Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Early Bird Korean Mother In Law

Korean mother-in-laws get up so early. It's the reason why we can't live with my mother in law because she gets up too early but me and my hubby sleep late. My mother in law is an early bird but we are night owls. Last night, my mother in law sent me a text at 2:00 a.m. She asked if we were still awake so I called her. She said she has just got up but we were still awake. She was telling us to sleep early but we can't. It's not easy to sleep early when we always get up late. We get up so late so we also sleep late. But my mother in law sleep so early that's why she gets up early. She sleeps around 9:00p.m. and gets up around 3:00-5:00 a.m. In our case, we usually sleep around 5:00 a.m. and get up at noon and sometimes 2:00 p.m.

Most mother in laws are like my mother in law. They sleep early and get up so early. I heard from my students who live with their grandparents said the same thing. Some of them even complain because they can't make any noise at night. Also, they are force to sleep early because of their sleeping grandparents. They also complain that their grandparents wake up so early and clean the house so they make noise in the morning. I understand how they feel because when we sleep in my mother in law's house she makes noise so my hubby hugs me and covers my ears in order not to hear her noises. I could hear her cooking, cleaning the house and doing the dishes.

Korean mother-in-laws are early birds so if you're living with them, you will be forced to get up early, too because there are mother-in-laws who want their daughter-in-laws to get up early so that they can help them with the household chores.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Want To Marry a Korean Guy?

My father in law asked me to find a Philippine woman to get married a korean guy. He said, find someone who's as kind as me (I was happy to hear that but would be happier if he said as pretty as me ^-^). The guy is over 40 years old. I was willing to find a Filipina when my father in law said that the guy was his nephew (his sister's son) and my hubby's cousin. Later on, I found out that the guy is a farmer living in the countryside. My husband is against it. He said the filipina will be very pitiful. She can't have some money and will have a hard time living in the country. She will live without friends and work in the farm even in the cold weather. Not to mention the language barrier, the weather and homesickness. I agree with him.

The next day, my father in law invited us to visit his sister. His nephew's (looking for a filipina wife) mom. We went to their house. It's an old house in the countryside. It was too cold so we stayed in one room with old, dirty and cracked wall. It was grandma's (my hubby's aunt's mother in law) room. I couldn't go out of the room because it was too cold. The living room, the kitchen and the bathroom were too cold. I was freezing. The living room doesn't look like one because of lots of stuffs stocked that are mostly crops. The small dirty kitchen has lots of big old pots. The cold bathroom has also lots of stuffs that I couldn't imagine if someone could take a bath there. There is no shower and bathtub, just faucet and bucket under it. There are lots of basins and washing machine is also there. It is too stuffy. I'm not sure if there's hot water to use. My hubby was too sleepy so they told us to use the other room and sleep. But my hubby's cousin's niece was there using the computer. Beside the two tables was a quilt and heavy blankets. We lay down but we couldn't sleep because it was too cold. So, do you want to get married this guy and live there?

I don't know why people from the Philippines think that once you got married to a foreigner, you are lying in the bed of roses. There are so many women out there dreaming of coming to Korea and get married to a korean guy. Don't you know that those who are looking for Filipinas are those who got divorce or old guys who couldn't get married to Korea because Korean women don't like them? Most of them are farmers or fishermen living in the countryside.

Do you still think that all filipinas who got married to korean have good lives here in Korea? I'm telling you. You are definitely wrong! You don't know how hard their lives are, living with someone they don't know well. You don't know how they suffer specially to those who live with their parents-in-law. (Most of them are living with their parents in law. Another reason why Korean women don't like them (korean guy married to foreigner) because Korean women can't live with their in-laws.) Don't envy those filipinas because they are married to korean guys. You are luckier than them. Living in the Philippines is more fun with friends and family. Nothing can compare to the happiness when you talk in your own language and eat filipino dishes. I think most of you have even better house than the other filipinas here in Korea.

There are some who live well but don't expect that you will also do, specially if the married is just a match. For those who got married because of love (courted in the Philippines), some of them still face some problems here in Korea because of the against parents because if the korean has good education, young and live well in Korea.

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Christmas in Korea

Christmas in Korea is just like a normal holiday. There's nothing special to do specially when there's no white christmas. This Christmas, it was just very cold. It didn't snow. When I asked what most of the kids did on Christmas day, some of them said they went skating, saw a movie, and most of them just stayed home playing computer or cellphone games. Too bad that it didn't snow that's why kids didn't have much fun.

In my case, I went to my mother in law on Christmas eve. We brought the ice cream cake that my sister in law gave us and had the chicken that my hubby ordered. We stayed there until almost midnight. When we arrived home, I called my family back home. It was nice to hear all their voices but I was so homesick because they were all in my dad's house except me.

We slept at 5:00a.m. and woke up at around 2:00p.m. After having some chocolate cake (our anniversary cake left over), I called my mother in law and told her to come over to my house. We dine together at 6:00p.m. (that's our lunch and my mother in law's dinner).

When my mother in law left, we slept again and woke up around 10:00 p.m. And that's how I spent my Christmas day. I was too homesick and didn't want to do anything so I just slept in order not to miss my home and my family. Eventhough my hubby was asking me to go out, I didn't want to, because it was too cold and going out is not fun anymore. I've been to many beautiful places in Korea and I think once you've seen one, it seems like you already saw everything. I even stayed in Jeju Island for almost a year and saw most of the island so I can't enjoy the nature in the mainland anymore.

Anyway, that's how I spent Christmas here in Korea and I guess most people did the same thing specially office workers who spend most of the weekdays at work and Christmas holiday is just a time for rest like a normal holiday.

Friday, December 20, 2013

I Hate Winter

Fall was too short. It is too cold from November and this December, it snows a lot. I think it has snowed in other part of the country since November. I guess we'll also have a White Christmas. Good for the kids and too bad for us adult specially to those who are afraid of cold like me.

In winter, I wear layers of clothes. I wear five layers to be exact, except underwears of course. But still I am cold. I even wear two layers of socks, a scarf, and gloves. I used to wear a hat, too but not anymore.

I hate being cold all day. I hate wearing layers of clothes. I hate walking in the snow. In short, I hate winter!