The Gang's All Here

Our whole house was in a state of disarray last night as we readied for family pictures. It's a bi-annual event that involves agonizing over the color scheme of the photo, and then getting everyone on the same page, with extra points for fitting pants. This year's smack down was over what shade of red -- fire engine or cranberry -- we were going to wear. Mom won and everything turned out well, despite some last-minute scrambling and shirt swapping. The session inevitably had us getting (very) cosy in the small studio and staying until the Berkshire mall closed (also a tradition). Here are two of my favorites. Until 2012, here's the Patches gang. .

Paris

OK, let's summarize my life right now.

A year and a half ago, after graduating from Biola University with a degree in journalism, I finished up an internship and headed east to South Korea. I taught English outside of Seoul and had the time of my life living abroad, eating exotic food and meeting incredible people.

I planned to move to Mexico for six months with my best friend, but things took a turn when I got an e-mail from some long lost relatives living in Paris. Right around the time the third baby will arrive, they're moving back to the States and offered to pay for my ticket out to help them out for a few months. After thinking about it, rolling a dice and consulting bird signs, I decided I couldn't turn down a free trip to Europe. So I'm going for 4.5 months, come mid-February, to the country of style and fashion. Continuing my love affair with beautiful churches, I'm intensely anticipating seeing Notre Dame and soaking in as much European architecture as possible. This prolongs my longterm job hunt -- again -- but to all you people working the 9-5 grind, I say, "See ya, suckas!"

The Cambodian Girls + 1

I haven't decided whether the rewards of traveling alone outweigh traveling with friends. One one hand, there's safety in numbers and it's cheaper to split a $7 room.

Then again, the benefits of flying solo are unending when it comes to meeting local people, a utopic dream I think every good traveler has.

I was taking it easy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and decided to give the see-ya salute to the flocks of tuk-tuk drivers on every corner and instead scout out the city on foot. My first stop, the National Museum, was right around the corner from my guest house. What's usually an annoying hiccup of traveling alone -- asking someone to take a picture for me -- turned out to be the ticket to one of the best days I've had in this country. I ended up hanging out with two awesome Khmer college students for the whole day after I asked them to snap a quick photo.

I like to think the adventure began when all three of us squeezed onto Than's little moto and whizzed over to a tiny vegetarian place for a delicious $1.25 lunch -- cheaper because it wasn't for tourists. Then it continued as we wove through craaazy traffic to the Russian market, which is pretty much exactly like other markets, except it has a more interesting name. It was there that I learned that Cambodians love their sugarcane. Glasses of freshly crushed cane juice and chunks of tender, dripping cane can be picked up for a quarter.

But how do you eat sugarcane?

Yeah, I thought you swallow it, too. The more I chewed, the more the juice was gone, the more it felt like I was chomping on, you know, wood. Probably because I was. I followed Than's cue and spit it back out before quickly going for the next bite.

Hoeun left for an appointment, so Than and I continued our grand tour around the city as we headed toward the Royal Palace. Right in the throbbing heart of downtown, surrounded by a French colonial wall, the immaculate gardens, pagodas, halls and art are magnets for nomad backpackers, tour groups and locals. I could have sat around the beautiful gardens and halls all day, gazing at the detailed architecture.

Wat Phnom was next, the pagoda the founding lady of the city erected on a hillside park, which coincidentally is covered with...MONKEYS! Monkeys are fun to watch -- from distance. They are known to be heartless when angry and I believe it. One guy almost got a close up view of some razor-sharp incisors when he offered up a piece of gum two inches from a monkey's face.

I got another taste of life as a local when the girls got me onto this river cruise past downtown Phnom Penh for a non-tourist price. I was the only white person on board and liked it that way. I'll never forget the generosity and warmth of these two Cambodian women. As unlikely as it is that I'll see them again, if there's one thing I've learned this year, it's that the world is small, so maybe, just maybe I'll get to return the favor of hospitality.

Baseball: As Korean as Kimchi

From the fond memoirs of father-son trips to Wrigley Park, to the black and white footage of Babe Ruth waddling 'round the bases, it's always been a given: baseball is the American sport.

But the truth is, the baseball cards are getting dusty in the attic and attendance in stadiums around the country are free-falling. Not so in Korea. The most popular sport is celebrated in a very American way, with beer, popcorn and warring fan cheers.

I can't tell you the first thing about baseball, but when my friend Raeann invited me to a game pitting the LG Twins against the SK Wynverns, there was no refusing.

When I left my apartment, it was 2:30 on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I was happy, even stuffed like a sardine on the subway, in a moshpit-like tangle of people. Some say that if you look at the contents of a woman's purse you can tell a lot about her life, but I'd say the same is true of Seoul's subway system. But I wasn't thinking about the beauty of diversity when I got off at the wrong station, nor was I thinking about how great Seoul's public transportation is while I waited for the next express train -- for 20 minutes. It wasn't like I was going off the beaten path in some rural adventure. I just sucked at decision making that day. I would have sprinted up the stairs to meet Raeann and her Korean friend, Jeong, if the boiling ocean of people had let me. But there we finally were, 2 hours later, beside the 2002 Olympic Sports Complex, about to see two amazing teams go head to head. And I was happy. Within minutes of settling into our seats by first base, I started to inspect the people around us. The atmosphere was a throwback to what I imagine American baseball games were like in its heyday. The stadium was packed with young families and couples, everyone intent on the game. Cute moms in baseball hats carried jersied babies and a father held his son's hand as they screamed the cheers in unison. The cheers were a big reason why I couldn't stop thinking about the U.S. In the tradition of the Asian stance on copyright, songs like "It's a Small World" Eminem's "Without Me" and Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You" were hijacked with team slogans. Yeah. Let me tell you, I had way more fun slaughtering Korean lyrics as I stood shoulder to shoulder with LG Twins fans than at any American sports game I've been to. So whether American baseball is really dying, I don't know, but be assured that the game lives on in Korea.

The details of the contest that night are a blur, but I came away knowing we lost, the caramel popcorn was mind-blowing and we were way better at cheering than the other team.

Cutesy in Review: Couple Tees

Seoul hasn't been short on "cutesy" fashion since cell phone charms and Hello Kitty. The couple tee trend, however, pushes style to a sickening level.
The question everyone has when they see sweethearts in couple tees, is ...really? Of course. How else would attractive young couples declare their togetherness? As the name suggests, affectionate lovers sport shirts with just one slight difference: one has a boy teddy bear, the other a girl teddy. Just to keep things straight.

I met this cute couple in their matching tee get-up on a leisurely tour of Gyeongbukgung Palace downtown. They had clearly answered the, "Do I like you that much?" question and assumed that everything else would fall into place. I was so delighted to see them that I forgot to take a picture of the teddy bear. Not every couple tee has teddies -- some have Mickey and Minnie mouse, some are more sports jersey-like, but the bears get my vote for their brand of cutesy cheese, hands down.

Apgujeong Bowling

"If anyone told me I'd break one hundred, I'd have told them they're crazy," I said, standing on the slippery bowling lane in my retro blue and red shoes.

Hiddens in the maze of Apgujeong's streets, in the basement of a hotel, is a small, ill-functioning bowling alley where about 100 people from New Harvest Ministries met for a night of fun and backslapping. Ages ranged from 18 to 40-somethings, but the skill level was the same -- terrible. I've noticed that Koreans view leisurely fitness time as a debit against their studying hours, so I shouldn't have been surprised that the high score of the night was about 160.

It's bowling with the people in my Bible study that makes it fun -- the crazy faces, ball wars, smack talk and one-upping each other with new tossing styles. With all that, I did, in fact, manage to break one hundred, but can I do it again? You're probably crazy.

Buddha's Birthday: Christmas in Asia

No one could possibly feel alone. I flew solo at Seoul's Lotus Lantern Festival parade this weekend, but there were no strangers in the tens of thousands of people who marched to illuminate Jong-ro in South Korea's capital.
It's Christmas in Asia. Seoul, an ancient city of stark contrasts, celebrates Buddha's birthday (May 21) this week. Buddhists from around Asia congregated for the long-standing tradition. Monks from every corner of the city took turns pouring holy water over the baby Buddha, a ceremony I found almost as interesting as these friendly folks I met at the pre-parade pep-rally.

Seoul's vibrant mash-up of tradition and modernity has slayed me, but seeing the strength of a futile practice was disheartening. As ornate and stunningly beautiful as the festival was, my front-row view of the procession of souls past Dongdaemun's ancient gate was far more interesting.

Forever 21 Takes a Bow

At first I was embarrassed when I went to Seoul's Myeongdong shopping district for some jeans (I can't find them anywhere) and was met with this Korean greeting. About 30 people were looking at me as I went in with my gigantic backpack. Soon my American egocentrism took over, however, and I embraced the strange marketing technique. This is what everyone does here....all the time.

My new hero, Steve McCurry

My new journalism hero is Steve McCurry. I think he gives personality and dignity to people in difficult situations: war, floods, insurmountable poverty and cultural castes. Many have described his photo of the Afghan girl as the most recognizable photo in the world. I was ridiculously excited to see her in McCurry's stunning Seoul exhibit for myself.

I don't like pitying human misery, I like cheering for the survivor. Maybe McCurry avoids condescension
because he's almost a survivor himself. His career started when he crossed the Pakistan border into Afghanistan, dressed in native garb right before the Russian invasion and came out with rolls of film sewed into his clothing.

I like his quotation on National Geographic's Web site. "If you wait, people will forget your camera and the soul will drift up into view." God, help me to be patient.

Cherry Blossom Season!

On a recent, leisurely Saturday afternoon, spring suddenly arrived.

Granted, I'd have preferred her late entrance to be a bit more flamboyant, but I was still happy to congregate in Yeouido with four girlfriends.

I've been not-so-patiently anticipating warmer weather since, um, February, so the sight of flowers, the Han river and tandem bikes resolved my spring fever.

Yeouido's cherry blossom festival is where Seoul's couples flock to take pictures under the canopy of blossoms on the three-lined street leading to the river. In Korea, girls with blossoms in their hair symbolize craziness, a rumor we all confirmed this weekend. Spring is here and I couldn't be happier (see balloon).

My Chingu Janelle

For many teachers abroad, the six-month mark is a time of emotional vomit. Miscommunication isn't funny anymore, the food is weird and people still haven't realized that you have a space bubble ("You didn't see me standing here or do you think you can walk through people?").

Yes, it was an emotional time, mostly because I miss people back home and I'm already dreading my goodbye with my wonderful friends here. But my fears of goodbyes were shelved with my occupation of a big HELLO to Janelle Jenison, a treasured friend (chingu), who's come to teach English, too!


Besides being a remarkable harmonica player, Janelle is a proud member of the Decadox, the house we lived in with 10 girls our senior year at Biola in California. I'm so excited about her being here and all the memories we'll make in Asia together. Welcome to Korea, Janelle!

Spotted: First iPad in Korea

It's refined, sleek and chic. It's also the talk of the tech world, for both dubious critics and drooling early adopters. It's a genius (cameraless) cross between a laptop and iPhone, but will people really buy the iPad? This guy did and he claims to be the first iPad user in Korea! I ran into him with my Korean journalist friend, Jenn, in a coffee shop in downtown Seoul. She recognized him from an interview she did for her paper, Chosun, about the iPad. The UC Irvine econ student got it just two or three days after the April 3 American release date, and let us hold it and make a scene checking it out. Whether he's really the first Korean with an iPad is up for debate, but I liked how online articles looked on the shiny touchscreen.

Ondol Motel

In Korea, ondol-style heated floors has become a luxury I've thoroughly enjoyed. The Bronze Age tradition started in North Korea and continues now in restaurants, my apartment and motel rooms like the one I shared with my friend Carol on our Gyeongju trip. Many Koreans still sleep and eat on the floor, so it makes perfect sense that it's heated. (Gas or electric heat replace firewood, rice patty straw and dung for heat fuel now)

Carol and I lucked out, as this room is designed for four people. As you can see, it's pretty low maintenance for the motel owners, as we just spread out our provided bedding on the floor as needed.

Homemade Tofu

One of the pleasant surprises of my Gyeongju trip was discovering this man making a tub of tofu. My friends and I found him in a room adjacent to a small Korean eatery along our bike route. A stop for lunch also gave us a peek into the warm steamy room where the magic happens. The sweet smell and white color of the soymilk reminded me of a milkroom, set off a Pennsylvania dairy barn, back home. Tofu is made by coagulating soymilk with salts like calcium sulphate or magnesium chloride, at least that's what do-it-yourself sites say, as this gentleman didn't speak English.

Gyeongju Bike Trip

I went south -- to Gyeongju, Korea's ancient seat of government -- in search of adventure, history and cherry blossoms. All was accomplished except the later, which was replaced with an unmistakably saddle-sore bum that only 10 hours on a bike can award. The 4.5-hour bus ride to the coastal city gifted my friends and me with blue skies, sunshine and open space, a welcome antithesis from Seoul's gray, crowded streets. We threaded through Gyeongu's rural neighborhoods and rice fields, enjoying the Easter weekend and company. I didn't realize how much I missed the smell of fresh earth and cow dung until we found some farms, too.

Gyeongju means, "congratulatory district" and is one of the biggest tourism sites in South Korea with several UNESCO heritage sites. In the Silla and Unified Silla periods, the city was the center of court and cultural life through the end of the ninth century. After that time, the area was pounded multiple times by the Mongols and Japanese -- but that's the basic idea of all Korean history.

Below us in front of a famous astronomy tower.

Girls Generation in Gangnam

The group of friends was split into two camps. One turned up its nose at celebrities and one was ridiculously excited at the sighting of pop group Girls Generation in Gangnam. Gangnam is an upper-class district in Seoul with a surplus of nightclubs, restaurants and plastic surgery clinics. It's also where an American breakfast joint called Butterfingers Pancake House is -- and where Girls Generation was spotted.

First, some background. Girls Generation is a popular music group that won the Artist of the Year Award last year. Don't ask me why it's singular, because there are freakin' nine of them. I really don't know much more than I did when I joined the group running toward the pancake house. A crowd stood outside, looking at the second story window and silhouettes of microphones for a TV interview. A few brave (obsessed) souls went inside to "go to the bathroom" and got to see them -- one guy even said a girl looked straight into his eyes.

After about an hour of waiting, my friends and I were the only ones left in the frigid cold when suddenly, all the girls dashed out of the restaurant and hopped into a monster of a black van that was waiting for them. I managed to get ONE clear (not really) shot. And there you have it.

Simon and his Tat

I don't have the pleasure of knowing Simon well, but when I see him, I laugh.

He's a lion in everything but teeth. A largish group of 15 single girls has formed in the southern Seoul district, and Simon fancies himself the leader of the pride. While the estrogen flies thick, Simon manages to counterbalance it all with doing things like farting potently, growing a shaggy beard (mane) and getting huge, impulsive tattoos. His soft side, however, comes through in some of the best original music and poems I've ever heard.

Simon showed us the latest installment on his back and we were all happy to see things like butterflies and caterpillars in his gigantic buffalo tat and hear him moan about the pain in a low, endearing roar.

Kissing Pens: You Know You're Studious When...

Today I was given the Korean equivalent of a BFF necklace: kissing magnetic face pens! Three 6th grade girls decided to visit me every day during their lunch break to hang out and speak English. Hellen, who frequently tells me she loves me, wants to be an English teacher when she grows up and reads her English textbook in her free time. Hellen will keep one pen and I'll keep the other -- in a very safe place for a long time.

Gifts and days like these are what teachers live for.

Raspberry Secrets

Euno leaned forward, eyebrows raised, and asked, "Do you know the Korean story
about these berries?"
I glanced down at the tiny bottle in my
hands and shook my head, ready
for something good. The story goes something
like this:

A long time ago, an old man of 70 went into the woods and ate a
lot of mountain berries. When he emerged, he immediately fathered a baby.

There's a little more to the story that I won't publish, but according
to my coworkers, raspberry products are still consumed for sexual stamina
and fertility. Is that why there are hearts on the bottle? Possibly, but you never
know in Korea -- hearts whimsically show up in the strangest places here.

Lucy's Cool SBS Job

Meet Lucy, one of my cool Korean friends with a cool Korean job.

This fashionista was awesome enough to give me a tour of her territory in the SBS broadcast building in Mok-dong. Her job? She designs outfits for the broadcast anchors. Some get stripes, some get special colors, all get a look to keep the news fresh. This means she has to constantly watch the anchors to make sure a tie isn't crooked or a blouse creased. If they are, she runs down on set and fixes it in a commercial break.
As a journalism grad, I was thrilled to be back in a newsroom (I even got to meet an anchor) and also happy to see Lucy's workspace to be the perfect den of activity. Check out all those clothes. Every week, a driver takes her to scout out the new fashions at major designers. As a 24-year-old girl in a city as fashion-conscious as Seoul, she's gotta be good. Congrats, girl. Here's hoping you can accompany the reporters to the World Cup this summer.

Yu-Na Kim: Korea's Favorite Girl

A short walk down Gangnam's main drag in Seoul guarantees multiple poster sightings of South Korea's biggest celebrity: Yu-Na Kim. In anticipation of her expected Olympic gold medal victory, I went to the nearest Smoothie King and got a "Be White" smoothie. It was great, electrolyte flavor and all, although I'm not sure the title would go over well in the States.

Korea has good reason to be proud of their 19-year-old miracle. She's sweet, beautiful, talented and just a little bit sassy -- and she's slayed every possible competitor in the past several years -- except that one time with Japanese arch-rival, Mao Asada. The whole country is biting their nails for the golden girl, and with all the hype, I'm starting to feel nervously sick for her. Yeah, she's made a killing by promoting everything from cell phones to banks to tissues, but the weight of pressure in a perfectionist culture like Korea's is tremendous.

How will the country react if she loses? I don't want to find out.

In the meantime, I'll sing along to her grocery store commercial and be proud to be in Korea for the momentous moment. Yay Yu-Na Kim! C'mon, girl!

Mysterious English Machine

Strategically stationed outside my "English Zone" classroom, is what everyone calls, "The English Machine." Similar to one of those motion-detecting singing reindeer your grandma has, it speaks English every time someone walks by.

It's an expensive investment for the school, so Mr. Min, my co-teacher, was recently working himself into a frenzy trying to figure out why it kept shutting off. Yesterday, we were getting lunch, when some 4th-grade students rushed into the room yelling and pointing toward the hallway. At first I was worried when Mr. Min bellowed and jumped into action, charging out of the classroom toward the English Machine. He returned somewhat amused, but mostly miffed at the elusivity of a special needs student. After a lesson about electric conservation, the little guy decided that turning off the English Machine would be his personal contribution to saving the planet.

Seodaemun Prison

It's no news that there's bad blood between Koreans and Japanese. After my visit to Seodaemun Prison, I understand why. The 35-year Japanese colonization is referred to as a hellish period where Koreans were given new Japanese names, forbidden to speak the Korean language or teach Korean history. Schools were closed and a brutal, iron fist governed the small country until the end of WWII.

But before that, a 17-year-old girl named Yu Gwan-sun tried to create a wave of change by organizing a 2,000-person demonstration with the mantra, "Long live Korean independence!" For her efforts, she was sentenced to seven years in Seodaemun prison where she died in 1920 from torture. Now she is remembered on the anniversary of the demonstration, March 1, Korean Independence Day.

I'd always heard about how the Japanese were infamous for creating torture methods, and at the prison I saw the proof. The prison was a mini-concentration camp that packed so many prisoners into cells that they had to sleep in shifts for lack of room. Beatings, sexual torture, hangings and starvation were regular punishments for independence activists. They may have beat the Gulf Coast to electrocution and definitely the rest of the world to the "nail under the fingernail" technique. Also, there's the kind where prisoners sit in a box full of sharp spikes and guards kick the box around. Below I'm standing by a secret tunnel in the back of the prison where Japanese guards passed out bodies of dead prisoners to avoid public scrutiny of the number killed.