Chuseok and Other Delights

Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) is one of the two most important holidays for Koreans (the other being the Lunar New Year).  Because of this significance, schools are closed for three days in addition to the weekend.  So, barely a week after beginning my job, I had five days of complete freedom from work.  I had no one to answer to but myself. 

Happy Chuseok!

I welcomed the break from work, but I did feel lonely.  In spite of being very self-assured and loving to spend quality time in my own company, I am incredibly social.

I love people.

And listening to my students and colleagues discuss Chuseok plans made me a little melancholy.  Furthermore, knowing that there are many places around Korea and Asia that I want to visit, I felt like this long holiday was a wasted opportunity for travel.  I simply didn’t have enough time in advance or money or energy to do a trip now... but I didn’t want to be bored or alone, either.

Anyway, after my landlord left my flat I met Soo for dinner.  She had just begun at her new job and, I learned over our meal, now only gets one day off every week.  Because of Chuseok, she would get two days off but, unfortunately, wouldn't have time to visit her grandfather in Seoul so would remain in Ulsan.  And that's how girl's night Chuseok plans just fell into my lap.  Soo invited me to come over on Sunday for a pajama party with rice cakes and K-Dramas and girl talk.  Perfect.

The following morning (Saturday), I wanted to get out of Daun-dong so I took a bus to Samsan-dong.  Morning in Korea is evening in Minnesota so it's a good time to call home.  I stepped off the bus and was in the process of dialing my friend Deirdre (who, among other reasons for being awesome, gave birth to my godson) when a young Korean guy came up to me and said “It’s nice to meet you.”  (This is the second time a Korean guy has started a conversation with me with this line).  Anyway, he expressed an interest in speaking to me.  Since Deirdre had just answered I told the guy to write down his number, and said I’d text him...  I probably won't, though.  I am a waygook so I don’t know if he genuinely wanted to practice his English with me or if he was the kind of person I had been warned about: someone who was simply hoping to “ride the white horse,” as they say here in Korea.  (Sorry but I'm not that lonely, oppa...).

I spent most of the day in Samsan-dong and returned to Daun-dong in the evening.  I spent the remainder of Saturday leeching off the wifi at Paris Baguette and downloading Korean movies.  On Sunday, I spent much of the day reading my books.  I finished the first novel early on Sunday and was already 60 pages into Ender’s Game when Soo called and told me she’d meet me outside of my flat.  We went out for Korean barbecue at a little hole in the wall place halfway between my school and her home.  (I am really beginning to love Korean cuisine).

Soo and her family live on the 13th floor of a massive apartment complex a short walk from my school.  Her parents and brother (who had also stayed in Ulsan for Chuseok) were out when we arrived after supper so we had dibs on the TV.  Soo’s TV had a wide selection of both Korean and English-language movies, but I insisted that it was okay to watch something in Korean without English subtitles.  (I am trying to immerse myself in Korean language and culture, after all).

In Songnam-dong

In the end, we watched a typical Korean drama.  I may have been more emotionally invested had I not been so exhausted, but by the end of it I was just waiting for the credits to roll.  (The plot involved a stormy romance punctuated with fainting scenes, dramatic music, and weeping.  After what felt like a very long time, Female Lead is diagnosed with early-onset dementia, her married ex-lover reenters picture and the confused Female Lead thinks she is still with him.  Husband enters scene and beats the crap out of ex-lover.  Female Lead eventually goes to a care facility and much crying ensues.  Husband visits Female Lead in nursing home... and at the very end there’s some scene with them holding each other in a boat?).

Anyway, Soo got really into the movie and cried during all the sad parts.  Anyone who has known me long knows that I, too, get into films and cry my eyes out.  However, I think the combination of fatigue and my lack of Korean skills prevented me from investing in the characters.  Also, my sense of humor could have easily manifested as a snarky commentary of the melodramatic plot points but I held it back because, I've learned, humor is very difficult to translate.

The following day, Soo and I spent a lazy morning and afternoon around her home.  We watched another drama (this one American) which was even more difficult to take seriously than the Korean movie we'd watched the night before.  (It involved a serial killer whose only witness conveniently lost the ability to recognize faces).  Around 5:00, we finally left the apartment and caught a bus to Songnam-dong, a charming district of Ulsan I had not yet visited.

Bibimbap

After a full meal of sushi and bibimbap, Soo brought me to a beautiful park where we spent the next several hours.  The humidity surplus from monsoon season seems to have finally fled and the evening air was lovely.  The moon was also quite full and bright; my camera even managed to capture some of its beauty.

Songnam-dong has a good amount of shopping areas, too.  After leaving the park, Soo showed me around several of the shops (which were quite crowded; apparently shopping is a popular Chuseok activity) I finally bought some house slippers for my flat.  (I'll elaborate more on this later, but slippers are a necessity in Korea.  MT was shocked when came with me to my flat and I failed to immediately remove my shoes at the door).

I said goodbye to Soo when I exited the bus back in Daun-dong.  I was a little wary of my empty flat with images of the serial killer movie fresh in my mind, but thankfully the movie was so poorly executed that I didn’t feel scared in the dark.  (I mean, they called the serial killer “Tearjerk Jack.” How can I feel anything but a deep urge to mock that stupid name?).

I spent the next two days reading my novels and pretending to lesson plan at Paris Baguette (truthfully, I was downloading multiple episodes of a K-Drama that has rapidly become my new obsession).  On Wednesday evening, I lesson planned in earnest and managed to produce something cohesive and effective for my classes.  I returned to school on Thursday with the feeling that my holiday had been well-spent after all.