I probably had too much fun on Friday night, but still taught a solid 3 hour high level listening class. We counted the minutes down to midnight on Christmas Eve at the Holy Grill and then played a bunch of bar games. On Saturday night Brent and I went to Emma's after work for dinner, drinks and a gingerbread house contest (I won. Hands down). We opened presents and did a white elephant type thing. Super fun. Yesterday (Sunday), Emma and I got some vegan food at the Loving Hut and then decided we would be able to stomach the smells of the pending clean-up. After that we went down to the zoo. None of the big animals were out, but we had a great time just wandering around in the cold. We then went to get some food downtown, when to our surprise and excitement, it starting SNOWING! Now, I've been told snow is a very rare thing in Daegu. You can imagine how excited I was!
When we decided to head back to her side of town to go bowling with Travis, we figured the bus was the safest route (considering that we were pretty far from the subway). The bus we were in totally hit a car! The car started fishtailing and spinning, and the bus couldn't come to a full stop. Emma and I were the only ones on the bus saying "yes, yeS, yES, YES!!!!" until we finally hit the car. It wasn't too bad. Just crushed up the car's trunk up a bit. Either way, it was an awesome evening.
Here's some photos:
Zooland Animal and a Puff Ball
Dalseong Park
An old lookout tower (?) on one of the oldest earth walls in Korea (200AD)
So I've been slacking the last couple weeks on posting on this. It's been crazy busy at work and on the weekends I want to relax, which i rarely have had time for. I'll catch you up:
So let's see, two weekends ago, Brent, Emma, Young and I all took the KTX up to Seoul on Saturday night after school. When we got there, Emma and I met up with Jojo, Joe, John and Carolyn from training for all you can eat sushi. It was awesome! (It's called sushi sushi and its pretty close to the Hongik Univ. subway stop). After that we met up with Sean at a super cool rock bar that had a big screen that played clips of live shows (it's called Motto and it's also in Hongdae area). Then after a lot of dancing in the street (Joe) and a laughing at a bunch of people dressed up like Santa (Sean), we went to another club that pretty much polished us off for the evening. The next day, we weren't as motivated as I hoped we would be to see more of Seoul. We went to a shopping district and got some food and I waited at a coffee shop for a bit while Emma did some shopping. We made it back to Daegu by about midnight, totally exhausted.
All through the last week at work, we had to do reports on every student by Wednesday, which took a lot of time. Also, we had a parent seminar on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. So we had to be at work from 1 till 10:30. On Friday, Young and I had to perform a lesson that we had prepared in front of parents that didn't speak English. Not sure how effective that was. Pretty busy week, considering that we were trying to workout everyday as well. Friday night, I met Emma, Chuck, Jeromy, Travis and others for dinner at The Holy Grill downtown for a much needed beer and burrito. I taught an easy class on Saturday and then we met downtown again and started the evening at Bennigan's (which has a Denver theme!). Yesterday we got breakfast at about 1:30 pm (after much needed sleeping in) and then spent the day downtown shopping and drinking coffee. Emma and I also FINALLY made some red chili. I've had the Santa Fe red chili powder waiting long enough (I had some on my eggs this morning, it was super tasty).
At one point on Saturday night I got talking to a guy from Denver named John. He comes from the capitol hill area in Denver (6th and Ogden) and I think he lived up in Vail. I had met his friend a couple weeks before, she was from Lakewood (right next to Carino's, I think). Anyway, he is new here but has already been skiing once. He told me that he was setting up a trip on New Years weekend. Coincidentally, we have Saturday off on New Years, so I agreed to go. We are going to leave at 1am on Jan. 1st. Oh man, thats going to be an interesting one. Brent is coming to. I am really looking forward to skiing again!
On Saturday everyone is meeting up in Sigi-area for an Orphan's Christmas. We will be making "Holiday Themed Movie Snacks" (gingerbread houses) and probably gorging ourselves on whatever awesome food Emma cooks. So those are some things that I am looking forward to.
Here's my Top 10 albums of 2010 list:
10. Punchline - Delightfully Pleased
This lowest spot on the list was highly contended for by some great albums. Punchline came on top because of the history I have listening to this band. All of their albums since Action have become some of my most listened albums. This album has a positive spin and some great songs about drinking and moving on. It will always remind me of trying to find new hiking trails in the Denver area with Jordan and Jeromy.
9. The Gamits - Parts
This album was recommended to me by Jordan and Grant as I was leaving the states. I got a copy and it became one of the most played albums on my ipod. I love their new vocal stylings (one man army meets jawbreaker). Even though they are a Denver band and should remind me of home, they will remind me of first walking the streets of Daegu listening to my headphones.
8. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
When Jordan and I took our completely improvised trip in September, we were totally ready for anything and had no plans at all. We had listened to a lot of music on the week long trip too. When we got to Spokane, WA after our time in Canada, Rylan greeted us with a bunch of dark beer and a new album to fall in love with, The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You. I think we probably listened to the album 30 times over the next 3 days while we were driving through Montana, Idaho, Utah and back across Highway 40 over the mountains to Denver. This album will always remind me of the freedom and beauty of that trip.
7. The Unwelcome Guests -
I bought this album at the beginning of summer on vinyl. It is the soundtrack to the summer days that I spent by the pool or just playing guitar in the apartment. This quickly became one of my favorite summer listens. It's just good rock and roll with great lyrics and guitar layering.
6. Stars - Five More Ghosts
Sharon introduced me to this band. I love them. This is one of those albums that you can just put on your headphones and lay in the park (which I did in wash park alot this summer).
5. The Flatliners - Cavalcade
This band has been one of my favorites since the first time I heard them. This new album pushes their sound in every way. They do sound like a seasoned punk band. The lead singer is exactly one year younger than me. We had a conversation about that at a bar in Calgary one night. This album will always remind me of going mountain biking with Jeromy at the beginning of the summer. We played it loud.
4. None More Black - Icons
Oh man this album. I waited and waited for this album ever since I heard they got back together. It has grown on me with every listen. It flows with my blood. When I listen to it in my headphones it calms me down because it exerts the built up tension for me. I have run many miles around the hills in Daegu listening to this album.
3. The Menzingers - Chamberlain Waits
I knew that this album was going to be one of my favorites the minute I heard it. It mixes the clash with sound that I love in punk perfectly. The show that they played in Denver is one of my favorite nights this summer with Jordan Pepper and Lauren. I kept this CD in my car from the minute I got it and I never took it out of the player. This is the soundtrack of driving around Denver and singing to my car stereo.
2. Sundowner - We Chase The Waves
Obviously. When Jordan was sleeping on our living room floor all summer, I would come out from my bedroom in the morning and play this vinyl. He said that he loved this morning routine. I love this album.
1. Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - Buzzard
There was a lot of build up to this album. They released the track "New York Hotel City Blues" early in the spring. I remember because Jeromy and I listened to it on repeat as we were driving the peak to peak highway when the peaks were still snow covered. This album came out right before I left for Korea. The gritty basement rock sound of this record is exactly the way that they should have headed. This album was a saving grace for me. All of the anxiety that comes with leaving home and being somewhere strange and completely new was wiped away when I listened to the controlled rage of this album. This album highlighted some of the most beautiful moments that I have experienced over the last 3 months. It has also played while I have fallen asleep almost every night for the last 3 months. This is the number 1 of 2010 for me.
Honorable Mentions:
Butch Walker - I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart
...is usually what I assume is being said constantly over the intercom when I am at costco. Speaking of, I made a monumental purchase of 'kirkland signature' brand tuna yesterday. I guess I'm giving up on tuna that comes in a cat food can and doesn't taste too far from. By the way, I made an immortal mistake yesterday (I am going to use as many synonyms for monumental that Thesaurus.com will provide me throughout this blog entry) by not buying the 'kirkland signature' brand tequila yesterday. It's pricey, but it is a good value considering the unforgettable difficulty that presents itself when shipping my favorite tequila, Jose Cuervo Traditional (no, it's not your simple cuervo), in from the states. Speaking of shipping items into the danger-zone (which I am now going to refer to South Korea as, due to the lofty sensationalism that is happening on news websites such as CNN.com [I say as a bomb hits outside Daegu {not really, lets cross our fingers}]), I want to tell you about the surprise that I received when I arrived at work today.
I was asked to sign for a USPS box, that my Dad sent me containing some essentials, upon entering Chungdahm in an awe-inspiring mood while holding a Single Origin Drip coffee from 'Coffee Coffea' (next to home plus, i recommend it. It's won some awards I guess, but how would I know, I can't speak Korean). Something seemed a bit fishy to me when I noticed that the box that I was signing for was really a bag of cardboard that was squishing all over the counter. It did smell tremendous, however as I was later toweringly disappointed to find out because the large bottle of Tapatio had been crushed/broken/exploded/tampered with during the two week trip that the box (or what used to be a box) had taken. Got everything cleaned up during the five 5 minute breaks that my school allows to me within a 6 hour teaching stretch.
Here is what I salvaged from the deliciously fragrant disaster:
1/2 lb of Santa Fe red chili powder
1/4 lb of Santa Fe green chili powder
1 package of dry brown rice (there were originally two)
2 spice jars of cumin
1 lb of Kenyan whole bean coffee
and some melatonin. (Thanks again Dad)
Speaking of random, Brent and I made it down to 달성 공원 (Dalseong Park) where they have a zoo that an animal activist more motivated than myself would probably write a letter to a governmental official or something about. Seriously, the wolf pen had 4 wolves in a room the size of a small bedroom and the visitors were throwing them crackers over the bars. Other than that, the park was pretty prodigious, especially in reference to the exercise equipment that they provide (I promise I will make it back there and take pictures, its worth it).
Other than that, its been pretty stupendously cold for a city with no snow. Yep thats about it. Thanks to those who stayed with me through this entry, especially the ones who get my mammoth-ly underrated/misunderstood humor. Love you all. 'Til next time!
P.S. for those of you keeping track, the synonyms that have been utilized in the place of monumental are, as far as I can recall: immortal, unforgettable, lofty, towering, tremendous, awe-inspiring, prodigious, stupendous and mammoth.
Over the weekend, Brent, Young and I met up with Mikey and the Shigee people. We had an awesome orphans thanksgiving. Emma made some amazing food and was one of the best hostesses! A ton of people showed up. Even her and Chuck's hapkido instructor was there. We had a blast. On Sunday we went ice skating at Mikey's training rink. I miss skating. I don't think I have been since they opened the new rink in GJ. Before that would have been at after-prom in 2005.
Today was the first day of classes of the new term. I have what seems to be some really great classes. The students seem to be really respectful and the preps for each class are pretty easy.
I promise more pictures to come. Brent and I were talking about heading to Gyeongju this weekend. Definite photo opportunities in Korea's traditional temple/capital city.
Oh thank God I have a guitar again. I'm starting to sort through my old lyrics in my journal and working some stuff out into progressions. Most of all starting to work stuff out in my head. It can get a bit crazy up there, everyone needs an outlet. Thats the reason kids turn to drugs. Since I don't want to admit that I might be a candidate for anxiety pills, I will sort it out through moderate amounts of scotch and lyrics (the traditional way). Not to mention regular exercise, and plenty of sleep. ;)
Well this last week has been interesting. The weekend was one of the wildest I have had for a long time. Teaching on Saturday was fun. I have been to the Loving Hut (the vegan restaurant) a bunch over the last week. Also, I have seen some new parts of Daegu (still trying to figure out where we were).
On Saturday Brent and I went down to meet Young and Mikey from work for dinner at a Canadian place that serves pretty good Mexican food and has a decent pale ale imported from Edmonton. When we got there we met up with a bunch of people from another Chungdahm branch on the other side of town. I had already met Chuck and Emma who are both pretty awesome. The rest were really cool especially the new people Travis and Carmen. Anywho, we ended up having a really fun night out. We went to some pretty fun places including a nice hookah place. Thats about the rest of the details I'm going to share from that night...
So, yesterday I went for a long walk downtown. It was really nice being able to start knowing my way around town. Tonight after work, Young and I went and got some dinner. We had another Korean style dish that was totally new to me. Then we found a bowling alley, where I schooled him American style (haha, sorry man you were actually getting good by the end!). Then I remembered that about a month ago I noticed a gym that had a sign advertising a climbing center. We went down to check it out. The place is awesome! It was super classy and has 7 floors. The climbing center looks amazing. The rest of the gym is super clean and stylish. It costs 80,000 won a month, which is really good compared to another crap place we checked out last week that was 90,000 won a month.
So thats the news for now. I will post more pictures when I have more excuses to take pictures.
Forgot to mention that I found a great vegan cafe about 15 minutes away on the subway! Last night I got to try a traditional Korean dish that I haven't been able to try due to its beef content. It was so delicious. I can't wait to go back and pig out there again. I'm going to order about 4 dishes at a time until I try everything!
I'm waiting on a friend from Busan to post some pictures from our hike down there this weekend. In the meantime, I will catch you up:
It was my birthday last Thursday! Thank you everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes through facebook, e-mail or e-cards! Most of all, thank you Mom and Dad! From both of their care packages combined, I received a bunch of black beans, whole wheat tortillas, a bunch of scotch, two bottles of Tapatio Hot Sauce (already running low), two pairs of Levi's and some chili infused dark chocolate. Exactly what I asked for and more!
On Thursday night, I went out for a couple drinks with my friends Young and Brent. We went to the Australian owned bar called Sydney Bar. The owners Mark and Tina really take care of us. Really fun night.
On Saturday after class Brent and I took the bullet train to Busan. We met up with Chris from training and made our way downtown after some rooftop drinking. We had some Mexican food and then met up with Paul from Denver, who was one of the only two people I knew in Korea before this journey, and some of his friends. We played on the beach for a while and danced to some street music before making our way to a club being DJ'ed by two guys from New York. Obviously that wasn't my crowd, so Brent and I met Paul next door for some more typical volume levels and drink prices. Fun night.
The next day Chris, Brent and I met up with Chris's friends Ashlee, Ainsley and Courtney. We went to the Beomeosa Temple. A large and famous temple. It was a great day! Totally perfect weather. I fell in love with one of the smaller temples on the trail. Pictures coming soon!
Well on Sunday I wanted to get out and do some hiking. I went upstairs and asked the new guy, Brent from South Dakota if he wanted join. Two guys that have pretty much no idea about the area or the language following the directions of a Rough Guide that was written 3 years ago. The makings of an adventurous Sunday in the mountains.
We (somehow) stumbled upon the bus stop for the express bus up to the park. It was standing room only which proved to be a work out while attempting to keep my balance on vinyl seats through mountain roads. An hour later we reached the Danghwasa Temple at the base of the mountain. Strolled around the area, then got lost. We found another bus stop and tried to ask directions to two older women. We understood that they were trying to tell us to get a taxi. So we started looking for a cab, but then they started motioning us down the hill. They would not let us stay! They kept motioning us down the hill, so we went. Eventually we found a cab and asked to go to the Gatbawi trail head. His taxi meter said 5,400, but he quickly deleted it and asked for 10,000. Jerk. The hike was awesome. It was super crowded, but a beautiful destination.
Afterwards we waited in a line that was about 100 yards long to get on a series of buses. The same story as before it was standing room only, but the roads were choked with traffic. Try keeping your balance on mountain roads with traffic driven by a man whose sobriety was questionable. Two hours later we made it to a bus stop that had a subway station. We took the empty subway to the downtown stop and stopped at Gorilla Burger. I got an awesome balsamic portabello sandwich. We then went to a Canadian bar and had a pale ale imported from Edmonton. Well, maybe more than one. Good day!
My friend Scott, a local to Daegu, and Alex, the owner of the school that I teach at, offered to take me hiking yesterday. We were supposed to go to Palgongsan, where they have a famous carving of Buddha into the rock, but next week is high school exams. He said because of that, it would be crowded with parents praying for their children. Instead, we went to the middle of the three large mountains that surround the part of Daegu that I live in. This mountain is called Cheongryeonsan, which translates to Blue Dragon Mountain. I expected a short day hike... it took 7 hours.
Scott (left) and Alex (right)
Start of the long hike
Colors got better and better in the higher elevations
I have spent the last two days walking around downtown Daegu before class. My goal was to see the Yangyeongsi Market. It was the medical hub of all of Korea since 1650. I finally found it today after being lead astray by a couple faulty maps and a country whose signs have terrible English translations. Today the street and the museum were empty, but the area smelled wonderful as you can imagine. Here are a couple pictures of Korea so far.
Down by Duryo Park
Sunset from Duryo Park
Yep, I got sick as a dog the next couple days
Nice sunset on the way down to the Arboretum
I was not looking for this palace, but it was a nice accidental destination
Well that was a blast. Totally an interesting night.
It started by running out of class at 4 to the subway station. Then barely making it to the train by the time it left. Took the bullet train (KTX) to Busan to check out the fireworks festival and to see some friends from training. When we got off the KTX, we went down into the subway to head to the beach. The subway was the most crowded place I have ever been in. No joke I do not know how many people were in that subway car. It was insane. Luckily I am tall enough to breath over the people. We got to the beach and there were even more people. I think they said something like 2 million people were on the beach. That was a ton. After the fireworks, which were absolutely incredible, I met up with Chris from training. I also met his new crew. They were super friendly people. He got pretty lucky to be around such easygoing and fun loving people.
We started drinking outside a foreigners bar on the beach. I talked to a person who went to Missoula and might have seen my band. I talked to a Nepalese girl about going to Nepal. I talked to a guy who worked the door at my favorite bar in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I ended up actually getting separated from Chris, whose house I was supposed to end up at. I was being taken away with a girl and her friends. Honestly I have no idea where we were headed. Then my friend Lauren from training pulled me away from the group and she let me crash on her floor. Things kinda work out I guess. Today we walked around Busan a bit and got some 'breakfast' and some awesome tea. Then I headed to the KTX to come back.
I sat next to a really cool guy on the way back to Daegu. He is in the middle of doing his mandatory Korean military service. We talked for along time and he told me some great places I need to see around Daegu. The list of things to do always grows. I'm really excited to start exploring more! And to go to Busan again!
Here is a picture of the fireworks last night that I stole from someone else's blog.
Today I went for a run up to the Daegu Aboretum, which when I first heard about it, I thought it was a burrito place (aBORETUm sounds like burrito). The place is really awesome and pretty close, too. It is filled with aromatic and herbal gardens. It's also filled with old ladies with the blue masks over their mouths. Sometimes I see them put the mask up over their mouth before I run or walk past, which makes me feel good. Most of the people there were actually really nice, spread out and smiling. That was a good change from the normal urban atmosphere.
Over the weekend I had some weird stomach issues going on. I could barely stand without getting cramps on Saturday. It was difficult to teach both 3 hour classes. Afterwards three of the teachers that I work with and one of their boyfriends invited me to a barbecue on my rooftop. It was a chilly night and the city lights were really pretty. We made some kind of fish and some vegetable kabobs. A break from Korean food was probably good for my body.
Yesterday (Sunday) was my day off. I met Mikey from work downtown for brunch with some of his friends. It was my first real experience of downtown Daegu. I was actually kind of impressed. I live in a really cosmopolitan and neat city. We went to a Canadian place and had mimosas. If I felt better I probably would have stayed out and walked around more, but I just came back to Wolbae (my neighborhood).
Someday soon I will post more pictures of all of this.
I haven't seen one turtle in all of Asia. Man, now I'm curious.
So I think that Wednesday is going to have my problem class. The last class I taught was from 7pm till 10pm. It was a reading class. These kids were violently apathetic. I could barely get them to open their books, let alone read. What I was told were going to be the "good" kids were writing on the walls and couldn't repeat back anything I said to them. ANYTHING. I would talk to one guy, looking directly at him, and ask him what i just said. He would just say "wha?" and the whole class would laugh. That was a nightmare. Luckily every class is not like that. These are the older kids who are in the lower levels. It took everything I had just to get them to speak English (which they have been doing for at least 4 years each. Man, this is stress.
Meh, thats what beer is for. Hopefully next week will be better. Theres a lot of middle school testing going on, so the students might be distracted. Or they're distracted by the very attractive tall white guy thats teaching them. Yeah, thats probably it.
This weekend I'm going to try to go to the national park that's just north of Daegu. I heard it's supposed to be amazing. Getting out of the city will be a nice change. I have been going on runs more, and its really helped with the lingering jet lag. Now I sleep like a rock. Now, I just need to work on getting up before 12.
New goal = See a turtle doing ninja kicks in Asia.
Yesterday I had my first and only day off since I started. I started the day off by running to a close mountain, then found a trail that went up (like straight up). It was great though! I'm really close to a trail, thats good news! I hiked up to a false summit, and was able to look out over my part of Daegu, and then further up the valley on the other side. So nice to get out.
I then took the subway up to the Duryu park. It is a big park north of where I live. There was a big singing festival going on, and there is a amusement park up there. I climbed to the top of a hill and watched the sunset. I'll post some of those pictures soon.
On a side note, I wanted to mention how funny Korean hikers are... they were all staring at me as I went by (which I thought was normal, at least they weren't pointing and laughing [which has happened]). I noticed that they were staring at me because I was just wearing a t-shirt and running shorts. They were ALL decked out in the highest tech mountaineering gear (polls, gore-tex hats and everything). A short little hike, and they are ready to climb everest. Love it.
The students are crazy! Some are very energetic and some just stare. I had a class last night that just stared at me. Seriously, just stared. I finally broke them in in the third hour of the class and they became more animated. I have been doing well, but I have a lot of learning to do in order to become a better teacher. Meh, I'll get there...
Anyway, last night Buddha Alex, my big boss, took the whole school out to Korean style sushi. I sat with all Korean speakers on my right and English speakers to my left that I hadn't met yet. Buddha Alex actually sat right next to me on the right.
The food was awesome! They just bring dish after dish after dish. I was eating some FUNKY looking stuff. Like this one shellfish called "squirt fish". The fish literally squirted in my mouth when I bit down on it. Everything that we were eating came from the window fish tanks too. I watched them making it!
The last course before dessert was called... I don't know what it was called. It was fish head soup. One Korean guy that I was sitting across from was trying to explain how they make the soup. I won't go into specifics, but it was looking at me. Another thing, I had no idea that if you cheers the big man at the table, he has to refill your glass if you finish your shot. We were drinking soju. And man, do they drink soju. When anybody called for something to cheers on, people kept refilling everyone's glasses. Plus I was drinking beer with my meal, too. The Koreans can drink.
A couple guys that I had just met asked if I wanted to go out to a bar with them after that. I didn't want to be rude, and honestly I was a bit drunk, so I did. The bar was pretty quiet, but it was good to actually go out and get a beer with someone new. Once the bar closed, we came back by my apartment and we found out that we all live in the same small building. We went up to the roof and hung out for an hour or two longer.
I am really good about knowing when I have had too much, and last night I never felt really drunk. But I swear this morning I had one of the worst hangovers ever! I'm still getting over it (it's 11:00). All I have to eat is peanut butter and digestive cookies, that doesn't really help that much.
Anyway, time to get prepped for the day!
I just woke up in my new apartment which is great! I will post some pictures in a day or two. I'm still getting everything put away... you know, the whole moving in thing. It was pretty recently built. Its still small, but not as small as everyone else's here. Everyone is jealous of my closet.
My first day of classes yesterday was alright. Not as bad as it could have been. It will be all student management for the first couple of weeks. They are trying to see what they can get away with. I also have a million things running through my head as I'm teaching. There is ALOT to do in every class. Today is going to be the problem class apparently. wish me luck. :)
Right now I am sitting in a cubicle at the Chung Dahm school in Daegu. I am surrounded by whoever's this stuff is and eating these butter waffle cookies they gave me to hold me over until my head instructor gets done teaching.
Training is done. They really took us straight until the last minute on whether or not we were going to pass. It was pretty intense. My palms were totally clammy. I did good, but Ta-wei, my reading instructor had alot to say about my final presentation. I had to ask him if i passed, and he mumbled yes. Everyone else thought I did great. I actually got named, most likely to become head instructor! WOO! Shake and bake!
Then began the leaving. I left all of the people I met at training. They were so great and cool. I am totally going to miss everyone. I was picked up by a call van and taken to the CTX train station. I did not hear english for the next 3 hours. The bullet train was super cool!
When I got to Daegu, I was greeted by a man who was holding up a piece of paper with my name on it. I felt like James Bond. He grabbed my bags and motioned me along to his call van. He drove around for about an hour, then dipped into the backstreets and alleys. It was so obvious he was lost. He actually called his daughter who speaks english just for her to tell me that he was lost and sorry. Then we picked up a girl who introduced herself by saying that she doesn't speak english. She said that my apartment will not be ready for 3 days... alright...? So she had the van take me to this "nice" motel called the Zen motel. This is where I will be residing for a couple days. Zen Motel. Daegu. Korea. Hit me up if you're in town. :)
Yesterday I studied a bunch for the first day of training (I passed every test except for one [which is better than most]). Then I went out to the palace district and saw some really great palaces! The first (and biggest one) was called Gyeongbokgung. Then we wandered down to Changdeokgung (gung means palace). It was really cool to see some of the Asian history that I took come to life. After that we wanted some dinner, so we went down to Insa-dong street. This was a traditional Korean street that was really great. We found an awesome restaurant that served fish. I just pointed to the fish picture and it came out as a whole fish... haha. I tried Korea's national alcohol for the first time, Soju. Its a rice fermentation similar to Saki, but it tastes like vodka. TONS of warnings from foreigners on how this stuff can creep up on you. I only had 2 shots because I had to wake up for training.
Training was kind of strange. They warn us that the instructor is going to be similar to a drill sargent. But when the class started it was this big Korean American that was super nice to us... too nice. I think tomorrow will be way different. The people I'm training with are pretty dorky but super nice. After training we went down to the Seoul Medical Center to get a medical exam. It was strange... Korean hospitals are WAY different than hospitals in the States. There were gurneys EVERYWHERE right when we entered the hospital. One kid fainted when we got our blood drawn. That was pretty concerning. Everything went just fine though.
Tomorrow I have to pass the retake of test that I didn't pass. Tomorrow I think will be way different. They keep reiterating that this is a corporation not a school. Tonight all 15 recruits want to go out to the Foreigner's part of town, Itaewon. Apparently it's a pretty crazy place surrounded by "hooker hill" and "homo hill". Should be a goodnight. I might have to duck out early tonight. :)
Oh man. I got to Seoul last night at about 6:30pm. I took a sweaty bus ride from the Incheon airport down into the town. Then a cab ride from the City Airport Terminal (CAT) that was supposed to be sponsored by the school, but had to pay 10 bucks. Whatever, I was too tired to fight it. The hotel room is an interesting set up. I expected to have a room to myself or maybe one more person. When I got my key, I went up to the 13th floor and opened the door and saw two sets of shoes on the floor. Again, too tired to care i went in and saw an interesting hostel like set up. There is one main room and two bed rooms. There are 3 other guys here in my room. One Canadian, one Texan and one South African. Pretty nice guys.
Went out last night with Brita and her new boyfriend Lou. We walked around this area for a while and just walked in somewhere that looked like a castle. The only thing I could find to eat was Fish and Chips. SUPER WEIRD fish and chips!! The fish was crusted with a milky cheese, and the fries were sweet potato fries. The beer was good and cheapish though. Then we went to a lounge type bar and had one expensive cocktail. After that it was about 1:30 am. I needed sleep. They tried to get me to go out to another bar, but I NEEDED to go pass out. So I did. :)
I'm stealing this idea of blogging my time oversees from Paul and Alex White. Also, I am really bored and kind of hungover at an airport in Seattle. Most likely I will forget to write in this, but on the other hand I might be super bored and lonely in Korea. So I guess you will know what it means when I write all the time...
When I first arrived to the Seattle airport and took the 3 trains that led me to wherever the hell I am now, I stopped at an airport deli that advertised an egg, cheese and bacon biscuit. I asked the lady if she could make me one without bacon. She said no. Awesome start to a day. I had to eat a small package of almonds for 5 dollars.
I say start to my day as if it had a beginning. The last 3 months have really run together. Last night especially was a jumble of mixed emotions, swimming, booze, cops and guns. Thats not really what I want this blog to be about though.
I board the plane in 40 minutes. Then to Seoul for a week of training. Wish me luck!!
