My Time in South Korea

Notes

2008-09-18T17:34:48Z

These are just some notes that students left me.

Hi
My name is Park Su Bin.
the EngLish class is Funny good! ha ha
Tank you! <3

To: Patrick Teacher-

Hello! Patrick Teacher?
My name is Ji yeon.
Today is nice Teacher's day
and.. My favorite subjeck is English <3
and.. Today study game is very funny
so.. Teacher [awesome] have a nice Day~ <3
Good bye see you next week~ <3
bye bye~ <3

From Ji yeon

to. patrick. from. [mijoo]

Hi- Patrick~! My name is mi joo
Today is happy teacher's day
I love English
Today game is fun~!
So I enjoy today game
You are best teacher
now I hard your hear.
see you next week.

Good~bye~!

To: Patrick Teacher
From: Emily

Happy Birthday""
8/25""
your student Emily
(this is a very colorful note)

To. Patrick teacher <3
From. Diana <3
*Please only see you!

Dear, Patrick. Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday, patrick! I'm Diana.
I hope you like this present. Because,
it can be you don't like it. And,
want you don't forget to us, in
everyday. Because, you were a best
teacher! .... And, happy birthday one more
time. <3
2008.8.23 Sat<3 In Korea,
-Diana

The End

2008-09-09T18:50:36Z

So I finally made it home safe and sound. There are a number of things I will miss about Korea. Then again, I'm also glad to be home. My flight was long and slow, or at least felt like it. But the Kendo Master was kind enough to drive me to the airport. We had a nice, and late, party the night before. In an attempt to fight the jet lag, I slept only 2 hours that night. The Master had even given me a new sword bag and a white wooden sword with some korean writing on the blade. I really wish I had met those people sooner.

The only thing I would really wish I could have changed on this trip would have been to live with a host family. I have been following my friend Chelsea's stories from her time teaching English in Kazakhstan with the Peace Corp. She is living with a host family and is really experiencing the culture and learning the language far more than I learned Korean. Of course, living with a host family is a bit of a risk, you never know what the family is going to be like.

Now though, I have been offered a job teaching Taekwondo up in Simi Valley. My only fear on this one is that I'm going to be diving in head first at full speed. I'll be set up for burn out if I'm not careful. But I KNOW I want to be teaching tkd. I don't have all the details on this school but it's relatively small. Master Rowe sold it to Mrs. Nack who already owns the Camarillo school. I've worked with all the instructors in Camarillo so there shouldn't be any communication problems. My only obstacles that stand in my way from taking the next step in tkd is becoming a Certified Instructor. I've signed up for my first of three seminars in San Diego in October.

Now starts "the rest of my life." We'll see how it goes.

PS I want to post some of the notes students left me but that'll have to wait a little more than a week.

An odd event

2008-08-27T14:45:40Z

I'll get to probably the most odd event of the whole trip in a moment. But first I want to say that having spent this past year as a member of a minority has opened my eyes more than anything in my life. It's all fine and good to talk about discrimination issues when your the majority, but to actually understand the other perspective is something all together different. While I don't condone the steady stream of illegal immigrants from Mexico, etc., I do have a new found respect for people risking it all in a country that shuns and looks down on them. I also now understand why so many civil rights activists are so passionate about what they do.

Now for the odd event. A while back I was walking around on the other side of Sosa station when I looked up and was met with every single set of eyeballs on a bus that was making the corner. I was there, all alone, nothing around me of note, and everyone on the bus was just staring at me. The bus had stopped at the light so there was no mistaking what was going on. I felt like doing a dance so they'd have something worthy of a stare. But in Korea, all it takes is a Waeguk-en, a foreigner, and the spectacle begins. The frequency of equivalent behaviors I've experienced first hand are the most galling things in the world.

I'm cutting this post short because I must now hunt down a mosquito that turned my ankles into a buffet.

The Home Stretch

2008-08-22T11:10:51Z

So not a lot has happened since Aiins World. I've been teaching some camps at school. Nothing exciting.

I did get the certificate for my first testing in Kumdo. 5th grade something or other. There's no belts but there is a 6 rank color belt-esk system. Not sure about the "black belt" ranks. I don't know how long it will be before I pick it up again in the states.

Did go to a small, informal kumdo party. There was a guy at kumdo who was fairly good at English. Unfortunately he's moved back to his home in Jeju so we had a goodbye party last Wednesday. That night though, I made a bet with Sahbum-nim that I could get down to a fighting weight (he suggested 85kg [187 lbs]) by 12/31/09. Cory's answered my call for help on that. It's something I've been intending to do for a while and should have done a very long time ago. The bet's $100. I'm actually not sure if I'm going to collect from him but he'll get a fresh crisp $100 bill if I loose. We even pinkie swore on it, so no going back. ;)

This'll be my last full weekend in Korea. Got a number of goodbye parties to go to. One tonight, another tomorrow. Still need to do more souvenir shopping and then start packing.

8 days and counting.

English Camp

2008-08-01T13:20:44Z

So, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week I spent at the Bucheon English Festival at the Aiins World amusement park. Don't think Disney Land when I say that though. Aiins World simply has a slew of miniatures of man made structures from around the world. It would have been a fairly good camp if it wasn't for the fact that it was the three hottest days in Korea. There's even a special chicken meal that's eaten during these three days that is supposed to help cool the body. (sigh)

But anyway, my booth was Red 9: Magic Bubbles. Suffice to say we did about 30 seconds of English before things descended into utter chaos of bubble making (lots of fun, of course, but chaos none the less). We had really big bubble rings too so the bubbles were equally as big.

There was some other entertainment besides the English booths. There was an acrobatic group that was performing in the auditorium. They were very flexible!

Not a lot went on at this camp. Nothing exciting at any rate. I picked up my second round of souvenirs while I was there; mostly for the nieces and nephews. A giant 3D puzzle of one of the temples for my self too. Should be quite challenging (especially considering that the directions are all in Hangul [oops!])

You can find pictures of the English camp as well as just about every miniature at Aiins World (I skipped most of North America) on Facebook by following these handy links:
Aiins World 1
Aiins World 2

Also had a goodbye party with the Taeglish group. Taeglish has officially ended. It's now known as "I Run" a play gym for kids to develop physically. They still do some Taekwondo and are trying to expand KESA.

Kumdo

2008-07-24T02:28:18Z

So last weekend was my first (and probably only) Kumdo (굼도) test in Korea. It was really simple. We did the usual warm up (we being me, 3 other guys and 1 woman) and then put on our armor and did a simple combat drill. That was it. After we took off our helmets the Master gave praise and criticism. I was complemented on my strikes but my foot work needs... well work.

After the testing we all went out for dinner. I have to say, this group is full of some of the best people. Though, they still haven't figured out that I don't have a high tolerance for alcohol. But after that we went to a 노래방 (Karaoke room) where I was immediately prompted to sing Y.M.C.A.

It sometimes amazes me how much American culture makes it into Korean culture. Every 노래방 has several pages of English songs. Beatles, Beach Boys, Will Smith, Shrek, Billy Joel, you name a group and they probably have at least one song.

But I did enough rambling in my last post, so without further delay:

The Kumdo equivalent to poomsae

One last thing, Mark, David and I went bowling the next day. In our first game, the score was thus:

Sorry, it's the clearest picture I could get. But we all got 111.

Mud Fest

2008-07-22T05:00:30Z

Boryong Mud Fest July 11-13, 2008

For the record, this entry is more for my own memories than for anything else. You've been warned.

Friday, July 11th
So we all jumped on the train straight after work and rode two and a half hours down to the little town. Our group started drinking right from the go, which continued right through the weekend. Some of our group, unfortunately, had a direct correlation between their consumption of alcohol and their volume. They got yelled at a number of times on the ride down. From the station, it was a 10 minute taxi ride to the beach.

There were 10 people in the group: Alex, Patrick, Min Jung, Joel, Ray, Jacy, me and a few other people who I can't remember their names. Once we got to the beach (about 10pm) we started looking for a hotel. For Friday night the price was usually between $30 and $40. However, for Saturday night the price shot up to between $100 and $140. Price gouging at it's finest. Alex was eager to find a cheaper place but about half our group decided that they would rather pay one of the first places' prices than search around for a deal. Their loss. We were expecting a few more people the next day so we got two rooms. One for $40 and $60, the other for $30 and $120.

Once we had all our stuff put away, we went down to the beach and waded in the water. There was a moderate number of people already there. Some were drinking and relaxing on the beach while others were at clubs or shooting off fireworks. We met some people and waded in the ocean a bit. Ray got his hands on an ATV and went racing off. Probably not the best idea for someone who was well into their 6th beer of the night. No mud at this point only sandy beaches.

Eventually everyone started drifting back to their hotels. We made more friends on our way back. Met a girl named Amanda, I think, from Ontario, Canada. We had a good chat till Ray thought he'd try to be suave. Ray and I had met her and some of her friends before when we here hotel shopping, but she had been separated from them at this point, which is something that happened a lot to everyone over the weekend. Her hotel was near ours so she stuck with our group as we walked back. Ray ended up walking her back to her hotel and that's the last I saw of him until the next day. Actually it was 3am by that point so nothing much happened at that point anyway. Pat, Joel and I went to our hotel room and went to sleep.

Saturday, July 12th
Woke up at about 9:30 and realized I was still a little intoxicated (something that does NOT happen often). Pat was really hungover and had to pray to the porcelain god. Only once though. We had ramin for breakfast and we were out on the beach not long after.

Unfortunately it's about a 15 minute walk from our hotel to the main stage of the event. But once you were there you didn't need to leave. Joel had gone ahead so Pat and I ended up wondering around trying to find everyone for about an hour.

The water was cold and very shallow, but once you were in it was fine. First thing on the agenda was mud painting. The canvas was our own bodies and the only color was brown... but people still managed to be artistic. It doubled as a convenient sunscreen too. There were some staff ladies there helping people cover themselves. Even mirrors were provided.

About 11am things started to happen on the main stage. First up was karaoke. Now everyone is understanding that not everyone is good at singing, but these people were bad, not to mention drunk (and yes it was about 11am and they were already drunk). In anticipation everyone had staked out a seat in front of the stage. But about halfway through the karaoke, no one had problems finding a seat anymore.

Eventually a band took the stage and they were pretty good. Mostly classic rock songs and some pop stuff. People started dancing in between the stage and the seats and were just having fun. The second group wasn't as good and the crowed continued to thin again.

That signaled time for more mud, so I went up to the "mud bath" and got completely covered. There were a number of mud things to do behind the seats for the stage. There was a mud wrestling pit, a sumo wrestling competition pit, the "mud bath", the mud jail, a mud "pool" (though it was more of a pool to wash off the mud than put any on), a mud slide, and a mud obstacle course. There was also an inflatable one-on-one mud tug of war down on the beach.

By the time I got back to the seats the second group had finished and there was a long break so someone decided it was time to wonder again. We didn't get far before meeting some of Alex and Pat's friends. They had two awesome wine bottles that they kept and reused throughout the day. Which eventually led to a test when sharing the bottle with a new person on the proper way to drink from these unusual bottles. There was a 100% failure rate. That of course led to Rob's lecture on how to "pucker" the bottle opening in proper drinking technique.

At some point we all stopped for a bathroom break. Unfortunately, the mud gummed up the zipper on my shorts (no they weren't swim trunks, which I think got lost sometime during winter vacation and of course are really hard to find in Korea in my size. Could have found speedos with relative ease judging by their overwhelming use by Korean men. But thank goodness I didn't go commando!) Made me a bit embarrassed until I got the zipper cleaned with some water. Fortunately I was so thoroughly covered in mud, even down to my boxers, that I don't think anyone noticed. Or at least I hope not. ;)

Some time after that I got separated from the group, can't really remember why. I wondered around by my self for a while only to find everyone waiting in line for the mud slide. So I slipped into line with them. And waited... and waited... and sunburned... until an hour later we got the to slide. About four people made it down the slide when it suddenly deflated. Having waited so long there was no way we were just going to walk away. So Pat went off to get some hamburgers while Joel and I waited in line. Meanwhile the people who had made it down the slide took advantage of their luck and had a fun time laughing at the rest of us. Eventually the slide was up and running again, but Pat wasn't back with the hamburgers. So some more waiting. In the end Pat came back and after some trading off of hamburgers and sunglasses we were all at the bottom of the slide. Personally it wasn't worth the wait. The waiting itself was more entertaining, but that's more to do with the company.

Music was coming from the stage again so we went to watch and eat our burgers. This group was another western (not music style, just country of origin) band that continued the rock theme. Though they had definitely not been in the country long, nor were they accustomed to venues of this size. For one, they were quite an arrogant bunch. For another, they encouraged the crowd (of only about 50 people) to break past the security guards and start a mosh pit right in front of the stage. Here's the problem: 1) Koreans have no idea what a mosh pit is, nor do I think it's something that would be widely accepted if it was known, 2) security guards and police in general don't give much sympathy to foreigners so you could say bye bye to the weekend if they decided to cart you off, and 3) there were mud cannons, pyrotechnics, and other theatrical devices in the area they wanted to mosh. Not to mention they're music wasn't very good either.

Regardless, Ray decided it was a good time to go crowd surfing and managed to make it about half way through the crowd before he had to get down. Apparently he hadn't had enough because he was right back trying to get someone to lift him up. His only problem was he started in the back of the crowd this time which resulted in him accelerating at a rate of 9.8m/s (now I can say I used high school physics in real life) back to Terra Firma. Of course breaking his wine bottle in the process but only cutting one finger.

After our late lunch and a lesson in gravity, everyone was getting tired. Everyone wondered back to their respective hotels and showered. Joel and I made a stop in the ocean on the way. We were able to wash off most of our mud and dirt but that stuff just wouldn't come out of our pants. It was stuck in pockets mostly which didn't help. Back at the hotel we took a nap, me for about an hour or so I think. All I remember was one movie on the TV and waking up to a different one. Now it was getting dark so we figured no more mud for us which meant we could finally carry our cell phones, wallets, cameras, and such. I put on a new pair of pants and a new shirt (since I lost the one I set out in) and Joel and I met a Irish guy who was a friend of Rob, I think, for dinner.

We went to a Sangyopsal (sp?) restaurant and had some marinated ribs. Unfortunately our Irish friend was another one of those people who's volume correlated with their alcohol consumption. The poor restaurant owner was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. He was clearly not used to so many people in his restaurant. But we were a small group so we got our order filled very quickly. Once we were full (both in our stomachs and Joel and my ears) we went down to the beach to wait with our friends for the fireworks.

I have to say, if there is one think Koreans do better than anyone else (besides Taekwondo) it's fireworks. It was a 12 minute show, which is a bit short for a Korean firework display, but it was very spectacular. They shot them off from a barge straight out from the main stage. Two unusual fireworks were one that sent smaller firework fountains out onto the water. They spun around tipping and tossing for a good minute. The other was a firework that launched Chinese lanterns into the air. Their red glow just wafted with the wind. The one drawback was the wind. It pushed most of the smoke to our right and up the beach. It didn't really cause any problems until the finale when the smoke obscured some of the fireworks.

One point of debate was whether the fire we saw on the end of the barge was part of the show or a real fire. I figure since the show ended and the fire was still going it was the barge. About 30 seconds after the show finished I saw two lights blinking and moving at about a running pace towards the fire. That was followed by big billows of white smoke and the fire going out. As far as I know the barge didn't sink.

We sat around talking after the show and refilled our drinks. This was the only time I felt nervous during the whole trip. Many people were drinking and the amateur fireworks went on for hours. I only saw one guy get burned by a badly launched firework. He wasn't burned really badly, but it did glue itself to his shirt. The lifeguards kept walking around telling people to point their fireworks up. Many people were shooting them at the ocean.

After a nice walk on the beach, a few of us began wondering around aimlessly. We just happened upon a hot dog stand. Now there's something I've missed: hot dogs. They had real buns, ketchup, mustard and cowl slaw. No real hot dogs, they had spicy sausages instead. It was really good. Unfortunately for everyone else I got the last bun. All they got was a sausage on a stick.

Now we had been having forecasts of rain and for most of the day there was a good layer of clouds in the sky. The kind that make you think you can go without sun block, but have burned you by the end of the day. Meanwhile someone started singing and eventually everyone was calling out a song, we'd sing about a line or two, forget the words and move on to another one. Of course, as it would happen, we somehow pleased the rain gods. (Or they're really just evil gods that got annoyed with our singing.) There were a few sprinkles in the evening, but after we started singing a new set of sprinkles turned into a torrential downpour.

Pat was the first one to run for cover. The rest of us just stayed where we were and kept singing. Once I remembered my cellphone in my pocket, I took a short respite in a quickie mart. I got a plastic bag and wrapped my cellphone, wallet, etc., in it and returned to the rain. In our intoxicated conclusion, we decided that we were acting as a public service since we got many a woman to her destination more quickly and many a boyfriend to reaffirm his affection with locked hands and again, a quicker pace.

The deflated wrestling wring also turned into a mud slide. Rob and a random woman we met made repeated runs. But eventually Pat and I decided to return to our hotel. The rain had not let up so we walked the 20 minutes back to our hotel completely soaked. It was a great evening and I had a lot of fun, but it also meant that both pairs of pants I brought were soaked.

It was worth it.

Sunday, July 13th
The next day I spent about 30 minutes with a hair dryer trying to at least make my shorts less wet then they were. Joel helped but they were still a little more than moist when we left.

So with our bags packed, mostly with wet clothes, and me wearing a new pair of sandals that someone had abandoned, we went off to find some lunch. First stop: pizza. But the hour long wait was too much. So instead we were off to the "Restaurant for Foreigners." A tent and portable table area serving hamburgers, nacho chips, french fries and other "foreigner" food. Rob and some of his friends joined us there.

A video crew also showed up and started filming Rob eating his hamburger. It was quite funny since Rob spent most of the time making jokes that as he kept saying "No" but the crew kept filming anyway. Though they seemed to be more interested in the actual hamburger than Rob.

The only problem with this lunch was that I was being eaten alive my some small bugs. At the time I thought it was just the grass, but the next day several itchy red spots showed up on my feet and ankles. By several I really mean ~30. And just as they go away, mosquitoes show up in my apartment, but that's another story.

At 3pm we were on the train platform and still waiting for Alex and Min Jung. It took forever for them to find a taxi, but Korean taxi is synonymous with Korean street racing. So as the rest of us were taking our seats, they came running up the stairs to the platform and jumped on the train.

The ride back was relatively uneventful. The train was a little more packed and was an hour longer, but most of us were so tired we were just happy to sit and talk. About the only thing that stands out in my head is finding out that Pat also reads XKCD (an internet comic that I recommend to people who like either math, science, or computers).

Ray lives in Incheon, so after we got off the train he followed me onto the subway. We talked and waited for the subway. Rode the subway. Realized we were on the wrong branch of the line. Hopped onto a linking line and at 7pm I was back at my apartment.

So that's the Boryong Mud Festival. I have a few more pictures which I will eventually get around to adding to this blog. Also coming soon: Kumdo pictures.

Turn around

2008-07-09T15:03:33Z

Ok, time for a turn around from the last two posts. Today I got my armor for kumdo! Nothing can turn around a slump better than new sparring equipment. (It cost me all my overtime for the last month, $510) But hey, I got it. Though I have to note, when you get whacked by somebody it's not (hold on, just realized the armor really did change my mood. I guess I'll be in the right career soon, now where was I?) When you get whacked it's not a tap or a bump, it's a full on whack, smack, can't-help-but-blink fest. It's what comes with the territory, I guess. I'll have pictures next week.

The Instructor keeps pushing me to come in every day. I would love to do it if it was earlier in the day. But as it stands right now, I'm getting home a little past 11pm and quite frankly with the combination of a stiff bed and the hot and humid weather of Korean summer I'm not sleeping well.

If anyone has sleeping suggestions, I'm all ears.

Finally, Mud Fest is this weekend. I'm going with Alex, Min Jung, Patrick and a few others. I'll have pictures up on facebook with a link here some time next week.

ptrick_in_korea @ 2008-07-07T17:53:00

2008-07-07T09:14:55Z

Today I was told that my Advanced Class would be suspended indefinitely.

Why? Because the Principal spent roughly $1,000 last September on something for the English Classroom.

What exactly was it? I haven't the slightest clue. I don't remember anything being delivered/installed during September. Or at all for that matter that would amount to $1,000.

I'm just a bit more than ticked. The Principal has treated me well until this point. But that was my favorite class!

Created by OnePlusYou

Life and cultural "differences"

2008-07-04T12:29:13Z

So, Kendo is going well. Unfortunately it took so long to get my vacation days approved that I missed the deadline for the trip to Japan. :( But I did order the armor anyway. $540. A bit more than Taekwondo sparring gear. Also, Taekwondo has come to a close. Not the business, yet, but they couldn't pay me for the time I was putting in so now my Tuesdays and Thursdays are free for Kendo.

One of the things that make me wish I really spoke more Hangul, is the movies of medieval Korea. Here's the cliff notes version: there were once many small feudal countries in the China/Korea region. About the same time that China was consolidating into one country (see Jet Lee's "Hero"), Korea was shrinking to three. These three kingdoms fought with each other for several hundred years. Eventually the country of Shilla won out. At this point "Koryo" (believed to be the origin of the western term Korea) was roughly 2 or 3 times it's current size (and that's including North Korea). This is essentially the feudal era of Korea. After that there were a few invasions by Mongolia, Japan, and even a repelled incursion by the USA in the late 1800s. And for the record, Koreans don't call themselves "Korean" in Hangul, it's "Hanguk-en" or "Hanguk-saram."

But now for a little rant. Don't get me wrong. All in all I've had a great time, but there are just those things that I have issues with. First, discrimination. Is it as bad as the USA pre1960? No, certainly not. But still, there is a social difference between men and women. The first one I ran into? Smoking. Almost every man in Korea smokes. However, any woman seen smoking is shunned. Men also have the predominate leading roles in business and management. But I guess I can't get upset at that much seeing as how there's still a glass ceiling back home. Now racially, non-Koreans stand below women, people of Korean heritage but unable to speak the language sit even below that. Is it really bad? No. However, given the vast majority of people in Korea are in fact Korean, seeing a foreigner on the street is a golden opportunity to gawk and stare. I don't go a day without hearing "Waeguk-en" from a kid. "Waeguk-en" means "foreign person." The adults are nice enough not to say it, but they tend to stare a bit more than is courteous.

But, of course, if all that were strictly true I would never make any Korean friends. After some ice breaking (and four or five bottles of soju) I have found Koreans to be very friendly people. Usually a bit naive when it comes to business, but respectful and strong in their convictions. Suffice to say, it's the strangers that you run into that cause the friction.

For example, if you find yourself in a park, anywhere in the USA, and see a Hispanic person, it's a bit rude to ask a complete stranger if you can practice your Spanish. Not to mention you probably already know someone who speaks Spanish and could practice with them. But in Korea, it is considered courageous and shows confidence if you speak English with a Westerner and gives you something to brag about later. Most of the time, riding the subway, bus, or walking around, I find this extremely annoying because it always goes the same way. They start with "Where are you from?" usually followed by "How old are you?" and "Do you teach English?" then "Do you have a girlfriend?" and then something like "How tall are you?" or "How much do you weigh?" or other personal questions. I have to admit, the first few times I played along courteously. But time after time of the same conversation with a stranger just grates on my nerves. Now, if it's a small kid or in a restaurant I frequent and the owner's kids are there, I don't mind. Sometimes it's quite fun. Usually because they are so shy they can just barely get out a quick "hello" before running away in giggles.

To be honest, it makes me quite sad, no it just about breaks me heart, that the kids of the generation I teach are so internationally... standoffish... naive... I don't think I know the right word for this. Or am I simply imposing my definition of decorum on those I meet who are of a different culture in a different country? But then I turn around and see that people are trying to declare a civil union to be the same as marriage in my own state and it's just the same thing all over again. The greatest thing I've learned here is that discrimination is not just wrong. Not just something that people, law makers, teachers say is wrong. It is unequivocally disgusting, ignorant, and abhorrent, yet there are still so many people who are blind to it's modern manifestations. Reading about "separate but equal" in school was just history, but now when I think about it my stomach turns in the worst way.

One Zen saying is "Rules are for people too stupid to do the right thing." I just wish more people understood that.

Sick day update

2008-05-28T03:02:13Z

So I'm out with a cold today. :( It's been raining really hard both last night and this morning; cats and dogs don't hold a candle to this storm. But anyway.

Kumdo is going quite well. The language barrier still causes some problems, but for the most part Sabum-nim is jovial and understanding. He likes to yell, but not angrily. A laugh usually follows. The curriculum focuses mostly on the downward strike. I'm still working on the coordination of it all. The stances and foot work are very different from Taekwondo. For example, in Taekwondo sparring, you turn your body to present a profile and turn your feet on an angle. In Kumdo, you stand facing perfectly forward with a very small stance, feet pointing forward.

Despite my green-ness, they've invited me to a tournament in Japan. First weekend of August. It should be fun.

As for renewing my contract, I've decided to return home after my contract is finished. As much fun as I've had here, I'm ready to return home and get back to teaching Taekwondo.

Further Update

2008-04-30T14:30:04Z

So, something besides Taekwondo.

Mrs. Dew is finally back. Evan was a good guy to work with, but he needs a lot more experience before I'd hire him as a full time independent teacher. But he did well enough working with me and teaching a subject he isn't really good at. Yay, Korea style!

Anyway, when Mrs. Dew first got back I didn't recognize her. She's had her hair curled and she's much more active. Not that she wasn't active before, she's just more so now. Tomorrow will be the first time this semester that we plan a lesson together, which means she'll come up with a worksheet and tell me the parts I'm teaching. I'm just fine with that, it's less work for me and I usually teach the same part from chapter to chapter.

She's invited me and two other teachers to her house this weekend to see her new baby. Jung Joo may come, but the special ed. teacher is coming for sure. I like to chat with her. She's traveled the world and always makes me tea. :D She made rose tea a few weeks ago and it was really good!

Also something that's not Taekwondo, I'VE SIGNED UP FOR KENDO! Wahoo! Should be fun. I'm still going to Taeglish to work on the English program on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but Monday, Wednesday and Friday I'll be at "Kumdo." (The korean word for Kendo, pronounced like "comb-do") There are about 30 adult students there which is a big plus (and almost half are women). ;)

The first month is $135 and that includes a proper cotton uniform and the bamboo sword. Subsequent months are $90. After about two months they let you buy the armor and then you can start sparring. For those that don't know about Kendo, when I say "armor" I don't mean the sparring pads like Taekwondo. I mean real full fledged metal and leather armor (and sometimes plastic, but come on, it's the 21st century, we can call plastic armor now) for the head, chest, groin and hands. That's going to run about $400. :(

Now lately, I've been considering staying an additional year. I've gotten very accustomed to living here. Not that I want to spend the rest of my life here. But another year would not be a hardship. I don't have to decide for sure until July 1st, but I'm sure Mom would like to know asap. ;) Of course that would all be on staying at this school. If they want a different teacher next year I'd just go home. But I've made several friends among the teachers and I know they'd rally to my cause if I really wanted to stay but the school wanted a new teacher.

Another year would mean an extra $100 a month plus a round trip ticket home to get a new visa. That'd be for a week or two in August. The second semester starts August 25th, but my contract goes to the 31st. (sarcastic yay for working on my birthday) But that also leaves time for me to get my Second Degree in WTF and test for First Degree in Kendo. Though I really need to test for ATA 4th Degree within the next year. I might be able to plan a vacation for Nationals or Worlds. I don't know if there is a National level WTTU testing where I could test in Korea. Still have to send off the letter to Grand Master 6 months in advance either way.

It's hard to plan that far in advance in Korea. It may be the "land of the morning calm" but it's also the homeland of procrastination and the last minute. There's an expression here that loosely translates to "You can always add another spoon to the table." Meaning a last minute guest to the dinner table is no problem and is to be expected.

Though if I stay another year here, I MUST GET SOME CURTAINS. The sun lights up every room in my apartment during the day, so forget sleeping in on weekends and holidays. I'm also going to need an a/c unit. $200 but I might be able to talk my school into buying it if I promise to leave it installed when I eventually leave.

Lastly, I have posted links to pictures on facebook. Anyone can view the pictures but I'm restricting them to my "adult" readers list. Not that there's anything really "adult" in them, but I never can tell who's reading. If you don't see a very short post next to this one with links to facebook photos, then just make a comment to this entry and I'll add you to the list.

Taekwondo Testing!

2008-04-29T12:21:20Z

So what has happened in the last month?

Taekwondo has gone well. I tested last weekend for 1st Degree. We stopped shooting video the week before so I could get ready. It went well, Mark, Steve, and Paul (the new guy) all helped me. I had three sparring matches before the testing though. Left me a little worried. But when we got to the testing site and I saw over 600 kids all doing mediocre poomsae, my thoughts of failure evaporated. Granted, some kids were doing very well, but some of them were very young and got more leniency. Fortunately, until you're 18, you can't actually get a black belt. Instead you get a "poom" which is like black belt limbo. So in that regard the quality of technique for a "Dan" (Degree) is higher.

I saw only three other foreigners there, two testing for 1st Degree and the other tested for an additional Degree. I didn't get to talk to them, they were from a different region and so were testing at a different time.

At this point my only thoughts were of looking like a fool if I forgot a section of poomsae or sparred ATA style instead of WTF style. Though the fool part got handled by Mark and Steven. Apparently they weren't paying very good attention to the announcer because I nearly missed my testing group. The other two testers in my group had already finished their poomsae before I finally got down on the floor. :(

But no harm done, the judges watched me separately and I even got applause from the center judge (which apparently never happens). I did poomsae chapters 3 and 8 and other than deeper stances I think I did well by my own standards.

Sparring was only head and chest pads. My opponent had to spar a second round with me, but even though they were short he played very defensively, staying way out of range. After 30 seconds the match ended and the judge talked to the floor coordinator who then talked to my opponent and we were back at it for a rematch. This time the other guy was much more engaged. Somewhere in it all the top of my left foot got smacked hard and it's still sore. Can't remember how, why or when for that one. Got kicked in the throat too, and if we hadn't been keeping our distance, it would have been a match ender. But I got quasi-payback when I reacted to a kick with a push block. Basically I palm heeled the top of his foot. Didn't think about it until I launched a counter round kick, but neither of us left the match with hard feelings.

Now I have my 1st Degree in Korean Taekwondo. Next stop might be a Kendo studio just up the street. Mark wants to go to so I'll have an update next time.

The filming is almost complete. We have filmed all but the last poomsae and kick terminology. I'm trying to design a rhythm for chapter 1 that I can turn into an Midi file and distribute to our members. That way no one will mess up the syllables again. All in all we're almost ready for our first seminar which is on the 10th of next month. Should be interesting.

That's all I have for now. I'll try to add another post before friday, but no promises. ;)

a weekend, two dinners, taekwondo, some new toys and a video

2008-03-23T12:27:13Z

Let's see, so since my last post most of the regular classes have begun. I've been working with two substitute teachers and they've been working ok. They haven't passed the test to become full teachers, but they did well enough. Though disciplining the students was apparently something that isn't covered in teacher training. Fortunately this past week my advanced class started again. A hand full of familiar faces there out of 21 in all. Don't know when the teacher's class is supposed to start, though.

The school had a dinner for the new teachers that came to the school this year. Apparently the teachers have to change schools every 4 years.

The only people picture that made it through an... "after evening edit":
me and one of my vice principles

The restaurant

Dinner (I love bulgogi)

Mark invited me to visit his home town and meet his parents. So I had a fun time on Ganghwa Island (I think I spelled it right). By Sunday his parents were referring to me with the Korean word for son and had me calling them "ohma" and "ahpa", the equivalent of ma and pa respectively. It's customary for Koreans to refer to the parents of good friends this way and vice versa. Ohma is learning the piano and that's most of what I know about her and ahpa is a bus driver. He is also a black belt in Judo. Well I can say one more thing about ohma, she can drink me under the table. ;)

One of the gates of the fotrice that protected the island. Apparently it withstood an "incursion" by the US Navy in the late 1800s.

Mark and his poodle

Mark cooking on the bbq

Ahpa and ohma

One of Marks friends who's the same age as me :D

We also stopped by Mark's old Taekwondo studio where he trained as a kid. It was interesting. Not just that they had two separate and very different work out floors (one for sparring and the other for poomsae) but they also had a small indoor golf driving range. Netted of course, not a full driving range.

Finally, I got a new electric piano. It's not really fancy, though not that I had much choice, it was the only one with enough keys. I also finally got an mp3 player. Even got it at almost $100 off. 4GB, picture capable display and heat sensitive "buttons."

OK, real final bit. We've started filming for a new English program at Taekwondo. It's called English Active Taekwondo (EAT for short, lol). It's been a creation between mark and I. We've gotten through our introduction video and some of the basic English words. Now if only I can get them to film faster than an average of 10 minutes of video an hour.

First my new uniform. I guess I finally got my black collar ;)

My Kukkiwon belt (No, I haven't tested yet)

"Instructor Patrick"

(same)

One of our "directors" BJ, who's one of the owners of Taeglish

Our set

and it wouldn't be complete without the lazy actors ;)

OK, Very last thing. For a little amusement, everyone should goto www.BaboShirts.com where they have some very funny shirts for Waeguks. If you want to understand the pictures or text better, click on the image.

Taekwondo and things

2008-03-03T03:16:30Z

I think it's safe to say it's not going to snow again this winter. The weather is finally warming up (a high of 44F today). Though I haven't taught a single class since I got back, yet. The first week back from vacation was the last week of the school year. The kids were at school, but they didn't really take any classes. For the past two weeks I've still be required to come into school, but it's their spring break so I had nothing to do but plan. And I wrapped that up by the time I went home on Tuesday. So mostly I've been wondering aimlessly around the internet, listened to books on tape, and setting a new record on Minesweeper.

Now though is the first week of the new school year. Not much has happened today. Unfortunately, for the next couple weeks I'm going to be working with two substitutes. BOTH of my new co-teachers are out on maternity leave. Jung Joo is now a 3rd grade homeroom teacher. Mrs. Dew has been bumped up to grades 4 and 6 english teacher. She and her new son are both doing fine and I've already received an invitation to the boy's 100 day party. I haven't met the grade 3 and 5 teacher yet. The substitutes are not very good at english, but they are very eager and have met with me to plan the classes ahead of time, which is nice.

Taekwondo is having a few rough spots too. This is the big enrollment time and if they can't get enough students then they are going to have to close. Lately I've been the only foreigner coming to class. Jeremy had surgery on his foot and the stitches got infected. He hasn't been in since and that was almost two months ago. Alan's been sick and I think has just fallen out of the habit. Martin's "knee has been acting up" which on one hand may be true but lately his impatience with the learning style has been causing some friction. I've also heard a rumor that Martin is going to be changing schools. Hopefully the new teacher is close to my age and is interested in trying some Taekwondo.

Though not everything has been a downer lately. Mark and I have been working to make Korean English Sports Program: English Taekwondo. Basically I've been working with him to add a lot more english to his Taekwondo classes. We've made one-steps for the Kukkiwon style with english idioms, I've made a short new Bong Mahng EE form with english words, we've added words to the Kukkiwon poomsaes, and we're still bouncing around some other ideas. We want to make an instruction program to teach other instructors how to teach in english. This is a different approach to having just one school teaching english and Taekwondo together. It will be more of a certification program. The next big step is to record all our creations to video and see if there are any instructors out there who are interested. Steven may also be adding to some sort of "English Growth Exercise."

At first I was very skeptical about making this program and just went along with it. Now though it is showing a lot of potential. I really hope it will work. Because Taeglish doesn't have enough students, Mark has been making only ~$325 a month.

That's all for now. It's lunch time at school and all I can say is I hope it's not octopus. Again.

How to Hangul

2008-02-28T03:17:05Z

All of this information comes from my "Beautiful Korean" book that I'm learning Hangul from.

First, History:
"Hangul, the Korean alphabet, was invented by King Sejong the Great in 1443. It consists of consonants and vowels. Korean vowels were made according to the forms of heaven, earth and human beings. Consonants were made according to the shapes of speech organs such as the tongue, teeth, lips and throat... The first characteristic of Hangul is that it is very easy to learn. This is because King Sejong the Great uniquely invented Hangul for people who could not use Chinese characters. Hangul is internationally recognized as a unique and scientific invention, which was registered as the greatest cultural heritage of the world by UNESCO in 1997. Furthermore, since 1990, the "King Sejong Literacy prize" has been awarded by UNESCO for the elimination of illiteracy on Hangul Day (October 9th) every year."

Basic characters (letters):
If you cannot read these characters, try using a different web browser. I recommend Mozilla Firefox

Basic Consonants:
ㄱ g or k sound
ㄴ n sound
ㄷ d or t sound
ㄹ r or l sound (usually "l")
ㅁ m sound
ㅂ b or p sound
ㅅ s sound
ㅇ place holder at the start of a syllable or "ng" sound at the end of a syllable
ㅈ c sound
ㅊ ch sound
ㅋ kh or f sound
ㅌ th sound
ㅍ ph sound
ㅎ h sound

Vowels:
ㅏ ah sound
ㅑ jah sound
ㅓ e sound
ㅕ je sound
ㅗ o sound
ㅛ jo sound
ㅜ u sound
ㅠ ju sound
ㅡ i-in-the-back-of-your-throat sound
ㅣ i sound

There are also some complex consonants and vowels, but I'll leave it at this for now.

Unlike english where the structure goes from letters to words to sentences. Korean goes from letters to syllables to words to sentences. Each syllable is made up of 1 consonant, followed by 1 vowel, then there is the possibility for up to 2 additional consonants. Here's an example, my apartment complex is the Hanshin Apartments. Here's how that is written in Hangul:
한신 아파트 (pronounced: Han-shin Ah-pah-thu)

One more random fact, articles (the, a, an) don't exist in Hangul grammar.

Picture time

2008-02-27T03:44:06Z

This is mostly a picture entry. I have some photos of vacation, Taeglish and my apartment.

school

Taeglish

Mark

Steven

Vacation

My "apartu"

Lunch

I'm also adding pictures to my scrapbook
http://pics.livejournal.com/ptrick_in_korea/?sort=alpha
(let met know if that link works) :)

Here's a little grammar for you. The sentence bellow has been properly translated into Hangul and then word for word translated back into English. This will give you some idea about how hard it is to learn English when you already know Hangul and vise versa.

English: Even though I told John not to take the chemistry class, he took it.
Hangul: Even though I John chemistry class not to take told John it took.

RIP Namdaemun Gate

2008-02-12T01:59:51Z

This was the most sacred and #1 National Treasure of Korea. Now it is destroyed by arson thanks to a man protesting the korean equivalent of Eminent Domain. He has turned himself in, but 610 years of histroy was completely destroyed. The only thing that was saved was the main sign. They say it will take 3 years to rebuild and $21 million, but it will only be a replica. It was once the south gate in the old capital wall. Traditionally that is the most important and grand gate.

It's been a while

2008-01-13T11:15:27Z

Ok, so it's been a little while since my last post. So let me see if I can remember everything that's happened since Thanksgiving.

The weather has gotten really cold. It hasn't been above freezing since about Christmas. Friday it actually snowed all day. It's snowed at night but nothing of particular significance. It looks like tomorrow will have a high of 26 degrees F.

I've learned all eight color belt forms for Taekwondo. I can't quite keep chapters 7 and 8 straight yet, but I still have some time. I've found out that I have to be in the country for 6 months before I can test in Kukkiwon, so that means I can test some time in March. The state of the average Taekwondo facility here troubles me quite a bit. But I will save that for later since it falls under a broader umbrella topic. But I have been working with Mark on the English curriculum for Taeglish. One thing we are doing is incorporating English with One-steps. Mark and I are still settling on the idioms we will use and once that is done we will create the One-steps.

I've been out for a night on the town with the other Taekwondo instructors twice now. They're good guys. Friday we all went to Steven's new house for a house warming party. We all shared some pictures of our friends and family, played a few video games, drank a few beers, etc. Unfortunately, Mark's girlfriend had dumped him on Thursday so he was constantly shouting "Let's Die!" which is a Korean way of saying he wanted to get really, really drunk.

On a better note, Martin, Jeremy, Alan and I participated in a demo at Taeglish. It was a Christmas party and we did poomsae and board breaks after the kids. Santa even showed up for a visit. I have a DVD of it too.

Thanksgiving wasn't much to speak of. There's no holiday for it here; the closest thing is Chusok which is in September. I didn't do anything special so it mostly went by without notice. Christmas, though is a holiday over here, but not much of one. I had to teach regular classes on Christmas Eve but Christmas day I had off. I got a package from home with a couple presents and a stocking full of candy. It was nice, but long way from a Christmas "as usual" with all the family. And of course, the next day was back to teaching again.

That was the last week of regular classes, though. The following week was the start of the winter vacation. I didn't teach any classes except advanced class, but I still had to be at school at 8:40am. I get paid more than any first year teacher, so I can understand the want to get me to work as much as possible. But it is a bit of a hassle to go to school and do nothing for 6 hours. As a matter of fact, I believe a few teachers have a bit of animosity towards me because of my pay. Fortunately, the only thing they've done is quit my teachers class.

New Years was fun, though. Hung out with Alex, Pat and Min Jong. Even bumped into Melodi (the teacher who had my job last year). Alex and Pat are from Canada and Min Jong's from SK. We started with a few games of bowling, then went to an all you can eat buffee, and ended up at Rocky Mountain Tavern for the countdown to midnight. I believe I got home around 5am. Thank goodness school was closed that day.

Also went out for a friend's birthday party. Her dad and sisters were in the country for a week.

This past week was my first English Camp. 10 3rd graders came in for 3 hours a day. Unfortunately, they didn't speak much English. On top of that, I didn't know what to expect with these kids. But all in all I think it went well. We did things like Tung Twisters, "Eeny, menie, miney moe", a little bit of sign language, a card game called "Slap", and some new vocabulary words. They also watched some movies, in English of course, but with Hangul subtitles. I have some pictures below. The kid on the end who looks sad had just been in a fight with one of the other kids (the only incident during my whole camp, I must point out).

And here are a few pictures of a couple girls from advanced class. Doodlebug is the short one, Violet is the taller one, and Layla only shows up in just the one. I let them play with the camera on my laptop during break time when I happen to bring it along to class.

ptrick_in_korea @ 2007-12-10T18:18:00

2007-12-10T09:17:46Z

Sorry to any republicans, and I'll have a real update soon. I promise.

Super Fast Ultra Bulletin Update!

2007-11-19T12:32:02Z

1. Saturday had a high of 42 degrees F, Sunday the high was 24 degrees F

2. There is a really intense lightning storm outside right now. (2 second delay, there is no way i'm going to sleep through it)

2.1. This is the most intense lightning storm I have ever been in my entire life. It's almost on top of my apartment.

3. It's snowing right now.

4. My left hamstring is really, really tight from TGD.

5. Firefox is being funny and a pain in the bum. Give me another patch, DivX!

6. I've learned the first three forms of Kukkiwon Taegwondo. http://www.kukkiwon.or.kr/english/introduce/introduce01.jsp?div=01

7. Now time for sleep (at least as soon as the storm goes away)

Taegwondo update and major life decision

2007-11-13T13:05:57Z

A little update about the Taegwondo studio I have signed up with. Martin and I attended our first class tonight. It was a good start. They are not charging us because they want to use us as a bit of publicity to bring in students. The name of the studio is Taeglish, a combination of Taegwondo and English. They have their students say about as much English as we say Korean back home. They hope that people will talk about the foreigners that attend the studio and that will bring in more people. I hope it works for them, because as long as it holds true any foreigner Martin or I bring in will get free classes. The uniforms will have to be paid for, but they are letting me wear my ATA uniform. The instructor we worked with today is the same age as me and he speaks English well enough. His English name is Mark and another instructor joined us on the floor every now and again and his name is Steven. Mark has offered his help if we need it in translations or just support while we're in a different country.

Now for the "major life decision." Teaching here in Korea has given me a new perspective. Whether it's just that I'm off on my own in a bit of an extreme way or that I'm finally employed full time and discovering what that is like, I don't know. However, I do have the feeling that a new piece of who I am has fallen into place. Not a big one, mind you, but large enough to shift my perspective a bit. So in the end, all I really want to do when I get home is start teaching Taekwondo full time.

I haven't settled for sure where yet, though. Fallbrook of course is my home. But there is also Camarillo where I have made many friends. There's also Master Rowe's studio in Simi Valley. And of course there's the possibility that the issues in Thousand Oaks could finally die and there will be space available there for a brand new school. But like I said, I haven't decided yet nor do I think I can decide right now. I am sure it will take some time moving around for a while when I get home. Maybe now I can finally settle down and focus on going for a top ten, lol. But of course all this will include getting my Instructor Certification which is about 5 years over due, and getting more weapon certifications.

At any rate, it's time for me to get to bed. All I know is this is what I want to do.

Another late update

2007-11-12T11:41:58Z

First, I was recently inspired to bring back the bunny icon. Hope everyone enjoys.

OK, so Halloween. Or the lack there of. Halloween isn't celebrated much here so I stayed in just like any other night. Though Jung Joo did forget about Halloween all together so when I mentioned the day of that I could talk for a few minutes about it she got a surprised look on her face and told me that I could do it on Monday and Tuesday. So when that finally rolled around I started with a quick history of Sallow, All Saints Day, All Hallows Eve, and finally made it to modern Halloween. Then I showed them a video from the History Channel website about this giant candy store. I wish the video could have been enlarged, but the kids still got all excited when they saw the lollipop with a 1 foot diameter. Then I explained "Tick or Treat" and told them I had a video of a ghost. Actually it was the scary car video/commercial where a car is driving in the countryside and then disappears behind a tree then some guy in a really scary mask jumps in front of the camera and screams. Of course all the kids screamed and then shouted to watch it again. And that was all I did for Halloween.

Weekend before last I went to visit Doug in Suwon. It's the city where the palace is that I visited during orientation. This time we hiked around the fortifications. It's about a 3 mile hike and very unlevel ground. Not to forget the big hike up the small mountain on which part of the wall sits. This wall isn't like the Great Wall in China. It's about 20 feet high in many places on the outside but has a dirt bank on the inside instead of a sheer wall. There are very impressive gates at each of the cardinal points as well as command posts, fortified chimneys used to signal other parts of the wall, a huge bell at the top of the mountain and other items along it's perimeter. Though part of the wall is missing by the south gate if memory serves.

I wanted to shoot some arrows too, but there were way too many people. So we stopped by his apartment and I barrowed some DVDs and somehow we decided to go get some Mexican food at some place Doug said was really good. It was really good burritos, but I don't think I'll be traveling the hour and a half out to that restaurant for just burritos. That is if I can ever find it again. Though we did stumble across a Cold Stone which is tempting.

Last weekend I got pretty sick. Wasn't anything serious but I didn't make it to school on Friday. I think it was triggered by the hike in Suwon. It's starting to get cold around here and the I don't think three hours wondering around the fortifications helped my immune system any. But on the other hand it gave me a three day weekend.

Tonight I finally found a Taekwondo studio. The teacher that Martin works with heard about a studio that was teaching an English class. So of course that perked my interest right away. To be perfectly honest, I was not very excited to think about going to the WTF (World Taekwondo Federation) school near Yeoguk station. I've chatted with many WTF practitioners and (even though I know they don't represent all WTF people) they all had a strong dislike for ATAers. So now I've found this other studio and it's up around the corner from here, about 5 minutes by bus. They teach almost exclusively kids, but I think that since Martin and I are both Native English Speakers, they want to improve their English and give us free "Taegwondo" lessons in their system.

btw, according to the current romanization system, Taekwondo is supposed to be spelled Taegwondo. In the textbooks in school it's spelled the new way. I'm still debating whether to bring up that point in class or not. But anyway, they've offered Martin and I a private class from 7 to 8 every night of the week. Depending on how it goes, we may drop to three nights a week, but I'll see how the first few classes go and what Martin thinks. Though it suddenly comes to mind that he has Yoga on Fridays. Oh, I almost forgot, the studio is called Taeglish. It's supposed to be a combination of Taegwondo and English. Also, the studio has strong ties with Canada, since they display both the South Korean flag and the Canadian flag.

A long awaited update, a Gorilla and a little change to the journal

2007-10-21T12:58:32Z

Ok, sorry for it being so long since my last post. Things have been getting better here in SK. So, lets see, the weekend after my last post I went to a drum festival in Seoul. Had a little fun on the way when the group I was with stumbled out of the subway station and right into a group of protesters about to begin their activities. That wasn't very scary, they seemed to be a relatively quiet group. But a few seconds later as we were rounding World Cup Stadium, we found the riot police. All 150 or so of them. That got us a little worried, but we figured we were on the safer side of the stadium at that moment. But anyway, we eventually got to the park for the festival and I stayed for about two hours watching a number of good performances. Unfortunately, even my tolerance for heavy drumming runs out and the show was supposed to go for another 2 hours. So I left with a part of our group that was heading back to Bucheon. All in all, it was a good night.

Not much happened last weekend. There was a fireworks show right out my front door on Friday, so when Saturday came around for the show in Seoul, I skipped out. To my great misfortune. I thought I had seen some well put together fireworks shows, but now Disneyland and I are both greatly humbled. I found a video that a friend took of the show and at several points during the hour long show, there was literally a wall of burning lights in the Seoul sky. Unfortunately I can't find the video anymore or I'd post it on here.

On a side note, I'm teaching the teacher's class how to play poker. They are picking it up quite fast.

Now to the best weekend in SK (South Korea) so far.

Friday I was invited to the Vice Principal's party at his apartment. And a quick note here. Most Koreans live in apartments. And by American standards, small apartments. Whole families live in two bedroom apartments and in Korean, that usually includes a few grandparents. The VP's apartment was the largest I have seen so far (not quite as large as my home) and there were probably 30 people there. It was very close quarters, but it was good company. I got to sit at the table with the Principal and the two VPs and about 10 others including Jung Joo and Dew. There were lots and lots of dishes there and some of them were really good, and let's just say that some of them were very popular among everyone besides me. Soju was passed around to everyone, which is the drink of choice for Koreans. And here's a little bit of Korean culture, when someone pours you a drink, you are expected to pour them a drink as well. Also, if the other person is of a higher station than you, you are supposed to use two hands for both parts of the process. I've begun to notice a little more emphasis on pouring drinks here, so when I get home, I may have to recommend a little cultureization of the tea ceremony section of the Black Belt Ceremony. Just a little one.

I found out towards the end of the evening that I was the first American to ever enter this apartment, which was actually a bigger deal than I thought it was when I was told. For desert, or at least the last plate on the table, the Principle's end of the table and my end of the table were the only ones to receive a plate of cubed, nicely seasoned beef. And let me just say that "nicely seasoned" does not adequately describe this delicacy. It had no one strong flavor other than the natural taste of the meat, but the taste was defiantly more than just plain beef. I guess I can't describe it other than it was some of the best beef I have ever had in my life! And beef in Korea is very expensive, so I'm not kidding when I say it was a delicacy. And it was served in honor of the Principal and me. Needless to say, I was very honored.

Unfortunately the teacher who drove us to the apartment had to leave early, so Dew called her husband but only when everyone else was already leaving. So Jung Joo, Dew, the VP, and I, along with two other men I don't know, stayed for an extra chat while we waited for Mr. Dew. And when he did, we were served a soup that was also very good and apparently also very expensive. So well after I had expected to get home, we left and that was the end of the night. The only bad part was I had promised Sam I would meet him that night (I promised before I new about the party, but had I left when most of the other people did, I would have made it with time to spare). But I hope he understands, and I hope he still has the power converter he offered me.

So now to the highlight of the weekend. Melodi invited me to a scavenger hunt sponsored by The Rocky Mountain Tavern (RMT I) in Itaewon. Btw, if there was an American/Canadian town in Seoul, it would be Itaewon. Unfortunately it's of about not so good LA quality. But despite that, I figured I'd finally take up the opportunity to meet Mel and make a few new friends. My group was called "Sloppy", Mel's idea, and was Alex, another guy named Pat, Steve, Lindsey, Jacey, Min Jong and me. It was supposed to be a costume party, but unfortunately the group I was with couldn't really find any costumes and I didn't have anything that I could use as a costume. So we went with drawing mustaches on the inside of our fingers as our "costumes" with the exception of one guy. Steve came in an ape suite. And let me tell you, there is nothing more fun in Seoul than running around with a guy in a Gorilla suite. People were freaking out left and right. The subway was especially fun. There was a point where our group got split and on opposite ends of a subway train. So they started the long trek to come to our end of the very packed train. When they reached us they had been laughing so hard Steve was crying. He told us about people who out right screamed when he walked into their car. He was also flagged down for photos. He was even invited onto a bus to scare the people who were on it. There are pictures below.

So after several hours of running around Seoul, scaring people, and looking for our clues, we arrived at RMT 2 in Heongdae (don't think I'm spelling it quite right). We celebrated our trip and we were having so much fun during the hunt, we didn't really focus on getting all our clues. So when they announced 3rd place, and it wasn't us, we all figured we were out of the standings. So when they announced "Sloppy" in 2nd place it took all of us a second to realize they meant us. So we all won either a medium size shirt or a hat. I got a hat.

Sunday's events will follow after these pictures:

my mustache

Min's mustache

Lindsey's mustache (Charlie Chaplin)

Pat's mustache

Alex's mustache

Jacey's mustache

Mel's mustache

Ok, today (Sunday) the Dews took me to the royal palace in Seoul. Now, this is THE royal palace in Korea, North and South. It was the fortification and residence of the Kings of Korea and the current President's house (the equivalent to the Korean White House) is just off the main historical site. This is a fantastic site and anyone from back home who comes to visit will be taken there, no questions asked. The majesty that I thought European castles had is all gone now. This fortress/palace is still under considerable renovation but it is absolutely fantastic! The Japanese nearly destroyed it in the early 1900s during their occupation. And the main residence and a few other buildings were burned down in something like the 1500s. However, most of the main buildings have been restored to their former glory. There is also the National Folk Museum that is part of the facility. And near by is the National Heritage Museum (I think) (It was under renovation too, so we didn't get to go in). Every hour they have a changing of the guard, which is much more elaborate than any other changing of the guard I have seen. Though maybe not as serious as say the changing of the guard at the grave of the unknown soldier, since they're wearing clothing c.1400. There were so many buildings that it is hard for me to describe all that was there, but here is a short summary. From the main entrance you must pass through The South Gate (destroyed during the occupation, but currently being rebuilt) which is three stories tall and made of stone and wood, and then through two more two story gates made of wood and separated by about 100 yards between each. Then you finally come to the King's formal audience structure, which is two large stories tall with a raised stone foundation and wood structure. There are also residences for the king, the queen and princess, the prince, the servants, and well over a dozen other buildings. There are even two lakes in this palace. I still don't have a camera, so when I get the photos from Dew, I'll post them on here.

Now for something a bit important. I know there are a number of people reading this blog with a wide range of ages. So I will be adding a little restriction to this blog. Every now and then when there's a little bit of something that I don't think is appropriate for my younger readers, I will post a main blog like this (so you guys don't miss out on anything important, funny, or similar to what I have posted so far. Then I will make a second post with a few other PG-13-ish materials, if there are any. I don't expect this to happen very often, but I don't want to restrict the whole blog and yet I want to be able to post about other things from time to time. These second posts will be restricted to people who have a livejournal account (which is free and easy to create, btw), who add me as a friend of their livejournal account, and comment on any of my posts telling me who they are. I already know a few people who have done this anyway. So following this post will be a test post. If you can't see it and thought you did as I said above, then send me an email and we'll try to fix it. I hope everyone understands.

Special Picture Post!

2007-10-02T08:53:34Z

Me and my co-teachers at Sports Day.

Jung Joo (left), Mrs. Dew (center) and Me at Sports Day.