“This blog is not an official site of the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of myself and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.”
Okay, this post is a bit discombobulated. Reflecting exactly how I feel right now.
--------------
In 2016, the South Korean blockbuster zombie apocalypse movie of the century hit 'Train to Busan,' starring the dreamy actor Gong Yoo, premiered in theaters. I'm not too fond of scary movies, so I will not get into the details of the movie. A father takes his daughter to Busan via bullet train (South Korea's KTX train), and a zombie infestation breaks out. The best part of the movie is Gong Yoo fighting off zombies and being an absolute DADDY (interpret as you may).
I had my little Train to Busan experience minus the zombies. Although, I felt like a zombie by the end of the trip.
My Train to Busan
On August 31st, I left my small quarantine studio room in Incheon and began my journey to Busan. From Incheon, I took a long and quiet taxi ride to Seoul Station to catch my Train to Busan (sorry, I find pleasure in saying Train to Busan. Oops, I said it again). It was about 80 degrees and 10000% humidity. My driver dropped me off on the opposite side of the train station, forcing me to lug two 50lbs suitcases, one 30lb carry-on case, and a 25lbs backpack. By the time I got to the gate, I was dripping with sweat and trying to find every possible way to hide my armpit stains and body odor. South Korean's have some superpower - they don't have body odor nor sweat through their clothes.
Standing in a pool of my sweat, a kind old fellow with a thing that the mailman uses to carry heavy boxes walked up to me and offered to carry my luggage to my platform. I protested against his help. He did not listen as he continued to take my bags. I know this game. He expects me to pay for his kindness. As he took my bags, I followed him to my platform while looking at people around me to send them a telepathic signal of "IS THIS ALLOWED??? WHAT IS HAPPENING?? SOMEONE HELP??" At the platform, my knight in shining armor came up to the older man and me. He said he was an employee of KTX and told the older man this type of luggage carrying service is not allowed. I sigh with relief, and the older man gives me my bags and walks away.
It's not over. The train comes 15 minutes later as well as the older man. The train doors open, he grabs my bags and begins loading them onto the train. "Sir...please stop, hajimaseyo." He doesn't stop. I quietly say thank you and walk to my seat where I frantically dry my sweat at my seat and mask the BO (TMI: it involved hand sanitizer).
The Train to Busan travels approximately 190 mph and takes 2.5 hours. By the time we arrived, I finally dried off and was ready to go through the sweaty process all over again. So, once again, I lugged my cases across Busan Central Station to catch a taxi to my new studio room.
Nam-gu, Daeyeon-dong One-Room
Dr. Ju Hyun-hee (Ju Baksanim), a researcher at my host institution, is my savior. Two weeks before arriving in Busan, she took time out of her busy schedule, in a rainstorm, to find a studio room for me. She found a fantastic one-room apartment in the center of a busy neighborhood. Dr. Ju made sure the apartment was clean, safe, and functional. She organized the housing contract and placed the deposit and the first month's rent since international bank transfers can be a headache for landlords.
I do not want to shock you. South Korea's housing system is extremely different from the U.S., and I do not understand its reasoning. Housing deposits are extremely high, and rents are low. My deposit was 5,000,000 KRW ($4,300) and rent is 450,000 KRW ($380). The rent is a steal. The deposit not so much. Much thanks to my grandmother, who helped me put down the deposit because that would have been a struggle.
My one-room is very similar to the one in Incheon. I have a kitchenette, wet bathroom, bed, and TV. My parents and friends think it is way too small, but I think it is perfect. It does not take a lot of time to clean. I also should not be couped up in my room while I am here. Speaking about cleaning, I have to learn how to clean and do laundry again. Not in the I-have-not-cleaned-in-a-long-time way, more like this-country-has-different-products-and-trash-rules way. Since the bathroom is a wet room, it gets smelly, real fast. Every day, I have to spray bleach down the drains to hide the smells. Also, South Korea has strict waste management laws to sort your trash, food waste, plastics, papers, and bottles. It's a learning curve.
The main thing I learned in South Korea is that Daiso (a cheap store from Japan) is your best friend. I spent well over $200 on plates, bowls, utensils, cleaning products, and other house goods. And since I didn't have a car nor extra hands, I walked back and forth between my apartment and Daiso with my purchases about five times a day.
Back to Zoom University - Language Class Edition
For four hours per day (9:00-13:00), five days per week for the next ten or so weeks, I take an intensive Korean language class at Pukyong National University. My class comprises fifteen students from Japan, China, Singapore, Mongolia, Myanmar, Russia, Morrocco, Lithuania, Belgium, and me, the American. We are all in Korea to learn Korean for work, school, side hobbies, romantic relationships, and friendships.
Growing up in Monterey, I am used to meeting people from all over the world and exchanging ideas and languages. But I have never encountered a person around my age from Russia. After one of our classes, I invited the Russian student out for drinks and food. I thought I would get along with her because (1) based on stereotypes, Russians like to drink, and (2) she was comfortable with speaking in English. My assumptions were correct. However, there were a lot of things that I did not consider. First, I realized the history that she learned in school is on opposite ends from me. In Russia, they celebrate the taking of East Germany, while in the US, we celebrate the fall of East Germany. Second, it set in that our exposure to world news is very different. Our views of Eastern European countries and the Russian government could not diverge more. And, despite our different histories, I enjoyed learning about how she saw the world. It is fascinating.
I also became friends with the Chinese, Morrocan, and Russian students within my class. A week ago, I went to a cafe with the student from China and Morroco. The Morrocan student knows English, but the Chinese student does not. So there we were, the three of us speaking a mix of broken Korean and English. It was a sight to see.
Since the course is over Zoom, it is quite a pain in the derriere. I do have a few complaints. The program has strict rules about keeping our cameras and microphones off and has little to no tolerance for background noises. We are expected to work in a private room with no distractions, which is unrealistic for those who live in the dorms, work in an office, or do not have a functional work area. If we do not turn our microphones within less than a millisecond of the teacher calling out our name to answer a question, they will call our name over and over again until we find out how to turn our microphones. For example, "Eliya-shi, please answer. Eliya-shi, Eliya-shi, Eliya-shi, Eliya-shi." You get the point. It is annoying and infantilizing. Some students take longer to think, and so the longer they think in silence, the more familiar we become with their name. "David-shi, David-shi, David-shi."
Most of the students are on D-4 student visas, meaning that their visa is dependent on if they pass the language class or not. I am on a special government-type visa where my stay is not dependent on my grades. Thus, I am not worried about my grades on exams or tests. My goal from the class was to improve my listening comprehension and speaking skills (unfortunately, it is mainly focused on grammar). I wanted to see what I could retain from the class with minimal studying outside of class hours. And since I am at work every day until 7:00 pm, I do not have time to do homework or study for exams. I have other responsibilities associated with my Fulbright, like research, cultural exchanges, and general immersion.
Sometimes I regret enrolling in the course. However, I think being in the environment of a language course will help me in some way or another. I guess I'll suck it up for the ten weeks.
South Korean Cafe Culture
South Korean coffee shops are elite. They are made for those cute Instagram pics of studying or hanging out with your friends (or lover). There are garden cafes, ultra-modern sleek cafes, warm and cozy cafes, and artsy-fartsy cafes. They are truly the best place to sit on your laptop and watch people. I think my new hobby, not that it wasn't before, is to watch people. It is pretty amusing. You see boyfriend's taking photos of their girlfriends at every possible angle imagined. You see women fixing their makeup for 15 minutes. You see folks taking numerous selfies of themselves. Should I be doing this too? Naw.
General Life in Busan - Food Edition
I could talk about how the streets of Busan smells like rotten eggs, cigarette butts scattered through the streets, or how there are trash bags on every corner of this city. But I'll spare you the details and show you pictures of food. Going from left to right, and from top to bottom:
1. Milmyeon is a local Busan dish similar to bi bim myeon - cold buckwheat noodles with gochujang, vinegar, mustard, and some other goodies.
2. Banchan are the side dishes. It is cheap to buy many banchan and mix them with rice and egg (aka bibimbap).
3. Jjajjangmyeon is a Korean take on Chinese black bean noodles
4. Salmon over rice
5. Yuk gae jang, my favorite soup in the world. It is a spicy beef soup filled with vegetables.
6. Samgyupsal, aka pork belly.
That's it. It is now harder to compile my experiences since I am very busy with work and school.
I will speak more about working at the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology in my next post. There is a lot to cover. For now, I am logging off to enjoy Chuseok, i.e., the Korean Thanksgiving/Fall Harvest Festival. I will be participating in Chuseok festivities with the family of a friend of a friend.