KOREA Day 75

Sat, July 11, 2009 at 2:10am

This week went by very fast.

Monica and I traveled to Beomgye for lunch and shopping on Tuesday. I had, what turned out to be a pretty good hamburger at a small second floor restaurant featuring a classic combination of burgers and pasta. Other than a bad experience at the Korean fast food chain Lotteria and one visit to McDonald's, this was the first hamburger I have eaten in Korea, and I will most likely return again soon. In preparation for next weekend's camping trip, I have been searching for a tent, and Monica humored my boyish enthusiasm as we searched the sporting good sections of the town's department stores. So far, I have located three tents that are fit for backpacking and range in price between 65,000 - 300,000 Won. Unless I find something else, I will most likely be returning to purchase the 65,000 Won tent.

It is monsoon season here in Korea, and Thursday brought pouring rain and high winds to the Seoul area. Earlier this week, Busan (port city at the Southeastern tip of the Korean peninsula) suffered torrential rains and mass flooding. I was told by students that Thursday was record rainfall in Seoul, which made my trip to the Sanbon Library most unpleasant. Since I now have an umbrella (gift from student Geon-Woo), I was actually dry when I boarded the number 3-1 bus. Five minutes later when I got off the bus, the rain had intensified and the wind had increased significantly. It was so ferocious that it was raining sideways and my pants were completely soaked within the first 30 seconds after the bus. Not much fun with wet pants and only four children in attendance. Apparently, Korean children are smarter than I and stay home when it rains like this. After a quick thirty minutes with the children, I met Korean friend Gemma on the second floor of the library for coffee and some Hangul tutoring. Pardon the pun, but this was, perhaps, some added sunshine to an otherwise cloudy day.

Friday afternoon was my second visit to the Sanbon jimjaebang, only this time I spent an additional 30,000 Won for the exfoliation scrub and Chinese massage. Since Koreans are always bragging about the exfoliation scrub, I figured I should give it a try. Both the massage and exfoliation scrub are performed by a Chinese man named Tony, wearing nothing but a tight fitting leopard print bathing suit. No joke and most awkward! First of all, as you may remember from my first visit to jimjaebang, you are completely nude in the spa and when laying on the massage table. The exfoliation scrub was a little uncomfortable, to say the least, as I lay flat on the table and Tony peeled away my epidermal layer of skin using a coarse sponge. He is careful, however, to avoid the genitals. Immediately following the removal of my top layer of skin, he applied a lotion and began the deep tissue massage. Translation: he beat the living piss out of me for almost an hour, driving his fists and elbows into my back, and slapping me repeatedly. It was painful, it was not at all relaxing, and I am uncertain why I paid money for this.

In approximately three hours, Tiann and I depart for Boryeong and the much anticipated Mud Fest 2009. I am most excited for this trip, and my first opportunity to leave Gyeonggi Province (metro Seoul area). On Wednesday, good friend B.H. took me to Suwon to purchase train tickets for the trip and to walk me through the Suwon Train Station so we do not get lost Saturday and Sunday when traveling. He also assisted me by researching train schedules, availability, and ticket pricing. The Mud Festival is so popular with foreigners, that our only two options for Saturday transportation were a 6am train or 12:15pm train leaving Suwon, which is approximately 30 minutes travel time from Sanbon. The train ride to Daecheon Station is just over 2 hours, followed by a 15 minute bus ride to the beach at Boryeong. Because of this, we opted for the 6am train and an estimated arrival time in Boryeong around 8:30am. Cost of round trip ticket: only 21,000 Won. B.H. has also offered to drive us to Suwon to help save time and ensure we do not miss our train. His friendship is, perhaps, my greatest asset here in Korea and I am incredibly thankful for everything he does to assist me. Without this, my time in Korea would be

Time for some much needed sleep. Have a nice weekend and Think MUD!!

Tonsillitis Day 6

Thurs, June 4, 2009 at 11:50pm

Thursday: I slept roughly 10 hours last night, from 1230-1030am. Much needed and much deserved. I awoke with a slightly sore throat that quickly went away after I spent 30 minutes or so flushing the mucus buildup out of my system. Once again, sorry to be so graphic, but the good news is I continue to feel better.

After breakfast, I headed to the Jim Jae Bang (Korean sauna) to help sweat this evilness from my system. Since today was my first Jim Jae Bang experience, I will share with you some observations. First of all, it's located in the basement below the subway station, so it's only a two block walk from my apartment. Cost of admission is 7,000 Won, which includes shoe locker (located outside Men's locker room) and large clothes locker (located inside Men's locker room). At this rate, you may stay as long as you like, and it is open 24 hours. Apparently, many people will relax and sleep here after the bars late at night when the subway stops running (12am-6am), though I was told price may increase to 9,000 Won during these hours.

Inside the Men's locker room are standard accommodations found in any upscale Men's health club; television, snack bar, barber shop, plenty of fresh towels, etc. Beyond the locker room is the actual sauna; a large tile room filled with many stand up and sit down showers to the left, massage tables and lounge chairs to the right, three steam rooms, and seven water filled pools. It is customary to shower upon entering the room and before using any of the saunas or pools. Each steam room varies in temperature from 58C - 100C (136F - 212F). I spent maybe ten minutes in the 58C room, laying flat on the stone bench, before retreating to the cooler waters of one of the pools. Since everything is written in Korean, I could not determine the difference between the many pools, other than the noticeable temperature. Two of the pools, however, had a noticeable fragrance added to them, perhaps eucalyptus or lavender water? Not sure, but I managed to sample them all. Each of the pools was warm, except one, that was chilled. This, I later learned, is for cleansing yourself after the warmer waters or sauna experience. Apparently, it's good for your skin pores to open and close repeatedly to help flush out dirt and remove toxins. There are coarse wash towels provided next to the stand up and sit down showers. This, obviously, is to help exfoliate the skin. The sit down showers have a small plastic stool and it's just like it sounds, you sit your ass down and wash yourself. Nothing glamorous.

So after two hours spent relaxing in the sauna, I emerged feeling refreshed and invigorated. Honestly, and in spite of the close proximity to twenty naked Korean men, I felt extremely clean and healthy leaving the Jim Jil Bang. A tremendous bargain for 7,000 Won, and any time of day, in my opinion.

Thursday evening I resumed teaching. My voice has returned for the most part, a little husky at times, but I am pleased to be back in action. I taught two classes this evening and got to know the two new students in my Business English class. I was curious to learn the school brought in a substitute teacher yesterday to handle my classes. Apparently, he was/is an American named Tony? I didn't know American ESL teachers worked on standby or substitute taught in Korea, but it's good to know this service is available if needed.

After overcoming my first Korean sickness, I am left with the following thoughts on what may have caused the evil tonsillitis: 1) not enough sleep last week or unhealthy sleep schedule, 2) unsanitary Korean dining practices, 3) kissing strange women in a foreign land, 4) or perhaps iron deficiency? Tiann actually mentioned the iron deficiency in serious discussion last weekend (prior to diagnosis), after I mentioned I felt I had a strong immune system because I exercised regularly and took Vitamin C tablets. He said that is not good enough without healthy iron consumption. Now I am not a dietitian, and normally, I would consider this not to be relevant to my dietary habits, except I have eaten beef only 2-3 times in 5 weeks spent in Korea, because I mostly eat pork. So, he may have a point, and I should probably eat more red meat or consider iron supplements if my diet is to remain the same. As for the other possible causes, well, there's not much I can do about this, other than try for more sleep each night..