Poo, Pusan and Pronunciation...
Hello All
I spent 2 hours this morning hooked up to a drip in the Doctor's office. It is official, I have 'Traveller's Disease' which the doctor claimed that he could cure me of. I imagined that he would be bringing out some powder to cure my 'itchy feet' or a large map of England with a big arrow marked HOME pointing firmly towards Felixstowe. But it was more straightforward than that. I just have the same stomach cramps, runs, vomiting and loss of appetite that most travellers get at some stage - usually around the point at which the body realises that it is not on holiday so it should sit down and have a good long hard think about the situation and adjust itself accordingly. I have always joked about wanting to get a tropical disease which would help me shift some of this weight without the actual effort of dieting and exercise but this last week has been no fun at all on the health front, let me tell you!
It all started on Wednesday, around lunchtime, fortunately it was just after my water supply had returned from its 36 hour sojourn to god knows where. On Wednesday I only have three classes so that was easy enough to make it through. But I went over to some friends' houses after school and made short work of making their bathrooms as uninhabitable as mine was before leaving early and claiming sickness as my excuse. Thursday was more of a trial but I have at least found the pedestal toilets at work, which made my life slightly more comfortable. Though I did end up finishing two of my classes five minutes early and the kids noticed and asked why. I hadn't got time to explain and just shooed them out of the classroom and pelted it down the corridor to the jacks. Thursday evening was a fun-filled evening of soju, beer and nori bang- interspersed with trips to the bathroom. Friday I caught a train to Pusan with three friends. Seven and a half hours later we arrived, pale and shaky. What kind of sadist comes up with the idea of putting squat toilets on moving vehicles anyway??? As if using the loo on the train isn't already fraught with enough dangers you also risk weeing all down your leg at the merest judder on the tracks. Anyway, I digress, our hotel couldn't have been more perfect- fifth floor room with balcony overlooking the beach, the sound of the ocean coming in through the window, beautiful bathroom complete with shampoo, soap and towels, clean bed and soft porn on the TV - bliss!
The plan had been to arrive on Friday and then go out to a temple of the Saturday and go shopping on Sunday before catching the train back at 9.40 that night. But rain stopped play and so we just shopped the whole time. Top 3 purchases were: 1. an umbrella! 2. books for school - including the book that I remember as the first one that I learnt to read (The Gingerbread Man - run run as fast as you can!!) and 3. some Korean alphabet fridge magnets so that I can spell out rude words on my fridge in Korean (just as soon as I learn some!). Had a great time all in with no alcohol. And I finally got a photo of a dog with pink ears and tail and if it turns out OK I will get it scanned in and send it to you all! Also saw a collar and lead for a HAMSTER, 3 women selling puppies out of cardboard boxes on the street and beggars who lie on trolleys and push themselves along the street with one hand held out and a stereo blasting out, the fish market again and we went to the cinema- and we could see through the window so maybe it just is Mokpo where the witness protection scheme shields them!
I returned to Mokpo still sick and heavily laden down with new purchases and two new sentences in Korean- 'I am not a doctor' and 'This is not Pusan'. Both of which will just lend themselves to the air of mystery that I try to surround myself with:
Noisy stranger: 'So what do you do?'
Bilingual Helen: 'I am NOT a doctor!'
NS: 'Erm, I see. So do you live here?"
BH: 'This is not Pusan!'
NS:
The opportunities for using my new Korean knowledge are endless I am sure that you will agree! And I learnt a new word - the Korean for rain is Pee! Should be easy to remember. We did experience a bit of a language barrier in Pusan- and not because of our slightly obtuse sentences- but because we are learning to speak with Mokpo accents. Interestingly enough one of my students told me the other night that all people on Korean TV have Seoul accents. I asked if this bothered him (as it would and has in the past in the UK where regional accents are under represented on TV) and he said no as it was the accent that everyone could understand! But he did say that he got annoyed when the only Mokpo accent he hears on TV is that of gangsters - Mokpo is famous for its gangsters but more on that another time!
Back in Mokpo the weather has been shocking too. it has gotten cold again and the yellow dust from China is back. I was told this morning (by my Korean friend who took me to the doctor) that it comes from near Beijing and it is because they have cut down the trees over there creating a desert which flies over to Korean in the springtime and stays for two months in the spring. Apparently it only appeared around five years ago and have been haunting the Koreans and making them sick every Spring ever since. And the other big climate change here that again has only happened recently is the humidity in the summer. It used to just get hot but in the last two years and it has started to getting incredibly humid. Hum, something to look forward. That is Spring out because of the toxic dust from China, Summer for the humidity which leaves Autumn and Winter - have already had Winter so just have Autumn to look forward to I guess!
Have I told you about 'service' over here? I don't think that I have. It happens to me and a lot of my friends a lot. It is when the person in the shop slips a little something extra into your bag and says 'service'. It can be anything. My local shop gives me candy and rather dubious sausage things. The photo shop gives me coupons off reprints and World Cup photo frames. The pizza place has given us nasty looking angels and a kit aeroplane. A camping store in Pusan gave me a free bag because I made them laugh (thereby making it my first professional comedy engagement!). So we have kind of got used to service and it certainly seems the opposite of the stereotype of a local happily ripping off the clueless foreigners. And I got service in the doctor's today, which has to be my biggest score to date! And he gave me a discount. I think that this was because he kept coming in to talk English to me while I was on the drip. I heard the door open a few times when I was lying with my eyes shut but when they were open he came in and fiddled with the drip for a bit and chatted. He was very sweet and bought me some National Geographics to read - which my Korean friend ended up reading as I went to sleep! I think that maybe the doctor suggested the drip to keep me there for longer so he could practice his English. And now he wants to come drinking with us on Friday! Korea really is a funny old place at times but I do love it here!! Oh, the other thing about the doctors over here is the big packets of tablets that they prescribe you - I have two packets of five tablets to be taken a day and one lot with four pills in it. I don't know why there are so many but they always give you a combination apparently and I am trusting this guy (I have no choice but I do feel heaps better too!)
So rather than entertain you all with the comings and goings of my bowels during the last week (or singing you the rather 'clever' song I made up for my friends on the way home from the nori bang the other night- to the tune of 'These are a few of my favourite things') I shall leave you all there until next week!
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I spent 2 hours this morning hooked up to a drip in the Doctor's office. It is official, I have 'Traveller's Disease' which the doctor claimed that he could cure me of. I imagined that he would be bringing out some powder to cure my 'itchy feet' or a large map of England with a big arrow marked HOME pointing firmly towards Felixstowe. But it was more straightforward than that. I just have the same stomach cramps, runs, vomiting and loss of appetite that most travellers get at some stage - usually around the point at which the body realises that it is not on holiday so it should sit down and have a good long hard think about the situation and adjust itself accordingly. I have always joked about wanting to get a tropical disease which would help me shift some of this weight without the actual effort of dieting and exercise but this last week has been no fun at all on the health front, let me tell you!
It all started on Wednesday, around lunchtime, fortunately it was just after my water supply had returned from its 36 hour sojourn to god knows where. On Wednesday I only have three classes so that was easy enough to make it through. But I went over to some friends' houses after school and made short work of making their bathrooms as uninhabitable as mine was before leaving early and claiming sickness as my excuse. Thursday was more of a trial but I have at least found the pedestal toilets at work, which made my life slightly more comfortable. Though I did end up finishing two of my classes five minutes early and the kids noticed and asked why. I hadn't got time to explain and just shooed them out of the classroom and pelted it down the corridor to the jacks. Thursday evening was a fun-filled evening of soju, beer and nori bang- interspersed with trips to the bathroom. Friday I caught a train to Pusan with three friends. Seven and a half hours later we arrived, pale and shaky. What kind of sadist comes up with the idea of putting squat toilets on moving vehicles anyway??? As if using the loo on the train isn't already fraught with enough dangers you also risk weeing all down your leg at the merest judder on the tracks. Anyway, I digress, our hotel couldn't have been more perfect- fifth floor room with balcony overlooking the beach, the sound of the ocean coming in through the window, beautiful bathroom complete with shampoo, soap and towels, clean bed and soft porn on the TV - bliss!
The plan had been to arrive on Friday and then go out to a temple of the Saturday and go shopping on Sunday before catching the train back at 9.40 that night. But rain stopped play and so we just shopped the whole time. Top 3 purchases were: 1. an umbrella! 2. books for school - including the book that I remember as the first one that I learnt to read (The Gingerbread Man - run run as fast as you can!!) and 3. some Korean alphabet fridge magnets so that I can spell out rude words on my fridge in Korean (just as soon as I learn some!). Had a great time all in with no alcohol. And I finally got a photo of a dog with pink ears and tail and if it turns out OK I will get it scanned in and send it to you all! Also saw a collar and lead for a HAMSTER, 3 women selling puppies out of cardboard boxes on the street and beggars who lie on trolleys and push themselves along the street with one hand held out and a stereo blasting out, the fish market again and we went to the cinema- and we could see through the window so maybe it just is Mokpo where the witness protection scheme shields them!
I returned to Mokpo still sick and heavily laden down with new purchases and two new sentences in Korean- 'I am not a doctor' and 'This is not Pusan'. Both of which will just lend themselves to the air of mystery that I try to surround myself with:
Noisy stranger: 'So what do you do?'
Bilingual Helen: 'I am NOT a doctor!'
NS: 'Erm, I see. So do you live here?"
BH: 'This is not Pusan!'
NS:
The opportunities for using my new Korean knowledge are endless I am sure that you will agree! And I learnt a new word - the Korean for rain is Pee! Should be easy to remember. We did experience a bit of a language barrier in Pusan- and not because of our slightly obtuse sentences- but because we are learning to speak with Mokpo accents. Interestingly enough one of my students told me the other night that all people on Korean TV have Seoul accents. I asked if this bothered him (as it would and has in the past in the UK where regional accents are under represented on TV) and he said no as it was the accent that everyone could understand! But he did say that he got annoyed when the only Mokpo accent he hears on TV is that of gangsters - Mokpo is famous for its gangsters but more on that another time!
Back in Mokpo the weather has been shocking too. it has gotten cold again and the yellow dust from China is back. I was told this morning (by my Korean friend who took me to the doctor) that it comes from near Beijing and it is because they have cut down the trees over there creating a desert which flies over to Korean in the springtime and stays for two months in the spring. Apparently it only appeared around five years ago and have been haunting the Koreans and making them sick every Spring ever since. And the other big climate change here that again has only happened recently is the humidity in the summer. It used to just get hot but in the last two years and it has started to getting incredibly humid. Hum, something to look forward. That is Spring out because of the toxic dust from China, Summer for the humidity which leaves Autumn and Winter - have already had Winter so just have Autumn to look forward to I guess!
Have I told you about 'service' over here? I don't think that I have. It happens to me and a lot of my friends a lot. It is when the person in the shop slips a little something extra into your bag and says 'service'. It can be anything. My local shop gives me candy and rather dubious sausage things. The photo shop gives me coupons off reprints and World Cup photo frames. The pizza place has given us nasty looking angels and a kit aeroplane. A camping store in Pusan gave me a free bag because I made them laugh (thereby making it my first professional comedy engagement!). So we have kind of got used to service and it certainly seems the opposite of the stereotype of a local happily ripping off the clueless foreigners. And I got service in the doctor's today, which has to be my biggest score to date! And he gave me a discount. I think that this was because he kept coming in to talk English to me while I was on the drip. I heard the door open a few times when I was lying with my eyes shut but when they were open he came in and fiddled with the drip for a bit and chatted. He was very sweet and bought me some National Geographics to read - which my Korean friend ended up reading as I went to sleep! I think that maybe the doctor suggested the drip to keep me there for longer so he could practice his English. And now he wants to come drinking with us on Friday! Korea really is a funny old place at times but I do love it here!! Oh, the other thing about the doctors over here is the big packets of tablets that they prescribe you - I have two packets of five tablets to be taken a day and one lot with four pills in it. I don't know why there are so many but they always give you a combination apparently and I am trusting this guy (I have no choice but I do feel heaps better too!)
So rather than entertain you all with the comings and goings of my bowels during the last week (or singing you the rather 'clever' song I made up for my friends on the way home from the nori bang the other night- to the tune of 'These are a few of my favourite things') I shall leave you all there until next week!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
posted by Helen @ 3:59 PM
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