So Says Iby: the real ginger on: April 26, 2008 3:50am
Last night, I went to Dongdaemun in an attempt to purchase a bathing suit. My friends and I are going on a tour of the small islands around Jeju next weekend, and even though it will probably be too cold to swim, we were told by our tour group to bring our bathing suits. I forgot to pack mine (all of my friends remembered---grrr), of course, so Dean and I headed out to the shopping mecca of Korea in search for something stretchy and swimmy (...????). After striking out on the stadium side of DDM, I caved and decided to go to Doota. I've been avoiding Doota because it's just so, so much more expensive than U:US ("Upgrade". It's my favorite out of the DDM shopping complexes I've been to so far). Anyway, the basement actually had TONS of swimsuits so as soon as I saw those bright splashes of color and small pieces of fabric, I was thrilled. That is...until I took a closer look.
I have to say, I'm not impressed with the style of swimsuit that appears to be all the rage here in Korea. To my disappointment, the vast majority of the swimsuits were ruffled, bowed, and insanely patterened. Bright orange with pink polka dots, a big floppy bow on the chest, padding as hard as rock and an inch thick, and a three-tiered, frilly skirt bottom...black and insanely push-upped wth gold chains looping around a string bottom...military styled with a wide buckle running across the camo-printed skirt...I felt like I was in swimsuit hell. Many of the bikinis looked--honestly--like they were designed for children but then made into bigger sizes and had ludicrous amounts of chest padding added. As I flipped through rack after rack (in four separate boutiques), I kept having the nagging feeling that somehow, I'd worn this or that before...when I was about 7. Not only that, but the bikinis were quite expensive--most were about 70-90,000 won for both pieces.
I mean, I don't mind a *bit* of padding, but I wanted to laugh at some of these bikinis--I could take a rock to some of them and not leave a dent. And the bows/frills? I like a bikini I can war under a tank top and shorts. There is absolutely no way I could wear most of these without looking distinctively lumpy. So I left Doota quite unhappy. Dean and I went to a PC bang earlier today so I could use Gmarket (that site causes my computer to freeze 70% of the time) and I ended up ordering the least frilly and bowed black bikini that I could find. Since the country is so small, deliveries are pretty quick here--I should have it by Tuesday or Wednesday.
On Tuesday, my kids had Science Day. Classes were canceled and the kids just spent the day making water rocks, kites, paper airplanes, etc. It was chill and I took a lot of pictures. The last few days were fine. The kids are restless because their midterm exams start on Wednesday. A midterm here has an ominous, panic-inducing reputation. In high school and college, I rarely studied hard for midterms or even finals--to me, they were just another test. I flat out forgot about my Biomedical Ethics exam during my junior year of college until I read a classmate's away message about "going to my death--Bio Ethics exam now." I sprinted to the building and got there right before the exam started, pulling a C on the exam (not too bad, considering it was all on specific cases and certain people's analyses of them). But honestly, even if I'd known about the exam, I probably wouldn't have studied very much. A lot of my friends were the same way--studying was an option. But these kids here...they take it very, very seriously, as do their parents. My parents probably didn't even know when I was having a midterm. Anyway, I had to cancel my extra afterschool classes this week because the kids start studying immediately after classes let out. Some of them said they would stay at the school until six to study. Ugh. They drop by my desk and say, "I'm sad! Studying this week is terrible! I hate it...things are very bad." They come by frequently now (much more than they did first semester) to chat after classes or on their lunch breaks. One of my funny students came by and was chatting last week and mentioned that her nickname was "black bear." She said that she thought brown bears were cuter, and was shocked when I told her about how dangerous they were. "But, teacher...bear in zoo! How dangerous?" And then I had to explain how, in America, there are many bears that are not in zoos and that brown bears can be very, very deadly. Then we looked at bear pictures on flickr for a long time. ^___^ A few days later, she lightened her hair to a dark brown and I said, "Oh, you're now Brown Bear, not Black Bear!" She shook her head and widened her eyes. "Oh, no! You say brown bear very bad! No brown bear! Black bear better. I remember." She tapped her head wisely. So. cute.
I wrote a poem a week or so ago. It's short but I think I want to write a small collection about it. I named it "Icarus" and a few days later, when I bought the Epik High album, realized there was a short track also about Icarus! Former English majors think alike, Tablo. I think we should hang out, drink a couple bottles of soju and then discuss some high brow, literary topics. It'll be a blast. CAAAAALLLL ME.
Icarus
I'll stand with heels on the grass
This entry is kind of all over the place. My bad. ANYWAY, the good thing for ME is that I don't teach classes on Wed-Fri, AND we have Monday off (national holiday)! So I just have two more little days of teaching and then I'm done until Tuesday. Excited. Very, very excited.
Two 3rd years with their kite in the hallway.
Boys and their paper airplanes.
Waiting on the steps to fly their planes.
Some of my 3rd years. They're loud in class, but always amusing and Aaaaand...some examples of the types of swimsuits I saw last night.
This title is from So Says I by The Shins We've got rules and maps and guns in our backs
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Comments |
LOL I was a bit relieved to see the photos of the bathing suits you were talking about, because while reading, the ones I pictured in my head were a bit ridiculous O_O;;;; But thanks for that heads up. I now know to bring my own suits with me! Hmm.. and jeans too. I lack Korean legs >.>
Reading about your students makes me wish I was back in highschool for 5 minutes. Now I'm glad I'm in college. But uh... not college in Korea. Sounds like suicide if it's that bad in highschool. I've always heard of how intense exams are over there. No thanks... I like optional studying. :D
by: donguri
May 10, 2008 1:49pm
Hehehee the bathing suit looks okay, but too many ruffles is like ughhh!
But anyway, I read that you said something about no squirels appearing.
Do you have cockroaches in your apartment? Because I'm afraid of those >_<
by: KTZ811
Apr 29, 2008 11:27pm
live bears are scary! I prefer TEDDY BEARS!
Those bikinis do exist? Looks like the suits that kids wear! Just a lot bigger...
Your student was soooo sweet to bring you a donut. You should have taken it though. Hahaha... FREE SNACK! SWEET!
by: barbiegrace
Apr 29, 2008 5:50am
I'm not sure where she lived, but she did say she had a handful of Korean friends in her class.
I can't take the ruffles everywhere. The garish colors...maybe. The ruffles? Nah.
by: the real ginger
Apr 27, 2008 11:34pm
Thank you for commenting! I've had crazy grammar Nazi teachers in high school, but really, you'll thank them when you're in college. My grammar was kind of shoddy until 10th grade--my teacher whipped us all into shape at that point. Because of it, I never got marks off on my college papers, but my friends would have their grades lowered from A's to B's and sometimes even C's due to bad grammar! So yeah, it may be a pain now, but it will definitely help you in the long run.
I enjoy singing and I've gotten a lot more open about singing in front of people since coming to Korea. I was in a pro children's chorus for 5 years, so I did a lot of classic singing (soprano work in Latin and such), but I didn't start singing pop music until late high school. It's been hard for me to learn how to sing from my stomach and the projection is really different. Anyway, the noraebangs are a blast and I now belt it like there's no tomorrow in front of strangers. Good times. ;)
by: the real ginger
Apr 28, 2008 12:29am
Hello. I just want to say that I love your posts about your journey in
Korea. I love readin your posts. I have been reading all your posts for about 4-5
months now but I never commented. Life for you seem so exciting. I would love to travel
as well. I used to want to major in English but after meeting my Ap English teacher and Grammar
Nazi my interest has wane.
Anyway, I love your voice. I have your soundbite/soundclick (I think that's what it is) saved.
I like listening to your voice. If all fails in your life's plan try to get a singing contract. I will support you.
I like your renditions of "Umbrella" and "Every time we touch"
I am so jealous of your life and all your adventures in Korea. Keep on posting.
by: vana117724
Apr 27, 2008 10:02pm
ah philly, exactly where i live. wonder where she stayed, probably northeast or so. lol lax testing, so true.
those are some pretty busy bikinis *cringes* but i like some of the colors if only ruffles weren't all over the place :P
brown bears cute haha but dangerous. keep it going ginger~
by: Junsei
Apr 27, 2008 9:18pm
I don't mind showing some skin, but I do mind ugly ruffles everywhere. Not worth it. 80,000 won?? Insanity!
I really haven't seen that much wildlife, and yeah, a lot of my students just think all the animals should be in a zoo. There are no squirrels here, either, so that's kind of odd. You don't see any small animals running around in the yards or the streets!
Oh, and yes, Dean is great to put up with my shopping habits. I'm terribly slow and indecisive, so he's a doll for tagging along every time.
by: the real ginger
Apr 27, 2008 6:11pm
Don't feel bad--feel lucky! One of my students spent the past year in Philly so she got to experience middle school in America, and she said she would give anything to be back there right now. It must be really hard to live in the US for a year (with lax testing) and then to come back to Korea (land of the old school, black and white exam).
by: the real ginger
Apr 27, 2008 6:08pm
the bikinis in korea are crazy,, sometimes i prefer ones in here although i thought they were ugly when i first saw them
the midterm..every student's worst nightmare. of course when i was in korea i only went up to 3rd grade so i didn't have one (thank God). couple of my cousins who goes to middle and high school in korea tell me they wanna kill themselves during the period. lol and i felt really bad for having it easy here in america.
i wish i could go shopping in korea,, so cheap there xD
well keep the blogs comingg`
by: flyhigh1030
Apr 27, 2008 1:16pm
1: I think it's so cute when they speak English! I just imagine that girl wisely taping her head! So cute.
2: Not even Marilyn Monroe could make those bathing suits look good. Since I don't like showing too much skin, ever, I wear one pieces or just shorts and a top. I'm more comfortable.
3: I do the exact same thing with tests. I don't study and barely slide by, barely. I just find studying time consuming when even though I might study really hard, I can't remember during the test! I cannot rely on my memory. I don't even know my sisters birthday! Sad..... But I always remember the words to a song when I'm doing a solo... more pressure I guess.
4: Are there no wildlife out there? I guess not, a big city like Seoul probably doesn't get much deer wondering around. When I go to the beach there's deer in the parking lot!
5: And I also think it was nice of Dean to wonder around shops with you. Most guys would run or play dead.....he wasn't doing that, right?
by: koncettina
Apr 26, 2008 1:33pm