The Tokyo Subway

Today as we were riding around Tokyo on the subway I noticed that it was a lot like other subways I had been on. Oddly enough, it reminded me of the Tube, in London, more than anything. Of course the stops all had different names and the advertisements and signs were all in Japanese. However, the design of the stops, the smell, the way the ticketing counters were positioned, the sound of the cars, the design and interior of the cars and even the steps inside the station all reminded me of London. Call me crazy, but it was all strangely familiar.

On the Road Again

We are headed to Tokyo for New Years. Awesome. Updates to come.

150

Today marks 150 days since I left the States.

My Father on Korea

"Have a great day in the land ancient and modern beyond the setting sun overrun with octopuses."

Thanksgiving in Korea

Since we could not celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday, Adam and Nichole were kind enough to host a dinner at their place on Saturday. It was Thanksgiving potluck style, but Adam and Nichole provided us with food too. Daniel, in spite of the fact that he is Canadian, helped prepare some delicious chickens and stuffing (a special thanks to our boss who gave us some money to help cover the dinner). Of course we had all the normal Thanksgiving fixings. It was delicious. I told everyone that I would bring wine (which led to the birth of a new Thanksgiving tradition).

I was at E-Mart-uh trying to decide what wine to bring. There was a surprisingly wide selection, but a lot of it was expensive and none of it was really what I wanted. I saw on the bottom shelf a giant jug of Carlo Rossi Sangria and thought for a minute about whether or not it would be hilarious for me to bring that. Ryan and I had talked several times in the past about some of his friends drinking barrels of that stuff. I decided against it. But that is when inspiration struck. SANGRIA! I found some inexpensive bottles of a lighter red, a 3 liter plastic jug and a bag of oranges. After borrowing some sugar I started in on slicing oranges and chilling wine. About halfway through I realized that I didn't have any brandy or triple sec. I went to the corner store and stared at their alcohol, trying to find something to substitute. Cognac, whiskey, beer, soju...none of these seemed appropriate, especially soju (ie. paint thinner). I found a bottle of "Traditional Korean Raspberry Wine." I decided that it would have to do. I was set. I put the concoction in the fridge and waited for it to chill. Normally, you're supposed to let sangria sit over night, but this is Korea so it seems fine to let it stew for only 40 minutes.

While the sangria could have been more alcoholic, it wasn't terrible, and all of it was consumed. I thought it was pretty good, something I could work on perfecting for Christmas. I am pretty sure that from now on I will have to make sangria at every Thanksgiving.

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving in Korea was a weird day. All of our American staff knew that it was Thanksgiving, but most of us forgot until someone else brought it up. Of course we had to go to work, unlike the traditional two days off and there was no turkey dinner to be had. Luckily, after work a few of us went out for fried chicken and beer, which is the closest thing we could get to Thanksgiving dinner at 10pm in Korea. Certainly an nontraditional Thanksgiving, but all in all not a bad day.

My Students

I am continually impressed with many of my students. Some of them impress me with their motivation and determination, some with their raw talent for language. Some students impress me with their vibrant personalities and other with their sense of humor. No matter what it is that impresses me, I am often reminded how awesome they are. Last week while I was grading essays I was not only reminded how cool my students are, but I was inspired by one.

I have always liked this particular students. He works hard and he doesn't always have the correct answer but he is never scared to try. The topic of his essay is unimportant, but he wrote about how when he cooks he wears the same clothes that a chef does. He explained that when he wears his chef clothes the food he makes is more delicious than the food he makes when he doesn't wear them. I realized that he has mentioned his love of cooking and desire to be a chef many times in his essays.

I think his dream of being a chef is really cool. Most of my male students say they want to be doctors, scientists, inventors or computer programmers (or something similar) when they grow up. They don't really consider professions that aren't science based. This is one of the first students I have met who wants to do something outside of the math or science career track. I think it's awesome that he is interested in something other than science and computers (I probably think it's awesome because I have very little interest/talent in those two fields). He is so confident and unfazed by his classmates saying he is crazy for wanting to cook. His confidence and passion make me smile. I know he will go far.

Going, Gone

One of our American teachers bounced this past weekend without telling anyone. Wherever she is, I hope she is happier than she was here.

The Good Life

The Good Life:

• New schedules
• My students
  
• Not having 6 in a row on Fridays next month
• Friday nights in Korea
• Saturday nights in Korea
• Beijing
• Tokyo next month
• The Boys
• Laura's visit (35 days)
• My desk buddy (even when I am grumpy)
• Dak Galbi
• Radio Star

빼빼로 데이 (Pepero Day)

Today, November 11, is Pepero Day in Korea. On Pepero Day people, particularly students and teachers (apparently), give each other a snack called Pepero. Pepero is a long, thin stick made of cookie dipped in chocolate. Some varieties are filled with chocolate instead of dipped in it or they might be sprinkled with almonds in addition to the chocolate coating. You may be asking yourself, “Why is November 11 Pepero Day?” The answer is obvious. When you write out the date numerically, 11/11, the date clearly looks like two pairs of Pepero. It only makes sense that you would give out Pepero on this date. It is actually quite a brilliant marketing ploy, inventing a holiday where people buy your product and your product only. It also seems like everyone in Korea is aware of it. I assumed that my students would know about it, seeing as how it was a day devoted to sweets. But I was amazed how every grocery store and corner shop suddenly had enormous displays of the stuff. There were tents with vendors on the street selling Pepero this whole past week. The whole thing seemed to be a really big deal.


In spite of the evil corporate marketing behind this holiday it was a really enjoyable day. Most of my students would ask me at the beginning of class, “Teacha, do you know what today is?” They giggled with joy when I answered, “Pepero Day, of course!” They also really enjoyed that instead of writing the date on the board I wrote 빼빼로 데이. Many of my students made a point of bringing me Pepero, some of it was even home made! They seemed very excited to give it to me and they were ecstatic when at the end of class I handed out Pepero. I can only assume all the sugar will one day warp their brains, but that seems fine, it can’t be any worse than all of the pop we consume in the states. Believe it or not celebrating this holiday really brightened my day. Make sure to mark your calendars for next year and stock up on plenty of Pepero so that you too can celebrate this wonderful holiday.

This is comforting...

Just read this article.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Sam got two packages today. The packages contained a variety of things, some mundane and some strange. One of the boxes had an enormous bag of Halloween candy inside. Within this bag was the most glorious treasure of all, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Sam was kind enough to share this delicious bounty with the staff. I had forgotten how wonderful they are. An explosion of flavor coated my mouth, the peanut butter and chocolate danced on my tongue. Their tantalizing and seductive flavors taking me back to my childhood and America. Most delicious night at the office ever.

Cultural Ambassadors

There is a coffee shop that I frequent in Jeonju which serves decent coffee and serves some food. My friends and I go there several times a week and have befriended most of the staff. I like to get these fluffy, delicious, big pretzels they serve. I often opt for the one dusted with a little Parmesan cheese. The pretzels come with sauce, I always order pizza (marinara) sauce with mine. Every time I do this the person taking my order makes the strangest face, sometimes they will look at me and say, "Really?" This always perplexed me. How can that combination sound bad? It seems only natural to me. I asked one of my friends that works at the coffee shop what sauce I should order with the pretzel and she told me cream cheese. Weird.

Today I told my friend Ryan about this oddity and he immediately got up and confronted our Korean coffee slinging friends about the situation. He said that they had to try it with the pizza sauce. I walked over with my fresh, hot and delicious pretzel, complete with pizza sauce (OBVIOUSLY) and offered some to them. We insisted that they try it. After a lot of fuss about how they didn't want to try it and other objections two of our friends finally took a piece and dipped it, ever so slightly, into the pizza sauce. They looked at each other as if they were trying some new exotic cuisine that they had never realized existed. They very cautiously ate the pieces of pretzel. It seemed as if they were analyzing each bit, trying to decide how it tasted. They both nodded and said it was good. "See, see" said Ryan. Satisfied with the results Ryan and I returned to our seats. I told Ryan that I was pretty happy that we made that happen. He dubbed us true cultural ambassadors.

"Walkabout" - Atlas Sound Feat. Noah Lennox

The Night Market in Beijing (Just like the MN State Fair)

Earlier this month, I went on a short holiday to Beijing. It was both the 60th anniversary of the government and the fall harvest festival. Because of these two holidays Beijing was insane! It was packed full of people, the subway was constantly full of people and walking on the streets near Tienanmen Square was almost impossible, an ocean of people. We went to all the major sites (the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, Beihai Park, etc). We even saw part of a 'parade,' which was really a whole bunch of tanks rolling down the street, with crowds of people watching. It was a little eerie and unsettling. Everything we did was a lot of fun. We met some really cool people our hostel, the Chinese Box Courtyard (it was legit, and Joe the owner, was doubly so), who we saw the sites with. Some of our new found friends spoke a bit of Chinese, which made our lives much easier.

Of all the things we did and saw one of my favorite things was going to the Night Market. The Night Market is a long line of food carts serving all kinds of strange foods.

Pictured here are squid, snake, insect larva of some variety and deep fried prawns

Insects, organs, fruits, starfish, dumplings, and all kinds of other bizarre foods. I couldn't resist and felt that I had to try a few things. I started with hearty helping of meat dumplings and some fried dough with lots of sugar dumped on top, which I split with one of our new friends. After that I decided to move onto something more exotic: lamb kidneys. They came four to a stick and were roasted over coals right in front of you and they were seasoned with some salt, rosemary and basil. Delicious.

There they are. Lamb kidneys.

And they were good! The seasoning was delicious and the kidneys themselves were soft in texture and had a subtle iron flavor.

After kidneys it was time to move onto insects. There was a wide variety available and I had a hard time choosing.

Really big grasshoppers.

These scorpions looked a little scary.

These looked a little safer. They tasted like the crispy, extra skin on baked chicken.

After that we walked up and down the stalls just looking at all the strange things to eat. I stopped at a stand because they advertised...


The vendor knew some English and was goading everyone who walked by his stand, "DICK! DICK, DICK, DICK!" The majority of this man's English abilities were related to penis'. Awesome. I was looking at this trying to figure out if it was indeed sheep penis when a tall, blonde Australian walked up next to me and started making small talk. He began the conversation by asking if I was going to get the penis. After a series of penis/genitalia related jokes, and insinuating the other person was a raging homosexual with an appetite for cock, he told me he had to try it and would split it with me. I had to do it.

That's my Australian friend in the background. He was hilarious.

As far as the sheep penis went, it was chewy (really chewy). Aside from the spicy seasoning the vendor applied to it the organ was flavorless. Not the most delicious thing I ate that night, but it certainly was an experience. I washed down my eclectic dinner with some delicious Chinese beer on a street corner with my fellow travellers. All in all, the Night Market was awesome. I ate some weird stuff, saw some even weirder things and had a lot of fun doing it.

Smile When You're Lying

"Life isn't perfect below the boarder; I'd known that going in. But sometimes you have to have faith that you've brought enough nerve to deal with the unexpected, enough cash to make more friends than enemies, and enough perspective to judge a place for what it is rather than for what you've heard it's supposed to be."
- Chuck Thompson

Korean Pop

Here is some Korean pop music for you all to enjoy. This song is played everywhere...

"Sorry Sorry" by Super Junior

Haircuts

Getting a haircut is awkward. You sit in one spot for thirty minutes, making small talk with a person you don’t really know or flipping aimlessly through a magazine you have no interest in reading. Believe it or not, not being able to communicate with the person cutting your hair makes it even more awkward. I initially thought not having to talk would make it less awkward. But when you can’t chat about the weather or what you did last weekend or about the movies you’ve seen lately, all you can do is stare at each other in the mirror. Additionally, communicating what kind of hair cut you want is quite the game of charades. Luckily I also knew approximately four words in Korean that were almost relevant to getting a haircut. The woman cutting my hair also knew a few words in English (cut, short, picture, beautiful, hair, bye).

When I first arrived to the salon I was seated with a large group of Korean children and their guardian, nanny, mother, or something. As soon as I sat down they all turned their heads and stared. This happens frequently in Jeonju and these kids were subtler than most people. After the staring ended a woman who I took to be about 40 came over and sat down with me. “Picture?” she asked. I shook my head no, assuming she wanted a picture of me when my hair was shorter. She got up and brought over a book full of pictures of hair. Pictures of Korean models, western actors, musicians, magazine clippings, tons and tons of pictures of hair filled this massive laminated tome. I pointed to one with short hair and the woman nodded yes.

The actually process of cutting my hair was interesting. In most ways it was like a haircut back in the states except that when she started cutting she used giant plastic clips to cut different layers of hair. The clip was somewhere between a beret and a plastic clip you use to close bags of potato chips. Using those devices made for an extremely efficient haircut. I also noticed that only her hairdryer had a cord. Her electric clippers and shears were all battery powered. Everything she used was on a cart that could be wheeled around the room from chair to chair, really a good idea. After she finished cutting she asked if I wanted wax-styling, I said yes. Then after playing with my hair for 8 minutes or so she asked if I wanted spray (hairspray I assumed). I scrunched my face and shook my head no. I think that face and motion translates cross-culturally. All in all I had an enjoyable experience, the staff was very nice and accommodating, and my hair looks pretty much like it does in the states right after I get a haircut. Success!

Udo Octopus

A few weeks ago we had a few days off from work and a group of us decided to go to Jeju Island. (I will be posting more on Jeju later). When we were on Jeju Island we took a day trip to Udo Island. We rented some mopeds and four-wheelers and just toured around the island. We found an amazing beach that was a dark, volcanic sand, crawling with tourists. After making a loop around the island we returned the vehicles and walked down to the nearest beach.

The beach was only memorable because of how lame it was. The beach itself was mostly rocks and broken shells; and large, black, volcanic rocks occupied most of the water. However, before we got to the beach we were called over to a group of picnic tables by an extended Korean family. We were offered some fresh caught octopus (Udo octopus is an expensive meal and the fact that we were offered a whole one really speaks to the hospitality that can be found in Korea). Of course we gladly took part in eating it. We were instructed to dip it in a red pepper sauce, which gave it a mild spice and little sweetness on the end. The octopus itself was a little salty, but over all it had very little flavor. The texture of the skin was rubbery and the meat was doubly so.

Fresh Octopus

After trying the octopus we were asked to take a seat on the grass and relax. We were brought fresh cooked pork, kimchi, rice and several bottles of soju. Heather acted as our interpreter for the family and our host, a man who I took to be about 50 years old. We made small talk and his children tried out their English on us. We ate and ate, and the family refused to stop serving us food. Eventually we were able to convince our hosts to let us continue on our way. We said our thank yous and good byes and finally made it to the beach. This was clearly one of the best lunches I have ever had.

White Power

A few weeks ago I was walking through E-Mart (pronounced “E-Matuh”) and in the lotion, section there was this:

White Power Mask (yep it says that)

I was struck by how funny it was to see that phrase printed on the package of a product. A person would never see that in the states, unless you were in Alabama of course. I thought it was hilarious and ridiculous to see packaging like that. Later, I was thinking about the product and I really was confused by it. Why would there be a product that you put on your skin to make you more white? I asked my one of my Korean co-workers, Heather, about this and she gave me some insightful details. According to Heather, many Korean women want to be fair skinned. They use parasols, enormous hats and visors, and lots of sunscreen to stay fair skinned. Apparently it is common for women to use this “white power mask” or something similar as well. The idea is to remain as pale as possible, and when that isn’t enough you use this cream to literally bleach your skin. I am told that occasionally you will see older women walking around with faces that are distinctly paler than the rest of their skin. Those women are people who use this kind of cream.

Of course I could talk about the cliché that Americans want to be tan while the rest of the world desires to be paler and how amusing it is that “the other” (to quote anthropologists everywhere) wants the opposite of what our culture wants in terms of skin tone, but I’d rather not be that kind of Western blogger (I would also prefer that Edward Said did not roll around in his grave too much). This kind of product is actually not really that surprising and make sense if your desire to be paler. In the states people might apply makeup to make themselves appear more tan or darker than they actually are. If that is not to a person’s liking they can buy a whole variety of lotions that work as a “bronzers” which work to darken a person’s skin. Additionally, a person could go and get a spray tan to artificially change their skin color. For even more extreme measures a person can actually go tanning at a parlor or the old fashioned way.

If you reverse your objective and wish to stay fair skinned then a “white power mask” cream makes sense. A person can simply avoid the sun, through clothing (parasols, visors, etc), and they will remain fair skinned. If that is not enough they can certainly apply makeup to mask the actual tone of their skin. An even more extreme measure would be to apply this kind of bleaching cream. The white power mask is a product in a series of methods to keep a person’s skin pale. It is logical when you put it into the context of the culture. However, the name of the product is still funny to me.

Second Day of Teaching

Today was better.

Monday: Teaching On My Own

Yesterday was my first day teaching on my own and I crashed and burned for most of my classes. I had a tough time getting the elementary level classes to focus and get work done. My elementary students really tried to test me; they wanted to see how much Korean they could get away with and how much talking in general. I eventually got them to calm down but I did have to threaten to make them stay after school.

I think I was also really nervous about being on my own, I felt overwhelmed about the whole situation and wasn’t on the ball. I think today will be better. I teach more manageable (smaller!) elementary classes today and some awesome middle school classes that I enjoyed teaching last week. I am still nervous, but after yesterday, I don’t think it can get much worse. I just have to go and kick ass today (and everyday after today). Wish me luck.


ps. Tomorrow is the start of a 5 day vacation and a bunch of us are going to Jeju Island. WOOT!

From My School

This is from the bathroom at the English immersion school I work for. I feel like we have some work to do.

Snails

These are little snails (or some other molluscan) that have been pickled or marinated in a spicy sauce. You just suck the little snail right out of the shell and leave the shell untouched. They have a little heat and a very mild flavor. They were surprisingly tender and not chewy at all. Delicious!

Mud Fest

Today we went to the annual Boryeong Mud Festival. Every year both Koreans and Westerners alike travel to Boryeong to play in a whole lot of mud and in the ocean. It is essentially a big party, there are tons of street vendors, booths and restaurants selling food, crafts, or mud related products. One of the booths you could visit was a Swine Flu booth, in case you thought you had swine flu. It was a little unnerving because there was definitely a Western woman there getting help with something. There was also a big stage that had live music all day. Families and friends go for one of the days of the whole weekend, typically camping out near the beach. Additionally, it is customary to cover yourself in mud. Luckily there are large pits of mud you can climb into or troughs with paintbrushes to paint yourself with. There are also many mud related obstacle courses and the like to play on; I did not take part in this part of the festival. I was extremely excited about this festival for two reasons. First, I had heard from a lot of people that it was a really good time and worth the trip. Second, the festival is held right on the Daecheon Beach and I had never set foot in an ocean before.

Our crew gathered early this morning and headed to the Jeonju train station. It took us two trains and a few hours to get to Boryeong, but we were all very excited to get into some mud. We arrived at the festival and put our bags into lockers that were specifically for foreigners. The lockers were free and the keys had arm bands attached to them so you could be sure not to loose your key. AWESOME! The icing on the cake was that the people running that booth were incredibly helpful and nice. We put on our swimsuits and headed down to the beach.

It was a cloudy and very windy day but still very warm. As soon as we set foot on the beach Bobby asked who was going in the ocean, he and I immediately ran to the water. It was surprisingly warm and as soon as a large wave hit me I got the taste of salt in my mouth. This surprised me, but then I reminded myself that this was not a lake in Minnesota, it was in fact an ocean. We started swimming out but after about 40 feet two men with whistles came over and escorted us out of the water. Bobby and I were both outraged at first, trying to figure out why we couldn’t swim there, everyone else seemed to be enjoying the water. We were later told that apparently a shark had been spotted in the water and that seemed like a valid reason to get us out of the water. There were troughs of mud right on the beach we started painting each other with it and soon realized there was not much mud and certainly not enough to go around. We went back up to the street to look around. We found enormous pools of mud that you could climb into. We all jumped in and got good and muddy. It was delightful. We walked up and down the street, covered in mud of course, looking around trying to decide what to do. We decided to get some beer and go down to the beach. At one point a mud-covered British woman jumped on Bobby from behind and yelled “Hello!” Bobby turned around with the most confused look on his face and the woman, completely embarrassed, said, “Oh you’re someone else.” We could not help but laugh at Bobby and at the whole situation.
We drank horrid beer and walked around the beach occasionally going into the ocean. We would rinse off, then go jump back into the mud and then rinse off in the ocean again, and so on. Needless to say, when we were covered in mud we all painted on some sweet facial hair. I myself sported a mustache that was somewhere between Salvador Dali and V from V for Vendetta.

While we were swimming we were frustrated that the life guards would only let us go about thigh deep so several of us decided that since we could not swim we would run. We ran quite a ways down the beach and I pointed out that there were no lifeguards down where we were, so Alex, Bobby and I jumped into the water. The wind was intense and it created enormous waves. We swam and played around for a while, eventually Alex ran back down the beach to get everyone else. We all swam and played in the water, jumping into waves, letting the tide carry us into shore. There was a lot of frolicking. There may have also been a wrestling match or two (solved the old fashioned Navy way, first guy to die looses. No one lost). Playing in the ocean was amazing and so much fun.

Eventually we all decided that we were tired and needed some food. We gathered our shoes and headed back up to the lockers. On our way off of the beach the wind kicked up the sand and it pelted and stung our salted bodies. Jared said that this was probably part of the exfoliating process, and therefore worth the pain. We got some food, bulgogi burgers, and sat around just talking. We decided that we were ready to head home. We dried off and caught some cabs back to the train station. Bobby, Alex and I had some trouble with this; the cabbie would not take us because we were too wet (we were dry but still in swimsuits). He then got out of his cab and told all the other cabbies lined up along the curb to not take us. Ass. We crossed the street and got another cab. We caught the train back to Iksan and then another one back to Jeonju. A combination of mud and ocean water made for a very sticky couple of the train rides. We decided against bringing our cameras because we were planning on being muddy and jumping around in the ocean all day. And believe me, it was a good choice that we did not subject our cameras to a day at Mud Fest. So I am sorry that we have no pictures of this amazing event.
Over all it was an amazing day, really one of the best I have had in a long time.

"The Escapist" - The Streets

Cooler

The storm last night was impressive. There was a lot of heavy rain and plenty of lightning. I loved it! Also, because of that delightful storm Jeonju is cool and not nearly as humid as it has been.

Rain

Right now, it is raining so hard in Jeonju that I am glad I live on the fourth floor. I knew I should have brought an Ark with me.

First Day of Work

Yesterday I was finally cleared to go into school and start working, my boss was finally convinced that I did not have H1N1. At work I started to learn the operations of the job. What paperwork I had to fill out, how you prepare for classes, where materials are, etc…Additionally, I started observing the classes I would be teaching. I think my observation was probably an unrealistic representation of what I would be teaching because many of the younger classes were totally distracted by the fact that I was there.

At one point Alex, one of my Canadian co-workers, came upstairs and asked me to come down to one of his classes. He had told his students that there was a new teacher with “yellow hair” and was met with disbelief. His students insisted that it was not possible. I went down to the class and all of the students stared at me for a few moments and then went back to running around the classroom. Alex was told later by one of his older students, Wolfgang (who is obsessed with Lady Gaga), that I was a very handsome man. Another students chimed in and said that my “face should be registered as a lethal weapon.” When Alex asked him why the student simply replied: “Very sharp.”

Overall the day went very well and I am getting excited to start doing real work. I also very nervous about teaching my own classes, I have not really been a teacher in this kind of classroom. I have performed training at my former job, and I of course taught classes at the summer camp I worked at, but neither of those were as long term as this. I feel like I have a lot more to live up to, which makes me want to go in and kick ass everyday. But, I have to figure out what kicking ass in this situation looks like.

All that aside, the students seem very bright and motivated, I also have previewed some of the material I will be teaching and I am excited to present it. I’m stoked.

The Boxer

This evening I met up with several of my co-workers to go out for some food after they were done with work. After some Korean pizza and beer several of us decided that we were not ready to go to bed and stopped at a grocery store around the corner from my flat. We bought some beer and other Korean beverages and headed to a park near there. We sat around and talked about all kinds of nothing, just enjoying the night. At about 1:30 am it was down to Ben, Ian and myself sitting around getting ready to head home. All of a sudden a Korean man walks up to us and starts talking, in a Korean-English lingo, to Ben as if they are friends. Ben realizes who the man is and starts talking back. Ben explains to us that he knows this Korean man from the market around the corner. The man introduces himself to all of us and insists on giving us a kiss on the cheek. Another man approaches, who we found out is the brother of the first, and starts talking to us as well. Luckily I have Ben and Ian there to help translate because the second of the two men insisted on talking to me only in Korean, occasionally he would mumble the word “Obmama.” Ben thought he was talking the United States’ president, but I am not entirely sure. Needless to say there was a lot of smiling and nodding on my part. After a few minutes the second man tells us that he is a boxer and could take on Muhammad Ali. He showed us some of his shadow boxing moves, which we all applauded him on because he really put on quite a show. The boxer also showed us some of his dance moves.

After a show of push-ups, shadow boxing and dancing Ben decides that we should probably do something as well. This included: Ben hanging upside down and then crossing his legs and lifting himself up off the ground, Ian doing something similar, and a series of pull ups from myself. I also tried to juggle several glass bottles with little success. The Boxer decided to drop his pants as a finally to the series of stupid human tricks. Eventually, Ian, Ben and I excuse ourselves and head back to our flats. What a night.

Lunch

A more modern take on Bibim-bap.

Kimchi, along with a few other dishes to share.

Korea!

The flight from Chicago to Seoul was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. The flight was only about 60% full, which meant that there were plenty of open seats. I myself had an open seat on my right and it was delightful. Additionally, the flight was scheduled to leave Chicago at 1 am. By then I was extremely tired and fell asleep almost as soon as I got on the plane. I slept quite a bit during the trip, which was surprising because I often cannot sleep on planes. Overall it was a pleasant flight.

I arrived in Seoul at 5am. After making my way through a medical screening, immigration and customs I found my way to the bus that would take me Jeonju. There were five people on the 6:30 am express bus to Jeonju and that included the driver. I arrived in Jeonju and met Chris, the manager of the school that I would be working for. We chatted in the car, he asked me how my trip was, if I knew any of the other new teachers that would be arriving that same day, and so on. He informed me that I would not have to start teaching right away and that I was supposed to not really go over to the school because of the whole H1N1 flu scare. The Korean government asked schools and companies to not have international employees start working immediately. This way the school or business could make sure the new employee did not have H1N1. Chris then took me to a supermarket near my apartment and bought me some water cereal and orange juice. We then headed up the block to my apartment. I was really excited to see what my new place would be like. Unfortunately, when I walked in I was a little taken aback. I am not entirely sure what I expected but I felt like the place was a little dirtier that I prefer. Chris opened the fridge and let out a yelp; there were all kinds of stains and maybe a few things growing inside. (I did eventually learn from some of my coworkers that the person who lived in this flat prior to me was not anywhere close to clean or even tidy). There were no chairs in the flat and Chris said he would get me some by tomorrow. Eventually he left me to my own devices, telling me to rest because I must be tired. I was not at all tired and decided to go out and buy all kinds of cleaning supplies and set to work cleaning my new home.

After about an hour Chris called my apartment and asked me if I wanted to go to lunch. I said yes and met with Chris, Sun and Hong, all of which are my bosses, and a few other Korean women who work for my school. I was invited to go to a staff meeting with my future coworkers later that afternoon. After lunch Chris and I went to a few more stores and I picked up some more essential items, towels! I went back to cleaning and arranging and walked over to school for my staff meeting. I started to feel right at home, everyone I met was incredibly nice and relaxed. I was able to get all kinds of advice and insight into the coming months. I then went home and continued to unpack and clean.

About 5 pm a man showed up to install my internet. He spoke no English whatsoever so after about 30 minutes of charades we had the internet up and running. I then went out and found some dinner. I decided that in honor of my first night in Jeonju I would have Bibim-bap, which supposedly originated in Jeonju. I am now sitting on a nightstand at my table pretending I have a chair. I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Done and Done

I am officially done with my job at Byerly’s…and it feels amazing! It was a good experience and I learned a lot about myself and about what I want to do with my life, or more accurately, what I don’t want to do with my life. While I know there will be people there I will miss, I also know that it feels damn good to be starting in on a new adventure.

The Travel Bug

Chicago: Two Megabuses, Two Starbucks and One Visa

After finally deciding to go to S. Korea I needed to complete the process of getting my visa. This required me to fill out some paperwork, travel to the S. Korean Consulate and hand over the paperwork and my passport. So, the plan was: to work the opening shift on Tuesday (6/16), take the overnight Megabus to Chicago, go to my 10:30am appointment with the consulate, and get on the 3pm bus back to Minneapolis.

The ride down to Chicago was just fine. There was hardly anyone at all on the bus. However, there was a mother and baby sitting in front of me and that made me nervous. Of course my experiences with children and babies has soured me, possibly permanently, so badly that simply being around them annoys me. (And yes I am going to teach English to children but don’t worry my attitude towards small children and my future job are only contradictory or troubling if you think about it…so stop). Needless to say I was incredibly nervous about the whole baby within 10 feet of me situation. I assumed it would make ungodly noises the whole time. However, to my great surprise, it was about the happiest baby I have ever seen and it did not make a sound the entire trip. I was blown away.

We pulled into Chicago at 5:50am, which felt really early. I walked around until I found a Starbucks and sat there, nursing an iced tea, for a good two hours. I then changed into my suit (thank you Starbucks for your bathroom, and I am sorry to the bald guy who had to wait to use it). I caught a cab over to the consulate and only had to kill another hour and 10 minutes. Another Starbucks, another iced tea and an hour later I walked back over to the consulate. I quickly and awkwardly put my tie on in the elevator, and arrived at the 27th floor. After some awkward questions about the paperwork I had filled out I handed over my papers, some cash and my passport. I was called into an interview and asked some odd questions and then told I could go. It was the late, late hour of 11am and I decided it was time for lunch. After lunch I decided to go kill time at the Art Institute of Chicago. It was delightful.

I then headed back to the Twin Cities via the Megabus. This half of the trip was incredibly aggravating. A family of approximately 18 members, who constantly bickered and swore at each other, surrounded me for the entire trip. Luckily, my iPod was charged and I had the humorous writings of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. These two things alone kept me sane. Now I am waiting for my visa to be delivered to me.

To Korea

After an enormous amount of contemplation I have finally decided to take a job teaching English in Jeonju, S. Korea. This decision was easily one of the most difficult that I have ever made. I spoke with almost everyone I met about it, trying to weight the pros and cons. I came to the decision that I would not go to S. Korea. I was in love with a young lady and leaving her seemed unbearable. I was also finally carving out a nice little niche and life for myself in the Twin Cities and changing the course of that seemed troubling. I was getting comfortable with my life. Additionally, there was a chance that I could get a job working for a wine distribution company. I had been trying to break into that business for a few years and I was not sure I could, or should, pass up the opportunity to possibly get involved in that industry. After making the decision not to go I told everyone I knew that I would be staying here in the states. My close group of friends (the family) and my partner were all very excited. After I made that choice and started to tell people that I wasn’t going I had an uneasy feeling in my heart and stomach. It stayed with me most of the time and I could not seem shake it. I knew that I was trying to tell myself that I had made the wrong choice, going to S. Korea was really what I wanted to do. I was overwhelmingly torn. After a lot of debate, with myself, and a lot of talking, with my partner, I reconsidered my decision, and decided that I would go to S. Korea. I felt terrible. I was going to leave the love of my life, in spite of the fact that she was encouraging me to go, I still felt awful about it. Even now I still feel bad about it. I had to try and look ahead and decide if in five years I would regret not going. Because of the ever-transient nature of existence, I try not to plan or think that far in advance, I simply don’t see the point. But, I knew, and know, that I would regret not taking this opportunity. I am going to S. Korea. I am scared. I am excited. I have so much to do.