Green Skin Day-Anti Racism Awareness Campaign KOREA

~ONE HUMAN RACE~

This initiative was someone's idea, but it isn't owned by anyone. It embraces ideals that have been a part of humanity for many years. It is our collective responsibility to be infectious agents- 

spreading the virus far and wide!

By any (legal) means necessary.

So, get your thinking caps on. Get your ideas rolling. Implement them. Take pictures.or record them on video. Upload them...or not. The point is that we get moving. Don't wait for permission from anyone.

The idea is ours, TOGETHER, to infect every human being with the virus of non-racism. 

It can be done!

For More Details:

Please join the Facebook Group  or email green.skins@hotmail.com !

“Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away, and that in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.” -MLK Jr.

Be proud! Love all! Be GREEN! 

Lekker Braai!

Last weekend, in honor of the upcoming World Cup in South Africa, I went to my very first braai and had a blast! My South African friends are extremely fun-loving and laid-back, and the same vibe could be felt throughout the braai. Everyone was there to have a great time and celebrate the South African culture with which I have completely fallen in love. Seriously, all things South African (food, music, dancing, Afrikaans, history, etc) have become my latest obsessions. 

"When I get older, I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag"

The smell of all the food on the grills was incredible!

Droëwors...Dit is baie lekker!

(And no, it is not giraffe meat. It is dried beef and pork)

The meat on the T-bone steaks literally fell right off the bone. 

Boerewors (sausage) and Sarmies (sandwiches)!

We were supposed to dress in South African attire, but seeing as it was a Pre-World Cup event, and I already had my Korean football jersey and accessories, I went with Korean clothing on my body, South African tatoos on my face, and America in my heart:)

This was actually a difficult decision for me because it meant saying "NO" to shopping for a new outfit, and the SA Chucks were calling my name! 

The world cup kicks off in SA in three days! My friends Erik and Holly are there now, and I'm extremely jealous. I've only become a "football" fan since moving to Korea, and since I have actually been to a few Korean National games (and, hello, I live here), I will be cheering for BOTH Korea and the USA. Yes, I know Korea has a current ranking of 47, while the US is at 14, but I vow to support them both equally. Plus, I can't seem to chant "Dae Han Min Guk!" often enough. 

This weekend some friends and I are saying goodbye to our friend, Graham, who is returning to England for a bit, by watching England and the USA go head to head.  
Get ready...THE YANKS ARE COMING!

Paradise in a Pancho Part Dugae

"If one cannot catch a bird of paradise, better take a wet hen."
Nikita Khrushchev 


And THAT, my friends, is exactly what we did! Now, grab your pancho, and let's go...

SWIRI HILL

Named after the Korean blockbuster, Swiri, Swiri Hill, even in the sporadic rain drizzles, was a great place to start the day by looking out over Jungmun beach and watching the surfers below. We also re-enacted the last scene of the movie. I take my acting very seriously, and as you can see in the picture above, we nailed it. NAAAIIIIIILED IT!

SANBANGSAN MOUNTAIN

Though I hate hiking, the hike up to Sanbanggulsa Grotto was very nice. It is a Buddhist temple inside a cave with a spectacular view of the ocean.

Here is a cool. fact: Sanbangsan Mountain is the only mountain on the island without a crater on its top. Legend has it that a god in a fit of rage ripped off the top of Hallasan Mountain , which created Sangbangsan Mountain. And it does look like it could fit right into the crater atop Hallasan Mountain.

In actuality, it is a huge mound of lava that was created by a volcano 800,000 years ago.

CHOCOLATE MUSEUM

It is the only chocolate museum in Asia, and it is also the WORST museum in Asia. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME. I repeat, DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME. Don't be lured in like Diana and I were by the word "chocolate." The exterior is very impressive, but it's a stupid, stupid, stupid museum, which makes no sense, except for the one small area in which one can look through a window and see the chocolate being made.

I was hoping for something a bit more interactive, like the Fudgery at the Riverwalk in New Orleans, but no such luck.

The rest of the museum looks like this:

Please don't assume that ANY of the above items are made of or associated with chocolate in any way, not even the flying pterodactyl or Pirates of the Caribbean lunch box. I swear, I felt like I was at a really bad antique store or garage sale in middle-of-nowhere America.

Again, DON'T GO! I can tell you're considering it, but don't do it to yourself! You may never recover from the sheer stupidity of the environment. Did I mention it's a stupid, stupid, stupid museum???

MINIATURE THEME PARK
I like to refer to the Miniature Theme Park as the Korean Epcot. I don't highly recommend going, unless you have children or just have time to kill, but it was a unique place to act silly, and that is always right up my alley.

LOVE LAND

It's against the law to visit Jeju-do without a quick visit to Love Land.  It was absolutely hilarious, even more so because Koreans are so conservative. Unfortunately, we went during the last leg of our Jeju journey, and I was completely exhausted and cranky. (Me? NEVER!) Plus, I had had all of the cold wind and rain I could stand, so I just took a few pics of the statues outside and did some browsing in the gift shop (aka adult novelties store). The art pieces at Love Land, though funny, are also very impressive. They were all designed and built by Hongik University (Hongdae) students.

Speaking of conservative Korea, I was completely shocked, no FLOORED, at the amount of ajumas and ajushis at Love Land! I thought they would find it offensive and embarrassing, but they were having as much fun as the younger visitors. (you must be 18 to enter)

Scandalous news of the day: A Love Land in China was built then immediately demolished before its opening last year.

Alas, all good things must come to an end, but don't worry, Jeju-do, I'll be back one day.

Back off! I'm on vacation!

For those of you keeping up with the ongoings in my life, I'm practically over my fear of flying. I attribute it to 15 months of riding in Korean buses and taxis, which usually leaves me thinking "Arghhhhh! I'd feel much safer at 35,000 feet!"

Anyway, last Friday I woke up super early and headed to the local bus station to catch a bus to Busan, from which I would be hopping on a flight to Jeju-do. (Quick fact: "do" means "island). Guess what? I was not nervous one bit!

It was early, I was tired, and DAMMIT it was the start of  my vacation. So I grabbed a cappuccino and bag of potato chips from the bus convenience store (weren't many options) and sat on a bench to wait for my bus. THEN an ajosshi (older man) walked up to me, pointed to the potato chips, and grabbed the fat on my arms! I started yelling at him by saying "HAJIMA! HAJIMA!" (Don't do that!) He just started laughing, so I stood up, dumped the entire bag of potato chips on him, flipped him off, and burst into tears. His wife came up to me and apologized and tried to calm me down, but I just walked off. Which is for the best because I probably would have scratched his eyes out.

Now, I in no way support abuse of the elderly, but I came close to getting into an all out brawl with a grandfather. Call me fat, but do NOT touch me! I don't care if it is your culture, and you have no boundaries. But it's situations like this that has resulted in Korea having the highest suicide rate in the world. Constantly pointing out others' flaws, does not encourage change and self-improvement. It encourages self-hatred and impossible goals.

Earlier in the semester, my college employers deemed me too fat for brochure pictures and a student informed me that my nickname was "Pig Teacher." The student was completed baffled when I got upset and demanded an apology letter, which basically ended up being an apology wrapped in shit, but at least the apology was included in the letter.

In Korea it is common to jokingly call overweight people "pig," but he would not have said those words to one of his Korean professors. Maybe I just did not notice it before, but there seems to be more racism and bigotry in this area of Korea. I'm trying to remain positive. Life is hard, and I cannot please everyone, but this country is really beginning to take its toll on me.

TAKE NOTE KOREA: "Ugly. Is irrelevant. It is an immeasurable insult to a woman, and then supposedly the worst crime you can commit as a woman. But ugly, as beautiful, is an illusion."
Margaret Cho 


I cried the entire 2 1/2 hours on the bus to Busan but eventually pulled myself together and reminded myself that I was only hurting because I ALLOWED the old man, student, etc. to hurt me. I have control over my emotions and my happiness. ME! NO ONE ELSE!

Fortunately, I love my job. It's hard to beat less than 20 hours of teaching per week and 40 days paid vacation. Plus, I have seen so much improvement in my students, and I am very proud of them. Will I remain in Korea for a third year? Only time will tell, but it would be nice to finally move to Prague next year. All I know is that moving back to America will not be in the cards for a while. I want to see as much of the world as possible, and, at the moment, just thinking about the American education system makes my head hurt.

In closing, I don't hate Korea, and I have some wonderful Korean friends. I know that what I am experiencing is no different from what Koreans experience when moving to America. Racism and meanness are prevalent all over the world but so are love and acceptance.

Also, my weekend in Jeju-do was phenomenal and quite possibly my best Korean experience, so the bus terminal experience was quickly forgotten. Besides, who can be unhappy in paradise???

So here' to love, acceptance, and happiness!

"It's a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy."
Lucille Ball

Hampyeong Butterfly Festival

Last month, I went to the Hampyeong Butterfly Festival. It takes place each May in a beautiful, and I don't use the word "beautiful" lightly, park.

The festival is fairly new. It began in 1999, and it is easy to see that tons of money and time have been put into the presentation of the pristine festival area. It was the kind of pristine that I like to call "Disney" pristine.

(This is a butterfly emerging from its cocoon before my very eyes!)

So, my fellow Korean expats, next may, I hightly recommend making the trek down to the small farming town of Hampyeong in South Jeolla Province.

Other than the festival, there is not much to do in Hampyeong, so I opted to stay in a Hotel in Gwangju, which was an easy 30 minute bus ride from the festival.

Plus, I had never been to Gwangju, which is the sixth largest city in South Korea, and I wanted to check it off my "to see while in Korea list."

It was a great and relaxing weekend, during which I got to spend some "me" time. I love being social and traveling with others, but I most definitely prefer traveling alone sometimes. It's empowering and gives me a chance to have a flexible itinerary.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I'm not a planner. Too much structure and too many time restraints make me claustrophobic (But my neurotic ways could fill a whole different blog!). I like to wake up in the morning with no plans or responsibilities and just spend a day exploring, which is why for me, traveling alone is like a breath of fresh air.

And that is exactly what my weekend in Gwangju/Hampyeong was, a breath of fresh air.

"One travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more."
Thomas Jefferson