Garbage

Here's some obnoxious Korean popular culture that I like.

These songs are just catchy. They're also some of the most unapologetically vapid pop songs I've ever heard, and I like that.





This is the opening sequence of a really cute kids' show called Pororo. It's actually good (it reminds me of Animal Crossing), and I watched several episodes while I was staying in the love motel.

The gym teachers invited me out for dinner and drinking tonight. At first, I was a little scared, because none of them speak very good English. But fortunately, Harry the science teacher came along, and it ended up being lots of fun. We ate cow's intestines and congealed blood (GOOD FOR MAN, they said). With kimchi, of course. Actually, the intestines were kind of gross - chewy and flavorless, but the blood was good. Also, we drank plenty of soju and beer. I think we're supposed to go out like that once or twice a month, which is fine by me. I just don't understand why they think that Monday is a good night for drinking.

One of the gym teachers kept telling me (in extremely broken English) that his wife hates his drinking, and when he comes home drunk, she attacks him like a tiger. I thought he was saying that she gets drunk on soju and acts like a tiger. But his kids love when he comes home drunk because he gives them money.

I wonder if the gym teachers in my middle school were actually cool guys or if they were just assholes like I thought at the time.

Day Tripper

Some of my friends and I went out to Nami Island yesterday, and despite the kind of cheap tourist feeling in some parts of the island, it was really awesome.

Lining up to board the ferry.



From the ferry.







Awesome sculpture.



Flattened frog.



Wall of cans.





Just a bathroom with some art on the walls.



There were ostriches just running around. Sorry for the crappy photo quality. These birds seemed pretty tame, but I was afraid to get too close.



The ferry at night.



Dakgalbi for dinner.



At E-Mart.

I can't believe I've already been in South Korea for a whole month. Time is flying. Today also marks the end of my first week of teaching. So far, things are going well. I teach 22 classes a week with somewhere between 36 and 40 kids in each class. That comes out to over 800 students. I teach the entire second grade and all but two third grade classes (remember, this is middle school, so the kids are like 14-15). It kind of sucks because I won't get to see the kids often enough to really get to know many of them. Also, I live right by the school, and with 800 students, they can be hard to avoid. I seriously can't leave my apartment without hearing, "HI, JUSTIN!" everywhere I go.

The good thing is that the kids are awesome, and they keep me entertained. For some reason, I've been called "handsome" by someone in almost every class (mind you, this is an all-boys school). And another boy told me that he loves me. There are a few troublemakers in most classes, but I'm not worried. Most of them actually seem to be pretty good kids who are just starved for attention.

I think some of my fellow foreign teachers and I are going to watch Polecats tonight. I mentioned it last weekend, and they all decided that they had to see it. Hopefully they will still want to be my friends tomorrow.

I played soccer for four hours this afternoon. I'm so exhausted that I can hardly move.

Things To Come

Just now, as I was taking out my garbage, I had a conversation with an eight year old kid whose English was better than most of the students in my middle school.

Some things I'm looking forward to:

1. The weekend.

2. Teaching. I've spent the last week and a half at school doing very little work. Today, I browsed the internet for at least six hours. Although I'm not super excited about teaching, I'll be glad to actually earn my salary. Also, two teachers told me that their kids were on the verge of rioting when they found out that I won't start teaching until next week. Strangely, the kids seem to really like me. I hope I can live up to their expectations. It's also kind of weird because I live right by the school, and I see them all over the neighborhood. I still haven't gotten used to them bowing to me on the street.

3. Hapkido. Some of the other foreign teachers and I are going to start taking classes on Monday. I think we may begin on Monday. It should be fun to kick some ass, and I'm sure it'll make my dad proud.

4. One of the science teachers at my school is organizing some clubs for the teachers. We're going to play ping-pong on Wednesday, and I think we may start going out for dinner once a month because he wants to introduce me to more Korean food. This teacher is hilarious. When we first met, he introduced himself as, "Harry...Harry Potter," because he wanted to give himself a Western name. So, I just call him Harry. He's never even told me what his real name is. His English isn't that great, but we can usually communicate okay. He's always learning hilarious phrases and saying things like, "Juh-suh-tun teachuh, do you know 'hair of the dog?'" Today, he said, "Juh-suh-tun teachuh, butt out!"

5. The district coordinator is planning some "cultural tours" for the foreign teachers. In April or May, we're supposed to go camping at the DMZ. Maybe we can watch our country turn to rubble when North Korea launches its "test missile."

Sunday

This is why...



I went out for a walk today and discovered this amazing hiking trail that's like three minutes from my apartment. I promise to take more pictures in a few months when things are actually green.











Oh yeah, there were also goats.



There were old ladies hoola-hooping at the top of the little mountain I hiked, but I didn't take any pictures for fear of their ajumma wrath.



I found this amazing picture by the dumpster outside of my apartment. I desperately wanted to take it, but I think it may have been set out for charity or something. I still don't completely understand the garbage situation here. Recycling is mandatory, and you have to separate all of your trash (plastic, paper, glass, food, and everything else). So, maybe people also can set out charitable items? There's also a pair of boots above the picture if you look closely. It just seemed strange that someone had left out something so nice. Anyway, I figured that if someone saw me carrying that huge picture into my apartment, I would have no way to explain myself. I do, however, know how to say, "I don't understand," and "I didn't know."

Last night, I went to a "wine buffet" with a bunch of other foreign teachers. Basically, it's like a regular buffet, except they also have all you can drink wine. Needless to say, everyone had a good time. We eventually stumbled across the street to a noraebang (karaoke room) and didn't leave until they kicked us out at 4:30. Fun days and nights in Chuncheon, ROK.

Homemade Bibimbap

This is the first decent meal I've made in Korea. I know it just looks like a pile of mush, but that's what's good about it.

The cafeteria lunches at work are good too. So far they've just been traditional Korean food like kimchi, dakgalbi, rice, and other things that I don't know the name of. My co-teacher said that the school has a nutritionist that looks over all the lunches to make sure they're healthy and tasty. It really puts American school lunches to shame.

I haven't eaten anything very unusual since I've been here because I have little idea what the menus say, so I generally just randomly point to something or read it out slowly and poorly. The only really new thing for me was sea cucumber, which didn't taste like much because the sauce it was in was so strong.

Day One

The first day of school was totally awesome. I won't start teaching for another two weeks, but I got to observe a couple classes today. It was surprisingly not intimidating, and the boys (did I mention I work at an all-boys middle school?) are hilarious. I went out to lunch and dinner with the other teachers, and dinner, in particular, was a blast. I got to meet a lot of the teachers (the English-speaking ones, at least), and everyone was incredibly nice. That may have been partially due to the fact that everyone was pouring soju down everyone else's throats all night. The gym teachers and science teachers were especially drunk and friendly. And one of my co-teachers said that she was going to set me up with her cousin who is my age. Also, the principal kept hugging me and holding my hand. I'm told that this is normal friendly drunk behavior in Korea. So, I hate to sound like a complete honeymooner, but everything is wonderful right now.

Super Update

I've finally settled down into my apartment, so I think it's about time for a legitimate update. I arrived in South Korea a little over a week ago. Here is a brief overview of what's been going on.

- I left San Angelo, TX on February 18th.

Here is a view of the outskirts of my lovely hometown.





- I arrived at Incheon International Airport on February 20th. As it was my first time on an airplane, I was a little nervous about the luggage situation. So, of course, they lost my bags. Well, they weren't really lost. Just misplaced. I got them a few days later. Driving through South Korea was amazing despite the fact that every Korean driver is certifiably insane. Coming from West Texas, I've become accustomed to flat stretches of dirt. It was exciting to see SNOW and MOUNTAINS. Yeah, I took pictures of a lot of mountains.

- I went to the EPIK (English Program in Korea) orientation in Yangyang, South Korea. We were really out in the middle of nowhere, but it was a lot of fun and surprisingly informative. As it is also my very first time teaching, I had asked myself a few questions, such as, "What the hell is a lesson plan, and how do I make one?" Well, they told me. Also, they put us up in a fancy hotel with a badass jim-jim-bang (basically a mini-bathhouse with saunas, hot tubs filled with pine needles and shit, and showers).

View from the hotel:



We went out to a fish market and a mountain too.













- I got placed in Chuncheon, which was one of my top picks. It's the capital of Gangwon Province, and it has a population of around 300,000. The city is famous for its beautiful lakes and its dakgalbi (translates to "chicken ribs," but it's actually just regular chicken meat and veggies; really tasty, though!).







- They put me in a "love motel" for a few days because the old EPIK teacher was still living in MY apartment. There was a vending machine right by my room with vibrators and condoms and I think some other things. I didn't look too closely. Mostly, though, it was just like a regular hotel, and the owners were very nice. In fact, their daughter called me up one day and invited me to lunch. She was in high school, and I think she mostly just wanted to practice her English, but it was still nice to make a friend. How come girls don't randomly call me up to invite me to lunch in America?

Notice the curtain over the parking garage. That keeps women from recognizing their cheating husbands' cars:



- I spent most of my first days in Chuncheon just wandering around the city. Somehow, despite my notoriously bad sense of direction, I never once got lost. I even managed to bump into a few other EPIK teachers (the only other palefaces I've seen since I've been here). It's strange how exciting it can be just to find someone who speaks your language and to hold a normal conversation.

- Today, I moved into my apartment. I had heard horror stories from some of the other teachers about their apartments (no bed, no microwave, no closet, etc.), so I was a little worried, but things have worked out wonderfully. It's a huge complex, and I live on the 12th floor, but the actual apartment is just fine. Also, it came with almost everything I could need (furniture, microwave, TV, dishes, etc.), and the ex-teacher left behind a ton of great stuff too, like a brand new cell phone! My place is a five minute walk from my school, a ten minute walk from E-Mart (like the Korean Walmart, but better), a 30 minute walk from the lake, and I think about a 45 minute walk from downtown.





The guy who lived here before me was, like, a Alexander Supertramp style poet, dude. But isn't the view from my apartment great?



- Everyone here has been so incredibly nice to me since I've been here. Restaurant owners are sometimes so glad or surprised to see foreigners in their restaurants that they bring out free drinks. Also, some Koreans are really excited about the chance to use English, so people are always saying "hello" to me on the streets or in the grocery store. It's mostly either little kids or crazy, toothless old men, for some reason. And, today, my co-teacher's husband bought me a pizza for lunch for no damn reason. The Korean people have been nothing but wonderful to me so far.

- I had planned out a grand dinner for tonight, but I couldn't figure out how to use my goddamn gas stove, so I just ate brown rice (I bought a rice cooker) and raw carrots. I've only used electric stoves before, so I wasn't really sure what to do. It's the kind where you push a button, and it makes a little spark. So, I turned on the gas and pushed the button, and the spark came, but no flame. Also, everything on it is in Korean, to make things doubly difficult for me. I think I know how it should work, but I'm not having any luck.

- Tomorrow is my first day of school. Fortunately, I will only be observing classes for the first week or two.

- There is a crying baby next door. I hope this will not be a problem.

View more photos and become my friend on Flickr here.