So, you should make sure that you read this one...

Yesterday, as I was coming home from my private lesson, I heard the jarring classical music that signifies an incoming train.  It seems so awkward in Centum City--something so fancy and beautiful playing is the everlasting construction of the subway stop.

Anyway, so, I hear this music right as I swipe my pass card and head toward the down escalator. I see an old Korean man right in front of me also get on the escalator, knowing full well that he will ride the whole thing with complete disregard to my haste of catching this train.

"Ugggghhhh, Ajushi*!" I mutter under my breath (maybe a little too loudly).  I held out the "shiiiiiiii" part as a child might while whining for new roller blades in the middle of Wal-Mart in a "but, Mooooooom" sort of way.

We get to the bottom of the escalator to find that my haste was unnecessary, as the music was for the train going the opposite way.

The ajushi turns to me, and panic boils inside of me, manifesting itself in thoughts like, "Oh, crap, now I am going to be yelled at in Korean AGAIN for inappropriate subway behavior" (the other being talking one the train).

Instead, with a huge smile, he turns and says, "Where you from?"

Excited and proud to use one of the five Korean phrases I know, I said, "Cheonan mi-gook sarem imnida.*"

He quizzically looked at me, and said, "What?  I am from Ohio."

#facepalm

*ajushi- term of endearment for an elderly man meaning grandfather or uncle
* Cheonan mi-gook sarem imnida- I am from the United States.

So, if you go to Korea this is what you might find

Markets.  Everywhere.  I walk into my local market Jwadong Market in Jangsan.  The writhing eels tangle and twist in their nets.  Just a quivering mass of future suppers.  The heat steams off of the pots cooking something or other with red chili paste.  And my garlic woman, crouches and shucks clove after clove of garlic.  I walk towards her.  By now, she knows me.  We do not speak a word. I press 3,000 won into her hand, and I hope it says enough.  I stroll among the labyrinth to calls of, "Pretty Lady want strawberries?" Or something of that nature.  The leafy greens stand baffles me.  Never have I ever seen such a wide variety of produce with which I was unfamiliar.  I quickly walk away, afraid of my own ignorance.  That's sort of how I live here, "Oh, I have no idea what this is? I'm going to remove myself from the situation."  It is like the fight or flight of foreign produce.  Which, is a little ridiculous to say, because the produce isn't foreign, I am .  I keep this in a pocket of my mind as I continue with this big life adventure.

You will also find nice people everywhere.  When people on the subway are not gawking at the far too loud way-gooks (foreigners...and frankly, we bring it on ourselves), most people are incredibly nice. Today, on my way to the bathroom (we'll discuss my pee anxiety later), a teacher stopped me as I was entering a stall, and asked if I liked juice.  A little baffled, I said, "Yes?"  "Okay, okay, come.  Oh, after bathroom, come to my room."  So, I went to her room and in the break time between classes, she set up some juice and biscuits (crackers and/gingerbread) for us to share.  It was such an extremely kind gesture.  Even in the hustle of ten-minute breaks when I have to make copies, get coffee and fill up my water bottle, I realize that you need to take time to enjoy a cup of juice with crackers.

There is also a legion of gentlemen who play soccer on the beach.  It is pretty evident that they do nothing with their life but work out so that their muscles have muscles.  Then, they don the tiniest possible speedo they can find, oil themselves up, and run amuck.  Never have I ever seen so much man thigh or tookus (tuchus?). I mean, yes, I can enjoy an incredibly ripped Adonis as much as the next girl, but really, it is so not necessary to see all of that. Jeez.

I think the biggest culture shock I've had is the industriousness with which Koreans build stuff.  Now, I am from America, a rather slothly country.  Moreover, I am from Wisconsin, which means that there is construction on the same building, highway, stretch of road for months on end.  Speaking of which, is HWY 41 done yet?  Criminy.  Last week, I walked home and there was a really fancy hibachi restaurant.  I thought to myself, "Self, I would really like to eat there soon." The next day as I walked home, they had gutted the restaurant, at which point I thought to myself, "Self, I no longer would like to eat there soon."  And not 72 hours later, a golf and luxury clothing store was built and opened for business.  I had never seen anything like it.  It was like watching one of those flip books where the knight or bold peasant woman fights the dragon to reach the princess at the top of the tower, each scene meticulously drawn in the corner of a bespeckled composition notebook.   No, just me?  Anyway, but it was real life.  These men were working so ferociously, that I sidestepped out of the way to keep from becoming a part of the plastered wall.

You will also find some of the greatest people you will ever meet.  Often times, they are like minded, which is always a bonus, but sometimes you'll get a head to head confrontation, which is almost as fun.  But, the ex-pats are friendly, and we all have shared similar experiences that make us uniquely ex-pats in Busan, South Korea.  I have found friends that travel 90 minutes on a rickety bus to comfort me when I am hurting.  I have found friends who will keep their word when they lose a drinking bet.  I have found friends whom I will never, ever forget.  No matter how far the miles seem between us, we will always share this one time in this one place.

So, I am a pretty giant slacker

But, this is why.  Last week my goal was to write an adorable and plausible superhero story involving my good friends', Natalie and Erik, son Brenden and my mother's lovable albeit mischievous cat Brendan.  I am deluded thinking that I have a tone and a voice appropriate for a child bedtime stories, which is why I would like to live in close proximately to my BFF so that my future children can revel in the phenomenal stories of modern day minstrel Catherine Claire.   So, friends, that is forthcoming.

Now, as some of you may have crept on my profile already, last week I went hiking with some friends just north of the city.  It was by far one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had for several reasons.  I am way more out of shape than I had anticipated.  Andrew "The Face of Northface" and Ver "Holy Crap, is your Body Really Supposed to Do That" from Sweden were tearing up the trail, while I meagerly stumbled behind in hopes that maybe someday I can run up a mountain, do some flips, and land on top of a massive rock pile.  Anyway, Sunday was not that day.  However, I did have a lot of fun.  We got to the top of one of the peaks, and stretched out.  We had a wee picnic, and then proceeded to do some yoga.

As I was snapping pictures like a crazy fool, I tried to capture the constant sense of awe that surrounded me. I don't particularly care for public online forums to express the views of one religion over another, but I do know that while I was on that mountain looking down at the city and riverbed sprawling beneath me, there was a moment of "there has to be something more."  My "something more" may be different than your "something more," and that's okay.  But the beauty of this place astonished and humbled me.  The sky held the earth as a mother hugs her child.  The colors- a vibrant cerulean- faded into a misty array of questions that may never be answered.  The serenity I felt in this place was like a firefly blinking in the summer dusk.  It was amazing.

We continued upwards and found several rock piles to scramble up.  Not to be outdone by Andrew "The Face of Northface" and Ver "Holy Crap, is your Body Really Supposed to Do That" from Sweden, I scuttled after them in vain attempts to "be cool."  That being said, I never learn.  In seventh grade, I went on a ski trip to Lake Geneva ski resort.  Colin Wiesner went down a double black diamond so, obviously I did, too.  I ended up in the hospital with a compound fracture and three pins in my arm.  So, that was neat.  Luckily, I had no issues this past hiking trip, but I think someday I will need to realize that some people can do things I can't.  And, I will have to live with that.  But, today is not that day.

Moving on.  I have gone to several Korean league basketball games.  I have better ball handling skills than some of these gentlemen.  Now, if you knew me between the ages of 7 and 14, you will know that I have pretty shitty ball handling skills, and that is saying something.  I think it is customary to take at least two steps before you start dribbling here.  But, no matter, James, my co-teacher, asked if I could be a ref for the games that he and his buddies play.  Hopefully, with my remarkable whistle skills and acute attention to detail, my friends will be playing excellent basketball. :)

My first encounter with the Jagalchi fish market was not positive.  Please, sir, do not bring your dead fish purchases onto the subway and sit next to me.  I might vomit on your shoes.  Or think about vomiting on your shoes.  Either way, get the hell away from me.

That being said, I joined a writing group.  It will be fun.  We have everything from a novel about a sort of cult, to a romance novel, to my petty attempts of what I think poetry is.  There is a slam poetry night in two weeks.  I have my poem picked out, now I just have to practice.  I am also auditioning for "Much Ado About Nothing" next week.  So, I might be a Busy Betty in the  near future.

I think I might go nap on my co-teachers couch....Bazinga.