Mel`s life

Fast zweieinhalb Jahre später

2010-07-05T20:53:00.004+02:00

Hallo meine Lieben,

ja, es gibt mich noch! Und nachdem fast zweieinhalb Jahre seit meinem letzten Eintrag vergangen sind, wird es auch langsam mal wieder Zeit für ein update.
Ausnahmsweise mal auf Deutsch, ... das Wochenende war total anstrengend.

Also, was gibts neues?
Bin mittlerweile nicht mehr in Korea, sondern seit zwei Jahren in Madrid, Spanien, meiner absoluten Lieblingsstadt, in der ich mich schon total daheim fühl. Arbeite hier bei der Firma Johnson&Johnson, im Bereich Pharmazie im Einkauf und bin ganz zufrieden. Ich denke erstmal wird das ganze so weitergehen.
Das schöne an Madrid is auch, dass es nicht so ganz weit weg ist von Deutschland wie Korea, und ich einfach mal auf nen Kurztrip heimschaun kann, so wie ich das dieses Wochenende gemacht hab.
Hab meine Eltern überrascht, was mir auch echt gelungen ist. Ausserdem war dann in meinem Dorf noch Heimatfest und zu guter letzt haben auch noch Deutschland und Argentinien im Viertelfinale gegeneinander gespielt (4:0) - denen haben wir es gezeigt! :)
Bin Donnerstags nach der Arbeit zum Flughafen, wegen ca. 2h Verspätung erst um halb 12 in MUC angekommen und nach 1 1/2 Stunden U-Bahnfahrt auch schon um halb zwei bei meinem Bruder in der Wohnung. Gut, dass es dann um halb sechs schon wieder losging, ab an den Hauptbahnhof, Zug um 7:07 nach Simbach geschnappt, wo mich die Schwiegermama meiner Schwester abgeholt hat. Endlich zu Hause in Kirchham konnt ich leider nicht in mein Haus, da von Wachhund evtl. nicht sofort erkannt. Tja, also erstmal zu den Nachbarn und auch gleich zum Friseur. Um viertel nach zwölf kommt dann auch meine Mom von der Arbeit heim, die die Nachbarn dann prompt angerufen haben und eingeladen haben. Große Augen! Was machst du hier? Schöne Überraschung. Aber besser noch mein Dad, der mich erstmal garnicht erkannt hat. :) Jaja, andere Frisur. Abends dann bisserl mit Nichte, Neffe, Sis und Dad auf Volksfest gewesen und später noch im Tipi von Binci. Relaxter Abend, war auch nötig.
Samstag erstmal Shampooshopping gegangen (is ja in Spanien dreimal so teuer) und danach um vier aufs Fussballspiel im Cabane. Gute Stimmung, alte Freunde und ein super Spiel. Abends dann erstmal gemütlich grillen mit Eltern und Nachbarn und danach natürlich wieder Heimatfest, diesmal im Dirndl, so wie's sich gehört.
Spanien:Paraguay 1:0 - IDEAL, zum Deutschland : Spanienspiel bin ich wieder in Madrid.
Am Sonntag dann noch guten Schweinebraten gegessen und auch schon wieder ab Richtung Flughafen.
Und die Routine hat mich wieder... arbeiten, arbeiten, arbeiten.

Bald meld ich mich wieder!
BESOS

Trip to Taiwan

2008-03-31T15:38:00.029+02:00

Hello dear friends,

again I want to let you know a little bit about my life here in Korea... well, this time not directly Korea, but Taiwan.
Together with my Taiwanese friend Nichi, her parents and my two Korean friends Yeonhwa and Sunah I travelled the beautiful little island Taiwan.

First some information about the island:

The 394 km long and 144km wide island is located on the "Tropic of Cancer" (degree of latitude: 23,27) next to the Chinese mainland. Over 93% of Taiwanese are adherents of a combination of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. Still today about 2% of a total population of about 23 mio. are aboriginees, who mostly live in the mountainous areas.

Of course during our trip we travelled a lot around the island.
During our first day we arrived at Nichi's home in Tao yuan, which is located close to Taipei and even closer to the airport.
From there we travelled south-east to Ilan. In order to do so we used the longest tunnel of Taiwan, called Hsuehshan Tunnel, which is almost 13km long and reduces the travel time from two hours to just half an hour. In Ilan we visitied an area famous area for pottery and later went to a night market with a lot of clothes and new impressions... especially concerning the food... That night we stayed at a friend of Nichi's mom, who was very hospitable and shared with us her passion for mountain biking and good music. 
On the next day we got up early to start off for our journey into the mountains of Taiwan to Taipingshan. Up in the mountains we had booked rooms in a small cozy hotel. Luckily we could make our way up before the fog totally blocked the small mountain street. With a small train we tried to discover the foggy woods.

On the next day we were excited to recover in the hot springs and enjoyed the luckily good few over Taipingshan. With help of the naturally hot water we were able to boil our own eggs and corn sticks.
Of course one of the musts when going to Taiwan is to let your own wishes for the future rise up into the air and become true. We did this in a small town called Pingshi. First we wrote down our wishes, then the huge lantern was lit with fire inside and made its way up to the sky. The longer the lantern rises up the greater the chance that your wishes will become true. It was a very emotional moment for everybody. After this we went back home.

On the next day we went to a flower garden where we could make great pictures, not only of us, but also of a variety of different flowers and herbs. After that we went to an old traditional market (of which there are really many in Taiwan) and finally to the club hotel, where we would stay one night to relax from the stressful travelling. We had a whole house for ourselves.  During the previous days we had eaten a lot since we wanted to try as much as possible of the Taiwanese food. Well, we could definetely see the results in form of bigger bellies and decided to do some workout and also swam some rounds in the hotel pool. After that we enjoyed the evening playing a traditional Taiwanese game similar to Rummicub, which made me learn very quickly to remember Chinese numbers in order to win the game five times in a row. 

On the next morning we slept longer than usual and after a good breakfast again left for another trip to discover the beautiful Taiwan. Hsinchu: here Nichi's grandmother is living. Together with the girls I discovered the port and enjoyed the grandmother's food in the evening.

On Friday we had to get up early to attend a conference on shipping, port and logistics management at Nichi's former university the Kainan University in her home town. There we could also meet two of our own professors of Inha University who were invited to give speeches on these topics. It was very interesting but unfortunately we had to leave already at noon to get on our way to the South of Taiwan, to Kaoshiung, which is famous for its big port (6th largest port in the world). There Sunah, Yeonhwa and I made ourselves on a uncertain journey through the city equipped with Nichi's aunt's address in Chinese and a map in Chinese.At the sea we made nice pictures at the beach and tried some sea food. Without Nichi's help it was quite a challenge to choose food and I think the waitress was getting a little bit impatient, but finally we were able to make a decision. Surprisingly we didn't have any problems getting around in the city. We were even able to use the bus from the port to the so called "Love River" in the city center.
Around 12 o'clock at night we went back to Nichi's aunt's house. After getting ready we left Kiaoshiung again and tried to catch some sleep in the car. We all felt really sorry for Nichi's dad who all this week drove us everywhere without ever complaining. Really thanks to Nichi's parents who made this week be as it was. It was fantastic.
THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!
Well, back at home we lay down and decided to get up as early as possible (which of course was quite difficult) in order to also see Taipei. Going to Taiwan without seeing the capital is of course impossible.

So the next day we took a train to Taipei, first to the highest building in the world, the 101 tower. Of course Sunah and I went up with the world's fastest elevator to make some pictures. Unfortunately that day it was quite foggy.
After 101 we went to Danshui, which is a beautiful area at the sea side with many small stores, many people, many couples, young people walking around, artists playing music, a lot of food and even theatre plays on small stages. After that we went to a night market again to do some shopping, which is really great in Taiwan. Clothes are really cheap and there are so many, you could spend a whole week there only for shopping and looking at stuff being sold.
But as you could see, we did not only waste our precious short time for these things, but also for seeing the beautiful landscape of the island, its great exotic cities, which are full of people and scooters and to learn about the culture and the language during our many trips in the car. With Nichi's help even I could catch some small phrases in Chinese and learn a few characters. This language is really amazing and if I find some time in the future I definitely want to learn more about it, but right now I will put all my effort into learning Korean.

I hope you enjoyed my small journey through Taiwan and I could maybe awaken your interest for this beautiful island. I can warmly recommend it for a visit.
Let's see where I will go next...

Singapore!

2008-02-14T10:47:00.014+01:00

Sorry, a little bit late, here some information about my trip to Singapore in January 2008: well, let me think... guess I should look at the pictures to remember. You all know my short term memory. :-)

As every trip should, we also started at the airport. Usually I always travel on my own. So it was really quite fun to hang around there with my whole class of 29 people. In advance I can say that this trip helped me a lot to feel even more integrated and accepted. Sometimes I felt just like another foreigner. Well, I guess this feeling has vanished since then.

OK, already after six hours... ( I am not used to these short flights) ... we arrived in Singapore. In Korea the temperature had been far below zero... this was a jump of more than 30°C, from about -5 to +28 and a humidity around 80%. I loved it!! That was the only reason why I survived the cold Korean winter, because I knew in Singapore I would be able to wear normal clothes again (and not like an old woman with long underwear).

First a big misunderstanding about Singapore on my part was removed. Singapore is not the whole island, no Melanie, it's a small city! Only about 5 mio. inhabitants (of which 1 mio are foreigners) and the city is only located on the Southern tip of the island. I had always imagined it as a mega city. Well, this mistake may be have been provoked by my logistics professors, who always praised Singapore as "the" logistics hub in Asia. To me it sounded like the city is a metropolis. Maybe they should have mentioned that the reason for Singapore's success in logistics is mainly due to its huge, huge sea port.
Well, since the city is not that big we were confident to see the most important sights during this one week I should mention here that our schedule was really tight. Every morning we got up around seven and came back to the hotel around 12 hours later. During these 12 hours we visited different companies and sights, all of them related to logistics of course.
In the evening then we finally had time to discover the city.

And of course, since we were a group of girls... where did we go first? Orchard Road! WOW! Alone because of this road I could imagine doing my internship in Singapore! I honestly fell in love with this street, the atmosphere there, the friendly people... and the clothes stores. :-)

The cool thing about the trip was, that actually, if you didn't want to, or didn't go out at night with friends, you didn't have to spend any money. We had every meal together with the whole group. Lunch was usually just something quick since we had only about one hour lunch break during speeches or visits to sights like the seaport, the airport logistics park, the DHL Quality Control Center, etc. Well, but unfortunately I had totally forgotten about Korean eating culture. Many (excl. Janghee and Yeonhwa) Koreans cannot live without their daily portion of Korean food (Ramen, Kimchi). So already at the airport some class mates praised their instant noodles (Youngmu...). Unfortunately this was a bad, bad omen. During our week in Singapore we went out to eat dinner five times. Three of these five times we ate Korean (horrible Korean food)! I really like Korean food, but that was not real Korean food. Anyway, my class mates seemed to be more than happy about that.
As you can imagine Galina and I were quite pissed. BUT except the travel guides who didn't know any English and got on our nerves with their constant babble in Korean (especially on Galina's) the trip to Singapore was really a great experience!

The country is really exotic. I have never before been that close to the equator. So one of our trip showing the beauty of the country was to a bird park,another one to a huge aquarium with an underwater tunnel and of course some nice pictures with photo shop... and finally another trip to a botanical garden where we could not only see huge palm trees and nice orchids but also were able to experience and feel a real tropical shower.

Concludingly I can say, Singapore is a great city, not only is it

really clean,
people are friendly (they can even speak English - wow!),
the sights are great,
the buildings are impressive,
the clubs are nice,
but another factor making Singapore so interesting to me is the fact that quite many big German logistics companies are located there, ...where I could do my internship and master thesis in logistics. :-)

We will see!

Me? A celebrity?

2007-12-05T05:09:00.000+01:00

Hey guys,

no, of course I am not! Just kidding.
Well, but who knows, maybe it will not take long and all of Korea will know me... or at least all the cows and dogs in the country. :-)
OK, let me explain myself.
About two months ago I was contacted by some weird guy called Solomon, who has orange hair and thinks he is an artist... He works for an internet broadcasting company. And he asked me if I could work for the agricultural government in Korea. Working means to meet with three other people, the producer, the camera man and a reporter. So far I have done this two times already. The first time I experienced making some long, long rice cake together with about 1000 children, which all screamed at me. But the craziest thing was certainly, that I had to speak in Korean in front of the camera. Panic!
Well, it was quite ok. Then, last week I had the next date with these three nice people, none of which can speak English... nice! We drove about four hours away from Seoul into nowhereland. There were only cows, dogs and old people... Typical Korean country side. There I had to draw the Korean flag and again pretend to speak fluent Korean... listen to a man telling me something about the Second World War and Korea's fight for independence from Japan.. nodd and pretend to understand every word he says. It was really a hard day and I think I earned every penny of the 150,000won (which is not a lot anyway).
On the way home I had to act as English teacher for the female reporter. I have to admit it was quite a lot of fun and I also learned some Korean meanwhile.

So, soon these two reports will be in the internet. If they are ok I will let you know the link... but only if it's not tooo embarassing. :-)

Who knows... maybe soon I will get some invitations for big Korean TV channels. ... I hope not!

My apartment

2007-10-31T04:59:00.000+01:00

Well, now I have been living in my apartment for almost two months and I still haven't showed you how it looks like. At the beginning I had to sleep on the floor for a week before I got my bed. Now I really like the apartment. But I guess, I should decorate it a little bit. That's why I bought some colors and paper. Maybe I could also print out some of my pictures and hang them on the walls. But I definitely have to do something to make it a little bit more cozy.
Here I got some pictures for you.
Here you see my "closet" and next to it the door to my tiny bathroom.

This is my kitchen... ...my bed.... ...bathroom ... ...and my "desk"

Let's get loud!

2007-10-27T04:58:00.001+02:00

Hey guys,

I just saw, my last post is already more than a month ago. I'm so sorry!
Well, life is not only fun here...
This week I finished my second course and I have to say, it was not that easy. Although our professor, Prof. Kam, was great and everybody loved him, the course was really quite hard. We had to do another team project. Unfortunately, as I have experienced quite often before here in Korea, always just a few people end up doing it... and of course I am usually among these people. So one night before we had to present, I had to stay in our lab until 3am and went back there at 9am to finish the presentation. Except of Galina nobody from my group was there. Quite frustrating. At least we got a good grade.
On Monday we had presentations then until 8pm. Some people from other groups hadn't slept at all, so they were really quite tired. Poor guys. But of course they couldn't refuse to go out to eat together with prof. Kam and the rest of the class. It was really quite a fun night. We ate Samgjobsal (Bauchspeck) and then went to Noraebang (Karaoke).
So this week I had vaccation. Unfortunately I was (still am) sick, so I couldn't do much.
And next Wednesday already the next course starts "Global Marketing Management". I hate Marketing... thank you professor Zich. Anyway, I think this course will really be quite difficult. We already got the class materials. It's f*** a lot.
So, I guess I should get healthy really quickly and enjoy the last days of freedom before stress begins again.
Oh, and I met a German boy! What a surprise. Maybe I already mentioned there is another German student at Inha University. His name is Philip from Rosenheim. We get along really well. But last weekend I met another German, also Bavarian, from Erlangen. He works for a Swiss company, which is doing a 2 year project here in Incheon together with a Korean company. His name is Christoph. He is only 25 and already partly in charge of the project. He had studied in Korea before for one year, and just like me, he had loved it. Unfortunately now he hates Korea suddenly. He says it is really hard to work together with Koreans. In the business world they are considered among the most difficult to work with. WOW, I didn't know this.
Well, anyway, I want to apply for my internship also here in Korea. We will see what happens. I am open concerning my future. I will either do my internship and thesis with a German company in Korea, with a Korean company in Korea or with a German company in Germany.

Hm, somehow I don't know what else to write... not much has happened during the last weeks. I was quite busy with studying. Good girl! :-) ... which is why I got good grades so far (both courses A+)

Bye guys

Sightseeing

2007-09-26T16:40:00.000+02:00

I feel like, I should write again and let you know what I am up to these days.

Well, after having completed my first course, after just three weeks of studying, I have vaccation since last Saturday. Our exam on Saturday consisted of every group giving a presentation about some guys who have accomplished something in the field of logistics or supply chain management. Well, we finished our presentations and then went to drink coffee with our professor. Then the journey started...

Right afterwards I had to run home, pack my stuff, get Galina and head off for Seoul. There, after some detour we finally found our driver. It took us about two hours and we finally reached our goal at nine in the evening. Chunchon, small city close to Seoul, which is famous for its lakes. There we went out with two friends and stayed over night. The next day we looked around the area, went on a boat trip and to the movie theatre to watch "Bourne Ultimatum". In the evening we were glad to get in our bus to head back home. After only three hours sleep the night before I was really glad to see my bed.

But Galina is eager to see all of Seoul... so no time to relax. On Monday we went to Seoul, to Dongdaemun to look around the shops there. Unfortunately the sizes there are not very foreigner friendly, especially concerning shoes. Quite frustrated we were glad to be invited by a nice class mate to a great Italian restaurant, in the best area of Seoul for going out... HONGDAE! My favorite area. :-) Afterwards I had the great pleasure to also taste some German beer again... Weißbier, which costs 8,000 won, about 6 Euro. But since our class mate is 46 and already earns a lot at UPS, he invited us. Nice guy! Thank you Mr. Lee.
On Tuesday I was then invited to Janghee's parents' house to celebrate Chusok (Korean holiday) with them. It was very nice to see them again. They helped me sooo much. I don't know how to thank them. And they told me I should visit them anytime. Well, before I should improve my Korean, so I can talk to them. :-)
Well, finally, today I went to Seoul again with Galina. There we met another friend, who showed us around in Seoul. We saw soo much, incredible. In the evening we had some nice traditional Korean dinner and talked about Korean life styles. Afterwards, we ended the day with a great view over Seoul from the 63 building, which was once the highest building in Seoul (not anymore, but still famous). As you can see, the view over Seoul is great. I love this city. It's so full of life... just like me. :-) (of course I will never forget you Madrid!)
Now I am back at home. So far it was a great week.
I wonder what the rest of the week will bring for Galina and me.

Back in Seoul

2007-09-17T15:47:00.000+02:00

Yes, finally, again... back in Seoul.

It feels like I have never been gone. Actually lately I am more in Korea than in Germany. Well, guess I just like the country and its food, and its people, etc.

But I guess it will not be forever. Right now I am doing my master here in Global Logistics Management. I am here now only for a week, but already on Friday I had my first mid-term exam. It's a little bit weird, but we have one course for one month. Then it's finished and we have one week break and the next course begins. Somehow it's cool, but during my first week it meant a lot of stress. Mentally I was not even really here, but had to study, had to cope with being sick and jet lagged and had to sleep on the floor, since my new great apartment didn't have one yet. But since two days I finally have one. It's great. I love my apartment.

Well, of course I have to admit, that I have not only studied while I was here, but I have also gone out already during the weekend.

On Friday, after our exam Galina (my new friend from Israel) and I went out with our new class mates. Class meeting... with a lot of alcohol. The boys were really drunk, but it was funny. We went to Noraebang (Song-room = Karaoke). We had a lot of fun there.

Professor Lee, me and Galina! (yes, professors also like drinking)

(class mates)

On Saturday Galina and I went to Seoul and met Daniel, my former colleague from the KGCCI (Korean German Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and his girlfriend.

(Daniel and his girlfriend)

Then we went out in Itaewon, my former home area (I had missed it). Since I have been there the last time a lot has changed. Restaurants have switched places, have gone out of business or new ones were opened. But above all, there are a lot more foreigners. I was surprised. Well, but maybe it's also because in Incheon there are hardly any foreigners. So we went to a pub and at ten Galina introduced me to two of her friends from our University. (since she lives in the dormitory, she knows some more foreigners) And guess what, one of them was German... even Bavarian!! From Rosenheim! Unfortunately, like most foreigners, he will also only stay for four months.

Well, after the bar we went to a small club, where we met many people... that's Itaewon. It's easy to get to know new people... especially guys. :-)

(hm, forgot his name - Korean names are too hard - second from left, Galina, then Kwan-young - remember his name :-) and me)

After going out Galina and I slept at Daniel's home and we got a real nice breakfast in the morning.

On Sunday, even though I was quite tired from going out, Galina dragged me to Gyongbokkung Palace (I think it was my third time... ). There we met a British girl and went out to eat with her. Of course we exchanged phone numbers and after she left Galina and I went shopping.

(Galina and me in front of the palace entrance with a guard)

I don't know how much money Israelis earn, but Galina somehow preferred other stores than me... Gucci, Prada,... Well, she found many nice bags and will probably buy one next time... 800$ is nothing. Hm, but I bought shoes.. for 10$. I love them, although they are fake. :-)

Well, enough about shopping.

Now I will add some pictures and then I will go to bed. Tomorrow I should really finish cleaning my room. It's soo dirty, but so far I didn't have any time for things like that. So pictures of my apartment will follow later, when it's not so messy any more.

You will hear from me soon again!!

It's been a while...

2007-05-05T12:49:00.001+02:00

Hello everybody!

Well, it's been too long since I have written for the last time.
Too much has happened. Or better, not that much has happened, but too much time has passed.
Actually I don't really have time to write right now, because these days (months) I am quite busy. While doing a full-time internship at BMW I also have to write my bachelor thesis, which I am doing about the FTA between Korea and the US, and I also have two classes at the FH... and a horrible woman bothering me... b***.
So, I am really glad, when this semester is finally over and I finally finish my Bachelor IM.
Looking back, I can say... it was a fucking good time. I met the best people ever during these last three-four years. I would not want to miss any moment. I love you IM!! You're my family. I hope, that when we meet again in 5-10 years, we will still all be the same cool, nice, sexy, beautiful people.
Well, but right now, life goes on and everybody is going his/her way.
Many of us already found their way... but for me, and many others it is time to make a decision, since we have reached a cross-road. What's the next step?
I don't really know... and it drives me crazy. It's not that I don't know where I want to go... I am just not a 100% sure right now, how I want to go there. There are many ways how I can reach my goal.
But I also realized, that it's not worth getting grey-haired over this problem. I have stopped botherin myself. We will see where life brings us and what life holds as a surprise for us. So much can happen in a short time. So why bother about the long-run.
OK, I already wasted enough time here.
Gotta do something for school.

I love you all!

Easter

2006-04-16T05:31:00.000+02:00

Hey,

for those guys, who, after such a long time, still sometimes check my page, I have some pictures for you.
We made them today at campus. The weather was just too perfect.
I hope you like them.

Anyway, I am really sorry, I haven't been writing in all this time.

A lot has been going on. I am now studying at Inha University in Incheon. I really enjoy it. And because I am a very weather dependent person, I am now starting to really wake up. I enjoy the weather and the fact, that I don't have any mid-term exams, like all the other people, who sit in the library now the whole day long. But there is always something to do, like study Korean for example. I am still soo bad. But it's just too difficult.

Anyway, I can't wait until the exams are over and I can go to Seoul with friends and Jang-hee. I want to visit my old colleges from my work place. And I want to visit my favorite shopping areas. :-)

I hope you are all doing fine and don't forget me! I will be back on the 27th of June!!

Life in Incheon

2006-02-10T04:08:00.000+01:00

Hey guys,

so sorry I haven't written for so long!!
A lot has happened. Sollal is over, Jang-hee's grandmother's birthday was on Monday 30th of January, a two-nights stay at the Somerset Palace in Seoul and a ski trip with two of Jang-hee's friends are unfortunately already over.
As you can see I have good excuses why I haven't been writing for such a long time.
OK, let's go back. The Friday before Sollal, January 27th, I had my last work day. And because for Sollal all Koreans get on the road to travel to their families, streets are crowded. For that reason our boss let us all go at 12, so the Korean employees could start travelling earlier. Well, before I could leave, I had to get into the big bosses office together with my boss Mr. Wein. We mostly talked about personal stuff, about my stay here in Korea and so on. Then I received my "Zeugnis" (sorry, right now I don't know what it is in English). It's ok, but also not perfect. Well, actually I don't care.
Then, at 12 I said good-bye to everybody... I couldn't believe it, but with some people I had to fight against some tears. Afterwards we went out to eat a last time in a restaurant around the office.
I stayed in the apartment in Itaewon that night and the next day I went to Ilsan, to help Jang-hee's mom, two of his aunts and his grandmother cooking. It was pretty easy and I enjoyed it. Later, in the afternoon Jae-woo also came and we all ate together. I have to admit, that I didn't feel very comfortable. Somehow that evening the stress and the pressure became a little bit too big for me. I don't know if anybody can imagine this... maybe nobody. But I am the only person there who can't speak Korean. ... just one point I want to mention. Later at night we played a traditional Korean game, very similar to the German "Mensch aergere dich nicht", except, that we were many people and didn't throw dice but four sticks and depending on how they fell, you could move your figures. After a while my mood became a lot better.
The next day, at around 10 we had another Chaesa... I realized, that this was already my third chaesa. It's when the men pray to their ancestors. There is one Chaesa on Sollal, one on Chusok and then every time a grandfather, grand-grandfather or even grand-grand-grandfather or mother died. So all together during the year Jang-hee's family celebrates Chaesa about eight times. Every time at his parents' place, which every time means a lot of work for the women. I realized, after asking Jae-woo, that Jang-hee's family is very traditional, more than other Korean families. But on the other side they are very open towards new things, too. I mean, even his grandmother accepted me, which made me really happy.
After Chaesa I had to put on a Korean traditional dress, his mother gave me. It looked really cool, except that my face is not asian. :-) Jang-hee's grandmother said, I look better in it than his sister...
Then the Sollal started. First the sons and their wifes bowed in front of the grandmother, then we kids bowed in front of the grandmother and the parents. Although I really didn't want that, I had to accept the money they offered us all. After collecting the money, I had received 50000 won and could almost pay my new (well, used) phone, which had cost 60000 won.
After the celebration we went for a long walk with the kids.
As I already said at the beginning on Monday I went to the grandmother's birthday, which was celebrated in a restaurant somewhere outside of East Seoul. All the relatives were there. So many kids... wow. It's really a big family. I liked that. I realized, that at home, I hardly ever saw my cousins and uncles and never all together. It's really sad somehow.
In the evening Jang-hee and I went to our or better my new home in Incheon. Tuesday I needed to recover from an exhausting weekend and Wednesday we already went to Seoul again to the Somerset Palace where I had one a two-nights stay for two people in an executive bedroom. The apartments are equipped with a kitchen, a living room and a bedroom. Most of the time we just relaxed and watched TV. On Thursday we walked around in the city center close to the Somerset and I bought a nice jacket. I immediately fell in love with it. Unfortunately I can't really wear it right now, since it is too cold outside. The jacket is more for spring. On Friday we went back home to Incheon. During the weekend I didn't really do anything. And already on Monday we had to get up early in the morning and drive to Seoul. At 10 am our bus for the Vivaldi Park Ski Resort left. There we borrowed snowboards for the three guys and skies for me, some nice clothes, since it was really cheap (jacket and pants for 15000 won for two days). At six we got our lift tickets and started skiing/snowboarding. At first I really didn't want to go there, but when I finally stood on my skiies I really enjoyed it. I was still better than I thought, although it was maybe already ten or even more years ago since I had been skiing for the last time. It was great. On our first day we were on the slopes from six until 10 pm and the next day from 12.30 pm until 4.30 and from 6.00 until 10.00 pm. On the first evening I was really tired, but since it was Jang-hee's birthday we had to drink some Soju before falling in our beds. I hadn't been doing any sports for so long, so it felt really good to me. The hunger and the tiredness feel totally different after having done some sports. I felt a lot more healthy. I want to go to a fitness studio from now on in Incheon. Per month it is 50000 won, which is quite ok. I just have to see, when I find the time. I don't know, if I will have time when my mom is here, so maybe I should start going there after she left.

Well, these were my last two weeks. Wow, already two weeks over, which means, I have only two more left until university starts... and only one and a half one until my mom comes here!

Pictures will follow as soon as I figure out how to get internet here with my own computer. Since my computer is all in German, Jang-hee can't even help me with that. Stupid. Well, I will figure it out. It might just take a while. :-)

At work... as usual

2006-01-18T06:40:00.000+01:00

As my title implies, ... I am at work. And it's already Wednesday. Wow! Well, the last two days were really pretty stressful, but fun! I love having stress, I hate being bored... as you can imagine. (and I think some of you know what I'm talking about... Dini :-) ... checking your e-mails three or four times a day, checking every possible forum for new entries, and so on) Well, there is nothing to do, so why not give you some information about my last few days.

Actually not much happened. Well on Friday, we (Jennifer (new intern), Britta (intern), Mrs. Park (employee), Mrs. Kim (employee) and I and of course Jae-woo) were invited to Jae-woo's cousin's place to eat. He is the director of a hospital and definitely not poor. I could also see that when looking at his apartment. He even had a woman cooking for us. It was really expensive, good food, a lot of sushi, bulgogi and special Korean salads. After finishing the dinner, I already felt kind of really full and tired and not well at all. The whole week had been very stressful for me with the going to Incheon twice after work and getting up very early twice in the morning so that evening I think my system just didn't work properly. When we also went out after dinner to drink beer, I was just suffering the whole evening, wanting to go home. But the area was pretty far away from ours, so I didn't want to go alone and I waited and waited... until finally at 12.30 they decided we could go home.

Well, at home I felt the consequences. I threw up twice that night and the next day I was totally sick. Fortunately Jang-hee came and I had somebody I could moan about my agony. In the afternoon we went to a traditional Korean doctor, where I received my first acupuncture treatment ever. I had about eleven needles in my body and some weird thing with incense on my belly. It didn't hurt at all, except for the ones on my left body part hurt a little bit. Afterwards they asked me how I feel and I said, like throwing up. I didn't of course and at home I could finally sleep better. Sunday I was totally fine again. I even cooked a good chicken soup.

On Monday Jang-hee had his last exam which means, he came to Seoul right afterwards and stayed there until today. Tonight and tomorrow night I will go to Incheon because of my private lesson. I hate the stress... but just this and next week, then I don't have to travel so far any more, because I will move to Incheon. Wow... only one and a half week left... can't wait. :-)

... and I am really happy these days... don't know why ... hm, maybe I know. There are various factors.
- my mom is coming one day before my birthday
- only 7 working days left
- slept enough
- am in love :-)

Have to make a break. I'm sitting the whole day. When I'm in Incheon, I want to go to a fitness studio!! I have to live a healthier life. My mom is right, I am really pale...

Bye guys

Mom is coming!

2006-01-09T04:50:00.000+01:00

I have great news today.

Yesterday I talked to my parents. My mom seriously thinks about coming here together with our neighbour Mrs. Sahr. Maybe my Christmas cards helped a little bit. In two cards, the one for Mrs. Sahr and the one for Ernst, my sister's husband, I pleaded for help, persuading my mom to come here. Ernst was also immediately motivated to come here. Unfortunately he can't because of the kids. Too bad, I really love to get visits, especially since I stay so long. Well, but I am really satisfied if my mom and Mrs. Sahr come. I hope they will get a flight around end of February, because my University will start on the 27th of Febuary. I think they might need me to look at sights. Seoul might be a little bit more difficult than Madrid... :-) Jang-hee was also really excited when he heard about it and immediately started making plans, like picking them up at the airport by car, driving to Ilsan (his parents') place and eating for dinner with his parents. Well, I think that might be a little bit too stressful for the women. I know, how it feels to fly from Germany to Korea. They will be totally exhausted and will have to fight with a big jetlag, as everybody who comes here.

Moreover I finally dared to tell my parents, that I will live together with Jang-hee, beginning in three weeks. He rented a bigger apartment. I thought my parents my say no to this, because my they might think I don't study or whatsoever, but surprisingly my mom said, she had already thought so and my dad was really happy about it. They said I am doing a good job in managing all this here really well. :-) Thanks to Jang-hee. Well, the good thing is, my parents won't have to pay the key money, which in Incheon would be around 3.000 Dollar, not that high, as compared to Seoul with 5.000 Dollar. Of course you get it back after the contract expired, but it also means a lot of interests you lose. Anyway, I was really happy yesterday. Of course, who wouldn't be after so many good news.

Well, today is Monday again. Now I have exactly three weeks left. I have to admit, I am really happy when it's over. I prefer being a student. I don't mind working, if I have enough work, but just sitting around being bored or just writing my monthly newsletter, always the same work, gets really annoying...

OK, I have to stop writing and pretend working... sometimes it's really difficult to pretend..if there is really nothing I can do. :-)

Bye

Chubda

2006-01-06T01:00:00.000+01:00

Cold... (in Korean)

...yeah, it's really cold. This winter is supposedly colder than other winters, I was told by Korean friends. Great, I was already really lucky in Spain. When I was there, it was even snowing in Madrid, an exception.

Did you know? I am already 23 (21 western age) now in Korean age. It's difficult to explain, but in Korea you are always one year older, because the nine month in the womb before birth are already counted as a whole year. And at the beginning of every year, everybody already becomes one year older. So until Febuary 22nd, my birthday, I am two years older and afterwards again, as usual one year. Wow, somehow you already get depressed here when you are 28, in western age, because Koreans only talk in Korean age, which would mean, you are already 30. Well, I am still far away from that. :-)

Oh, I haven't told you about new year's eve yet.

On Friday, 30th of December, we also had been out for quite a while, so on Saturday I was pretty tired the whole day. Even in the evening I didn't feel like partying for new year. So Jang-hee and I stayed at home until 10 o'clock at night. I was chatting with some friends and realized, I can't just hang around at home... I'm in Seoul! But since I didn't want to go out somewhere far away, we decided to go down to Itaewon and eat some real spicy Korean food, Buldag (Firechicken). At 11.20 some friends called and said, the place where they had been so far sucked and they were on their way to Itaewon as well. So we hurried and met them in our favorite bar at 11.30. Since in Itaewon there are mostly foreigners, who really celebrate new year, the bar was packed and it took us almost until 12 to get our beer. At 12 of course everybody screamed and started hugging and kissing everybody. We stayed in the bar until it closed and even went to another one afterwards, where Daniel and Jang-hee played Billard. I came home around six in the morning. On Sunday I slept until four o'clock in the afternoon and then just hung around at home. This week was ok. Just usual.

For this weekend I want to relax more and sleep a lot. I think I need that.

Oh, before I forget. I already got a birthday present... a little bit early, but useful, since I have to go to Incheon pretty often by metro for more than an hour. Jang-hee gave me a new MP3 Player yesteray. Yeah, now I'm as hip and cool as the other young Koreans in the metro, with their tiny Players, not bigger than a man's thumb. (ok, weird comparison, but I couldn't think of anything better :-) )

Well, I have to work now.

Wish you all good luck for this year and that we will all meet again soon!

Which is by the way the year of the dog... in Germany we hardly ever hear about that, except if we go to eat chinese, but here it was in the newspapers quite often. But unfortunately I don't really know what it means.. sorry

This is Lee Sun-shin, his statue. He defended Korea against one of many invasions by Japan around 1550. He only had 13 ships and won against 333 ships by the Japanese. The statue stands on a huge street in the center of Seoul, in front of the Kyobobuilding. What I really love about Seoul, are the huge buildings and skyscrapers.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

2005-12-29T02:30:00.000+01:00

- the Hyatt Hotel, decorated trees-
Hey guys,

yes, I'm still alive. This month I was really lazy, sorry. I always want to write at home instead of at work, because I would like to add some of my pictures, but I am hardly at home. This week I stayed in Incheon over night two times, because I had to give English lessons, an hour each on Tuesday and Wednesday. It's pretty stressful. Right after work I rush to the metro, jump in and go on a one and a half hour trip to Incheon. Catch a cab there and drive to Mrs. Choi's house, where I teach 12-14 year old kids, each class about seven of them... very stressful. I know now, why I never wanted to become a teacher. You would think that Korean kids are really nice and cute. Well, I think at this age, all children around the world are obnoxious. Especially when they already have class the whole day, they think with a young foreign teacher they don't have to concentrate or listen any more, only play games and have fun. Well, but I like them, they are all nice, just a little bit stressful. So after class I stay in Incheon and go to work from there in the morning. Which means again stress. Catch the bus, catch the metro and hopefully a seat (don't like to stand in a really crowded metro for one hour) and finally run to work. Well, I try to see it optimistically... sport in the morning is certainly healthy. :-)

Enough complaining. I am exaggerating anyway.
Last week I had vaccation, which actually might be one of the reasons why I haven't written for so long. Starring at the computer the whole time at work, I was happy not having to look at it at home. During my vaccation we first visited Jang-hee's parents in Ilsan, where we had to stay over night again... we should have stayed even another night, but I rejected. This was already my third stay over night at his parents' house, which is a real honor for me, since you would probably not see that in another family. On Sunday we went to a hill outside of Ilsan with the parents and the sister and took a walk in the park there, looking at a museum and small temples. Since it was really cold, nobody was in the mood for a picnic in the car, as Jang-hee's mom had planned it. He says she is a country girl, which is why she likes those sort of things. She is a country girl, just like me, with the exception that the city where she comes from is probably 100 times bigger than mine. They even call Busan (about 4,5 mio. people) country... hello?! In Germany we don't even have a city that big. Berlin is only about 3,5 mio.
Well, after Ilsan we went to Seoul again, stayed there over night and went to Incheon where we stayed from Monday until Friday.
Oh, and I got a great Christmas present from Jang-hee. A couple-ring for both of us. It's really pretty. We chose it together. In Germany or Europe we only usually have two events where both get a ring, engagement and wedding. Well, in Korea there are three. I like that. :-) We already bought them on Tuesday. Afterwards I had to give my first two lessons. The rest of the week we just stayed at home, slept a lot, ate good food and watched movies at home and in the movie theatre (King Kong - don't really recommend it, well, maybe because it's not really my idea of a good movie).

For the Christmas weekend we went home to Seoul. On Saturday the 24th I went to church, a German church service. It was held for the protestant and katholic German community in Seoul. Somehow it was good, but also not really what I am used to from my times in Germany. So even after the church service, I still didn't really get into the mood for Christmas. At home four of Jang-hee's friends and Britta (another intern at the chamber) came and we ate German noodle salad, I had made, normal salad, Britta had made, a Korean dish with shells, which was really delicious and cake. We ate all that together, which was a weird mix in my opinion. The cake culture here in Korea is rather different. We ate the cake together with the other food, with chop sticks and spoons, without putting pieces on a plate. Everybody just ate right from the big cake. In Korea you always eat from the same plates. I don't mind that.
After eating, conversations, which were a mixture of Korean, German and English, we went down to Itaewon to go to a club, but stayed there only a little bit. Afterwards we wanted to go to the Hyatt, but the entrance fee that evening for the club there was 50,000 won (45 Euros), so we just went home. By then only Jang-hee, his friend Indong and I were left, so we played cards until three. It's a traditional Korean card game, called Go-Stop. Jang-hee and Jae-woo had taught me how to play it and I really like it. Well, seems like it, because I totally won! We played for money, so I made some extra 2,000 won, not much, but anyway. I think Jang-hee regretted, that he had taught me so well. :-)
Next day everybody helped cleaning up, which was really nice. I hardly had to do anything. The apartment was cleaner than before the party.
In the afternoon everybody was gone and I enjoyed my last free day with Jang-hee. In the evening we went to Myong-dong, a big shopping area close to city hall. I bought myself a nice bag and we just strolled throught the streets, full of people.

Well, now I am back in my normal work life. Unfortunately there is not much to do this week, so today time goes by rather slowly. Fortunately tomorrow we will stop working earlier, I think because most of the big bosses are on vaccation, there is not much work and because on Saturday is new year's eve. But before we will go to lunch together, everybody who is at work right now. Can't wait.

I guess this is more or less what happened during last and this week.
Pictures will be added as soon as I am at home and have time to do so.

Wish you all a delayed Merry Christmas, moreover a good start into the new year and health and luck for 2006!!

Vacation

2005-12-16T05:00:00.000+01:00

Hey guys,

this time I really havent't written for a long time. Sorry. Well, instead I distributed some e-mails. :-)
Today is my last day at work, which means next week I have vacation! Jipiih! After exactly 4 1/2 months, it has really become time. Looking back, I was a good girl, always on time, always until the end, sometimes even longer, so I think I earned my vacation.

Today at work was really cool. Already yesterday evening on my way to Incheon in the metro and today in the morning I had time to study for a small quiz about the new brand at the chamber DEinternational and now, at 14.00 o'clock, we had to take the quiz. It had 24 questions and was sometimes not even easy. I enjoyed it. Our boss made some jokes and the whole atmosphere was really relaxed. I can really consider myself lucky to work here. I am experiencing a lot about work life. There is a lot going on in the chamber around this time. We did brainstorming one time, to find a name for our new magazine, of which the 0-edition was launched and sent out to some companies, just a few weeks ago. So I helped create that one. Moreover now that new brand will slowly be introduced to all the chambers around the world. Korea is among the first ones and also among the most motivated ones, which is the reason why our boss wanted that quiz. All employees have to know about it. I really think we have a good boss, who is very motivated, a good boss, but very human and often pretty funny.
Well, I have also had my bad times with him, but mostly I am pretty happy with him. I think in general he does a good job.
Well, tonight, we will leave work earlier, since we will have our Christmas party at the Hilton, beginning at 6 o`clock. Right at the start the winner of the quiz will be announced, then we will eat and have a small lottery with some nice prices. There are no blanks, every draw is a win. And Katja already said that there will be some real nice prices, like really expensive good wines for example.

Oh, I really haven't written for a while.
I was at a EUCCK (European Chamber of Commerce in Korea) meeting last week and won a two-nights stay at Sumerset Palace, which is a residence for people who stay for a longer period of time. I got the ticket for an executive bedroom, which means a good one. After I got the price, by coincidence I also met the sales manager of the residence, who is pretty young and she said, I should call her when I come there. She said the rooms are around 84 sqm big... huge, with a kitchen. So we could actually make a party there. I though about going there for Christmas, but somehow I want a be in a familiar area at that time. I guess we will go there in February.
Well, yeah, Christmas is soon. I already made a plan. We will cook, I thought about Gulasch and Knödel and will invite some of Jang-hee's friends. Afterwards I guess we will go out, as it is traditional for young Koreans. Well, of course some also go to church, but I don't know. Maybe I will skip that part this year, although somehow maybe it would be nice. Well, we will see. I don't think Jang-hee wants to go, right?
Anyway... just one and a half more hours left and we will go to the Hilton, which will be the official beginning of my vacation. Finally!!

Have you guys heard, over there in Europe, Germany or whereever about Mr. Hwang? The Korean guy who had cloned the first dog in August and who now cheated on the whole world by claiming having created cloned stem cells? Koreans are totally shocked. They call it a big infamy, which I guess is true. I feel sorry for them. They were so proud of him.

I am sure I forgot some things, but right now I really can't think of anything more.
Except... although I have a great time, especially when I am with Jang-hee and especially when I think of a lot of free time next week, ... I really miss every single one of you a lot and think of you every day! Take care of yourselves.

In case I don't find any time to write next week... I guess I will have better things to do... :-)
I wish you all a merry Christmas and the best wishes!!

... remember the hot days, full of smog...

... a picture of the cold days, with bright blue sky and dry fresh air with a freezing cold wind will follow...

Incheon

2005-12-02T06:14:00.000+01:00

Hey guys, sorry, haven't written for a while. This week was not really interesting. Was sick the whole time and even stayed home from work on Tuesday. I hate being sick. And I swear, I will not go to a Korean doctor any more, except for a real emergency of course. I will try to cure my sickness without medication and antibiotics. And actually it has worked pretty well so far this week. I feel a lot better today.
So tonight right after work I will go to Incheon again.
I met a Canadian girl (Elisabeth) there last weekend. Her sister will get married to a Korean guy soon. But the couple already left for Canada to meet her family. Elisabeth has been here now for about 1 1/2 months and wanted to stay much longer. But she is pretty alone now and consequently she is going to leave already in two weeks, unfortunately. Finally I thought I had found somebody I can spend some time with. Not that you are not enough Jang-hee! Don't worry. But you know, sometimes I would like to have some girl around to talk to.
Well, anyway. I thought, since I am in Incheon now already quite often and since I will study there the next half year, I looked for some information about the city. It's the third biggest city in Korea after Seoul and Busan.
Check out Wikipedia!

Incheon is sometimes regarded as part of the greater Seoul metropolitan area due to the close distance of the capital, and the fact that the Seoul Metropolitan Subway is linked to the Incheon Subway system. Incheon is, however, a major city in its own right. This is recognized politically in that Incheon is a separate jurisdiction from Seoul. Within the city limits incorporate the main international airport for both South Korea and Seoul: Incheon International Airport.

Statistics
Population: 2,466,338(2000)
Area: 964.53 km²
Government: Metropolitan City
Administrative divisions: 8 wards (Gu), 2 counties (Gun)

In Deutsch:

Incheon ist eine Hafenstadt an der Westküste von Südkorea. Sie liegt in der Provinz von Gyeonggi-do, ist aber seit dem 1. Juli 1981 politisch eine eigenständige Einheit. Incheon liegt 28 Kilometer westlich von Seoul. Mit 2.580.775 Einwohnern ist die Stadt nach Seoul und Busan die drittgrößte in Südkorea.
Incheon wird manchmal wegen der geringen Entfernung als Teil der Agglomeration von Seoul betrachtet. Auch die U-Bahn-Netze beider Städte sind inzwischen verbunden. Trotzdem handelt es sich wie gesagt politisch um eine eigenständige Stadt. Fast alle Internationale Flüge nach Südkorea enden auf dem Incheon International Airport, dem wichtigsten Flughafen Südkoreas.

Fläche: 965 km²
Einwohner: 2.580.775(Stand 1. Januar 2005)
Bevölkerungsdichte: 2.674 Einwohner je km²
Gliederung: 8 Stadtteile (Gu)
2 Landkreise (Gun)
Verwaltungssitz: Incheon

I hope you find this information a little bit interesting. Well, now you know where I will stay the next half year.
Oh, before I forget. Since Elisabeth is leaving soon, I will get one of her English classes. I will teach little children of the age between 12 and 15. Once, maybe twice a week. I will start end of December. I guess I can do that. It will be a little bit stressful to go to Incheon during the week, but otherwise I am just hanging around at home getting bored. I think it will be good for me.
And tonight I will go out with Elisabeth and Ray (American guy) and a class of his. I am sure it will be fun... definitely more fun than staying here in Seoul! Can't wait to move to Incheon.

Haven't posted a characteristic fact about Korea for a while:

Cheating in Korea
If a married partner cheats on his husband, wife, the other partner can sue him in court and the cheater has to go to prison and they get divorced.
Check out this article. Really interesting.

OK, I have to work a little bit now.
Have a nice weekend everybody!!

Für Mama

2005-11-23T08:06:00.000+01:00

Today I will for a change write in German so my mom can read everything more easily and I can write more easily, too... :-)

OK, das wichtigste, was mir eingefallen ist, was ich auf jeden Fall erzählen wollte, ist das Visumsproblem. Ich werde ja bis Ende Januar in der Kammer arbeiten und somit ist mein Arbeitsivisum auch genau so lange nur gültig. Zum studieren fange ich aber erst im März an. Da bekomm ich dann ein Studentenvisum. Die Frau Kim, vom akademischen Auslandsamt an der Inha University hat gemeint, sie kümmert sich darum. Sehr nett die Frau. Die ruft mich auch immer gleich an, wenn sie wieder Neuigkeiten hat. Apropos, hab ich schon erwähnt, dass die FH Deggendorf jetzt offiziell eine Partneruni der Inha University ist? Cool oder? Alle notwendigen Personen haben dafür unterschrieben. Und meine Unterlagen sind auch alle vollständig. Witzig wär's jetzt natürlich, wenn sie mich nicht annehmen würden, aber das tun sie sicher nicht, da wär ja der ganze Aufwand umsonst gewesen. Also ist eigentlich alles sicher. Ich hab auch wegen der PLV Woche gefragt, die ja im März in Deggendorf stattfindet; der Herr Bauersachs hat gesagt, 2007 reichts auch noch. Das Blöde ist halt echt nur, dass ich das dann leider nicht mit euch machen kann! So ne scheisse.

So, back to the visa. Also, wo war ich stehen geblieben? Genau, ein Studentenvisum bekomm ich dann schon irgendwie, sobald ich die Bestätigung von der Uni hab, dass ich dort eingeschrieben bin, dürfte auch das kein Problem mehr sein. Das einzige Problem ist der Februar. Da ich da weder arbeite, noch studiere, wäre ich somit illegal in Korea. Wenn man da erwischt wird, ist das glaub ich ziemlich teuer. Also, was mach ich jetzt? Ein Besuchervisum ist für 90 Tage, also drei Monate gültig. Um so eins aber zu bekommen, muss ich erst mal Besucher sein, also erstmal ausreisen und wieder einreisen. Ich hab da vom Daniel gehört, dass viele amerikanische Englischlehrer, die ins Ausland müssen um ein Visum zu beantrage, mit dem Zug nach Busan runter fahren und von dort mit ner Fähre, die Hin-und Zurück ca. 120.000 won kostet, nach Japan fahren. Aber ich finde ja, wenn ich schon den ganzen Stress auf mich nehmen muss, nach Japan zu fahren, dann könnt ich da doch auch gleich noch 1-2 Tage bleiben oder? Naja, das seh ma dann alles. Is ja noch Zeit. Vielleicht gibt's ja auch ne andere Möglichkeit. Aber ich finde auch, wenn ich schon in Asien bin, dann wär doch Japan oder China echt in der Nähe. Ich versuch auch ganz brav Geld zu sparen. :-) Vielleicht kann ich es mir dann leisten. Es gäb nämlich auch ne Fähre von Incheon nach China rüber. China würd mich ja viel mehr reizen als Japan. Was ich da bis jetzt schon für Horrorgeschichten vom 2. Weltkrieg gehört hab... puh. Als ich gemeint hab, Deutschland wäre schlimmer gewesen als Japan, bin ich überraschenderweise auf lautstarke Proteste seitens Halbkoreanern und Koreanern gestoßen.

Anyway... was soll ich machen im Februar, Mama?

So, heute ist übrigens ein großer Tag für ca. 600.000 koreanische Highschool Schüler. Die Schüler der letzten Klasse haben heute rießige Prüfungen, ich glaub vier, und das an einem Tag, die in den Augen der Koreaner ihre gesamte Zukunft entscheiden. Hier ein Artikel dazu (ich muss ja als Teil meiner Arbeit viel Zeitung lesen, aber das ist gut so, ich kenn mich voll aus!) Das is etwa so wie bei uns das Abitur, aber die nehmen das viel ernster. Alle Banken, Geschäfte und auch einige Firmen haben heut morgen eine Stunde später, also erst um 10 zum arbeiten begonnen, aus Rücksicht auf die Schüler. Die sollen ja nicht aufm Weg zur Schule im Stau stecken. Es dürfen nicht mal Flugzeuge über die Städte fliegen. Das ist doch der Oberhammer oder? Keine Ahnung wie die das machen wollen. Ich hatt mich schon gefreut, dass die Kammer vielleicht auch ne Stunde später anfängt... aber nein, wir sind soo deutsch, dass ich echt manchmal garnicht merke, dass ich in Korea bin. Das merk ich dann erst wieder, wenn ich für die Mittagspause runter auf die Straße geh und gleich fast von nem Auto oder Motorrad übern Haufen gefahren werde.

Es gibt ne Statistik: In Seoul sterben täglich 1,3 Menschen durch Verkehrsunfälle, in Berlin gibt es in der Woche 1,3 Verkehrstote. Schöner Unterschied oder? Aber das verwundert mich garnicht. Krankenwägen oder Feuerwehren werden hier zero ernst genommen. Die stehen genau so im Stau oder an der Ampel wie alle anderen auch. Mir wurde gesagt, weil man ihnen nicht abnimmt, das wirklich was schlimmes passiert ist, weil es Berichte gibt, dass die Krankenwagen einfach die Sirene anmachen, um schneller rumzudüsen. Toll... kennt ihr die Geschichte von dem kleinen Schafhirten und dem Wolf? Ich glaub die werd ich nie vergessen.

Oh Mann, heut bin ich echt müde. Um nicht einzuschlafen, muss ich mir immer wieder selbst irgendwelche Beschäftigungen suchen, wie z.B. das hier. Der Jae-woo, mein Mitbewohner ist gestern stockbesoffen so um halb eins heimgekommen und hat den Jang-hee und mich zwei Stunden lang zugelallt. Hier in Korea ist das Alter ja ganz wichtig, was heisst, der Jüngere muss tun was der Ältere sagt und der Jang-hee ist da immer ganz brav. Echt, der lässt sich teilweise echt zu viel von seinen älteren Freunden gefallen. Ich mein, normalerweise sind die immer total nett, aber wenn sie mal besoffen sind, dann lassen sie halt ihr Alter gern mal raushängen. Sogar mir gegenüber. Ist zwar meist nur Spass, aber mich nervt's trotzdem. Naja, und obwohl der Jae-woo nicht mal richtiger Koreaner ist (nur seine Eltern, er ist aber in Deutschland geboren), auch wenn er immer darauf besteht, musst er gestern auch sein Alter raushängen lassen. Immer wenn der Jang-hee aufstehen wollte, weil wir echt schon müde waren und schlafen wollten, hat er ihn festgehalten und gesagt, er muss da bleiben. Irgendwie wollt ich mich da auch nicht einmischen. Ist halt die Kultur. Ich bin halt dann einfach schon ins Bett, aber trotzdem auch erst um zwei. Mann, mann, mann. Aber wenigstens war wieder mal was los. Wenn der Jang-hee abends nicht da ist, bin ich sowieso immer allein. Der Jae-woo trifft sich ständig mit irgendwelchen Leuten.

Aber eigentlich sollt ich wieder mal koreanische lernen. Ich find's witzig, obwohl ich kaum was mach, bin ich doch die beste in der Klasse. Es hilft halt schon, wenn man ständig mit Koreanern unterwegs ist... :-) Ich schreib auch immer ganz fleissig Karteikarten, nur leider komm ich nie dazu die zu lernen, obwohl ich sie immer dabei hab.

Da fällt mir ein, ich hab immer noch alle meine Urlaubstage! Jippihh... Das blöde ist, wenn ich Urlaub nehm, ist es scheisskalt. Der Daniel haut sich für fast drei Wochen nach Thailand, der Glückspilz. Ich brauch auch Sonne!! Naja, obwohl ich sagen muss, die Sonne scheint ja fast jeden Tag hier im Winter hab ich gehört. Bis jetzt bin ich noch nicht enttäuscht worden. Es ist jeden Tag strahlend blauer Himmel. Der Winter hier ist im Gegensatz zu Deutschland total trocken.

So, sorry, jetzt hab ich euch mal wieder so richtig auf deutsch zugelabert. Ich hoffe ihr findet meine Stories noch interessant...

In einer Stunde is Feierabend. Gut so, denn ich hab keine Arbeit mehr. Wann kommt endlich mein Chef wieder? Der ist öfter weg als dass er hier ist, hab ich schön langsam das Gefühl.

Tschüssi meine Lieben und passt auf euch auf!

Love Letter

2005-11-21T08:04:00.000+01:00

This time I have to go back quite far. Last week on Tuesday I went to see the TV show love letter. We had to be at the KBS studio at seven, so I rushed out of work, ran to the metro in Hannam-dong, waited for the train for what seemed like hours and finally met Jang-hee in Yeoido, a business island in the Han-river. On our way from the metro to the studio, I was witness of a huge demonstration of farmers, rioting over the APEC meeting in Busan, because they are scared, that the rice imports to Korea might be increased...Well, although I didn't see any farmers, I saw a hell lot of police men and some huge vehicle burning in the middle of the street. Some article: here Well, since we were already late, we had to rush to the studio. Actually I was a little bit scared, because I am sure the farmers would have thought I am American, so I hid under my jacket. Bush is also at the meeting and certainly not liked by the Korean population. Finally we reached the studio savely after almost having been run over by a big troop of policemen running into our direction.

In the show, Love Letter Korean singers perform and talk to the moderator Yoon Do-hyon, who is also a singer of the Yoon Band. Whoever is interested in the Yoon Band (if you move the cursor across the letters, it will appear in English, you can listen to some songs under Media Center/ Audio).

-Yoon Do-hyon-

Bevore the show starts, a Comedian entertains the people. It was the same comedian as the first time when I was there with J. and T. And... he asked the same question: "Which person comes from the remotest place?" (of course in Korean...). Well, Busan or Jeju-do are of course nothing compared to Germany. So Jang-hee told him I was from Germany. I hate these kinds of situations. Anyway, later during another break the guy distributed some roses to the girls in the first rows. We were pretty far in the back.That`s the comedian.

But suddenly the comedian turned to us and came all the way back to give me and Jang-hee a rose. I was pretty surprised. And of course he stayed with us forever to ask some stupid questions... sometimes it's good not to understand a word.
On Thursday, the people from my apartment and our new girl, who arrived on Thursday and lives upstairs now in my old room, went out to eat. In that restaurant you paid 20,000 won and could eat and drink as much as you liked. The only limit was a time limit of three hours, which is more than enough. The most surprising thing was, that they had really good food and really expensive alcohol (expensive Whiskey). It was great. Unfortunately I was full immediately. Well, since we all knew, J. would not stay much longer, we decided to go out all together to the Q-vo. Every Thursday there is ladies' night, so we girls could drink for free until 12. Although we talked until three o'clock in the morning, I was not tired on Friday. After work on Friday, again I had to rush to the metro station in Hannam-dong and go to meet Jang-hee. We went to Ilsan, to his parent's home. Since nobody was home, we left again and met his Highschool friends to go out. They are all really cool and I felt comfortable talking to them. One of them even talked in Korean to me, which was actually a little bit difficult, but I am sure, meeting him a couple of times and I would understand a lot more. One time he asked me something and by understanding some words and guessing the rest, I knew what he ment. Of course afterwards I let Jang-hee check, whether I had guessed the right thing. :-)
Anyway, I had a lot of fun that night. We stayed over night at JH's parents' house and got up the next morning around nine, had breakfast with his parents and slept again... Later JH's mom got some weird treatment called 부항 (Buhang). Of course I also had to try it. Afterwards I had come four or five round red spots on my back. This will stay for one week... looks great. And I really don't have to repeat that. While having these small hats on my back, it was burning and afterwards I felt like my muscles were sore. Later a friend of JH's mom came and made the treatment on her stomach. But she did the whole thing, which means, that she poked into the skin so the dead blood, which was pulled up by the small hats, would come out... ooh. When I think of it I feel sick again. I couldn't even look at her. Well, it's supposed to be healthy, but sorry, I don't need that. Looks scary right? - well, maybe I have exaggerated a little bit, but I really think it's weird-

OK, after this nice experience JH and I went for a walk with his puppy in Ilsan and bought a shirt for him. At six we had an appointment, so finally we ended up hurrying back home to leave for the Catholic church in Ilsan. There was something like a confirmation (Firmung) and JH was the pate/godfather for a little boy. So I went with his mom and he with his boy. The church service was nice and it really reminded me of home. I even sometimes new, what people were saying, because it sounded all so familiar. I really enjoyed it. Afterwards we, JH's mom, JH, the boy's family and I went to Pizza Hut to eat. By the time we got home to his parents' home, it was already around 10 and we wanted to go back to Seoul. So we took the Kimchi (way too much) his mom gave me and headed for the bus. It takes about an hour to go to Seoul. Back at home in Itaewon we had to go out with the new girl B., D. and Jae-woo, because they didn't want to go alone. So we went out until five. Sunday I slept until 12, which is actually not that long, if you consider we went out before. Sunday was great. We just relaxed the whole day. Jang-hee taught J., Jae-woo and me the traditional card game "Go-stop hoato"...f** complicated. But we all got addicted to it and played the whole afternoon. In the evening mama J. cooked Kimchijigae for all of us. It was great.

Oh J., why do you leave us? What are we going to do without you?

I will miss you so much... :-( Please come back soon.

To all other guys: wish you a nice week at work.

I miss all of you.

FALL

2005-11-14T12:33:00.000+01:00

Well, finally I really made it and took the chance... this weekend I was at a temple in Seoul. It was really beautiful.
Anyway, I feel really old somehow. This weekend on Friday Jenny`s friend Rabbin arrived. So in the evening D., J., R., JH and I went out in Itaewon to eat. Afterwards we went to a bar and actually I danced again. It was a lot of fun. I even danced Merenge with D. Now JH also wants to learn it. Great! Can`t wait to go dance Salsa some time.
Well, we didn`t stay long. So the next day, saturday we got up at around ten, had a good breakfast, which bread, bought at the Hyatt (tastes like real German bread) and then we left for the temple. Since my first time in Korea, five years ago, I haven`t visited any temples. The parks and the temples were beautiful, especially due to the coloring of the leaves. I wish I could show you all of my pictures. Unfortunately I reached my capacity at my homepage for pictures. But there you can watch some more of them.
Oh, and of course I have to show you my new, cheap coat. Nice, right?
OK, back to the reason why I feel old. After walking around for about three hours, we went a restaurant, ate Kalbi and went home afterwards. So I was home around 9 or earlier. Well, we just stayed at home and went to bed at 12. I think I was soo tired, because I am just not used to walking so much. It`s horrible. I am sitting the whole day at work. I don`t do any sports. That`s really not healthy. I should go to a parc every weekend. Well, but I guess that`s just not possible. At least I have a big room now, so maybe I should dance. But when you haven`t done that for so long, it`s difficult to start again. I will try.
By the way, here a picture of my new room.
I bought the blanket, because it`s really getting cold now. I love it. It`s soo soft and makes the room cosier.
OK, back to the weekend. On Sunday, believe it or not, I got up at nine, which means just one hour after I get up during the week. Isn`t that crazy? So again, we ate breakfast and then hurried to go to Incheon, because JH`s parents would be coming to bring him some stuff to his apartment. We went out with them in Incheon and then got on a ferry to go on the island on which the airport is... well, actually there is also a bridge going to that island, but of course it`s more fun to go by boat. The famous thing about going by boat are the birds. You have to throw chips out into the air and they catch it. It was good. On the island we took a bus and drove for 40 min. By that time I wasn`t even really sure, what or where we were going to go. We went to a small beach, the only real beach with sand, in the close vicinity to Seoul. The cool thing about the beach were the quads. For swimming it was way too cold, so we just got a quad, each of us and raced over the beach. It was soo much fun. There was even some kind of a small half pipe and I raced over it and jumped. Great!
After another hour of fresh air, we went to a close restaurant, which specialized in shells. There we got a big, big pot full of shells and had to grill them ourselfs. It was different. I have never eaten anything similar, but it was really good. I enjoyed it. I was so much, we didn`t even make it to eat them all.
Another nice day. I can say, I had a nice and healthy weekend. So maybe I can stand the week a little bit better...

The winter is coming

2005-11-10T09:25:00.000+01:00

Sorry, haven't written for a while.
So, what has happened:

I was sick and didn't work for two days last week. I had my first visit at a Korean doctor. It was a weird experience. He had instruments looking like they were thirty years old. Looked pretty scary and rather like torturing instruments than medical ones. While I was still in the room, he already started examining another patient... well. I survived it. And I only took some of his pills and also not as often as he had told me. Seems like in Korea they prescribe antibiotics for every minor sickness.

Since it's already getting really cold now, I really felt the need to buy a warmer coat. So yesterday I finally made it. We, Jang-hee and I went to some place in Seoul, to an outlet store, where they sold coats for around 39,000 - 45,000 won. I chose a really nice, fat one. It really looks good and not like 39,000 won. I think even the quality is good. I was really lucky... also because I didn't pay it myself. Thank you Jang-hee! Well, I told you, it looks better on you than on me.
A picture will follow!

At the moment work is quite ok. In the morning I always think I will be bored the whole day, but then things turn totally the opposite. Today I had so much work, I didn't even realize how fast time passed. We are soon sending out our new magazine. So now every day we have to read through the whole thing and correct mistakes. I think I already know some texts by heart... joke. Anyway, it's good, because I have something to do and don't get bored. I love stress, really. A new side I found out about me. Yes, when I look back to my studying time, I even liked my exam periods.

What else, ah, yes. I moved down to the second floor. Now I have room almost three times as big as the old one, have my own bathroom and above all, I have a real bed, not only a matress, which is even really big. I love it. Today I want to dance. I couldn`t do that in my old room. It's time to take the chance and use the space. Can't wait. And in the apartment we have a TV. On the one hand it`s cool, but on the other hand, instead of reading or studying Korean, I just sit in front of the TV and don`t get anything done.
Yeah, I should study Korean. I am really a little bit behind. I need to put more effort into this. Since I want to stay longer it's really worth the effort.

This week went by so fast. Tomorrow is already Friday... weekend! Unfortunately fall is almost over and the leaves are already falling down. Actually I wanted to go to some park and enjoy the colorful trees. Well, I will see. Maybe it's still ok on the weekend. J says I haven`t seen anything since I am here, except for Seoul. And she is right. But I also want to save money and this month I didn`t really. Don`t ask me what I did. Nothing really. It`s weird. I need to stop going to Dongdaemun. It`s not good for my account balance.

Work is almost over.
Let's go home and rock and roll!

baby genius

2005-10-28T06:41:00.000+02:00

Hey guys,

I just found an article about an 8-year-old Korean boy, who is going to study at Inha University next year. Poor child, is all I can say about this. Well, I can understand that the Koreans are proud of him, but where is his childhood? I mean, ok, Korea is really good concerning its education, but every year some high-school kids commit suicide because of the stress. There has to be a middle. High-school kids have to study from 8 o'clock in the morning until 12 o'clock at night and then when they come home maybe even study one more hour. In my opinion this is not normal. Well, but I also have to say, that maybe the German school system is not challenging enough. Anyway, a middle should be found.

Here is the article:

An eight-year-old prodigy was admitted to a local university, becoming the youngest college student in the nation.
Inha University located in Inchon, west of Seoul, said Monday that Song Yoo-gun has been admitted to the College of Natural Sciences after passing the exams with an excellent score in physics.
Song answered the questions by using quantum mechanics during his admissions interviews on Oct. 22.
The university plans to offer special programs designed to cultivate those who are talented in science like Song, who is known as the science prodigy.
Science and Technology Minister Oh Myung said that the ministry will also launch a task force consisting of four to five experts to support Song’s scholastic excellence for about five years.
“The government will provide educational and financial support for Song after he registers with the university, allowing him to use the experimental facilities of state-run institutes and study at a top-notch university abroad,” Oh said.
It took only nine months for Song to complete elementary, middle and high school curricula that usually take most Korean students 12 years.
He completed primary school courses in February, three months after enrolling in an elementary school in Kuri as a sixth grader.
In one month, he passed the qualification test for a middle school diploma and it took him just two months to pass the high school qualification exam in May as the youngest child.
“Song decided to go to Inha University because of its practical educational curriculum rather than seeking the prestige of other universities,” said Song Soo-jin, his father.
The father said that his son will contribute to the nation and compete with scientists around the world.
“I am very glad to be admitted to the university. I will study harder in physics,” the prodigy said.
Song studied at the Korea Science Academy, a high school specially designed for the gifted in the southeastern port city of Pusan.
Song has also been taught by a math professor of the Center for Gifted Education at Inha University.

END OF ARTICLE (how can I make freakin' empty lines?) JENNY!!

By the way, I will go to Inha University next year...

Actually I already canceled my flight back home in February. Oh my god...! I still can't believe it. It's soo exciting. Well mom, I have to pay a change of reservation fee of 75 euros when I know the new date.

Finally almost week-end. Unfortunately my throat hurts and I am afraid I am gettin' sick. I'm already drinking tea and eating oranges the whole day, but so far it hasn't shown any positive effect.

Next week I will give all my application forms to the Inha University. Then I am finally finished with all that administrative stuff. It became really annoying always bothering all my professors at home or my parents to send me stuff.

Anyway, there is one more thing, which has to be made official. Actually it's not a thing, it's a person. :-) Yes dad, I have a boyfriend. You have already read about him before. His name is Jang-hee and we know each other now for two months. I just want you to know that he is not the only reason I want to stay and study here. I seriously think this extension of my stay here will have a positive effect on my future career. Moreover I will definitely try to write all my exams in FH Deggendorf next semester so I won't have to study one more semester.

Well, I had to tell you, mom said, because next week you will be invited to Frau Müller... I am sure then you would have heard about these new developments in my personal life anyway. :-)

Wish you all a nice weekend, where ever you are... in Madrid (Dini, Stephan, Sarah), in Italy (Sue), in Germany (family, Dors, Nina, Karin), in Britain (Christl, Basi, Säsch, Steffl),... I will definitely enjoy mine, no matter if I'm sick or not.

Love you

Thank you!

2005-10-25T10:14:00.000+02:00

Have to admit, that I'm a little bit bored... The problem is, when you are bored one time and you get work later, you can't motivate yourself any more. It's just too late.

Well, today I mostly spent my work day with looking for information for my potential Bachelor thesis. I thought about writing about FTA (Free Trade Agreements) between Korea and other countries maybe. I don't know if I will be able to write enough about this topic, but no risk no fun, right? I had to do some research for work and read about FTA in Korea. Korea is just beginning to expand its agreements and so far has concluded only two, with Chile and Singapore. Sounds like an interesting topic to me. Well, I will see. I will have enough time to do research.
My efforts concerning the extension of my stay here in Korea are developing very positively. Today I got an e-mail from Mrs. Randow (secretary at the foreign office at FH Deggendorf). She attached a rough draft of a recommendation letter. I just had to add some personal information and send it back. She will then give it to Mr. Höpfl, the president of the FH Deggendorf and he will sign it. Wow... very official. Anyway, before I contacted Mr. Loibl (vize president) concerning this matter, since I had met him last semester due to my scholarship for Korea. He answered with a really nice e-mail and said that the FH will support me in any way possible.
Since they have helped me a lot so far, I sent Mrs. Randow a small present, some typical Korean craft and Mr. Loibl a postcard. I am so thankful they support me so much. And also to my parents. Thank you.
I am sooo lucky, I know.
OK, maybe I should stop... I am getting sentimental.
Well, one last thing. A few weeks ago I realized, that my whole life seems like having been totally planned for the last six/seven years or so.
I can remember exactly how my mom was standing in the dining room, bowed over the table, looking at an advertisement by YFU in the newspaper and asking me, if I want to improve my English. How old was I? Maybe 14? Of course I wanted to improve my English, so we applied for the host-family program and in the summer of the same year Laura from the USA came to my family. Afterwards Lisa came when I was sixteen. With her and her family's help I got the chance to live and study in the USA for a year when I was sixteen and seventeen. So when I came back, of course my English was quite good and I definitely wanted to study something, where I could take advantage of that fact. The only possibility, since I didn't want to become an English teacher (just look at these spoiled little children nowa days... zzz) was the business area. Luckily I was accepted immediately in Deggendorf. The main choice why I chose Deggendorf was the fact, that the course International Management is totally taught in English and of course that a study and an internship semester are included in the studies. And I am soo lucky I went there. I met the coolest people ever! I miss them soo much. And I learned soo much there, not only from my German friends, but also from the students from various other countries, like Spain, Czech Republic, Poland, ...

And of course, not to forget about my close friends from High-school. I have now also met other people, maybe not so nice or open-minded like them... and I realized, how lucky I was to have shared my youth with people like my school friends. It made me more open-minded and anyway, they all participated in partially making me like I am today. And I am satisfied with who and how I am.
Anyway, the course brought me to Madrid and now to Korea. Isn't this fate? Really, come on... I still can't really believe how my life developed.

OK, I have to stop. Work is almost over.
Thank you all for supporting me all the time and for being such good friends!!! Love you!

Staying in Korea!?

2005-10-24T06:00:00.000+02:00

Well, some changes have occured.

My university, the FH Deggendorf is just now negotiating with the university Inha here in Incheon about creating a partnership. And I am right now in the course of filling out my application forms and pushing every person necessary to finish my preparations to send all forms to the university here. I also just now sent away the last forms for the DAAD. I heard, that for Korea the budget is never fully exhausted, so I might have a good chance to get some financial aid. If the partnership really gets realized, I will not have to pay the university fee. Moreover Incheon, the city where the university is located, about an hour out of Seoul, is pretty cheap. So I won't have to pay too much for an apartment. Seems like everything is proceeding well so far and I hope it will continue like that. In one or two weeks I will definitely know more. I would be the first German student at the Inha University... big honor :-)

Although everybody is telling me to come home, I really think this is a great opportunity and I really want to take the chance. Who knows what impact this will have on my future.

What else... this weekend on Friday my "room mates"Jenny and T* made a party. We bought a big cake and I cooked a noodle salad. Moreover we had sausages, potato salad (real German food) and Kimchi chigae (김치찌개 I am practicing my Korean). Anyway, I ate a lot that night. Sometimes the atmosphere was a little bit sad, since the party was actually based on the fact, that T* will leave next week. We will miss you a lot! Really.

After eating at home, we all went down to Itaewon to the Lime Lights and afterwards to Noraebang. It was a lot of fun.

On Saturday in the evening Daniel, Hana, 장희 and I went to Yoido Island and watched a big firework (pulgot 불꽃: fire flower in korean). There were sooooo many people and on our way home, we had to walk a few kilometers and fight our way through a big crowd of people at the metro station. I just remember the Shakira or Carlino Brown concerts in Madrid. Was very similar. I have to add, that I come from a town of 3,000 inhabitants! But I also have to add, that I don't have any problem with big cities. I just don't like being smashed by the people and then starting to think, what could happen if somebody starts panicking. Well, but there was always somebody to protect me. :-) Anyway, I am starting to get used to situations like that.

During the last few days the winter has started. Really started. It's f** cold. I mean, I have a nice warm sweater, but yesterday I felt the urgent need to get a coat. So 장희 and I went to Dongdaemun 동대문 ... like so often before. I know this area almost as well as Itaewon but I love it a lot more. Unfortunately I think I am the only person who feels cold yet in Korea. Nobody is wearing winter coats yet and stores now start selling jackets for fall... (?) Anyway, fact is, that they did not have one warm coat in any of the three shopping departments. Well, and since I thought, I should follow the Korean fashion, instead of a warm coat, I bought... a mini-skirt. All Korean girls wear mini-skirts, even when it's snowing ( I was told). Moreover I got myself another sweater. It's really cool and fits the skirt perfectly. And with some stockings it's really not too cold. But of course I am not allowed to wear this outfit when I am on my own... well, I can understand. :-) it looks just to damn sexy. As long as people don't think I'm a Russian dancer in a Noraebang, I don't care. Every Korean first thinks I am Russian. Why??!! Well, sorry, but still better than American. Koreans don't really like Americans, especially the soldiers after an accident with an Army truck and two dead Korean girls...

OK, anyway... I will see if I am going to wear it at all this winter, because today I already feel my throat starting to hurt a little bit. Why does Korea have to be so cold?! Well, I shouldn't complain, this is really the only real negative aspect I have encountered so far. I just love it here. But don't worry guys. I will always remember you and come back as soon as my financial situation allows it and as soon as I miss you too much. But you have to understand. Half a year longer just has to be... really. I am also more and more having fun in learning the language 한국말.

And, I have a new camera. Pictures will be added soon!!

What the f***

2005-10-19T06:19:00.000+02:00

Sorry, but this post will be in German.

Als ich den Artikel gelesen habe, konnt ich es erst nicht fassen, dass ein normaler Journalist so etwas schreiben kann. Leider gibt es... in diesem Fall... Meinungsfreiheit. Er kann seine Meinung gerne kund tun, aber bitte in einem angemessenen Stil und objektiv.
Nach zwei Wochen Korea hat man nicht das Recht so über das Land abzulästern.
Der Artikel, der jetzt folgt, wurde anlässlich der Frankfurter Buchmesse, bei der Korea das Ehrenland ist, verfasst.
Was würden wir Deutschen sagen, wenn jemand so über unser Land lästern würde?!
So, hier der Artikel. Bitte glaubt nicht alles was da drin steht... und vor allem, es gibt auch genügend positive Dinge, die das Land zu bieten hat.

Buchmesse in Frankfurt
Wir tun hier keinem was zuliebe
Südkorea ist kein schönes Land. Denn dort, wo der Mensch Hand angelegt hat, sieht es furchtbar aus. Die Städte machen den Eindruck, als hätten zwei bitter verfeindete Architektenlager gegeneinander Krieg geführt. Hässlich also prsäsentiert sich das Gastland auf der Frankfurter Buchmesse. Von CHRISTIAN Y. SCHMIDT

Groß wie Garagentore sind die Brockhaus-Bände, die auf der Frankfurter Buchmesse zu sehen sein werden.Foto: dpa

Südkorea ist kein schönes Land. Damit meinen wir nicht die Landschaft. Die geht in Ordnung. Siebzig Prozent des Südens der koreanischen Halbinsel ist von sanften Hügeln bedeckt und bewaldet. Aber dort, wo der Mensch Hand angelegt hat, sieht es furchtbar aus. Die Städte machen den Eindruck, als hätten zwei bitter verfeindete Architektenlager gegeneinander Krieg geführt. Die eine Partei baute viel zu große Kaufhausklötze ohne Fenster, unproportionierte Kirchen (25 Prozent der Südkoreaner sind Christen) und große Hochhauszusammenrottungen, die andere Hochzeithallen mit angeklebten Säulen, so genannte "Love-Motels", geschmückt mit Zinnen, Erkerchen und Türmchen, und Nachtclubs, die "President Club", "Zeus" oder "The White House" heißen, mit Gips-Posaunenengeln oder Abraham Lincoln vor dem Eingang. Nicht weniger hässlich sieht es auf dem Land aus, das heißt, in den Tälern zwischen den Bergen. Die sind übersät mit blau bedachten Fabrikhallen und unansehnlichen Schuhkartonhäusern, noch schlimmeren, weil größeren Kirchen, zwischen denen sich Planierraupen durch den Schlamm wühlen, um noch mehr Autobahnkreuze in die Landschaft zu planieren. So wirkt das ganze Land: als komme es nicht so darauf an. Jedenfalls hat die Koreaner ihre Geschichte gelehrt: Nichts, was wir bauen, hat Bestand. Vierzehn Tage reisten wir durchs Land und fanden doch kein einziges authentisches, historisches Bauwerk; jedes ist eine Rekonstruktion aus den letzten 30 Jahren. Der prächtige Gyeonbok-Palast in Seoul etwa, der sich uns im schönsten Sonnenlicht vor der Kulisse des Bugak-Berges präsentiert. Ein Schild belehrt uns: "Erbaut 1394 unter König Taejo, niedergebrannt während der japanischen Invasion von 1592, Wiederaufbau seit 1865, zu großen Teilen erneut zerstört während der japanischen Kolonialherrschaft (1910- 1945)." Auch der in einem großen Park gelegene Changdeok-Palast (1412 vollendet, seit 1997 Weltkulturerbe), wurde mehrmals komplett demoliert; zwischenzeitlich hatten die japanischen Besatzer den Park sogar in einen Zoo verwandelt. Wie in der Hauptstadt, so auch im Rest des Landes: Die Haupthalle des einsam gelegenen Waldklosters Haeinsa aus dem 9. Jahrhundert brannten die japanischen Invasoren 1592 nieder. Der kleine Hongje-Tempel in der Nachbarschaft wurde insgesamt sechs Mal zerstört. Im Garten stand ein Gedenkstein für den ehemaligen Abt. Noch 1943 ließ ihn ein japanischer Bezirkspolizeichef zertrümmern. Ohne Wiederaufbau erinnerten heute wohl nur noch die gewaltigen Grabhügel ihrer Könige an die Hauptstadt des mächtigen Silla-Reiches (57 vor bis 935 nach Christus), Gyeongju, die zu ihrer Blütezeit eine Million Einwohner zählte. Die älteste Steinpagode Koreas stand hier - bis die Japaner sie 1915 zerstörten. Die Koreaner haben in ihrer Geschichte viel Pech gehabt, wohl mehr als alle anderen Nationen Ostasiens. Das liegt hauptsächlich an der geografischen Lage der Halbinsel, die umzingelt ist von den Regionalmächten China und Japan. Noch vor den Japanern kamen 1392 die Mongolen, auch sie ließen das Land nicht ungeschoren. Nach der japanischen Kolonialherrschaft verwüstete der Korea-Krieg das Land noch einmal. Er kostete rund zwei Millionen Koreanern das Leben. Da mag man die Lust an Stadt- und Landschaftsplanung sowie am schönen Bauen schon verlieren. Die Kriegs- und Zerstörungserfahrungen scheinen aber noch andere Spuren in der Nationalpsyche hinterlassen zu haben. Auf unserer Reise fällt uns die allgemeine Ängstlichkeit der Südkoreaner auf, ein Sicherheitsstreben, das, zumindest in unseren Augen, zuweilen wahnhafte Züge annimmt. Damit meinen wir nicht die Grenzsicherungsanlagen entlang des 38. Breitengrads, die bereits am Stadtrand von Seoul beginnen. Auf unserer Fahrt in die so genannte demilitarisierte Zone - die alles ist, nur nicht demilitarisiert - passieren wir immer wieder Stacheldrahtabsperrungen, Wachtürme Panzersperren und Autobahnbrücken, die sich auf Knopfdruck in die Luft sprengen lassen. Diese Anlagen mögen ihre Berechtigung haben, gab es doch noch bis in die jüngste Zeit hinein diverse Infiltrationsversuche des Nordens. Nein, was wir zu beobachten glauben, ist eine Übervorsichtigkeit, die sich in den Lebensalltag eingeschlichen hat. Da gibt es große Piktogramme in der Seouler U-Bahn, die den Passanten genauestens instruieren, wie er Rolltreppe zu fahren hat: Am Handlaufband festhalten, Kinder an die Hand, Vorsicht mit Stöckelschuhen, niemals rennen. In jeder Station findet man versiegelte Sets mit Taschenlampen an den Wänden, falls mal der Strom ausfallen sollte. Auf einem U-Bahnsteig in Busan fällt uns ein gelb lackierter Glasschrank auf, der mit Gasmasken gefüllt ist. Und in der brandneuen U-Bahn von Gwangju werden Kinderzeichnungen ausgestellt, die in lustig-brutaler Deutlichkeit zeigen, was passieren kann, wenn Menschen ihre Finger in die Steckdose stecken. Nach nur ein paar Tagen im Land sind wir fest davon überzeugt, dass die Koreaner ständig irgendeine Katastrophe fürchten und dafür jede erdenkliche Vorsorgemaßnahme treffen. In unserem Hotel in Gwangju entdecken wir einen an die Wand montierten Kasten, auf dem "Fire Escape Device" steht. Er enthält ein Seil plus Karabinerhaken, mit dem man sich im Notfall aus dem Fenster abseilen kann, dazu Gebrauchsanweisungen in einigen Weltsprachen, darunter auch in Deutsch ("Wenn dessen Seil mehr als ein Meter von der Fallpunkt glost worden ist, dar man den lift nicht gebrauchen"). In den Seouler Straßen stehen das ganze Jahr über mit Streusandsäcken gefüllte Gitterboxen, als fürchte man, der Winter könne jeder Zeit hereinbrechen, auch in den schwülheißen Sommertagen. Damit den Umspannkästen auf den Bürgersteigen auch wirklich nichts passiert, wurden sie mit genopptem Weichplastik ummantelt. Und selbst auf die entlegensten Zebrastreifen haben die Koreaner Pfeile malen lassen, die einem die Gehrichtung vorschreiben, wohl um einem eventuellen Zusammenprall der querenden Passanten vorzubeugen. Überhaupt der Straßenverkehr: Besonders uns, die wir die anarchischen Verhältnisse in China gewohnt sind, fällt hier die Übervorsicht auf. Die Koreaner überqueren die Straße nur an den vorgeschriebenen Überwegen, und gehen niemals, wirklich niemals, bei Rot über die Ampel. Alle Autofahrer befolgen geradezu sklavisch die Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen. Genauso pedantisch-ängstlich halten sie sich übrigens auf einem ganz anderen Gebiet an die Vorschriften. Koreanische Pornos, im ganzen Land über Kabel zu empfangen, zeigen zwar durchaus Hardcore-Aktionen. Die hiesige Zensur schreibt aber offenbar vor, dass dabei auch nicht die Andeutung eines primären Geschlechtsteils im Bild erscheinen darf - als bräche bei dem Anblick eines Penisfitzelchen ganz Korea zusammen. Verkrampftere Sexfilmchen sah man noch nie. "The Paranoid Peninsula" heißt ein Buch, das der britische Koreakenner Paul French jüngst veröffentlichte. Es handelt eigentlich von Nordkorea. Wir müssen ergänzen: Paranoid ist man auch im Süden. Ein Teil der Bevölkerung scheint das nicht auszuhalten. Noch nie sahen wir in Asien so viele bis zur Besinnungslosigkeit Betrunkene auf der Straße. Zum gemäßigt paranoiden Nationalcharakter passt auch das Bild, das sich die Südkoreaner von sich selber machen. Es ist das einer Comicfigur mit großen, weit aufgerissenen Augen und einem Kindergesicht auf einem Kinderkörper. Wir finden dieses Selbstporträt auf Hinweisschildern vor Baustellen, wo ordentlich gescheitelte Kinderbauarbeiter an die vorgeschriebene Sicherheitskleidung erinnern, auf Wegweisern im Wald, auf denen kleine Wandersmänner fröhlich vor sich hinstapfen, oder auf einer Tafel auf dem Busbahnhof von Gwangju, mit der ein Zwergenärzteteam für seine Klinik Werbung macht. Lachende Comicmännchen und -frauchen, geformt aus Stein, Stahl oder Pflanzen, stehen an jeder dritten Straßenkreuzung, vor Ticketbuden und Bahnhöfen, sind auf Mülleimer und Parkplatzschilder gemalt. Selbst ihre alten Silla-Könige, die das Land einst einten, machen die Koreaner klein: Am Eingang zum großen Hügelgräberfeld in Gyeongju stehen kulleräugige Holzfiguren eines Kinderkönigs und einer Kinderkönigin, mit viel zu großem Kopf, darauf eine Krone. Heißen soll das alles wohl: Wir sind niedlich, wir sind harmlos, wir tun keinem was zu Leide. Lasst uns bitte endlich mal in Frieden leben. Das ist nun wirklich nicht zu viel verlangt. Und so wollen auch wir nicht zu harsch über die Südkoreaner urteilen, und ihnen noch mal verzeihen, dass sie ihr Land so verschandelt haben. Allerdings könnten sie bei Gelegenheit noch mal über die Bebauung drüber gehen. Möglicherweise steht ja dieses Mal doch alles etwas länger.

Back to normal

2005-10-07T07:32:00.000+02:00

So, well, last week I was in Kangwhado with my company.
It rained... great, since our trip was mainly based on outside activities.
On our way to the island we made the quiz in the bus. It was actually harder than we thought. Some questions though were really easy. And of course we had questions about German and Korean topics, ranging from history, over politics and geography to general things.

(Lösungen am Ende)
1. Wie lange dauerte der 100 jährige Krieg?
103 Jahre
114 Jahre
98 Jahre

2. In welchem Jahr wurde das Frauenwahlrecht in Deutschland eingeführt?
1928
1918
1900
1893

3. Wie heißt der koreanische Präsident, der den Nobelpreis erhielt?

4. Wie viele Einwohner hat Korea?
35,4 Mio.
52,3 Mio.
48,0 Mio.
46,4 Mio.

5. Wie oft passt Korea flächenmäßig in Deutschland?
4,1 mal
5,2 mal
3,6 mal
3,2 mal

6. 2006 findet die Fußballweltmeisterschaft in Deutschland statt. Wann war die letzte WM hierzulande?
1974
1970
1980

7. Mathematische GleichungWie erhält man das Ergebnis 100, wenn man nur vier mal die Zahl 9 verwenden darf?

8. Wofür stehen die Trigramme auf der koreanischen Flagge?

(sorry, in German...) Well, they are just a few examples. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Everybody got presents. Well, and since the first price was not given away, because we only had six, and not as expected seven groups, me, and Mrs. Kim, who created the test, got the wine bottles!
So first we drove to a museum, where we could read about some parts of Korean history, like the Josun Dinasty for example.

Tripitaka is a printing technique, which reminded me of my art classes in highschool. You have a block of wood and then cut out the pictures you want to print. Well, in their case it was not a picture, but tiny little chinese letters (at this time they still used chinese letters). Must have been really hard work.
After the visit, it was almost noon and we looked for a cosy place to start our picnic. We had a lot of food. It was great.
After a short ride with the bus, we walked around in a park, where we met hundreds of school kids (they especially loved my bosses). Since it was still raining this walk was not very romantic but surprisingly nobody was in a bad mood and we had a good time.
Then, we visited, what Kangwhado is most famous for, its dolmen.
Well, but by now everybody had enough of running around outside so we decided to go to Norebang. Although I have to add this decision was more or less made by the interns. The bosses were not very happy about that. Actually, at first me neither, but I was surprised when it was fun and even Mr. Niedermark (boss) sang a song.

Then we finally went to the best part, the dinner at a small restaurant near the sea. T. and I went outside to the bathroom and when coming back, watched one of the women there fishing out some shrimps from an aquarium. I thought it was cool, but when we entered the restaurant, we realized who they were for. She poured the living shrimps in hot pans on our tables. Was kind of creapy when they jumped out on the people. They do this to show that the animals are really fresh. And I have to say, they were delicious. :-)
Well, that was mostly it. Back in Seoul T., D., 장희 and I went to Hongdae, club night, my third club night here (it is once a month and I went there the first night I arrived in Seoul).

Oh, on Monday I saw the Berlin wall and the bear. It was not really special. Only some children riding on the bear and some people making pictures in front of a small part of the wall.
The rest of this week I was at work, being bored and trying to get some sleep at night.

Today is again Friday, ... and it's again raining. Great. The party tonight at the embassador's house is mostly outside. It will be freakin' freezin'. Well, with about 400 it could also get warm.
The mayor of Hamburg, Ole von Beust will also be there. *great* I just hope there will be good food, since this is what I am most interested in. :-) ... as most of you should know.

Lösungen:
1. 114
2. 1918
3. Kim, Dae-Joong
4. 48 Mill.
5. 3,6 mal
6. 1974
7. 99 + (9/9)
8. Himmel, Erde, Feuer, Wasser

Boring

2005-09-29T08:10:00.000+02:00

Boring.... why are there always these ups and downs?! Once again I am sitting at work with nothing, but really nothing to do... On one day I don't know what to do first, because there is so much work and on other days, I could die of boredom.
Well, at least I finally find the time to drop some lines here to my beloved ones.

Last weekend I was in the movies for the first time here in Korea. We watched Cindarella man. It was alright, but not so special. But I have to admit, it provoked all kinds of feelings. In one moment I cried and in the next one I couldn't watch, because I just found it too cruel and then in another moment it just made me happy... well, I guess I'm talking some shit today.
But I have to say that today I am in a good mood. Yesterday night, before going to bed and today in the morning after waking up, I turned on my Salsa music and danced a little bit on my own... on my own! It's sad. I got to know some people who surprisingly also like Salsa, but so far I haven't found the time to go dance with them. And I heard, that here it is a little bit different than in Spain. The club is supposedly only open until 1 am or so. So you can go there before going out. :-)
Last weekend, after the movies I was also in a club, for the first time again after a month maybe. But it was not too special. There were just too many people and I could not see any other foreign girl in there. So sometimes I was just sick of looking at people, because I would realize that they looked at me. But still, I had a good time.

Tomorrow my company will go on a trip to Kanghwado, a pen-insula near Seoul. Since I don't have a camera, I already found some pictures on a homepage. Well, fortunately Jae-woo has a camera, so we can make pictures and I am sure, he will give them to me too. We will go wandering, to the beach, eating and watching some sights. I am sure it will be a lot of fun, especially since all my friends, I met here, work with me and will be there, too.

Well, and next week on friday, my company, including interns, is invited to the German embassador's residence, where we will celebrate the reunification day of Germany (reunification East and West), which is actually on the 3rd of October. But the 3rd is a Monday, so consequently we will celebrate the reunification day on the 7th, which is actually the day, when Germany was divided up. Well, maybe they didn't think about this. I found it out today and think it's funny and a little bit ironic. Anyway, I don't care. We will get good food and free drinks, so I am happy. It's actually sponsored by some real big German and Korean companies. So, it should be a big event. ... help! What shall I wear?

For this I love Korea. Just go to Dongdaemun and buy some cheap fake stuff. I have to say, that there are more stores or places to buy fake clothes or shoes, or bags, or... than real stuff. Some time ago I bought nice Sneakers for 20,000 won (about 18 euro). I really like them.

On Saturday I want to go to a ceremony for the inauguration of the Jongejon river, which was recreated after having been destroyed by a new landscape of skyscrapers. And around there will also be an exposition of a small part of the Berlin wall and the Berlin bear. I think that's interesting and I want to go there and see the Berlin wall in Seoul. Especially for Koreans this is interesting since they often compare their own separation to the German one. I am often asked about this topic. Jokingly I tell them not to reunify. Of course they all want to. I can often read in the newspaper about people's stories. One man had to stay in the North since the separation in 1950 until a few years ago. His wife in the South waited for him all these years. It's a sad story.

For some people, interested in Korea:

Koreans use their own unique alphabet called Hangeul. It is considered to be one of the most efficient alphabets in the world and has garnered unanimous praise from language experts for its scientific design and excellence. Hangeul was created under King Sejong the Great during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). In 1446, the first Korean alphabet was proclaimed under the original name Hunminjeongeum, which literally meant "the correct sounds for the instruction of the people."

Jusok

2005-09-20T07:16:00.000+02:00

I had a great weekend.
For Koreans this weekend, or better Sunday could be seen like for Germans Christmas. It's a big holiday to be celebrated with the whole family. On the other side, Koreans celebrate Christmas rather with friends than with the family.
Well, I had the great honor to participate in this celebration.

장히's family invited me to come to their place. I was welcomed really warmly by his parents, sister, two uncles with wifes, two aunts with husbands and all together seven cousins. 장히's dad is the oldest son, which is the reason, why the celebration took place at their home. Moreover usually only the brothers with family come. The sisters celebrate with their husbands' families. Since I was there, two of the actually five sisters also looked by with their families. So all together we were about 22 people. I really enjoyed that, since at my home we always celebrate these events only with the own family.
I also found a friend real quick. Eun-sue (8 years old) immediately lay off her shiness and wanted to get to know me. So I was for example asked about my hobbies... of course, this always had to be translated by my personal interpreter. :-) Thanks 장히. She is a really smart girl and I can understand why her parents are proud of her. She drew a real good picture, showed me how to play piano and sang really well in Norebang. I really like her. When we went for a quite long walk in the park of Ilsan, she didn't even complain, altough I could see that she didn't want to walk any more. The park of Ilsan is really pretty and big. When we went for a walk there, everybody was looking at us. Ilsan is not very big, so you can imagine, there are not as many foreigners as in Seoul.
I have to add, that at the beginning of my stay here, I liked the looks of the people, but now, after almost 2 months it's slowly getting annoying. Well, I'm just learning to ignore it.

OK, back to Jusok. After our long walk in the park, I was allowed to help the aunts cook. It was fun. I hope I can learn more about how to cook Korean food. 장히's mother said, I can come again when she is making Kimshi (typical traditional Korean food- I love it, and they loved me for that). Then we all ate and I could see that everybody was happy I liked the food so much. I told them, that primarily the Korean food was the reason why I came back here. After dinner 장히 and I washed the dishes. We even earned money for this from an uncle. They laughed when I explained, that I would also have done it for free. Well, by the time it was already about eight or nine and I was told, the ceremony of Jaesa, will be held at one a.m. So of course by then no metro would go back to Seoul. So surprisingly I was invited to stay over night. Well, since I really wanted to see the ceremony I agreed. At around 10 p.m. we went to Norebang with 장히's sister and seven small kids, three boys and four girls. The boys were a little bit pissed, because they wanted to go to a PC 방 (hope I spelled it the right way - it's a PC room) and they couldn't stand the songs the girls sang. I felt sorry for them, but 장히 said they have to learn it. Well, ok, I agree.
One hour later we were back home. All the kids were asleep by 1 a.m. except for the youngest one, who was running around all excited, even during the ceremony. Finally the men decorated the table with fruits. The interesting thing here was, that the order of the different fruits is fixed, depending on their color and the directions North, East, South and West. We made a picture, so maybe I can add that later some time. For the ceremony the oldest son begins to kneel down. Then his brothers and 장히 followed him. Women don't participate in this. They just watch. Well, the purpose of the ceremony is to invite the ancestors to share the food with the family and then to honor them and talk to them. Of course only in prayer. In order to let them in, the door of the apartment was opened. For me, all this was really interesting and exciting. After the praying, the ceremony was over and again we all ate. I ate so much that day, incredible. Afterwards, we said good-bye to all the relatives and we all went to bed. I almost felt at home. It was great.

So maybe it is not soo special to celebrate the Jusok with a Korean family, but in my opinion it's really something special to be able to make the experience and stay for Jaesa. I am soo glad and honored I could see this event.
I can recommend to everybody to come to Korea and experience the friendliness and warmth of Korean families. Even though I couldn't really talk to them, I could feel their positive and warm feelings.

I just saw, that during my last days here in Korea I will also be able to experience Sollal (New year, according to the lunar calendar). This year it will be on the 28th to 30th of January, so right before I leave.

Oh, I don't even want to think about that. It makes me sad.

Cultural thing:
The first son in a family is very important. He has to be successful in his future life. So a big pressure rests on his back. Many women don't like first sons, because then they have to invite relatives for events like Jusok and cook. They have a harder life than other Korean women. Well, that's what I've been told.

Some pics

2005-09-13T12:21:00.000+02:00

Well, as I already told you last week, I went to the Oktoberfest. Fortunately some nice person lent us his camera, so finally I have some pictures. - Here, some brave girls in a drinking contest...-

With one of them my roomies. I am proud of you!

Since the Fest was in the Hilton, a good band shouldn`t be missing... my mom would be really happy to see them live.
"Münchner Zwietracht". A real Oktoberfest band, actually the most famous one. I even talked to them, wow and got a signature card. I told them, I haven`t ever seen them when I was at homeand now, here in Seoul I see them for the first time. Somehow ironic... - Let`s rock the house -

- Unfortunately no German beer -

The two best brands here in Korea are Cass
and OB. Both Korean brands and totally cheap.
A glass, like that one on the picture
costs about 2,500 won (1,5euro). If you
want to drink a Weißbier (Erdinger or Paulaner) here, you can't pay less than 8,000 won (about 7 euro). I really only drink that for very rare exceptions.
Well, if I come back home, I know, the first thing I get to drink from my parents is a Weißbier, like last time, when I arrived from Spain.

As you can see on the picture, the waitresses were dressed in a really cute way, with a bavarian Dirndl.

- The boss of Lufthansa was dressed absolutetly typically, with Lederhosen.-

Another beverage, less Bavarian, more German, but still good... :-) ... just a joke. Jägermeister!! They had a bar with free Jägermeister. Luckily I saw it later during the evening. Could have been bad.

- And not only the girls looked good that evening... :-)-

- As you can see, even my boss
liked it... :-) ... well, sorry. Empty -

And of course not only the drinks were good... Bavarian bands can not only play Bavarian music. Well, at the beginning, of course they did and I can say, you don't even have to dance to have fun... just watch the Korean and American couples dance to the music. Well, later I also of course had to go to the "dance floor". I miss dancing. I haven`t danced here in Seoul for so long. I still haven`t had the chance to go dance Salsa. I miss it so much. Maybe I can go this weekend. I will see. Anyway, I need to go to a club again soon. I haven`t really been out for so long. Yes mom, you might not believe it, but it`s true! :-)

- Did we have fun?! -

I really enjoyed the evening. Especially the food. I found out, after already having eaten, that they had some Bavarian Schweinebraten. Well, even though I was really full, a real Bavarian cowgirl can't just walk by there and not try it... and everybody who knows me, knows that especially I can`t. But mom, it was by far not as good as yours, don`t worry.

OK, I have some good news. Today I found out, that I can participate in a Korean language course. It will start tomorrow. It's every Wednesday and Friday from 8.30 am to 10.00 am, which means, I come to work one hour late. The course is organized by the chamber and would usually cost about 500,000 won. I am glad I got the chance to go there for free. Thank you Mrs. R. and Mr. W. I am so looking forward to go there. I can`t wait.

Well, enough for today.
Good night

Oktoberfest

2005-09-09T05:54:00.000+02:00

As already mentioned, I have tickets for the Oktoberfest in the Hilton Hotel. I read an article in the newspaper, which says, it's the biggest one in Korea... well, I don't think that's difficult. I am sure there are not very many Oktoberfeste in Korea. So yesterday I went to the Hilton to change the tickets to saturday, since there are more people from the chamber going. They decorated the entrance area of the Hilton really nicely. It felt like home... almost. White and blue ribbons. Really pretty.

This week, on Tuesday I went to a Korean TV show with T, Jenni and a friend of Jenni. It's called "Love Letter" and is presented by the singer of the Yoon Band. I am just trying to learn a song from that group. It's really difficult. Especially since I don't have much time to do so.

In the show, different singers perform and then talk a little bit. For me of course only the songs were interesting, since I didn't understand a word of what they were saying. Fortunately T was so kind to translate some of the things they said.
At the beginning of the show, a comdian was making jokes to entertain the audience in the studio (was not filmed). Then he asked, if there were any people from farther away. Of course Jenni felt the need to raise her hand. It was funny. Luckily I didn't have to say anything. Another boy in the studio, also a Kyopo, was from the US. I think that night I was the only western looking person in there. It's really difficult to get tickets for this show, since you can't buy them. You have to have connections. So we got the tickets from a friend of Jenni's mom. If you want to see some pictures, visit Jenni's blog: http://kimchiinkorea.blogspot.com/.

Well, concerning my camera, I will send it back home and my parents will send me another one. I hope soon. I wish I could make pictures tomorrow at the Oktoberfest...

I am just learning Korean billiard. It's really difficult. You only have four balls. Two white ones and two red ones. You have to try to hit the two red ones, not the other white one, with your white one in one shot. You have to calculate a lot, how to do it. But it's really fun, especially since I have a good teacher.

Cultural thing:

Why do Koreans always drive on the pedestrian zone with their motorcycles? I hate it. It's f*** dangerous.

Taifun

2005-09-05T05:55:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow I will experience my first taifun. Its name is Nabi (Butterfly), a nice name for a storm. I like storms. Well, as longs as it's not as strong as Katrina, it's ok. I feel really sorry for the people there. Sad story. I hope the people there will get aid from the state.
I wish I had gone to New Orleans before.

But I also have good news. Mrs. R., the wife of the vice-embassador, who is working together with me, gave me a free ticket for the Oktoberfest here in Seoul, in the Hilton Hotel. It will be this next Friday and Saturday. I got the ticket for Friday, when her husband will hold the beginning speach. A ticket would cost 80,000 won (70euro). Since I don't want to go by myself, I already found a victim to acompany me. I hope it's going to be a nice evening. I will go right after work. Food and drinks are for free, with Bavarian food and drinks. Jippihh! Although I have to say, that so far, I don't miss the food sooo much. Sometimes I drink a Weißbier... but only sometimes. It costs about 8,000 or 9,000 won (7-8euros). My mom said, I should rather drink it when I am back at home. She's right, but once in a while I just feel the urge.

So tired

2005-09-05T02:33:00.000+02:00

Again in work. It's Monday morning and I could honestly sleep. Didn't really sleep a lot this weekend.

On Friday I went out in Itaewon with Daniel, 은히 and 장히. It was a lot of fun. We danced a lot and 장히 and I played two rounds of pool in the club... as always Lime Light. It was a great evening. But since I wanted to get my camera fixed the next day, I got up early, around 12 and finally made it to the electronic store area in Seoul. A paradise for men... I had to think of my dad. He would love it. I think they have everything there. So I brought my camera there, but they said, they are not sure they can fix it. Doesn't look good. But I need a camera!! So my dad said, if they can't fix it, they will send me a new one. I hope soon. I want to make pictures on Chusok (Korean holiday). It's around the 17th of September. Which means, very, very soon. Oh man, time passes by so fast. It's incredible.

OK, where did I stop. In the evening we had a barbecue with a lot of alcohol. Katja had her birthday on Sunday, so we celebrated into it. At around 1 am everybody was tired, but our new intern 현재우, 정연, 장히, Jenni and I went to Norebang (song room). They sang a lot of Korean songs. I am also practising one song, it's called 사랑했나봐. I love the melody. Well, the content is also nice of course.

Yesterday, we all got up late and sat again on the roof top, enjoyed the nice, warm weather and again had barbecue. I really enjoyed it.
We are already like a big family. Reminds me a little bit of my time in Madrid... Well, Mohammad is missing... Miss you Moe. But I am glad, I found another loving family who takes care of me.
OK, back to work. Have to write the report today for our weekly meeting.

I am still alive

2005-09-01T01:57:00.000+02:00

Sorry I haven't written for so long. I'm pretty busy at the moment. At work I'm just writing a market study about meat in Korea. Well, doesn't sound too interesting, but it's OK. I like it better than Logistics in Korea. Maybe because it's an easier subject. And while doing this, I also learn more about Korean food. Kalbi for example, what we ate yesterday for C's good-bye, can be pork or beaf and you grill it on a small grill on your table. Then you take lettice and stuff rice, meat and other small side dishes in it. I like it. But I guess every foreigner likes that. The negative side of it is, that it's more expensive than other Korean food. Usually Koreans don't eat a lot of meat, because it's very expensive here. But when I compare it to Germany, we paid for the Kalbi 8,000 won (about 6 or 7 euros), which in Germany is almost normal when you go out to eat. For lunch, we always go to these small restaurants, where one dish costs about 3,000 won (about 2.5 euros), and it's really a lot of food.
Today C. is leaving. We are all really sad about this. Some more,.. some less. :-) Since I didn't live together with him, I really like him. He's really funny. Living with him might be different. Right?!
OK, I am pretty happy these days. Don't ask me why. I am enjoying life. "Disfrutando la vida".
But there are some people I really miss a lot.
I have to stop. My boss wants to see some results.

Here we go again

2005-08-27T12:18:00.000+02:00

Hey guys,

haven't had time the last days to post. I just say, I had a good time. The only thing which is annoying is my camera. I really would love to make some pictures.
So, what happened the last days?... On wednesday I went out with Robert and some as his friends. We had a lot of fun. I learned my first bad words in Korean. Things like, shut up, go away, shit or son of a bitch... Well, I won't use them anyway. But in every language you learn, the first words you remember are usually the bad ones. I just remember my few words in Czech. They were mostly not the best ones.
Actually, I'm pretty tired and don't really know what to write. I will write again tomorrow. I'm not very creative now.

Relaxed day

2005-08-23T15:48:00.000+02:00

Today was a pretty relaxed day. Work was fine. Time passed by quickly, I read newspapers and was in a good mood. We went out to eat Italian with our boss. Well, even though I don't really eat a lot here, I look like I'm pregnant. I really need to slow down a little bit. Actually today after work T* and I wanted to go wandering around in a park which partly belongs to the Gran Hyatt, which is more or less our neighbor. But then I decided differently and watched the movie "Island", which my "companeros de piso" already have on DVD, even in a real good quality. I really liked it and can only recommend it. Well, besides having planned to go walking, I also wanted to got to the Dongdaemun-Market, which I really like. But I really need to save money. It's crazy. I just got 100,000won from the bank, which is equal to about 84€ and it's already almost gone again. I really don't know where it's going, except for going out to eat every day, but which is necessary since we can't really take food (we could, but that's too much work and nobody does it) and going out to eat is like 2,50€ or 3€ when chosing a Korean Restaurant.
Oh, I have really f** bad news. My camera broke today. I didn't do anything, just turned it on and it wouldn't work and now I can't close the lid in front of the lense any more. It sucks. It's not even a year old and I got it for taking pictures while I'm abroud. I am really scared it's not fixable. It looks really bad. Es una mierda.

Since I have read about the Korean flag yesterday, I wanted to find out something about the German and of course also the Bavarian flag. So tody, I have new info:

German flag:
(German translation follows below)
The black-read-gold flag of today's Germany was oficially introduced (was also inofficially in use in some parts of Germany after the second WW) on September 7th 1949 for Germany. The emblem with the black hawk with red armor on a white buckler was reintroduced on January 20th 1950, after having already been used between 1919 and 1935. It dates back to the emblem of the Holy Roman Empire.
Well, originally during the time of the Napoleonic wars Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm Freiherr von Lützow founded the "Lützowsche Freikorps" (military troup). They were voluntary soldiers from many German states (nationally inspired troups). They wore black uniforms with red additions (Aufschläge... don't ask mit what exactly this is) and golden buttons. Later students in Jena wore suits with the same colors. Finally in 1816 Amalia Nitsche created a flag showing these colors, but in a different order.
This is one theory and another one dates back to the Holy Roman Empire's emblem (black hawk with red armor on golden buckler).

Well, I think that is a lot of info. Since I think it's pretty interesting I will translate it into German. But I will talk about the Bavarian flag tomorrow.

Die schwarz-rot-goldene Flagge des heutigen Deutschlands wurde nach dem Krieg zwar inoffiziell und in einzelnen deutschen Ländern verwendet, jedoch erst am 07.09.1949 für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland übernommen. Das heutige Staatswappen wurde am 20.01.1950 wieder eingeführt, nachdem es bereist zwischen 1919 und 1935 in Verwendung war. Es geht auf das Wappen des Heiligen Römischen Reiches zurück. Schwarzer Adler mit roter Bewehrung auf goldenem Schild.
In den Freiheitskriegen gegen Napoleon gründete Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm Freiherr von Lützwo das Lützowsche Freikorps, welches aus freiwilligen Kämpfern aus vielen deutschen Staaten bestand und somit als Avantgarde eines national inspirierten Volksheeres galt. Diese Truppen trugen schwarze Uniformen mit roten Aufschlägen und goldenen Knöpfen, mit schwarzen Mützen und der schwarz-rot-goldenen Kokarde. Später trugen Studenten in Jena Uniformen mit den gleichen Farben. 1816 kreierte dann Amalia Nitsche welche von der Kleidung der Studenten inspiriert war erstmals eine Flagge, welche die typischen Farben aber in anderer Aufeinanderfolge aufwies (siehe oben).
Dies ist nur eine Theorie. Eine andere ist, dass die Farben auf das Wappen des Heiligen Römischen Reiches zurückgehen, mit schwarzem Adler, roter Bewehrung auf goldenem Grund.

Oh man, of course I am proud of our flag, but somehow... didn't the explanation of the Koran flag sound a lot more logical and interesting?! Really, our flag is so boring.
I hope you don't get bored by my rather educational stuff. Everybody who knows me is probably rather surprised by this. :-) Well, I guess after having spit out enough info, I might become normal again. And I guess, so far there is not really much interesting to tell yet, so I have to fill my blog with other things. I hope you don't mind.

Cultural thing:

Racism:

I have even heard this from Koreans themselves, that the older generation mostly, but also some of the younger people think of black people as being lower than themselves. But they don't only think this from black people, but also from Southeastasian nations. Well, at the beginning I was really shocked, especially when I read in the newspaper, that a bar around where I live would not serve three people from Nigeria and sent them out of the bar. You would think things like that don't happen any more... you are wrong. For example women from the Philippines usually work as cleaning lady. We also have a philippinian woman cleaning our apartment.
As I said, I was very shocked and nothing justifies this behavior. But when regarding the Korean history and looking at the proud Korean faces, I somewhat see at least why they are doing it. Korea has always been attacked by other nations and oppressed (e.g. Japanese colony until 1945). This also explains a strong resentment among many against Japanese people. But otherwise, since then the country was closed to the outside world. Now, for a few decades, the country is starting to open up and people are a little bit ran over by all these people flooding their home.
Well anyway. As I already said, this does certainly not justify such a racist behavior. They have to accept it. There are a lot of black people in the US-army and belief me, around here, in my area, every second person is American.
Somehow that's annoying, because I have the feeling, that I don't experience the "real" Korea, but on the other hand it's good, since I can in case ask people on the streets.

Well, enough for today. I don't think anybody will read this down to here... God night.

New day, new stories

2005-08-22T14:34:00.000+02:00

Well, another working day I would say...

Today we had the chamber dicussion in the chamber and I was responsible for the protocol. This was good, so I had more work today and time passed a lot more faster. Thank god. Of course, like every day after lunch, I could really have taken a nap. My eyes get so heavy, it's a pain in the *** to keep them open. Well my remedy is three cups of coffee during the whole day. I have never before drunk that much coffee in my life. Well, the other work, like every day, is reading newspapers. I really like that part. I have already learned a lot about the Korean economy and also about other parts of the world. Althouhg I am so far away from Germany, I am very often even supplied with news from there. Since I am anyway really interested in the world economy and economics in general, this is really exactly what I wanted. So I often come across some really interesting articles, which might not be useful for work, but just awake my interest in general. So today for example I found an article about the Korean flag. I think it's really interesting. Even for outsiders.

Meaning of National Flag Transformed Through Sport

By Kim Hyun-tae

The 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup transformed the symbolic meaning of the Korean national flag named “Taegukki” from a tool of an authoritarian regime to one uniting people into a more friendly symbol representing the nation.

As Korea began hosting international football games, Koreans began using Taegukki in a more liberal way, incorporating it into clothing designs and even in body painting.

The name Taegukki is derived from the center circle named “Taeguk”. The circle is divided equally and in perfect balance with the red upper section representing the yang (+) and the blue lower section standing for yin (-).

According to the traditional oriental philosophies, the two symbolize great cosmic forces, which oppose each other but can achieve perfect harmony and balance.

The circle stands for the eternal principle that everything in the universe is created and develops through interaction between yin and yang, thus symbolizing creation and development.

The four trigrams surrounding the circle denote the process of yin and yang going through a spiral of change and growth.

The three unbroken lines at the upper left represent heaven (dubbed khun), the three broken lines at the lower right represent earth (dubbed kon), the two broken lines with an unbroken line in the middle at the upper right mean water (dubbed kam), and the two unbroken lines with a broken line in the middle at the lower left mean fire (dubbed yi).

The white background of the flag represents the purity of the Korean people and their peace-loving spirit. The flas as a whole is symbolic of the ideal of the Korean people to develop with the universe forever.

I hope you like the info. I am glad if I can bring some of the things I learn here home to my friends. I mean Korea is really one of those countries Germans or any other people don't know too much about. Me neither so far. I am learning about new things every day.

Cultural things and other interesting information:

Internet:
When I was in Spain (I am sorry I have to say this) I thought that people lived behind the moon concerning internet. You can be lucky if you find an internet shop. And if you find one they very often only supply a really slow connection. Luckily I had wireless, but this is definitely not the standard. Here in Korea this is totally the opposite. Almost every house here has a connection, but not ISDL like still a lot of people in Germany (like my parents... please get DSL, so you don't have to wait half an hour to look at one of my pictures!!). But, normal DSL is often even not enough. Here they don't have 768 kbit like in Germany, but 3 mbit. Also the service is very good. Daniel said, they called in the morning around nine and got the connection at 11.30 midday. This is service... dear T-Online team...!!

Opening an account:
I just remember in Germany, you go to the bank, have to fill out a form, get your card maybe (if you are lucky) one week later and your password for the card (if you are again lucky) maybe another week later. Here, you go to the bank, they fill out the form for you, you immediately get your card and can even chose your password yourself and can use your card immediately.

Immigration office:
Although for me it took longer, because I went there with two girls, who had some problems, due to weird, but "special" visas or no visas at all. If I would have been there by myself I'm sure it would only have taken me like half an hour, although there were like 100 people waiting... but with 5 counters, this is not much of a problem. I don't even want to think of how it is for foreigners in a German immigration office...

--> Korea is a better place to live than the USA. Maybe not because of the air in the summer, but definitely for the uncomplicated way of treating things and the way of living. People here, althouhg of course they have other problems, due to some cultural aspects, will have an easier life with less problems to worry about all day long. Bureaucracy is very uncomplicated.

Well, I thought, the last few posts were pretty harsh on the Korean culture, so now I wanted to give you just a few very positive aspects out of many more in Korean life.

News from Mel

2005-08-21T10:38:00.000+02:00

Actually so far today nothing has happened. I got up at 2 pm and since then I haven't done anything, except for lying around, listening to Juanes, checking mails and talking to my parents. They call me here a lot more often than in Spain. Calling is so cheap, 2 cents per min. It's weird, but here I feel a lot closer to home than in Spain, although this world here is so much more different.
Tonight I will go out to eat at seven with Robert. I'm glad I know somebody outside my apartment. I don't always want to wait for my roommates to have time to do something. They are mostly busy writing diploma or just prefer staying at home. Well today the girls went to see a movie, in korean. So that's nothing for me. I really would like to learn the language, but without a real course I think that's impossible. I am already glad when I can remember food names, numbers, letters or areas of Seoul. This is already difficult enough for me. It's pretty frustrating, when I remember not having had any problems learning Spanish and now I feel like I'm a language idiot. Well, it's just too different from all the languages I've learned bevore.
Today I want to see the area in the south of Seoul, close to Apujeong. I have been there once, but haven't really seen too much. Seoul is just too big. I want to see everything. I really don't have to go anywhere else in Korea, because I think Seoul is big enough for half a year. And anyway I have already seen Busan, so I don't necessaryly have to go there again. But Yujin told me I could visit her parents. Well, I'll see if I have enough time and money.

Cultural thing: (in order to not forget my Spanish and make it possible for non english speaking friends to also get some info, I will translate this into Spanish)

Dogs: A "stereotype" all around the world is, that Koreans eat dogs. Well, it is true, but not really a lot of people eat it. Usually it's only older men, but also not all of them. It's also pretty expensive. At the beginning I thought, since it is a cultural thing, I also want to try it, just to know how it is. But now, since really nobody eats it, I won't try it I think. Well, here in Seoul nobody has a dog really. If they do, they have one of those "rats". I have seen some Americans in my area with "real" dogs, but that's an exception.

Perros: Un stereotypo en todo el mundo es que los Coreanos comen perros. Es verdad, pero realmente no mucha gente lo come. Normalmente solo algunos viejos hombres lo comen a veces. Tambien es bastante caro. Al principio pensaba, que voy a probarlo, pero ahora he cambiado opinion. No creo que voy a probarlo. Aqui, en Seoul (12 milliones de habitantes) nadie tiene perros, solo esos "ratas" pequenos. Algunos Americanos de mi barrio tienen perros mas grandes, pero eso es una excepcion.

Hunde: Ein Vorurteil, das auf der ganzen Welt existiert ist, dass Koreaner Hunde essen. Das stimmt auch, aber eigentlich kaum jemand ausser einigen älteren Männern. Es ist ja auch nicht gerade billig. Am Anfang hab ich mir vorgenommen es auch zu probieren um mitreden zu können, aber da es ja eh keiner isst, warum sollt ich es dann probieren... In Seoul hat eigentlich fast keiner einen Hund, wenn dann nur diese kleinen Ratten. Ein paar Amis in meiner Gegend haben größere Hunde, aber das ist ne Ausnahme.

Well, translating it in two more languages takes a while. I am not sure if I will do this every time...
OK, I think I slowly will get ready to go out.

Seoul's cultural life

2005-08-20T19:40:00.000+02:00

It's really difficult to post every day. Right now it's already almost three o'clock sunday morning... well in Germany it's still saturday.
Today, I got up at five o'clock in the afternoon. The reason for sleeping all day, is again the same as it already was in Madrid. I was out Friday night and came home at six thirty in the morning. It was a really nice night. I went out me, Robert, his friend
with two Korean friends. First we just went in a bar and drank a beer. Then we went to the Lime Light, our disco here in Itaewon (my area) and finally, at five o'clock in the morning we went to Norebang (Karaoke) and sang, as far as this was possible in our state... When we left the Norebang it was already light, and it reminded me a lot of my days in Madrid... I miss Madrid.
Well, but today, I also had a really nice day. So right after I got up, we went to the city to meet a Korean girl, we had met once before. She invited us out to eat in a reallyexpensive and good restaurant. On the picture you can see traditional Korean food. It is typical, that's it's being served in these small plates and everybody just uses his chop sticks to grab it. I really love it. After dinner (for me lunch) we had to cross the whole city to go to a theater near the city hall and watch a Korean traditional dance performance. It included dancing, percussion and singing. It was really great and I'm glad I went. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures during the perfomance. Josephina, Tschongi, me, Christoph
Finally we went to a "Hof" (name used for restaurantlike bars), were you can drink bear and eat small side dishes. We talked a lot about German and Korean culture with the girl, Josephina (her English name... every Korean has an English name to make it easier for foreigners to remember them). She for example told me, that Korean girls live with their parents until they get married. She is 32 and still lives at home. She also still has to be home at twelve. Crazy, isn't it? For boys this is totally different. Robert, a friend, he can be home whenever he wants to, but he also lives with his parents until he gets married. Although Korea is already also very much influenced by western cultures (compared to five years ago), people very much stick to their basic rules, which in my opinion is good. The obedient behavior of younger people (even among friends) towards older people is just one example. There are soo many things, it would take me a day to write them down. I think it is very interesting. Of course, for foreigners this is not necessary, but I still try to follow their rules.

OK, finally some more or less interesting remarks.

Toilets: a little bit disgusting... in bars and discothecs on the toilet doors they always write, that you should not throw the toiletpaper into the toilet. First I couldn't believe it, but it's really true.

Drinking alcohol: there are many rules for drinking alcohol. The younger person has to pure the alcohol in the older persons' glasses. The younger person has to turn away when drinking. You have to use both hands when holding the bottle or pitcher.

Paying: When buying something in a store, the clerk will give you the change with both hands. Anyway, holding things with both hands is very common. It shows politeness.

OK, enough, I have to sleep.

Good morning

2005-08-19T02:12:00.000+02:00

So, wieder in der Arbeit... zum Glück bin ich heute nicht so müde, wie zwei andere, die ich jetzt nicht nennen will... (naja, wenn man bis morgens quatscht, kein Wunder). Man ist halt immer so alt, wie man sich fühlt. Vielleicht unterschätzt man das Gefühl manchmal und ist doch älter als man denkt. Bin ich froh, dass ich erst 21 bin. :-)
Waren gestern Abend gut koreanisch Essen, dann im Helios (Bar), wo wiedermal Ladies` night war (koreanische Prostituierte und amerikanische Opis) und sind danach noch mit dem John, weil es sein letzter Abend in Korea war zu Norebang (Karaoke) gegangen. War ein sehr schöner Abend, aber hat wieder einmal, wie so oft in letzter Zeit mit einem Abschied geendet. Ist zwar wunderschön die Welt zu bereisen und ständig an neuen Orten zu sein, aber so schön es auch ist neue Freunde zu finden, so schlimm ist es diese dann wieder gehen zu lassen. Zum Glück hab ich immer noch ziemlich guten Kontakt zu Freunden aus Spanien. Deshalb muss ich jetzt mal anfangen hier in Englisch zu posten, so dass es mehr Leute verstehen. Bis jetzt war ich noch zu faul.
Ich hab mir vorgenommen, hier immer ein paar Dinge festzuhalten, die mir hier in Korea besonders auffallen.

Treppen: ...warum müssen Koreaner unbedingt rechts runter und links hoch gehn? Anfangs musste ich mich immer mit einer mir entgegenströmenden Horde Koreanern konfrontieren. Aber auf der Rolltreppe stehen sie doch auch rechts und gehen links... Ich checks nicht.

Autos: REGEL- große, schwarze, ausländische Autos sind die Kings of the road. Gut, dass es hier eigentlich sowieso nur schwarze oder graue Autos gibt... Fußgänger haben sowieso nichts zu melden. Die werden einfach umgefahren. Wehe es läuft noch bei hellrot einer über die Straße...manchmal kommts mir so vor: den pack ich auch noch! Gibt ja jeden Tag in Korea ca. 160 Verkehrstote. (Kein Wunder)

Unfall: Ich bete jeden Tag zu Gott, dass ich niemals in nen Unfall hier verwickelt werde. Damit ist dein Schicksal sowieso besiegelt. Kein Arsch kümmert sich hier um Krankenwägen mit Sirene. Bis die an nem Unfall angekommen sind, ist`s sowieso zu spät. Und bevor die Feuerwehr an nem Brand ankommt, muss man in den Rauchschwaden, die sich über den ganzen Stadtteil ausbreiten, erstmal ersticken. Aber das interessiert die Koreaner auch nicht. Luft bekommt man sowieso immer schlecht. Ein bißchen mehr Rauch zum Smog dazu macht auch keinen großen Unterschied mehr. (Seoul ist die Stadt mit dem meisten Smog weltweit, sogar vor Mexico City)

So, will ja nicht gleich alle Erkenntnisse preisgeben. Bald kommt mehr.

Donnerstag, 18. August 2005

2005-08-18T10:07:00.000+02:00

So, hier mein erster Eintrag.

Sitze gerade wie nun schon jeden Tag seit drei Wochen in der Arbeit. Nun sieht das natürlich so aus als hätt ich nichts zu tun... hm, hätt ich schon... die Übersetzung nervt ( kann mir jemand sagen was tube fittings, pipe fittings oder catalyst support balls sind?) Sowas steht in Firmenbeschreibungen drin, die grammatikalisch so grauenhaft sind, dass ich teilweise echt raten muss, was gemeint sein könnte.

Ansonsten war der Tag eher wechselhaft bis stürmisch. Konnte mein Glück kaum fassen als sich herausstellte, dass ich Marketing geschafft hab (sogar ziemlich gut) und auch in Economics abgesahnt habe. Dieses Freudengefühl wurde jedoch durch schlechte Neuigkeiten getrübt, über die ich aber noch nicht reden kann...

Heut Abend wird aber trotzdem weggegangen. Müssen uns von nem leider erst vor kurzem neugewonnenen Freund wieder trennen, der sich wieder nach Ohio haut. Verständlicherweise würde er lieber hier im saucoolen Seoul bleiben. Der Arme. Naja, auf jeden Fall werden wir heute abend nochmal mit ihm weggehn, wenn auch nicht allzu lange. Hab ja auch kein Geld... Zum Glück ist im Notfall wiedermal, wie fast jeden Abend, Ladies` night.

So, aber schön langsam bekomm ich ein schlechtes Gewissen. Sollt vielleicht doch wieder was arbeiten.

Ist ja sowieso bald Feierabend.