When I got home last night I tried to upload videos via my internet, but alas, it didn't work. I decided to take drastic measures and created a YouTube account. Once the videos finish uploading I will link them in another post. If you are ever bored, (and I manage to get around to it) feel free to check out the rest of the videos I put up there. For now, enough shameless plugs. Let's move onto the good stuff.
The weekend after my trip to the agriculture center we went to Songtan (the place near the military base) again to find the rumored smaller Mexican food place with the mythical ground beef (a hard find in Korea). After just a few minutes of hunting, we found it and promptly ran inside. The owner there spoke English very well and was very nice. He had a good sense of humor and when I asked," Can I get a burrito with nothing but beans, rice and beef, please?" he replied immediately, "So no tortilla, right?" I know that kind of humor is eye roll worthy but I thought it was amusing. We started talking to him and found he is a really cool guy. He first started the conversation off with,
"You guys are teachers, right?"
To which we proudly said, "Yes, indeed."
"I thought so. I can smell the difference."
Upon typing that out I don't think his true point came across. He meant a metaphorical smell. There is a difference in the way one acts (I'm trying to be the least offensive as possible because I do truly appreciate everyone in the military) and the way one presents him or herself to the world. At least for us, we try to present a positive and friendly image and some others may or may not try to present a similar image, military or teachers alike. My overall point is that the guy at the Mexican food place enjoyed our company.
After some small talk he brought out our burritos and they were actually really good. Not as fantastic as that first night when we discovered Mexican food in Seoul but not nearly as disappointing as my first Mexican food experience in Songtan. I would say it was really enjoyable. The ground beef was amazing for the first couple of bites but later became a little chewy about halfway through the burrito. The refried beans (or imitation refried beans) and the rice turned out to be pretty good. Overall, I was so satisfied that I went and got another burrito (without the ground beef this time). Because we both order strangely (especially me) he gave us a look and then said, "Okay, if that's what you want." We often get fairly large reactions to our strange orders here (as mentioned before).
We hung out at the burrito place for quite some time because the owner was a lot of fun to talk to. We learned the he has family in America, he learned about where we were from and then the subject changed to something called "Juicys". For those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, these are women who dress in the most revealing clothing humanly possible and hang around bars trying to meet foreigners. They are usually from another country and are in Korea with a Visa for "singers" at a bar. Technically they are employed but most of the time, they actually aren't. Their goal is to get pregnant off of military personnel or any foreigners for that matter. Why? So they can have a chance of becoming a US citizen and having a better life. It's really sad that something like that exists and is still being practiced today. Imagine waking up and hoping that you get pregnant with a small chance that the foreigner will lay claim to you and your baby and you can become an American citizen. The sad part is that many of the women are often taken to a hotel and promptly discarded without a second thought. If anybody was to stop and look at their motive for flirting with them then they would see the sad situation that they were in. The sad part is that there is still a "market" for this because there are tons of "Juicys" everywhere. Both sides have sad parts to them because one side wants to live a better life while the other side is a potential lonely foreigner looking for companionship. Obviously one seems to weigh a little heavier over the other but what I'm trying to say is that neither side is particularly "evil". It's just a sad situation that exists and, unfortunately, has no ready remedy.
Let's hop off of the Serious Train and head back down to Happy Valley. So after we chatted with the store owner for some time we left and went into a t-shirt store because Audrey saw a shirt she liked. We went in and saw a plethora of t-shirts ranging from the silly (like Audrey's) to shirts with words and phrases that would make a sailor blush. It would be amazing if anybody wore those shirts but I wouldn't put it past anyone. I would love to tell exactly what they said but I don't feel the urge to repeat those words nor do I want to make my blog rated X. Anyway, Audrey bought a shirt that says, "You had me at An-young-ha-say-o" (An-young-ha-say-o basically means "Hello" in Korean) so she thought it was cute and we bought it.
After a little more looking around we decided to head back to Pyeongtaek. We were already getting tired (and it wasn't even dark yet) so we hopped on the next train and headed home. We decided to take a taxi home because we thought it would be faster. It turns out it really wasn't that much better because of the traffic. Our taxi driver seemed a little on edge so we just jumped in and didn't really say anything. As we were leaving AK Plaza these three guys (all dressed in white wife beaters and pants sagging) walked by. One pretended like he got hit by the taxi and the others laughed and then made small gestures for "ignore him" (not really "sorry"). The problem was that these people were clearly Americans and we could tell that the taxi driver didn't like us in the first place so now he was glaring at us because somehow we were associated with them now. To make matters worse they saw white people in the car and knocked on the window (we were stuck behind traffic) and said,
"Do you speak English?"
"Of course."
"Great. How do we get to the red light district?"
"Really? What would you want there?"
"Well, we just heard of it and we wanted to go."
After a few minutes of them continuously asking Audrey where the red light district was (I was in the back seat) and mentioning they just wanted a stripper, the traffic started to clear but before we pulled away they said, "You could strip for us if you want," at which point Audrey rolled up the window.
No wonder the taxi driver hates Americans. These guys pretended like he hit them and then asked where the prostitutes were. I felt embarrassed and angry that now we had to sit in a cab in total silence because the driver was not happy at all that these strangers messed with him for no reason. I'm not one of those people that likes to burden others with the responsibility of saying, "You represent America when you visit other countries," but frankly, you do. America already has a reputation with the rest of the world (as Audrey was so pleased to find out how much at GEPIK training) and it's fashionable to bash on America. Why would you perpetuate that stereotype? Why not show that you are an intelligent person who is worth listening to and worth caring about? I feel it's my responsibility to represent not only myself in a good light, but my country. I'm not a flag waving kind of guy but I am very proud (and lucky) to be born in America. As I said, it's fashionable to bash on America (even by Americans) yet they live in a place where they don't have to have to try to get pregnant by a random guy for citizenship or where people don't live 18 years of their life without seeing another race. Almost everything you do in another country counts, is important and can affect the lives of others. Soldiers are banned from a certain town in Korea because of what one sick guy did; even if the soldier is a gentleman (like a many of the military people I've actually met) he still isn't allowed in. It really annoying when I have to clean up the mess that another person made because they just didn't care for anyone other than themselves. And yes, nobody should judge someone based on a stereotype, but unfortunately, many ignorant people do. Saying you will follow a stereotype because people believe it makes you just as ignorant as those who believe them.
Of course, when this event happened I didn't think that much about it, nor did I go on such a rant about what I thought of representing yourself in another country. This stuff tends to come out when you write, I suppose. I realize this blog entry is too serious so even though it is long, I will not finish yet.
The next day we decided to check out the open market. Let me start off by saying how much I love the open market: I love the open market, a lot. It's filled with the craziest things you can imagine. Anything from entire pig heads to bookshelves to bathroom towels to cheap rip off shoes to bugs that you can eat to grocery stores. When I say it has everything, I mean it has everything. You will be assaulted with some of the worst smells you have ever smelled in your entire life and you will see guts and blood and hearts but it is amazing nevertheless. Audrey doesn't care for the market much, but every time I go I can't help but stare wide-eyed at all the wonders that I normally don't see in America (even if it is disgusting). I even saw what I'm pretty sure was half of a skinned dog (that was a little much for me but I figured it was worth mentioning). You will hear people shouting at you to try to buy their wares, you will see older ladies gently smiling at you as you walk by their vegetable stand, you will see people glare and yell at you if you show your camera and you will feel alive. How can you not be happy in a place like this?
Those pig heads are a shout of to Liz, by the way. We took that picture specifically for you. Enjoy! For those who don't think pictures are good enough, how about a short video? You will notice that we hold the camera kind of odd because I wasn't sure if it was allowed inside or not so we were being cautious. Of course, the second someone sees us with it she starts to yell at us. It kind of made us nervous the first time but sometime soon I think I will go back and hold my tourist camera high and proud.
(Note: Click on it twice to open up the YouTube page so you can see the entire thing)
So after a little bit of wandering around we finally found a furniture store (our true goal that day). We talked a bit and finally decided on these colorful shelves that would allow us to put our clothes up in an easily accessible way. We talked to the owner (who was very nice) and started getting the shelves ready. While we were signing the receipt his daughters (couldn't be older than five) started cleaning the shelves for us because they were a little dusty. Audrey thought it was really cute and it was very nice of them. Then came the problem of how we were going to get them home. The original plan was for me to carry two of them (there was four) back to the house and then come back and get the rest. The owner, without us even asking, put the shelves in his truck and asked where our house was. He then told us to hop in, he closed up his shop, drove us home, helped carry the shelves into the house and then even took the cardboard off of the shelves and took it with him. We felt really bad that he did all that for us so we gave him some Snickers to give to his daughters. We thought he was so nice that we came back the next day and bought more shelves and he did the same thing yet again. Good customer service does lead to more business.
This will allow me to transition perfectly into something I've wanted to talk about for a while: the customer service here in Korea. It is ridiculous; it's to the point where I feel bad having all these things done for me. No where in America would that store owner close his shop down so he could give us a ride home. Every store in Korea is that concerned with customer service. When I was getting my cell phone the employees who weren't helping customers were making tea, offering seats and then giving us grape juice while we were waiting. They are so attentive that sometimes it can be annoying such as when you walk into a store and have a couple of workers ask, "Can I help you?" and then they follow you around just in case you do need help. Another case is when you go to the grocery store and you even look at the food they are selling, they immediately jump out from behind the counter and ask if you want something. This level of customer service is really amazing sometimes but also really bad other times when you feel pressured into buying something because the person has already shrink wrapped it, cut out the piece you were looking at and then carved your initials in it. I understand that it makes me a sucker for saying yes after they essentially shove something into my arms but I can't help it. I think it will be good for me to slowly learn to say "no" even after they go through all the work of preparing it. Overall though I enjoy the service here even if it is a little high pressure.
That's a little better. Now it is okay to finish up this entry.
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