Seoul National Cemetery

국립 서울 현충원

Seoul National Cemetery

SNC, essentially the Arlington Cemetery of South Korea, is the larger of two national cemeteries in the country.  Established in 1956, it is a cemetery reserved for Korean veterans and military causalities from the Korean independence movement/Japanese occupation (1910-1945), the Korean War (1950-1953) and the Vietnam War (1955-1975).  Also included are those that lost their lives in skirmishes with North Korea following the armistice agreement of '53.

The cemetery is divided into congruent sections for interment surrounding a large columbarium for inurnment and/or memorialization.

Late December, at the height of winter when most vegetation is dead, frozen, dried up and brown, is probably not the ideal time to visit, but you can get an idea of what it looks like and imagine how nice it would look in the spring or even with a nice snowfall!  

Also, Andrew is on a quest to really learn how to use the camera, so the real motivation for the sub-32° cemetery tour was to get a grasp on how aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings relate and interact with each other (that's why most of the pictures are pretty much the same!). 

Koreans Say the Darndest Things!

Hands down, the best thing about being an ESL teacher is being privy to the weird shit that comes out of your students' mouths.  Sometimes it's because they don't understand the question, sometimes their translator is to blame, and sometimes they're just not quite sure how to say what they want.  Regardless of the reason, they will look you in the eye and say the strangest things with a straight face!  

Here are some of the better quotes from Andrew's winter English camp this year:

(Please keep in mind that all these come from 17 and 18 year-old boys!)

Juwon

If you could be any animal, which animal would you be and why? A tiger because it is nice.

What is something you’re afraid of?  A devilish man.

Taewon

What 5 adjectives describe you best?  Optical illusion.

What is something you’re afraid of?  I’m afraid of fear.

Soonhyun

Can you play a musical instrument? I can toot the flute.

What makes you special?  My smart brain makes me special.

What is your greatest strength?  Breathing exercises.

What is something that pisses you off?  Lipstick.

What is something you’re afraid of?  I am afraid of bugs.

Joy

If you could be any animal, which animal would you be and why?  I would be a white tiger because white tigers are very cool.  I am handsome.  

What is something that pisses you off?  Spelling 'gag.' 

Daniel

What is your favorite color?  White gold

What makes you special?  My fantastic sports ability.

If you could be any animal, which animal would you be and why?  A cat, because I look like a cat.

If you were sentenced to death, what would you choose as your last meal?  I would choose every part of cow and coke.

Changjoo

What is your greatest strength?  My big smile. 

What is your least favorite thing about yourself?  My collarbone. 

Hokyeong

Describe your best friend:  He is so cute and he looks like a cat, but his mouth is very cheap, like a gossip girl.  And he isn’t a slob because he is diligent.  Only, in my opinion, he is so gorgeous man in the world.  Except for gossip. 

What 5 adjectives best describe you? 1-foolish  2-sexy  3-charming  4-cutey  5-face

What is your greatest strength?  Eyesight

What are your 5 favorite smells?  1-food  2-Fabreeze  3-eating water hippopotamus*  4-a sand lance*  5-females

If you were sentenced to death, what would you choose as your last meal?  My girlfriend. 

What is something that pisses you off?  Everything. 

*No clue what he was even trying to say in numbers 3 and 4!

David

What makes you special?  Money

What 5 adjectives best describe you?  Smile, Smart, Effort, Happy, Tuna

Hyunwoo

What makes you special?  My abilities.

If you could be any animal, which animal would you be and why?  I would be a hedgehog because people don’t eat it.

What is the first thing you think about when you wake up?  I think about going to the toilet. 

Hyunjun

What is your greatest strength?  I protect the president. 

Inwoo

What makes you special?  Guitars make me special.

Jiho

What 5 adjectives describe you best?  Short, Fat, Angry, Dirty, Kind

What is your least favorite thing about yourself?  I will die.

If you were sentenced to death, what would you choose as your last meal?  If I was sentenced to death I would kill you. 

Donghee

Do you have a nickname?  My nickname is HDH.

If you could be any animal, which animal would you be and why?  A pig because I like eating.

What is your greatest strength?  Snow sleds

When you were little, what did you want to be when your grew up?  A carrot. 

Yeouido's 63빌딩

Yeouido Island is home to many of Seoul's major businesses and investment banking firms.  It is also home to The 63 Building.  A building cleverly named after the amount of stories it has (3 basement level stores and 60 above ground).  The idea for it's name also comes from Tokyo's Sunshine 60 Building, that held the 'tallest building outside of North America' title (at 60 stories) until The 63 was completed in 1985.  Since then, that record has been beaten many times and as of 2010, the building is no longer even in the top 100.  But, that hasn't effected Korea's pride in it!  It is still a major tourist destination in the city, with an observation deck at the top, a theater, an aquarium, a wax museum, an art museum and many eating and shopping establishments.   We went for the view from the observation deck and for the Eric Kayser Bakery* on the first floor, which is undoubtedly the best bakery in South Korea. 

*Sorry, no photos of our bakery treats (they're not really that exciting if you live in the civilized world, however!).  We shared a flat bread pizza and some cheese rolls, and Matt & Andrea bought a large brioche to take home with them. 

Waiting at the crosswalk on the way there

Our first interaction with art that day...

The 63 Building

Window Washers at the top

Looking West

More interactions with art...

Truly appreciating fine art

Thrilling, clearly...

A color changing hallway

Looking to the East

Silhouettes

A 63빌딩 3D Puzzle in the gift shop

All Hallows Eve in Korea

Most western and commercialized holidays, are known or at least heard of in Korea, but are not generally celebrated.  Halloween is no exception.  Aside from dessert shops and coffee shops offering themed treats, Halloween passes pretty much unnoticed.  

In Ulsan, we dressed up, hit the town costume-clad, and were quite the spectacle as it was a fairly small town by Korean standards.  The next year in Seoul, we weren't really into the Halloween spirit, so we bought tickets to a play on Halloween night as an excuse not to celebrate.  This year, with Matt & Andrea, Andrew decided to give Seoul's Halloween scene a go.  They came into town, and we headed to the Hongik University area to meet up with some other friends and see where the night would take us. 

~ FLASHBACK! ~

Halloween 2009 in Ulsan:  Very last minute, Andrew borrowed his co-teachers old high school uniform to be Nami, a character from the elementary school English books/CDRoms and Judy decided to be the Grimace, and do a couple's costume with our friend Amy who was dressing as the Hamburglar.  Andrew got crafty and attempted to sew a Grimace costume out of two purple long-sleeved shirts and a hula hoop.  Naturally, it backfired and looked NOTHING like the Grimace.  Fortunately, all was not lost, because with the simple addition of a white belt, the screwed up Grimace costume transformed into a near perfect Jane Jetson! 

 Nami, completing the final stitches to Jane's dress

 Most of the gang

 Hands down, the best costume of the night

~ BACK TO THE PRESENT ~

This year was not much different from Halloween in Ulsan in the respect to timing.  Without being surrounded or reminded of the holiday, it's really easy to let the preparations slip out of mind until it's almost too late.  The day before Halloween, Andrew was planning on being a Stormtrooper from Star Wars.  On the morning of Halloween, he went to Homeplus to buy supplies, and completely changed his plans.  Seeing some children's Batman costumes and later a display of men's long underwear, he was inspired!  He bought a grey set of longjohns, a permanent marker, some black masking tape, a black ladies turtleneck and a sewing kit.  The next few hours were spent hard at work, crafting the ordinary items into a Batman costume.  The final result was actually something he was proud of.  Having the skill set of a crafty mom or grandma really pays off at Halloween!

The turtleneck became the cape and mask and he used the masking tape to make the gloves and boots.  Finished off with a black Speedo over the longjohns, the costume was complete!

They had to take the subway, and since he lives in the same neighborhood as many of his students, Andrew decided to further conceal his identity by adding a mustache to the costume.  

The Pirate, Minnie Mouse & Batman

Who wouldn't give this guy their booty?

More self-timers:

As the batsuit was quite lacking in the pocket department, and the Speedo was only big enough to carry his wallet, phone and a pair of socks (you know why!), Batman was unable to carry the batcamera out with him that night, sorry...

Matt & Andrea Arrive!

Matt, one of Andrew's best friends since his Tri-City days, and his wife Andrea moved to South Korea in October.  Originally, they had planned to move and begin work at the end of August, like we had, but Korea jerked them about a bit, so that didn't happen, and they ended up missing Judy by a month.   That was sad, but they arrived just in time for Andrew because he was starting to have a bit too much alone time.  Had it been wintertime, it probably would have been a lot like The Shining:  "All Korean and no English makes Andrew a dull boy..."  No, it wasn't that bad, but he was very glad to have someone in Korean again that he's really close with. 

One of the scary/terrible things about coming to work in Korea, is that you really don't have much of a say as to where you go.  We were hoping they'd be placed at schools in Seoul, but since they missed the major hiring period, they were kind of at the mercy of the system and available positions.  Thankfully, they were placed in Gwangju-Si, a suburb of Seoul.  Door to door, they are about 2 hours away from Andrew's via subways and bus, which isn't too bad.  It's a little farther than we'd hoped, but their still close enough to meet regularly and for Andrew to basically fulfill the role of Korean host mom and tour guide!

Finally!  

To follow their adventures, and get a fresh, un-jaded account of Korea, check out their blog @ http://worldwalkabout.wordpress.com/

Life Without A Dryer

All you people with dryers, stop taking them for granted, right this instant.  It's time you really appreciate what you've got!  Dryers are a rare luxury in Korea, and it is something we've dearly missed since coming here.  Obviously, it's a little annoying for a load of laundry to take 2+ days (even more during the winter), but clothes just don't come out of the laundry feeling as soft or smelling as fresh when they're not put through the dryer.  Once it's finally all dry, its usually a little stiff and scratchy, which are two adjectives that should never describe cotton. 

Andrew picked this washcloth off the drying rack to find it rock hard!  He even put fabric softener in with the load, but that clearly had the opposite effect.  This stiffness of laundry seems to come down hardest (pun intended) on towels and jeans, especially older towels.  Jeans will soften up after a few minutes of body heat and movement, but there's nothing quite as refreshing as drying yourself off after a shower with a fresh, clean sheet of cotton sandpaper!

sk eats...Ribs Pizza

Pizza places in Korea are strange.  Period.  They offer the standard pizzas such as cheese, pepperoni and combination, but even those come with added Korean flare.  For example, it is just understood that those three always come with sweet corn on them, which is awesome!  Things get much less awesome when you venture into the 'new' or 'seasonal' menus...  

The toppings on these pizzas can be anything the chef dreams up.  We mean anything.  Some honorable mentions include, rice cakes, chicken wings, waffle fries, mashed sweet potatoes, steamed pumpkin, mussels (in the shell), unpeeled shrimp, potato wedges and pasta to list a few.  It sometimes seems as if the Korean pizza chefs eavesdropped on a room full of potheads, hungry and stoned out of their minds.  It's pretty amazing what they dream up!

One of our favorites, that was widespread and heavily advertised, was Ribs Pizza.  It was a 'standard' cheese pizza topped with one or two pork ribs per slice.  They marketed it as a great pizza innovation, showing how regular pizza only required one hand to eat where as Ribs Pizza ingeniously utilized both hands (as if that was a concern people had when eating pizza).  We discussed the merits and flaws of ribs on pizza for a while, until we finally worked up the courage (or the hangover) to try it ourselves. 

Pizza School's Ribs Pizza

Mmmm, bones and questionable bits of meat on pizza...a tasty addition!

As imagined, the verdict was:  Not so good.  The meal was essentially just a cheese pizza with a side order of ribs, only they didn't come on the side.  Since they had to be eaten separately, there was absolutely no point for them to be on the pizza in the first place.  Needless to say, that was our one and only Ribs Pizza, but we commend their adventuresome spirit!