A couple people have asked what age the kids are that I'm teaching. In all honesty, I'm not exactly sure of their ages but most of them are elementary school students but I do have 11 kids who are in middle school. I've discovered over here when a person says they are a certain age, it's not in the sense we as Westerners think of it but rather, they consider the time spent in the womb as part of their lives....which I suppose leads to the whole Chinese gymnast conspiracy at the Olympics a few years ago (when they were supposedly too young).
Most of my classes are early to mid elementary school aged kids who vary greatly in their grasp & understanding of the language. It's kind of funny because you don't realize how complicated & confusing English is until you are put in a position of explaining the difference between where & wear or having to help the kids understand why we change spellings of words based on the tense it's in (sweep, swept). The most intriguing aspect so far has been the questions from the Korean teachers (who all seem fairly fluent in their understanding of the language) about the intricacies of proper grammar as opposed to the slang, which seems to make up quite a vast percentage of what is spoken on a regular basis.
I found myself explaining how it is possible to 'ride the bus' or get a 'ride in a car' when they have been taught to 'take the bus' or 'take the car.' They seemed completely baffled that someone could ride a bus as their thought was to ride something along the lines of a bike or horse.
Most of my kids are really funny and like to have a good time with their learning. They are, I suppose, like kids anywhere throughout the world who simply want to have fun, make friends, learn a little something & see how much joking around they can get away with. Having never really taught the elementary age before, I'm really having a blast with it but not sure if it's something I'd consider back in the States.
I say that simply because education is a priority over here & these kids spend most all of their school days doing something academic. Even with these kids on winter break for a month, they are still coming to the academy every day for a few hours to work on their English.
I'm teaching a 'special discussion class' during the month of January for seven of my 11 & 12 year olds. The intended purpose of the class is to have the kids work on discussing their feeling, opinions and knowledge of specific topics but it's wild thinking about the basic, simple conversations we have nearly every day that need to be simplified even more when talking to a new learner of the English language! Even the vocabulary words and terms have to be basic....luckily, these kids all have cellphones with a Korean to English translator installed, which helps get through some of the issues.
We've spent time talking about jobs, careers, what dreams or goals they might have and only one said he wanted to be a professional athlete (and it was soccer, so that's a whole different beast altogether). These kids have dreams of being doctors, judges & teachers along with a high number who want to be a chef, baker or 'food stylist.'
Although, I guess that makes sense since there are little restaurants all over the place. Literally, I think there are at least 20 within just a couple blocks of my apartment & it's like that all over the place. I don't think anybody actually cooks dinners, they either eat out or have something delivered by the crazy delivery guys (all of which are on scooters or mopeds for the Iowegians reading this one) who are apparently exempt from obeying any traffic laws, lights, signs or warnings - those guys drive all over the place & never stop for anything.....must be some delivery guarantee or it's free type of thing!
My days are pretty crazy as it's basically jump in with both feet, starting with the young-ens, who are probably kindergarten aged & ending with my middle school & high school aged kids who do alright but I actually expected them to be much better than they are. It's hilarious with the young ones cause they really don't know any English at all besides 'Hi Teacher, how are you?' and 'I'm very good/bad/so-so or the occasional happy/terrible.' They just assume I speak Korean, at least enough to communicate on a minimal scale but I just kinda laugh at myself & say yes or no, having no idea what they're asking me.
I do have one kid who speaks unbelievable English for his age (prob nine or 10) but is goofy as shit. I have him in two classes and one of them is just me working with him to continue to help him improve. Apparently the school director has decided to enter him in some 'big deal' English speaking competition & has me tutoring him specifically for that purpose the next month or two....kinda seems like I'm back in the FLA teaching to the test!
I don't think I've mentioned this but they don't really have heating systems here, rather they use space heaters. The school I'm at on Tues & Thurs is so flippin cold....I think it's been warmer outside than inside on most days. One day we were talking about fat, thin, short & tall when a kid said I was fat. My guess was because I was wearing long underwear, and a thin base fleece under a sweater with a thicker fleece & my heavy duty Mountain Hardwear Windstopper jacket so I'm sure I looked like the stay puff marshmallow man (actually caught the jacket sleeve on fire the other day as it was hanging on my chair, which got pushed too close to the gas heater & within a couple minutes the room wreaked of charred/melted fleece & we were sending some great little smoke signals from the jacket)!
Anyway, I'm enjoying the classes & the kids so far. I took some video of a few different classes the other day but haven't up-loaded them yet. Stay tuned for some funny Korean kids, initially camera shy then hammin it up....good times!
Be well, people. I'm hittin the sack, it's almost 3 in the morning.
mista A
January 15, 2011
January 11, 2011
It's like Iowa!
The weather was gonna be cold, I knew that, but who would have figured I'd be living through the coldest winter in decades here in South Korea - how exciting!
It kind of reminds me of growing up in Iowa most winters when it was ridiculously cold, extra windy and usually a good powdering of snow from time to time, just to keep everyone on their toes. Unlike those fabulous days of my childhood, the snow doesn't really amount to a whole lot here & it's usually morphed into some sort of ice patch within a day or so.....it's funny watching people slipping and sliding down the sidewalks.
There isn't much belief in scooping the snow, just let it pile up, get packed down, become ice and eventually it will melt away. I have seen a few parts of town where they've thrown some sand down to help melt the ice but that's about it. So, yeah, it's pretty much been a super record breaking winter with plenty of cold, wind & snow for everyone. Which is probably why I had a terrible cold on Fri as I battled the weather to wander out of the neighborhood (dong in Korean) & see what I was missing.
There is usually lots of joy and excitement when everyone sees the snow falling as it seems to be a bit of a rarity. There were even a couple kids building a snowman on the roof of the building next to my school. My director James said if they usually only get snow three times a winter but we had snow three times in the month since I've gotten here....looking forward to more of the white stuff!
I'm really glad I brought a few books along, since the internet has been pretty sketchy and questionable the past couple weeks, I've had plenty of time to do some light reading....finished two Clive Cussler books and a Chris Kuzneski. Fortunately, I've got another Cussler, a Randy Wayne White and 'Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,' they should keep me occupied a few more weeks.
By the time I finish the books I should be celebrating my first 'official' payday - I've been told they literally pay you cash & to bring a large bag to carry the money home because the largest bill is the 10,000 won, keep in mind, I'll be getting a month & a half's worth of wages plus some overtime which should put the grand total of more than 3.2 million won (3,200,000). For those of you struggling with the math right now, 1,000 Korean won is roughly $1 USD. Think about it this way, I'm making $3,200 & it's paid in $10 bills, that's a ton of cheddar!
I'm looking forward to having a little money to spend on traveling since I've really not done any exploring at all since I arrived a month ago. There are a couple friends I'd like to see in Seoul and 'a friend of a friend' just arrived in Daegu (about 20 mins south of me) this past weekend, so I should probably be a American, meet up with him & share the wealth of knowledge I've acquired in the past month!
Oh yeah, I am officially a Korean Alien Resident, too. Which means I can do everything any Korean can except vote and I got a sweet little ID card to verify it....although I don't think it's good North of the DMZ.
That's it for this one, just wanted to let everyone know how cold it was & what a great time to be here for record breaking temps! I'm gonna do a blog on my students as well as driving this week if the internet continues to be up & running!
Until then, be warm (I really appreciate Florida winters much more now), be happy & be awesome!!
mista A
It kind of reminds me of growing up in Iowa most winters when it was ridiculously cold, extra windy and usually a good powdering of snow from time to time, just to keep everyone on their toes. Unlike those fabulous days of my childhood, the snow doesn't really amount to a whole lot here & it's usually morphed into some sort of ice patch within a day or so.....it's funny watching people slipping and sliding down the sidewalks.
There isn't much belief in scooping the snow, just let it pile up, get packed down, become ice and eventually it will melt away. I have seen a few parts of town where they've thrown some sand down to help melt the ice but that's about it. So, yeah, it's pretty much been a super record breaking winter with plenty of cold, wind & snow for everyone. Which is probably why I had a terrible cold on Fri as I battled the weather to wander out of the neighborhood (dong in Korean) & see what I was missing.
There is usually lots of joy and excitement when everyone sees the snow falling as it seems to be a bit of a rarity. There were even a couple kids building a snowman on the roof of the building next to my school. My director James said if they usually only get snow three times a winter but we had snow three times in the month since I've gotten here....looking forward to more of the white stuff!
I'm really glad I brought a few books along, since the internet has been pretty sketchy and questionable the past couple weeks, I've had plenty of time to do some light reading....finished two Clive Cussler books and a Chris Kuzneski. Fortunately, I've got another Cussler, a Randy Wayne White and 'Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,' they should keep me occupied a few more weeks.
By the time I finish the books I should be celebrating my first 'official' payday - I've been told they literally pay you cash & to bring a large bag to carry the money home because the largest bill is the 10,000 won, keep in mind, I'll be getting a month & a half's worth of wages plus some overtime which should put the grand total of more than 3.2 million won (3,200,000). For those of you struggling with the math right now, 1,000 Korean won is roughly $1 USD. Think about it this way, I'm making $3,200 & it's paid in $10 bills, that's a ton of cheddar!
I'm looking forward to having a little money to spend on traveling since I've really not done any exploring at all since I arrived a month ago. There are a couple friends I'd like to see in Seoul and 'a friend of a friend' just arrived in Daegu (about 20 mins south of me) this past weekend, so I should probably be a American, meet up with him & share the wealth of knowledge I've acquired in the past month!
Oh yeah, I am officially a Korean Alien Resident, too. Which means I can do everything any Korean can except vote and I got a sweet little ID card to verify it....although I don't think it's good North of the DMZ.
That's it for this one, just wanted to let everyone know how cold it was & what a great time to be here for record breaking temps! I'm gonna do a blog on my students as well as driving this week if the internet continues to be up & running!
Until then, be warm (I really appreciate Florida winters much more now), be happy & be awesome!!
mista A
December 30, 2010
Let The Good Times Roll
Enjoying a bit of Mumford & Sons (great band!) as I contemplate the day that was....I opted to sleep in after a bit of domestic disturbance at about 4a.m. outside my window last night or it could have been as simple as drunken revelry to celebrate the record lows & unprecedented snowfall we've been having, either way it resulted in my snoozing later than usual. Regardless, here's the loose replay of how things went down:
I had just wandered back from the neighborhood Big Mart to pick up a few essentials & was delighted to not only have received my first mail, holiday cards from my good friends the Conrad's & another Iowa Stater, Teri Williams! Alas, more excitement was to be had as a notice had been posted to my apartment door at some time in the 45 minutes I had spent milling around the grocery store.
Unfortunately my understanding of the Korean language is still quite lacking but am going to be a little presumptuous that I have a package waiting for me. Looks like I'll have to hang around tomorrow & see if the Korea Postal service comes bearing good tidings!
That's actually all the excitement I've been fortunate enough to absorb today but it's been a rather eventful week what with the 'work outing' Tues & James showing up with goodies on Wed! A little background info before I get into the nonsense - so I'm splitting time between two separate schools/academies. I'm at Sangmo-dong (which is about a four block walk from my apt) on M/W/F & Daeng-dong T/Th. James is the director at Sangmo & has really been the man in terms of making sure I've had a smooth transition, have everything I need for the apartment & is the one I am essentially working for & getting paid by but am apparently on loan to the other school for awhile (my guess is for the duration) which is fine by me as the Daeng crew seems to be the more foot loose fun loving types; whereas James & the Sangmo gang are very serious & focused.
So, as it should happen, the Daeng crew inquired as to my availability to join them for dinner & drinks after work on Tues night. Obviously I had to check my social calendar & make sure I had no prior obligations & as luck would have it, I was wide open!
Unfortunately, there was a significant snowfall throughout the day, which led to much smaller classes than usual & the cancellation of my final group of eager learners; so after a rigorous four hours & change of dropping serious knowledge, the workday was officially over & it was go time, Korea! The crew wandered seven blocks as fat flakes of snow lapped our faces & the Gumi winds whirled all around. Finally making it to the restaurant, the appropriate shoe removal occurred & we were then led to the soon to be rowdy section of the joint.
The discussion was mostly in Korean as the crew scoured the menu on the wall (which is apparently how they roll here), coming to a final decision of pork being the tastiest, most economically viable option. As I've discovered with any time you're paying for restaurant food, it's not just the meat you ordered but a surprisingly delicious assortment of veggies to throw into the mix as well as rice on most occasions. Oddly, however, rice wasn't included on this night but it certainly wasn't necessary. Rather, we were treated to various sprouts, spring onions, fried onions, some crazy mozzarella cheese corn concoction, two different types of soup (a runny/watery bean option as well as a thicker, spicier bean variation), garlic, spicy peppers, sesame & lettuce leaves used to wrap the food & finally, a third thick ginger soup accompanied by the hometown favorite Kim chi (cabbage).
Basically, here's how it went down. The sprout/onion/spring onion combo was the first item delivered & I could only assume it was our 'salad,' which I suppose it was but found out later that it could also be mixed with the pork & shrimp (somehow they ordered that, too, which was good by me) that we cooked ourselves in a sort of submersed cooking pit with our waitress swapping out the cooking surface three or four times throughout the duration of the meal. Not to be simply a dine & dash scenario but more of a 'team building' exercise, we obviously threw a little booze into the mix, why wouldn't we, right?
I had a couple liter bottles of a Korean beer called Hite, which seemed like a tastier version of Coors Light, weighing in at 4.5% alcohol, so nothing potent but the three girls & the directors friend insisted on the traditional Korean dinner liquor, Soju, which is essentially their version of Sake. Obviously, I was able to sneak in a couple shots of the 19% liquor as I'm pretty sure we toasted every time somebody didn't understand what I was saying or vise versa. At some point, someone pointed out that it was also customary to mix the beer & Soju together, which made perfect sense to me, so why not!
Side note, after dinner when I went to relieve myself, the friend of the director wound up in the bathroom, smoking a cigarette, offered me one & continued on as this is commonplace over here....I guess this must be what it was like in the States back in the 1940's - 1970's when it didn't matter where you smoked. Thought it was funny & a little bizarre, considering how tremendously healthy most everyone seems to be over here. They do love smoking, though!
Of course the evening couldn't end at such an early hour, especially considering we were able to get an hour head start due to the weather AND one of the student's fathers owns a little bar/eatery just a few blocks from the restaurant we were already at. Bring it!
We made our way back out into the cold & snow & headed off for some Patun or traditional Korean Sea Pizza (obviously the theme of the night was thrown as much 'traditional Korean whatever' at this kid). When we arrived, Joe's father set down a few munchies & took our drink orders. As I eyed the snacks, I detected what look like an exoskeleton on a couple of the bowls of goodies. Lacking the better judgment to not say anything, I pointed out to the group that those looked a lot like bugs; they confirmed my assessment & filled me in on the fact they were relatively raw silkworms like the brown critter in the picture (which just happens to be the life cycle of said silkworm):
I ate the brown version
Apparently not many native Koreans eat many of the silkworms but I was able to put down seven of them, the first three or four simply out of fascination & the last few as mere bar bets that I wasn't dumb enough to devour another but I showed them....
So, anyway, back to the Sea Pizza, basically it consists of squid, clam, spring onions, eggs & some sort of leafy things all mixed together on a basic flour/water/salt crust. I wouldn't really say it was baked in an over but more cooked a little bit. Either way, it wasn't bad; kind of a spinachy/fishy taste, which was expected, although you could kick it up a notch by dipping it in a sauce of vinegar, sugar, hot pepper paste, soda water & sesame - needless to say it was tasty.
Given the fact we had just finished gorging ourselves, we felt obligated to have some cocktails & enjoy the pizza, which we did. Decided to wash it down with a 'traditional' rice liquor, which tasted like coconut milk served really cold out of a coffee mug. Anyway, by the time we'd finished off the pizza & a few vats of the rice booze, Joe's father wanted to show his appreciation for our efforts as teachers & brought us a huge bowl of boiled clams & more sauce for dipping....surprisingly (never having been much of an oyster type of guy) the clams & the sauce were really, really good.
That pretty much sums up the night. By this time it was nearly midnight & I had a cab to attempt to catch, plus the rest of the gang had to teach the next day but not this guy! The director was nice enough to allow me to hang on to her as she escorted me the five blocks to a main intersection, hailed me a cab & gave me 10,000 won (basically $10) for the ride home. Now remember, kids, lots of snow, followed by freezing temps followed by more snow made for not only a tricky bit of maneuvering down the sidewalk holding up my psuedo-intoxicated director but this ain't Iowa, these people aren't really used to lots of snow & ice but the cabby did a spectacular job sliding the car the few kilometers (1 mile=1.6km) back to my neighborhood, picked up a couple partially sober girls who were anxious to practice their English & subsequently dropped me off about four blocks down the road, right near the apartment.
As I've discovered, bringing paper & something to write with certainly helps in the communication barriers I've faced so far. In fact, the director's friend, a guy named, Kim Suk Dong (seriously) and I had quite a conversation writing things on the paper & having the two girls who speak English loosely interpret what we were saying as well. I do find it odd that the director of this school can't speak a bit of English. Anyway, good times were had by all, I was able to sample a few more 'traditional' items & made it home safely!
Of course this whole night happened, the one time I didn't bring the camera with to document but one of the girls took some pics & there is verification that I was consuming silkworms. I always thought it would be disgusting but it really didn't taste like much at all but remember, there was a fair bit of liquid courage happening, too!
To top off all the other fun & excitement, just yesterday I witnessed a tiny old man spend what seemed like 30 minutes attempting to make his way up a very slight incline that had been covered in snow the previous night, poor guy was holding onto the wall with one hand, using the other to balance himself & kept churning his right foot like a bull ready to charge the taunting matador. Poor old dude kept at it, despite his lack of progress until it must have dawned on him to give the other foot a shot & whoa-la, the left foot made mediocre progress followed by the slightest forward progress from the right. Literally, I wanted to go help the guy but there was no way I could have imagined it would have taken him as long as it did. Plus, I was pretty hung over & really comfy in my pajamas but it's one of those things you witness in life & have a tremendous amount of difficulty making the realization that the event really just happened.
Anyway, he eventually made it the 10 feet to the little community 'reclamation' pile, where he proceeded to pillage for the best in discarded items the neighbors had tossed out. Here's hoping the little guy found himself something real nice!
Big day planned for New Years; thinking about shaving, probably take a shower (not to worry, I've perfected the cold shower, it's all about timing the two bursts of hot water just right) & mozy on down to one of the local watering holes for a tasty beverage, maybe see if they have some silk worms to munch on & see how awesome I can be, Korean style!
Here's hoping everyone had a delightful little Christmas & enjoys a mildly productive, slightly contemplative & ridiculously inexpensive New Years Eve....here's to a 2011 filled with a whole lot of livin', joy, happiness, prosperity, love, laughter, good friends, great memories & a whole bunch of whatever it is you want most!
Be well, people....that is all!
I had just wandered back from the neighborhood Big Mart to pick up a few essentials & was delighted to not only have received my first mail, holiday cards from my good friends the Conrad's & another Iowa Stater, Teri Williams! Alas, more excitement was to be had as a notice had been posted to my apartment door at some time in the 45 minutes I had spent milling around the grocery store.
Unfortunately my understanding of the Korean language is still quite lacking but am going to be a little presumptuous that I have a package waiting for me. Looks like I'll have to hang around tomorrow & see if the Korea Postal service comes bearing good tidings!
That's actually all the excitement I've been fortunate enough to absorb today but it's been a rather eventful week what with the 'work outing' Tues & James showing up with goodies on Wed! A little background info before I get into the nonsense - so I'm splitting time between two separate schools/academies. I'm at Sangmo-dong (which is about a four block walk from my apt) on M/W/F & Daeng-dong T/Th. James is the director at Sangmo & has really been the man in terms of making sure I've had a smooth transition, have everything I need for the apartment & is the one I am essentially working for & getting paid by but am apparently on loan to the other school for awhile (my guess is for the duration) which is fine by me as the Daeng crew seems to be the more foot loose fun loving types; whereas James & the Sangmo gang are very serious & focused.
So, as it should happen, the Daeng crew inquired as to my availability to join them for dinner & drinks after work on Tues night. Obviously I had to check my social calendar & make sure I had no prior obligations & as luck would have it, I was wide open!
Unfortunately, there was a significant snowfall throughout the day, which led to much smaller classes than usual & the cancellation of my final group of eager learners; so after a rigorous four hours & change of dropping serious knowledge, the workday was officially over & it was go time, Korea! The crew wandered seven blocks as fat flakes of snow lapped our faces & the Gumi winds whirled all around. Finally making it to the restaurant, the appropriate shoe removal occurred & we were then led to the soon to be rowdy section of the joint.
The discussion was mostly in Korean as the crew scoured the menu on the wall (which is apparently how they roll here), coming to a final decision of pork being the tastiest, most economically viable option. As I've discovered with any time you're paying for restaurant food, it's not just the meat you ordered but a surprisingly delicious assortment of veggies to throw into the mix as well as rice on most occasions. Oddly, however, rice wasn't included on this night but it certainly wasn't necessary. Rather, we were treated to various sprouts, spring onions, fried onions, some crazy mozzarella cheese corn concoction, two different types of soup (a runny/watery bean option as well as a thicker, spicier bean variation), garlic, spicy peppers, sesame & lettuce leaves used to wrap the food & finally, a third thick ginger soup accompanied by the hometown favorite Kim chi (cabbage).
Basically, here's how it went down. The sprout/onion/spring onion combo was the first item delivered & I could only assume it was our 'salad,' which I suppose it was but found out later that it could also be mixed with the pork & shrimp (somehow they ordered that, too, which was good by me) that we cooked ourselves in a sort of submersed cooking pit with our waitress swapping out the cooking surface three or four times throughout the duration of the meal. Not to be simply a dine & dash scenario but more of a 'team building' exercise, we obviously threw a little booze into the mix, why wouldn't we, right?
I had a couple liter bottles of a Korean beer called Hite, which seemed like a tastier version of Coors Light, weighing in at 4.5% alcohol, so nothing potent but the three girls & the directors friend insisted on the traditional Korean dinner liquor, Soju, which is essentially their version of Sake. Obviously, I was able to sneak in a couple shots of the 19% liquor as I'm pretty sure we toasted every time somebody didn't understand what I was saying or vise versa. At some point, someone pointed out that it was also customary to mix the beer & Soju together, which made perfect sense to me, so why not!
Side note, after dinner when I went to relieve myself, the friend of the director wound up in the bathroom, smoking a cigarette, offered me one & continued on as this is commonplace over here....I guess this must be what it was like in the States back in the 1940's - 1970's when it didn't matter where you smoked. Thought it was funny & a little bizarre, considering how tremendously healthy most everyone seems to be over here. They do love smoking, though!
Of course the evening couldn't end at such an early hour, especially considering we were able to get an hour head start due to the weather AND one of the student's fathers owns a little bar/eatery just a few blocks from the restaurant we were already at. Bring it!
We made our way back out into the cold & snow & headed off for some Patun or traditional Korean Sea Pizza (obviously the theme of the night was thrown as much 'traditional Korean whatever' at this kid). When we arrived, Joe's father set down a few munchies & took our drink orders. As I eyed the snacks, I detected what look like an exoskeleton on a couple of the bowls of goodies. Lacking the better judgment to not say anything, I pointed out to the group that those looked a lot like bugs; they confirmed my assessment & filled me in on the fact they were relatively raw silkworms like the brown critter in the picture (which just happens to be the life cycle of said silkworm):
I ate the brown version
Apparently not many native Koreans eat many of the silkworms but I was able to put down seven of them, the first three or four simply out of fascination & the last few as mere bar bets that I wasn't dumb enough to devour another but I showed them....
So, anyway, back to the Sea Pizza, basically it consists of squid, clam, spring onions, eggs & some sort of leafy things all mixed together on a basic flour/water/salt crust. I wouldn't really say it was baked in an over but more cooked a little bit. Either way, it wasn't bad; kind of a spinachy/fishy taste, which was expected, although you could kick it up a notch by dipping it in a sauce of vinegar, sugar, hot pepper paste, soda water & sesame - needless to say it was tasty.
Given the fact we had just finished gorging ourselves, we felt obligated to have some cocktails & enjoy the pizza, which we did. Decided to wash it down with a 'traditional' rice liquor, which tasted like coconut milk served really cold out of a coffee mug. Anyway, by the time we'd finished off the pizza & a few vats of the rice booze, Joe's father wanted to show his appreciation for our efforts as teachers & brought us a huge bowl of boiled clams & more sauce for dipping....surprisingly (never having been much of an oyster type of guy) the clams & the sauce were really, really good.
That pretty much sums up the night. By this time it was nearly midnight & I had a cab to attempt to catch, plus the rest of the gang had to teach the next day but not this guy! The director was nice enough to allow me to hang on to her as she escorted me the five blocks to a main intersection, hailed me a cab & gave me 10,000 won (basically $10) for the ride home. Now remember, kids, lots of snow, followed by freezing temps followed by more snow made for not only a tricky bit of maneuvering down the sidewalk holding up my psuedo-intoxicated director but this ain't Iowa, these people aren't really used to lots of snow & ice but the cabby did a spectacular job sliding the car the few kilometers (1 mile=1.6km) back to my neighborhood, picked up a couple partially sober girls who were anxious to practice their English & subsequently dropped me off about four blocks down the road, right near the apartment.
As I've discovered, bringing paper & something to write with certainly helps in the communication barriers I've faced so far. In fact, the director's friend, a guy named, Kim Suk Dong (seriously) and I had quite a conversation writing things on the paper & having the two girls who speak English loosely interpret what we were saying as well. I do find it odd that the director of this school can't speak a bit of English. Anyway, good times were had by all, I was able to sample a few more 'traditional' items & made it home safely!
Of course this whole night happened, the one time I didn't bring the camera with to document but one of the girls took some pics & there is verification that I was consuming silkworms. I always thought it would be disgusting but it really didn't taste like much at all but remember, there was a fair bit of liquid courage happening, too!
To top off all the other fun & excitement, just yesterday I witnessed a tiny old man spend what seemed like 30 minutes attempting to make his way up a very slight incline that had been covered in snow the previous night, poor guy was holding onto the wall with one hand, using the other to balance himself & kept churning his right foot like a bull ready to charge the taunting matador. Poor old dude kept at it, despite his lack of progress until it must have dawned on him to give the other foot a shot & whoa-la, the left foot made mediocre progress followed by the slightest forward progress from the right. Literally, I wanted to go help the guy but there was no way I could have imagined it would have taken him as long as it did. Plus, I was pretty hung over & really comfy in my pajamas but it's one of those things you witness in life & have a tremendous amount of difficulty making the realization that the event really just happened.
Anyway, he eventually made it the 10 feet to the little community 'reclamation' pile, where he proceeded to pillage for the best in discarded items the neighbors had tossed out. Here's hoping the little guy found himself something real nice!
Big day planned for New Years; thinking about shaving, probably take a shower (not to worry, I've perfected the cold shower, it's all about timing the two bursts of hot water just right) & mozy on down to one of the local watering holes for a tasty beverage, maybe see if they have some silk worms to munch on & see how awesome I can be, Korean style!
Here's hoping everyone had a delightful little Christmas & enjoys a mildly productive, slightly contemplative & ridiculously inexpensive New Years Eve....here's to a 2011 filled with a whole lot of livin', joy, happiness, prosperity, love, laughter, good friends, great memories & a whole bunch of whatever it is you want most!
Be well, people....that is all!
December 24, 2010
Festivus For The Rest Of Us!
Well, it's officially December 25th, which depending what circles you run in, it could mean a number of things but I suppose for most, it's Merry Christmas....myself, I'd have to say it's a Festivus kind of night. Anyway, thought I'd say a quick Happy Holidays to everyone. I can only imagine the insane amounts of delicious food, tasty beverages, family revelry & great football everyone is about to embark on in the next 24 hours or so. Hope everyone gets what they wanted from Santa, if not, you better tighten that shit up next year! I recorded a little video clip (actually I did a few cause the battery died on me) wishing everyone well & giving a quick update on the lack of shenanigans taking place over here....I really need to buckle down & make it happen!
Festivus Video's - First One got cut short so....
Honestly, though, I hope everyone is well & has a wonderful little holiday planned....I gotta go air some grievances!
ho ho ho
Festivus Video's - First One got cut short so....
Honestly, though, I hope everyone is well & has a wonderful little holiday planned....I gotta go air some grievances!
ho ho ho
December 22, 2010
Gumi Grubbin
After packing away a little food back in Tampa (basically cleaning out a few more items from the cabinets), my first official Korean meal came on Sat. 11th when James (School Director) picked me up at the Gumi bus station and asked if I was hungry. Surprisingly for my size, I'm always down to eat so I said sure....he did mention that he'd buy if I'd give native Korean food a whirl instead of fast food (aside from a few occurrences - i.e - drunk) & of course I was down for that. He mentioned it was probably more spicy than I'm used to, which it was but I do enjoy getting my sweat on from time to time!
We dropped off my luggage at the apartment & drove a few blocks down the street to a little 'mom & pop' type of restaurant, which is apparently quite common over here as there are probably two dozen little restaurants within about a 7 block radius of my place. Anyway, we roll into this place, remove our shoes at the door & proceed to stroll across the restaurant to one of the four tables. It was awesome because the table was about a foot off the ground, which meant we were sitting on the floor - unfortunately, I'm not the flexible young kid I once was, as sitting Indian style was certainly a bit more of a challenge than I remember (gotta get back into Yoga, apparently). While James kinda laughs, sits down & makes it look easy. Asians are deceptively flexible at all ages - but I'll save that for another blog.
My First Traditional Korean Meal
James does the honors of ordering, which was great since I would have looked foolish pointing at the menu on the wall in Korean & asking silly touristy type questions which would have fallen on deaf ears anyway, since the owners/waiters/cooks were far less versed in the English language than James. He made sure I was cool with pork & that's what we got. When it arrived, it was basically a thin, watery soup which was surprisingly tasty, rice, a spicy pork ensemble & five bowls of colorful veggies - yes Kim chi was represented. I gave everything a taste, some was better than others but all in all a very flavorful meal, although I don't think we ate much more than half of it & they apparently don't really do doggie bags for left overs. Wasn't sure what to expect from the Kim chi but it seems to be a crowd favorite over here but I haven't fallen head over heals for it yet. I mean it's basically cabbage, spices & sauce....which the previous tenant/teacher left a whole batch of it in the fridge, along with some seaweed wrap & a few other items I'll slowly dip into as my stand-by favorites disappear & I'm left with no other options. The entire meal was certainly tasty but I did have some good heat building up inside from the spices; James mentioned it was probably on the low end for spicy, since, you know, I was white & probably not used to it. They do love their food hot, which I'll eventually learn to handle, I'm sure!
I'm working a couple days a week at another Academy (which I think is not what the contract says....it's being addressed) but they love me over there & are bringing in various home made dishes for me. There is no turning it down as they say 'Handsome Mark Teacher must eat, so we made you.....' Most of the time is the same basic ingredients of various veggies (cabbage usually for sure), a myriad of spices, some sort of rice concoction and occasionally a mystery meat. Although most of the food at the other Academy is basically rice & veggies thrown together and heated up with a red spice sauce. I feel terrible b/c they tell me what I'm eating but it's always some Korean word really fast & I can only ask them to repeat it three or four times before I nod politely & say 'Oh, O.K, it's very good, thank you!' One day, I swore I was eating unbattered mozzarella sticks but they told me it was rice....I was certainly a little disappointed but either way, delicious.
A couple different times last week different teachers brought in some food to munch on, so I was able to taste their bakery style bread, which was actually rather bland. Another day, they showed up with a sort of rice/seaweed wrap thing. James said you can get two of them (about 16 inches total) for 3000 won, so basically $3. The seaweed didn't really have a distinguishing taste from what I could tell but whatever was wrapped inside it with the rice was awesome.....I think they said it was veggies, which makes sense given the way everything else has played out these first couple weeks; probably some cabbage!
Finally, on Friday last week, I was eating with the other teachers (five of us total) & they were worried b/c I was going to town on a PB&J, two bananas, a Clif bar, strawberry yogurt & some fruit cocktail. They had their usual assortment of rice, spicy veggies, noodles & some random fishy stuff (imagine very miniature fish, head still on coated in a sticky sweet glaze). I am not a fish guy, really haven't ever been a fan, so....All of them insisted I wasn't eating nearly enough & I should sample some of their goodness. There is a sequence to it, apparently, too. You eat a helping of rice, follow it with the semi-sour veggies, more rice, then the sticky fish....which is interesting cause the little dudes are simply staring at you as you swipe them up with your chop sticks (yes, I've got some skills, not great but sufficient for a foreigner). I probably had four or five helping of the fish....baby, that glaze was awesome!
On the domestic front, I've been eating the shit out of eggs & bananas but I've had to go pretty thin on the PB&J's since PB is quite pricey & can be hard to find in the neighborhood. Oh yeah, I haven't been able to find any ranch dressing yet & 20 slices of cheese cost me just over $7, which basically means throwing cheese around is for the special occasions only!! The 'Edwin' at the meat counter has been pretty helpful, though; whenever he sees me, he remembers my name & asks if I need some more American beef....he was good about pointing out he had both American beef & 'other types that I probably wouldn't enjoy as much.'
I suppose that's about it for now but I'm certain I'll have many opportunities to enjoy many, many different foods, which means I'll need to talk about them!
Be well, eat healthy & try something new, it might surprise you!
namaste
We dropped off my luggage at the apartment & drove a few blocks down the street to a little 'mom & pop' type of restaurant, which is apparently quite common over here as there are probably two dozen little restaurants within about a 7 block radius of my place. Anyway, we roll into this place, remove our shoes at the door & proceed to stroll across the restaurant to one of the four tables. It was awesome because the table was about a foot off the ground, which meant we were sitting on the floor - unfortunately, I'm not the flexible young kid I once was, as sitting Indian style was certainly a bit more of a challenge than I remember (gotta get back into Yoga, apparently). While James kinda laughs, sits down & makes it look easy. Asians are deceptively flexible at all ages - but I'll save that for another blog.
My First Traditional Korean Meal
James does the honors of ordering, which was great since I would have looked foolish pointing at the menu on the wall in Korean & asking silly touristy type questions which would have fallen on deaf ears anyway, since the owners/waiters/cooks were far less versed in the English language than James. He made sure I was cool with pork & that's what we got. When it arrived, it was basically a thin, watery soup which was surprisingly tasty, rice, a spicy pork ensemble & five bowls of colorful veggies - yes Kim chi was represented. I gave everything a taste, some was better than others but all in all a very flavorful meal, although I don't think we ate much more than half of it & they apparently don't really do doggie bags for left overs. Wasn't sure what to expect from the Kim chi but it seems to be a crowd favorite over here but I haven't fallen head over heals for it yet. I mean it's basically cabbage, spices & sauce....which the previous tenant/teacher left a whole batch of it in the fridge, along with some seaweed wrap & a few other items I'll slowly dip into as my stand-by favorites disappear & I'm left with no other options. The entire meal was certainly tasty but I did have some good heat building up inside from the spices; James mentioned it was probably on the low end for spicy, since, you know, I was white & probably not used to it. They do love their food hot, which I'll eventually learn to handle, I'm sure!
I'm working a couple days a week at another Academy (which I think is not what the contract says....it's being addressed) but they love me over there & are bringing in various home made dishes for me. There is no turning it down as they say 'Handsome Mark Teacher must eat, so we made you.....' Most of the time is the same basic ingredients of various veggies (cabbage usually for sure), a myriad of spices, some sort of rice concoction and occasionally a mystery meat. Although most of the food at the other Academy is basically rice & veggies thrown together and heated up with a red spice sauce. I feel terrible b/c they tell me what I'm eating but it's always some Korean word really fast & I can only ask them to repeat it three or four times before I nod politely & say 'Oh, O.K, it's very good, thank you!' One day, I swore I was eating unbattered mozzarella sticks but they told me it was rice....I was certainly a little disappointed but either way, delicious.
A couple different times last week different teachers brought in some food to munch on, so I was able to taste their bakery style bread, which was actually rather bland. Another day, they showed up with a sort of rice/seaweed wrap thing. James said you can get two of them (about 16 inches total) for 3000 won, so basically $3. The seaweed didn't really have a distinguishing taste from what I could tell but whatever was wrapped inside it with the rice was awesome.....I think they said it was veggies, which makes sense given the way everything else has played out these first couple weeks; probably some cabbage!
Finally, on Friday last week, I was eating with the other teachers (five of us total) & they were worried b/c I was going to town on a PB&J, two bananas, a Clif bar, strawberry yogurt & some fruit cocktail. They had their usual assortment of rice, spicy veggies, noodles & some random fishy stuff (imagine very miniature fish, head still on coated in a sticky sweet glaze). I am not a fish guy, really haven't ever been a fan, so....All of them insisted I wasn't eating nearly enough & I should sample some of their goodness. There is a sequence to it, apparently, too. You eat a helping of rice, follow it with the semi-sour veggies, more rice, then the sticky fish....which is interesting cause the little dudes are simply staring at you as you swipe them up with your chop sticks (yes, I've got some skills, not great but sufficient for a foreigner). I probably had four or five helping of the fish....baby, that glaze was awesome!
On the domestic front, I've been eating the shit out of eggs & bananas but I've had to go pretty thin on the PB&J's since PB is quite pricey & can be hard to find in the neighborhood. Oh yeah, I haven't been able to find any ranch dressing yet & 20 slices of cheese cost me just over $7, which basically means throwing cheese around is for the special occasions only!! The 'Edwin' at the meat counter has been pretty helpful, though; whenever he sees me, he remembers my name & asks if I need some more American beef....he was good about pointing out he had both American beef & 'other types that I probably wouldn't enjoy as much.'
I suppose that's about it for now but I'm certain I'll have many opportunities to enjoy many, many different foods, which means I'll need to talk about them!
Be well, eat healthy & try something new, it might surprise you!
namaste
December 20, 2010
Cold Showers Suck!
I understood things were going to be different & was certainly fine with that but I gotta admit, I am not a morning person & usually what gets me up & running in the morning is a nice warm shower - especially one that I don't have to do a whole lot of work. I like standing there, lathering up, enjoying the steady stream of hot water, brushing my teeth, shaving if necessary, all without putting much effort in.
Anyway, as you may have noticed from the video, the bathroom IS the shower, no biggie. My frustration comes with a hot water heater that SUCKS! I usually get about 11 seconds of luke warm water over the course of a five minute shower. Unfortunately, the sporadic nature of the warm water spurts is never consistent so I have to let the water run, testing it frequently. All the while, freezing my butt off, lathering up, brushing my teeth or sometimes standing there naked as a jay bird waiting for the sweet sanctity of some warm water to rinse off with.
I suppose I'll get used to it eventually but I am really looking forward to a nice, consistently warm shower!
Enjoy your warm showers, everyone!
That is all....
Anyway, as you may have noticed from the video, the bathroom IS the shower, no biggie. My frustration comes with a hot water heater that SUCKS! I usually get about 11 seconds of luke warm water over the course of a five minute shower. Unfortunately, the sporadic nature of the warm water spurts is never consistent so I have to let the water run, testing it frequently. All the while, freezing my butt off, lathering up, brushing my teeth or sometimes standing there naked as a jay bird waiting for the sweet sanctity of some warm water to rinse off with.
I suppose I'll get used to it eventually but I am really looking forward to a nice, consistently warm shower!
Enjoy your warm showers, everyone!
That is all....
December 18, 2010
Nice Little Travel Day For Ya
The 21+ hour flight from Tampa to Chicago to Tokyo to Incheon (Seoul) was expected to be a dreadfully exhausting day of travel but was surprisingly less stressful & tiring than expected, plus I was able to communicate with a few people before I shut off my cell service before boarding the plane to Tokyo at O'Hare Airport, my last stand on American soil for at least a year....
Departing Tampa at 6:20 am (with an extra $309 for extra baggage & leg room), the realization hadn't really set in yet due to lack of sleep & ridiculous excitement about the impending journey half way across the world! Honestly, I slept nearly the whole flight to Chi-town & upon landing, was anxious for the connecting flight to Tokyo, although the four hour lay over gave me an opportunity to catch up with a few more people (calls & text messages) before I called Sprint to officially cancel my service. It was great talking to the rents & basking in the glow of the texts of encouragement & well wishes from so good friends!
At some point during my conversation with mom (as I had just passed through security) my ticket fell out of my back pocket....after a diligent search warranted nothing, I made my way to the ticket counter, explained my situation & was fortunate enough to have a new one printed without any hassle.
The Sprint rep was super bummed to 'lose my business' after 11 years with them but understood my situation and wished me well. Whenever I decide to return to the states, I'll be sure to let everyone know my new digits but until then, feel free to delete my number from your contacts.
The flight to Tokyo was plenty of sleeping, a handful of movies/TV shows, a bit of casual reading & a few meals to fill the belly but I lifted the window shade a couple times to gauge our location in relation to the sweet flight tracker on the TV screens & was delighted to get a glimpse of some truly majestic mountain peaks over Alaska - pretty sure one was Mt. McKinley, which has been on my list of places to see/experience, now I just gotta do it in person rather than a fly-by!
Knowing I was within in a few hours of my final destination, seeing the waves of the Pacific rolling into the shores of Japan was certainly a welcome sight but I was surprised at how industrial & agricultural the area leading into the Narita Airport was. Guess I wasn't really sure what to expect, though, maybe hoping to get a glimpse of some fierce samurai warriors, majestic pagodas, stealthy ninjas, beefy sumo wrestlers or Godzilla were a little too much to hope for...either way, I was ecstatic to finally touch down in the Far East! Needless to say, the experience working my way through customs & security was daunting, knowing there was little, if any way I would be able to communicate aside from lots of nods, smiles & thank yous. Fortunately, it all worked out & I was able to relax for a couple hours before the final leg to Incheon.
Narita Int'l Airport is roughly 40 miles (65 km) directly east of the city of Tokyo, which probably explains the agriculture & industry rather the bustling city.
I learned quickly, most Koreans are friendly & helpful....I wasn't able to find the name or number of the guy I was supposed to meet at the airport, the battery in my laptop was dead & the currency exchange places were closed so I couldn't use the Internet at the terminal as I needed Korean money (won). Luckily a guy (likely a cabbie hoping I would be a fare) helped me out, gave me 1500 won (about $1.50) for the Internet & then called the number of the guy I was supposed to meet. In hindsight, giving him $20 for his efforts might have been too much but you certainly can't stiff a guy for helping me out when he likely could have been making money on other fares.....not a bad way to get some good karma flowing, either.
By the time I met up with my 'guy' from the Global Guesthouse, it was nearly 10:30 Fri night (Seoul is 12 hours ahead of Tampa) and I was ready to crash. It felt great to shower & hit the sack.
The next morning, Guesthouse guy dropped me back off at the airport & wound up checking on me about an hour later to make sure I was alright & understood which bus to get on & when.
It was cold as shit & super windy, so I was certainly thrilled when my bus pulled up - I could kick back & relax until we made it to Gumi (about a 3 1/2 hour trip), where the director of my 'school' was going to take me to my new digs! The ride immediately after leaving Incheon takes you across a kick ass bridge where you get some great views of the water as well as surrounding parts of Seoul. I also saw a golf course, however, it's the only one I've seen & I didn't bring my clubs.
Little did I know the bus makes a 20 minute stop about halfway there so people can pee, smoke, grab some fried pork on a stick, shop or play games....so I took a little stroll & shot some video:
All in all, it wound up being a pretty easy couple days of international 'galavanting.' Honestly, spending the extra $600 for first class from Chicago to Tokyo would have been awesome but not knowing when I'd be getting paid, figured it would be smarter to hang onto the cash, just in case I had to post bail or found a convenient 'massage parlor' near the apartment!
 |
| No more dirty south for awhile - smell ya later, Tampa! |
Departing Tampa at 6:20 am (with an extra $309 for extra baggage & leg room), the realization hadn't really set in yet due to lack of sleep & ridiculous excitement about the impending journey half way across the world! Honestly, I slept nearly the whole flight to Chi-town & upon landing, was anxious for the connecting flight to Tokyo, although the four hour lay over gave me an opportunity to catch up with a few more people (calls & text messages) before I called Sprint to officially cancel my service. It was great talking to the rents & basking in the glow of the texts of encouragement & well wishes from so good friends!
 | |
| Strollin' through O'Hare |
At some point during my conversation with mom (as I had just passed through security) my ticket fell out of my back pocket....after a diligent search warranted nothing, I made my way to the ticket counter, explained my situation & was fortunate enough to have a new one printed without any hassle.
The Sprint rep was super bummed to 'lose my business' after 11 years with them but understood my situation and wished me well. Whenever I decide to return to the states, I'll be sure to let everyone know my new digits but until then, feel free to delete my number from your contacts.
The flight to Tokyo was plenty of sleeping, a handful of movies/TV shows, a bit of casual reading & a few meals to fill the belly but I lifted the window shade a couple times to gauge our location in relation to the sweet flight tracker on the TV screens & was delighted to get a glimpse of some truly majestic mountain peaks over Alaska - pretty sure one was Mt. McKinley, which has been on my list of places to see/experience, now I just gotta do it in person rather than a fly-by!
 |
| We shall meet again, McKinley. |
Knowing I was within in a few hours of my final destination, seeing the waves of the Pacific rolling into the shores of Japan was certainly a welcome sight but I was surprised at how industrial & agricultural the area leading into the Narita Airport was. Guess I wasn't really sure what to expect, though, maybe hoping to get a glimpse of some fierce samurai warriors, majestic pagodas, stealthy ninjas, beefy sumo wrestlers or Godzilla were a little too much to hope for...either way, I was ecstatic to finally touch down in the Far East! Needless to say, the experience working my way through customs & security was daunting, knowing there was little, if any way I would be able to communicate aside from lots of nods, smiles & thank yous. Fortunately, it all worked out & I was able to relax for a couple hours before the final leg to Incheon.
Narita Int'l Airport is roughly 40 miles (65 km) directly east of the city of Tokyo, which probably explains the agriculture & industry rather the bustling city.
 |
| Japanese Coastline....sooo close! |
I learned quickly, most Koreans are friendly & helpful....I wasn't able to find the name or number of the guy I was supposed to meet at the airport, the battery in my laptop was dead & the currency exchange places were closed so I couldn't use the Internet at the terminal as I needed Korean money (won). Luckily a guy (likely a cabbie hoping I would be a fare) helped me out, gave me 1500 won (about $1.50) for the Internet & then called the number of the guy I was supposed to meet. In hindsight, giving him $20 for his efforts might have been too much but you certainly can't stiff a guy for helping me out when he likely could have been making money on other fares.....not a bad way to get some good karma flowing, either.
By the time I met up with my 'guy' from the Global Guesthouse, it was nearly 10:30 Fri night (Seoul is 12 hours ahead of Tampa) and I was ready to crash. It felt great to shower & hit the sack.
The next morning, Guesthouse guy dropped me back off at the airport & wound up checking on me about an hour later to make sure I was alright & understood which bus to get on & when.
It was cold as shit & super windy, so I was certainly thrilled when my bus pulled up - I could kick back & relax until we made it to Gumi (about a 3 1/2 hour trip), where the director of my 'school' was going to take me to my new digs! The ride immediately after leaving Incheon takes you across a kick ass bridge where you get some great views of the water as well as surrounding parts of Seoul. I also saw a golf course, however, it's the only one I've seen & I didn't bring my clubs.
Little did I know the bus makes a 20 minute stop about halfway there so people can pee, smoke, grab some fried pork on a stick, shop or play games....so I took a little stroll & shot some video:
 |
| Got a great view of the city from the bridge |
All in all, it wound up being a pretty easy couple days of international 'galavanting.' Honestly, spending the extra $600 for first class from Chicago to Tokyo would have been awesome but not knowing when I'd be getting paid, figured it would be smarter to hang onto the cash, just in case I had to post bail or found a convenient 'massage parlor' near the apartment!
If you want to see more video clips, I am posting them on YouTube as well:
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