My new place

I heard my blog wasn't working; I think, if I don't post for over a month, maybe it just stops? Anyway, I'm mostly settled into my new place. I only have outdoor pics this time, but its much better than my first place. I live on the 8th floor. Its on a busy street, but the windows keep it very quiet, which is nice. And I can see the sky! Wow, what a difference! So now I have a plant sitting on my window sill and its growing well. These things make me happy: sunlight and plants.

So I did purchase a bike, but its turned out to be a lemon, can barely get above 50km/h, or about 30mph. It started out better, but has gone downhill quickly. After taking it to a mechanic whom a friend recommended, apparently 3rd gear just doesn't work, and there is a problem with the head valve. Lesson learned, and not too expensive; I paid about $500. So these same mechanics helped me find a better bike, same model. I took it for a test drive; like night and day. The new bike is quiet and much faster, and higher top end. So probably next month I'll get that one, and swap parts from the old one, for the best of both bikes. I'll have a pic of the better bike later.

Its been a slow month workwise, filling in for a friend a few jobs. But already have teaching stuff lined up for next month, i.e. next week. Thanks family for worrying about me, I love you too! Threw in a few pics of Busan, from the north side. Yesterday a friend and I took a cable car up to the mountaintop, and a picture of Gwangan bridge. Enjoy!

Recentries

No pics this time, sorry. Just want to catch you guys up on some news. My current contract ends next week, at which time I will move into my new apartment! Its much nicer than my current one, I think. Its a bit closer to the beach as well, but pretty far from where I am now. I'll show pics later. Also I will stay at my current hagwon another week to help out until the next teacher comes, and since my contract expires my pay scale will change as well (go up). I have a morning kindergarten job lined up for at least a month, starting the first week of September. My visa was extended until Sept 26, so I have some time to find another hagwon which will sponsor my visa. I will have to make a visa run, destination unknown thus far. Also looking to get a motorcycle for more convenient transport. And for fun, I entered a fantasy football league with 9 other guys here. I'm not big on football these days, but this will help me get back into it, and keep up on the Lions (even though they usually let us all down). I may also set up a Kodak acct online, where I can post a bunch of pictures, but you can't leave comments. If I do I'll leave an http address on this site. Thats all for now, more to come!

Stupid Blogger

I've heard from a few people that my blog site is not showing up, so I hope this post actually is viewable. Everything is going fine for me here. I will stay another year, in Busan. Planning to move into the same building as one of my friends, so that will be nice. The rainy season, which lasted almost 2 months of June and July, has finally finished, making way for some beautiful weather. Also I had a mini vacation these past few days, so I've ben going to the beach and getting some sun. Thats one of the nice things that keeps me here in Busan - the beach. This next month its going to get hot and very humid, so its nice to have that option. Up in Seoul, it gets even hotter and more humid; I would probably be sweating the second I walked out the door. Humidity here is close to 100% on some days.

Anyway I don't have any new pics to post right now, but maybe I can get some more of the beaches, and me sitting around with my friends or something. In the meantime, keep sending emails and don't forget about me!!

Happy 4th July!!!

There was no celebration here in ol' Busan, for the birth of the United States. But my friend and I got together for some pizza and beer, and me doing a recording for one of her classes! Woot!! In other news, most of my pics come from a few weeks ago, when I went back to Beomeosa with a friend, to do a thorough job hiking the mountain. It was a great day. I started out sweating like an old man until we made it to the summit, then the clouds rolled in and cooled me off. My hiking partner barely broke a sweat. I guess I'm getting back into American form (i.e. kinda fat in the midsection).

On another ridge we found some guys para-gliding. I've never seen that in person before, so it seemed so cool to me. They gave me a business card, in English, so we'll see what happens with that. On the job front, I do plan to stay here another year, but I am debating whether to stick around here in Busan or try another area. Obviously I already know Busan well, and have many friends here. I will let ya know what happens with that. In the meantime, France v. Italy!!!

World Cup Fever

I know the World Cup is not really a big deal in US, but Koreans are fanatics about it! Ever since 2002, when they hosted the event, they get into a high-pitch fever about it. Randomly in class, kids will chant for Korea. The chant is "Day Han Mean Gook! clap clap! clap clap! clap!" Everyone knows it, and it didn't take me long to learn it. All the kids are wearing red shirts, supporting their team. Even businesses make their employees all wear the same shirt on certain days.

So Tuesday I went to see their first game against Togo. Korea eventually won 2-1. At the bar, at least half the people had red shirts on, including our group. They must've done the daehan mingoook cheer over 100 times during the game. At the end, the people went crazy! Our group went outside to see the streets filled with people, all in red shirts, some with red light-up horns on their heads. No cars could get past, they had to turn around. People were climbing up on telephone booths and subway entrance tunnels. Police arrived eventually, but they didn't need to do much, because Koreans are so well behaved. They just gently direct the crowds and the people know well enough. No fires, no tipping cars, no vandalism; just loud people filling the streets. Very interesting to watch; I doubt such a scene could happen back home. Any large gatherings I was witness to back in college ended in huge fires in the middle of the road, burning cars and furniture, and tear gas and riot police... Go Broncos!!!

Hapkido

Well, for whatever reason, I decided to start taking Hapkido, which is a Korean martial art. Maybe because I wanted some kind of exercise for everyday, or maybe because one of my best friends does it and she loves talking about it; either way, I had a coworker help me find a place to train. Found one about a 10 minute walk from my apartment. I'll get some pics of the place and my uniform sooner or later.

I am the only foreigner at this place (no surprise there) and I think I am getting preferential treatment. The main instructor, who is a 4th degree black belt (4th dan, or sa dan in Korean) can speak a bit of English, enough to help me. But we also rely on a lot of nonverbal - him showing the moves and what makes it effective. I think he is a really good teacher, and perhaps I am also a good learner at this point. In the class there are a few 3rd degree black belts, maybe 1 or 2 1st degree, a yellow and 2 other white belts besides me. Interesting point: the newest white belt is actually one of my students from school. He is 13 I think, so he likes to just run around and play a lot.

The school accepts everyone in with open arms. As part of breaking the ice and building a strong unit, we all went out for dinner after class one evening. We had sam gyoup sal (fried pork) and soju (Korean version of Saki, very very cheap, probably poisonous). After 1 1/2 hours of eating and drinking we went to a noraebang (karaoke in Japanese, literally means singing room). At first I was not very willing to sing songs, but after watching one of my other foreign friends go all out, I realized that its the most fun when you really get into it. I can't remember all the songs I sang, but we had a great time. I had to cheers with everyone several times, so I was pretty drunk. Thankfully, this all took place within walking distance of my apartment.

I can go to the class every night, after teaching finishes. I am usually able to go 3-4 nights a week, and even have the option of going in on Saturdays, which is nice. Its good to have a hobby, otherwise life becomes pretty boring here. And I don't want to be like some foreigners here who just drink all the time. I also started going to the beach recently and playing volleyball with another group of foreigners, so I'm finding things for fun and social activity. Maybe I'll post some pics of them next time!

Children's Day/Auto Show

Friday, May 5th was Cinco de Mayo, Buddha's Birthday, Children's Day, and a day off for me! Children's day is where adults buy gifts for their kids and they get the day off. In fact, most people get the day off, to spend family time. The irony is that some schools, since they had Friday off, made their students come in on Saturday :-( But not our hagwon :-) So I took this opportunity to go the Busan International Motor Show (BIMOS) at Bexco Center in Haeundae, the up and coming area of Busan; lots of money in that area.

From the pictures you can tell that the Korean auto show is much more sexy than, for instance, most western auto shows. When compared to NAIAS in Detroit, BIMOS puts much more emphasis on the women. And that made it very fun for me and my budd John. Contrary to my normal interest in new cars, I didn't sit in a single car. John and I spent our time taking pics of as many girls as we could (that were worth taking pictures of) and posing with a few as well. I took about 100 pics, but had to delete some due to unfocused images. Later that night I went to a bar that kinda celebrated Cinco de Mayo, even though there are no hispanics in Busan. Just an excuse for a cover charged, theme night, and sell tequila and Coronas (which are more expensive here than Budweiser). Saturday night saw more of the same, and Sunday night I went out with a group of friends, one of which had her sister and her husband visiting in town for a few days. So we played some drinking games and went to a singing room, which I am very good at signing, it appears, on a good night. All in all a long weekend full of interesting experiences and much alcohol. Its like being in college again, but less responsibility! (j/k kinda)

Gyeongju tashi kaja

Means lets go to Gyeongju again, and I did! So much better this time around, as you can see from the pics. A few of my friends chickened out at the last minute, so it was just me and a coworker. Everyone else had the same idea, though, so we were stuck in traffic for almost an hour on the way in! But once we got into the city area it was easy going. Apparently there is another city southwest of Busan which has even more cherry blossom trees, but my coworker said that place would be way too packed with people.

Another funny thing that I forgot about, but which my coworker (Katy - she's Korean) noticed, was all the people staring at me. I've learned to turn that off for the most part, as I was paying attention to the surroundings. But once she mentioned that, I started looking at people and so many would be staring at me, and staring at her wondering what she was doing walking around with me lol! Its not that they are rude, they just do not see many foreigners, so they get a good look when they can. And I didn't see any other foreigners while I was in Gyeongju that day.

On the way out, traffic was a breeze. This was about 3 or 4pm. The inbound lane was backed up a few miles! Then again its only 2 lanes each way. OK, I'm rambling so just look at the pics :-)

Gyeonju

Last weekend I went with a fellow teacher and her family to Gyeongju, the ancient capital of South Korea. Of course there are the major temple and buddhas to be seen there, but the real attraction in the spring is the cherry blossom trees. For about a month ( April) all the blossoms are in bloom, and the streets are lined with the trees full of white flowers. In fact, so is much of the lake in the area.

Unfortunately we went there too early, and there were no cherry trees in bloom. The weather was a bit chilly also, but that didn't stop my teacher and her family from showing me some of the local attractions. From what I understand, almost all Korean students take a field trip to see this ancient capital city at least once during their scholastic career, usually at a younger age. It is amazing to realize that tha dated history of this area goes back to the 8th and 9th centuries. Korea has a rich cultural heritage which I didn't really expect, because its such a small country. I checked out Wikipedia online for more information. We didn't see all the ancient landmarks, such as burial mounds and the Buddha on the mountainside, but I took a few pics of some interesting things. I may go back later with some friends to see the trees next month. If so, I'll post more pics.

Beomeosa

Last weekend I went with a few friends to the North end of Busan. I live on the south end, so by bus and subway it took about 1h 30min to get there. There was me, my friend John, his girlfriend, and 3 other girls. Beomeosa (Bo mo sah) is a temple in Busan. People can do temple-stays if they want, for a nominal fee. I didn't see any monks while we were there, though.

I took a pic of a couple big statues. After I did, I felt this might have been offensive, as everyone else who walked by them placed their hands together and bowed. Oops! But I kept the pic anyway. We only hiked for about 1 1/2 hrs because it became a bit cold, and we were kinda lazy. Someday I will go back and actually hike the whole mountain, and see some nice sights, weather pending.

I had a pic of the place where I live, but I lost it. You can only see the first 2 stories, then there are another 13 floors in the same building, but separated. This is a common structure in Korean buildings, to have the first 2-5 floors for businesses or apartments, then floors 6 through whatever are just apartments. Its different but can be a benefit, like having a party shop on the first floor of your building. Teaching continues in the same fashion.

People Helping People

Last Saturday I went with a group of foreigners to an orphanage. This group of Christians are from the US and Canada. They do this once a month. I agreed to do this a few months ago, but I usually was hungover or woke up too late and couldn't make it. This month I made sure I would be able to go. So we met at 1:15 at Starbucks in Nampodong (just across the bridge from where I live) and waited for 1/2hr before a van came to pick us up. Yes, Starbucks are popular in Busan also, as well as Dunkin Donuts (which is much nicer than the one was in my hometown).

So we went there and played with kids. I spent the first 30 min playing basketball. Man, I suck! I'm so out of shape for that. But the kids were pretty good, lots of passing and teamwork; they were about age 10-12. Then me and the other guy in the photo played with a group of girls for the rest of the 2 hrs we were there. We came with more people, but they all disappeared and we couldn't find them.

I gave my buddy a piece of gum, and the kids, with their raptor-like senses, were on to me instantly and wanted all my gum. So I reluctantly gave it all away, everything I had. Then one girl though it would be a good idea to put rocks in the gum pack where the gum used to be. Pretty funny, so I said in Korean "Oh, delicious?" And I gave lots of piggy-back rides, chased them around and spun them around.

As we were finishing, one guy said to me that we are probably getting back more than we give (when we do this good deed). I didn't really have a response, so I just said Yea, I think so! lol I didn't see it that way at all, I just went to play with kids. Kinda like work, but no studying English. I was the only non-Christian in the group of foreigners. But it was fun and I'll try to get some better pictures next month. It's a really nice school complex.

Korean food

Ok, so you guys must wonder what I eat every day. To tell the truth I don't really keep track of what I eat, so I have to take pictures to remind myself. Usually for breakfast I have a western-style meal, like cereal or eggs and a PBnJ, orange juice, maybe a banana and a protein shake a bit later. The rest of the day it varies. For lunch I might cook up some meat and some vegetables. In one picture you can see the vegetables on a white plate. Next to that is what is known as busan odang, which is a sort of fish patty, particular to Busan because of its abundant fishing industry. It tastes great!

Last week I went to a fishery in Yeongdo with a coworker. It looked more like a warehouse than anything else. All their food was fresh, and I guess you could pick your fish if you want. I ate raw fish, its was okay, with some soju and beer. Growing up my family did not eat a lot of seafood because of allergies, so getting used to eating mollusks and squid and such was pretty weird. It still is because of the salty taste. Yes, I live on an island, but its just like the rest of the city, nothing special. I just cross a bridge to get to the rest of the city. There are two bridges and they are pretty short.

Later in the week I went to another place to eat, in Nanpodong, which is right across the bridge. Just look at the stuff! Its hard to explain what everything is. Its Korean traditional food. The big plate on the left is steamed pork, the big one on the right is kimchi. Then a bunch of side dishes, which is common to Korean meals. There are plenty of western-style restaurants as well, like Outback, Bennigans, MacDonalds, TGI Fridays, etc, but I don't really want to go to those places. There'll be plenty of time for that when I go back home.

Snow? In Busan?

Yes, it finally snowed in Busan on Monday! But by 11am it was mostly melted where I live. I received a few text messages to wake up and look outside, cause I've let everyone know how much I miss it! It was a measely 1-2 inches, and turned to light drizzle later. It was ok, but I wasn't all that excited. The picture of the mountains is the island I live on, on Monday around noon. The second picture is what I see everyday when I first walk out of my building. Nothing special, but I do get to see those mountains when I walk a bit farther down the street.

I went hiking again a few weeks ago, and took a few pics. I had a friend help me get those two little girls to pose, but they seemed pretty confused about what was going on, and maybe a bit scared of the big waygook lol! Also atop the mountain there are old mine fields, pretty fun. It used to be some sort of lookout point however many years ago due to its location close to the sea. On a clear day you can see all the way to the island I live on, but usually its kinda foggy.

Also included a pic of one of my students, a typical little Korean girl. Its funny, most Korean girls ages 6-11 wear pink almost everyday, either their coat or shirt, pants, etc. And you see that piece of paper being held up? Thats a scaredy-cat teacher who didn't want to be in the picture lol. Silly girls...