Interesting Question Posed

So I had an interesting questioned posed to me on a forum I visit. I was asked how do I enjoy living in such a different culture? To me that was part of the draw of coming here to South Korea. There was more than 1 reason why I came, and you hear different ones from others when you first arrive. That seems to be one of the initial questions when you arrive. They range from couldn't find a job, to wanted to travel, to wanted to save money, to wanted to experience a different culture, and I think most people here are here because a combination of those reasons including me.

So let me get back to the initial question of how do I enjoy living in such a different culture? It's actually quite simple. If you are one who is afraid of change or scared of new ideas, don't come. I think I used to be this way when I was younger. Now I am very much open to new ways of thought. I find it very interesting how Koreans live their lives and go about their business. It's the little things that I find most fascinating. Take for example, last week I decided to grow a goatee. I do this from time to time back home mostly out of boredom. I was aware that most Korean men do not grow hair like they can back home, but I was unaware that growing facial hair here was seen as an insult to the Korean men. I was politely asked to shave by my head teacher, which I did. Had I known this I would have shaved to begin with. It's these little things that just fascinate me. This is just one example of many I have seen or heard about here. Learning these little details is part of the draw to being here. You learn some of the little things along the way which makes each day more interesting.

So yesterday was payday, and last night when I went to the ATM I found it interesting to find I had over 1 million in my account. Sure it is not American dollars but its still over a million in cash in my account. It is the little things like that that just make me smile and laugh a little.

That is all for now. I am working on a few things for some new posts that hopefully I'll have soon.

E

Korean Christmas Decorations at Local Department Store

Not much happened today (Sunday) since it is raining out. I have basically spent the day at either KFC or Starbucks hijacking a better internet signal. Right now I am at Lotteria (like a McDonalds) sitting eating some spicy chicken strips and surfing the web. I took a tour of Dong-A, the big department store by my apartment, to look at the new Christmas decorations that have gone up. They are very different than anything you see back home. No reindeer or santas around in Dong-A (although you can see them around town in some places), but instead they have weird sheep and monkey looking little characters. Of course the coup de grace is the large Unicorn. I posted a few pictures below. All the pictures I took are on flickr.

Korean Christmas Decorastions. A sheep and what I think is a monkey.

The Christmas Unicorn.

Hopefully this week I will get over this head cold I have had. Monday is payday (wahooo) and I am going to join the gym this week. I met a few guys here that play baseball, and I would really like to get back into shape so I could go out and toss the ball around a bit when it warms up. Other than that I really need to find a few things to fill my days here. Any suggestions?

Have a great week.
E

I loved this sign in the food section of Dong-A. "Fish & Shellfishe" - It does smell a little "fishe" in there.

Thanksgiving Abroad

So Thursday was Thanksgiving in America. The American teachers at my school tried to get by on having a few things that reminded us of home. A gracious teacher from upstairs in our middle school department made deviled eggs and brought them down. They were delicious. I tried for a few days to find a pie, but had little luck. I really wanted pecan, my favorite, but realized I had not seen a single pecan anywhere. With that hope dashed, I set my sites on a pumpkin pie. As it turns out pie is not a big deal here, making my quest that much harder. A few of us set out for Emart early on Thursday in hopes of finding one there, but to no avail. After searching my neighborhood thoroughly, I had to settle for a walnut pie. It wasn't pecan (or peekin as the Brits here pronounce it) but it was good none-the-less. The pie and the eggs helped a little in our efforts to remind ourselves of home and the big meals our families would soon partake in. I love Thanksgiving time at home. It is always a good day. Time for family, food, and football.

After work the American teachers plus one Brit went for dinner at a Korean BBQ place near work. Good food and good company always make for a great time. It wasn't quite home, but here half way around the world it would do. I have missed Thanksgivings before at home, but I have never missed a Christmas and I think if I am going to be homesick it will be then. We have plans already for a Western style meal somewhere that day, which will help a little, but not being with family will be hard on that day.

In other news, I am really enjoying my job so far. I started teaching on Tuesday and even though it has been less than a week, I really am enjoying it. The kids are great for the most part, and everyone at work is very helpful. I am really looking forward to a good year.

I have come down with something of late. A bug of sorts has been going around work, but I refuse to let it get me down. Tonight we are going out for a send off party for the teacher I am taking over for. It should be a good time and I am looking forward to getting out of the apartment for awhile. Nyquil has been my friend of late. Without it I am not sure I would have slept as good as I have the last few nights. Nothing else exciting has happened of late. I wanted to go hiking this weekend but do to my headcold I will postpone that for a week or so. I did find it interesting today when I went for a haircut. I walked in to the shop I was told about and tried to tell him I just wanted my neck shaved since my hair was still pretty short. But with Edward Scissorhands like speed, he was off to the races cutting away. It had to be the most thorough hair cut I have ever had. He cut then shampooed, then cut somemore. I felt like a sculpture. He would look closely at a section from a step away, then he was back cutting. He did an excellent job, and for only 8,000 won it was a great deal. To get them to cut and shampoo my hair like that back home is going to cost me $25 at the very least.

Well that is all for now.
E

P.S. It was a good football weekend. The Cowboys won and UT and Bama are both undefeated!

"Barocky Road"

This was such a funny email that I am posting it everywhere I can.

In honor of the 44th President of the United States, Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream has introduced a new flavor: "Barocky Road." Barocky Road is a blend of half Vanilla, half Chocolate, and surrounded by Nuts and Flakes. The Vanilla portion of the mix is not openly advertised and usually denied as an ingredient. The Nuts and Flakes are all very bitter and hard to swallow. The cost is $100.00 per scoop. When purchased, it will be presented to you in a large beautiful cone, but then the Ice Cream is taken away and given to the person who can't afford it in line behind you. Thus you are left with an empty wallet, no change, holding an empty cone, with no hope of getting any Ice Cream...The socialistic dream come true.

Are you feeling stimulated yet?

Poem

I don't know why I thought of this last night at work, but I did. It's an old poem that I remember from elementary school. I know it has several variations but this is the one I remember.

One bright day in the middle of the night,
Two dead men got up to fight.
Back to back they faced each other,
Drew their swords and shot each other.
A deaf policeman heard the noise,
And came to save those two dead boys.
If you don't believe this lie is true,
Ask the blind man, he saw it too.

I guess it just means you can't believe everything you read.

In other news, I am off to get a cell phone today. Rich from work gave me the card of a guy down near Camp Walker that should give me a deal, and he speaks English which is a huge plus. That's really all I have planned for today. I have already been up and out to the market to restock the shelves at home. If I get back in time from getting a cell phone, I need to go down and see about joining the gym.

E

A Good Weekend

This was a good weekend but it sure went by quickly. Friday night a few of the guys from work went out for barbeque, which is just fantastic here. Saturday was a busy day. Another one of the teachers and I went downtown to wonder around and do some shopping. We hopped on the bus and took off. The bus to downtown is pretty cheap (1500 won I think it was one way) but it took us a good 20-25 mins to get there. It's worth it though in the beginning. It allows me to get to see some of the city as we head downtown. Once we got downtown we started wondering around. There are a lot of shops and its seems we walked by them all. We checked out a huge department store downtown and wound up finding a really nice little coffee shop on the top floor. We stopped for a drink before heading out to do some more shopping. We found a bookstore with a few shelves of books in English and both picked one up. I got 1984 by George Orwell, and cant' wait to start it right after I finish the one I am reading now, The Street Lawyer by John Grisham. We walked all over downtown, and at one point got off the beaten path so to speak. We found a few side streets where the "locals" would shop which turned out to be quite interesting. They had everything from Army surplus stores to electronics and little cafes. I was on the look out for funny signs, well funny to me anyway. Some of the store names are very basic and are humorous to the English speakers. Check out my flickr page for the group titled Downtown Daegu for the pics of the signs I saw. We both wound up picking up a few gifts to send home and called it a day after about 5 hours downtown.

I don't know the going rate, but smiles are on sale!

After a long day of walking and shopping, I came back home, grabbed a little gin mandu, and rested for an hour or so before heading out again. Rich, one of the other teachers on my floor was having a poker night at his place. So I headed over there to meet up with a bunch of the Foreign teachers. I met several teachers from the other Avalon branch who were from Scotland and Canada. Several of the guys played a game of poker while me and some other broke out the Scrabble. This has to be my worst board game of all time, and of course I would wind up last in both games. Neither game was much of a contest as the resident Scrabble pro from California Erika wiped the floor with us. It was a lot of fun though as we hung out and chatted into the early morning hours. It was a long day but a good one so I headed home to crash.

Sunday has been a little more laid back. I went downtown to Gorilla Burger for lunch after hearing how good it was. It was good for Korean beef but did not compare to what I was used to at home.

After heading back home from downtown, I decided to head up to the 15th floor of my building to take some photos of the neighborhood. I got some good ones too. I tried getting up on the roof so I could get the whole area and the sunset, but all the doors leading up there were locked, so I was relegated to taking photos from the 15th floor.

All in all it was a good weekend. I want to go hiking next weekend as I think the weather is going to warm up a bit. I also start teaching this week, so that should be fun. I know I'll have to fumble through my first few days but I am looking forward to it. Anyway that is all for now.

'Till next time,
E

Officially an Alien Now

I have been here for just over 2 weeks now. I am starting to adjust to things, and so far I am really enjoying it here. Next week I start to teach classes, and I am excited about that. I am still observing at work for the next two days, but I did have the chance to do a demo on Weds night. The demo didn't go as good as I had hoped, but I was rather nervous and I rushed things. I am very confident that I can do it, and that I will enjoy it. I got a lot of good feedback from the other teachers who I did the demo for which was good. I don't get nervous in front of the kids but I was in front of the other teachers. I was so nervous I even forgot Phil's name when I went to call on him in the demo. I have some good people helping and teaching me how things work, so I am confident I will get substantially better quickly.

In other news, I am officially an alien now. I got my Alien Registration Card yesterday. Now I can work on getting things set up like a bank account, cell phone, and internet in my apartment. It's just one more step of getting settled here.

The weather has been very cold of late. The daytime highs range from around 40 to the high 40's. This weekend should be nice with a high close to 50. Leaving work at 10pm it's very cold out. I am enjoying though. I miss having seasons and I like the cold as long as its dry. When it is cold and wet it gets miserable. Hopefully it will nice a sunny this weekend. I think it will be a nice time for a hike somewhere. Daegu seems to be a good place for hiking with the hills around.

I am still getting the chance to eat some really good food. The other day we went for lunch at a place that just opened up. I had a seafood stirfry and it was great. The only thing about it was the random baby octopus in it along with the assorted octopus tentacle. I did not try the baby octopus, although I plan to try it one day. I started with the tentacles and found it was similar to a chewy shrimp. Perhaps next time I'll take the plunge and try the baby octopus.

That's all for now. I am going to try and take a hike this weekend, and perhaps make a trip downtown. I'll be sure to take my camera along and show off my new home for the next year.

Till then,
E

An Uncle Again and Finally Start Work

So first of all is the big news of my niece being born on Wednesday. Abigail Elizabeth Bynum is the new addition to the family and I couldn't be more happier for my brother and his wife. I only wish I could have been there with everyone.

Well I started work this week. Wednesday was my first day and so far I am only observing and will be for another week before I start teaching. I think I am going to really enjoy working there. Everyone has been great so far, and the kids are a trip. I am still adjusting to the hours since I am still getting up way too early but hopefully that will change and I can get adjusted. It was nice to finally get to speak to some fellow English speakers after being here a week by myself. They also have introduced me to some really good food. Work usually starts off with lunch around 2:30 (I start work at 2pm) and the past 2 days they have taken me to some really good places. Thursday we went for Japanese food. I am still not sure what I was eating but it was really good. I know it had crab meat in it, along with rice and other goodies. It was good and spicey and very filling. It will definatley be a place to return to. That night after work many of us went for Korean BBQ. This was a treat. We ordered (I say we but really it was the other guys who did the ordering) some pork and beef and it was grilled on the table in front of us. Built into the table is a little grill where they bring hot coals and cook it in the middle of the table. The meat was fantastic but maybe even better was everything else that went with it. There was some red bean paste (very spicey and very good), along with some spicey kimchi, which seems to be a staple with every meal. Throw in some rice, bean sprouts, and other items that I am not sure what they were (but delicious none-the-less) and it was a huge meal. The best thing about it all is it's not that expensive. The Japanese place set me back about 5500 won which is $5 back home. There is no way you could get the quality of food back home for $5, not to mention the service.

Friday brought a new day and since it was raining most of us stayed in the building and went down stairs for some pasta. This is where I had the spiciest dish I have ever seen in my life (Al you would have loved it). It tasted great, but it was so hot I could not finish my dish. In fact, I ate very little of it. I figured if I eat the whole plate I will either pay for it later or just be sick all night long. So I opted to eat as much as I could without making myself miserable. A few of the ladies with me had a bite to try it and they could not believe how hot it was. Since I did not eat my entire meal, I was hungry later. So I decided to go with one of the girls from work on a little snack run. I had seen her eat this stuff before. It is like a little dumpling type thing. I still don't know what is in it but it was really good. I do not recall what it was called but if I remember right it was steamed and had some sort of meat (pork perhaps) in it with I believe some onion or something. It was really good and you got quite a few of them for only 2000 won which is really cheap. So in the past few days I have had some really good food, finally.

So that is really the update for the past few days. I don't really have any plans for the weekend. I want to go to a basketball game and thought they played at home tomorrow but it looks like I read the schedule wrong. So instead I might try and head downtown to see if I can catch some college football or something.

Till next time.
E

Trip Downtown and Health Check

I have been lazy the past few days and not updated anything. It gets to be a pain to walk down to the internet cafe to do email, blog, etc.. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have internet in my apartment which will make things easier.

So Sunday I decided I would go downtown to check it out. I set out looking for a restaurant that NET (I have learned this means Native English Teachers) hang out at. It's called the Holy Grill and many claim they have good Tex/Mex, even if it is run by Canucks. I didn't get to judge the food because I never found it. I made it downtown okay and was wondering around looking at all the shops and whatnot when it started to rain. After it started coming down a little too hard to walk in with no umbrella, I ducked into McDonalds for some lunch. I was curious how similar it was to what you get in the US, and found out it was very similar. I got a Big Mac and noticed no difference than that from the US. As I sat eating my lunch two guys sit down next to me and start talking to me. They are Korean and one knows a little English. He asks me the normal questions of where are you from, how long have you been here, etc... I can barely eat my lunch he is so inquizitive. After a short time it gets a little annoying and I move to make my escape.

The downtown area I went to was very nice. There were many shops of brands I reconize from the US as well as places like the golden arches, Burger King, and Bennigans. I didn't get time to look at too many of the shops with the rain but over all it was a good day.

Monday came and I awaited to see if I would do my medical check up that day. They told me Monday or Tuesday so I was unsure. Sure enough they come knocking on my door Monday to take me. I was taken to two seperate places. At one I did a blood and urine test. They check for things like AIDS and whatnot. At the other place they did a swab of my throat looking for the flu virus. They are very cautious of the swine flu here. Walking a few blocks you will see many people wearing the surgical masks out of fear of catching the flu. They seem to have done a good job controlling it however, but it is almost to panic levels it seems.

So I passed the health check and today is the end of my week long quarantine. I finally get to start work tonight which is exciting. I have only met 1 person I will be working with and that was very briefly on the street the other day. I still have not met any of the other foreign teachers, but that will come once I start work.

Well that is all for now. Till next time,
E

New Photos of Neighborhood

I am still pretty tired from the previous 2 days, so this will be short and sweet today. Really all I have to update anyone on are some pics from my neighborhood. Check out the link to Flickr to the right of this post and see more of where I live. Oh and I did have some Korean BBQ last night. It was basically chicken (you order a whole or half chicken) that was breaded, fried, and covered in a sauce. I got the spicey and it was good, but I found it a little difficult to eat a chicken leg with chopsticks.

That's all for now. Not sure what I'll do today (it's only noon). I'll leave you with another one of my favorites.

...and now Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey

One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to DisneyLand, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh, no," I said, "DisneyLand burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real DisneyLand, but it was getting pretty late.

Another Day - Another Adventure

I am still trying to get my sleep schedule where it needs to be. This jet lag is still kicking my butt. I decided early this morning, and when I say early I mean 4am-ish, that I would try and venture down to the Emart in town. This is like a Walmart. I need things like an iron, hangers, etc...
Let the adventure begin....
I took a long look at the bus/subway system and figured out how to get there since it is a long way from where I am. The subway itself is about 3.5km away (that is 2.17479917 miles for all of you non kilometer knowing Americans - yes I had no idea either and figure only 2 people who read this will). So I set out on a really nice day to walk to the subway. It was a great day for a walk (60 degrees, sunny, light breeze). Little did I realize how hilly this city is. That 2+ miles was looooong. I stopped a way into the walk at a Crazy for Burger to get some lunch. Let me just say two things about Crazy for Burger. First, I am not crazy for their burgers. Second, I am not sure it was even real beef I was eating. On a side note, the french fries I have had here are really good. They are thin (like string fries) and not greasy at all. This brings me to side note numero dos (I figure if I can't speak Korean yet I can add in a little Spanish to make me feel somewhat bilingual). I am using the American Express slogan for Pepto Bismol now, never leave home without it.

And now back to the story....

It was a long walk but I have said I want to get out more, see the city, and losing a few pounds in the process would be nice. Along my walk I passed a Burger King and Popeyes Chicken. They are both on the bus route that runs by my apartment so if I need a taste of home I know where to go. So I made it to the subway station by following a bus route that I knew went there. Next time I'll just take the bus. Anyway, the subway was very nice. It is not very expansive but on the two lines it runs, its has plenty of stops. The cost was nice too. It only cost 1100 won one-way (or about .94c American or .9977 CAD for my lone Canadian reader - I hope I did that right) Anywho, it is a nice subway system they have and cheap for a one-way fare. After transfering and riding one of the lines almost to the very end, I reached Emart.

Emart is very similar to Walmart. They seem to have everything there. I was mainly in search of an iron, so I can look presentable next week when I start work. By the time I reached Emart, I was very tired so I didn't do as much shopping as I would have liked. I only picked up a cheap iron (and by cheap I mean about $15US or $16CAD). I hope it lasts me a year. I also picked up a little TV tray type table. The wooden type where the legs fold in. I have used them in the past before back home and they are very versitile. I wanted to pick up a few more things but was too tired to keep shopping. I did notice they have just about anything I would need. Fruit was very expensive. Bananas were about 4800 won for a batch of say 4-6. That is really high when back home they are what $1/lb? Anyway, I will be returning at some point so it is nice to know where it is.

The interesting part was the ride home. I waited for a cab (I was too tired to walk back to the subway carrying my newly aquired goods) and did not have to wait long to get one. Prior to leaving I had checked out Galbijim.com which has a lot of good info on SK (it has a really good wiki on Daegu here if you are interested in learning more about where I am) to get my barings and figure out what to tell the cab driver. Well the phrase I had written down did me little good. I was trying to tell him to take me to a large department store called Dong-A, which is right across the street from my apartment. Apparently they do things more by landmarks than by streets. The problem with this was there is more than one Dong-A. He had a cell phone and immediately called an interpretor to find out where to go. After a short while he calls again after realizing there is more than one Dong-A. The interpretor and I try and figure out which one I am going to and we are off again. I am getting to see a lot of the city which is nice but I have no idea where I am. A few minutes later, he calls again. He is still confused on where to take me and after a 3rd converstation with the interpretor we think we have it. He pulls a scary u-turn (it is common here for them to u-turn in the middle of the street at a red light). They are pretty crazy drivers here but not as bad as other places I think. A lot of honking goes on but not the lay on the horn honk that I would do back home when someone cuts me off. It is more of a short beep to let the other guy know you are either there or coming through. They are constantly changing lanes and driving in two and whatnot but not too hairy. So after a long round-about ride home, I finally make it and I am 17,000 won lighter (probably a 5-8k cost if he knows where I am going in the first place I am betting). It was another experience to say the least. I just knew I was going to get dropped off in some out of the way place nowhere near where I needed to be, but I got home safely.

So now it is about 4pm here as I sit in a huge room full of young Korean men playing computer games (they are REALLY into that sort of thing here). I have decided a few things today. First, no more KFC. I ate it again last night because I was too chicken to go try something new. It is intimidating ordering when you don't speak the language. If there is nothing to point to, it can be impossible I think. Secondly, no more Coca-Cola. I am making a commitment to eat better and try to lose weight, plus I need to experience new things. I used to be a stuck-in-the-mud never try anything new guy (some may think I still am) but I am learning. It seems after the divorce I have found myself open to new things. I mean who thought I would be in SK? So I have a place picked out I want to try. It seems it is some sort of Korean chicken place (the pics look like Chinese food type chicken dishes). I just hope it is open by the time I leave here. It was closed on my over as some of the local places only open late, but stay open very late. There is also a Korean BBQ place down the street I want to try. I hear the BBQ here is good (of course it will not be as good as say Whits or Clems or the greatness that is the Salt Lick) but I am excited to try it out.

I think tomorrow will be a slower day. My feet and legs hurt from all the walking, so I am going to take it easy I think. Do some laundry, iron maybe, and watch a movie. Just relax and try to get on a better sleep schedule. Hopefully I'll get out with my camera as well so I can show everyone my neighborhood and just how different it is than back home.

That's all for now. I will leave you with one of my favorite bits from SNL.

.....and now Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy

If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting themdown? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.

First day in SK

My gansta roll of won. It felt nice walking around with 350,000+ in cash.


Well I am here. I am in my apartment (pics to come) and trying to settle in. I didn't get to see much yesterday. I got to Daegu about 11am and after being dropped off at my apartment, I went for a walk. I got some lunch at KFC (yeah I know stepping out on a limb there for my first mean in SK right?). It was surprisingly similar to the KFC in the US. Not sure why I was expecting something different. The one different thing was when I ordered it to go (and 1 of the 2 ladies working spoke a little English) they packed my small drink in a bag. Other than that it was just as good as back home. After that I took a shower and laid down. That shower felt so good since it had been a long time since my previous one, and all that travel time really didn't make me feel great. I intended to only take a hour or two nap and went to sleep around 3pm. I didn't awake till 3am. Oh how I needed that sleep. I didn't not sleep well on the plane at all and was exhausted by the time I got to Daegu.

So after a good nights sleep, I finally rolled out of bed around 4am to go grab a small bite to eat. Nearby there are a few 24 hour places (like a 7-11 which they do have here but I have not seen one nearby). I grabed a coke (still a little scared to try something new) and some sort of chocolate pastry which was very good. I sat around watching some English programing on the TV along with the replays of the Korean Baseball Championship which I believe just ended recently. I took another nap figureing I need to stay up much later tonight to get on a better schedule. I got up again around 8am and headed out for a walk around my neighborhood. This is where things got interesting.

I started out just walking down the main drag near me and before long I was lost. I knew the bus line that ran on the main street near me so I started looking for it. I walked for over an hour (felt I was lost for maybe 30+ mins) until I finally found that bus line again. I followed it down and found home again. Somewhere along the way I must have crossed it not knowing where I was. Most of the housing buildings look the same, except for the numbers (for instance I live in 301). It was a good walk though. I walked for over an hour and saw some interesting things. Next time I will have my camera with me. After I found my way back, I had breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts and then came to the internet cafe again to upload pics, check email, and post.

Till next time,
E

I uploaded all my pics so far onto flickr, so check it out if you like. I have included a few below as well.

My kitchen.

A random city in SK. This is what a lot of the housing looks like, including mine.

A Stranger in a Strange Land

I made it after over 30 hours of travel time (15 of that in the air). I am very tired but could not nap until I saw my surroundings and its exciting. Within a few blocks is not only where I'll be working but hundreds of different businesses including a KFC, Duncan Donuts, and a Starbucks. I will update more later tonight or early tomorrow after taking a long nap. I have not slept much of late and need a few hours of good sleep. Pics are forthcoming as well.

Till then,
E

Finally Off to South Korea

I leave for Daegu later today. I am very excited about finally leaving but not so much about the 25+ hours it will take to get there. What am I supposed to do with a 4 hour layover in Chicago? Oh well it will be an adventure at least. As soon as I get set up there I'll be updating with some pics and thoughts on my flights.

Till then.
E