is attracted into a world of integrated convergence by crossing the world of nonsense where lingual explanation is impossible. ( And, yes, lingual explanation was impossible!) For those of you who have seen or heard of "Les Petites Societies" you may understand the complete lack of understanding behind the art!

This first video is of the dwarf Little Prince (this is how it was billed) singing "Alice." At the end of the video, you can see the gigantic Alice, who was a person lifted up on a forklift with blue and white fabric draped down. Really... what?!!!!

Click dwarf Little Prince if you can't see the video.

Now, the dwarf Little Prince went into another song, during which two people dressed in black started to repel down the side of the building, which was partially cloaked with a white sheet. All of a sudden, they began to "dance" to the song.... again... what?!!

Click Repellers if you can't see the video.

I was thoroughly confused throughout the entire performance, as were the people around me! Nevertheless, it gives me a great memory of Seoul!