The View from the Top

Hi everyone, I thought I would use my extra time tonight to write a blog post. I had a class I didn't have to teach and I'm really happy about it because they are all apathetic middle school kids who I hate trying to teach. Otherwise things are going well at school, I just finished my evaluations for this month and the week is almost over. Wow, three months. This Friday we actually get a day off for Korean thanksgiving, which is awesome.

So Korean thanksgiving, or Chusok, is apparently the like a Korean Christmas in terms of how big it is, but we got really screwed because it fell on Saturday. If it would have been on Thursday we would have gotten Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off. But here we are, anyway, I'll just enjoy my one day. I haven't really gathered what happens on this holiday except for the fact that they all travel to see their family and then eat rice cakes or something. It means that the roads will be ridiculously congested, too. My student was telling me that if it takes three hours to drive somewhere you can pretty much expect it to take eight or so. Ha ha, have fun Korea.

So anyway, about this post. I had made this hiking trip about a month ago to an observation tower that is located in our town on a hill that borders it. It kind of got pushed on the back burner for other posts and other life activities I guess. Right now is as good of a time as any though, I think.

I made the hike by myself on a Sunday afternoon. It was pretty muggy at that time, so I was really sweating my ass off.

The observation tower from below

Its a really nice hike, and not too long either. It probably took me about fifteen minutes to walk there and then about fifteen or so to walk up the hill. At the entrance of the flat area on top of the hill is this sign:
So I don't really understand why it's called a mountain fortress and talks a lot about a wall and a walled city. Hmm, some great blog writer I am.

Anyway, when I got to the clearing at the top of the hill, there was a huge work out area. It included some hula hoops, a padded running track, plenty of apparati (is that the plural for apparatus) for doing crunches, push ups, pull ups, and some other zany exercises which are kind of like an elliptical machine, a giant ship steering wheel, and a small rotating platform so you can twist your midsection. I'll do a post on Korean workout parks before winter since they are everywhere and they are pretty hilarious.

The park. I think the red logs are balance beams.

The observation tower from directly below

So after climbing up the 40 or 50 steps to the top of the observation tower, there's a breathtaking view of the city. It's easy to see that the city isn't huge or anything, but it's definitely not tiny. The town is basically bordered by this long strip mountain/hill or whatever and then on the other sides it's mostly fields of rice paddies.

Looking southwest

Looking south

Looking southeast

So that's basically the town I live in from above. You can kind of see where I live in the picture looking south but it's not too easy to describe, and I'm lazy. Oh, the last thing I'll put in here is this crazy sign I saw in the workout park at the top of the hill. I think it's something about keeping healthy.

Mascots Ep. V, So Many Mascots

So, continuing the beloved series of guessing what a small lovable mascot might be saying or thinking, its Mascots Ep. V, So Many Mascots. Oh, by the way, this might be the last mascot post for a while because I think I ran out. There's an outside chance I can find enough for another one.

"Hey kids, I used to sell breakfast cereal, and now I sell something waaaay more delicious. Cigarettes! They're Great!"

"This year, why not let a bed bug do your taxes!"

"I have a pepper for a hand, and I like it."

"Alright, who invited the spoon?"

"We should consider other delivery methods!"

"( )"

This is a new feature, where I would like you to tell me what you think this character would be saying. Please leave any ideas in the comments. If a few people actually contribute ideas, I'll make it a contest and find a prize for the winner.

What Do I Eat?

So I write this blog describing various aspects of my life here in Korea, and I figure that many at home may be thinking, "what does he eat?" And "please, just tell us more about what you eat." And so on. Well, the short answer is take-out, lots and lots of take-out.

The long answer is that I have about four different restaurants that I frequent for my various meals throughout the week. Generally on a weeknight I will just get take-out for one, and then on weekends I'll usually go out with friends for chicken, pizza, or whatever.

It turns out I pretty much never cook a meal unless it's breakfast and I warm up some toaster pastries or something. So does this get expensive? The answer is, not really. My meal from night to night ranges from about 3000 Won to 6000 Won. That translates to about $2.50 to $5.00 American. Oh, for lunch I usually just eat at school or pick up a cheap rice roll or something.

So talking about the food I eat isn't so exciting, and I figured I would delve into a plethora of pictures to illustrate just how good some of the food I can get here is.

The first place I'll talk about is called Sushi & Roll Fusion Restaurant. I guess it's fusion because it's a mix of Korean and Japanese, but I'm not 100% on that. This is the best sushi I've found in town, and it's a little expensive. My favorite one is called the crunch roll which is only 6000 Won.

The crunch roll, it has shrimp and little crunchy things on it.

A salmon roll, this is more expensive, but it's really good.

There's also a place near my house which I like called Sushi 990. They have a little bit cheaper sushi and then some different soups and cutlets. I'll eat here about two times a week. The family which runs it is super nice, they always want to bring out fruit or whatever while I'm waiting. One time the wife, who cooks the meals brought over this little towel and started pretending to wipe the table and saying something in Korean. It turned out she wanted to give me a gift, a towel that she stitched a little flower onto. It was super nice.

This is a cheesy chicken cutlet. It costs 5000 Won and comes with rice, pickles, mixed fruit, coleslaw, and cream corn. It also comes with some broth to drink with the meal.

Another favorite restaurant is called Hanudong. This place makes great food but it's a little more expensive than the Sushi 990. They make excellent cutlets and also these great rice dishes.

This one has octopus in it along with vegetables. It's very hot and comes with a side of kimchi. 4500 Won.

Korea is of course well known for the street food, and a staple of street food vendors is the dok bokki. This is basically a bunch of rice cakes in hot sauce, very very hot sauce. It also has these little noodles and an egg. One day I ordered this and a woman behind me said "you like dok bokki?" And I was like yeah, of course. She basically thought it was very strange that I was not Korean and I was able to enjoy spicy food. It's racism if you ask me. Very very mild racism.

Mmmm, dok bokki, 3000 Won

This one comes from this little tiny pink van parked about a block from my apartment. The guy spiral cuts potatoes and deep fries them in front of you and dips them in powder.

Spiral potato, 1000 Won

The last food I'll mention is from a restaurant called Toastour, which is also a block from my house. You can order many different things cooked on a griddle between two pieces of bread, though I only know how to order two different sandwiches. One is the standard egg and ham and cheese. The other one is called the pizza toaster, which is excellent. Its got egg cooked with a pepperoni and pepper in it. On the other piece of bread is some cheese and pizza sauce. Delicious.

Pee ja to su tu, 2200 Won

A Visitor

So finally someone took the time to come and visit me in Korea (mostly joking, I'm not bitter, really). My cousin on my dad's side, Jennifer had three days off from her job and decided to swing by the friendly Republic of Korea for those days. She has been working as an English teacher, somewhat like me, over in Japan for almost two years. Actually, hearing some about her experiences had an influence in my decision to come to Korea.

Anyway, the time we had together was short, she got into the airport Sunday night at 8:00 and I had to work Monday afternoon. Actually, her flight was perfectly on time, and my bus ended up being delayed by over an hour. That was an excruciating three hour forty minute bus ride having to watch the clock as I'm more and more late. I ended up at the airport at about 9:10, so then just the quick one hour subway ride to her hotel, and we were free to hang out for the rest of the night.

I should also introduce her friend, Gini, who is an English teacher in Japan and came with Jennifer. She has been in Japan for something like nine years, which is pretty crazy. She had an opinion on just about everything, and she ended up being pretty interesting. I also found that her full name is Regina, which I liked because that is the name of the street that I grew up on.

So here's a picture of Jennifer, she's looking very excited because we about to enjoy her first authentic Korean barbecue.

Here is Gini, also very stoked about the dinner.

Now here is the Korean barbecue meat, and this isn't just any meat, its galbi. That means its high quality beef.

I don't think I've talked much about Korean barbecue on this site, so I might as well put in a few words. It's this meal where you watch meat get cooked over a gas stove or over hot coals at the center of your table. The meat is usually pork, and in this case we had beef, which is excellent. Also on the table are a series of side dishes, ranging from kimchi, the time honored Korean favorite of fermented cabbage, garlic, various sauces, and sometimes even other meats. I actually had a similar meal on Friday where thin strips of raw hamburger was served. That stuff was actually super good. Anyway, you watch the meat cook at the center of your table while turning it yourself to make sure it's evenly cooked. Actually we were all novices at this so the server did most of the work. Once the meat is cooked, it is put into an open leaf of lettuce which is placed in the palm of your hand. Then, you pile on the side dishes to your liking, roll it up, and pile it all into your mouth. I have to say it's an excellent meal, and offers a very communal experience because everyone has to watch the meat cook, share the side dishes, and then build their own lettuce pile.

So I'll move on anyway. The rest of the night was fairly low key since each of us was somewhat tired. We walked around the area of the hotel, where we found a nice walkway which had a Korean workout park that Jennifer and Gini really liked. I showed them how just about every block in Korea is about the same because it has the regular PC room, singing rooms, convenience stores, and then the trash piled everywhere. I don't make it sound too nice, but if you can get by the trash, it's a nice place.

I should mention, because this is pretty funny, I slept in their hotel room on this really small couch thing. It was in two different pieces, one was about 2' by 3', and then another section which is about 2' by 2'. I put the larger one under my head and abdomen, and then the smaller one under my feet, so it did serve as a bed. This hotel unfortunately didn't have any extra pillows or blankets in the room and I didn't want to ask for any because I thought they might have charged extra. It wasn't the best night of sleep of my life. Actually, you might say it was toward the other end. It wasn't really that bad though, I slept soundly enough to snore it up. That's what I tend to do when I'm on my back, which is the only comfortable position I could come up with on that thing.

Jennifer brought me a few boxes of fancy Japanese candy, one of them Fran Whipps and the other Pocky Men's Bitter Chocolate. I have yet to try the Men's Bitter Chocolate, and I'm curious to know what the 11% is about. Is it 11% more bitter now? I'm not sure if anybody who reads my blog knows Japanese. Oh well.

So anyway, Jennifer I hope you had a great trip and everything went well. I also hope you have a good impression of Korea. I'll make sure to check out your blog for updates about the trip.

Meet My New Neighbor

So I know that I haven't been doing a lot of blog posts lately, and this is not going to help. Meet my new neighbor who moved in at 8:00 sharp this Sunday morning. And I mean with a bang. And I mean I woke up with the noise and the apartment shaking after going to bed at about 4 that morning.

This, to loyal blog readers, may be known as the spot where a building was removed in the morning before I went to Thailand. Now they are finally putting something up which is good, I only pray that they finish soon. Who knows how fast this project can go when there seem to be two men working on the project, the guy operating the crane, and the guy who helps navigate the posts who wears only safety glasses and a sun hat for protection. That's my belief too, that helmets just slow things down.

Things are going well otherwise, the weather has cooled here, especially at night. I like this new fall season because the days aren't as hot.

Teaching is going well, I am learning to be more strict while still trying to remain fun and friendly with the students. My favorite form of punishment is to force them to stand in the corner in time out and sometimes force them to stay one minute after class like that. I know it kills them because they want to run out of class so badly when it' over.

My only real problem lately is that my throat has been sore. I attribute it to the fact the I talk now more than I really ever have in my life and I think my vocal chords are adjusting. The part that stinks is that I start to recover at night or on the weekends, but as soon as I'm back in class it starts right back drying out and hurting.

Well, tonight is an exciting time, because I go to visit cousin Jennifer in Seoul. I only get to spend between when their plane lands at 8:00 tonight until 9:00 tomorrow morning, but I'm sure well get little sleep and have a great time. At least then I'll have a little more fodder for the blog. We'll see if any of it overlaps into her blog (which now features all correctly oriented photographs by the way).

Is This Necessary?

This is one of those only in Korea type things. Well, this restaurant is also in Japan, Vietnam, and a few other places, so maybe there too. Anyway, in Korea we have what is called the "Korean McDonald's," which is Lotteria:

This place is run by a company called Lotte, which provides Korea with everything from candy, vitamins, giant department stores, and well, everything. Their Lotteria fast food chain offers a variety of American-like fast food sandwiches with just a little Korean twist on them. Many of their sandwiches are bulgogi, which can be either beef or pork, I think, and has a flavor similar to teriyaki. I don't especially like it.

Anyway, since Lotte and Lotteria already bring us everything, they decided to expand the definition of everything. Behold, marking the historic 30th anniversary of Lotteria in Korea, the bulgogi/shrimp burger. That's right, a bulgogi burger and a deep fried shrimp patty, some chopped lettuce, and some sauce, all under one roof. It's the original odd couple.

I had to try this ridiculousness for myself, so I forked over the 3,200 Won and they managed to bring me one about 12 minutes later. This was not a worthwhile wait for something I didn't especially want. I think they were close to closing or something but 12 minutes is pretty inexcusable.

Anyway, I don't really like bulgogi, so you can guess how that went. I did think the shrimp was good so I enjoyed that part a lot. And, in case you were wondering, it is possible to take a bite of both at the same time. I managed to do it myself.

Finally....

Being an employed adult, I have the ability to purchase items I find needed or desired. This week I bought something which is definitely both for me, a guitar. I have gone over two months now without playing any kind of musical instrument (if you don't count one of my student's xylophones which I played chopsticks on before class once).

I had previously browsed the guitars at a music shop about two blocks from my house and found this beautiful red guitar. Lacking funds, I vowed to one day return and retrieve the axe. Here is the guitar:

I named her cherry, for the color. It is pronounced with a French style 'ch,' so you would say Sherry. The sound is nice, but I think its a little heavy on low end noise. That could also by my style of playing, though.

A sexy shot

I'm not really sure where this guitar was made, but I think there are Japanese characters inside. It wouldn't surprise me, though, if it was made in China.

Looking nice

The store owner through in a soft case, a strap, a tuner, and some guitar picks, so I was happy.

Now I just miss my bass, keyboard, harmonica, and cello. Just wait...

It's a super strange spot for this, but this photo is a must see.

A Bug and a Bum

I was walking into a park on Monday where I like to sit and read, and I witnessed a few interesting occurrences. This park, located near city hall, feels at least slightly secluded from the city thanks to a nice cover of trees.

First, when I walked in I heard this very loud sound that was like a 'WEEEE WEEEE WEEEE WAAAAAAAAA' with the 'WAAAAAAA' decreasing in frequency. It took me a few seconds to realize that these were bugs making this sound. I looked around for bugs, well, mostly listened around, and spotted one on a light post. I watched it as it made this 'weeeee' noise, incredibly loud, then flew away.

The bugs look to be about 1.5 to 2" long. I did manage to snap a few pictures:

Does anyone know what these creatures are? They just make this incredibly loud sound that I can sometimes hear in the morning outside my window.

I should mention, I also caught another interesting sight. I found a man passed out on a park bench with a giant bottle of soju next to him. It was noon, mind you. Actually, this isn't completely uncommon.

Gyeong Bok Gung Palace

This weekend, I decided on the spur of the moment to go to Seoul. When I say spur of the moment, I mean I decided on Friday night and then planned the trip on Saturday before I left. Doesn't get a lot more spur of the moment than that. My hasty plans for the day were to see a large palace called Gyeong Bok Gung Palace, and then go to Itaewon, which is essentially "Little America," and do some random shopping/American food eating.

The bus ride was interesting, I sat next to a Korean man who was a teacher. He informed me that there were some important differences between American kids and Korean kids. For one thing, in Korean schools they are never taught to raise their hands, but basically to just shout their questions, etc. And I thought all of my students were just loud jerks. Hmmm.

This was also my first time navigating the Seoul subways without being shepherded around. It was pretty tricky at first actually. I basically asked a lot of people where I needed to go at first. Later I figured out how to do it, and it's just a matter of finding your stop on the map, figuring out what train line it is, somehow figuring out which direction to go, and then remembering the number of your destination. Actually, I think its a little better organized than the NYC subway system because there are just 9 or so different lines on that many tracks. In NYC it's too many different train lines traveling on a few tracks and its all a mess of numbers and letters and express trains. At least it's in English there.

So I arrived at the Gyeong Bok Gung Palace with almost no trouble, and I paid for my ticket with a 100,00 Won bank note. To my surprise and delight, they handed me back a 50,000 Won bill. These bills are new, and this is my first time I have ever possessed one. If these bills were in circulation more it would be a huge relief on wallet size because the next highest bill is 10,000 Won which is basically $10. That means if you want to carry around about $100 it takes at least ten bills.

The original founding of Gyeong Bok Gung Palace actually happened back in 1395. Korea has had a tough time, though, in preserving it's landmarks and monuments. In 1592 this place was destroyed by fire during an invasion by Japan. It took them then until 1868 to reconstruct.

The entrance to the palace complex

The palace complex is pretty much a giant walled in fortress with these different giant pagoda buildings which were once used to different purposes during times when the king was in power.

A long walkway

One of the things I like most about the palace is the fact that the palace is surrounded by mountains on one side and skyscrapers and cityscape on the other. This makes for strange sets of pictures juxtaposing palace buildings and mountains, as well as palace buildings and skyscrapers, as seen below:

Geongjeongjoen (the thrown room) and a mountain

Geongjeongjeon and the city

I went on a day where there was some kind of celebration for the elders, and there was some kind of traditional dancing and music show going on. I didn't watch for long because it was pretty boring.

The performance

A pavilion with a surrounding body of water

I think this building is part of the Korea Folk museum

So the palace was nice, but it was ridiculously hot and sunny the whole time so I couldn't tolerate much more than an hour and a half of walking around it.

My next stop was Itaweon, aka Americatown. I did a few much needed things: I ate a large, delicious hamburger, and bought a pair of cargo shorts from a store under the McDonald's called "The Brooklyn Connection." Another important thing I did was went to a book store with foreign books. I was like 'Oh I'm just swimming in English books.' You can tell that I don't see them often in Seosan. I bought a book called "Outliers." After that I was pretty pooped so I just hit the subway to the bus station and got out of there. It was definitely a good day, though.

A Few Paintings

I finally finished a few more paintings and it seems worthwhile to post these now. First is one somewhat inspired by my trip to Thailand, where I saw all of the Buddha statues, and not to mention the gold.

The painting started as this grid:

Then, I wanted to paint some kind of a face. I ended up choosing this golden Buddha face which allowed me to use this nice sparkly gold paint. I did it in a pixelated style inside of the eight sided oval shapes with eight sided star shapes which result from the remainder of the other shape.

Then I added into the eight a rainbow of colors, and ended up with this. It didn't end up looking quite as good as I had hoped, but I still like it. It ended up as part polychromatic and part polychromatic. It's a little hard to see the gold paint here because the camera really caught the reflection of the flash.

I also did this next painting which was originally inspired by the coloring of an old ladies dress which I really liked. It does have a meaning. It has to do with transformation, but I will leave the rest up to interpretation.