First Class Approaching

Unfortunately, I don't have internet access at my new apartment, so I won't be able to update except at work, which means this will have to be brief. I'm waiting for my first day of classes to start, which is in about a half hour. I'm a little nervous, but mainly I just want things to start. My first day consists of Memory English, a lower level course that mostly involves reading and interpretting stories, and Bridge English reading and writing, which is an intermediate class a step above the first. I feel pretty prepared, but it'll all become apparent once it's crunch time.

I've been in Busan for a weekend now. We were supposed to make a train 2 hours after training ended, which was near impossible when you factor in Seoul traffic. So, no surprise, we missed it and had to catch the next train, which was slower too, so we didn't arrive until after midnight. It also turned out that my apartment wasn't ready, so I was shacked up in a "love motel", which means pretty much exactly what you'd suspect. To top it off, we also had to get up semi-early to attend yet another training. So I'd say my first impression of Busan wasn't favorable.

Still, after that, it's all been uphill. We got a pretty great welcome from the center we're working at, and everyone's been super helpful. I say "we" because I came to my branch with another trainee that I met, Daniel, who can speak a smattering of Korean but is still pretty new to all this, so we've been hanging out alot and taking in the city and work together. I was able to get into my apartment on Sunday, and it's pretty damn nice! It's somewhat close to the school and even closer to the major city center, Somyeon. I'm slowly stocking the place so it's habitable, but since it's just me, I'm not too picky and should be able to make do with the bare essentials. It even has an exercise bike! So I guess now I have no excuses.

Some funny things I've encountered since last time:
1) At the fast food places, your cup is sealed and placed in a paper bag, which is also sealed. It's nice in case you can't carry a separate cup, I guess, but it's mainly a pain in the ass to open.
2) The train station bathroom had this odd sort of arm thing that swings back and forth over the sink with a bar of soap attached. Wish I'd gotten a picture.
3) People in Korea are very friendly with each other. Like VERY friendly by Western standards. It's not uncommon to see two guys walking down the street arm in arm or holding hands, even though being gay is still considered a huge taboo here.
4) The escalators here have motion sensors so they won't move unless you step onto them. Kind of common sense, right?
5) Apparently, becoming friends with English-speakers is desirable in some respect, even though foreigners are not exactly welcomed. Dan and I were both approached by a salesperson after we had left the store, and he told us, "If you want a friend, come see me." Then today, another guy told Dan the same thing. Kind of odd, right? But at the same time, easy way to make local friends!
6) I tend to be stared at pretty often in public. As a tall white dude, I stick out like a sore thumb since the Korean population is pretty homogenous, and it doesn't bother me much. But it's still amusing to look up and see people glance away quickly on the subway and such.

Erick. OUT!!

Training and Adventures

It's been a helluva week, but with the end quickly approaching, I thought I'd hit a few highlights for yall. First off, we've had our hands full with instructor training here. At first, my roommate Paul and I were laughing because it seemed like we'd barely be training and it would be a short, easy jaunt where everyone was telling us, "It'll be the hardest week of your career with the company!" Turns out they may have been right, go figure. It probably doesn't help that I was unemployed and lazy as hell for 3 months prior to this, but the days are filled with lectures and mock teaching in front of small groups. As a teacher with some experience, you'd think this'd be no big deal, but standing in front of a group of peers and modeling an unfamiliar new style is still just as nerve wracking as when I first stepped into a classroom. Add a few hours of studying and prep every night, along with sleep deprivation, a drastic shift in time zones, and an unfamiliar environment, and the week has begun to take its toll. I'm feeling a little under the weather and plenty tired, even though I laid down for like a half hour and could get to sleep for the life of me. Luckily, tomorrow marks the end of this whole ordeal, and maybe I'll get a full night's sleep this weekend.

The people I've met here are definitely worth it, though. We've got people from all around the U.S. and Canada, so there's a great mix of personalities, with everyone being open to meeting new people and going new places. And what's more, we're going all over Korea, so we'll be able to keep in touch and visit each others' areas when possible. It's great to have an easy social network for this week, and it'll just expand across the country after that.

So now, about the city. Seoul is freakin huge! Sky scrapers everywhere, people just jam packed on every street, and there's no shortage of places to go. It's also a city that never sleeps, which I haven't really explored, but you can tell that everyone's up late into the night, and when it's time to party (which is every night) they will party hard. Every morning, we jump on a bus that takes us through Gungnam (just south of the Han river and downtown Seoul) up over the river and through the city to the training center. The bus driver's this older Korean dude that's always smiling and makes my morning. The drive is pretty crazy. Now, I've been to Latin America and seem some really insane driving, but the thing about this place is the sheer volume of cars, all super aggressive. Cars drive up and park on sidewalks, buses do U-Turns in the middle of the street, and the whole time you don't really see many accidents. It's well-orchestrated chaos.

The food has been pretty great so far. The first night I was here, we met up w/ a big group of trainees and ordered a ton of spicy pork rice and these basic noodles with a black sauce called jjajjamyung. Since then, I've been heading out for lunch and dinner every day, trying mostly new things. There's kimbop, which are these delicious sushi rolls that are packed with veggies, egg, and a bunch of stuff you can order like tuna, beef, kimchi, and so on. We found a dumpling (mandu) place that was similar to dimsum; you could get these simple rice paper wrapped pork dumplings or sticky buns filled with pork (or chicken? we actually weren't sure) or sweet bean. Another night, I had a spicy seafood ramen with squid and clams and these little shrimp that still had their shells. I paid for the spiciness the next day, tho, I promise you. And then there's bulgogi, which is only the most delicious of marinated beef. The amazing thing was that you can get your fill of any of those dishes for $3 or less! Truly, I am growing to love this country. I might have to take it behind the middle school...

Hilariously enough, we also went out on one of the first nights to a Hooters down the street. I can't make any excuses for myself except to say I followed the group, but the ladies definitely didn't fit the normal Hooters archetype. Also, it was by far the most expensive meal I've had here, like 7 times more than anything else! There are tons of chains around like that, and American food is pretty expensive to go out for. There are also a ton of coffee places (Starbucks, Coffee Bean, and even Dunkin Donuts), and they're usually pretty pricey too, even compared to the prices in the States. That's probably all for the best, since I prefer going out and trying all sorts of new stuff, and when I leave for Busan tomorrow, I'll have a whole new area to explore!

Anyways, here are some pics; I haven't taken many as I'm horrible at remembering, but you can get a sense of the city. The first ones were taken from the roof of the training center.





Take care all, and see you in Busan!

We're Gonna Make It After All!

That's right, folks, I've made it to Korea! Woo hoo!!! :::streamers and balloons:::

Well, it wasn't all that fun, but I'll get to that. Before that, first impressions: Seoul is very wet. There's a lot of water around it and going through it, which makes sense, but you don't really understand it till you're driving in. Also, Korea's very mountainy, which is another no-brainer, but flying in I got a real sense of otherworldliness with these lush green hills all around. It was like Jurassic Park, except with less T-Rex and Samuel L. Jackson action. The people are also both super helpful (also to be outlined later) and incredibly hurried and oblivious. The city area I'm in is large and busy, very much like New York City, and I'm kind of excited to see what the rest of it is like, especially at night when it's all done up in neon and glamour.

I made a point to write out a minute to minute of the flight, but it kind of fell apart once I got on the second leg of my journey from Beijing to Incheon Airport, but I've got plenty to speak of for that. It's in Pacific California Time, in case you were confused. Here it goes:

1:38 AM: Seated aboard the plane. Anxious, excited, and just a little tired. Korea book is out and I plan on being productive this flight. Also, does something smell like piss? Pretty sure it's not me...

2:10 AM: Just started moving! No air jets on this plane; gonna be a sticky ride. Stewardess's English makes her sound like a robot; must investigate later.

2:19 AM: Just closing eyes as we take off.

3:10 AM: Abruptly woke to stewardess offering drinks they came 4 times in the next 30 minutes with food also. Eating shrimp fried rice, not quite sure if I woke up. Think I'll try some more sleep.

9:13 AM: Awake again, back to work!

11:30 AM: Lights on, hissss. Getting some reading done, gonna know something about this country, dammit!

2:09 PM: We've started our descent and the windows are open. Looking out, I can see a bright red sunrise, which we've been racing all the way here.

2:17 PM: Touchdown! The crowd goes wild!

So I clearly made it to my next flight after a sojourn through the Beijing airport, which was pretty cool and swanky, though there was some difficulty with communications and I ended up going through security again, sadly losing my water bottle in the process.

Upon touchdown in Incheon International Airport, I successfully navigated customs and baggage claim to the bus stop outside. There, I started to hit snaffus aplenty. First of all, I found out from my current roommate that there was supposed to be a shuttle to pick me up and take me directly to my hotel; I never received that email, so I instead opted for the bus. I went up and told the lady my destination (Gungnam, Please!), only to notice once I was lined up that it wasn't the right ticket. After a quick exchange, I got the right one and jumped on, having averted the only crisis for the trip, right?

WRONG-O!!! First indication: all that beautiful fog meant that it was actually raining in Seoul. Fine, I'll just take a cab to the hotel. I get off at my stop with my luggage (2 rolling suitcases, a carry on bag, and my laptop bag) and struggle across the street to find a cab and my bearings. The light's a little long to get across, but a lady with an umbrella silently walks next to me and covers me as well. Keen! I walk across and wait at the side of the road, now uncovered, and attempt to flag down taxi after taxi after taxi. I don't know if it was because I was clearly foreign, had luggage, it was raining, or they just thought it was a hilarious combination of all of the above, but every cab passed me by. I stand out in the rain for 15 minutes as it alternates between heavy and tropical downpour. Eventually fed up, I walk to another area, give up again, and take shelter near a jewelry store. I go in and ask if the ladies know where my hotel is, which they both don't and can't really communicate with me, but they do offer me a free umbrella! I walk out, dejected, only to meet a mother and daughter from California that offer to flag a cab for me. Eventually, the mom calls one up and I hop in after profusely thanking them, only to find out that my cab driver both doesn't know where my hotel is and can't really communicate with me either. We drive around, confused, for a good 30-40 minutes as the meter just ticks on and I get more and more suicidal. Then, by some miracle of God, we spot it! AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I clambour out and to my room, soaked, tired, hungry, and a little dejected, though I had seen a glimmer of hope in humanity.

My roommate is a nice guy, though, and he's a little more Korea-experienced and has shared some helpful insights while offering to join me in a tour of the city this week. Also, our room has a bidet! Yay!

One More Day!

I leave tomorrow night for Korea, folks, this is it! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't apprehensive about the whole thing, but I think I'm decently prepared for the shift. I've also been waiting here in LA for long enough without anything to do, and when I'm not working or going to school, I tend to get very antsy and moody. What can I say, my momma taught me a solid work ethic!

I'm not sure if I fully outlined my arrival to Korea since I've been asked about it more than once, so here's the deal: I arrive in Seoul on Sunday around noon. My company has a hotel room reserved and paid for (sweet!), so I'll be zipping over there and most likely just sleeping for the rest of the day. The next day (Monday, the 19th), I start training in Seoul at the school's headquarters along with all the other new teachers. After 5 days of that, I'll leave on Friday the 23rd for Busan, where I'll meet up with a person from my school that will show me my new apartment. Then, after a weekend of getting situated, I start work on the 26th.

In preparation for the trip, I finally went out and picked up a travel guide, which I plan on reading fully on the trip over. I also contemplated picking up a book on etiquette, but instead sat and read it with a coffee. I love looking over all the little idiosyncrasies that each cultural has in regards to what is considers appropriate; it's something you never realize until you go to a foreign place. I also did it in homage to Jake for his dogged following of protocol; without him, I'd never have known that in parties of 6 or more, you aren't required to wait for everyone to get their food before you eat! Here are a few things I learned after reading up on Korean etiquette:

-When passing something to someone, you should never do so with your left hand.
-Never pour drinks for yourself, but instead everyone at the table should offer to pour drinks for everyone else.
-Always wait for the elderly to do things first: sit, eat, drink, etc.
-Don't jam your chopsticks into your rice bowl or place them parallel across the bowl.
-Avoid the number "4", since the word for "4" in Korean is similar to the word for "death".
-Something less common now, it used to be the case that people on buses that were sitting down would hold the bags of people standing as a courtesy.
-And, last but not least, NEVER PAT A KOREAN ON THE HEAD!! I heard from Jim's boss that this is because of the belief that spirits enter and/or leave from the top of the head, so you're not supposed to disrupt that. But I'm more curious about which culture does this normally enough that they felt the need to write it down. Or maybe that'll be my first impulse off the plane; good thing I know to stifle it! Thanks, book!

Seattle Trippin !!!

Today marks the official one-week mark before I shove off to Korea! I also happen to be visiting my parents in Seattle, which is also coincidental since a) it's Mother's Day tomorrow, and b) the Emerald City Comic Con is this weekend! Happy Mother's Day! And I'm off to the nerd gathering.

It's been a pretty action-packed, rip-roaring time up here in the sleepless city. Here are the highlights:

Wednesday- After getting on an earlier flight (yay!), I ended up not only taking the wrong bus but also taking the slowest bus man has ever designed!! Needless to say, I was on the bus longer than my plane, and thus spent about 2 seconds in the city before zipping across the Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island. The 'rents live in Suquamish, with a disgustingly gorgeous view of the water surrounding the city from right out of their back porch!

Thursday- Mom and I went back to Seattle as Jim rested from a rather invasive medical procedure. We did a solid amount of the touristy crap, going to the Space Needle (terrifying!), Pike's Place Market (busy and exciting), and Pioneer Square (old timey, with lots of cool buildings and some fantastic bookshops), along with the Sci-Fi Museum and adjacent Experience Music Project (EMP). We also took the Monorail!! :::cue Simpsons song::: Topped the day off with dinner at Place Pigalle, a restaurant in the market that came recommended from Sir Carni; the food was pretty good, the view of the waterfront was fantastic, and the bartender knew her shit (the Pimm's Cup was a refreshing appertif!).

Friday- Both parents went into work, so I woke up early and took the ferry into the city for some exploration of my own. Walked around aimlessly, as nothing was open, until I saw a cool building off in the distance and found the St. James Cathedral. I then took a circuitous route through Pioneer Square again to the Public Library, which was all funky and hip. Decided against entering the art museum (too many whipper snappers!), and instead went back to Pike's Place to do a little shopping and grab a quick lunch and a couple pints. Feeling pretty good, I went down to the waterfront and the Seattle Aquarium! It was a little too kid-centric, but the otters more than made up for it! After that, I met up with my mom in Bainbridge (ferry!), and we went to her boss's for a bbq.

Saturday- Took our time getting up, we all eventually piled into the car and took off for a scenic drive around the Washington coast, during which I was asleep for about half the time. I can't help it; car rides just put me out! We ended up at Olympic National Park, a mountainous forest area. It was sadly a little too foggy and dreary for much mountain gazing, but we saw a good amount of snow up there! We drove over to Port Townsend, where we walked around a bit and had a seafood dinner. Spent the evening watching the water and sipping mint juleps. It's good to own land.

Some thoughts on the city: Seattle's a mix of East Coast city and San Francisco. It's hilly, a little chilly (hehe), the people are a bit friendlier, and it's a good mix of old and new. It's also a city that welcomes smokers, as I've seen plenty of them sauntering about. Speaking of vices, my coffee count is already in the double digits, which is funny considering I attempted to give up coffee a couple of months ago. The quality is definitely a bit higher here, as one would expect, but you can definitely still get a bad cuppa joe. People are definitely proud of their city and show it, which is, I guess, another more east coast characteristic. And finally, there's a weird obsession with teriyaki here, since there's a place proudly displaying the word in bold, often neon, letters on every freakin block! Is teriyaki a new fad? Why is Seattle just jumping on this? I need to know!

And now, the pics!


The city, from the ferry.

And from the Space Needle!

The Sci-Fi Museum and EMP

Pioneer Square (notice the building covered in ivy)

Pike's Place Market (Just behind the trucks: Rachel the Pig!!!)

And now for something completely different...

Well, I don't have any new Korean updates, but that doesn't mean I've been sitting on my laurels, oh no!! A few fun new developments:

1) I got a new digital camera! Alisa and I both went to Best Buy and bought cameras, as I was told that I needed one before I left. It's a Panasonic Lumix, a tasteful silver color (as opposed to the horrid light blue one in the slightly more expensive model), tricked out w/ face recognition and image stabilization and whatnot. So prepare yourselves for my pictoral exploits! Wait, here's the inaugural picture now!



2) As you may notice from the picture, my finger's a lil screwy. The official story involves a hooker, a cat, and two tubes of toothpaste, while the unofficial story involves a bottle and 11 stitches. Draw your own conclusions.

3) I'm taking off tomorrow for Seattle, where I'll be visiting my parents for near a week. Perhaps a Seattle Trippin' update is in order? We shall see!

Oh, I need sleep, so until next time!

Update-a-roo!

A few things to send word about. Firstly, after a few speed bumps, I have my plane ticket! I leave on May 17th at 1:something in the morning and arrive at noon THE FOLLOWING DAY! Sounds odd? Well, here's the math:

-A flight to Korea takes, at its shortest, 12 hours and 40 min.
-I, however, am flying with one stop in Beijing, which is a comparable length, but which adds another leg. Add a 3 and a half hour wait between flights aaaaand...
-another flight of 2 hours from Beijing (that's in China!) to Incheon International Airport, outside of Seoul.
-But wait, don't forget the time difference! Korean Standard time is 16 hours ahead of me currently in California (that's 9 hours ahead of UTC).

That comes out to a total of 34 hours and 10 minutes of my life spent on this flight. I damn well better get something free out of it. I figure the 16 hour difference is like an investment in the bank. When I return, I'll suddenly gain all this time and be able to run around and yell at people, "I'm from the FUTURE!!!" My return will be glorious, await it!

Anyways, yesterday, besides watching Iron Man!!!!, Rachel and I headed out to BKJ, a Korean restaurant that she found off a list of reviewed Korean restaurants online. It was located in downtown L.A., specifically Koreatown, so you know it'll be the real deal. According to her, we were adorable non-Korean Americans, and the owner of the restaurant clearly wanted to adopt us, but I'm a little dubious. We walk in and the place clearly is not frequented often by non-Korean speaking folks such as ourselves, but cool and unphased, we took a seat and surveyed the menu. Luckily, there were short explanations in English under a few of the Korean names, so we weren't completely lost, but then a waitress comes and hands us the Dennys-style menus that are all in English with pictures. We decide on our foods (I get the yookgaejang, a beef stew with vegetables and noodles, and Rachel gets the hae-mul pajeong, a pancake with scallops and such. She doesn't eat pork and it was pretty much the only thing that didn't have any, since, hilariously, every dish seemed to include bacon!) and the waitress takes off.
But we can't stop there! What about the drinks? So we both awkwardly walk to the front where they have two refrigerators full of beverages. We look for a little while, until the waitress comes to the rescue. We order up some soju, which we later get several lessons on drinking. First, we're given shot glasses, simple enough: a nice, cool sipping beverage. Then one waitress asks if we want lemon, saying that it's better that way. Fair enough, bring it on! Then, some time into our meal, the owner comes out and says she'll make us a soju cocktail, claiming "this is how men drink it". She squeezes a whole lemon into a cup of ice and tops it off with a generous amount of soju and a splash of water, shakes it with a silly little dance, and serves it up. It was pretty tart, but also delicious and refreshing. As a side note, Rachel ended up sneaking the rest of the bottle into the movie theater, where she made a diet Mountain Dew/Soju drink that was actually pretty tasty.
The food was great, and luckily the place was next to empty so there weren't many to witnesses to our no doubt numerous follies in Korean dining. Needless to say, it was a pretty daunting experience and there aren't many times I felt that out of my element. I've been to places where things are written in Spanish, but even then, the letters are recognizable to me and I can sort out enough to get by. But this was a whole new level of foreign, which oddly enough makes me really interested to find out how I can get by in Korea proper. It was good encouragement to learn a bit more before I leave, and I definitely plan on hitting up a few more restaurants before I go (thanks, Rachel!). Also, in case you plan on hitting up a Korean restaurant soon, do yourself a favor and check out this article on dining etiquette. I certainly wish I had, since I was looking around during the whole meal, hoping to find someone to copy off of when I wasn't sure how to eat the side dishes or how to best eat my soup and rice.

Finally, I've been listening to some Korean language podcasts to bone up on some helpful words and phrases. Here's a list of pretty much all I know thus far:

Ahnyong ha seyo = hello
Joeun ahchimineyo = good morning (not used often)
yobosayo = hello (when answering the phone)
gamsahamnida = Thank you
gomapseumnida = Thanks
daedanhi gamsahamnida = Thank you very much.
cheonman-eyo = You're welcome (more literally, It's nothing)
ani-eyo = You're welcome (less formal, like No problem)