Camera

I've had problems with my digital camera for a long time now, so I finally broke down and bought a new one. I went out with my friends Benjie and Ciaran to Gangnam on Saturday and took some pictures.


Here's Ciaran about to enjoy some beer.


And Benjie waiting for the night to begin.


We started out in this place called Crazy Hook. It's not a great photo of the place, but they have great fajitas. Mexican food is very hard to find in Korea.


We wandered around for awhile trying to find a new place to go. We ended up in a very mellow bar, much more suited for a date than three guys looking to drink.


A shot of Gangnam at night.


We ended up at Uncle 29, a favorite bar of ours. A great thing about Korea is you can go to a bar and order a bottle of alcohol. As you can see here, we bought a bottle of Jim Beam. It's cheaper than buying drinks and if you don't finish the bottle the bar will store it for your next visit.


Alex came to join us.


Lots of beer and whiskey were consumed.


On our way out Ciaran and I posed for a typical Korean 'couple' shot. Notice how our arms form a heart shape. This is a very common pose for Korean couples in photos.


We looked for a bar Alex knew of, but we never found it. I got this shot at one of the places we thought might be the bar.


Finally we ended up at Harlem, a hip-hop club.


Alex and I posing at Harlem.

Harlem was fun, but it was time to go home. Over all we had a great night.

Ghetto School (Part 1)

After four and a half months I still can't decided if I like my new school. On one hand there is a lot more work to do than my previous schools. However, my schedule is nice and I'm left alone to do as I please. Another negative for me, and don't ask me to give an explanation for this, is I don't like working with Korean people. I like Korean people as a whole, but for some reason working with them bothers me. This school is mostly Korean teachers.

However, for the most part I don't mind the job. The kids are good and everyone is nice to me. The one thing that continues to bother me is that my school is a shithole. Seoul is the third largest city in the world, behind only Tokyo and Mexico City. And the area I live in, Gangnam, is one of the wealthiest areas of Seoul. In fact, I've been told that many Korean parents move to my area of Gangnam, Dachi-Dong, so their children can receive a higher level of education. Yet, my hakwon looks like it's in East St. Louis.


To begin with, the classroom numbers are taped to the door.


There are all sorts of wires and cables hanging from the walls.


graffiti on the walls.


This picture shows the HVAC coming into the building.


A close-up reveals that tin foil is an acceptable building material in the wealthiest part of Seoul. If someone knows Korean better than me I'd love to know what the sign says.


Really, this type of building is evident all over Korea. Even my apartment has holes cut in the windows to allow room for cables.


This is supposed to be a camera that allows parents to monitor the classrooms. From what I've been told they don't work. Obviously, this one doesn't.


I love this picture because it shows not only how dirty the doors and walls are, but also how the paint is mismatched.


Heat part 1. When I started at this school there was no way to heat the classrooms so they rolled in a bunch of these portable heaters. They work okay, but a few times students have stuck paper in them for fun, which quickly becomes dangerous.


After a weekend we came in to find they had installed a form of central air. These tubes go through most of the classes. They just look cheap to me and none of the grates match.


This isn't really a ghetto school picture, but the day I was taking pictures I thought I'd get one of me teaching a class. This is the kind of thing I spend most of my time doing. I=my, you=your, etc. I'm quite proud of my 'We' and 'they' drawings. It's actually a tough thing to explain.

More photos to come.

Gyeongju

I took a nice trip to Gyeongju this weekend. Gyeongju is a small city in the southeast of Korea that once served as the capital to the Silla Dynasty. It was nice to get out of Seoul after a busy January and a vacation where I mostly stayed home.


This is the hotel where we stayed. Usually in Korea I opt to stay in the cheap "love motels", but I decided to splurge on this trip and went to the Hilton. It was worth it for the breakfast buffet. We arrived at four o'clock on Saturday and didn't leave the hotel all day.


We stayed on the 7th floor known as the World Cup Floor because when Korea hosted the World Cup of Soccer the German and Dutch teams stayed on this floor. There was even a photo in the room of the player who slept there. I thought that was a little creepy.


The second day we went out for some sightseeing. Here's a nice little lake near the hotel where we waited for the bus.


We took the bus downtown, put our bags in a locker at the bus station and headed out to look around. I snapped this picture downtown. This is a restaurant that apparently serves beef. It's quite common for restaurants here to put full color pictures of the animals they serve on their signs. Personally, when I'm eating beef I don't want to be reminded that it comes from something that once peacefully grazed in a field.


Here's the entrance to the first stop on our sightseeing trip. This park, if you will, is the burial site for several ancient kings and queens.


Some detail of the entrance.


Each of these mounds is a tomb. I didn't count, but there were quite a few.


This tomb had been excavated and you are able to go inside. Unfortunately, they don't allow pictures of the interior which is disappointing because the way they are constructed is rather fascinating.


Some info on the tomb above.


This is me trying to be artistic. I like the picture.


Of course, Koreans can't leave well enough alone. Even at historical tombs of kings they have to put these goofy-looking cartoon statues. I will never, ever, understand this mentality.


A nice shot of a lone tree and the mountains in the background.


The next stop was this nice lake with a few ancient buildings around it. Apparently, it used to be a massive complex but only three buildings remain (or were recreated, I'm not sure).


Again, trying to be artistic. Don't think this one looks as good, but though I would include it anyway.


A massive bell at the museum. I didn't get a any picture inside the museum, but if you've ever been to a museum you can imagine. Just a bunch of old pots.


I took this shot on the bus back to Seoul. I really liked that even the toll booth was shaped like an ancient pavilion.


I've always thought I should start a collection of pictures of signs on this blog because you see some really ridiculous and funny signs here. Let this and the cow sign above be the beginning. If you can't tell, the sign is supposed to say 'Africa Chicken", but they made a spelling error.

Overdue update

Not five minutes ago I received a phone call I've been dreading for some time. For the past couple of weeks the same number has called my cell phone everyday and I've managed to avoid the call, because I knew who it was and I knew what it was in reference too. I finally picked up and faced the music. It was the DVD store down the street informing me that my movies are now 51 days overdue. I feigned ignorance and promised to return them tomorrow. That has been the state of my life the past couple of weeks. I haven't updated here in nearly as long as I haven't been to the DVD store.

January, and along with it winter intensive, came and went. It was difficult and busy, but I got through it and tomorrow I get the paycheck for it so it will be worth all the effort. I had a week off in January as well, during the Lunar New Year, but I mostly stayed home and rested.

The good thing to come out of the hellish January schedule is that I saw how much I can really do in a day if I just do it. So, I've tried to stick with the same sleeping and waking schedule. Which means I've continued to wake up each day at 9am. This may not seem early to some, but I don't start work until 1pm and usually wake up about 11:30am. In addition, I've decided to finally take some real Korean classes starting next week. They will be five days a week from 10am-12pm, so I'll need to be awake and ready for them. I thought it was best to just maintain that schedule. Also, I usually go to bed between 3am-4am, but I've managed to get myself adjusted to going to sleep around 1am. It's not the best schedule in the world and by no means makes me an early bird, but it's quite an improvement and I feel good that I've been able to stick to it.

This past week I've spent my early mornings exploring the area where I live. I found a great map of Seoul online, saw all the interesting things around me and decided to go check them out. Of course, the first day I resolved to do this I woke up early, looked out the window and saw a few inches of snow on the ground. No problem though, I sludged through the slush and managed to wander around for over an hour.

This weekend I'm boarding a bus and going to the ancient capital of Korea, Gyeong-ju. It's a four hour bus ride from Seoul, but is supposed to be worth a visit. I've finally managed a way to charge the batteries for my camera, so stayed tuned for pictures from the trip. Also, look out for an upcoming post I like to call "Ghetto School".

Anniversary...

On January 18th 2004, terrified and anxious, I boarded a plane at Chicago's O'Hare airport bound for Seoul, Korea by way of Tokyo, Japan. After many hours in the air and additional hours waiting at Nariata Airport I arrived in Seoul roughly 11pm on January, 19th. So, depending on your time zone or how you split hairs, today marks the 2nd anniversary of my arrival in Korea.

Looking back I can still conjure the feelings of that first night. I was picked up by my recruiter and driven from the airport to the city I would live in for the next year and a half. Despite the excitement of my first time in Asia and my fear that I was, in fact, being driven to sex-slave camp and not to an English school, I managed to sleep for most of the car ride. My recruiter quickly shuffled me into a hotel room, complete with black-light and circular bed ("Oh, shit! I'm a sex-slave!") and promised to return in the morning.

Upon his departure, the fear and anxiety kicked itself into high-gear. I vividly remember peeking out of my seventh-story window and gazing in awe at the sea of neon lights before looking down and discovering, in my windowsill, a two-sided full-color business card featuring a photograph of a naked lady and a phone number. I slammed the window shut, fearful that someone might see into the room and spot the strange, young white man who was clearly out of place and ripe to be taken advantage of. However, they might see fit to do so.

The following week I did not work since I arrived during Chinese New Year. My recruiter had returned on the second day and was nice enough to introduce me to the person I'd be replacing. Fortunately, he gave me his phone number and I was able to call him whenever I wanted to eat (since at this time I was still too afraid to even walk into a restaurant alone). I spent most of the week in my hotel room flipping through numerous programs on the television, none of which I could understand. Though, I did get out for the occasional beer with my only contact in Korea.

Needless to say, things have gotten much better since that time. I realized, quite quickly, that Korea is not a scary place and, in fact, is rather enjoyable. However, being an anniversary it's been a time to reflect on all that has transpired since those fateful early days. I have, of course, managed to accomplish a few things in the past two years. I can now use chopsticks like I was born with them in my hands. I can speak a passable amount of Korean, though not near fluent and possibly not even intermediate. I've seen most of what this country has to offer, including a trip to the DMZ. I've traveled to Thailand and nearly missed being in the path of the tsunami thanks to botched airline tickets. I've made some great friends, discovered that I enjoy teaching and developed a taste for kimchi and corn on my pizza.

All around, it's been a wonderful two years. There are certainly more things I wish I had accomplished and things I regret doing and not doing (need to travel more and save some money), but I look on the previous two years with a sense of excitement and pride. I have had more fun than a person should be allowed and it is far from what I expected boarding that plane in Chicago.

Busy Winter

Winter intensive courses are in full swing and I'm staying as busy as possible. Just to give you an idea here is a sample of my schedule.

8:30am - Wake up
9:15am - Pick up some breakfast
9:30am - Arrive at the office
9:30am-10am - Prepare for classes and ingest as much caffeine and nicotine as possible
10am - Begin first intensive class
10:40 - Mid-class break
10:45 - Resume class
11:25 - Finish first intensive class
11:30 - Start second intensive class (low level. Teaching rug, bug, tug, etc.)
12:10 - Finish second intensive class
12:15 - Begin third intensive class (lowest level: Teaching A is for apple, B is for book, etc)
12:55 - Finish third intensive class
1:00 - 2:30 - Break. Time to get some lunch and prepare for my afternoon classes
2:30 - First regular afternoon class begins
3:25 - Finish first afternoon class
3:30 - Second afternoon class begins
4:25 - finish second afternoon class
4:30 - Third afternoon class begins
5:25 - Finish third afternoon class
5:30-6:30 - Break. Grab a snack and prepare for evening classes
6:30 - First evening class starts
7:25 - Class ends
7:30 - Second evening class starts
8:25 - class ends
8:30 - Go home
9pm-12am - watch a movie, eats some dinner or surf the net. Then go to sleep and get ready to do it all over again.

Compared to my regular schedule this is pretty hectic. The first week was very rough, but now I've adjusted to it and am cruising through it smoothly. After tomorrow they will be half-completed (or half-begun if you're pessimistic).

Speech Contest Update

I forgot to mention in my last post that my school announced the winners of the speech and writing contests on Thursday and Friday of last week. My total tally was five winners of the writing contest and three winners of the speech contest. In fact, my Monday, Wednesday and Friday students swept the speech contest! They won every time slot!

I was incredibly proud of them and also, of course, proud of myself. Overall, I had more total winners than any other of the twelve or so teachers at my school. However, I can hardly take any credit since these kids put in the work and stood up in front of a room full of people and gave a speech in their second language. Regardless, I walked around like a proud father for a couple of days.

New Years

Yunha and I headed out to a popular area of Seoul for New Years eve.

We started out in Myeong-dong and made our way into Jongno. Supposedly, this is the most popular area for New Years eve. We saw a report on the news saying there were 100,000 people there for the celebration. There is a massive bell in this area that is rung at the midnight.


It's difficult to tell from these photos but, on this street were thousands of people shooting off Roman candles over a newly restored stream (can't remember the name) that runs through Seoul. We bought some as well and shot them off together.


Standing behind a stage. This streets was lit up with holiday lights in addition to the normal shine of neons.


Again, it's difficult to tell but, this street was closed off from traffic and packed shoulder-to-shoulder with Koreans celebrating the coming of 2006. Coming from a relatively small city like St. Louis, it never fails to amaze me how many people live in Seoul.


A blurry shot of the side of a skyscraper wishing everyone luck in the new year. The lights of this giant sign were flashing so I had to time the taking of the picture to get all the lights lit up.


Again, blurry. I'm not sure if this is due to my camera progressively getting worse or that all of the lights made it made it hard to focus or, more than likely, a combination of both.


Oh, the contrast! We wandered on some back streets seeking a quiet place where I could relieve myself and stumbled upon this entrance to what I can only assume is a restaurant or private residence. It's sounds cliche but I love shots like these because it really shows how Seoul is a combination of traditional and modern life.

Before midnight we made our way to a hotel and paid an outrageously high-price for a tiny room and watched the New Year's celebration on television. Though we were so close to the party that we watched the fireworks on TV but, could hear them through the open window.

Tomorrow I start my hellish winter intensive schedule. Also, I have a weeks vacation this month but, I haven't decided what to do yet.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays to you and yours. I'll be spending the holidays working. We've no days off for either Christmas or New Years. In addition we are rewarded with a return to work after the new year with winter intensives, so January will be very busy for me. Not in a good way either, just simply working. Fortunately, my school is rewarding us handsomely for our efforts. I hope you all have a great 2006! I know I will!

Speech Contest

The owner of my school decided we should have a speech contest for December. Aside from the obvious irony of a school named 'Reading Town' having a speech contest, this contest was very poorly planned and all the teachers, myself included, expected it to be a disaster. However, despite our pessimism everything turned out fine and it was actually an enjoyable event. I'm still amazed at how wrapped up in these children you become. When my students stepped to the mic in front of a room full of people I may have been more nervous than them.

Before the contest began. The contest lasted two days, Thursday and Friday.


My students mugging for a picture. Korean people in general love having their picture taken and nine times out of ten with give this same obligatory 'V' sign.


Lynn, my manager, preparing to start the contest. She served as emcee for the two days and was forced to kill time between contestants by making up ridiculous questions. A job I would not liked to have had.


Thomas, who was quite sick at the time, giving it his best. My favorite thing about this photo is the girl in the bottom right hand corner who is clearly not paying attention.


I'm disappointed in the way this picture came out, but this is another of my students, Sarah (who always spells her own name wrong: Serah) doing her speech. Sarah, it should be said, is the slowest writer in the world. It seems that each letter she writes is a masterpiece that must be perfect.


Michelle always draws really cute pictures of me and her with captions that read "'Michelle is very beautiful' Jocob said" or "Jocob is very good teacher. I love you.". Unfortunately, she is moving to America next month and will no longer be in my class. By the way, the misspelling of my name is intentional. None of my students seem to be able to spell my name correctly. This is possibly due to the fact that over time I've discovered that to Korean children my name sounds very much like the letter 'J' plus the word 'cup'. So, it's become my custom to teach children to pronounce my name in this fashion. When given a test or book report that requires the students to write in the teachers name many of my kids simply write a capital 'J' followed by an illustration of a cup. Much to the annoyance of the librarian, I am sure.


An anxious crowd awaits. Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera died and I was only able to get pictures from the first round of speeches. Several more followed. As I said, it turned out to be quite fun and we got to leave work early on Friday, which is always a bonus.

Apartment

Now that my camera is working I'd like to share some photos of my apartment.

My apartment is basically one room. Though the kitchen is somewhat separate and the bathroom, obviously, is in it's own room. What you see in this picture I really hope to change soon. I'd like to move the fridge into the kitchen, throw out the desk, turn the red shelf into a computer desk and put a couch where the desk is.


My bed, TV and mirror. This may be the smallest bed in the world. It's also very uncomfortable and has no sheets. I put one blanket on the bottom and the duvet on top.


Here's the kitchen. I very pleased to have a somewhat real stove this year. Both of my previous apartments came equipped with only a camping stove.


The bathroom. Note the lack of a bathtub. Most Korean apartments don't have a bathtub. You can't see in this picture, but on the right is a shower head. The whole bathroom is basically the shower. Also, the hot water is quite sketchy at this place.


I love this picture. It encapsulates so much about Korea. This was taken just outside of my kitchen window. The wiring system in Korea is very haphazard.

Food and computers

One of the best things about living in Korea is that nearly every restaurant will hand-deliver food to your door. The streets of Seoul are packed with young men on motor-scooters hustling in and out of traffic (and on the sidewalks) delivering food. Often the foods arrives in real dishes that you place outside of your door when finished eating. Another young man then comes by on his scooter to retrieve the empty plates and bowls.

Of course, not speaking the language is a hindrance to calling up and placing an order in the first place. So, it's especially nice when my girlfriend is over at my house because I can have her make the call for me. However, sometime last week I was home alone and starving. The temperature in Seoul has dropped tremendously lately, so I didn't want to venture out into the cold for something to eat. At the same time I was chatting with my girlfriend, who lives an hour away by subway, via text message. Swallowing my pride and taking a chance I sent a text message asking if she would, from her home, call a restaurant, near my home, and order some food, to my home. It was an all new low. But being the kind girl she is she simply chuckled and agreed. However, she added that the next time we met she would teach me how to call and place an order myself.

And so she did. I practiced several times with her before she forced me to actually make the call. Of course, it was a disaster. I'm very shy when it comes to speaking Korean in the first place. Having a Korean girl next to me laughing while on the phone doesn't help. Nor does the fact that the particular restaurant I called didn't deliver to my area (something she had not prepared me for). After telling me in Korean that they couldn't deliver and me not understanding a word and saying back in broken Korean "Sorry, I don't speak Korean well", the nice man on the phone simply said in English "Sorry" and hung-up. She tried to get me to call another restaurant but, by this time I was sufficiently embarrassed and my head was pounding from trying to remember my address in Korean.

I did not give up there, however. Tonight, home alone without the shame of her looking over my shoulder, I successfully placed an order and had it delivered to my door. I'm afraid though the whole process was slightly anticlimactic, since the food I ordered was not some exotic Asian cuisine nor did it come in proper dishes I could place triumphantly outside of my door. No, I just ordered pizza.

As a quick note, expect to see this site updated more frequently as I now have a computer in my home (an early Christmas present to myself, thanks Mom) and no longer have to sludge through the cold and into a smoke-filled PC room whenever inspiration strikes. Also, I have to cable to my camera now and can start adding pictures again.

Turkey and phones

A couple of times a year I really miss being in America. Thanksgiving is one of them. The thought of missing out on the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and, of course, pumpkin pie always makes me a little sad. Especially when I walk down the street and am forced to choose between 김치찌개 (kimchi stew) or 김치볶음밥 (kimchi and rice) for the thousandth time. As much as I've grown to love Korean food, something seems wrong about eating it on Thanksgiving. Picturing my family and friends huddled around a table cutting into a juicy turkey makes me wish I could take a few days off to return home.

Fortunately, near my new school is a Subway sandwich shop, so I was able to at least have a turkey sub on Thanksgiving. Though, to be honest, it was completely unsatisfying and made me long even more for a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner. Also, that night I made myself some mashed potatoes to go with my pork as a weak attempt to make myself feel like I was celebrating the holiday. So, if anyone at home has any leftover turkey (and I know you do) feel free to toss it in a Fedex box and send it to Korea (the non-communist one).

On another subject, my school was nice enough to buy me a new cell phone (hand phone in Korean) which was fantastic since my old one had long since seen it's day. The new phone came equipped with a camera, a baseball game and everything else you could want. Being that I'm a bit of a tech geek I quickly fell in love with it. That is until I LEFT THE FUCKING THING IN THE BACK OF A TAXI!!!! Sorry. Still quite bitter about that. So to those I recently sent my new phone number to disregard it.

I've heard stories from other foreigners living in Korean about leaving phones in taxis and it seems to run the gambit from 'it was quickly returned to my school' to 'never saw it again' and 'driver showed up and demanded an outrageous price to return it'. So, I'm not holding my breath to get it back. My school has agreed to get me another phone, though, of course, I'll have to pay for this one.

chirp chirp

It's been quite quiet around here, I know. I'd hoped to update with some photos, but stupid me left the cable that attaches from my camera to the computer in St. Louis. And of course my camera is a Sony and everything Sony builds seems to be proprietary so I can't just run out and buy a new cable.

In case you can't figure it out, the above photo was taken on Halloween. Or really the Saturday before Halloween when my friends and I donned inflatable clown suits and hopped all around Seoul like the silly, drunken misfits we are. It was one great night, possibly topping Halloween 2004, which was also amazingly fun.

Aside from Halloween my life as of late has been much like my blog: quiet. A result more of economics than desire. I'm terribly bad with money. I always have been and quite possibly always will be. Well, since my previous job ended in September and I spent five weeks home visiting AND I, of course, have to work a month at my new job before I get paid, I've been really broke. However, tomorrow is payday! Hallelujah!!! My excitement, though, will be short lived since while broke I've had to borrow money from people and now must pay it all back. Oh well, at least I don't have to eat any more f*cking ramyeon.

My school bought me a new cell phone (Korean: Hand phone or han-duh pon) equipped with all the exciting little features like a camera. I was very grateful for the phone as my old one was nice when I got it but, alas, had seen it's day.

Now I'm sitting in the computer room at school. I finished my last class at 5:30 today, but must sit here till 9pm. I must do something to change this rule. Well, off to a meeting.