On Gluten-Free Livin in Korea....

Having a wheat allergy (as I have not fully been diagnosed with Celiac's) in a land where soy sauce is prevalent and flour is used to fry certain foods I knew I was up for a challenge. When I interviewed with my recruiter in EPIK I had told him of my allergy, but he did not seem to be concerned about it (looking back, I think it was more because he didn't really understand it and what that means in terms of what I can and cannot eat). Especially since the States have now become mainstream with their Gluten-Free foods section I have grown accustomed to being catered for at restaurants and stores. Thankfully I have been diligent long enough to know that if it looks like it has wheat in it I don't need to have it in English to know I shouldn't eat it. However, when I first got here I was boycotting Korean food for sheer shock I was in this country so it made it even harder to eat the first week or so. I did also establish a rule wherein I would eat something that was questionable and if I reacted then I knew for future reference. So far this has worked and I've learned to smell soy sauce on meats. Most of the time beef products (bugolgi)are soaked in soy sauce so I steer clear of those completely. They usually do not offer soy sauce with your rice (Koreans prefer rice solo so you can wrap it in lettuce with your meats) and most of their soups and sides do not involve soy sauce. Noodles I just completely avoid. Even if they look like clear rice noodles chances are they have flour in them. Baked goods- duh, stay away. Fried foods (which I'd like to note is not a common thing except street foods) I avoid as well. Luckily my new favorite Korean dish- bibimbap- is delicious, full of veggies and offers me a complete meal without the reactions. Also, Soju and is rice based and does not have any reactions (besides really bad hangovers). Makgeolli should be okay, however, there are some brands that do contain wheat or in Korean 'Mil' or 밀. Also, I have taught my co-teacher and my Korean teacher co-workers that I have my allergy (which Koreans with no English skills know 'Allergy') so they watch out for me at lunch when I can't eat certain foods. If you are reading this and I don't know you and you are thinking about Korea and have wheat issues- let me know and I can talk more at length with you!

On transportation...

I will start this off by saying I have not been a product of public transportation in my past. I've only had a few run-ins with the London Underground, the NYC subway system and the San Francisco buses. After spending a limited amount of time on them I feel it prepared me for my time on the subways and buses of Korea. The Seoul subway system is pronominal. Being one of the largest in the world with 9 different lines and over 300 stops it is enough to scare the average off from using it and trying to get a cab. Once you spend some time on one line (I've become best friends with the Incheon line- for obvious reasons) it doesn't seem as daunting a task. This past weekend going to the Lantern festival was a great way to practice my knowledge and for the most part it's not too hard to get to where you want to go. You just need to keep a map on you, don't be afraid to stop and pull it out and with all the signs being in Hangul and English you should have no issues getting to your destination! Now for the fun part and the main reason that sparked its own blog topic. The public buses of Korea. I will say these too are easy- once you know which buses you need to be taking to your specific destination. My first day with my co-teacher she had to go to a meeting and threw me on a bus. Needless to say I was panicked, but once I heard the announcements in English and Korean I was okay. My one biggest complaint is that the bus drivers here are maniacs! If you do not get a seat to sit down in- brace yourself! They use the break very quickly and very often. One day I saw a young girl (middle school aged) get on the bus, didn't get a seat and decided she wanted to get on her cell phone (very common) instead of hanging on. She didn't fall over, but was on her way to- thankfully her reflexes were strong! If you don't hold on for dear life, be prepared to be THAT person that fell on the bus! Today especially was my favorite trip. The bus driver was honking his horn like crazy at cars maybe even people. At one point, he even managed to put the bus in park at a stop light, get out and proceed to have his smoke break while waiting. Right before I stepped off the bus two young girls got on and we're holding on to each other as if they were on a roller-coaster. Needless to say, if it wasn't for my music and my excessive sleepiness I would be calling my doctor back in the states for a giant prescription of anxiety meds to get me through this year!

On Buddha's birthday...

Although I wish I could post about the extravagant affairs that happen to honor Sir Buddha I will say I know of two events in Korea that you should attend. The first being Seoul's Lantern Festival. I met up with about 15 EPIK folk and enjoyed about an hour or so of the parade down the main drag up to the main Temple near Joggak. It was like the American version of the Rose parade (granted I've never been personally) and it was a delight. They hand out some of the lanterns- lit and unlit so try to get a good spot and wave, smile and bow to the parade participants! The other event was in Busan. I made my friend go on my behalf, but I will say the pictures I saw at nighttime were breathtaking. Leading up to this event I had mentioned to my co-teacher and the principle when we first met that I wanted to go. I felt an immediate sense of awkward after saying I wanted to go and my co-teacher asked if I was Buddhist. In Korea I have been told that Christians can be a bit strong willed with you if you waiver any direction but Christ so I did my best to say that I was a lover of all religions! *Although I do have my strong opinions towards/ against religions of certain faiths* If you come to Korea and do not participate in any Buddha traditions around this time of year. You seriously are missing out on a huge part of what founded this country.

On technology....

Today on my bus ride to school (it takes about 20 minutes or so and I'm the only waygook- foreigner on the bus) I was starting to take note of patterns of the shops passing by. The most interesting trend was that there were 6 cell phone shops in a one block strip, some right next to each other. Now, this shouldn't be a surprise to many that know that Korea is the second most "wired" country in the world (reportedly Germany is in first place), but I found it a bit odd that there would be that many shops in a row. Furthermore, not that I haven't seen this in American society, when on the subway or the bus or walking even most everyone is wired into their cell phone. Most with headphones, but some people actually have antenna's attached and are watching TV or some type of movie. One of the most convenient things I've discovered is that without a fully working cell phone currently, it is not hard to find wifi hotspots and be able to get on the internet. On the subway you can get full internet, but you have to pay additional for this service. Some buses also offer this service and there are also devices for purchase that will allow this for me as well. If I knew I had a guaranteed seat every morning and afternoon I would totally buy this service. And until I can get Spotify fully or find an alternate to it I find this a bit pointless. The most interesting thing I have seen thus far is how you will be at a store getting help from one of the workers and their cell phones rings and in the middle of helping you they walk away to get the phone call. Most likely it is not related to work, but Koreans live in a "Bali, Bali (spell check)- "hurry, hurry"- lifestyle so I've concluded that it really just means that the person on the phone is more important than the person willing to buy product from you...If only that could fly in America. Kidding! On another note- one thing that differs from American students with cell phones versus Korean students is that every student has a cell phone, however, whilst at school they have to lock them away and can only have them out I believe during lunch (which I have not seen yet) and before and after school. Education is taken very seriously here, sometimes to a point that exhausts the children (more on education later), so it's not too surprising to know that cell phones should not be apart of class time.

Arrival and adjustment...

I apologize for the delay in my post. Going with EPIK proved to be the best way to enter a completely foreign country! When I arrived to the Incheon International Airport everything was in Hangeul (Korean) and English and being a pretty well-traveled person it was not scary or intimidating to figure out how to find a shuttle to my night hotel. The funniest thing was that in the airport there was a 7/11 right next to a Dunkin Donuts. McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, 711 and Dunkin' are very very popular and can be found throughout Incheon. I do try to not get so attached to these as I want to explore, but for this big foot, larger on the bottom girl I will have to relay on the H&M's for clothes and shoes. Oh! Also, I found a payless shoes with my size. To get back on track- my EPIK 6 day orientation was brilliant! There were about 150 Guest English Teacher's from across Korea. Many Americans, Brits, Canadians and some Irish were present. The staff of EPIK treated us with such respect (minus the midnight curfew) and I felt very taken care of and very appreciated. The meals were a mix of Korean and American food at every meal and I swear we ate every 3 hours. It was serve yourself so I loaded up on portions. Overall it was great and a great way to mingle with everyone around Korea and to make connections in cities you'd want to go visit. Incheon's MOE gave us a surprise second orientation in Incheon and the best news was that the hotel we stayed at was down the road from where I am now living. So I got lucky as I live in between the two bar areas- Bupyeoung (pronounced boop-young) and Arts Center. Bupyeoung has been the handout for us newbies as we get acquainted, but I'm trying to explore Arts Center as well. To keep it simple for now. The people I have met so far have been pretty great. Lots of people that are adventurous. My coteacher is brand new to teaching too but is very sweet and speaks pretty English pretty well. Photos and more details coming soon!