An Epic Story...

It's been over a week now since I heralded my epic Korean story....a story so epic, so adventurous, so incredible, one might not believe it right away. But then considering the elements and the content once more, one would turn and say to themselves: "Why, this is a story so outrageous, that there is NO way anyone could have made this up! It MUST be true...it's so insane that it must be true."

And so, dear friends, as I make mention of this epic adventure (one of many I've already had and look forward to having here in the land of kimchi), I beckon you to sit back, relax, and stare at your screen in disbelief ;-)

Last week was amazing because not only did I have the chance to catch up on some much needed R&R, but with an entire week of for the Korean thanksgiving holiday ("Chusok"), I was anxious to get out and about around Seoul! I wanted to see other sights, to explore other areas of town, to attempt speaking Korean a little more "fluently" (ha..), and yet...it was a week full of spontanaity and randomnesss.

After a delicious meal at a couple friend's apartment last Wednesday, I left early enough to knock at the door of my friend Jo, who lived in the apartment right next door to my other friends. I'd promised her to stop by for a drink and some laughs and when I entered, she was there with a few others, including one of our other teacher friends named Brett.

"Let's go rock climbing! Would you be up for rock climbing?" asked Brett as I entered the apartment at 9pm.
"Uh...sounds like fun, but not right now Brett...sorry..." I replied.

Had he realized it was 9 o'clock at night? Did he realize I was coming over to settle in for the night with a little "night cap"? No...because Brett is what like to call a "very adventurous dude".

Jo's boyfriend Sangmin soon showed up - once he arrived, him and Brett were having a hay day as they relished the idea of doing something crazy and spontaneous late at night.

Before we knew it, the boys were suggesting that we all pack up and head to Incheon Beach (near the airport) and go for a midnight swim!

"I could do that," Jo said, "but who else would be up for it?"
I suddenly heard myself say "I'll go!"

But what was i thinking??? It was going on midnight! An hour drive out to the beach and back? Ugh...I was feeling tired enough as it was....but no sooner had I spoken up when I found myself heading to my own apartment to change into my swimsuit and pack up a towel.

We left around 12:30a.m. in a school vehicle and when we reached Incheon and set up shop at the beach, we were amused by many of the Koreans that were already out and about enjoying their holiday, warming themselves by a campfire, and shooting off fireworks from the beachside (yes....fireworks....)

"Let's buy some fireworks and shoot them off from the beachside, too!" said Brett soon after we'd parked the car.
"Yea! Let's do it!" I heard Sangmin say.

And so no sooner had the boys bought fireworks and readied them for action, when I myself readied a firecraker for some serious action and explosion right there on the beach....in the middle of the night....in Korea.....:-P

After our "firework fun", it was time to run into the Yellow Sea....although the temperature outside must have only been in the upper 50s, the water was somewhat warm (despite the cold pockets that came in with the tide) and we enjoyed ourselves for about 25 minutes before finally deciding we'd had enough water time ;-)

The video below depicts some of our crazy "firework mayhem"...it may seem like we're a little out of it....but the reality was, we were! We were high on life, slap happy, full of spontaneity and excitement! Brett attempted to be the "light guy" (since he was sporting a "flashlight headband" of sorts so we could see in the dark) and Sangmin was the fearless cameraman. Both of the boys insisted this video go on the blog,despite the nonsense of most of its content:

As we headed back to the car and attempted to dry off (despite the tide's efforts to soak through our bags and towels), Sangmin suddenly said to all of us:
"uh...guys? where are the car keys?"
"you put them somewhere with your stuff, didn't you hun?" Jo asked Sangmin
"um...yea......uh....you guys? pretty sure i left the keys in my swim trunks here....and pretty sure they fell into the sea...."

No one said anything.

No one believed him

No one really wanted to believe him.

It was 2 a.m. and we had no car keys to our locked school vehicle and were surrounded by crazy fireshooting Koreans enjoying the essence of their thanksgiving holiday while the four of us miserably thought through the crisis at hand.

Despite our bad fortune, the four of us were surprisingly upbeat! We decided that since we wouldn't be able to access any sort of transportation until the early morning to get back to Seoul Foreign School, pick up the spare set of car keys, and return to Incheon to then access the car and return home, that we'd make the best of our "free time"....even if it was going on 2:30 in the morning....

So because there were numerous eateries and shops along the beachfront, we stopped in at one for a bite to eat. The boys had been going on and on about "san nachi", a korean dish that was prized in this part of Korea literally translating to "raw octopus"...

"We have to try this you guys!" Brett exclaimed (are you starting to see why Brett is what I refer to as a "very adventurous dude"???????)

And so we did. We all ate raw octopus. Nevermind the fact that the octopus was still basically alive. Nevermind the fact that the octopus tentacles were moving around on the plate and in the grasp of our chopsticks. Nevermind the fact that because the octopus was still alive and moving on our plates, its tentacles were very much still able to suck. Hence why (as Sangmin told us later) people have died from eating san nachi because as they attempted to swallow, the tentacles sucked onto their esophagus and they died.

Awesome.

But I did it! I ate the san nachi! Check out the video below.....



Afterwards, we decided we still had plenty of time, so we headed to a nori bong (literally "singing room" in Korean) - karaoke singing is a FAVORITE pastime in Korea and they have "nori bongs" all OVER the place (even on this random beach on this random night at this random time at 4 in the morning....)

I realized why I loved singing. I realized why I'd made it my career. I realized why I loved music. That nori bong experience made me feel like I had wings...it made me feel like I was the best Lady Gaga - Chris Martin -Freddie Mercury there ever was! ;-)
Here was a shot of Jo and I singing Lady Gaga's "Poker face":



The hour passed way too quickly and soon it was a quarter to 6 in the morning. We headed back towards the food shop we'd eaten our san nachi at and ran into the crazy adjouma ("elder korean lady") who beckoned us to come back inside. As we sat down and explained to her our "keyless" situation, she spoke to Sangmin (being that he too could speak Korean) and explained that she had a good friend back in Seoul that was a cab driver. She mentioned that she could contact him, ask him to pick up the spare set of car keys from the school, and bring them out to us at the beach for a cost of $45.

"Yes!!!" we all exclaimed, "how wonderful!!!"
It felt like it was heaven-sent....how awesome that such good fortune could come our way out of such misfortune ;-)
The adjouma (whose name we later found out was "Peanuts"..haha!) said her friend would arrive in about an hour.
Because we had some time to kill, Brett and I decided to head back out towards the beach...it was lovely in the daytime and as I was basking in the beauty of the water and the freshness of the new day, Brett called out to me:

"Alllllllliiiissssssooonn!!!!" He was several yards away from me, soaking his feet in the tide as it washed onto shore, "I found the keeeeeeysss!!!!" He raised his arm up and shook what seemed to be a set of car keys in his right hand!

He found them.

He found the fricken keys. In the OCEAN. He found the lost car keys in the OCEAN......seriously???? Does this happen?????

I wanted to wake up from the dream....honestly, that's what it seemed like I was living...a dream! A very long, random dream....thank God it had a good ending!

And so we soon met up with Jo and Sangmin (who had only moments before finished paying the cab driver our $45 for the spare set of keys) - they were in disbelief! None of us could believe that out of this night of no sleep, we were going back home at 7:30 a.m. and returning with TWO sets of car keys.....

We piled up in the car, buckled up, and drove home.
What a night...what a story!
What an adventure.....
;-)

God is good.

Faculty Fellowship Retreat Weekend

This past weekend (despite the terrible rains and dreary weather), about 50+ faculty members from the Seoul Foreign School community hopped on a bus around 4:45pm Friday afternoon and made the long drive to Taechon Beach, an area "2.5 hours" south of Seoul (despite our 4 hour trip!) for a Faculty Fellowship weekend.

The faculty is invited every year to participate in the fellowship weekend and it always takes place at Taechon Beach since the school owns several cabin-like living quarters, as well as other multi-purpose rooms for dining and recreation. Aside from these accommodations, the Yellow Sea is a mere 5-minute walk and the views are breathtaking!

Despite the rain Friday night, we arrived and enjoyed a decent dinner followed by an hour lecture session given by Libby Stevens. Libby had lived and taught in Germany for the last 17 years and most recently has toured around the world speaking to other international teachers about what it means to "be an alien in a foreign land" and "how to survive as a foreigner" - her talk both Friday night and again Saturday night was a real wake-up call: she asked us to think about "why we're here" - "what is our purpose"....some of her other thoughts discussed the different phases one goes through living overseas. Everyone starts in the "honeymoon" phase, which lasts a month or so before you finally realize you're actually LIVING in this foreign country....you're not just a tourist!

Some of these thoughts resinated in my head in the sense I realized that perhaps I've only been in the "honeymoon phase" thus far....what else is to come? What other crazy emotions will I go through? Can I handle the difficulty and struggle that very possibly still lays ahead??

Libby's lectures made me think, but at the same time, I couldn't help but be grateful for the other staff members that were there with me. It was so wonderful to spend more time with some of my fellow teachers and enjoy each other's company for the weekend!

After Libby's final talk on Saturday morning, we had the afternoon free and so several of us walked to the beach to go in for a swim! With Taechon Beach being located in Boreyong (Boreyong is known for it's "Mud Festival" each spring!), the city's "beach-mud" is widely praised for its entertaining abilities and pleasure! Once we got down to the beach, we had a blast trying to push our bodies all the way into the mud! Here is a fellow teacher friend, Brad, and his daughter Maddie sinking and swerving into the "beach-mud":

As for myself, I had a blast riding the waves and finding both shells and starfish on the shoreline:

Aside from riding the waves and catching starfish, I caught some "actual footage" of my beach time - you can check out the video below: (*note-it might be hard to hear on the video because the wind was so strong that day....hopefully you'll be able to understand enough of what's being said tho ;-)

And so, I bid you all farewell! Hope all is well with everyone and keep ridin' the waves ;-)

Typhoon Kompasu (and other Korean weather malfunctions)

The funny thing about growing up in the Midwest is, you usually don't have to worry about too many weather "malfunctions" - granted, we have to put up with quite a lot of "interesting" weather conditions (especially come winter) and no two days EVER seem to be alike! It's always a guessing game of "will it rain today and snow tomorrow? will the sun shine brightly, reaching 80 degree highs on Wednesday and suddenly hit 50 degree lows with cool winds and rain on Thursday?"

Yes, the midwest certainly has had its fair share of weather malfunctions, but not quite to the extent of what is experienced here in Korea.

Upon my arrival during the first week of August up until just about a week and a half ago, the humidity level was INSANELY ridiculous here! Within days of arriving, Korea soon taught me that although I'd never considered myself a "sweat-er", I quickly became known as a "dripping damsel in sweat-distress"! ugh! gross....literally you'd walk outside and be dripping with sweat, just from stepping outside....that's it...instant gross-ness...BAM! I soon found myself wondering on days when I wasn't sweating or not dripping profusely, why it was my body wasn't covered in total humidity-heatness slime. While people around me were bragging of their "two showers a day" routine, I was soaking in the sweat and allowing my greasy-ness to muster into some sort of proud, sweating success story! Korea weather malfunction?? I think so...

But about a week and a half ago, someone honestly must have flipped a "weather switch" here in Seoul...the humidity packed it's bags and the cool, autumn air set in. The rain continues (despite the fall-like weather) and the storm season seems to still be in full swing....in fact, shortly after the "weather switch" was flipped last week, the rains decided to have a get-together that just about wiped out half of Seoul!

Exactly a week ago, school was canceled due to Typhoon Kompasu, a category 2 hurricane with winds up to 65 mph! The typhoon caused Seoul's area subway services to be put out of service, toppled trees and caused widespread power outages, as well as delaying many flights out of Incheon Airport. When I woke up that particular morning at 5:25 a.m. for a morning workout routine I've been participating in with other teachers at 5:45 a.m. each morning, I was hesitant to set foot outside. The winds were HOWLING, the rain was POURING down, and the lighting and thunder were more intense than I've ever seen or heard! It certainly was weather like I'd never seen.....
Despite my best conscience, I walked to my workout and barely made it to my destination and back without my umbrella being yanked from my hands and turned inside out! Once I made it back home, I found out that school was canceled (thanks to the numerous weather updates from my meteorologist father) and the "up-to-date email correspondence" from Seoul Foreign's Administrative team, announcing the day's cancellation.

I couldn't believe it....snow day...sick day...field trip day...cold day....TYPHOON DAY????? hahaha!!! wow....who knew? Here I was...a naive midwestern girl....experiencing her first TYPHOON aaaand her first typhoon DAY!!! I couldn't believe it! With the raging winds, the loud, pattering rain, the thunder crashes, the lightning flashes! People were running for cover! They were without power, without communication! People were lost in the chaos! They were doing whatever possible to take shelter and to find safety!!!!

By 8:30 a.m., it was all over.

Seriously.

It was over.

Here we'd canceled school and gotten all worked up about a storm that ultimately...was just a storm. We were lucky enough not to have been hit too hard and although everything had calmed down by the early morning, there were still many people throughout the Seoul Metropolitan area that were scrapping to make it through!

Looking back on it now a week later, the craziness and excitement of experiencing the "typhoon day" ultimately ended up being a nice, relaxing day off from work (considering we didn't have much to worry about after all)! Even so, I have to say that regardless of "how hard" or "how badly" we were affected by the storm, the mere fact that we experienced a "typhoon" is definitely a Korea weather malfunction MUCH different than any other weather condition I've experienced as a midwesterner! But I'm excited....because now I can add "Typhoon Survivor" to my list of other notable titles I've acquired throughout the years (aside from "POZitively Pink" and "Does Not Know Her True Hair Color")

And so...the typhoon has come and gone - I'm thankful to be safe and sound and I hope the rest of you back home are also staying safe and keeping healthy!

"Alice in Korealand" and "Peas in Pods"

People that know me well will tell you I've had the nickname "Poz" for as long as they can remember. Truthfully, the name first came around back in 2nd grade when my soccer coach at the time insisted on calling me "Pozzie" (rather than "Pozdol"), while I ran aimlessly down the soccer field. From there, "Pozzie" became "Poz" (since one syllable is always easier to say than two apparently) and when my fellow teammates (many of whom were my fellow second grade classmates) started referring to me as "Poz" in the classroom, in the lunchroom, and out at recess, the nickname took on a whole new being and became what is my most beloved nickname. From second grade up through my first few years as a "working adult" in Palatine Dist. 15, I have friends across the board that even if they themselves don't refer to me as "Poz" on a normal basis, still know it as the nickname I've "had forever".

And so....like with any new adventure with meeting new people, experiencing new things, etc., I came to Korea thinking that this "infamous nickname" would carry on across oceans, across distant lands....(perhaps even across the N. Korean boarder! (-;) and would defy all language barriers, all accents, all ridicule, all.....

Ok. Let's be serious. Honestly, all I thought was that having the chance to "start anew!" would allow me the chance to share the "intrigue of my past", the "humbles of my beginning", the history of "Poz"....
"Is that what we should call you then?"
I found myself staring blankly at two of my fellow teacher friends (both London natives) straight in the face as they posed the question concerning my nickname.
"Pohz? That's how you like it then, no?"

Let me interject at this point and say that I absolutely LOVE British accents - they're hilarious! I always feel so proper, so dainty, so lovely, so..."Pride & Prejudice" ;-)

"Well...when you say it like that," I began, "It sounds more like Pods...ya know? Like 'peas in pods'?"

They laughed hysterically.

My one friend of the two (Hye-sin is her name) had already attempted to reign a new nickname on me prior to when this whole "pods" conversation took place. With her silly British wit, she had insisted on calling me "Alice"...mostly because she couldn't remember (or bother herself I suppose...ha!) to finish saying the rest of my name. My other friend, Joy, would then look at Hye-sin and say "her name is ALLISON! ALLISON! Not ALICE!!!" And then the two of them would get into some sort of British frenzy as I stood there, amazed, as the two discussed my name and what it is I "should be called".

Regardless, Hye-sin decided she liked the name "Alice" and that "it suited me" - much more-so than my other nickname "Pods" did ;-) And while both her and Joy still like to joke around and call me "Pods" in their British attempts at saying "Poz", they more regularly have been calling me "Alice"....and so it stands....."Alice's Adventures in Korealand..." ha!

It's strange having a "new nickname" I suppose....but it's one that these new friends have come up with, and so I can't help but be amused by their silly, British "creativity". Who knew? Unfortunately, "Poz" can't seem to withstand international boarders, but just because some call me "Alice" and some call me "Allison", doesn't mean I'll ever forgo the name "Poz", no matter where I find myself landing ;-)


Here I am with my British girls: Hye-sin (left) and Joy (right)