Crafty

Korea’s Incheon Airport (ICN) is a really nice airport. It’s huge – with lots of dining, shopping, and entertainment options. My favorite feature of the airport, however, is the Korea Traditional Cultural ExperienceCenter. The Culture Center has two locations in the airport. At both, you can look at Korean artifacts, see traditional musical performance, watch a reenactment of a royal parade, shop for fancy souvenirs, and make a craft.  

I always stop by to make a craft. I think they rotate every month or so. The crafts are free for foreigners too.  You just show one of the hanbok clad staff members your boarding pass (to verify that you have enough time to do the craft project) to get started. A staff member will then bring you your materials and set you up with directions on a tablet. I’m not very crafty and I can always follow the instructions easily. The crafts seem to be designed to take about 30 minutes. So, it’s a pleasant way to kill 30 minutes in the airport. Plus, you get a nice little souvenir to take home.

If you ever find yourself waiting around at Incheon Airport, find one of the Korea Traditional Cultural Experience Centers. You won’t regret it. 

One Location of the Korea Traditional Cultural Experience Center

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A Musical Performance

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Traditional Instruments on Display

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The Craft Area

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My Craft - It's a framed replica of a Korean Cabinet

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Jen in...Tokyo!

Hi,

I'm on vacation this week in Tokyo. Check back next week for a new blog post.

- Jen 

Garden at the Tokyo National Museum

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The Name Game

Korean and Western names are different. I’m aware of this but yesterday’s visit to the bank really emphasized the point. I went to the bank to open a new account. My old account is at a small bank that can’t easily wire money to the US. Since I often do this, I needed a more convenient bank.

Anyway, as the teller was setting up my bank account, she realized she couldn’t fit my name on my debit card. As she put it “The system allows 20 characters and spaces and your name has 23.” I told her to eliminate my middle name and she looked confused. This dilemma led to me explaining Western names to the teller.

Korean names, like Western names, have three parts to them. The difference is that they are much shorter and the first name is a double name while there is no middle name.  Also, the last name (family name) is first and the first name (given name) is last. For example, the president of Korea is Moon Jae-In. Moon is his last name and Jae-In is his first name. If he were in the US, his name would be Jae-In Moon.

To explain my name, I had to write down the teller’s name and then write my name under hers so she could see how the parts compared. This convinced her that it wasn’t really necessary for my middle name to go on my debit card.

Over the years, I’ve had debit cards with an interesting array of names. Some have had just my first name, some my first and middle name. One had my first and middle name but only the first two letters of my last name. Despite this, I never had a problem using the cards. Either no one noticed or they simply didn’t care.

Korean names and Western names are fairly similar. It’s just that Western names are often too long to fit properly in Korean systems. 

What's your name Korean name?

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The Late Dismissal

The other day, I walked by a high school and happened to see the kids coming out. Everything was normal except for one thing – it was 10 o’clock at night. Korean high school has a really long school day. The kids start between 8am and 9am but they don’t get out until at least 8pm. From what I understand, the start and end time vary by school but the school day ends up being 12 – 14 hours a day across the country. 

I read that the extra long day is caused by YAJA. This is an acronym for a Korean phrase and it’s the name of special self-study time that Korean high school students participate in. I watched a video on YouTube and, after they ate dinner at school, the kids went to a large room with little carrel desks to study for a few hours before they went home. 

Korean high school looks really intense. I once read that there’s a saying here that says something like “If you sleep more than four hours a night during high school, you’re not getting into a university.” I believe it. The competition is incredibly stiff. I was considered a good student in high school but I think in Korean high school, I’d have been considered mediocre.

The Kids Coming Out of School

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A video of the daily life of a Korean high school student

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Product Review: Acne Patches

Korean skincare products are great. Whatever issue you have, there’s a cool product to help. As a result, Korean people tend to have really nice skin. Since living here, I’ve become quite a fan of the skincare products. Thankfully, it’s easy to find cheap, high quality products. Otherwise, I’d be broke.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that one of my middle school students had these teeny, tiny bandage squares on her face. I thought maybe she’d had moles removed or a biopsy done. It turned out that these were acne patches.

While buy contacts lens solution, I came across a box of acne patches and decided to give them a try. Unfortunately, I had a pimple on my chin that just wasn’t responding to my usual treatments so I needed something new. I’m happy to say that the acne patches work!

Now, the patches aren’t a miracle cure. I wore mine overnight and I still had the pimple in the morning but it was better. The redness was still there but the inflammation was gone. I’ll take a flat red spot over an inflamed, swollen red spot any day.

I did a quick Google search and found this article about acne patches. It looks like some patches are designed to deliver medication and some are designed to reduce the inflammation. I assume I got the nonmedicated inflammation kind but, since the box is in Korean, I can’t be sure.

Acne patches are a useful product. I wouldn’t recommend wearing them out like my student did because they are pretty obvious and somewhat medicinal looking but they can definitely help with a pimple. 

This same brand is available on the Walgreens website. 

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I think this picture series means the patches will reduce the swelling.

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The patches come in two sizes.

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Dessert, Korea Style

Korea has one dessert that is unlike anything I’ve ever had before. It’s called patbingsu. It’s shaved ice, red beans, sweetened condensed milk, fruit, and other toppings. If it doesn’t have the red beans, it’s called bingsu.

I first had patbingsu several years ago and hated it. I just couldn’t get over the cold, sweet beans. I avoided it for years until I had a modern version of bingsu while out with my coworkers. We had an Oreo one and a strawberry cheesecake one. They were delicious. I even didn’t know the version without beans existed. I’d been avoiding it for years for nothing.

Last month, I went to a volunteer event at an orphanage.  We had a make it yourself patsbingsu bar for the kids. I added everything except the red beans on mine and it was good. A little soupy due to the melting ice, but good.

The weather is cooling and bingsu season is coming to an end but, I’ll be ready next time. 

Traditional Patbingsu

The first one I had looked like this.

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Modern Bingsu

Oreo & Strawberry Cheesecake

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Do It Yourself Bingsu

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Gauging the Mood

North Korea and South Korea have been in the news a lot. At the least, they’ve been in the American news a lot. Since I’m American and speak only English, this is the news I follow. I don’t think, however, that North Korea gets as much attention in the Korean news as it gets in the American news.

With all the news coverage, friends and family from home often ask me what the mood is here.  The answer is “business as usual.” That’s the best way I can describe the mood here. I’ve asked a few Korean coworkers about the threat of North Korea and they all chuckle and smile at me like I’m simple.

Several weeks ago, tensions were running high so I asked my boss if I should be preparing for anything. He looked so confused. He asked “Preparing for what?” I explained that I was worried about North Korea and he started laughing. He then said “If I had a dollar for every time North Korea threatened something, I’d be retired instead of standing in my office with you.”

The Korean government does do some preparedness drills. On the 15^th of every month, somewhere in this county is participating in a drill. I saw a drill several years ago. A message played over speakers, soldiers started directing traffic, and a tank rolled down the street. I didn’t know what was happening or which army was marching down my street so this really scared me. Thankfully, it was the friendly army.

In addition to preparedness drills, subway stations and other public places have emergency supplies. It’s often a glass front cabinet with gas masks, bottled water, and nonperishable food. The cabinets look easy to open so the supplies can be accessed quickly during an emergency.

Overall, I find Korean’s nonchalance reassuring. If they’re not worried, why should I be worried? I just hope that we never have a reason to be worried. 

An Emergency Cabinet in a Subway Station

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Gas Mask Instructions

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Bottled Water and Things I Can't Identify

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Gas Mask Packets

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