New Apartment

Okay, here's some pics of my new apartment. In November I moved to this new place, which is quite far from my old place. The first great thing about it is its almost twice as big as my previous place! I thought I should get some more furniture to fill out the walls, but after living in such small cramped spaces, its kinda nice just to have space with nothing there. So I leave it as it is.

My new school is paying for the place. Originally they had hired a guy who had a wife, so he requested a larger apartment. But after a few weeks he bolted, leaving the school without a teacher and an empty apartment. When I interviewed for the job, they showed me to the apartment. This guy was basically squatting there until something else came along, from what I could tell. The place was a mess, littered with hair all over the floor, smelling like stale smoke and lots of plastic bags and pizza boxes in the storage room. Its teachers like this that give foreigners a bad reputation sometimes, doing the midnight run and such. But there are also schools who get bad reps for not paying their schools as promised (I have a few comments about this later).

So I took the job and the apartment. Thankfully the director of the new school helped me move in his van, only took one trip. The large bed was already supplied, as well as the TV. So you can see all the stuff in my space. In the kitchen, that tall white cabinet is actually the refrigerator, made to blend into the decorum. Looks really good, but overall not enough space for my pots and pans. I have a convenient shoe closet next to the door, and my own washing machine (under the gas range, which is surprisingly common in Korean design). The bathroom is still the open design, but noticeably bigger than my last place, and more light. I don't get quite as much daylight though, due to the smaller windows and the length of this place. But its okay because this place is free :-)

Also, you can notice a few kittens in one of the pictures. In October, one of my friends went hiking and came across a small plastic bag with 4 kittens in it, not able to even feed themselves. Apparently someone just took them into the mountain and dropped them off to die! So he grabbed them, took them to his place and kept them fed and potty trained them. I agreed to take two (kinda wished I only had 1 now though, they go crazy and claw everything!) There's good and bad about owning them, but I suppose its good overall :-)

Long Time...

Hey all, its been a long time since I posted a blog here. I apologize for the absence for those who like to keep tabs on what I've been doing. This is just a short message to let you guys know that I'll put a bit of effort into updating this regularly. Unfortunately my day to day is rather ordinary now, I'm accustomed to the new country in which I live. Recently I moved and plan to stay another year. I'll take some pics soon. Thanks for checking in on me!

view from my window

Also I thought I'd post some pics of what I see every day from my big picture window. Its not glamorous but there are some nice points. Off to the left is a mountain, and you can see all the cherry blossom trees (they bloom for 2-3 weeks) and a church on the hill. Directly across the street from is a women's hospital, the clay and grey building. In the background are tall apartment buildings and a bunch of small houses and apartments shoved in between. The real highlight for me is looking at the blue sky everyday! Haha, seems silly, but after a year in an apartment which barely received indirect daylight, its a welcome change.

Also included a pic of one of the schools I work at, elementary school. This one looks a bit different; I was told it was built when Korea was a colony of Japan, during the period from 1905-1945 if my numbers are correct. Japan also brought over the cherry blossom trees, otherwise there wouldn't be so many here. Unfortunately the warcrimes they committed are not easily forgotten here by the older generation, so many Koreans hate Japan.

Cherry Blossoms

The weather here today is terribly rainy and windy, so I figured I start out the day with a post about the cherry blossom trees. For about 2 weeks they were in full bloom. I was fortunate enough last week to go for a hike and take some nice pictures of the trees, along with the surrounding area. I went hiking on a mountain I'd never been to before, and it felt like I wasn't even in Korea for a few hours. Something about it was different: perhaps the mountaintop covered with long grass,reminded me of wheat fields. And the wide trails is not a common hiking feature here.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the pics. I enjoyed taking them as well :-)

Beijing Pt 2

As I talk more about my trip to Beijing, my only reference point will be Busan, since this is where I spend my days. The first noticeable difference is the scale of Beijing. Its a giant city! Literally. The scale of the buildings is enormous. Coming from Busan, where buildings are barely 1-ft from each other, most of the buildings in Beijing are a huge project, generally 20 stories or more. A lot of this may be due to the upcoming Olympics, and also because its the Capital City. Whereas in Busan you can still see remnants of the old city (shanty-like houses), Beijing has destroyed most of those areas for big apartment buildings, hotels, businesses and shopping. While the buildings are grandiose, most are unremarkable in their design.

Generally the roads are 4 lanes each side, with a partition of trees, and another lane for parking and bicycles. All the roads are very wide like this, and big sidewalks. It almost seemed luxurious after being in Busan, where sidewalks are whats left over after everything else is considered (i.e. inefficient, many obstacles). Even with the extra lanes, there are still many traffic jams. One foreigner magazine I read while there made mention of this problem, and the push to make more subway lines to alleviate the congestion. Mind you, all these projects are expected to be done in time for the Olympics next year.

People in Beijing drive like they walk. I though traffic was bad in Busan, but in Beijing they don't really stop; everyone drives really slow (Busan they drive fast as possible and shove their way through, but everyone drives the same so its okay). No one waits for the crosswalk signal, bikes are mixed in with cars (even though there is a designated lane for bikes) and you cross when you can, always making sure the driver coming at you sees you. Its much more chaotic then anything in the States, but again, they all drive the same so its usually okay. There's just so many people that's its hard to enforce any of these rules.

Another note on the cars: many of the cars look new, but they are actually factory models from 10 years back, with a few fascia modifications. There were many Volkswagen for taxis, and overall a good mixture of cars from all over the world (contrast with Korea, where 80% of the cars are Hyundai or Kia or Samsung). Overall there was a certain bleakness about this big city; many of the buildings were actually painted grey (with red accents). However, don't be persuaded by my opinion, I still enjoyed visiting there. Food is cheap and tasty, clothes are cheap (once you learn how to bargain the prices down). But its definitely a place to visit at least once, also due to its proximity to The Great Wall...

Beijing Pt 1

Well, after my 8 days in Beijing, I come back to Busan feeling ready to go, refreshed and renewed. The next day I catch fever :-( and spent all day in bed (Saturday). Today (Monday) I went to get a checkup and some medication to take for one day. Price: $15. Is that cheap or what??

Luckily Beijing is only 1-hr time difference, so my friend John and I didn't suffer from jet lag. On the 2nd day I went to an aquarium nearby the hotel. I just figured I go and check it out, get it out of the way. I'm glad I went, there was lots to see in there. It was very dark, but fun. The shark exhibit was mesmerizing. Their tank was kind of big, and the sharks were no longer than 5-ft. But I could see why they instill fear into so many. They slowly pace around the tank, pale grey eyes and always baring their teeth. I stood by that tank for several minutes trying to get a good pic, but its tough when they never stop moving.

The sea turtles looked almost cartoonish in their colors, very impressive. The place reminded me of the movie 'Finding Nemo' - clown fish, whatever that blue fish was, and the sea turtles. There was also a gigantic tank where you could pass underneath, a glass tunnel so you could be right next to the fish! It was fun to be that close, and a little creepy, but difficult to take a good picture because of the glass curvature. I spent about 1-hr in the aquarium, cost about $10.

Overdue blog

Yes, thanks to Jason to remind me I'm overdue to post a blog, so here it is! I was waiting for a while to get my camera back from the repair shop; got it back and posted some pics here for ya. You can see both the motorbikes I have right now. The red and black is technically my 3rd bike, cause the first one was a lemon. The charcoal Magma was my 2nd bike, which I am currently leasing to my friend for 2 months, until he leaves. At that point I'll sell one of these bikes. I enjoy the increased power and top speed of the red and black bike (Kawasaki Vulcan 500) but its a bit older and Japanese, so costs more to fix. Also, my Magma is much lighter and fuel efficient, so we'll see what kind of offers pop up.

Also, this week I'm taking my first vacation from Korea; I'm going to Beijing for 8 days! Should be a good adventure, new culture. As you know most of the non-perishables we use come from China, so I will be doing some shopping for clothes that fit me :-) Also negotiating seems to be integral to the shopping process in China, so I hope to learn more about that, and also sharpen my negotiating skills in general. If time permits maybe I'll make it to the Forbidden City and The Great Wall. And of course I'll have my camera along, so I'll try to remember to take some interesting pictures and post them when I get back!

January

Happy Birthday to me! :-) And Happy Birthday to my 2 brothers this month! We all have our birthdays in January, so its kind of a special month. Wish I could be there to celebrate with you guys, even if just for a day. Another thing I wish I could be back home for is the Auto Show in Detroit.

The last few years, I made a habit of going to the Auto Show because I really enjoy seeing the new cars, and sitting in many of them, to see if I fit ;-) But us Schultzes' can't fit in all of them, we're just too big! Although I missed the Show this year and last year, I'm still able to keep an eye on what's new in the auto industry in the US; I used MSN Video to check out video clips of some of the new vehicles, see the interiors and hear about new technical advances. The new Lexus LS460 looks very interesting, as well as the Dodge Viper. Can't wait to get back to the States and see how the roadscape has changed!

In other new, I realized I needed a hobby, or something to study, to make my free time more interesting and perhaps income-augmenting. My family remembers I used to show interest in Feng Shui. I can even remember my brother Jason saying to me "Feng SHUI!" on several occasions haha! Well I decided to start studying it again; I recently purchased a CDROM of a distance learning course, from an accredited institution in the UK. If I prove my capacity I can become an accredited practitioner, i.e. consultant. So far its very interesting, and here's an example:

I was feeling tired most of the time, especially hard to get out of bed in the morning. There's this idea of Chi, or energy. There's a similar term for this in many Eastern cultures. Anyway, it hit me one night, as I was lying in bed, that I need to change my room around. Simply by moving my bed from the south wall to the east wall, I instantly felt better and had more energy! This doesn't mean everyone should have their beds on the east wall, thats just how my apartment is set up. Since then (about 5 days) I need less sleep, have more vivid dreams, and less lethargy. I also feel happier in general, and the only change was moving my bed (and dresser).

The practice of feng shui is considered to be over 5,000 yrs old, and its based on man, the environment, the elements, alignment of planets, and many more things which I've yet to learn. I know I'm far from being an expert in any sense, but this is my preliminary venture into the science. I can share more as I learn more. Or I may not say anything until I come back home :-) Nonetheless, this is an interest for me, which keeps this teaching thing from becoming too burdensome.

Also, I'm planning to take a little vacation in March, to Beijing, with my buddy John. Hope to have a functioning camera by then, and I'll take some pics of The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, and anything else worthy or mention. It'll be nice to get out of Korea for more than a few days!