New School!

I know I've been awhile in writing, but I've been rather busy getting set up and established in my new job. I love this new job!!! I now teach a meager 5 classes a day and have an enjoyable workplace where my co-workers say hello to me and take an interest in me! Wow, what a change! I've been enjoying the cold weather and have been spending alot of time planning and running holiday parties with Angela. Christmas is only a few days away and while it's strange not being home with my family, I feel a warm comfort from being with Angela and my friends. I miss you all and hope everyone is doing well. I love you and miss you.

Travelling at the speed of light or 60 km/hr...

Per my usual, I have been slacking on the blog front. I thought it overdue to update everyone on what has been going on in the good ole ROK. Last weekend I had the opportunity to play in my first darts tournament. It was a team tournament, three players and their rankings had to be below 18 total. My team consisted of V-- at B6, I-- at B5 and me at CC4 (low man on the totem pole). We came in with no expectations and despite a late arrival by yours truly, which lost us the first match due to a substandard stand-in, we proceeded to wipe the competition up. There were 19 teams in the tournament and after 4 hours we found ourselves in the final round! We won our first game against them and then lost our second by a single dart, which left us disheartened and the wind was stolen from our sails as we went into the tie-breaker and got slaughtered. Nonetheless, we took second place and won 150,000 won. (approx 150 bucks), not too shabby for never having played in a darts tournament. Which brings me to this upcoming weekend, after hearing about my play last Sunday, I was asked to go to Seoul to play in another darts tournament! I'll let you know how that turns out.

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Today winter has finally reared its head in Busan, if only to briefly announce its arrival, snow fell for about 15 minutes this morning and although it didn't stay, it is now cold. It seems a long time since I was in the desert now! Brrrrrr.

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And on to the final piece of relevant information, I have procured employment and am making my trip to Japan for my new visa sometime next week and begin teaching at a haegwon again December 15. That's all the news from this corner of the world, where the men are pretty, the women are strong and the children are above average. (hehe)

All's Well That Ends Roughly

So... it has come to my attention that some people are rather disturbed by my last blog. It was not meant to be a doomsday message, just an overly dramatic statement of the current state of affairs. My situation is not typical, how apt for it to happen to me, yet it is one of the horror stories of what can happen with a corrupt boss. I am going to Japan on December 1st for a visa run, so I can keep everything legal here. I finished my job last Friday and moved to Busan without event after work Friday night. I am returning to Daegu to file my complaint with the Department of Labor and enter into arbitration with my former employer and will update everyone on the current job situation as it develops, as there are numerous jobs here and I can afford to be picky about the situation I get myself into after my auspicious beginning in Daegu. Anyway, I spent a fabulous day on the beach with Angela and Locky (was supposed to be Rocky, but he was named by a Korean... L-R issue) and here are some bright sunny days to clear the clouds away. All is well in Korea and I have nothing to worry about and neither do you. Life is good, you just have to search a little harder to find the true treasures sometimes. I will write more and give you some more happiness soon. As far as future plans, this January I will be taking a vacation with Angela and some friends to either Jeju Island (Korea's tropical island, similar to Hawaii) or Thailand for a little vacation. That's all I've got for now... Enjoy the pictures!

This is the end, my only friend the end...

So, some of you know and some do not, that this has been an abrupt week to put it mildly. I returned from Busan to Daegu to check my bank account and find that I was missing approximately 2 million won from my bank account... I proceeded to work and was shown a receipt for my pay which had reduced my pay by exactly 2 mil (current economy makes it worth around $2,000 here but if i were to transfer that back home only about $1400) in order to compensate my director for the recruiting fee and the airfare along with an email from him saying that Thursday would be my last day and Friday I would be paid for November and be finished. Wow! Okay, now breathe... So it appears that today, Friday will be my last day in Daegu as I head on down the road to Busan. Don't for a second think that this roadside brigandry will pass and I will leave this matter lie, the kid gloves just came off. At least there is some measure of legal recourse for such action which will be now employed to the fullest.

*NOTE* As far as the tail is concerned, my fellow cohorts and I have now decided it was probably just some Korean that didn't particularly like Weygeukens. No worries.

More as the current situation unfolds.

Interesting Times... developing story

So, I'm not quite sure what, if anything, that it means, but as I moseyed on down the street today on my way to the closest cab stand to head to work I encountered a strange situation. Maybe it is just paranoia due to the tension with my work situation, but there is no denying the fact that I picked up a tail on my way to work. I know it sounds straight out of a movie, but a seedy looking Korean man in a nice tweed suit fell in step, not one step behind me. I felt him right behind me so I stopped into the closest mart under the pretense of buying something to drink and he sat outside and waited for me to emerge from the building. He fell right in behind me and as I sat at the crosswalk waiting to cross the street, he spoke to me under his breath, but combined with my limited knowledge of Korean and the fact I had my iPod in one ear, I couldn't understand a word. It was the style of speech I call Moscow speak, which I learned when I lived there and people use so that they can have personal conversations in the midst of millions of people. It was quiet, yet directed solely at me. I crossed the street and proceeded to get into a cab and the man proceeded to get into the next cab and follow me. I got out at the intersection of my school and wandered off to get some food and didn't see him again, but that doesn't leave me thinking it was an isolated incident. After speaking with my fellow American teachers, they agreed with my analysis that it was either government (probably immigration) or the mafia as the neighborhood I live in is quite mobbed up. Since he didn't completely stop me, odds are he wasn't government, leaving the mob... I haven't done anything to warrant any type of warning, which this obviously was, or any type of harassment. I am keeping my eyes peeled to see if I spot him again around work or my neighborhood... more to follow when this situation develops more. Obviously, I hope that it resolves itself and falls to rest with no further interaction or confrontation. This is relatively unheard of, so it has everyone a little concerned, but not overly so as nothing was done. Love you all and hope everyone is enjoying a beautiful fall! Talk to you all again soon.

Random Musings from an Autumn Day

I forgot how enjoyable autumn truly is on a nice crisp fall afternoon, watching the wind rustle through the leaves as you walk down the sidewalk. After not having been in autumn in over a decade I had forgot what a pleasurable experience it truly is......
...
...
It's an interesting point of view, one is forced to take when one lives as a visible minority in a country. As a wegouken (foreigner), here in Korea, one has to take a step back and be ever mindful of how people react to you. It was weird the first time, I made a baby cry just because she looked at me and started screaming Wegouk!! Wow. Some have a much better go of it than others, for instance the Canadians and Aussies/New Zealanders. Americans and Russians have such a skewed image that it is sometimes difficult to understand or react to the blatant racism, and not just racism like the nightclub just down the street that foreigners aren't allowed to enter, but outright hatred at times. It has definitely been a revelation in the fact that people all around the world have their own measure of racial intolerance. One would think that coming over here that being American, there would be some form of gratitude considering we are the reason their country exists in the first place, liberating them from Japan and then fighting for their further establishment on this peninsula against the Russians and Chinese, but don't get self-righteous, there is a severe distrust that permeates deep within the country. True, Americans have not done the best in international relations with their little toehold into Asia, but the open disdain can sometimes be a little much. I think this little rant has been brewing for awhile, well basically for a couple weeks and it culminates with my particular haegwon, ECS... this is a little manifesto I wrote a couple weeks ago...

...PLEASE DON'T BE CONCERNED... THIS IS JUST A MEDIUM TO RELEASE SOME TENSION...

Upon reflection of their complete and utter lack of respect, not to mention failure to comprehend compassion or the human condition, I find myself wondering how an entire culture can be devoid of any emotional tie to one another. After watching the intentional waylaying of a comrade, not only in need, but in a state of emergency requiring immediate medical attention, I wonder if the worker bee mentality isn't too firmly entrenched that it makes advancement as a culture completely superficial. I watched my friend, W-, suffer needlessly in massive amounts of pain, while two of the Korean teachers (KT's) were sent home early in order to save as much money as P- and I had spent on our day's coffee purchases. Without becoming too graphic, my friend was plagued by a golf ball sized hemorrhoid which appeared suddenly on Sunday morning. He worked through the pain on Monday and came to work Tuesday, asking for directions to a clinic because it has started to bleed. They not only wouldn't tell him, they said they were concerned because he had classes, only to turn around when his last class cancelled and switch him to a KT's class so she could go home because she had a presentation the next day. The true underlying motive is the fact that the KT's are paid by the class as opposed to the foreign teachers who are paid a monthly salary. Today, Thursday (this was written nearly 3 weeks ago), the day after W- had emergency surgery, he came in to work still connected to a morphine drip because they brought him in. This is a man used and abused to the extreme by the establishment, as last November, he was hospital stricken due to a heart attack and was called in to work the same day. The same story happened six months ago when he had surgery to have his gall bladder removed. They won't kill you here, but they will work you until you die. It is truly amazing that we rate lower than animals, we are a disposable commodity and for a country so enthralled and predisposed to the idea of face and respect that we receive it nominally or not at all.

...
Really, don't be concerned, they aren't all like this, I have in my own way become one of those people who give talks to others about what could happen to you if... LOL
I really do love Korea and I am very happy with most everything, the atmosphere at work over the past few weeks has diminished to a toxic level with everyone yelling at everyone else, I don't mean for you to think that it's all a huge pile of cow manure waiting to be shoveled, but it isn't all a bed of roses either... Yeah, I love the fact that my daily expenses are under $15 including my $4 24 ounce cup of coffe. And that's on the expensive days. You can keep your costs down to about $5/day, but why suffer if you have the resources to indulge a little in the midst of such a wonderful opportunity. Anyway, this little story should be done now. I love you all and I can't wait to talk to you all soon. Good night and good luck!

Fireworks!!!

So I had a spectactular weekend in Busan... and I just wanted to show you some of the highlights via photos. For an indepth look at the photos... see

but here is a little preview...



And for more look at my site on http://www.flickr.com/photos/27441599@N07/

State of the Union

Let me just say that although, we have seen some price increases over the last few months over here... I am most certainly glad that I am not going back to the States for awhile. When I moved here, the won and the dollar were almost evenly pegged... around 1085 won = 1 dollar. However in the last 2 weeks, there have been dramatic losses on that front. The won is now worth about 64 cents on the dollar. The exchange has stabilized somewhat at around 1385 won to the dollar (official, not bank rates) and let me say I am very glad I don't have to be sending home massive amounts of dollars for credit cards or whatever else. I have a friend that sent home 10,000 W to get 7500 USD, just last week! OUCH! Those that are here, are glad they are here, those leaving shortly are hating life as they've seen a dramatic decrease in their savings in just a matter of days. My fellow co-worker just watched 25,000 turn into 13,000 overnight because he had to transfer money home. It just made me realize how crazy it must be over there. I miss you all and hope everyone is doing well.

Livin la vida loca

So alot has happened in the last few weeks... So where to start? Well, two weeks ago my friend, Jeff, and another American opened up a bar in Busan and then one week ago, two days after the gas company hooked up the gas in their bar, decided to cook some food up in their kitchen. He lit the burner and the kitchen exploded... the force knocked down a brick wall outside the kitchen and blew all the windows out in the building. Jeff was badly hurt in the accident, he received 3rd degree burns on his hands and arms up to his triceps, and 2nd degree burns to his face and stomach and feet. Its a long road ahead for him. He will be in the hospital for quite awhile in the burn unit recovering from his injuries.

This last weekend was the Pusan International Film Festival, one of the biggest, if not the biggest film festival in Asia. Films from around the world premiered in Busan this last weekend, combined with the fact that it was Foundation Day on Friday (see below) it was a packed weekend, with people oozing out of every hotel. It was kind of fun watching all the Korean movie stars descend en masse with the papparazzi everywhere. Producers and directors from everywhere were on the scene to sift through the latest and greatest movies from around the world. Someone told me that they had even seen Steven Spielberg and I'm not sure that I didn't see Spike Jones and Ice Cube. Craziness.

Anyway, on to the description of Foundation Day... So a long time ago, Hwawin wanted to live on earth instead of in the heavens and he came down and there was this bear in this cave and he fed the bear garlic and after some time the bear turned into a woman. She wanted to become a mother so he obliged her and their child was named Tangun. Tangun founded Korea and made his capital in Pyongyang and ruled for about a thousand years. Now Koreans will tell you that its a myth... but they all believe it! I love superstitious people!

P.S. -- I finally bought a camera! Pictures will be forthcoming again.

Fan Death.... beware

So Korea can be a strange place... I have recently been intrigued with a Korean urban myth. And sadly I am disheartened by the fact that in such a technologically advanced country and with such a major emphasis put on math and science in the schools and haegwons here... one can only *sigh* and wonder. This phenomena I would like to discuss is called fan death. This belief is so widespread that the media not only cultivates this myth with is continued propagation, it wholeheartedly believes in it and has the backing of the government in its perpetuation. So anyway the belief is such: If you go to sleep with the fan pointed at your head, you can die.
There are a number of different explanations for this... 1) The fan cuts the O2 molecules inside the fan and you can't breathe and asphyxiate. 2) The cold air from the fan will cool your body so much you get hypothermia.
The media climbs on board with reports every summer of the many casualties of fan death backed with governmental statistics showing it to be on of the highest causes of death during the summer months.
Luckily, there is a simple method of prevention for this needless death: open your window! By opening your window, you create a steady flow of fresh oxygen. And just in case you forget to open your window... all fans in Korea come equipped with a timer that automatically turns the fan off... so you can't die and hold them responsible. They also have warnings printed on the fan warning against fan death.
And now just when you are sitting there thinking to yourself... well, I'll just sleep in my car, think again! Fan death happens in cars with windows closed, too! And it is for that reason, that most taxi drivers don't use the A/C in their taxis, or if they do, they will crack the window open to ensure that uncut, uncooled oxygen can keep everyone alive. This is not purely a folk legend... doctors, professors, educated people and common people alike all believe in this myth. Here are a couple of videos showing just how widespread this belief is... Until next time!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs0b2vBfSrM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLAfVbrd3iM

argh!!!

Sometimes you just want to strangle your students! Since my students didn't have school today they were extra wound up coming into the haegwon tonight. I had some little punk run up and stick gum on my pants! *sigh* Okay I'm done venting... hey mom! how do you get gum out of clothes? LOL

Chuseok

So I am rather excited about this weekend... Chuseok is upon us! This is one of the biggest holidays in Korea. Its rather similar to our Thanksgiving and is a 3 day holiday, unfortunately... Chuseok falls on Saturday, so Saturday, Sunday, Monday, but my work was kind enough to give us Tuesday off (read: attempt to cut down on overtime) Chuseok is a day that families get together and honor their ancestors and eat lots of food. So since I'm not Korean nor can I cook Korean food (yet) I am going to go down to Busan and lounge on the beach and then make my way over to Kyungju. I will hopefully pick up a new camera this weekend so I can show some more of Korean life. Hope everyone has a fantastic Friday! Next time, I'll tell you all about the dangers of running your fans at night!

Jjimjilbang

So its about time I write some of the goings on in Korea down on virtual paper. I wanted to let everyone know about the amazingness that is the jjimjilbang, or public bath/sauna. So every Wednesday, we get off from work early... 9:05pm at the latest and recently Peter and I, a fellow co-worker, have made it our weekly ritual to enjoy the early evening and relax at Home Spa World, this monstrosity of a bathhouse. For those who don't know what a bathhouse entails... you walk in and get a locker. Take off all your clothes, put the key (on a little bracelet) on your wrist or ankle and wander off to enjoy the myriad of pools and saunas. The men and boys have separate floors from the women and girls. Many families come here together and it is a sort of a male/female bonding experience. The pools range from 42 deg C to 18 deg C (or 108-64 deg F for all you westerners). Some pools have herb infusions, green tea, or Japanese cedar pool called Hanori, the majority of them though are just normal water. There are also waterfall showers and cold water jacuzzis. And just to temper it all, you have a Finnish sauna, an herb sauna and various other heated rooms. And that is just the main floor where the lockers are located. They have a gym, a swimming pool and masseuses (unfortunately only during normal daytime hours). Jjimjilbangs do not ever close, people sleep there, they have little cubbies you can tuck yourself into and sleep and wake up and do it all over again if you so choose! Now my favorite part of Home Spa World is something called Korean Bulgama. To get to the bulgama you have to travel to a different floor. Down in the basement, you have a variety of rooms, all heated or cooled to different temperatures and varying themes, but the two of most importance are the bulgama and the ice room. After spending an hour or two up in the pools and saunas, you make your way into the bulgama, this beehive shaped oven basically. It reminds me alot of a Native American sweat lodge because they have this thing heated up to 90 deg C or 194 deg F. The floor is covered with mats which are mostly covered in turn with blankets. And what we do is go sit in the bulgama for about 15-20 minutes with a nice liter of iced green tea or ice water and then when you've had all you can take, go into the ice room at a brisk 6 deg C or 42 deg F and watch the steam rise off your body! Rinse and repeat as many times as you like and even throw a massage into the mix to really cleanse your body. It is a great time had by all and I can't wait to take dad when he comes for a visit... right up his alley! Talk to you all again soon!

Slacking

So... here's a quick update! I have internet which means that I will be writing more frequently and much more informative posts! Gotta get ready for work now but I miss all of you and I will be telling you all of my stories.

I suck at writing and getting internet apparently

So just a quick little note to let everyone know I am still alive. I spent the last week in Seoul (2 days) and Busan (4 days). Vacation was amazing and it sucks being back at work, but that's the way of the grind. I had no camera for my adventures of which there are many... I need to sleep because I work in 6 hours but I just wanted to say hello to everyone out there. XOXO Miss everyone, I will write soon, but I am still writing from the PC bang as I apparently will never get internet unless I figure out how to do it myself. Good night. Love from Korea

Happy Alien Day!

Just a quick note... I have my passport back, I have my alien registration card (read: internet, new cell phone with plan and ability to travel) and no more possibility for deportation. Yay! Oh, p.s. Happy Bday papa-san!

A little about work and my schedule

Interestingly enough, I am sitting at work right now, a class just cancelled so I thought I would use the opportunity to tell you all a little about my job. I work for a haegwon, or private school, called English Country School (ECS for short). My schedule is rather absurd, but it fits in with the culture of Korea, and is fairly typical of haegwon life.
Most businesses stay open very late here, generally closing around midnight for your average biz, such as hair salon or corner grocery store, but the internet cafes are 24 hours, the norebangs and restaurants and bars all close about 6 am... well most of them close at that time, some never close, but quite a few businesses end up shutting down from 6am til noon. Every time I've gone to the PC bang to call home, I end up leaving around 3 or 4 am and all of the tables outside the restaurants are still full. But I digress...
I generally wake up around ten am just enough time to wake up and brush my teeth before I walk down to Hapkido, a Korean martial art, which lasts from 11 til noon. I head home, shower, cook lunch and head to work around 1:40pm... just enough time to walk to school and get there around 2pm or shortly thereafter. My day really begins at 2:30 when all my little rugrats show up. My first classes are younger students, my students range from 7 -16 years old. Korean age is slightly different, you are born at 1 years old and every lunar new year you have a birthday, so the entire country celebrates their birthday on the same day every year! But it also means that depending on when you were born, by the time lunar new year rolls around, if you were born in December, come January/February, you could be two years old! LOL So that was the roundabout way of saying they are all younger than you think.
My day is basically split into two halves: classes before 7pm and those after 7pm. 2:30-7p are my students in younger elementary grades, most between 7 and 12. The students after 7p are all TOEFL students, working for a purpose: to get into good high schools and eventually good universities. Classes last 45 minutes and after each class you get a 5 minute break to catch your breath, find your next book and head on to the next one. Every class has a different dynamic and they are always shuffling our schedules around. One week may be with these classes and next a completely different schedule. My classes are rather small, which is ideal for learning a new language, and not one of mine is over 13 students. My biggest class, which is also one of my faves is on Tuesday/Thursday and if I'm not in the room when the bell rings, 4 or 5 of them come into the teacher's room and literally drag me out ready or not! It's kind of nice to be that adored, but don't get me wrong... there are quite a few that don't like me either. It isn't cheap to send students to these haegwons, in fact, statistics say that parents are willing to spend up to 30% of their gross income on their child's education. Alot of kids don't want to be here and studying and most of their are overworked and sleep deprived, but again, that's a cultural thing. I love being able to see the effects of my work. Its taken awhile and with some of the attitudes, I actually wondered if we did anything here but I am finally seeing that some of the things I've taught have sunk in at least a bit. The students here are masters of memorization so you almost have to trick them to see if they've learned the material. As much fun as I have with the younger students, I prefer teaching the older middle schoolers because they can have complete conversations and understand much better, flip side is that they are much lazier, but it is all a bunch of give and take. Anyway, back to teaching.

The Amazing Race will be explained in full with pictures... really, I'm not lying, however after I post the next batch I will be out of pics for awhile since I broke (read: got sand stuck in the lens) my camera at Boryeong Mud Festival 2008... see a trend in this post? More and more things to write about... can I please have the internet in my house!?!?! Anyway, on a bright note... tomorrow is citizen day! I get my passport and my alien registration card! WOO HOO!!!

Amazing Race Daegu

So... one week after and with so many new things to write about, I have to get The Amazing Race out before I forget the details... and yes pictures are still forthcoming. The day began as many here in Korea do: hot and sweaty! it was over 90 degrees and the humidity was scalding! Amanda and I met up at Sangin station and headed on down to Jungangno where we disembarked and strolled on down to Thunderbirds Lounge, the wonderful drinking establishment owned by the Moose, local Candian extraordinaire. Once everyone was in, 27 teams in all, the door was locked and each team was given an envelope. We opened them to find a map of downtown Daegu and a "passport" which we hung around neck which would show how many challenges we had completed. It was at this time that I started to feel bad for all of those in flip flops... I love my Saucony's! After the rules were explained, the doors were unlocked and the Race had begun! Amanda and I ran off with several other teams in the direction of the park, which didn't fit in the neat square of the rest of downtown, which was a sure sign that some event was located within. We showed up and the station wasn't set up yet =( The event was set up in coordination with alot of Daegu businesses and even their Chamber of Commerce and Parks and Rec, who hadn't opened up their building for the necessary supplies to be retrieved yet. So off we ran to find the next challenge. Now, Amanda and I were by far the newest people to be in the race and knew downtown less than anyone around so we definitely faced an uphill battle! After wandering around for twenty minutes we stumbled onto our next site... stumbled being very appropriate because one of the team had to drink a cup of soju, fill the cup, get blindfolded and be lead down the street to the end of the station where still blindfolded pour the soju into the cup and pass a certain line on the other cup or else you fail and get a 30 minute penalty. Now the soju was extremely hot being stuck outside so this was definitely not the highest on my favorite challenges, but we managed without too much difficulty despite walking through the packed downtown streets! We roamed around downtown and went in circle after circle trying to figure out which streets we had been down. It really is a maze with so many places looking identical. After letting my buddy Mike know where the soju station was he told us where the DDR station was located: on the 8th floor of the XN Milano building! So we roll up to the arcade on the 8th floor and we get 300 won to play Dance Dance Revolution...

let it be known that white boys can dance as I got one of the highest scores of any contestant lol. The challenge was that each team had to compete, both members had to dance, and to pass the challenge the only requirement is that you don't fail. I got a D and Amanda got an F, but even an F is still passing ha! Don't let the game deceive you though.... its not all that easy to pass! Anyhow, we got out of there and wandered around the streets trying to find our way and figure out which streets we hadn't walked when we came upon Outback Steakhouse. Outside of Outback there was a large platform and two people from Tbirds. Challenge Three was to pick a song from the list, they would cue the music, give you a mic and you had to stand on the platform and sing the song karaoke style while your partner grabbed 3 pedestrians from the street to join in singing and dancing with you! I, for some reason still unknown to even myself, chose ABBA's Dancing Queen and got up and started singing. Amanda went off to round up some people but failed miserably!

I kept interrupting my song to tell her to physically drag them up on stage but she was too timid and we ended up failing and taking a 30 minute penalty. Since we knew where the park was we started wandering around looking for the last station, which we had been given a hint of a hot Japanese restaurant... after about 45 minutes we finally found it along with another group, Mike (different Mike and he's from Thief River Falls) and his girlfriend Maum, rock, paper, scissored our way to do it before them and went in, where we learned the true meaning of the "hot" restaurant. Challenge Four was choose 2 of 3 plates of sushi, blue, green, and pink plates. One of the three had a "hot" piece of sushi and the other two were fine. We chose pink and green, we sat down and Amanda was given the pink and I was given the green, we had to chew each piece twenty times before we were allowed to swallow it. When I looked at the green plate, I knew I was in trouble. Beyond having a chunk of wasabi the size of the first bone of your thumb, it was dripping in red pepper sauce. I was fine until around bite 15-17 and then I started sweating, at bite 20 it still took me another 10 or so bites to actually be able to swallow it! I was sweating and crying from the heat! It was hilarious! We ran off to find the park to do the last event and get back to the bar to kill the burning sensation in my mouth and belly! We hit the park and had to throw these bamboo sticks with rubber tips into these 3 holes... kind of a variation on lawn darts but the bamboo/rubber combo made this extremely difficult, we only got 2 in 3 minutes and failed, but only two teams actually passed that event, so we didn't feel too bad, except we now had our second 30 minute penalty. We know we weren't going to win so we kind of strolled back to the bar and we show up and grab waters and a beer to kill the burn, even though I just wanted to drink water because of the insane heat.


Moose hands us a note that says: Detour! Head to Woobang Tower, walk up the long road and turn to the left of the ticket booth! Don't buy a ticket! So we ran out with beer and water in hand and hail a cab going to Woobang.




We meet up with Mike and Maum again on the walk up the road and we come to the base of Woobang Tower and are told to head to the 77th floor. This can only mean one thing... Sky Jump! We get up there and since both Amanda and I want to do it, we rock, paper, scissors (this is the argument decider for everything over here) and she wins so she gets to jump for our team. Stuck on picture duty I watch enviously as Amanda jumps off this guideded free-fall. Mike and Maum are up next and they both back out so I get lucky and get to take Mike's jump!

It was a blast, like walking the plank, clipped in to a harness and then get clipped into the cable. You jump off and then fall all the way down to the ground! The jump off is kind of breath taking but then it was all fun in the sun! Caught a cab back to Tbirds and BBQ'd on the roof and relaxed after an amazing day!

the amazing 4th

So in my slacktudiness and along with the plethora of other activities I have been finding myself participating in the daeguru has been a little light on material... don't worry as soon as my lazy butt gets them downloaded, the pics will tell a million tales that I have already stored in memory or chosen to forget... but anyway, after a grueling day at work (gotta love those 9 class days... which reminds me I really need to put up a post about how work works), Amanda, Peter and I rolled downtown to hit up trivia night at Commune's. Unfortunately we were a little bit late and couldn't make a team so we ended up just watching the tomfoolery and laughing off in our own little corner... well, we did some mocking too! Anyway, en route from work to the cab stand, we picked up some fireworks from the local stationary store. Talk about something paradoxical: stationary stores are your best source for fireworks over here, I don't really understand the need for flammables/explosives to be sold in a paper store but meh, that's their problem. After an intense round of trivia (Amanda and I squeezed our way onto Justin's team about halfway through), all the Americans stood up and sang the Star Spangled Banner, God Bless America and This Land Is Your Land to the boos of a couple Canucks and this obnoxious drunk brit (such a twit I refuse to capitalize Brit for him, the one person I don't like over here and who may actually get his own post as a result of his beligerant drunken behavior) and my team went outside to the street and we all lit up sparklers! Happy B-day America! After we burned up our two foot long sparklers we rolled around the block to hit up Old Skool for some good ole dance the night away boogie down times! We sang the Star Spangled again in Old Skool and stuck around dancing til about 4 a.m. when we went over to Club Frog and danced until the sun came up and the Metro opened up again. Quick stop at Burger King on the way to the subway and Justin and I hopped on the train and slept our way across town. We got home around 6.30 a.m. and crashed out after making plans to watch Superbad on Saturday afternoon. Justin called around noon just to confirm and I finally answered his calls around 1 (3 missed calls later) to confirm that I'd roll over around 3.30 p.m. So I show up at Daegok subway station and he comes down to meet me and on the way to his place we stop and pick up a couple bottles of soju and four bottles of Korean plum wine, some really tasty stuff! Watched Superbad which was actually a pretty funny movie although I'm sure the 4 bottles of wine and the bottle of soju helped. Around 7, I ran home to change and was going to try and meet Justin to see a movie... He beat me there and went to one on his own, I figured I may as well hit up a movie to see what its like and watched "Wanted" with Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie with Korean subtitles. It was pretty cool! The movie theatre was enormous and the seats were so extremely comfortable! Ahhh leg room! Met up with Justin at Thunderbirds for Nick's going away party and then danced at Old Skool a bit before calling it an early night at 4 a.m. I needed my beauty sleep... Sunday was a big day with the Amazing Race Daegu II. To be cont...

remiss in updating

okay, okay, so i know that i am slacking! i will actually put something up very soon! this is a filler so you all know i am still alive and kicking. so many stories to write about! i want internet! have to go teach now, but i will be back on soon!

Mecca, Office Parties, and Norebang oh my!

I have found new mecca and it is called Costco! Peter (my neighbor I teach with) and Caitlyn (his gf) introduced me to the new teacher Amanda and decided we ought to go to Costco! We split a cab which cost us 12,000 won to get across town... $25 bucks round trip can be kind of expensive so a quarter of that is much easier on the pocketbook. As of Sunday afternoon, I now have a business membership which cost me all of 35,000 won lol of course I ended up spending another 250,000 won once I got inside and now I feel like my diet finally can expand beyond the occasional curry and rice and spam and eggs and ramyan noodles! Mmmmm provolone and pepper jack! Pickles and Dijon mustard and dried apricots and pasta and lots of different meats including CHORIZO!!! Asa! Cranberry juice and all of the yummy goodies America ships overseas! It is such happiness! My fridge and belly are both nice and full! In celebration of Costco and also a welcome dinner for Amanda, Peter and I dished out the pork tenderloin and its fabulous marinade along with some stir-fried shrimp and veggies and pulled out some candles, Korean Riesling and crappy Hite and the four of watched the stars and the moon rise from our fabulous rooftop. Next month, in honor of summer, we are going to return to Costco to buy a $150 Coleman charcoal grill and some Kingsford charcoal! Woo hoo! Fully outfitted with grill and beer for under $200 bucks!

***
So I know I've been remiss in posting, but alot has gone on in the last few days! Friday I was introduced further into Korean culture... the mandatory office party. It will occur monthly and this was the first one that ECS has ever had. The boss, Mr. Choi doesn't like to drink (very odd for a Korean man), so he sent his son Paul, who also works at ECS, as his representative i.e. the credit card. We held the party at Wa Bar, which was in conjunction a going away party for Nick and Sarah, who leave next Friday and last Friday respectively. The twenty or so people that were there piled the table with beer and drinks and all the food you can eat. Koreans consider it poor manners and unacceptable to drink without food (almost like the Russians but for different reasons) and will at least serve peanuts or something to snack on while you drink, but sausages and dried squid and peanuts and fruit plates galore were spread and we kept the bar occupied for a solid 3.5 hours before making an unanimous decision to walk across the street and let the party begin as we took over the largest room in the norebang for the next 3 hours... unfortunately the soju came out around 4 AM and people slowly fell away at that point in time until the last 5 of us took off around 6 AM and watched the sun rise as we stumbled, cabbed our way home, or in Jayo's case plopped against a pole and "rested" for a little before moving on. Course there were a couple of restaurants that were just closing up across the street but it was no point for any of us to eat, sleep was the only thing left for anyone. On that note... I think I will go catch some Z's as I still haven't caught up from Friday night. Miss you all!

The Spice of Life

For those who know me, eating and drinking are two separate events not to be held together. Tonight, I was treated to the unique experience of eating and drinking together, not by choice but I had to run for the orange juice after taking a bite of my super hot and spicy chicken wings! I'm so glad I have finally found food that was worthy of being called spicy... every time I order a dish the Koreans say no, no, no you don't want that... it's too spicy, you won't like it. I even had a waiter say he pitied me when he took my order. But tonight, I nodded and told the lady very good when she told me that this was very spicy, I had my preconception of spicy and went off home with my spicy chicken wings and cup of dumpling (not sure if it was chicken and veggie or just veggie). Sat down on the floor and popped open the containers. Rather expensive meal at 10,000 won, but I just wanted to try something new and being literally a 45 second walk from my front door I was hoping it was something good to break the rice and curry staple of my diet, which although very good becomes quite monotonous, but I digress. Upon opening up my cup of dumplings and pouring this "BB sauce" which was a sort of spicy mustard, I think, over the top and start munching away and looking at the wings steaming in their container and dreading switching from chopsticks to fingers. Opting to finish up the dumplings first and giving the wings time to cool off, I make ready for the stickiness with a batch of paper towels. With the first bite, unprepared for the burst of heat, I immediately start sweating. Now we have some heat that isn't based on red pepper paste! MmmmMmmmm! I finish the first of four wings and feel the burn in my stomach already and the sweet bliss of it all sends me running to the fridge for the bottle of OJ because I can't quite do it without a little cooling. Yes, I know I am a wuss, but it felt so good to be a wuss! Until next time... Annyong Hasayo!

Strange times

So yet another interesting experience! I rolled out of bed and started stumbling my way out of my house and down the road to hit up my favorite place in the world... PCbong (well, at least until I have that infamous ARC and internet, phone, etc...) and this little Korean man in a suit turns to me and says, "Hello, where are you from?" To which I reply, "Hi, I'm from America." And I hear the last words, I would ever expect... "Have you heard the words of Christ?" He reaches into his bag and pulls out a copy of The Watchtower, you have to give them credit, the Jehovah's Witnesses are doing a good job of proselytizing. I took the copy of The Watchtower dated October 15, 2001 and kindly informed him that I am a Christian and he thanked me, shook my hand and slowly went on his way. Craziness! Talk to you more later.

Nori bang!!!!!

I finally feel like I have acclimated into Korean society! Today was a ridiculously long day... 8 break 1 (I'll have to explain the intricacies of teaching at another time) but it really sucked! So Wolf who had a 1 break 8 asked if I wanted to go hit up the Nori Bang (read: no-ree bong)! and despite being exhausted, we went over and hit up Dalki (Strawberry for all you Weugeukens {Way-gook-ens} out there). Now I'm not sure how many of you have ever been out to karaoke... but this is an entirely new experience! They give you a private room and you have a flat screen and a couple of mics. So Wolf and I rocked out. You go in and you pay for an hour... $15 bucks an hour and you are free to sing whatever you like! We sang so well that they kept adding on time and we ended up singing for an hour forty five. They kept on feeding us time because we are good for bringing in business. Good singers + westerners = better business for the nori bang! So needless to say, a good time was had by all. Can't wait to introduce you all to the magical pleasures of NORI BANG!...

Apsan!!!

I feel much better about life now. Nothing like a 5 minute walk to the base of your own personal mountain, where I discovered Koreans love hiking. There were hundreds if not thousands of people hiking around the the mountains, which is completely understandable when you take a look at how absolutely beautiful the country is. Its a strange dichotomy with these dirty cities juxtaposed within these mountains. I spent some time visiting a Buddhist temple on the way up and then stopped by a shrine after I got about 2/3 of the way up and was fed some fried veggies/tofu. Everyone here is phenomenally nice most of the time. You get the odd mix of people that are very kind and also very rude. They don't really like Americans over here, which I'm guessing is a holdover from the Korean War... oops. Anyway... I just wanted to throw up a few pictures of Apsan and Daegu from the overlooking ridge. More on school when I need to return to that place of insanity... but that's another story. As my blogging skills increase, I'll actually figure out how to post pictures where I want them... *sigh*

One Week

So... I don't even know where to begin on this whirlwind of a journey. My laptop is wonderful, but I have haven't found WiFi yet! I won't get my internet hooked up for a couple of weeks I think. My internet and my ability to get a bank account or a cel phone all hinge on me getting my ARC or alien registration card. I have been trying to get accustomed to being in Korea, but needless to say its very shocking. I am eating a huge variety of new foods, gimbop is my personal favorite and something that I could live on for a very long time, its like a sushi roll with vegetables in it and generally some ham, but sometimes tuna. Jyumjyumyun is pretty tasty too with its noodles and sweet soy sauce-based sauce. I'm not sure what else to say right now, I'm rather tired and thinking sleep is a good idea, maybe i'll go climb up Apsan Mt. tomorrow, rejuvenate myself a little. So much to talk about, I don't know where to start. Good night and fare thee well.

Visa Resolution and the Korean Consulate General

So after the confusion with my visa and trying to get routed through the Korean Consulate of Houston sans a plane ticket from Tucson to Texas and moving my visa application to the LA consulate I have resolution. So I talk to the LA consulate today and speak with a lady who says can you pick up your visa tomorrow? I say sure, when is my interview? What a crazy way to stick the horse after the cart. So about thirty minutes later the Korean consulate general calls me up and the "interview" goes like this:
KCG: What did you do before?
Me: Accounting
KCG: When did you graduate?
Me: August 2007
KCG: Last year, ok. Is your health and medical still okay?
Me: Yes.
KCG: You are going to Daegu?
Me: Yeah, Daegu.
KCG: When are you planning on leaving?
Me: Tomorrow if possible.
KCG: WOW! How did you get your passport and visa?
Me: I got my passport a long time ago when I went and travelled around Europe.
KCG: Okay, I approve Korean Visa. *click*

more impatience and waiting

So.... after expecting to be flying out on Friday and waiting for the Korean Consulate in Houston to make up their mind and give me a call back to schedule my exit interview (which is technically a formality) they called me back today... They set up my interview for next Tuesday at 2pm. Fine, so I go and get it knocked out and fly out that night. Not so much. After talking to Darren, my ERG contact setting up this whole thing, I called the consulate back to make sure that I would get my passport back after the interview so I could fly out that evening. I called them back and they said they couldn't give it back to me that quickly, there was no way of assuring that I would be get my visa approved (which I understand has already happened) and get my passport ready. So Wednesday would be the "soonest" they could get it back. Called Darren back and said I could stay in Houston so I could get my passport and fly out that Wednesday night. He then informed me that the Korean Consulate of Houston was the absolute worst embassy to deal with in the U.S., what a comfort... So here I am with time on my hands and waiting for Tuesday to arrive. I want to get over there now please ok thanks. Until I have anything new to report... I'll talk to you later.

Waiting

Now I'm not really sure how this whole process goes, but I figured I may as well start keeping tabs on the daily life and other randomness. So here I am waiting in Tucson for the mailman... I've never wanted to see the mail show up so desperately before. I just want to see that package saying Republic of Korea Immigration blah blah blah. So I sit here loading music onto my computer and try and configure my new laptop and all of its toys while packing and sitting on my butt.

****update******
Well, after a busy day after lunch ended... I have my visa app off again to Houston where I will be interviewing tentatively on Friday and then later that night flying off to Korea... 4 more days in the States! Gotta get busy... more later.