Turkey & Kimchi

11-30-2010
Day 266 of 365: First off, I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a happy belated Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Actually, Thanksgiving and Black Friday are cool, but Cyber Monday kinda sucks. Why does it exist? Secondly, it's hard to believe that I only have 99 days left in Korea. The last few months have flown by, and with the end of the school year fast approaching, I know these next 3 weeks will be a blur. It's been hard to carve out the time to write lately because of how busy I've been, but I just wanted to tell everyone a little bit about what Thanksgiving is like for Americans living in Korea.

Let me just start by saying that the beautiful turkey you see in the picture above is one of very few in the entire country of South Korea. They don't raise turkeys here (this one is actually imported from New Zealand), and so it's just not a part of their diet. As a result, many Americans don't have a traditional Thanksgiving meal in Korea. I asked my kids at school if they'd ever eaten turkey, and only about 5% raised their hands. After discovering this, a few American teachers and I went on a quest to find our bird. On the positive side, we only had to search as far as the Costco in Seoul. However, once we found the turkeys, I was quickly mortified when I saw that the average price was around $80! After all, we had this thing called a budget, and an eighty dollar bird wasn't in it. At that point I was more than willing to re-enact that scene out of A Christmas Story and just go for roasted duck instead, but there were some in the group who just didn't think there could be Thanksgiving without a turkey, so the four of us split the cost. It was a 19lb., $85 bird named Tom (by Ashlee and Soo). As it turns out, we didn't exceed the budget as much as we thought since we couldn't find many of the traditional Thanksgiving foods and ingredients we were searching for.

Since Korea doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving and therefore doesn't give any days off from work, we found it a little difficult to have the dinner on Thursday, so we had it on Friday instead. I also caught word of many Saturday dinners taking place. Ashlee used a "personal health" day to cook the turkey and most of the side dishes. For my part, my parents had mailed a TG relief package full of the traditional ingredients and recipes, but I was sad when the package was delayed at the post office and we had to do without some of my family favorites such as cranberry sauce, mandarin orange salad, and onion dip with potato chips ( more for watching football before dinner). Stuffing and sweet potatoes were also in the package, which arrive 5 days later (not even close), but we were able to find the ingredients for them here.

Despite the setbacks, omissions and substitutions, we had a very successful night. The lineup included mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, homemade stuffing, peach-mallow salad (I improvised), kimchi, rice and of course, the turkey. We had a Costco apple pie for dessert. Ashlee did an amazing job with all the cooking, but especially the turkey. We had over 20 guests at dinner and nobody went home hungry. It was a great night.

Although I was missing my family and football, I had plenty of food and friends to help make my Thanksgiving a happy one. I am very thankful for the people I've met, the friends I've made, the experiences I've had, and the opportunity to live and teach in South Korea. The last 9 months have been a unique period of time for me, and I am excited about the final 3 months. I am still unsure about whether I will sign on to teach for another year, so I am continuing to do, see and learn as much as I can while I'm here. It's been an amazing experience. Now if only the Cowboys and Longhorns didn't suck so bad this year...

My Neighbor Pepero

11-11-2010

Day 247 of 365: Today is a special day for the kids of Korea (in spite of the adults): it's Pepero day. What is Pepero, you ask? A Pepero is essentially a cracker stick that is covered in chocolate. If you want to move up a level, you can cover it in almonds. Anything beyond that is just getting fancy, as the image to the left shows.The next question you might be asking is probably along the lines of, "Why in the heck does a Pepero get it's own day?" and, "What do you do on Pepero day?". The origins of Pepero day are simple. The date November 11th, or 11-11, stood out to some Korean kids somewhere and reminded them of the Pepero treats, so they began giving them to each other as signs of friendship. Later it also became akin to Valentine's day, where significant others now exchange the treats to show their love. Any reason to eat more candy I guess. The tradition quickly caught on and soon kids all over Korea were doing it. However, parents and teachers have conspiracy theories of a more sinister plot that Lotte, the Walmart of Korea, started the holiday to boost sales and, in fact, more than 50% of yearly Pepero sales can be attributed to Pepero day alone. It's the "Black Friday" of Pepero.

To combat the faux holiday, many teachers in Korea have united in banning the chocolate covered treats from their classrooms, instead opting to have their students write letters to their friends and loved ones to tell them how much they appreciate them. Being a newcomer to the whole phenomena, I thought it was cute to see kids walking down the halls with Pepero of various shapes, sizes and flavors. I felt very popular, receiving more than twenty myself. However, after eating about three, I was already sick of them and gave the rest away to others, including to some of the teachers with the self-imposed ban.

All in all it was a fun break from the norm, and it gave me some new introduction material for a few days in class. My only question now is, "What will Pepero day be like next year when it's 11-11-11?". Surely it will be the Armageddon of all Pepero days, and definitely worth sticking around for another year in Korea to find out.

Thousand Islands

11-08-2010
Day 244 of 365: After not having access to my account for a couple weeks, I'm back. Long story short, I switched my OS to Windows 7...mayhem ensued. Nothing too catastrophic, just some lost passwords, cookies, computer functionality, etc. Anyway, I'm back now and have some catching up to do. Last week I traveled with some teachers and staff from my school to the southern tip of South Korea and caught a ferry from the city of Mokpo to Hong-do, or Hong Island. Hong-do, which is more than two hours from the mainland, is 1 out of 1004 islands in the Korean waters to the south. Most of them are uninhabited chunks of rock jutting out of the ocean, but Hong-do, which is largely a fishing community, has a population of 300. The ones who don't make a living from fishing most likely are in the tourism business. Even though there are few people living on the island, there are many hotels, motels and restaraunts in the village, as well as many types of guided tours available.

Apart from Jeju-do, Hong-do is considered to be one of the more scenic islands that Korea has to offer. It's not tropical with beaches and palm trees, but the natural beauty around the island, including 150 water formed caves and rock formations, give it a unique and mysterious feel. Personally, a city boy like me couldn't imagine living on a rock, eating fish and seaweed, and looking at the same 300 faces every day apart from the tourists. Actually, when I looked at the faces around the island, many of them were weathered and wrinkled beyond their years, making some of the people look extremely old. No doubt they live a hard life there, but for some reason they stick around. Being on a trip with my school, we visited the island's elementary school. They have four teachers and 23 total students. I saw six of them throughout the day. The dirt playground/soccer field, which is standard in every Korean elementary school, was the only flat area I saw on the whole island. The rest of the town is on a hill. The multiple levels actually enhanced many of the photos I took, giving me lot to look at in a small area.

Although it was pretty cold (probably high 40's), we took a two hour boat tour around the island to see many of the beautiful rock formations I mentioned before. Supposedly the tour guide was telling legends about the island and stories of pirates and treasure and all sorts of things, but I didn't catch any of it in detail because I still don't understand too much Korean. At one point a smaller boat pulled up alongside of us (no, it wasn't a pirate ship) and some fisherman began selling fresh sushi from fish caught just moments before. Three guys were cutting up the fish in front of us while another man was handling the transactions. Koreans love the raw fish. Needless to say, this was the freshest sushi I've had in my short 8 month career. It was pretty expensive - about $40 for a small plate that 4-5 people could snack on. However that didn't stop about fifty people from lining up to put in their orders. Our group of twenty shared two plates, so it went fast. I asked what kind of fish it was, but again I was at a loss for not knowing Korean. It happens a lot.

Overall it was a fun two day trip, fully payed for by the school. I appreciate the fact that our school frequently has outings like this to take care of the teachers and staff. It allows me to do things in Korea that I would have never known about or done on my own. Even today, we went on a two hour mountain hike followed by dinner with about thirty teachers and staff. Though I still don't speak much of the language, I feel like I fit in because we do things together, which is afterall, how Koreans do things.

Ghibli

10-13-2010
Day 220 of 365: Of all the things I did and saw during my 6 days in Tokyo, the Ghibli Museum was probably the most interesting and unique. Created by Japan's most famous animator, Hayao Miyazaki (whom some call the "Walt Disney" of Japan), the Ghibli Museum is not only a showcase of Studio Ghibli's beloved animated films, but in a way, it is an expression of the master animator himself.

I haven't visited very many places around the world, but I've been to some famous museums in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and London. Since I've been in Korea, I've also seen a few types of museums. There are the places that try to pass themselves off as museums when, in actuality, they are little more than specialty shops with the difference being that the items on the shelves generally aren't for sale. Go to Samcheong-dong in Seoul and you'll know what I'm talking about (toy museum, chicken museum, etc.). Of course there are the real museums, such as the National Museum of Korea, the Seoul Museum of History, and the War Memorial of Korea. Of the three, I've only been to the National Museum and it was a little boring. Sorry. Then there are museums like Ghibli, which is not so much a museum as it is an experience. Admittedly, Ghibli has a special demographic that consists of families with children ages 12 and under and anime nerds. Luckily there are more than enough of both in Japan. Actually, the works of Hayao Miyazaki are so well known and loved in Japan that he is now a cultural icon. The rest of the world has been slow to catch up, but Ghibli films are receiving more recognition with each new film that is released.

Upon approach, you may initially mistake the museum for a very large house. There is no public parking, just a small driveway entrance. The view from the street is almost completely obstructed by trees and there is no giant sign that indicates exactly what the place is. You either know or you don't, which in this case, everybody knows. There is a limit of 200 tickets sold every day to foreigners, and you can't buy tickets at the door (big thanks to Phil and Ayumi for helping me out). You can book tickets up to 3 months in advance, and in addition to the date, your ticket has a specific time upon which you or your group can enter the museum. My time was 4pm, but they let me in 30 minutes early. Having freshly charged my camera battery and emptied my memory card, I was disappointed to find out that you're not allowed to take pictures inside the museum. Luckily, I found this link that has a 6 minute video tour for anyone interested in watching: Ghibli Museum video tour. What the video doesn't show are the amazing animated displays throughout the museum, the mini theater that shows exclusive animated shorts not seen anywhere else, the recreated work spaces of Miyazaki and other Ghibli artists, and the sense of wonder you feel when the place is full of amazed children and adults alike. I was good about obeying the rules for the most part, but I admittedly took a few pictures inside the museum. However, the photos don't come close to telling the whole story.

As I said before, this was one of the top highlights of my trip. It wasn't what I expected, and in this case, that's a good thing. Although it isn't huge, I spent a total of 3 hours exploring and trying to discover every secret in every corner of the museum. It's the kind of place that can make adults feel like kids again, except when you're too big to play on the miniature Cat Bus.

Rising

10-02-2010
Day 209 of 365: Tokyo, Japan. Largest city in the world. Home of the slickest gadgets, most reliable cars, most confusing subway/train system, best sushi, coolest animation, and most iconic movie monster on the planet. Last week I had the opportunity to travel abroad for the first time since moving to South Korea almost 7 months ago. I have to say that I loved every minute of it. It wasn't just the fact that Tokyo has always been at the top of my list of places to visit, but having the opportunity to see another part of the world and be immersed in yet another culture was very exciting. Like many Americans, I'm a huge "contributor" to the Japanese economy. But then, who doesn't love Sony, Nintendo, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, etc? Well, besides Korea that is.

So, yes, I have a huge crush on Japan. To be honest, the fact that Tokyo is a 2 hour flight from Seoul was a major influence in my decision to come to Korea. As a kid, it started when I found out that Nintendo was Japanese (of course), in addition to all the strangely cool cartoons like G-Force (Battle of the Planets) and Voltron. As a teenager, the hottest gadgets around were made by Sony. Remember Walkman or the original Playstation? And as for automobiles, the 3 cars I've owned in my life have all been Hondas (93' Accord, 98' Accord, 08' Civic). there are tons more examples, but it all comes down to this: Japan makes the coolest everything on the planet.

IUnlike my flight from the US to Korea, which was full of inner turmoil mixed with excitement and fear of the unknown, the flight to Tokyo was pretty easy and uneventful, and I was beginning to feel like a pro at passing through airport customs. The real initiation came when I had to make the 2 hour train ride from Narita airport to my hospitality on the far side of Tokyo. I wasn't prepared for how complicated the rail system was. At that point I felt as lost as when I first arrived in Korea, not yet being able to read Hangul. I enlisted the aid of a Korean girl whom I met on the flight to help me out. She practically rode the whole way there with me, even through two transfers. Over the next few days I learned, explored and got lost until I had whole system figured out.

In addition to being the world's largest city, Tokyo also has the highest cost of living in the world. This starts with public transportation. The subways, buses and taxis are all expensive. I only traveled by subway when exploring the city, and ended up spending around $15-20 each day. Food is a big expense also. I went cheap most of the time, spending between $7-12 for each meal. However, to put things in perspective, a Krispy Kreme donut in the US is around 79 cents the last time I checked, but in Japan it's about 2 bucks. You can apply this math to just about everything in Tokyo. That being said, I had a budget and I stuck to it. I brought enough money to spend about $100 a day maximum. I spent an average of $90 each day, so I didn't come home completely broke.

As for the city itself, it reminded me a lot of Seoul - hundreds of skyscrapers, flashing neon lights and something new around every corner. Both cities have multiple areas and districts that rival New York's Times Square. Shibuya and Shinjuku are two of the hotspots in downtown Tokyo, while Asakusa is a more cultural part of the city. Then you have Odaiba, a high tech area of the city that is actually an artificial island built in Tokyo Bay. I did a lot of people watching while there as well. I was hoping I'd be able to tell the difference between Korean and Japanese people after living in SK for 6 months, but it was a total failure. They all still look the same to me. I know that sounds really bad, but it's true. The only differences I could make out between them are that Korean men and women all follow the same fashion trends, so all the men dress alike, as do the women. In Japan, people's dress is more expressive, unique and original. Hair styles are different from Korea also.

I felt much more at home in Tokyo than in Seoul because I recognized all the cars on the road. Like Korea (and unlike the US), Japan buys it's own products, so Koreans drive Korean made cars, and Japan buys Japanese cars, but they don't buy each other's cars. That's because they still hate each other from the Japanese occupation of Korea more than 60 years ago. Koreans hold grudges I guess. The big difference in Japan is that they drive on the left side. I was totally thrown off on the first day when my buddy told me to ride up front, so I went to the right side of the car and he told me to go to the other side unless I wanted to drive. This happened more than once. I never quite got used to being on the left side either. Every time we were on the rode, there was at least one moment where I thought we were going to get smashed from driving into oncoming traffic, only to realize that we were indeed on the correct side of the road. This is also unlike Korea, where Koreans will indeed drive on the wrong side of the road at times. Often actually. Traffic laws aren't really laws in Korea, they're more like suggestions.

That's all for now. I'll be writing more in the coming days on specific sites i visited and other stuff. In other words, to be continued...

Cool Fact: Godzilla's name comes from a combination of two words that mean gorilla and whale, which is how he was first described by his creators.

Uncool Fact: I saw a honeydew melon being sold on the street for $60.

Cup Half Full

9-12-2010
Day 189 of 365: In the immortal words of Jon Bon Jovi, "Whooooaaaa-Oh! We're half-way there!" (Yes, that just happened). This week marks 6 months for me in South Korea, with 6 more to go before I'm back in the good ol' US of A. I am slightly giddy right now, and with good reason. I have a good feeling about this second half. The first half of my time in SK had more ups and downs than the American stock exchange (which I keep track of these days, thanks to the fluctuating value of the Korean Won). Though it was a good semester overall, I know the second semester will be even better. So, in a move inspired by fellow blogger Meppers, here is a Top 10 list of reasons why these next 6 months are going to rock harder than the one-armed drummer from Def Leppard:

10. Japan. In 6 days I'll be hopping on a 2 hour flight over to Tokyo, Japan to spend 6 days touring the largest city in the world in the land of the rising sun. While there, I hope to see Mt. Fuji, Godzilla, giant fighting robots, and ninjas.

9. School is cool. After a rough first semester of teaching, this semester has started off spectacularly. My relationship with my co-teachers is good, I feel much more comfortable in the classroom, and I'm not afraid to lay the smack down anymore if some kids get out of line (especially the 6th boys).

8. Getting buff. Not really. However, I did finally join a gym a few weeks ago. Having had a dirt cheap gym membership for the last 5 years or so back in Austin, it was hard for me to pony up roughly $70 or $80 a month for one of the "fitness centers" here in Ansan. I finally found a hole in the wall that is only $35 per month (a bargain by Korean standards), and it feels good to not be able to fully extend my arms or walk up stairs again.

7. Soccer. Yes, I still have some residual fever for the world sport. Enough so that I actually joined an existing team of foreigners who play league matches every Saturday in Seoul. I almost backed out due to my lack of soccer skills, but then I saw the uniforms and they looked pretty sweet, so I put in my money. I can play defense. Leave the scoring to somebody else.

6. Goodbye old friends; hello noobs. After a mass exodus of friends I'd made in the first semester who's teaching contracts finished this month, I was temporarily left with very few people that I liked enough to actually hang out with. However, a new batch of foreign English teachers have recently arrived in the area to begin the new semester, and some of them aren't that bad. It's been my turn, as a "veteran" English teacher in these parts, to break in the new blood and show them the ropes, just how it was done for me when I first arrived. It's a great experience.

5. Winter Vaca. When the 2 month winter break comes at the end of December, I'll have the unique experience of spending several weeks at school...in my office...alone. It's called, "desk warming", and it's how the school system justifies paying us English teachers during the off months. You might wonder, "Why is this cool?". Well, many teachers find this time boring, lonely, isolated, miserable, not to mention freezing in some cases, but I think it all comes down to preparation. If you know you're going to be alone at school for roughly 1 whole month after subtracting winter English camps and personal vacation, bring something, or lots of things, to do. Me? I may just have to set up a little something on our English classroom's 60 inch LCD flat panel tv. I'm not worried.

4. More traveling in SK. For all the places I've been, there are still many left on the to-do list. Plans are already in the works for a trip to the DMZ, another one of Korea's beautiful islands (Jeju was a summer highlight), at least one theme park, and another trek down to Busan. This is in addition to continuing to explore Seoul, the 5th largest city in the world. I've got a lot to keep me busy on the weekends.

3. Thailand. It's not official that I'm going yet, but this seems to be a popular destination among foreign English teachers in South Korea. Because of it's year round tropical climate and relative proximity, Thailand makes an ideal spot to use a week of vacation time and escape Korea's brutal winters. Other possibilities for traveling abroad during winter vaca are China, Taiwan, or heck, Japan again if I don't get enough next week.

2. Pals. It was great having my sister and a handful of amigos come to visit during the summer, but I hope to see more this semester. In Tokyo I'll meet up with some friends that I knew from the states, and I'm also chatting with a few others who might come in January or February. My dad even said he'd come (along with my mom of course) if I extended my contract for another year. That's a topic for another day, though.

1. Finally fall, which means: Football. My favorite season, accompanied by my favorite sport. I can't say that watching a live stream of the Longhorns or Cowboys on my laptop at 5am is the same as watching the games at home in HD in the mid-afternoon with BBQ, family and friends, but I'll take it. Just being able to watch football makes me feel normal again. Now if I can just find some guys to play with here....

PS: Thanks to mums and pops, D Rizzle, and the Mintos for the recent care packages. You guys are keeping me afloat with Texan goodness. Love y'all!

Beautiful Disaster

9-2-2010
Day 182 of 365: When I came to South Korea in March, friends and family members repeatedly asked me if the country was safe. Assuring them at the time that it was, I had no idea that SK would first suffer an act of impending war from a disgruntled neighbor, followed months later by a spectacular and beautiful, yet imperious and terrifying force of nature. "Cyclones of the sea", as they are referred to sometimes, I was witness to the landfall of Typhoon Kompasu, and I was struck with awe.

Early this morning, just hours after hearing about the passing of my grandmother back home in Texas, for which I still don't have words, I was woken to a powerful howling outside that compelled my ear to listen. It had been hard enough to get to sleep that night as it was. I kept thinking about how I should have been there for my family, and how I should be there right now. I just laid alone in the dark, thinking and praying for a long time until I was eventually asleep. When I awoke, I heard the wind and the rain and was comforted by the sound, knowing it would put me right back to sleep. A few moments later however, I could hear and feel banging outside of my apartment, as if a colossus were trying trying frantically to get in. I could hear air breathing through the cracks in my rattling windows and doors, and I knew this wasn't just an ordinary thunder storm. With work looming just hours away, I knew I had to get back to bed, but as soon as I laid my head back down, the colossus broke in! My locked, 6th floor window burst open, with blinds sucking in and out and posters flying off the walls as sensor lights across my apartment illumined the chaos. Wide awake, I dashed from my loft to secure the window, only to find that it wasn't budging as long as the wind was blowing. In the beast's brief respite, I once again closed and sealed it's gate, not knowing what I had done wrong to have allowed it inside in the first place. Moments later I found out that it never had anything to do with me. Just as I had allowed myself to relax and assess the damages to my domain, Pandora's Box burst open once again with seemingly more fury. Realizing now that the latch was broken and the window would never stay shut as long as "it" was out there, I resigned myself to just pulling the window shut and holding it until the worst had passed. However, something had changed. In it's cleverness, my new-found nemesis sabotaged the hinges on the window in one mighty blow, so that they wouldn't even come close to closing or sealing, leaving both the window and I vulnerable to it's will. What happened next was just the fledgling attempts of a desperate man. I slid over to the junk drawer and grabbed the only two tools I had in my possession: some pliers and a pair of vice grips. I went to work on those hinges in every way I could think of, the horror without fighting me all the way. After multiple failures, giving up, then doubling my efforts, too stubborn to be defeated, I got the window shut for the final time, with my own hands as the seals and the demon locked out, screaming in protest. It was a muted cry however, and from my safe perch I observed the flowing, invisible, impossibly powerful titan moving across the city; the world as it's cage.
I sat at my window for over an hour, watching. I witnessed the sun rise in the east and cast it's exposing light on the beast as it flowed violently through every tree and bent lesser beings to it's will. It was in that moment that I realized how mighty a foe I had faced. It's name was Kompasu, and in a matter of hours it had waged war against an entire country. I had fought it and won, though I now realize that it was never really after me. It probably didn't even know I was here. I just happened to be in it's path as it crossed the sea and the land, it's final destination unknown to man. In it's passing, I once again think of my loving grandmother and my grieving family, knowing that soon these same winds will carry me back to them, so that we may newly appreciate the time we have with each other, and strive together to continue to make her proud. I know how much you loved me. I just pray now that you knew how much we loved you.

A Place To Walk In The Sun

8-25-2010
Day 174 of 365: Second week of English camp? Check. A week of vacation on a tropical isle (Jeju) with my sister? Check. Summer vacation officially over? Check. I was overjoyed that Uriah and Philip, and later my sister Beth and her friend Isela, came to visit me. It's more than I could have asked for when I made the decision to spend a year in South Korea. That being said, I am almost relieved that school is starting back up in a couple of days. This was the strangest, busiest, and in a weird way, most solitary 5 week summer vacation I've ever had.

Why was it strange? I can't quite put my finger on one specific reason, but would instead point out that there were so many funny/weird/strange experiences, mainly over the course of the 2 weeks that I had visitors, that they all added up together to make this impression on me when attempting to describe our time together. Just eating the living octopus with Uriah and Philip (last entry: The Boys Of Summer, Part 2) alone would qualify the summer as strange, but there were many other moments to back it up. I also think the flip-flopping weekly schedule (camp, vacation, camp, vacation, etc.) put me out of sorts a little bit. I'd want to be in vacation-mode during the weeks of camp, and then I'd find myself unwillingly switching into work-mode halfway through my vacation weeks, knowing I'd be back at school in a few days. I found myself always looking ahead instead of just enjoying the moment. Maybe I was just too busy.

Looking back, I realized that virtually every hour of every day of my summer schedule was planned out...by me. I wrote the lessons and made the plans for every day of my school's English camp. I planned and scheduled every trip, activity and site that we saw during the 2 weeks of vacation. In other words, there wasn't a day where I just sat back and thought to myself, "Let's just see what happens today". I was always at a tempo that was a little faster than Uriah and Philip, and a lot faster than Beth and Isela. Knowing they had a small window of time here and that they'd probably never have a chance to come back, I tried to fit as much in as possible. However, as far as I can tell, everyone who came had a great time (despite my madness at times), which is all that matters to me in the end.

This brings me to my aloneness (which is slightly different from loneliness). This may sound contradictory since I had so many visitors in a short amount of time. Other American English teachers were envious when they heard about my plans for the summer, but actually, it was hard to enjoy my guests being here, especially in the last couple of days of each visit, because I knew they'd soon be gone. Again, not living in the moment. I guess I need to work on that. In addition, several good friends I've made over the last 5 1/2 months have finished their teaching contracts and have recently gone back home to the United States. I feel like this has left a void in me that some might say God should fill, but right now I just want God to give me some friends to replace the ones who have departed. Needless to say I appreciate all my friends and loved ones back home much more these days and miss them dearly. Maybe I'll stop being such a wuss when school starts back up in 2 days and I'll have 700 youngsters to occupy me once again.

The Boys Of Summer, Part 2

8-12-2010

Day 161 of 365: Picking up where I left off from my last blog entry, this is a summary of the last 5 days of Uriah and Philip's visit to South Korea:

Monday 7/26 - Today we visited South Korea's largest outdoor seafood market, located at the Noryangin subway stop in Seoul. It had every kind of fish, clam, oyster, squid or octopus you could ask for. My first impression was the overwhelming smell of fish as you approach and enter the market. For that reason alone I could never see myself in this type of business.

For lunch we ate the infamous living octopus, which I had avoided until now, but it was at the top of Philip and Uriah's list of things to try in SK thanks to the Food Network. When I say, "living", I mean that even after it's killed and chopped up, the pieces keep moving for a period of time. This includes the suction cups on the tentacles being active and sticking to everything from the plate and chopsticks, all the way to your lips and tongue. The trick is to chew fast and often before swallowing. People have DIED from eating this. I'm not sure if that makes us brave, adventurous, or just stupid, but Koreans love this dish.

Later we met a Korean friend who took us on a tour of the most famous palace in Seoul, Gyeongbukgung. It was very beautiful and scenic, but it covered a lot of land and we were tired of walking by the end. This took us to one of my favorite neighborhoods in Seoul, Samcheong dong. Samcheong is full of shops, restaurants and small, interesting museums, but it doesn't have the tall buildings and foot traffic of other popular spots in Seoul. We rested here before going back to Itaewon to do some more shopping. We got home later that night and I made my mom's famous taco salad. It was for me as much as it was for them. Philip moment of the day: P loses his SD card to his camera in my apartment twice in the same night. It got to the point where he was offering rewards for it's safe return. Uriah and I each found it once, but we never cashed in on our prize.

Tuesday 7/27: We woke up at 530am so that we could catch a 5 hour bus to Busan, which is on the southern tip of South Korea. Busan is the 2nd largest city in SK and has the most famous beach in all of Korea, Haeundae. The highlights of this trip were many. It started with us renting a motel room near the beach, but off the beaten path. The room was $60 a night, and when Uriah famously asked, "How many beds are there? 1 or 2?", as I walked into the room, I found that there were zero. Sleeping on the floor is common in Korea as I've learned over my 5 months, and they were now experiencing it first hand.

The next pertinent piece of information is that Philip bought some swimming trunks on the street for $5. This is only important because of today's Philip moment: Within hours of buying them, P ripped a gaping hole in his shorts where you don't want a hole to be. It was classic Philip, and though we were laughing hysterically, neither Uriah or I were surprised.

Other moments include us losing money at the local casino (giving us a record of 1-2 for the trip), a fire-breathing bartender, and football on the beach in which I got yelled at by a Korean lifeguard for swimming at night. This brings us to the end of the night, which instead of turning in, the guys decide that they'd rather take the midnight bus back to Ansan and lose our money for the room than sleep on the floor. So after 12 hours in Busan, the craziest taxi ride of our lives to the bus terminal (the guy was a maniac, but we didn't die) and a 5 hour bus trip, we arrived home at 5am.

Wednesday 7/28: Today was busy even though we stayed local the whole day. We slept in and went to the Ansan station street market sometime after lunch. It turned out to not be busy during the weekdays, so we buzzed through it quickly and eventually went to a Korean pool hall. We had the place to ourselves and played for almost 2 hours even though we only payed for 1. The guy at the counter was cool. Next we went to an arcade where we each took a couple of turns at shooting air rifles for prizes, winning a cute doll for Uriah's daughter. Later we went back home and actually got some exercise by playing soccer at one of the nearby schools. Everyone still had some lingering World Cup fever, so we had fun shooting penalty kicks and attempting shots on goal that were beyond our skill level.

After dinner we decided to indulge P in his request to go to a Korean night club. Having never been to one, I didn't know what to expect, but they almost denied us entry right off the bat because we were all under-dressed. I think the fact that we were Americans gave us our way in. The night club was a very large, dark and spacious room with many tables, a stage and a dance floor. On stage was a sort of variety show, rotating every 15 minutes with DJs, dancers, singers and bands. Being the only non-Koreans in the room, the 3 of us all felt very out of place at first, but many people in the club were speaking (or trying to speak) and attending to us, so it kept things interesting. Toward the end of the night, I was amazed to see the roof of the club open up to reveal the night sky. Overall it was a unique experience.

Thursday 7/29: We kept things simple, did a little shopping and went to a Korean league baseball game in the evening. Games here only cost $8 for general admission, there's a home and away side for fans, there are cheerleaders, and you can even bring your own food in. The fans are always cheering, which gives the stadium more of a college football feel than professional baseball. Americans could learn a thing or two from Korean fans.

Friday 7/30: Going home. It was great having these guys visit for 8 days. The only downside was that as they were preparing to leave, I felt more homesick than before they had come. It was worth it though. We'll see each other again soon enough. We did lunch one more time, then the guys packed their things. We hugged it out and took our pictures, then they caught a ride to the airport. Just like Don Henley sang in that song, "The boys of summer are gone".

The Boys Of Summer

8-5-2010

Day 154 of 365: For all the things I love about South Korea, I have to say that a 5 week Summer sucks pretty bad. While most kids in America are getting that itch around the month of May to go swimming, attend camps and just be lazy for a few months, kids (and teachers) in SK are barely at the halfway mark in their Spring semester. Our Summer vacation lasts from the end of July to the end of August. My 5 weeks break down like this: 2 weeks of teaching English Summer camp, 2 weeks of vacation, and 1 week of planning for next semester. I'm not a fan of the fact that I only really get 2 weeks off, but the upside is that I will still receive my full month's salary even during the break from school. It's a trade off I suppose. So far I've knocked out 1 week of Summer camp, 1 week of time off with the "boys" (more on that in a moment), and I'm currently in the middle of my planning week as I'm writing this. From what I've learned (and experienced), the end of each semester is generally the most stressful time of the year for most teachers in SK (not sure if this is true in the US or not, but I imagine so). I had both co-teachers jumping down my throat over random things one day and then be totally fine the next. Working on the plan for Summer camp wasn't a picnic either. I took my work home with me for 2 weeks straight so that I could come up with lessons and activities that would be fun and interesting for the kiddos. The co-teachers backed off when they saw how hard I was working, and I hope they will continue to cut me a little more slack come next semester.

I must say that after 5 months of learning a new job, a new language, a new culture, and new ways of getting my butt kicked, it felt amazing to not have to go to school for 9 days.The "boys" are Philip and Uriah, great friends from Austin and my first official visitors in SK. It's hard to believe that somebody loves me so much that they'd come half-way across the world to see me. Actually, it's more likely that they used my being here as an excuse to see what half-way across the world looks like, but I'm not complaining. All I know is that for the first time since I left Texas, I finally have a "posse" again. After walking down these streets alone for the better part of my time here, I finally had a gang to walk with again. It felt good; like a scene out of Entourage, except none of us are that pretty.

The guys had did their homework and had some ideas of what they wanted to do while they were here, and I of course had ideas of my own. We mashed them all together and came out with a packed 8 days and 7 nights. Here are some of the highlights broken down by each day:

Thursday 7/22 - Met the guys at the airport in the evening and rode a shuttle bus back to my place, which is about an hour away from Incheon International Airport. Took them to dinner in downtown Ansan, also known as my "backyard", and had ice cream at Baskin Robbins afterward to give them something a little familiar. We kept the first night simple.

Friday 7/23 - I showed the guys my school and even let them help teach my last day of that week's English Summer camp. Uriah, who has a little girl of his own, jumped right in. Philip didn't do a lot of "jumping", but they both had a good time. Later in the evening we went to a Korean karaoke room, which is called a Norebong (not sure if i've mentioned that before or not). They're super popular in SK, to the point where there seems to be one on every block in the downtown areas of the city. We had dinner that night at Papa John's pizza, the job that we all had in common back in the states. Our pizza had corn on it, along with many other traditional toppings. I think we were all impressed with the result. Afterward we went to Baskin Robbins. Again. Comfort food?

Saturday 7/24 - The first big day in Seoul. We had Mcdonald's for breakfast. It's the American thing to do, especially since Korean breakfasts suck. I haven't mentioned that before, but I'll go into detail another time. We took the subway to Itaewon, which is the foreigner district. Then we took a taxi to the Seoul Tower, the highest point in Seoul. Later we lost money at a casino and got lost walking the streets, only to end up in one of most popular areas of Seoul, Myeongdong. Having many shops, cafes and restaurants, an estimated 1.5 million people traverse this area every day. It's there that we randomly met a guy from San Marcos, Texas and also had Korean BBQ for the first time. We spent 14 hours that day in Seoul, which matches my longest trip in.

Sunday 7/25 - After church in the morning, we headed to the COEX mall, which is the only thing I've seen so far that resembles a mall in the US. Uriah and I won money back at the casino there and then went to Gangnam for dinner and Dr. Fish (Blog Entry: Paging Dr. Fish). Philip moment of the day: P drops his mom's digital camera in his beef stew and then won't let us take a picture of the hilarious moment, which in the end made it even more hilarious. To quote a red-faced P Stylez, "There's not going to be any photographic evidence!".

And on that note I will stop for now. I'll post the second half of the trip in a few days, whenever it's not midnight and I don't have work staring me in the face in the morning. Check the pictures too, I think there are some good ones in there; none of Philip's mom's camera though.