My coworkers and I went to a resort in Gangwon-do this weekend. We went to an herb garden, and boy isn't that a story. The Korean language always has vowels following consonants (consonant-vowel, consonant-vowel, etc.), whereas English doesn't necessarily follow that rule (beach, rabbit, etc). So when Koreans say English words that end in a consonant, they often put a vowel at the end out of habit and Korean pronunciation rules. Such is the case with the word "English," "Mart," or "Bridge." These words are often pronounced as "English-ee," "Mart-uu," and "Bridge-ee." The "uu" would be pronounced similar to "ew," but we don't have that sound in the English language, so not only is it difficult for me to say, it is also difficult for me to describe. My name is "Alee-suu," not "Alice." So what I'm getting at is that, instead of saying "herb" (Er-b) garden, I was told we were going to a "Her-buu" farm. This sounded to me like "Huver farm," Well, I had no idea what a Huver Farm was, and trying to figure it out just hurt my head, so like many things my coworkers and I do, I just went along with it.
We stopped at the "Huver Farm" and looked at all the beautiful flowers and scenery, all the while I was looking for the "Huver." At one point this nice lady selling jam asked my friend and I if we wanted a sample. So she put some jam on a piece of bread for us to try. It was delicious. So, I asked my coworker friend "Is this the Huver flower?" She asked the lady in Korean, and her response was "Peppermint." Still confused, and wondering what a Huver flower looked or tasted like, I just keep on with our tour. Back on the bus, I told Seunghee that I couldn't find the Huver flower, as all flowers and herbs had wooden posts with their names in front of the garden. I then asked her to spell the word for me, and she proceeded to spell "h-e-r-b." I had such an interetingly wonderful light-bulb moment where I felt like the biggest idiot in the world. It wasn't a "Huver Farm," but an "herb garden." Well, that make a whole lot more since to me.
After leaving the herb garden, we went to a galbee restaurant, where of course, the menu was pork. They usually have some kind of side dishes, which lucky for me, at least one of them was cabbage salad. After eating four bowls of cabbage salad, they brought out the rice and miso/tofu soup. I don't really even notice the spice most of the time anymore, but I'm sure it was there. Then we had cold acorn-jelly soup, and cold noodle soup. Cold noodle soup is quite popular in the summer time, and is also quite delicious. All of the noodles here are made from rice, which makes them smooth and easy on the digestion. Cold noodles usually have a vinegary-water base with hot sauce and some cucumber slivers with a chunk of ice thrown in.
Many, along with Seunghee, went back to Siheung after dinner because of appointments on Saturday. I was pretty bummed out because Seunghee is close to the only person that will speak English with me and/or translate what others are saying to me. Either way, most of the time with my coworkers is spent eating and starring at the wall or texting friends. So yes, for the msot part, it is quite boring. But I know that many of them care about me, and want to speak with me, they just don't know what to say or how to express themselves to me. I told Seunghee this, and since she stayed in New Zealand with a family for some time, she understands the loneliness.
After saying goodbye to Seunghee, I got back on the bus to go to the resort. Em teacher (6-2 who took my dad and I to the folk village) told me to follow her. I ended up in a room with five or six others, one of which was Em. I had no idea what was going to happen, as I assumed there would be partying and drinking. But I took a shower anyhow. After showering, and putting on my PJ's, Em teacher said "Cupshida Alice" which means "Lets go." Really? Let's go where? I thought I was going to bed. So I changed back into my stinky clothes and followed the girls to a Noribahng (singing room) at the resort.
Cultural note: In the US, if my mother and her boss were seen at a party or bar drinking, dancing, making a ruckus, and such, and were seen by school board officials, I feel as though they would get seriously reprimanded for their inappropriate, unprofessional behavior. However, in Korea, it is perfectly acceptable for the principal, whom I am suppose to professionally be quite distant from, to be drinking, singing, dancing, and partying with me. Interesting......
The next morning we got up, and went to a restaurant on the resort to have breakfast. Of course there was rice, which I'm not gonna eat at 8am, so I just had the broth of some dried-fish, tofu, onion soup that came with it. Now, I came down for breakfast all prepared to go to the water park. I had my swimsuit, cover-up, flip flops, and sun glasses on, with my hair tied back in a braid. Well, everyone else was wearing what they had on the night before. Boy did I feel stupid. Weren't we going to a water park today? Did something change?
After breakfast, everyone went back to their room to change...oh...gotcha! Not sure why Koreans need make-up to go swimming, but whatever. Also turns out that most Koreans either wear clothes over their swimsuits or a three-piece to go swimming. What is a three-piece you ask? Well, it is a two-piece bikini with a tankini top over top the two-piece. In fact, it might be a four-piece if you include a skirt-thing. And don't forget the shower-cap, goggles, and life-vest. Oops! And while the girls were surprisingly covered up, the men were surprisingly not. I saw quite a few speedos and tight boxer-type swimsuits out there... Needless to say, I was kind of embarrassed to see some of my older, married, male coworkers in such get-ups.
After talking for 30 minutes about who knows what, we finally went inside the water park. Shoe locker upstairs, close locker downstairs, and off we go. Everyone except for me was chaning into their swimsuit.... I already had mine on...opps... There were indoor heated pools, in which lifeguards forced me to wear a life-vest in 6-7ft deep water, outdoor hot tubs (regular, red wine, white wine, and pomegranate), a sauna, water slide, and kiddy rides. Most Koreans can't swim, so there were no actual "pools" for me to actually "swim" in. The indoor wave pool seemed like it would do, but I just couldn't bring myself to wear a life vest, defeating the whole purpose in the first place (and making me feel silly).
One of the teachers Emily (that's her English name), walked around with me, went on the water slide with me, sat in the hot tubs and sauna with me, and spoke English with me, which was really nice. I often get quite aggravated and feel very lonely when no one wants to speak with me, but feel as though it is really sweet when someone goes out of their way to speak in a foreign language that is difficult for them just so I don't feel lonely.
Soon enough, we went to another public bath type thing where we showered and sat in a hot tub naked together, then dried off and got dressed. Well, I didn't bring a change of clothes or any toiletries, so Emily let me borrow hers. After getting out of the hot tub, I dried my bathing suit with a hair dryer just inside the locker room so I wouldn't be naked anymore. I'm getting used to this communal nakedness thing. It doesn't really bother me anymore.
We ate buckwheat noodles for lunch and got home to Siheung about 5pm. Sooman came over to give me some chop chea (rice noodles with vegetables, soy sauce, and sesame oil), and fruit from his mom. How sweet, right?! Then on Sunday I went to Dongsan church in Ansan, met this great gal from Ronoake, VA, had an odd Korean-style Western-ish sub sandwich with chicken, pickles, jalapeños, olives (yuck!), lettuce, and sweet sauce, and then met Sharmila in Oido for coffee and scones.
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