Dating in Korea

Dating is a tricky subject no matter where you are in the world.  That is no different here in Korea.  I have dated more here, than I ever did back home.  Partially because I now have the free time to date but also moving half way around the wold has made me more confident in myself.

Dating in Korea can be tricky but also great.  The tricky part comes with the whole Baekma culture here, or "riding the white horse."  Some men see western women, especially white women, as something that they have fantasies of and "wish to concur" in bed.  These men do not wish to date you but only have sex with you.  However, this culture does play into the second type of man you will meet here in Korea.

The man who will date you for a long time and then break up with you because you are "only good for dating but never marriage."  This is a parent thing more than a guy thing.  Many men are very family oriented and if their mother or father or whomever says they do not like you, often times they will break up with you.  Weither that happen in the first month of dating or after a year of dating.  It can be hard dating these types of men because you think things are great and then bam..."my so and so said I can't marry a foreigner and so we must break up."  Even if you have talked of your future and marriage together before.  (yes I am cynical)

You also meet other expats here.  However, they are far fewer and often do not stay as long as others or are here briefly with the military.  So, it can be hard to date other expats.

Dating for me has been hard.  I have had 3 serious boyfriends here, with countless dates.  I am 28 and looking for love but sometimes I wonder if Korea is the right place for me to be in regards to love.  I absolutely love my life here and most aspects of Korean society but dating and love have been hard.  I want to find someone to love and marry but as of late I have been wondering if I will find that in Korea.  It can be hard, overcoming cultural differences or time differences, or location differences.  Dating in Korea has made me wonder about my future and the potential of marriage and what I want.  Will it happen, should I give up, what are my options?  And honestly, I have no idea.  I am just playing it by ear and letting things happen.  Which is what we should all do when it comes to love, I guess.

Namsan Tower and Pretty Things

Over the weekend, I went to Namsan Tower in the center of Seoul.  Namsan Tower is a tower (go figure) on the top of a mountain in the middle of Seoul.  You can ride a cable car up the mountain to get to the tower and then go inside the tower and go to the top.  It provides spectacular views of Seoul, with a 360 viewing observatory.  Couples go up the mountain and leave "love locks" in the hopes that their love will last forever.  It was kind of fun to see all the different languages present in the love locks.

Overall, it was a very touristy area but definitely a fun visit with spectacular views of the city.  The cable car ride was the best part but even that had it's draw-backs.  They cram about 20 or 30 people into the car and if you are at the end you get stuck with a not so great view or not being able to see at all.  I didn't like that.  I also did not like the rude bitch who cut in front of me so she could get the prime spot.  Hate line cutters.

Falling in the Rain

So, this past Tuesday it was raining super hard.  I was walking to work early because I had a presentation to do at 11:30.  On my way to work, I fell down on a bridge and hurt myself.  Luckily nothing was broken but it ended up causing a huge gash in my knee and my knee to swell up.  I went to work anyways, with a bloody knee and asked if they had a bandage because I had stuff to do (the presentation).  Well they took me to the school nurse, and canceled my presentation.  I have to make up the presentation but it was nice to go home and put ice on my knee because it hurt horribly.  It seems to be healing pretty well, especially because the nurse said "you are queen of healing."  On Wednesday, my knee looked so much better than it had the previous day.  As of today (Friday), it is starting to scab up, which I am taking as a good sign.  It has also stopped bleeding when I move (which it had been doing for the first 2ish days).  I am hopeful that it will heal soon enough but I know that I will have a scar.  Oh well!

University Teaching vs. High School Teaching

It has been an extremely busy time for me as of late because of the change in job.  Though I am working less hours than I was at my old school, I have more responsibility and things to do than I used to.

When I was teaching at a public high school, I really only had to lesson plan and go to classes to teach.  In addition to teaching, I administered two speaking exams per semester for all of my classes and had a conversation class during lunch twice a week.  When I first got to the school, lesson planning was super difficult and took a lot of my time.  I had no idea where to start or what to do but I eventually got into a flow and never looked back.  Things were good.

However, I am back at the start now.  I have to create my own lessons and teach.  In addition, I have to create tests, grade, and start from scratch on everything.  For the past two-ish months I feel like I have been playing catch up, but I finally feel like I am comfortable with everything again and got my groove back for teaching.

For me, there is not a big difference in teaching university students and high school students.  The only difference is I am completely in charge of my classes and the direction they go in, and I get paid twice as much for less work.  In the end, my move up to university was difficult but not a bad experience.  Still working on things but eventually I will be back to the way I was.

Getting a Tattoo in Korea

I have a new addition to my body art collection!  Making it a total of 11 now.  I have been wanting to get a rabbit for a long time but never actually done it.  So, when my friend suggested getting commemorative tattoos because two of the threesome were leaving, I couldn't say no.  We all agreed that we would find an artist that we all liked and get a tattoo of our choice in their style.  We found a lovely young man that was super cute and respectful.  He is super talented and tries really hard to speak in English and explain things completely.

My two friends both got their work done before I did but it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.  Technically tattoos are illegal here unless done by a doctor, so I thought that finding an artist would be near impossible without speaking Korean.  I was completely wrong.  There are all sorts of groups and such dedicated to getting inked in Korea and it is easy to find competent artists here.  The complications came with finding someone that we all liked.  I was the pickiest person.  My friends both liked this one artist (and subsequently each got a tattoo from him) but he was too dark for me.  I wanted a more whimsical tattoo.  After we agreed, we all set our times and got inked.  Though our tattoos are different, we know that they are meaningful and special because of our time together in Korea.

I was the last to get her tattoo and waited until Mom came to actually get the tattoo done because I wanted her to see what it was like.  It was not really different from back home.  I had been texting the artist for about a month, fine tuning my idea of a rabbit.  Once I got to the studio, we sat down for about 30 minutes and finalized the concept and details.  It was perfect and interesting because it was done in broken English and translation apps but it worked out perfect in the end.  The tattooing process was normal and went by pretty fast.  I got a smallish piece done and it took about 2 hours from arriving to finished product and photos.

I absolutely love my tattoo and am thinking about getting another piece done soon, but for now, I need to get the color touched up on my newest addition.  The entire process has been easy and very simple.  I honestly was worried but had absolutely no reason to be worried.  Korea still has things that surprise me, even after being here for almost 3 years.

Gwangmyeong Market, Insadong, and Namdaemun Gate

This is mom's last weekend in Korea, so what did we do: SHOPPING!  

On Saturday, we went to Myeongdong and Gwangmyeong Market.  Myeongdong is a tourist shopping area, that has a lot of different shops; especially western sized shops.  We spent about 4 hours shopping, eating, and chatting.  It was great.  After Myeongdong we went to a traditional marketplace, Gwangmyeong Market.  This market has a bit of everything; butchers, fish sellers, fruit stalls, cheap clothing, etc.  Basically, it is a cross between a flea market, and farmers market.  They also sell traditional Korean food, which is what I wanted mom to try.  We had a seafood Korean pancake, which mom liked without the seafood inside of it.  We bought a few reasonably priced foods and went home.  It was a long and busy day but totally wonderful!  Here are some pictures from the market, and our lunch in Myeongdong (AMERICAN CHINESE WOOT WOOT!)

On Sunday, we went to Insadong and Namdaemun Gate.  Like Saturday, we walked a lot but it was so much fun.  

 

*Sorry for the late post...I have been super super busy since mom left!