Back to August... Sokcho

Back to August…

Good gosh golly, I’ve got a lot of typing to do! The short version: more Korea travel, left EV, went to Cambodia and Laos, then lots of flying and waiting en route to Venice for a wedding, then Milan before Andalucia, Spain. I got home on October 6th.

Okay, the long version…Went for a run on Sunday the 13th before work, and ran past a HUGE running club, all clad in orange. We all waved and hooted and hollered, and I lamented that these people would have been my friends if I’d ever had weekends off to meet and play with them. Sigh. That night after work, Elana and I headed down to Songtan to hang out with Don and friends. We ate and drank (Vietnamese food, Guiness, Chili’s…) the evenings away, and Elana and I had a fabulously lazy day wandering around Songtan and watching movies (Broken Flowers, Good Night and Good Luck).

On Tuesday we met up with Renee in Suwon for a trip to the Folk Village, which I’d seen already but was happy to revisit. The day was unbelievably hot and humid, but we resigned ourselves to being sweaty and covered most of the park. We were stared at even more than usual on the subway and train rides back, and got really slaphappy narrating their thoughts in English. I know the word “sphincter” came into play…

Some other EV nonsense:
They were looking for mimes to perform. Think about that. Mimes don’t SPEAK. ANY LANGUAGE.

They haven’t come up with anything to encourage the One-Day visiting kids to use varied language. Teachers bring their students and give them the homework assignment of getting as many English-speaking teachers’ signatures as they can, so the kids all run up to us, pushing each other, yelling “SIGN! SIGN!” or, if we’re lucky, “SIGN PLEASE!” Every day. All day. So exhausting and depressing. If they’d just hand out a stupid piece of paper with lots of different questions or things to say, the kids could pick a few, they’d learn something, and there’d be a little variety. Oh well. All they want is a photo, anyway.

Some of the Eastern European women (commercial staff) had a meeting, as they were uncertain as to some aspects of their contract (and they’ve been screwed from the start, too) and wanted to pool and clarify their questions before presenting them. They had this meeting in the pub, one of the only areas to congregate, and one of the teachers, who happens to be dating one of them but knew nothing of the meeting, happened to be there. They asked him to proofread the letter, as English is their second language, so he did. Later, the director of the camp reprimanded him and said that the business/admin office was going to have a meeting about the propriety of teachers “associating” with commercial staff, and possibly new rules about “cohabitation,” which is completely ridiculous. There are all kinds of couples on campus, and they were singling them out because they didn’t want anything smacking of ‘unionization.’ Completely outrageous.

We’ve been told repeatedly that we’re being ‘watched’ very closely for all kinds of stupid things, that we have to ‘watch our step.’ If they expended half the energy they did slaying boogeymen on instead making useful improvements, EV might have had a chance. And they keep trying to add hours, especially performing hours, to the week, when we’re already putting in more vocal hours than anyone on Broadway. The unprofessionalism boggles the mind.

Two of the newest edutainers got sick soon after their arrival, but because admin had screwed up their papers, they didn’t have their Alien Registration Cards and couldn’t go to the hospital. EV wouldn’t get them the paperwork so that they could go as the insured employees they supposedly are upon commencing work.

Several more people, mostly in the ODP, resigned. Big surprise.

The gym closed for a week and only announced it the day before. No pro-rating, no carrying over of the week, you’re just out a week. The past four times I tried to swim, there were no lap-swim lanes available, in spite of the fact that they claim one always is. They just tell you that you can’t swim now. After the week they were closed, I had only 2 weeks left at EV, so I asked if I could pay for half a month, and they said “no,” so I gave up. As one of the Canadian trainers said: “Koreans + business = Stupid.” Sigh.

Leaving EV is going to be a bit of a financial blow, since I’ll be losing my severance, my unpaid leave allowance and my airfare home, plus I have to mail all my stuff, since backpacking with it all wouldn’t be especially practical…but better that my wallet gets sucked empty than my soul. A travel agent with a company everyone here loves quoted me a price of $3,500 for my itinerary home, but with a LOT of internet time, I booked everything for just under $2,000.

I took another sick day on Friday the 18th to take care of my Pension paperwork, cancel my cellphone account (I had to go to FIVE SK Telecom offices before they could complete the transaction), get a haircut and buy some last Korean gifts. I also spent more time on the computer and in their office pestering admin to get me answers to logistical questions I’d been asking for weeks.

On Friday, Elana, Renee, Matt and I (I think there was someone else, too…) hung out in my apartment and played Monopoly with special rules. We all started out with double the money, the bank would always give interest-free loans (which sometimes turned into grants), any Community Chest or Chance cards that required a payment was actually a payment FROM the bank, and anyone collecting rent had to list all the wonderful amenities of the property. I made Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (from Don) with peas. We drank wine and beer. A good night.

Gangwon-do
Sunday, Aug 20th: Elana and I took off for Sokcho, on the east coast. When I’d gone to our guardhouse to ask them to call us a cab for 5:50, they told me that they’d told admin that they weren’t doing that anymore (which, of course, had not been passed on to us), and were pissy about it but said they’d call one for us this last time. No taxi showed up, however, and they didn’t seem all that surprised about it. Grrrrrr. So we missed our train and got a late and slow start via bus, but arrived before midnight and found a motel room right away.

The next morning, left our stuff in lockers at the bus station, as we planned to stay in a motel near Seoraksan National Park for the rest of our trip. We ran into two other EVers, who were at the end of their weekend and gave us some pointers. After a little searching, we found breakfast of fried rice with egg and sauce (bokimbap) before wandering around Sunrise Park and Sokcho Beach.

We saw some kooky statues, got nifty souvenir pens with little pull-out maps, and laughed over a Baywatch-esque group of Korean lifeguard-types, complete with tans, speedos, and almost hulking bodies—totally in contrast to standard beachgoers there, but simultaneously familiar and weird to us. I should have stopped them for a photo, as they would have LOVED that, but I thought of it a minute too late.

We hopped on a bus to nearby Naksan Park to hike around and see Naksansa (temple), home to a 15m statue of Gwaneum, Goddess of Mercy. It was a very pretty spot, even though a recent fire had destroyed much of the temple.

Another bus brought us back to town, where we bought some groceries and trail snacks. After returning to the bus station for our bags, we caught a cab (we tried to take a bus but the driver said he wasn’t going where we wanted to go, which we named and showed him on a map—of course we followed him in the cab to that exact spot) to Chicken Village, which was on our tourist map and was calling our names. We’d booked a reservation, as apparently the traditional local preparation takes a long time. We arrived and they seemed to be expecting us, but then didn’t understand what we wanted to order, which led us to think we might be in the wrong place. There wasn’t much we could do, though, so we finally successfully ordered the special dish, which indeed took a LONG time to cook. No matter, as we had the place to ourselves—outdoor seating in a pretty location, tons of pre/side dishes, beer, and reveling in the joy of days off. Somehow we got to making chicken noises a lot, which lasted throughout the trip and beyond…and I’m still doing it now and then…oh, dear. Anyway, it was EXCELLENT. I think they just steam the whole thing, but it is darn tasty and super moist. And then they brought us rice porridge afterwards. I’m not sure I’ve ever been more full!

The owner drove us to the nearby motel we were hoping to stay in, and we again got lucky with a cheap room right away. One bed, lots of ondol bedding, TV, even a mini kitchen (Garden Motel 636.7474). I took a walk around the area (motels and tourist shops with a little convenience food and drink) to try to aid the digestion process, then joined Elana for some TV before going to sleep.

Tuesday, we started by trying to find some morning coffee, but without much luck—until a motel restaurant said they served it. Well, it took him FOREVER to make it, it was bad, and he charged us about three times what he should have. We bought some instant cups for the next day.

We walked to the park entrance, which was actually much farther than we’d thought, but it was a pretty trip. As it was August, when most people take vacations, it was pretty crowded, even on a Tuesday. We got “helloed” and stared and giggled at, which is annoying when you’re trying to avoid the work scene, but the hike was gorgeous. Many of the women wore strappy sandals, some even with heels, and while this wasn’t a major trek, it certainly called for sturdy shoes. Many parents were carrying children over some treacherous terrain without holding on to anything, which made us uncomfortable. And any time we paused to enjoy a view or rest in a people-free spot off the trail, the area soon filled up. It was really odd how consistently it happened, even when we picked unremarkable spots.

Amused by the cultural differences, we walked on and enjoyed Yukdampokpo and Biryongpokpo (waterfalls) along the way. We stopped for lunch on the way back, which was not very good and was way overpriced, but we got a free (service!) taste of the local wild grape booze—not strong and rather yummy.

We bumped into two other EV teachers by the main entrance (we found that we seemed to know a frighteningly high percentage of the whiteys we encountered) and then set out for another hike in the other direction. We were going at a good clip and passed a group of older men, who then weren’t going to be left behind, and they picked up the pace to stay right behind us—to the point that they were really crowding us. We eventually stopped to let them pass us, but then they slowed down and we got stuck behind them (then they started movin’ again), so we stopped again to give them a serious head start. God forbid we should ‘beat’ them anywhere.

We hiked to Heundeulbawi, or Tottering Rock, where a big boulder will rock from its precarious perch a little with the help of a group of pushing people, and then towards Ulsanbawi, an 873m summit. Elana’s foot was bothering her, though, and she was suffering a little from altitude and asthma, so she said she’d turn back and meet me towards the entrance. I went on and eventually ascended the 808-step metal staircase into the fog, where I had absolutely no view of anything. But my legs thanked me for the reward of the mission accomplished, and the climb was impressive. I saw the old guys again, and they were a little freaked out that we had been two people but that I was alone. I told them that everything was okay, but I should have acted out that she’d fallen off a cliff, and what could I do?

I ran into our EV friends on the descent, and then met up with Elana, who was hanging out on some rocks that took some hiking to, although they were easily visible from the trail. Of course, it had been desolate when she’d gone, but was soon packed with Koreans. So weird. And yet not, since they are not known for thinking outside the box, and following doesn’t require much creativity.

We got back to the entrance and haggled with taxi drivers who were determined to rip us off until we got a price we could live with for the short ride. He drove at approximately warp speed and we arrived in 2 minutes flat (it had been a 30-minute walk). Eeeeek!

We showered and stretched at the motel, and ate some Chicken Village leftovers and some of our groceries instead of venturing out for dinner. We watched a little TV and fell sound asleep.

Wednesday morning was a bit drizzly. I woke up and wrote some postcards, and once we were both up and ready, we went back into Sokcho (Elana wasn’t up for more hiking and I didn’t want to head out alone on a major hike in the rain), found a motel for our last night there, and went to an LP- recommended spot for lunch. I sampled the local sundae, which is a squid sausage—pork and spices and I-don’t-know-what-casseroley-tasting-stuff encased in squid, then cooked and sliced into circles. Very good, VERY rich. Elana had bulgogi that was pretty bad—it wasn’t as described and tasted like they’d dumped a cup of sugar into it, and cost more than the menu listed, because the menu was 3 years old. Of course.

We took a bus to Yeongnangho Lake, supposedly a “paradise of water recreation.” Well, we saw a family with an inflatable rowboat. Nothing for rent, no other people, nothing, in spite of all the tourist info told us. We walked back into town, stopped for ice cream, bought our bus tickets for the next day, then entertained ourselves shopping for tshirts with ridiculous English, which abound in Korea (making sense is not such a priority). We went western and had Pizza Hut for dinner, but they made the wrong pizza, so we ate some of the wrong pizza to tide us over until the right one came. They said they’d wrap the rest ‘to go,’ but that apparently meant ‘to go back into the kitchen to the garbage or stomachs of the staff.’ Oh well. We were full. We walked back to the motel, then I went to a PC bang to do some emailing before going to sleep.

On Thursday we took a bus to Chuncheon, and discovered that it was not the pretty town we’d been led to expect it would be. After not getting any help from the tourist booth which was closed from 12-1 while they ate lunch—in the booth--we set out on foot. Bicycle rental was really expensive, so we forwent that and hiked around the pretty but dirty lake, where there was also zero activity, despite proclamations of much to do. We took a ferry (on which we were leered at by some men and talked at by some kids—‘je nes parle englais’ comes in handy sometimes—pardon my bad French spelling) to Jungdo, a small island where there were supposedly more water sports, a swimming pool, horseback riding and wild birds. Er, we had a nice walk around. We did see the pool, but it was empty.

We took a cab back to the center of town (it took 3 guys to figure out where we wanted to go, even though we were pointing to the spot about a mile away on the map and had the name of the street—near the bus station--written out) to a street known for serving dakgalbi (traditional chicken dish), which they said they’d make ‘not spicy’ for Elana, but it was still fairly fiery and she couldn’t eat it (I loved it and loved the leftovers). They brought her a cold noodle dish, but she was annoyed enough that she wasn’t going to enjoy anything.

We walked back to the bus station, got our stuff, and got another cab to the train station, where we caught a train (with SCREAMING kids) to the wrong station in Seoul…when the point of taking the train instead of the bus was to avoid the subway to Seoul station. So we got on the subway and eventually got back to EV. It was a good trip, but strangely fraught with hassles and annoyances.

There’s a new TV ad for EV that flashes “English Villige!!!” [sic, of course] multiple times. Sigh. It took three weeks of emailing and visiting the appropriate admin guy to get answers to basic questions about the logistics of leaving. The security guards work 24-hour shifts. There is still no rain plan. We’ve gotten new tax info, which hugely changes some people’s take-home pay (not for Americans, fortunately), that people should have gotten with the job offer. The higher-ups wrote a letter of apology for (not to him, but for him to sign) the guy who’d accidentally been at the commercial staff’s meeting and was ‘consorting’ with people in another division of EV—and now the Korean Assistant to the Director is dating a teacher. I penned a resignation letter that makes me feel better—I’ll post it once I’ve gotten all my money from them. Ah, EV.

On Friday I was excused from our content area development meeting, since I’m outta here asap and am not interested in developing anything. That night I had dinner with many of the funstruction Korean teachers and assistants, which was very touching. Thank goodness for the kind and sensible and responsible Koreans who countered all the annoyances of dealing with EV.