Weekend Update

After being out of town last weekend and having another insanely busy week, I decided not to take any trips this past weekend and just stay home and try to get caught up instead. Spring allergies have hit me full-force, so I'm feeling pretty run-down. I spent Saturday cleaning my apartment, doing laundry (by hand), grocery shopping, and helping a friend with some writing. Then I met my friends Joy and Nicole in the evening. We walked around this lovely park. The weather was perfect, and we had a good time chatting and joking. There were several large fountains in the middle of the park, each with colored lights illuminating the sprays of water. It was a little hypnotic to watch the colors and intensity of the water change.After being mesmerized by the fountains, we went to a nearby restaurant for dinner--kimchi pancakes, chicken gizzards, and rice wine. Yum.On Sunday I decided to tackle the biggest project that was looming over my head--shopping for something to wear to the opening ceremony of a new NGO called Educators without Borders. The director of my school asked me a week and a half ago if I'd be the English-speaking MC for the opening ceremony. Of course, I said yes, but it immediately dawned on me that I don't have any clothes appropriate for the occasion. I accidentally left my one formal skirt that fits in Chicago at Christmas time. Catherine took me to a couple stores last week, but nothing fit right. It is so frustrating, not to mention discouraging, to shop for clothes here.

So on Sunday I headed to another city to see what I could find. I stopped in several stores, looked around, tried things on, but came up with nothing. However, one of the stores I stopped at had this strange petting zoo set up out front, which included, among other unlikely petting zoo animals, this bear cub.I felt very sorry for him--and the other animals that were being mercilessly poked at by crowds of loud, excited kids. Standards of animal care are much different here than they are in the U.S.

I went on to several more stores and was starting to feel extremely discouraged, if not a little depressed, at my complete lack of luck in the clothing department. I kept thinking about how much easier shopping is at home. I know where to go, what to look for, what size is likely to fit. Here, I have to guess. I finally decided that I would try one more store and then call it quits for the day. There was nobody in the store when I got there--not even a salesperson. This is quite the change from most stores I've been in, which are usually crowded with customers and way too many salespeople that hover over customers with absolutely no sense of personal space. (Shopping in Korea is one time when I still experience culture shock and think I probably will for as long as I'm here.)

I was looking at a couple different things when the saleswoman showed up. I'm not sure if she had taken a bathroom break or where she had been, but she was very apologetic and immediately started pulling things off the rack and directing me toward the fitting room. They generally don't have mirrors inside the fitting rooms here. In order to look in a mirror, you have to step outside the fitting room and stand in the store itself. Everything I tried on was a disaster. The sleeves and pants were too short, the hips and shoulders too narrow--everything fit for Asian proportions. I would put something on, go out of the fitting room to look in the mirror, go back in the fitting room and repeat, repeat, repeat. I found shirts and jackets that fit--as long as I never needed to put my arms down or actually button it in the front. I found pants that fit--as long as I never needed to sit down.

I was ready to give up when the saleswoman came up with one more possibility--a black suit with the pants a size larger than the jacket. It was almost perfect when I tried it on--too big at the waist but fine through the hips, and the jacket was just right. The saleswoman grabbed a belt and started lacing it through the belt loops. When she put it through the last loop, we both started to laugh because there was no way the belt could be fastened shut--accessories, too, are made for people with Asian proportions. I took off the belt, and the saleswoman pinned the pants at the waist for me. When I had changed back into my own clothes, the woman took the pants to the tailor in the same building and told me I could come back for them in an hour, which I did, and all is well and good in the world again. It is actually a huge relief to have this taken care of. I never imagined I would be one to care so much about clothes, but the thought of having absolutely nothing (no exaggeration) appropriate for this occasion has been extremely stressful for me.

With my new purchase in a nice pink shopping bag, I walked back to the subway station. I passed this beautiful tree along the way. Look closely for the bee in the first picture.
There are lanterns up all over town in preparation for Buddha's birthday. They remind me of my first trip to this town at about this same time last year when I interviewed for my current job.It's interesting to think that it was almost exactly a year ago that I applied for this job. I was miserable in my position at Wesley Mission School and sent my resume out to a couple places. The directors at my current school decided to give me an interview, even though they had already hired someone for the position, so I came up from Sabkyo one weekend. I remember walking around the town and thinking that this is a place I'd like to live, but the interview itself was pretty intimidating, and I left thinking that I probably didn't get the job. A few days later, I got an email message saying that they'd offer me a part time position. I think about what a difference this year is than last year--how much happier I am, how much healthier the situation that I'm in is--and I'm so thankful that I made the decision to leave my first school and come here. My friends and students have a positive impact on my life everyday, and for that I am thankful.