the story

I alluded to some of the reasons that I'm leaving Korea early (before the end of Matthew's current teaching contract) in "ten signs it's time to leave korea." What it boils down to is that we've decided it's better for Liam to be back in the United States.

From the first moment Liam stepped foot in Korea, he's been a local celebrity of sorts, since he's the only blond-haired, blue-eyed child in Sokcho (or was, before the arrival of his baby brother). Everywhere we go, people stare, want to touch him, take his picture, etc. He's become more aware and affected by this as he's gotten older. When it comes to adults, sometimes he freaks out when people even say hello to him, anticipating them trying to grab him. With kids, it's been a constant struggle to socialize him in some way resembling normalcy.

When we returned from a trip home between contract years, we enrolled him part-time in a small neighborhood daycare, which he seemed to enjoy for the most part, but he was sick way too much. After having been sick only twice in his first 12 months in Korea, he was sick four times in the six weeks he attended and shared several of those illnesses with the rest of us, including the flu and a virus that gave Rowan and I very nasty sinus/ear infections. It just wasn't worth it.

Korea is such a homogeneous culture, children here aren't used to dealing with anyone different. Other children's reactions at the playground and other public areas range from curiosity (staring, trying to take pictures) to fear (running away, even bursting into tears when he tries to play). Older kids tend to treat him like a mascot (petting his head, wanting to carry him around), but a few are actually mean to him. Constantly running interference for him, interpreting, protecting, advocating, left me exhausted and feeling like we had more bad days than good.

Finally, after hearing story after story and witnessing some of it first-hand, Matthew asked me if I wanted to move home with the boys. We discussed the pros and cons, finally deciding this would be best for Liam & I. Initially, Matthew was going to stay to finish out his contract, but seven months apart would have been too long, especially for the boys. Instead, Matthew will be coming home at the end of the year, just three months after the rest of us. Since making this decision, there's been even more craziness on the playground that confirmed my decision and led me to avoid the playgrounds after about 2 p.m. when the elementary schools let out in the afternoon.

I don't want to make it sound like Korean people are horrible in any way. The older people are overbearing and abrupt, but they generally mean well. The younger adults (those currently raising children and younger) are mostly understanding and kind. The children just don't seem to know better. What it really comes down to is that we don't belong here. This is not our home. Maybe if we'd stuck to our original plan to live closer to Seoul (and other ex-pat families), we could have made it work longer, but we liked Sokcho and the people we had worked for during our first stay. I'm not leaving with any hard feelings towards the country or the people, I just feel that it's time for us to leave. I've met a lot of amazing people here, both Koreans and ex-pats, and had many wonderful experiences.

the haps

Interesting (to me, anyway) and random events from the past few weeks:

Crazy Weather
We had a solar eclipse (about 70% here in Korea) yesterday, but it was so overcast that you could barely even tell. I really hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying this, but we've had unseasonably cool (read: livable) weather so far this month. Last year, July 5th was the beginning of almost two solid months of "air conditioning weather": hot, sticky, yuck.

Couch Surfing 101
After Matthew invited home a random Dutch backpacker he met at the bus stop several weeks ago, we decided that hosting couch-surfers actually works okay for our family. Since changing our status to allow guests, we've had a Swiss tourist and two expat English teachers from Seoul stay with us. Since Matthew's profile clearly states that we have two young children, we've had guests who like kids. We have another American coming this weekend, and could easily end up hosting all summer unless we decline.

When Halmonis (grandmothers) attack:
One Saturday afternoon, we got on a bus going downtown. Since Matthew was carrying the stroller, I was carrying Rowan and holding Liam's hand. There were no open seats and no one moved to give theirs up, so I instructed Liam to hold on to the handle corner of one seat, while I held one of the handle ring hanging from the ceiling. I heard the voice of an older woman, and caught a few familiar words including "baby" before one of the middle school boys right by us got up. I helped Liam sit down. The voice became a little more persistent and another boy surrendered his seat. I sat down and turned to the woman who had been speaking. I thanked her, which let her know that I understood at least some of what she was saying. That was all the encouragement she needed. She became louder, haranguing the boys for all to hear. The gist of her lecture was, "When a woman with children gets on the bus, you give up your seat now, now, NOW!" They didn't look at her, but kept their eyes downcast, which is the proper way to respond to a scolding. When she got off the bus, I gave her a little nod (head bow) and smiled. Sometimes halmonis totally rock.

And I learned...
...Fenugreek (a "galactagogue," which sounds like something off of Star Trek) is apparently illegal in South Korea. (That doesn't mean that foreigners don't bring it in, or that they aren't willing to share extra.)
...how to say "It's not f***ing cold" really, really politely. Will I ever actually say that to an overly-pushy halmoni who insists my child is improperly dressed? Probably not, but knowledge is power, right?
...it feels really good to squirt kids with a super-soaker when they call me waegook (foreigner). (It was a one-time thing. Liam was using some girl's super soaker and I had just finished helping him with something on it. These kids have seen me many times before, so it was just ridiculous. Maybe I should start carrying a squirt gun with me for that purpose.)
...gim is really good wrapped around rice and tuna salad (tuna + mayonnaise). It's my minimalist/ghetto version of chamchi (tuna) gimbap.

international walking festival

On Saturday, our little family participated in the 5th Annual Seorak International Treking Festival, along with our friend Brian (his blog entry here), his son Alex, and our friend Jenny. Unlike last year, when the entire international element consisted of us, two other A.P. teachers (another American and the Chinese teacher) and two Egyptian men who teach Arabic in Seoul, there were actually more than a handful of foreign participants. The bulk of these were a class of Russian students, who also participated in a dance festival later the same day, which another friend attended. (Unless, of course, there was more than one class of Russian students, mostly girls, in Sokcho that day.)

Traditional performance -- they dance whilst playing drums and whipping their heads around which moves the streamers attached to their hats. Talk about multi-tasking!


Brian started calling this gentleman "The Mayor," because, although we don't know who he is, he seemed to be fairly important. He wanted to have his picture taken (by the roving event photographer) with Liam. Obviously, Liam wasn't really on board with this idea.


Liam managed a calm grimace while everyone quickly snapped pictures.


Liam & Alex probably ate about three choco pies each -- not only the ones they received with the registration packets, but also the ones that kindly "aunties" gave them. I'm sure they used all that sugary energy on the walk.


Jenny said she was our "nanny" for the day, which consisted of holding Rowan, taking turns pushing the stroller, and chasing Liam around a little.


The crowd gathers...


After the traditional dance performance, the opening ceremonies consisted of the national anthem, several unidentified important people speaking, and group warm-up exercises, which I caught on video. (Unfortunately, we only had our older camera which doesn't have sound, so the K-pop music which accompanied the stretching exercises is sadly missing.) The Russian kids are all on the right. It looks like some of their teachers were shooting photos or video as well.



Since our group consisted of Liam and his 4-year-old friend, we did the 5K walk, which ended just inside the entrance to Mt. Seorak National Park. The 10K continued through the waterfall hike and the 20K was a course that is apparently only open twice a year.

Alex & Liam scored these super-cool visors with slide-down sunglasses and a solar-powered fan. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough sunlight amongst the trees to power the fan, which kept falling out.


Family photo at the turn-around point. We could have picked up a copy of the official photographer's shot back at the start/finish, but it was easier just to have him take one with our camera. So true to form, Rowan is attacking my hair and Liam is pacified by an ice cream cone.


Rowan enjoys relaxing in his new stroller with his toys.


Alex and Liam take a break from walking to explore the terrain. They walked a fair amount of the time, but also took breaks via shoulder and back rides.


Liam received this lovely "diploma" for his efforts.

new expat parents forum

Expat Parents in Korea Board

Sarah of Quest for Cuteness has started a forum just for expat parents here in Korea. There's already a "Matching & Hatching" forum on www.expatkorea.com, but it's not very active. About six months ago, she started an Expat Moms Club Korea in a different format, but the group has outgrown that format and there have been a number of dads interested in joining.

The new coed group is just starting, but I think it has the potential to be an excellent resource and outlet for those of us raising kids in South Korea.

foreigner faux pas

We've committed a social blunder, a fairly serious one, apparently.

When we were first here, we had a couple in our adult classes: a pediatrician and his wife. There are no longer any adult classes at AP, but we now live in the same building as this couple. They're some of the nicest people we've met here and we consider them friends. They have three boys of their own, so we always enjoy hearing their parenting stories, sharing baked goods with their family, etc. JonWook (our friend's given name) has examined Liam's various cuts & scrapes several times, and we really like his gentle, caring manner.

We've always intended to take the boys to JonWook's clinic, but up to this point, we'd taken them to the pediatrician at the hospital where I had Rowan, just out of convenience. Since Rowan needs to get caught up on his vaccinations, we finally took him to our friend.

As Americans, we don't want to take advantage of a friend, especially as foreigners. From our point of view, JonWook has a business to run. If he gives us a discount, we're taking money out of his pocket. That's not the Korean way, though. Koreans WANT to do things for their friends. It's insulting if their friends do not accept...which leads up to our blunder.

When Matthew went to pay for the vaccinations, the nurse quoted him a much lower price that what Matthew thought it should be. The prices of all the vaccines (which vary in price, as they're apparently not subsidized by the government like they are in the U.S.) are clearly posted on the counter. She was trying to charge him for only one. When Matthew questioned the price, JonWook stepped in to translate. Matthew pointed to the prices of the two vaccines Rowan had received and then the two of them went back and forth about how much we should pay, each trying to explain his own side.

In the end, Matthew insisted on paying the full amount, but neither the nurse or JonWook would look him in the eyes at that point. They were both embarrassed. JonWook proceeded to take Matthew on a tour of his clinic while I fed Rowan, then offered to call a taxi for us when we left.

That afternoon at work, Matthew recounted the story for our friend, Jenny, who explained more fully the Korean perspective on the situation. She said we'd probably really insulted him. Talking about the situation after Matthew came home from work that night, we realized that he probably conveyed to JonWook that we don't consider him as good of a friend as he considers us.

So next week when we take Rowan in for another round of vaccinations, we'll have to explain better the idea of "not taking advantage of one's friends." Luckily, we can play the "foreigner card," and hopefully gloss over our foreigner faux pas.

And now, some random cuteness: Rowan proudly wearing the stickers bestowed upon him by Liam, proclaiming him to be both "Fantastic" and "Well Done."

KOREA SPARKLING!

Dear Korean Tourism Organization,

I've seen your KOREA SPARKLING ad campaign and read that you hope to attract 10 million tourists to South Korea by 2010. You're quickly approaching that deadline, so I have some suggestions for making South Korea a bit more tourist-friendly.

Don't get me wrong, South Korea is a beautiful country. The geography alone is stunning. The traditional architecture and Buddhist temples are fascinating. Korea has a rich history and culture, which are well-documented at various museums and monuments throughout the country. I hear the shopping is fantastic, although that's not really "a cup of my tea." And, not to be ignored, Korea has a flair for the quirky: penis parks, museums dedicated to random collections (i.e. the Edison & Gramophone Museum in Gangnueng), odd theme restaurants and bars (like the odd metal spaceship-esque bar here in Sokcho), etc.

However, there are a few things you could do to clean up Korea a bit and make it, um, sparkle more.

1. Put in public garbage cans (AKA rubbish bins). There is a dearth of places to throw away trash in public areas. (Bus stops are the exception.) As a result, there is garbage everywhere. The other day, my family was riding the gatbae across Lake Cheungcho. An elderly woman finished her yogurt drink and tossed the plastic container into the lake. The city playground near my apartment is always covered in trash, including broken soju bottles. Conveniently placed garbage cans would alleviate this unsightly issue.

2. Replace more of the squat toilets. Squat toilets are the bane of my existence here in Korea. I'm sure many foreigners (especially of the female gender) feel the same way. Some restrooms, such as the one at our local intercity bus terminal, have a stall marked "Foreigners Only" with a Western-style toilet. However, this stall is often occupied by Koreans, so obviously the local people also prefer not having to hunker down on their haunches to relieve themselves.

3. Educate people about the proper care of pets, dogs in particular. Puppies are cute and entertaining, but they do grow up. Adult dogs need to be bathed and walked. Westerners do not like to see beautiful, but filthy, dogs tied up on 2 foot ropes. Seeing dogs ill-treated reminds us that some Koreans still eat dog, and we know that you want the world to forget that.

None of these changes detract from the Korean experience, but instead allow Korea to truly sparkle.

Kind regards,
Legal alien #******-666****
(That's really part of my ID number. I can't make this stuff up.)

Lowan, I mean Rowan

Rowan with his hospital cart tag:


More recently:


Step 1: Give birth.
Step 2: Obtain hospital birth certificate.
Step 3: Return to hospital to request that father and baby's names be added to birth certificate. (First copies only identified baby as 2nd child of Catherine.)
Step 4: Have employer translate certificate.
Step 5: Ask employer to change name translation (로웬) from Lowan to Rowan.
Step 6: Take 10-day-old baby, assorted official documents, copies, pictures, and money to U.S. Embassy in Seoul.
Step 7: Wait one week.
Step 8: Receive baby's Consular report of birth and passport via courier. Pay courier W10,000.
Step 9: Take baby, passport, etc. to local immigration office. (This is the next step that we need to complete. We need to apply for a visa for Rowan before he is 30 days old.)

Konglish

As I mentioned in the previous post, Konglish is the term used for words borrowed from English, but usually with their own uniquely Korean pronunciation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konglish
Ironically, Konglish can make it easier for foreigners to communicate outside the classroom, and yet frustrating to communicate within the classroom.

Case in point: my middle school listening/conversation class several years ago. The text I was using contained thematic units with completely random vocabulary. One of the listening activities is to choose from several sentences the one which best describes a tiny black-and-white photograph in the book. I think the sentence in question was, "The woman is reading the label." Students didn't recognize the word, "label." After I explained it, one girl said, "Oh, LA-BELL." Of course, la-bell.

Same class, this time the word is "matinee." I explained that it's a movie showing or theater performance in the afternoon. No recognition. I looked it up in the English-Korean dictionary. The first Korean entry was met with blank stares. The students didn't understand. I carefully sounded out the second entry: mah-tee-nay. I almost slapped myself in the forehead as I reitterated, "Come on, guys, mah-tee-nay." "OH, MAH-TEE-NAY!" my class replied.

The biggest slap-myself-in-the-forehead moment was when an elementary school student corrected MY pronunciation of Hawaii. "No, teacher, ha-wa-ee!" Now I realize that her pronunciation is probably closer to the original, but being corrected by a ten-year-old on the pronunciation of a state in MY home country is a little ridiculous. American teachers are hired to teach American English, and if we want to mangle the pronunciation of our states, then so be it.

My friend Sara tells a particularly hilarious story (as all of Sara's stories are) of explaining, drawing, even pantomiming a parachute with no recognition from her students. Finally, she looked it up in the dictionary: Pah-lah-choot. Her students swore they didn't understand any of her attempts, but she suspects they were just toying with her.

Outside the classroom, if I don't know a word in Korean, I often try to Konglishize it: z becomes j, f becomes p, compound consonant sounds are separated (i.e. bl become bul), and often extra vowels are added at the end. It's amazing how well this works.

Some Konglish words, written as they sound:
ice cream: eye-soo-cu-reem-uh
cheese: chee-juh
pizza: pee-jah
hamburger: hame-buh-guh
steak: suh-tay-ee-kuh
coffee: cah-pee (sounds like copy -- so my students were always confused when I said I was going to make a copy during class)
vitamin: bee-tah-mean
bus: bu-suh
taxi: take-shi
motorcycle: oh-toe-bah-i (supposed to sound like "autobike")
cell phone: han-duh-pone (supposed to sound like "handphone")

a weekend in the country

It all started with E-Mart, as do so many things here in Sokcho. Matthew & his dad met J.E., a Korean-American from NYC who is teaching out in the boonies on the other side of Mt. Seorak. Since she comes into Sokcho most weekends, she's joined us for Sunday evening dinners and a jaunt to Daepo Hong (harbor). Her bosses also run a pension, or "back packers' hotel," and were kind enough to let us stay in one of their cabins a few weekends ago. We had planned to visit a nearby temple while there, but it was extremely crowded due to the autumn leaves. (Day 1, the line for the shuttle bus was insane. Day 2, we took one look at the back-up of highway traffic and decided to go the opposite direction.) Instead, we drove our rental car down to Gangneung (about an hour south of Sokcho) for the day. Even though things didn't go according to plan, it was a beautiful weekend and a nice change of pace to be completely mobile. (It was on the return trip from Gangneung that we stopped for the disappointing clam chowder.)



Giving credit where credit is due, I need to mention that Matthew & I were photographic slackers that weekend. All of these pictures are courtesy of J.E.

우리는 미친 미국 사람이에요

Pron: urinun michin miguk seuram ieyo
Trans: We are crazy American people.

Why are we crazy?, you ask.

We are the crazy Americans who walk to the park in the rain, when no one else is outside.

We are the crazy Americans who don't even carry umbrellas if it's only sprinkling.

We are the crazy Americans who let our son play in puddles, knowing that we can take him home and throw him in the bathtub.

We are the crazy Americans who are having a lot more fun than everyone else.

(The pictures are from a previous day when it wasn't raining at all. This Sunday it was sprinkling just enough to interfere with picture-taking. Today it is full-on pouring. Oh, and the rain boots, while cute, are highly ineffective when he splashes water up over the tops. We've reverted to sandals.)

give it away now

One of the lovely expat traditions in Sokcho is the "giving away party," at which one liquidates ones assets accumulated while here. In this respect, there are basically two types of expats in Korea: those who settle in, and those who just camp out for a while. The "campers" are usually young, single, and most likely just here for a year. The "settlers" are either older (mid-twenties and up), married, and/or here for several years. Only "settlers" usually host GAPs when they depart for home or a new locale, since they're the ones who have accumulated enough "stuff."

Our friend Ara, who is returning to the States this weekend, was definitely a settler. He has two of the three settler traits: he's older than I am (and we'll leave it at that) and just finished his second year at AP. His stay overlapped ours during his first month and last three months. He hosted a GAP this past Sunday.

Large items (cars, bikes, larger appliances, stereos, etc.) are usually sold, rather than given away. For example, Ara sold his car and oven (for a token fee) to other expat teachers. This still left a lot of food items, books, movies, etc. that he simply auctioned off to the quickest hand-raiser. Since he had previously taught for a year in Pohang (a slightly larger steel town further south down the coast), he had the foresight to mail himself boxes of food items that aren't available here. In addition, his mom sent him frequent care packages.

I wasn't able to stay for the entire party, as Liam was suffered from T&T (tired & teething), but Matthew was able to bring home a pretty good selection for us: tapioca pudding mix, various spices, graham crackers, arborio rice, a Yanni CD (Me: Yanni? Matthew: No one else wanted it. Me: Uh-huh.), a genuine Minnesota loon call whistle (which Liam has claimed), dental floss, neosporin, and five garbanzo beans. Someone else "won" the garbanzo beans, but she gave Matthew five so that he can try to grow some on our balcony. I dream of hummus. I'm also next in line for a boxed set of 100 cookie cutters, which currently belong to another AP teacher (Babbie) who leaves in another month.

As you may guess, we're settlers. We hosted our own GAP before leaving in 2006. Some of those items (books, movies, etc.) were regifted at Ara's. Now that he's leaving, the only other guest from our GAP still in Korea is our friend Kelsey.

celebrity photos (courtesy of the mamarazzi)

Photos 1-3: Liam plays in the water at Sokcho Beach, with a crowd of Koreans gathered. He is rescued by a pretty Korean girl, while his dad (in the blue shirt with yellow/brown bag) watches.

Photos 4 & 5: "Noona" (older sister) pushes Liam on the swing at the now demolished playground, until Liam is mobbed by kids.

It's rough being a super-star.

local celebrity or dirty little monkey?

You're bound to think that I'm exaggerating some of this, but I promise I'm really not.



Most Koreans, especially in a smaller city like Sokcho, have never seen a blond-haired, blue-eyed toddler. Even taking that into consideration, I'm surprised at how much attention Liam gets wherever we go.

Adults, teenager, children, men, women, boys or girls; it doesn't matter. Everyone wants to touch him. He's like a freaking rock star sometimes. The other day, we were mobbed in the middle of the crosswalk by a group of squealing teenage girls. Another day at the local park, it was a group of teenage boys that surrounded Liam, touching his hair, handing him rocks to throw, and cheering every time he threw a rock or clapped his hands. Women randomly walk up to me and try to take him from my arms. People want to touch his hands, his hair, his cheeks.

I get fed up with it at times, and so does Liam. He likes the attention from kids the most, but he gets overwhelmed at times and just wants me to hold him. He's getting good at brushing people off if he just doesn't to be touched or held. He's usually a little man on a mission -- to see the fish in the restaurant tanks, to throw a handful of rocks in the river, etc.

And people want to give him things: ice cream, candy, a toy at the Seorak Park outdoor restaurant where we ate lunch. I'm trying to politely decline (especially on chocolate!), since I don't want a child who thinks he's entitled to everything his little heart desires.

On the other hand, Liam always seems to be filthy here. Part of it is a difference in environment. Instead of wood chips, the playgrounds here are covered in the coarse sand from the beach. (Cats are rare, so it's not a giant litter box.) He likes to lie down on this sand. I don't know why. He has a tendency to put everything in his mouth, and to touch everything. I think I'm just being realistic when I say that Korea is a bit dirtier than the States. Part of it is a cultural thing. People do not touch "dirty" things. They remove their shoes when they enter a home or some restaurants. There's a clearer distinction between the public and domestic spheres. So here comes my child, who likes to do everything by himself. It quickly became clear that it's socially unacceptable (and gross) for him to crawl up stairs using his hands. Despite my best efforts, he always seems to have a dirty face and hands and clothes...

He also threw a few very public tantrums (i.e. in the grocery store check-out line) the first few days, mostly due to jet lag. Since he's a representative for all American children, I was quite embarrassed. Since he's adjusted to the time and to daily routines, the tantrums have basically stopped...thank god.

Before I forget (originally posted 28 January 06)

Everyday things that I'm starting to take for granted:

Water faucets are inconsistent. Some turn on when you pull the handle up (mostly bathroom); others require you to push the handle down (mostly kitchen). This can cause some confusion when you forget which is which. Also, hot water is on the left, most of the time. Not always.

Whole milk is standard. Nonfat and low fat yogurt are pretty rare, too. The plain (slightly sweetened) yogurt here is amazing. Dairy products actually taste like dairy, instead of mass-produced blah nothingness.

White bread is standard. I've seen what I think is a light rye bread and I've seen cinnamon raisin bread, but nothing in the family of wheat bread.

Garbage service works on a pay-as-you-go system. I buy special green bags at E-Mart for W350 (about 35 cents) and can then throw away as much garbage as will fit in the bag. Food garbage goes in a smaller yellow bag, which can be purchased at the 25-Hour Mart by my apartment. (I could buy the bags at other places, too.) Recycling is free. Unfortunately, no one in my apartment building seems to understand the concept of sorting. They just put all their recycleables in one bag and toss it into one of the three recycling containers.

Clothes dryers are virtually nonexistent. I suppose some rich people may have them somewhere, but there aren't any dryer hookups. So instead, everyone line (or rack) dries their clothes. It's common to see laundry on a line behind (or even in front of) a small family-owned business.

Toliet paper is scented. Probably because most Koreans don't flush the paper. Supposedly their pipes can't handle the toliet paper. I flush. (Don't tell anyone!)

Tap water is not considered fit for drinking, despite the fact that it's pretty clean and has fluoride added. I think this is because of the ondol floor heating system, in which hot water is circulated through pipes beneath the floor. As a heating system, it rocks. However, sometimes the water comes out a little rusty because it's been running around under the floor. Every restaurant and business has either bottled water or a filtration system.

Restaurant delivery is free and tipping doesn't exist. Men (always men) on small motorcycles deliver the food, usually on real dishes, and return to pick up the dishes (if necessary) after a certain amount of time.

Children can stare at, point at, and talk about foreigners and it's not considered rude. It's not unusual for a child to audibly gasp when I come around a corner. Children have also stared at me while I was eating in a restaurant on more than one occasion.

Selling appliances, among other things, requires very loud, usually English, music and dancing girls in mini-skirts and vinyl leg-warmer-type apparel, which is supposed to look like go-go boots. I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of right now.

Whities, whities everywhere (originally posted 18 January 06)

Saturday, we had to go to Wonju for a conference for all the new foreign teachers in our province. (It was supposed to be about 2 hours away, but the bus ride ended up being 4 hours.) So there alone, we saw more white people than we've seen pretty much the whole time we've been here.

From there, we caught a bus to east Seoul and rode the subway to COEX Mall, a huge shopping center downtown. (One of the biggest bookstores, with a good selection of English language books, is located there.) So this whole time, there are whities EVERYWHERE! It's a bit of shock after not seeing any for so long. Seriously, we sometimes go a week without seeing another foreigner in Sokcho. (I did my best not to stare at the freaks.)

At a "lifestyle shop" in TechnoMart (another large mall by the bus station) -- basically like Anthropologie, but more reasonably priced -- we saw a strange sign in the middle of a table of floor cushions. It was an anti-Bush sign. I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture. There seems to be a lot of anti-Bush sentiment here...or, perhaps I should say, anti-Bushy, since that's what most people here call him. I don't think it's necessarily disrespectful, as the tendency is to end all words in a vowel...but it's funny shit to me! It makes me think of a Michael Moore line, "The Bushies are coming! The Bushies are coming!"