agh, back to work on boxing day. the kids don't even know what boxing day is. the ones who do decorate for christmas throw out their decorations rather than boxing them for the following year.

twas a good weekend with varlo tho. definetly a highlight of being here so far, despite the homesickness. probly spending new years with that creep as well.

korean christmas

there's almost no ovens in korea. in fact, the group I teach with only knew of one that might be at our disposal, but alas, it was being used for christmas. as a result, we had to deep fried a 20 lbs turkey (an object that's terribly difficult to find in korea) in a garbage can (a new and clean one, but a garbage can nonetheless), in the parking lot (an act korean look down upon). it took only about 2 hours to cook. surprisingly, only one person got sick from this project.

obviously, every outdoor parking lot turkey frying extravaganza needs beer and machismo posing

koreans don't celebrate really. everything was open. it was just a regular monday here for the most part. we got together with all the english folk and had a secret santa day tho. twas fun.

merry christmas to all and to all a good night

pbf

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

These pictures are from Gwanghamun... a business and shoppinmg district in Seoul. I have more, but again, not on my cam. I'll get them soon.

Korean Mountain

The boss got us up (the ones who volunteered to go on the trip anyhow) at about 9 on saturday morning to go hiking. Korea is called the "land of the morning calm" so getting up at 9 is not always the easiest thing to do. There's nothing open yet, and there's no real point in buying groceries, so I'm having a hard time getting breakfast on the go, but whatevs. There's about ten of us (3 who speak english, and a couple more who speak enough to get by) pile onto the shortbus and drive for about an hour towards North Korea to mount Manni, which is just on the border of the DMZ.

There is sort of two spiritualities in Korea. One is whatever religious beliefs one may choose, usually Buddhist or Christian, and the other is to Korea. They look at their nationality in a very spiritual way. Ands this mountain is the center of that faith. I'm not sure of the names, and this is certainly a crude version of the myth, but essentially they believe a great man back in the day made love to a bear disguised as a woman and their children became the first Korean people and it all happened on this mountain. He was also the Prometheus of the Korean peninsula, having brought fire to his people from the gods and was punished for it. Or something like that... I'll find out more correctly, but its close to that. It is a major attraction to them. There were thousands of people there over the weekend, and there are just as many people there every weekend.

Thousands of people hiking sounds like an oxymoron where I come from. Hiking is something thousands of people cannot do all at the same time in Canada. Not so here. They pave a path up to the top of the mountain so everyone can walk up to the top. That didn't stop everyone from dressing up in the best hiking gear they could find. There were many walking sticks and brand new hiking boots out there. There were even a few lads with coils of rope attached to their attire. It was comedy.

a little seoul

the hammering man... this titanic sculpture stands five storeys tall and hammers away in Gwangwhamun. Very cool.

this gate was originally built to protect against tigers way back when seoul was really small. there are three more just like it and you can walk around them in about two hours. they used to border all of seoul. now they don't even border the neighborhood they're in.

I found this handsome belt in dondaemun. eeyarrr. tis a fine pantaloon holder, indeed

uncle kim

bagpipes

So I hadn't broke out the Hendersons since I've been here until today. I was playing small pipes and lots of chanter to pass the time, but I was a little worrisome about taking the big ones out in a new climate before oiling them really well. Not to mention its tough to find a place to practice where the population is so dense, and with such a small apartment, and any number of variables that would prevent me from playing in a foreign country with absolutely no interest in the Scottish performing arts. But today was the day. I oiled em up good for a few days, made sure the hemp was good on all the joints and headed er up to the roof of the building, as its a fairly nice day out there, similar to a September day on the island, at which time I certainly played quite a bit in the backyard.

And did they ever sound great. I was well out of shape, so I didn't play too long, which was probably nice for the 15,000 or so folks I was forcing a listen upon. But the reed sounding vibrant and was tuned really well; I didn't touch the tape at all. I knew the neighbors weren't going to say anything directly to me, as we speak little of the same language, but I thought the agecie (a man who runs something, whether its a building or restaurant or bus; as opposed to the female equivalent, "ajumma") might have something to say. But whenever I was finished and packed up, no one had come up to the roof or anything like that. I opened the door to go back to my place and get ready for work, and who was just inside the door but the agecie himself listening contently. I guess he didn't want to scare me or something, by coming out in the open and letting me know he was listening, but he left his post down on the ground floor and came up all the way to the roof to hang out behind the door. And he was a little embarrassed, as Koreans are prone to being in such a situation, and gave me a little bow for provided him with a few moments entertainment.

If the weather keeps up I'll be able to play outside for quite a while. Its so warm here all the time. Bonus!

So I was just out having dinner, eh, and this lady comes into the restaurant with a two of her own pots. I was quite perplexed initially, but then realized that she wanted the cook to use her pots for her meal. She appeared to want to sit down and eat whatever the cook was about to prepare, since she took off her jacket and sat down (most in Korea will stand patiently by the door should they want take out). But no, she asked the cook to put their food in her pots so she could take them home and make it seem to her dinner guests that she had cooked the meal. The cook wrapped up the pots in saran wrap and everything when she was leaving. It was a first for me. I would assume a cook back home would be offended by such a gesture. But not here, I was told they'll even deliver your own cookware back to you if you want to drop them off, and as always, at no extra charge. You only pay for the thing you ordered and get all the extras, such as side dishes, drink, and delivery, for free.

krazy korea

so I experienced my first Korean wedding the other day. it was nuts. weddings in this country usually take place in a Vegas style chapel. this one was no different. the chapel had about 10 weddings halls and was probably servicing upwards of 80 weddings that day. the reception was nothing more than a buffet meal that was used by each wedding taking place. most of the people invited to the wedding didn't even bother going to see the actual ceremony. rather, they simply stayed and ate the free food. The bride's parents, or whoever was paying for the wedding, mailed a meal ticket with the invitations and so you presented your wee meal slip and were able to have all the food and booze you wanted. As I said, most people didn't see the ceremony, and with good reason, as it only lasts about 10 or 15 minutes anyhow. and as soon as they're out of there, they clean the place up and have the next one. There is never really a time after the wedding to talk to either the bride or the groom. though you may get your picture with them beforehand. that's right, they're able to see one another in their tux and dress before the wedding takes place. it was wacky.

and another lovely feature of Korea... the bath houses. I went to a "ginjabong" last night for the first time. I'm sure they have these things in Canada, but not where I come from, and likely not like this. for 5 bucks, i was admitted to a 3 storey spa with hot tubs at 4 different temps, 7 saunas at different temps, a workout room, a place for haircuts, a restaurant, massage parlor, a sleeping room, a theater room, etc. it was gold. when you buy a pack of ten admissions, its only 3 bucks to get in. I think its so cheap because so many people do not have full bathrooms in their apartments, so just about everyone goes to a bath house regularly just for the grooming.

JAPANAMANIA

Japanese Travel Journal
(thanks to Thea for the moleskine)

Nov 27
Off to Japan. This is my first time on Korean buses without someone guiding me. Luckily, the airport is an easy enough destination to find. It's the one at the end of the line with all the planes. The bus drivers in Korea are crazy. Dudes are always running reds. At least five of them on the way to the Airport.

The flight to Osaka brought a whole new meaning to the word "turbulent." It was delayed to begin with, and since I'm on a short leash as far as time goes once I get there, a delay stirs at my nerves before I'm even in the air. The flight was rocky right from the start, so the pilot was trying to find an altitude where we could fly smoothly . But there was no smooth flying to be found, so it was up and down and side to side the whole way.

The Osaka airport is about as bland as buildings get from an arrival standpoint. The Canadian ones on the way to Korea were quite nice, and Incheon airport in Seoul is spectacular. Kansai in Osaka on the other hand is uglier than Charlottetown and I don't know if anyone outside PEI even really considers that an airport.

Japan
--they're still farming. this is a picture from the train on the way to the Korean consulate where I'm to get my work visa.

It seems like the folks are packed in just as tight as in Korea (which is similar to the way sardines are packed into tin cans). Although there are many more houses here, compared to almost no houses in Seoul. But of course, there is still a great many apartment buildings. The Japanese are seemingly less concerned with their appearance than Koreans. Appearance is everything is Korea. As my pal Jeff says, in Korea "it's more important to have all the hiking gear and look like you're going to go than to go and hike without any of the gear." In Japan, they have their whites hanging off the patios of their flats to dry, which I've yet to see in Korea. And it does kind of give Osaka a sullied look as compared to Seoul. The Japanese are still much more concerned with appearance than Maritimes though. They're very concerned with fashion (just as in Korea), but it seems that Koreans care more about the appearance of everything rather than the personal appearance the Japanese take so seriously.

Edit:

Japanese Casinos are about as common as elbows and are almost completely slot machines. There are a few tables here and there, but no poker-- and so I don't sit down. I couldn't find any chips at the department store or games store either. I think its just totally frowned upon in this continent.
my lovely hotel room. That protrusion ciming out of the ceiling is a television.

Doug Boyd was right-- stay away from the Sake, Jonathan! I had a glass with my dinner after I checked into the cubby hold hotel and it was FUCKIN SICK (pardon my french, but I cannot overemphasize the sickness... I couldn't even finish it). The octopus pasta was very tasty, however. Good thing I learned how to use chopsticks in Korea, because pasta and no experience with the oversized toothpicks would mean a hungry night alone in a small hole.

This country is much more difficult than Korea, for me. The language barrier was never really a problem in Korea as I had learned some before I left Canada and obtained a phrase book for reference. Not to mention the wonderful guides who picked me up right from the airport. But I wasn't about to go out and buy a Japanese phrase book for a one-day trip. And the language barrier is rediculous as a result. There seems to be much more English speakers in Korea as well. The Korean script is much easier to understand. It is simple compared to the complexity of the Japanese script.

My hotel room is a closet. Not even a closet, its a tube about 4 feet off the ground you have to climb into. Cheap though-- I'm spending less on the room than I spent on a Jim Morrison tshirt I picked up. The chaps working at the front desk don't speak a word of English. And so I thought they were the perfect folks to use my limited, but valuable, Japanese language skills: "Domo Araigato, Mister Roboto."

Speaking of the Morrison shirt, there is some pretty bad ass stuff in this country. I'm staying in a fashion district of Osaka, which I have to assume is one of the main parts of the entire city, as there is a 6-lane one-way boulevard, the end of the train line is very near by, and a picture of the district is on a postcard I found. But I didn't have a chance to explore, so I cannot be sure.

About the size of a walk-in closet, this one store carried only Western popular music parefenalia, mostly tshirts. The owner of the store was one of the only fluid English speakers I came across, and in looking for directions around the city, I asked lots of folks.

The funny thing about no one speaking English is that the only music I heard playing out of shops as I waslked by was American or British Pop Music, and each store was blaring it. So they either had no idea what they ere listening to, or were all just lying to me about it. It was bad English music, too.

This British fella I met on the train from the airport to Namba Station and I had an Amazing race to the Korean consulate. We got in late because of the flight delay from Korea and then got on the wrong train from the Airport, so we were really hurting. There were two trains going to Namba Stn from the Airport: a speed train that would give us plenty of time, and a subwau type train that stopped at every station alond the way and took far too mucho minutos. Obviously, we took the slow one, otherwise the race would not have been amazing at all. The internet said the consulate closed at 4PM, meaning we had to book it once we got off this train. So off we went, following a fairly crude internet map and trying to find an English speaker with directions. It was much more complicated than it needed to be, as we walked right by it, but didn't care to noticeas we were on the wrong side of the busy 6-lane boulevard. When we doubled-back, still not knowing that we walked right by it, we took a wrong turn, and got lost. We finally found it by asking a ton of people. It was raining like mad, so the ink on that crude map ran, rendering it useless. We arrived at 10 to 4, but it actually closed at 430, so really we had time.




a lovely site to see. a little bit of back home in Osaka.

I'm big in Japan. Notice the leaves still on the trees. It was 25 degrees that day. Sorry Calgary.


Yaaarrr. There be a pirate ship in that land vessel, Yar
Sushi.... The sushi bar at in the Airport had some good jazz on the radio, so I hung around for a bit, finishing my beer and listening contently. An old man sits at the table across from me and keeps giving me the evil eye. Living in Korea I got used to this very quickly and realized that I was not eating according to a certain custom, whether it be leaving my utensils in my bowl or on my plate or not passing out the food to older people at the table or whatever. But here I was dining alone in a place with many foreigners for this chap to send distastful looks at. I guess in Japan, sitting at a table with no food is rude, because this is when I started noticing the looks, whenever I was finished eating and just sitting, drinking, and listening. He on the other hand, gluttonously ordered several courses one after the other, drank more than any man would need to drink before boarding a plane, smoke about seven cigarettes at the table when no one around him was smoking, and farted loudly numerous times throughout his meal. He also sweats profusely and wipes himself down every few minutes. I don't care much for Japanese eating customs, certainly not by this fella's example.

Here's another odd Japanese thing... I ordered a coffee and it was given to me ICE CU-HOLD! It was gross.

The inflight Budweiser, I'm sad to say (and I cannot stress my despair enough that I'm about to say what I'm about to say, so I won't even bother trying) is the best beer I've had since Canada. Sorry Olands.

(I just have another picture to upload and that's the end of my japanemia)

there's a major public urination problem in the city because the majority of the country gets drunk after work. this one is from the elevator in my building.

Korean kitkats: wafer on the outside, choco on the inside. keeps hands clean and tastes the same. they have a different name for it tho.

the neighborhood

where i live

the local watering hole, located conveniently... only a 10 second walk from my front door. the waitresses know what we want by our hand motions... a small glass means soju, a big one means a monster beer.

the school, located conveniently... a twenty second walk from the WABar

what I eat... this is called pibimbap, served with kimchi and tchigae. The pibimbap is in the bowl, the other stuff is in the other dishes behind. It's a rice salad with a catch. In stead of dressing they use liquid fire-- rediculously spicy. I had to get some ice cream to douse the flames. Its very good tho. The same place, Kimbap Heaven, also makes this stuff called kimbap, which is a lot like the rolled kind of sushi, but it doesn't have to have any fish in it. That's the stuff I learned to use chopsticks with. very good.

my apartment (very nice by korean standards...the korean standard is a closet, I believe)



i've gotten very good at the chopstick thing. there are no forks they use chopsticks for everything here. even cereal.



and for using spoons...


soju!! essentially, weakend moonshine. made the same way but only 30% in stead of however strong you can make it. that bottle was 8 bucks. it'll likely last a month



sorry I don't have more just yet... having trouble uploading. i can't read the korean computer prompts.

well, I'm here.

this place is messed. its like this whole 'nother country. I already started yelling at kids. I bring my practice chanter to class and smack it on the table to quiet them down and play them a tune if they good. pictures to follow.

its finally happening

so my passport got lost application got lost for a while and I lost my first job. so I'm still here. but they assure me it will be in my hands in soontime. I took a job at the ECC Gimpo. Gimpo is a burb of Seoul. so I'll be right in the thick of it. here's the school: http://www.ybmecc.com/kimpo. looks like a happening spot. I will begin documenting this endeavour of mine much closer as it unravels for anyone thinking of maybe attempting the same venture. so stay tuned.

about to set off

of course i would have a hat line and half closed eyes in my visa application photo