Susan has been up in Seoul this week trying to straighten out some visa issues. As we are adjusting to life in Korea, we have noticed a fair amount of bureaucracy involved in the process. There seem to be endless forms that must be handled in just the right order with all the proper stamps and approvals. At times it is difficult to understand the reasons for much of this, but one quickly adapts to the necessity of getting it done. On the bright side, it is amazing how cheerful (and inflexible) almost everyone is in the process. Of course, this leads to feelings of how much better we handle all this in the states. Which leads to some observations from Susan's trip to Seoul. She needs a document from the US showing she is an American citizen (no, a passport won't do - it's not the right kind of evidence since it is used for travel.) This means we need some help from the US Embassy. Susan caught a bus to Seoul on Sunday so she could get the proper document bright and early on Monday to show she is a US citizen so she could catch a bus back to Pohang that day. We'd forgotten that Monday was Labor Day in the US and the embassy was closed. Susan stays an extra day and appears at the embassy on Tuesday. No, she is told, she cannot see anyone about her problem because she doesn't have an appointment. We didn't know you needed an appointment. Can I make one for today? No, no same day appointments. Can I make an appointment for tomorrow? No, you must make an appointment on line, and we don't accept any appointments on Wednesdays. So, Susan is still in Seoul today (Thursday) for the appointment she made on line. To complicate matters even more, the most helpful document she needs is a certified copy of her naturalization papers (she only has an uncertified copy). She has been told by US officials in earlier communications that she can get the certified copy from the US government for only 400-500 dollars provided she is willing to wait a year. All this leads to two observations - US bureaucracy is even more complex than Korean and decidedly less friendly along the way. Thankfully Susan was able to stay with Mark and Elysabeth while in Seoul, enjoy some of the wonderful street food and get a little "Susan time" on Wednesday to just relax.
With Susan busy in Seoul, I have been Mr. Mom the past week. It has led to some new insights into living abroad. Without Susan's presence to interpret, everyday life becomes more complicated. I took the kids into Pohang for dinner at McDonald's. Thankfully the counter clerk was fairly fluent in English and was familiar with terms like Big Mac and McNuggets. Still it was a bit of a struggle. This was even more obvious when I took the kids out last night for a meal on campus. The school has a food court like many campuses in the US. However, the selections were very different and everything on the menu is written in Korean. One of my students came by and helped us with one of the menu boards, but I was feeling overwhelmed. I decided to retreat to the nicer restaurant on campus where we had eaten before. It is run by the nicest Korean couple and the employees are all so cheerful. I knew from our earlier experience that they had a delicious dish of Terriyaki Chicken and rice with stir fried vegetables. Unfortunately they were sold out of the dish for the evening. So, I looked at the English portion of the menu and picked something that looked like soup. Daniel selected another dish (well being bibim-bap) that had a familiar word in it (bibim-bap) that he associated with a Korean dish he liked. Mary and Robert went for simple white rice that they could wrap in seaweed. Daniel's dish ended up being a large salad on top of rice with shredded chicken and seaweed sprinkled on top. It is a very popular dish at the restaurant. Daniel does not like salad, so I swapped dinners with him. He seemed equally unimpressed with my soup that had slices of beef and several sorts of mushrooms. He fished out the beef and returned the rest of the soup to me. Meanwhile, I was struggling with the salad. I don't care for dried seaweed and it was crumpled all over the salad. I did the best I could and then went for the rest of Daniel's soup. Absolutely delicious! There were other vegetables and peppers with the mushrooms served in what the Koreans call a "hot pot." I even ate the tofu. Robert and Mary really enjoyed the rice and seaweed. Robert said it was one of his favorite meals in Korea. I made things up to Daniel by ordering a slice of peach pie (for their international students and faculty) which we all shared. It was a successful dinner. When we got back to the apartment Daniel popped a cold slice of leftover Korean pizza into the microwave (it was pepperoni, but the Korean version adds vegetables, peppers and sweet corn under the mozzarella cheese). Thankfully, Susan will be back home tonight. I am anxious to try the food court again with Susan along to navigate. There was one large dish that students were ordering family style (a large pot they shared from) that looked really good though I had no idea what it was.
Just one final observation for now. I had the most beautiful sight the other day as I looked out my office window. There was a group of Korean women gardeners working their way across one of the landscaped lawns picking weeds. They were dressed in colorful garb with scarves around their heads and a basket tied to their waist. The basket was for them to sit on as they stooped to do the weeding. It was so colorful and they moved so gracefully that it was mesmerizing. It reminded me of old photographs I have seen of Korea in the past with women working the rice fields. What a wonder, and right outside my window. Hopefully Susan will be able to take a photo of these lovely women and share it in the near future.
Ken
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