Sleeping Arrangements

In my various travels crisscrossing the Korean peninsula, I've found myself (on countless occasions) facing the conundrum of exactly where to lay my weary head every night. Not one to feel the need to shell out lots of money for hotel rooms, I've been perfectly content with sleeping in rather peculiar spots. I've also come to realize the safety felt by Koreans to 'set up camp' in the middle of parks is one which holds great merit. Unfortunately, I didn't bring a tent & wasn't anxious to pick one up during my stay, so I was basically left to deal with the elements & no significant shelter to speak of.

The pagoda at the end point of the park

Throughout my time, I've noticed countless amounts of Koreans pitching tents in peculiar, yet reasonable locations, so if it's good enough for the locals, why wouldn't they be just as good for a guy like me. Here's a list of some of the more interesting spots I've called home for a night during my travels.

Wooded Park next to Songjeong beach in Busan

This option came from the incessant fireworks & revelry on the nearby beach. I knew I had a long, busy ahead of me & needed at least a few hours of shut eye. Fortunately, I found a decent sized piece of cardboard to lay on & good tree cover from some of the surrounding foliage. It was a hilly park leading to a pagoda at the point of a rocky outcropping & Koreans were constantly wandering around during the night.

Looking back at Songjeong beach before catching some zzz's

Cave & Beach Police outpost at Jungmun beach on Jeju Island

This one was just a cool experience. I found a cave etched out of the giant volcanic rock cliff next to the beach & was obviously used (likely during the summer season) to store a few necessary beach items. Being early Oct., the beach & swimming area were 'technically' closed so there weren't many people around. I found some beach chair pads to use as soft bedding & only had to fend off curious drunk couples/groups looking for a make-out point a few times throughout the night. Certainly nice to fall asleep to the sound of waves crashing as the tides retreated & returned.

After the few precious hours, I decided it was time to freshen up, so I wandered out into the sea & took a wildly invigorating swim. It served two obvious purposes....first, the water wasn't exactly balmy, so it instantly jolted my body into consciousness (lifting the grogginess of my slumber) & secondly, it offered a bit of a cleansing, aside from the lack of soap but either way, it was refreshing. I followed this by finding the Police Outpost unattended & unlocked, which, I obviously took full advantage of. Spending the next couple hours relaxing, warming up some & getting a little more 'sleep' while I watched the tide roll back in.

Double-wide bench overlooking Haeundae beach & the sea in Busan

Haeundae is the most popular beach area on the Korean mainland, thus, the cost of a bed at even the dumpiest spots is upwards of $100 so rather than staying up all night, a couple different times when I was in Busan, I found myself either hunkered down under some trees on the edge of a park right near the beach (actual tents scattered all around me) or making my way towards the rocks jutting out from the coast.

Looking back towards Busan & the Haeundae Beach area before sleepy time on a bench

Waking up to the same scene I fell asleep to

Gotta make my way back to the beach somehow

Sleeping on the rocky beach wasn't comfortable but definitely peaceful

There is a great overlook with very little late night foot traffic, wide benches & decent tree cover in case of light showers. There is also a rocky beach below it that is basically off limits but I found myself resorting to snuggling up to some giant boulders & enjoying the rhythmic sounds of waves crashing as I drifted off for a few hours.

Beach 'camping' in Pohang & Sokcho

Contemplating options by the rocky coast in Majigong (south Sokcho)

A few times, I found beaches mostly deserted, while the sky & weather both started off relatively conducive. In Pohang, the often busy Bukbu Beach usually wasn't an option, so I stayed at a new love motel a couple times but by wandering (I use the term loosely) north & south to some of the less hectic beaches I was able to get a few winks as I breathed in lungs full of good sea air. One of the spots was Wolpo Beach, to the north and the other was Guryongpo Beach, southeast of Pohang.

When I arrived in Sokcho, looking forward to hiking in Seoraksan National Park for a few days, I found the weather less than cooperative as it def looked like plenty of wind & rain might be rolling in. The 'beach' wasn't necessarily pristine as it was rocky rather than sand & there was a sheer concrete wall just a few feet from the waters edge. With tides rolling in, there seemed no possible way of getting comfortable & feeling entirely safe from the elements. However, I was able to find a canopy covering a psuedo stage near a little park & tourist information center. I settled in for the few hours of REM before the sun came up & I could make my way to Seoraksan.

As I propped my backpack up in a matter to serve as a pillow, I kicked back, bundled up (the wind was picking up & the concrete wall serving as a wind break for the stage did very little to diminish the swirling gusts. About an hour after settling in, the skies opened up & began to release a slight amount of rain for the next couple hours, making sleep more or less nonexistent. I was able to nod off a few time for little cat naps but nothing significant enough to justify actual sleep.

After fighting off the chill of the wind & the constant spattering of rain rolling off the overhead canopy, I opted to relent & make my way for the shelter of the bathroom facilities next to the info center & enjoyed the warmth of a toilet stall for the final hour or so until the sun would finally make it's appearance. Unfortunately, the forecast was for the rain to continue for another day & a half, meaning my hopes of hiking/camping at Seoraksan were pretty much washed out.

Jimjilbang in Itaewon/Seoul

Steps leading to the Jimjilbang

My only real claim to a few creature comforts was my Korean Memorial Day weekend when I stayed at a Jimjilbang in Itaewon, a mostly international area of Seoul. It turned out to be a great experience & the price was perfect - 12,000 won (about $10). There were hot spring pools, showers, hot room saunas, weight facilities, massage options, some arcade games, communal sleeping quarters as well as 'seperate' bunk rooms & plenty of heated floors & open rooms to simply lounge around watching wide-screen TV's showing all the popular Korean favorite movies & TV shows. The downfall to this option is that once you're in you're in, unless you want to fork over another 12,000 won to get back in but for the most part if you travel light & just need a place to lay your head for a few hours & freshen up in the morning, it's a great deal.

Communal sleeping area in the Jimjilbang - the place had five floors of goodness!

Admittedly, none of these really offered the best nights sleep but I've learned to survive on a few meager hours of 'sleep' on many occasions throughout my life no matter if it was sprawled out on a park bench, hunkered down under a stand of trees or nestled up next to boulders by the sea. It's been a pretty good ride so far & this has all just helped add to the adventure.

Games We Play

As a way to keep the classes interesting & give the kiddies a break from the monotony of our daily English lessons (plus maintain my sanity to some extent), I've integrated a variety of games & activities into the curriculum. I guess it's my belief that class needs to have a bit of energy & a fun element to help the kids with their learning and application of what they've learned. This obviously isn't breaking any new ground in the academic world but it's been interesting using it in a little different capacity than the Koreans are used to.

Of the games, Bingo is probably the resounding favorite amongst the little ones but they seem to like a memory/matching game quite a bit, too. They've even asked for Simon Says a couple times (some of the older kids were telling them about it) and it seems to be a more tangibly applicable activity for the kids who are a few years into their English language adventure. I've also done a little Go Fish & UNO type games with the older classes as well.

I was really surprised to see how many times they want to play Rock, Paper, Scissors just for fun, seeing how there isn't really much we can do with it in an academic capacity but it's good to help them decide who gets to go first when we write sentences/words on the board or do our question/answer activities.

Another one is hangman, which is pure genius since they not only get to play a game the last few minutes of class but they have to use words from the lessons we've studied in the book (we take about six weeks for each level book). I also make them use two different colored board markers, one for vowels & another for consonants as a way to help them differentiate.

Bingo serves about the same functionality but I gear it more towards the Phonics and lower levels. I hold up a picture flashcard, they have to identify the picture, then correctly spell the word on their Bingo card until we use all the words from the lesson & their card is filled up (9 or 16 spaces normally). Then we either roll a dice or they pick a card from the pile I'm holding (not showing the image or word on the back), they have to tell me (read) the word w/out looking at the picture. I can usually recognize pretty quickly which kids struggle reading the words or with their pronunciation. I've also added more complexity by having the kids list, for instance, all the words they think of that uses certain letters (like long vowel a - cake, bake, lake, take, etc), then from our list, they can fill up their bingo boards. This way they all don't automatically have the same words & there tends to be more disparity amongst the winners, rather than everyone winning at the same time.

Simon Says has become a great game for them to work on not only listening but also learning body parts. I've gotten progressively faster but the kids have become much more astute at the game, therefore making it even harder to get them out but I think that's probably a good thing - they're learning! The only predicament now is that the Otae school just hired a new Korean teacher & wouldn't you know it, his name is Simon.

I made a couple attempts at 'Heads Up/Seven Up' with a few classes, too but the 'complexity' of the game seemed a bit befuddling initially, so it wasn't much of a success. Hence, I never have gone back to modifying it to work more seamlessly but I've still got a couple weeks level, maybe I can still make a go of it!

Finally, I've worked with some of the older kids on a game where one student writes a word on the board (often, the first to go is obviously chosen through a rigorous game of Rock, Paper, Scissors), then another comes up & writes a word starting with the last letter of the previous word.

I know, you're probably wondering if all I've done this past year is play games, go to temples & take a bunch of pictures but, honestly, if education is done properly, it really can be fun for all involved....man I wish  somebody would figure things out in the Dept of Education - sure, tests are important but c'mon, people, give the kids a reason to want to actually go to school AND learn something. Anybody seen the latest worldwide standings on education? I haven't for a couple years but I do know America is WAY DOWN THE LIST!

Sorry, the last part was just a little educator rambling....

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving & the upcoming holidays are joyous, festive & safe for all.

Be well!

Electronics Conundrum

I'm not a TV watcher, per se, and I've never been overly excited to get the hottest or newest cell phone but I was thinking that spending a year in Korea, I might be able to stumble across some ridiculous deals on electronics, since so many globally prominent companies are making their great products right here - LG & Samsung for starters. Unfortunately, any hope of discovering a crazy good deal on, say a ginormous, flat panel, LCD display TV just isn't going to happen. Smart phones, like the Samsung Galaxy IIS, are also pretty much out of the question. Now, don't get me wrong, I could care less as I tend not to be much of a model capitalist in my consumption manners but thought I'd at least find very reasonable prices.

On the contrary! Most all the electronics I've seen over here are far more expensive than the same models being hawked in the states. It got me thinking, especially since Gumi has a very big industrial area & many of the LG displays & Samsung phones are made just a few kilometers from my apartment. Hell, I've even met a bunch of Sri Lankans who work on the LG display's every single day.

How in the world can high quality electronics made just down the street be so much more expensive than the same ones shipped from that facility down the street, half way across the world?

Even after first getting over here & I had to find a replacement microwave for the one that stopped working & I had trouble finding anything under $100....finally end up getting one for $84 or $89 bucks that was on sale but I was surprised I couldn't find a 'cheap' one for $30 or $40. I looked around for a few weeks for hair clippers, too (seeing how I've rarely paid for a haircut in the past 15 or 20 years). I finally found one, only one & it was more of a beefy beard trimmer, which has something to do w/the buzz cuts I gave myself a couple times this past year.

Regardless, I was contemplating this more when I thought I might have to buy a new laptop or a netbook recently. So, as I did my pricing at various stores here, I found most were nearly twice what I'd pay back home. Now, maybe it has something to do w/cutting edge technology or superior quality (i.e. - not junk that'll fall apart after a few months or a year). Then I went to trim up my hair around the ears & that theory got thrown out the window as the 'clippers' failed to operate when not plugged in & even then, they weren't running at full capacity....so, just maybe, the quality of the product isn't any better, either. I can not imagine how the technology could surpass what Apple has been putting out there, so I'm left w/one simple question: Who knows?

Either way, guess I'm happy I haven't found any smoking hot deals, otherwise I'd have a hell of a time getting things shipped back to FL. Besides, I've done a pretty good job as a dependable, 'non-consumer' for quite a few years, why give all that up now? Ahh, disposable society, how I've not missed you....

Technical Difficulties

More to come in the next couple weeks but wanted to get a quick update on the happenings over here:

As the past six weeks have flown by, I've been fortunate enough to have made a few great weekend trips, done some interesting hiking, enjoyed a multitude of soju (rice whiskey) w/my newest Korean hiking buddies, completed probably 6 or 7 novels and fought through spotty internet service and a failing computer.

The trips included two I wasn't sure if I'd actually get in but were high on my list. One was to Jeju-do, a subtropical island SW of the country which offers a multitude of intriguing, diverse and breathtaking natural wonders as well as some quirky, off the beaten path destinations.  The other was Seoraksan, likely the most popular & picturesque mountainous area in the Republic of Korea (the range extends into the north and is supposedly even more awesome but I didn't feel like ponying up the three grand). It was a quick trip but definitely worth the long bus rides each way, lack of sleep & four hours of night hiking.

Fortunately, the computer was a fairly simple fix once I located someone who could take the two minutes to look at it (Samsung and a couple other Korean brands are pretty much what everyone uses over here so finding a Toshiba 'engineer' took a bit of effort) and assess the problem.

After attempting to order the part speaking the little Korean I could muster, my boss, James offered to help but it took him a few days to get around to actually making the call. Having finally gotten the new adapter, the battery is fully charged & I've been able to upload about 500 pics from the past few weeks adventures, Halloween parties and general nonsense as well as a bunch of videos.

Hopefully, I can get everything up on my Facebook & YouTube pages in the next couple weeks.

The weather has taken a welcome turn from the oppressive heat & humidity. The days have been mostly sunny & cool while the evenings get a little chilly but it has been rather refreshing for the most part.  It's also allowed for some great fall colors on the leaves - something I've really not seen the past decade living in FL.

Looking forward to the final two months of teaching & hopefully four to six weeks traipsing around SE Asia.

Happy Halloween!

Random Musings

- Self-Conscious Koreans -

In my travels around the Korean countryside, whether it be train or bus, I have found many Koreans, especially the younger generations & even more specifically, the girls/women are immensely self-conscious. I was on the train to Pohang one weekend and this group of three college aged girls sat across the aisle from me & for over an hour they took pictures of each other on their smartphones & digital cameras. Sure, there were a few breaks to fix their hair, add some make-up or adjust their garments but it didn't last more than a minute or two & then, without fail they were back at it....giggling & snapping away like they were on the set of some glamorous photo shoot for Vogue.

It's pretty common to see many Koreans wearing glasses as well. And I'm not talking simple glasses, they're usually big, wide, black frames which are thought to make the face appear more narrow & oblong rather than wide & more flat. To me, though, it almost seems to have the opposite effect.

Jumpsuits, bedazzled ties & dress shirts & cargo/fishing vests seem to be necessary attire for the older generation Korean man - either in an effort to show a strong fashion sense or simply get noticed by the ladies. I've also been keeping a very unscientific calculation in my head & I think about 87.4% of all Korean men smoke cigarettes, couple that w/a rough estimate of about 94% crazy, middle aged alcoholic men & you've really got something to hang your hat on....not sure if it's the pressures & stress of life as a male (providing for your family, excelling in school, actually getting a job after so much time & money has been invested in your education since elementary school) in this culture or simply to be fashionable, hip & relevant amongst your peers but regardless, these guys suck 'em down like it's their job!

As for young Korean men, all I can say is extremely metro sexual. 

It seems this is the mindset of Koreans across the board. They want to feel pretty, look good & get noticed by the opposite sex - which I suppose is common the world over - but it just strikes me as something of an overdone obsession amongst Koreans. What the hell do I know, though!

- God The Mother -

There is an entire sect of Christianity which wholeheartedly believes that, although there are only a few vague references to a mother figure in the Bible, that there is an actual God the Mother who just so happens to live & roam freely in Korea. Sure, it's completely plausible that the mother of Jesus Christ is alive & well, living a fully important & prosperous life right here in the midst of modern day Korea.


Even harder to wrap my mind around is that she has hundreds of thousands of followers all around the world who drop plenty of money & sometimes sacrifice their life savings for a pilgrimage to merely be in the presence of 'The Heavenly Mother'....although she has been kind enough, given the tremendous amount of technology we have these days, to personally spread her message to various other parts of the world. The 'church' has over 400 branches in Korea & nearly 2,000 spread across the globe in 150 countries.


In one of my earlier blogs, I talked about a couple of the ladies who did their best to persuade me to join them for a service as they showed me all sorts of 'solid evidence' as to the truth of her existence. They even had a DVD that 'refuted' much of what science, history & common sense have proven over the many years of our existence.

Sure, Catholics seem to revere Mary as the mother of Jesus, she certainly isn't identified as divine in her own right. I mean, seriously, I find myself believing very little in the true value of organized religion but this is almost getting to the point of ridiculous....Scientology, God The Mother, Flying Spaghetti Monster (alright, that one's actually pretty funny in the entire premise of it).  Look around, people hate, kill, stereotype & persecute others based on things like religion. Humans have fought wars for centuries based on 'my god is better than your god.' I get it, people need something to believe in but seriously, how far is it gonna go? 

For some light reading, check this out:


THE God The Mother Homepage


Another God The Mother Homepage


Wiki - God The Mother

- American's embarrassing the country all over the world -

I understand a majority of ESL teachers over here are recent college graduates, many from the states & w/recent grads remains a bit of the rebellious, overzealous & boisterous ambitions of youth. However, either I'm just getting older or this next generation of Americans have been inundated w/far too much reality television, 'extreme' lifestyle thoughts & a simplistic desire to be uniquely different (which ultimately seems to propel them into a subtle majority). 

Either way, I have seen some truly annoying, ridiculous and embarrasing actions out of my fellow Americans....loud, obnoxious, rude & entitled behavior that simply makes our entire country look shallow, pompous & downright silly.  Just because you can be more annoying & childish than some of the low level elementary school children you teach, doesn't mean it's OK. By dressing like a completely colorblind & fashion handicapped moron doesn't allow you strut around town acting as if you are a gift to all those having the unfortunate luck of being in your presence. Due to the fact you are drunk, riding the subway in a big, foreign city during the middle of the day doesn't allow you to disrespect the fine people of the country you're a guest in while cursing like a sailor on shore leave! 

I can understand these actions to a certain level (not condoning, just realizing the reality of the world Americans live in)but something I painfully have trouble accepting (no matter how much I respect the military & what they do to protect our rights & freedoms) is the actions of the US military personnel as they get some free time off base. More often than not, the ones I've seen in public places are generally loud, arrogant, rude & idiotic - running up the wrong side of an escalator, brushing past Koreans as they confusedly make an effort to get out of the way; cutting in front of elderly Koreans as they hurry to board a train or bus; failing to offer those same elderly Koreans a hand as they struggle to load their luggage onto said bus or train; acting loud & entitled while causing a scene on the trains & buses. The worst was a couple of military guys defiantly berating a Korean mother and daughter as they politely attempted to sit in their seats, even though the military guys were raising hell & insisting they didn't have to move, even though they weren't their seats (most of the time passengers w/last minute tickets don't have seats but if they find an empty one, they'll sit until the actual ticket-holder arrives). 

It embarrasses me tremendously & I usually can't even bear to watch as the bystanders look on either mouths wide open, amazed at what happens to be transpiring or simply shake their heads in disgust while turning away. Sadly, I often find myself reacting the same way....who teaching these people how to act? Have they no sense of decency?

Chuseok

Traditional Chuseok feast set-up

Chuseok (pronounced chew sock) is the celebration of Korean Thanksgiving. Basically a four day weekend, although it's Mon/Tues off rather than Thurs./Fri, which I've always been a big fan of, probably due in large part to Wed before Thanksgiving is always the busiest bar night of the year, which means great money for the bartenders!!

Another look at a Chuseok set-up, just not as fancy

Regardless of the backwards approach to four day weekends, Koreans are certainly good about making the most of their time off, not to mention, teachers are usually given a few gifts from not only the directors or the schools but also from a few of the students or their parents. Most are simple, functional items the teacher could make good use of on a daily basis, i.e. toiletry gift sets, juice gift sets, seaweed gift sets, etc. One of my directors gave me an intriguing black rice vinegar drink set made up of three bottles of mixed berry juice and a fourth bottle of honey flavored juice. He knows I like pomegranate and berry juices so he thought I might like this as well. He warned, me, however, not to drink it straight and that I should dilute it w/about 50% water or milk. After a few more questions, I was able to surmise that it wasn't your basic fruit juice but rather a kind of rice vinegar wine and apparently pretty potent. I have yet to bust into the liquid goodness as I've been busy making my way via train and bus around the country on my days off (weekends).

I got one bottle of the honey & three of the berry (both on the far left)

As Chuseok happens around the time of the fall harvest, it offers Koreans the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labor (or at least used to when it was still a highly agrarian based country). The real Chuseok joy, however, comes from the opportunity to do a couple things.

First, families gather together at the house of the eldest male relative, usually the grandfather but if they have passed on, then it's the responsibility of the eldest son to open his home (and his wallet) for the occasion. There is a plethora of food options, mostly fruits, vegetables, fish, bulgolgi (meat) & traditional dishes like rice, kimchi, dried squid or octopus & songpyeon (a very chewy/rubbery crescent shaped rice cakes steamed on pine needles).

Songpyeon - rice cakes

Secondly, the day is spent catching up w/family on recent happenings, stuffing themselves w/food & most importantly, consuming large amounts of beer, alcohol & rice liquors....have I mentioned drinking seems to be a favorite past-time of most Koreans? These all day benders lead to much laughter, revelry & reflection regarding the year that's been as well as an offering of thanks to the relatives who've come before them and struggled to provide a better life here on the peninsula.

Finally, it's a big day, financially for the kids, as each child receives money from the adult males in the family. To my understanding, most of the money is usually put into the child's bank account to be spent on something later, most likely education/college. It was pointed out to me the benefit of having multiple kids is big on days like this as they can rake in some pretty good loot. I had a few students tell me they made b/w 300,000 - 500,000 won (about $300 - 500). Although, like both my directors pointed out, they tend to have to fork over quite a bit of cash, yet they each only have one child, so they don't have near the haul at the end of the day as their counterparts. Plus, they're both the eldest men in their families, which means spending about another 200,000 - 300,000 won on food & drink for the day. I guess there are times when it's good to be the middle or youngest boy in the brood, huh?

Kids seem to be the big winners, at least financially, during Chuseok

In case you'd like to further educate yourself on Korean Thanksgiving - Wiki Chuseok Link

Chuseok for me, however, didn't consist of a family bender or gorging myself on an accumulated cornucopia of the local harvest. Rather, I opted to make my way to the highest point on the southern side of the peninsula. My plan was to delve into a few days of hiking and pseudo-camping in Seoraksan National Park but getting there is a little more tricky than the ease of hopping a train. I had to catch a bus & ride for five relatively uncomfortable and cramped hours to the northeast part of the country. The forecast called for cool, cloudy fall weather w/about a 30% chance of showers on Sunday. Since the morning bus was already filled up when I got to the bus terminal Saturday morning, I found myself relegated to the afternoon trip & arriving in Sokcho fairly late on Saturday night. This still would have given me a couple good days of hiking & maybe some nature based transcendental enlightenment!

Fall leaves of Seoraksan National Park

After it was all said & done, though, my holiday adventure was pretty much a bust. It consisted of about $100 in travel expenses, 13+ hours on buses, a couple nights 'camped out' under a stretched awning covering a small stage in a park along the East sea coast in the small fishing village of Sokcho. A steady stream (downpour at times) of falling rain over about a 60 hour span and a few hours waiting for 'the bus that never arrives' at various city bus stops in Sokcho (for future travelers, it's lucky bus #7) to take me the 15 - 20 minutes up into the national park to at least see what trouble I could get myself into.

I stayed relatively drive throughout the endeavor but remained fairly frustrated at the wasted opportunity to get anything accomplished on the hiking side of things.

Hiking made easy, Korean style

Needless to say, I never made it into the National Park. I never had the opportunity to do any hiking, at least not in the traditional, natural sense, as I don't consider hiking/slopping around Sokcho for a couple days in the urban flatland while doing my best to avoid as much of the constant rain as possible, much of an the experience I had in mind. Thus, it appears, my misty mountain hopping will have to wait a few more days/weeks/months but regardless, I'm still looking forward to the adventure & sights of Seoraksan....even if it isn't until after the snow has started to fly.

Misty Mountain Hop?

**All photos have been lifted from various sites around the web, so I can't take credit for any of them.

Most Beautiful Beaches In The World?

Typical beach - umbrellas & intertubes

Soon after arriving, I heard Haeundae Beach in Busan was the most beautiful beach in the world, which struck me as a bit odd but I was obviously interested in getting to Busan anyway, so why not check out this allegedly beautiful beach.

Having been fortunate enough to live in sunny, sandy, Florida the past decade has offered me some wonderful background knowledge on what a beautiful beach might look like. So, as I made my way to Haeundae, I was certainly intrigued by what the Korean beach scene might have in store.

Haeundae, looking east, before the crowds

I secretly wished I would be greeted by pristine white sand, postcard perfect palm trees & breathtaking views. The reality of it, though, was I figured they would be nice beaches but wasn't going to get my hopes up for some stunning South Pacific backdrop....which, in reality, was a good thing. 

Haeundae looking west, before the crowds

Since visiting Haeundae, I have made a point of checking out a few other beaches on the peninsula & found they all pretty much appear about the same. They aren't terrible beaches & certainly offer great opportunities to relax, splash around a bit & enjoy a minor level of eye candy but the wishful thinking that I might experience something other than brown sand & relatively clear water were exactly that.

It must be understood that many Koreans never actually venture off the peninsula, hence the feeling that Haeundae is the most beautiful beach in their world. If you were from Korea, never left Korea & only visited all the main beaches across the country (w/the exclusion of those on Jeju Island - it's their version of Hawaii), you could certainly contest that Haeundae is in fact the most beautiful beach in the Korean world. 

Haeundae, ready for the crowds

Unfortunately, they really only sever as a delightful respite from the nearly oppressive heat & humidity of the summer months over here, while offering nothing much in the way of uniqueness, sheer beauty or tranquil havens.

I would likely make the comparison to the old guy selling produce off the back of his truck on the outskirts of Tampa who swore up & down he had the greatest sweetcorn in the world. It was only after mentioning I was an Iowa farmboy that he changed his tune & simply said 'Eh, it's pretty good.'  Sure, the beaches in Korea are pretty good but I would certainly have a hard time ranking them amongst the most beautiful in the world.

Common Korean water-ware

Notice the khaki's & long sleeves behind the little girl

Apparently the typical beachwear

Haeundae, bustling in early afternoon, notice the outfits, inflatables & umbrellas

I did notice a couple rather peculiar items in my 'research.' First, most Koreans go to the beach to post up under huge umbrellas (or beach tents if it's a less touristy locale), make a day of it picnicking & lounging, while occassionally making an effort to splash around or float on an inflatable doughnut in the water.The second is a very small percentage of the beach-going populations over the age of 7 actually wear bathing suits. Most everyone shows up in whatever they deem appropriate & whoala, that's what they go swimming/floating in. Shorts, T-shirts (long & short sleeved), hooded sweatshirts, jeans, capris, sweatpants & even dress shirts & khaki's. 

More scenes from Haeundae but pay particular attention to the girl in yellow....

She was a big fan of throwing sand, especially at her father!

These kids were hilarious, the boy was basically eating the sand after awhile

Sporting the banana hammock/man huggers (no, that's not his kid)

On the other end of the spectrum, you get some of the more confident (or likely foreign) sun worshippers willing to strut their stuff in banana hammocks & man huggers....very European, ooh la la!

There are a few more beaches in Busan but I only got shots of them at night. Regardless, Koreans do enjoy spending time near the water, no matter what time of day. There was even a set of steps built right along the water filled w/families & groups of friends eating, drinking & enjoying life at nearly 10 p.m. Like I've said before, they certainly do appreciate their lives & tend to enjoy themselves in all circumstances.


The rest of the pictures are from the various beaches in Busan (Gwangalli, Songjeong) as well as Pohang (Bukbu & Wolpo). I made my way to a few other beaches but either forgot my camera, the batteries had died or I completely neglected to take any pictures but I'm pretty sure you get the idea....the Korean beaches certainly aren't the idyllic sand-scapes I had been lead to believe but I am definitely happy w/the opportunity to splash around in relatively clean waters & have many of the beach goers gawk at my unorthodox choice of apparel.

Gwangalli, in Busan

Waterfront picnickers on the steps in Busan

Songjeong, in Busan

Pohang, looking towards the POSCO facility

Fireworks over Bukbu, Pohang

Bustling nightlife on Bukbu, Pohang

Brown sands & cloud cover, Bukbu, Pohang

Making the most of a cloudy day on Bukbu, Pohang

Looking south on Wolpo, Pohang

Looking north on Wolpo, Pohang

Probably the clearest water in Korea at Wolpo, Pohang

Not perfect sand but definitely less crowded

Pretty rocky beach but the military post adds serious security to the days events

Admittedly, the sight of another waegook (foreigners) is always a beach day bonus! I wouldn't say they are the most beautiful beaches in the world but I'm absolutely happy Korea isn't land locked, just something great about the salty sea air, waves lapping at your feet & not a care in the world except remembering to put on enough sunscreen.

Just happy to see another 'swimsuit'

Hanging W/The Dear Leader

The Dear Leader, just hanging out!

So there I was, sitting on Haeundae Beach in Busan, minding my own business when (although not entirely unexpected) this quaint older gentleman dolled up in his Sunday best creeps up on me & asks if he could take a seat beside me.

At the current moment I had been enjoying the local surf population punishing some gnarly three foot breakers about 150 feet out from the shore, which basically meant I was in a calm & peaceful state; at one w/the crashing waves & overcrowded jostling for a turn on the breaks.

As the elderly man began to speak, I noticed his English was pretty good, especially considering most Koreans beyond their mid thirties rarely spoke much English at all. The conversation was rather vanilla, initially, asking where I was from, what I was doing in Korea, etc....the typical generalities of a curious Korean wanted to know about the waegooks (foreigners).

He explained to me that he'd grown up in North Korea for lived there into his early teenage years before escaping to China & then making his way south of the DMZ into the 'free Korea,' as he put it. He mentioned not having any contact w/the few family members still living in the north but could only speculate that they likely had died or were suffering immensely under the current regime. Finally, he introduced himself by name & also offered me his business card. I thought I heard his name correctly but studied the card just to make sure. I'm fairly certain I had an inquisitive look plastered across my face, which he quickly took notice of & pointed out that he wasn't THAT Kim Jong Il - spelled differently, J-O-N-G instead of Y-O-U-N-G.

He's always lurking around somewhere!

You never know, he's a crafty one & he could be lurking anywhere - it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that it MIGHT be the real deal!


We went on to discuss the future of a unified Korea, his thoughts on how it might happen & his hope that, since the Germans were able to make it work, there just might be a shred of hope for his beloved Korea, too.

It was certainly interesting getting to speak to an escapee who had seen life on both sides of the DMZ, as well as learning more about his life after the escape. Turns out nearly 10,000 North Koreans escape to China every year but only about 2,000 of them actually realize their dreams of freedom. Most of them get shipped back to Pyongyang by the Chinese government, where they are usually jailed as traitors of the state but it's common that some are executed as well. I'm not sure how they decide who lives and dies but I'd assume 'repeat offenders' or seriously outspoken troublemakers probably don't have much chance of living upon their forced return.

He has devoted his life to Christ & spends most of his time 'witnessing' to most anyone who will offer him the courtesy of listening. I've realized most of these Christians have a fairly jaded reality of the world & their perspective is consistent w/a one track mind. They also don't seem open to other options or possibilities aside from that of their own faith.

However, he & I had a nice conversation regarding religion in general; how it seems to have such an adverse effect on people around the world & why so many zealouts seem staunchly determined to show that theirs is far superior to all others. To me, it seems most religions embrace essentially the same mantra but a select few seem to ruin it for everyone else....

Keep an eye out for the fanatics....

Without getting deep into religious dogma, I found it refreshing to share some quality conversation regarding religion, in general w/out having to refute the usual speculation & nonsense (you'd be surprised how many Christians over here want to 'witness' to people but have very little functional knowledge of religion beyond what they've been continually spoon-fed w/out much actual thought or questioning on their own).

Either way, I am happy to report that the Kim Young Il I met, is a sensible, down to earth, God fearing, guy who seems to think the ways of the Western world aren't all that bad & invited me to look him up whenever I made it back to Busan. Whether I needed a meal or a place to lay my head at night, I was always welcome.

So, when it boils right down to it, most people in this world are good, caring, compassionate & relatively generous people in some capacity or another. Although, I can imagine it isn't much fun sharing a name w/one of the most despised men in the whole world. I just wish I'd had the foresight snap a couple pictures of me & the dear leader. Oh, well, maybe next time.

Have a great weekend, people!

The Crazy Professor

Korean Guy, His Son, Me & The Crazy Professor

My first trip to Busan was one I'd been looking forward to since arriving. I'd heard it was a fun sea town & just rowdy enough for my liking.

I caught an early train Saturday morning, as this seems more conducive w/my spur of the moment mentality & offers a few hours of 'logistical planning' after work on Friday night to get a loose plan in order. Now, maybe this approach isn't the best option but having to account for frantically changing weather, it just seems a better option from where I'm sitting.

Not having a printer at home puts me at a disadvantage, since I'm not able to reserve a ticket & print it out before heading to the station. So, unfortunately, the only seats available were in first class but I figured the extra $10 would be better than waiting another hour for the next train. Plus, there are supposed to be a few perks riding in the 'high class' seats....which actually wound up being nothing. Either way, I was headed south & Busan station would ultimately put me w/in walking distance to a number of the initial places I wanted to check out.


Once aboard, I found my seat, stowed my pack overhead & hunkered down in the window seat for a nice two hour, mid-morning snooze. The snooze lasted all of 30 minutes, as upon stopping in Dondaegu, just south of Gumi, we picked up a few more passengers & one of them (I'm guessing he had a standing ticket & wandered around until he found an empty seat, which is pretty common) promptly noticed my Caucasian-ness, gestured politely, made a bit of English small talk & finally sat down in the vacant aisle seat to my right.

**I've come to realize headphones & books are nary a deterrent when it comes to chatty Asians looking to practice their secondary language skills.

The guy ends up being a semi-retired Economics professor who spent part of his days attending seminars, lecturing & bouncing around Korea visiting friends at various universities - some of which, he claims, are high ranking members of the administrations at said institutions. On this day, however, he was headed to a wedding in Busan.

His name was Dr. Warren Kim but he insisted on simply being called Warren. His flimsy, rice paper 'business card' gave the Hangul translation for those who could care less about his English name. On the surface, he seemed to be a very well traveled individual, having visited over 100 countries & due to his current employment status, he had plenty of time for traveling & meeting people. It didn't take long to realize he was tremendously outgoing & seemed very interested in getting to know anyone he encountered. He also took great pride in collecting personal contact information from those people he met.

Realizing I was knee deep in conversation & not getting any sleep, we swapped tales of adventure, life & general topics of varied substance. He was, what I'd refer to as an 'excitable guy.' He was older, sure, but full of energy & a certain zest for life not regularly exhibited by most people. I can only imagine his class lectures were probably quite entertaining, even if the subject matter may be rather blase for most folks.

Within about 30 minutes I'd learned way more than I'd every expected (or probably even wanted to) about the distinguished Professor Kim. He owns homes (apartments) in Seoul & Daegu, travels the world regularly, lost his alcoholic father to, you guessed it - alcohol & he claimed to have a wife that he never does anything with. In his exaggerated state of existence he bounced from topic to topic, and this should have been a warning sign that maybe things were a bit cuckoo w/the man but the conversation was comical & he thought he could help me find a Uni gig over here by forwarding my resume on to some of his friends at various universities he mentioned. 

He'd apparently spent a number of years teaching in the states & was familiar w/exactly where Iowa was. He also mentioned, during his time in America, he worked w/a Russian Economist who had passed away (my understanding is this was also alcohol related) & that he'd basically taken the man's sons under his wing & claimed to provide for them & treat them as if they were his own.

About 20 minutes out from Busan Station, the Professor proclaimed we needed to get off at Gupo (the port of turtles) & then we could catch the subway. He also felt I could get a discount on my ticket since I hadn't traveled to my final destination. It all seemed a bit sketchy & I objected a couple times but finally decided, what the hell, why not tag along w/the Professor for a while. Upon departing the train, he insisted I get my refund and he needed to find the station master. For all the efforts, I supposedly got a 1,000 won refund (about a buck) but I didn't ever bother to see if the deposit was ever made back into my account. We also spent a good 15 minutes traipsing around the station in search of the station master. By the time we finally found the office, the station master wasn't there but the Professor wanted to leave a message for him. Unfortunately, I wasn't exactly sure what he said but it didn't seem like it was much of anything important.

Next, it was on to the subway, where we were going to head downtown (basically where the train would have eventually dropped us off at, had we stayed on board). As we were cruising towards downtown, the Professor spotted a pasty, red haired chap who he felt I would certainly like to meet. Not surprisingly, it was a rather awkward few minutes....not every single white person wants to befriend every other white person in Korea. The kid was decent enough; a teacher (no surprise) from Ireland who felt this was an opportunity for a better life as things are apparently pretty dismal for recent college grads back on the Isle.

Eventually, we were to our stop so we parted ways w/the Irish lad (don't remember his name) & made our way up to the street where we caught a cab. I still wasn't entirely sure what the hell was going on but the Professor, in his effervescent demeanor, assured me we needed to meet up w/his friends before the wedding. Again, I mentioned to him it was a kind gesture but I really wasn't keen on going to a wedding, let alone spending the day running all over town meeting various people I would likely never see again.

After 10 minutes of left and right hand turns & a couple red lights, we exited the cab near the waterfront. The Professor wasn't exactly sure where he was supposed to meet his friend or what the exact plan was, so when we finally found them, the plan was to grab a bit to eat....unfortunately, a bite to eat didn't include any real food of substance but rather lots of Korean beer & an assortment of vegetables in varying degrees of spicy.

Have you ever watched a car accident & it seemed like the whole thing happened in slow motion? That's pretty much what the next 90 minutes were like. It winds up, the Professor met this guy a couple weeks earlier when he was in Busan, so it was only proper to get together for beers. The friend seemed like a nice guy, very polite & he was accompanied by his son, who probably in his early 20's. The Professor decided I should stay w/this guy & his family for the night & the son would be my tour guide for the weekend. As generous as the offer was, I really didn't want to A) burden this family I didn't even know & B) have some college kid devote his entire day/weekend to showing some English teacher around the city.


It turns out the Professor is quite a hearty drinker & I'm pretty sure for every one bottle we split, he had put down three bottles on his own. It wasn't to the point of raucous quite yet but he was beginning to get rather loud, considering it was only the middle of the day.

After being holed up in this tiny little restaurant/bar for nearly two hours, listening to the Professor ramble on about who knows what (only caught about every tenth word), I decided I needed to make my exit, the day was being wasted & I was rather annoyed. I almost felt bad for his friend as he sat there, relatively quiet, just nodding, agreeing & occasionally chuckling at some bit of wit or humor from the Professor.

I've come to realize that Korean men like to get drunk, often. Unfortunately, this was throwing a tremendous wrench in my plans to see the city. Finally, I mentioned that I really needed to get going, even though I had no pressing engagements, I was anxious to play tourist for awhile. With that, the Professor decided it was a good idea, even though he was going to stay & drink 'a little more' w/his friend, before the wedding. His friend spoke to his son for a moment, handed him about 50,000 won ($50) & motioned him to join me for the day.

Before leaving, the Professor invited me to call him on Sunday on my way back through Daegu. He thought it would be great if we met up for a bite to eat. Knowing his idea of 'a bite to eat' was drastically different than mine, I opted to forgo the invitation & whatever bizarre nonsense would have likely ensued.

Hoping never to experience this again, I made the request of a photo, if only to serve as a future reminder of, well, the Crazy Professor. We lined up, smiled eloquently enough & as the Professor clasped onto my arm for stability, photos were taken.  I did my best to thank the Professor, his friend & the relatively patient ladies working who'd suffered through a few rude moments as the Professor sucked down his happy juice.

The tiny restaurant & our two waitresses....kind of.

Unfortunately, the kid who was going to show me around didn't speak much English & the Korean dictionary on my phone could only do so much. By the time we made our way down the elevator, outside & had wandered about a block down the street, I had done my best to explain that he didn't need to escort me around the city & he could probably find far better things to do on a Saturday afternoon anyway. It took at least five minutes of explaining & 'phone-translating' to fully get my point across & by that time, it seemed that I may have offended the kid but either way - I was free at last!


For all his generosity & sincere friendliness, I couldn't help thinking that, just maybe, this man might be a tad loony! I certainly appreciated the manner in which he carried himself & his outwardly cordial attitude towards all people but having been led all over town w/nothing sufficiently productive to show for the time & energy wasted, I was more than happy to be alone, to explore Busan on my own.

On my next trip to Busan, I was very leery of running into the Professor again, I just had a bad feeling. Even knowing percentages were low that I might actually cross paths w/him, my senses were still heightened & I was ready to duck & hide if necessary.

Of course, when I got to Busan station a couple weeks ago, I cautiously looked around the waiting area & ticket lines for any sign of the Professor....low & behold, there he was, on the far side of the station, chatting it up w/one of the KORAIL employees, most likely wanting to have a word w/the station master about something. I bee-lined for the nearest set of stairs, made my way to the second level & posted up, watching to see that the Professor had gone on his way & I wouldn't have to endure another afternoon of nonsense w/this crazy little man.

Seoul Trippin 3

Sunday in Seoul began fairly early (at least for someone who is used to starting work at 1p.m.). Sleeping in the bathhouse was an interesting endeavor as there were roughly 80 basic 'boxes' set up on the top floor in a kind of bunk style, some with 'pillow' type cushions and a mat, while many others contained nothing in terms of comfort. I was fortunate enough to occupy one w/this slight level of comfort. Considering the whole building was quite a few degrees warmer than the air temperature outside, it made for a rather hot & sticky nights sleep but, in the end, it wound up being a fairly restful night.

6:30-ish is prime time to avoid the mass of humanity in a Jjimjilbang, I pretty much had the showers & hot/cold tubs to myself so I was able to take my time, enjoy some privacy & cleanse my exterior w/very little sense of hurry. By the time I was finished loading up my pack & making my way downstairs, Koreans in all shapes, sizes & ages were stirring about, preparing to begin their day on the tails of the peculiar white man....so far, so good!


I ventured out the main entrance, formulated a plan & made my way back down Hooker Hill, stopping at a Family Mart (convenience store) to pick up some yogurt & a couple Gatorade's - can never be too hydrated over here, the humidity reminds me of both IA & FL. After grabbing what I needed & wandering back out into the early morning summer warmth, the scene of late night revelers making their way home offered some great amusement & as I stood there in somewhat of a trance just taking it all in, a guy came up to me & snapped me back to reality by mentioning he saw the backpack & thought he would do the proper thing & say hey to a fellow backpacker. Winds up, the guy talked my ear off for about 30 minutes....so much for just saying hey. He's originally from near Chicago & been teaching over here for a couple years but spent about five years working as some sort of production minion on the Jerry Springer Show. Admittedly, I only caught about 20% of what he was saying but I do recall him mentioning he hated working there & having to do so many terrible things in an effort to ruin someone else's life for ratings & money; ah, television, how I haven't missed you!

Art Museum I couldn't visit as it's closed on Sundays.

Looking North at part of the US Military Base

By the time I took my leave of 'Chicago,' nearly an hour had passed & I was wasting valuable time in the city. It took a couple minutes to get to the bike we'd stashed the night before, saddle up & make my way south to the Han River. 

Really not a whole lot to tell about the next few hours, basically rode up & down the river on a fairly busy bike path, envied a speed boat on the Han river pulling the one & only water-skier I've seen in my eight months here, chomped on a few snacks, watched a little league baseball practice, sucked down a Gatorade, enjoyed a crappy Korean beer, snapped a handful of pictures, 'conversed' w/a few groups of Korean schoolkids hanging out along the riverfront & finally decided to make my way back to Itaewon so I could meet up w/Tonya & Mark after their race. It was mid afternoon by this point & they were likely going to be finishing the race & heading back by about 4, then the plan was to hit up the Aussie BBQ.

I had worked up a pretty good funk from all bike riding & wandering around, so I was pretty anxious to get a cool shower & some tasty BBQ in my stomach - and of course, wash it down w/multiple beers that hopefully wouldn't be Korean made.

63 Building overlooking the Han

Interesting metalwork along the bike path

 After waiting a couple of hours & not hearing anything from Tonya & Mark, I made my way down to the strip, grabbed a bite to eat at a Mexican restaurant (it was awesome!) & decided to do a little window shopping as well as hit up an English Bookstore. As I left the bookstore, returned to the sun-drenched strip, set my pack down & perused one of the new books I'd picked up I was approached by a couple Korean women. They proceeded to ask me if I was familiar w/God the Mother. Assuming they simply confused mother w/father, I said sure, of course. Big mistakes....as I've learned, when any Korean approaches you carrying a backpack or shoulder bag, pretend you speak Spanish & high tail it in the opposite direction, wildly
yammering on in Spanish, otherwise they'll likely rope you into a 'God is great' session you probably don't want any part of.

I remained cordial enough to the ladies & listened to what they had to say, many times refuting their claims, even as they attempted showing me 'proof' about 'God the Mother' in the Bible. Surprisingly, there is an huge group of followers/believers around the world who travel to Korea on a pilgrimage of sorts to meet & shake hands w/the living, breathing 'God the Mother.' Somehow, the mother of Jesus is alive & well (although she's nearing geriatric status) in South Korea - and people really believe this, so much so that they devote their lives & money to her spiritual leadership. The whole time (probably two hours) they were witnessing to me, I was thinking this would be the perfect time for my phone to ring, so as to have a legitimate reason for leaving.

Water skier on the Han

Church w/a view overlooking the Han

Even though the ladies felt as though they'd failed to persuade me in joining their cult (even after bringing in a couple Jerry Falwell heavy hitters), I told them they did a wonderful job in 'explaining' the information & it was certainly something to think about but I really had to get going, even though the phone had yet to ring.  As I strode down the sidewalk, they followed a little ways back w/a determined, yet slightly dejected look on their faces but quickly jumped into their pitch w/another unsuspecting foreigner. I've come to realize, many Koreans are interested in saying hello to foreigners & finding out a little information about where they are from & what they're doing in Korea, so when the two ladies originally approached me, I thought nothing of it....lesson learned.

I pretty much spent the next few hours wandering up & down the strip, stopped for more grub & a beer & finally decided that if I didn't hear anything from Tonya & Mark by 10, I'd head for the train station & back to Gumi rather than spending another night in the Jimjilbang. I was slightly worried something might have happened to Tonya & Mark during the race, as it was a pretty grueling endeavor & the weather was just hot enough to make it that much more difficult.

By 10, I'd successfully quelled the advances of what I can only assume was a hooker, enjoyed an entertaining street musician, made my way to the subway station (successfully quelled the same hookers advances again, pretty sure she was following me) & finally found myself back at Seoul Station. I got my ticket, killed the next 70 minutes reading & people watching & finally boarded the 11:30 train bound for Busan, meaning I'd be back home in Gumi in a few short hours.

Apparently Norway has a big tourist presence in Korea!

All the exercise & time in the sun had tuckered this kid out, which meant I was fast asleep by the time the train pulled out of the station. When I woke up about 90 minutes later to relieve my bladder of the Gatorade I'd been consuming all day, I checked my phone & noticed a missed call & text message from Tonya. Long story short, the race lasted quite a bit longer than they'd anticipated, by the time they got home, they were running late for the BBQ but needed to freshen up & charge their phones. In the rush back out the door, they'd apparently left the phones plugged into the chargers back at Mark's apartment & had no other way to get a hold of me. They planned on calling me, giving me directions, then having me catch a cab or the subway up to the BBQ but w/out the phones, it was all a no-go.

Regardless of the Sunday snafu & time spent learning about another in the long line of religious oddities, it was a pretty good first experience in Seoul, even if I didn't get to see & do everything I'd hoped. It's definitely a city that needs to be experienced a few times anyway, so I have a good excuse to make my way north again soon (I actually buzzed up there late one Saturday night & spent Sunday playing tourist but I've still got lots more to see).