Month One: No Regrets

Today marks my first month in Korea and I thought it would be a good time to write a general reflections blog on my experience so far.  Lately the blog has been more of a play-by-play of my life in Korea but I want to get slightly more emo and try to put into words how I feel about living here.

Last week at Now Bar my friend asked me, "No regrets?" and without a second of hesitation I replied that I had absolutely zero regrets about coming to Korea.  And that is the truth: I've loved just about every minute of being here.  It is really difficult to express how I feel about this country and how much admiration I have for the people and culture in Korea.  Perhaps it is one of those things you have to experience for yourself but there is something incredibly liberating about cutting all ties, flying around the world, and setting up a whole new life for yourself amidst a foreign culture.  And this isn't something you're constantly aware of; most days have become "the norm" and walking down the street doesn't feel any different that it would walking down S. Division or N. Greenview.  But there are some moments where I mentally take a giant leap backwards and realize how fantastic of a place this is and how fortunuate I am to be here.  I sincerely love Korea now and at this point in my life I cannot imagine being happier anywhere else.

It is funny, right now I can't really think of all that many examples of these types of moments but I just know that every now and again I find myself smiling ear to ear with the knowledge that if I had stayed in Chicago I never would have had "X" experience, I never would have met "Y", and I never would have learned "Z" about myself.  Everyday there are more X's, Y's, and Z's.  Before when someone said "You can do anything you put your mind to" it would sound like lip service to me, now I actually believe that.  I mean, come on, if we can navigate the Seoul Subway map, order food in restaurants without pictures or English, and basically just survive in Korea with a smile on our faces then what can't we do?

I've even learned to embrace the frustrating aspects of life here.  The language is hard, but learning it has been a true pleasure.  The kids can be brats, but they also make me smile and teach me things I could never learn from anyone other than a 10 year old.  I miss my friends and family, but I'm making new friends from all over the world and learning more from them about the world than I ever could from people in Hemlock.  There is nothing I cannot handle so if I approach every obstacle with that attitude it allows me to search for the good in bad situations and learn and grow at every hurdle.  I've developed a new world view and a had a really profound realization that while the U.S.A. is the greatest country on Earth there is a lot we can learn from other cultures to make it even better.

I think this blog is quite disjointed and all over the map.  I must say it is more difficult that I initially imagined to express how I feel in words because my life here has pushed and pulled me in so many directions that giving each their due time in a blog would take years to compile.  I guess I will say this: I've learned that life is tragically short and doing anything other than following your dreams is a terrible disservice to yourself.  I really mean that, you're cheating yourself if you're not doing everything in your power to make yourself happy.  If you're not happy with what you're doing, change.  And don't change next year or next month, do it now or you might wake up 50 years from now wondering what might have been.  Don't follow the well-beaten path just because it is the one of least resistence or the one that is most highly traveled.  Don't be afraid to blaze your own path, even if that means cutting down some trees along the way.  Ask yourself what do you have to lose?  If you are unhappy then I would say you're not risking a whole hell of a lot if you go out on a limb, quit holding back, and go for it.  Don't live your life to satisfy other people's dreams.  Your dreams are the only ones that really matter so drop everything else and follow them.  Even if those dreams take you to uncoventional places or ends (say, teaching English in Korea?) don't be afraid to take a chance on yourself.  Good or bad, you won't regret it.  I know I haven't.

Take it easy, but take it.

"Let me drop my Korean on 'em"

Another weekend down, another amazing set of memories and experiences.

Friday night I had dinner with Charlie, Ben, Haji, Josh, and Michelle at our favorite restaurant.  No tea kettle fights this time, just some good laughs and great food.  Afterwards we took Ben for his first trip to Now Bar.  Played some darts and pool, had some drinks, talked with a few "old friends" and just generally enjoyed the night.  At 4 a.m. we decided it was probably time to leave and we go outside to catch a cab.  Charlie had this idea that instead of using the business card with our address he would just try to tell the guy where to go.  As he's walking up to the cab he says, "Let me drop my Korean on 'em."  Ben and I were in hysterics as Charlie kept repeating the name over and over and the driver just kept shaking his head and muttering something.  I wish I had a video of how funny the whole scene really was.  Just as we were about to try another cab the guy figured out what Charlie was saying and took us home.  It was a hiliarious cab ride as Charlie rode up front and was joking with the driver and just being generally hilarious.  Ben and I could barely catch our breath in the backseat.

So after about 6 hours of sleep we woke up to meet up with Anna who was taking us to see some traditional Korean martial arts.  It was certainly worth being a little tired to see these guys in full costumes using swords, spears, nun-chucks, the whole works.  It was a really awesome show and one I plan on checking out again soon.  I'll throw up some pictures I took from the show.

After the show Anna took us to try some Korean food we had yet to sample.  We settled on this soup called "budae jjigae" which was created after the Korean war. (Pictures are above, Blogger is lame about reordering things) Koreans were absolutely dirt poor and had very little meat.  What meat they did have was in the form of hot dogs, canned meat, and Spam (yes, Spam) from the U.S. Army bases.  Well, you see, the Koreans are able to make just about anything delicious so they just threw all of this together with some noodles, vegetables, and tofu and created an amazingly delicious meal.  We all ate until we were full and Anna taught me a few more Korean words.  I really impressed her when I called the waitress over and ordered more water all on my own.  I am really going to start dedicating some time to learning Korean because the more and more I try the easier it is getting.  It helps to have a patient teacher like Anna who can really help my pronounciation.

After that we went back to the fortress entrance (where the martial arts show was) and watched some Korean traditional music and dance.  Super cool costumes and incredible culture.  I profusely thanked Anna for taking us because it was the first real taste of "traditional" Korea and I loved every minute of it.  We caught the bus back home and all took a few hour nap before our adventure into Seoul.

So we wanted to check out the giant electronics district in Yongsan, mainly to price a PS3 for Charlie.  Once we arrived we were all starving so we immediately began the search for food and settled on a restaurant that had pictures and English.  I'm not sure what exactly we ate but it was similar to galbi: basically meat and vegetables cooked together on a giant plate in the middle of our table with all the basic sidedishes.  It seems everytime we just randomly settle on a meal it turns out to be fantastic.  After that we realized the electronics district had just closed so we began out journey to the neighborhood of Hongdae to watch Josh and Michelle's band.

Ok, so on the subway map there is no "Hongdae."  I've never actually seen the word spelled out but I've heard everyone say it a thousand times so I'm confident it is either Hungdae or Hongdae.  We find a "Harwangdae" on the map and think, "Well, the Koreans just slur it together or they did a shitty job on the phonetic spelling, either way, that has to be it."  We take the subway a bit further and end up in Harwangdae.  So before we left Josh drew us a map but we forgot it and were just going off memory.  We knew we were supposed to come out of one of the subway exits, go right on a "big road", and then turn when we saw a restaurant called "Omatu Tomato."  So we set off down the "big road" in one direction and it leads no where.  We turn around and try the other direction; same result.  Charlie has been to Hongdae before and he kept saying, "This doesn't even look like the Hongdae I remember."  Well, as it turns out, we were on the completely wrong side of Seoul.  Two hours of wandering aimlessly and all the while laughing about how we could possibly be in the wrong place.  Luckily we had some time to kill and were able to find a Korean who spoke English to set us straight.  We jump in a cab to Hongdae and then our next adventure begins.

So Charlie is the only one who had seen the map and to his credit he did a great job of remembering.  We find the Omatu Tomato with no problem and we know we're supposed to take a left there.  The problem is we don't know which direction we're supposed to be approaching from because the map was assuming we got off the subway instead of getting dropped off by a cab in the middle of the area, so we don't know which way "left" is.  Charlie draws the map with his finger on a wall so Ben and I have an idea of what we're looking for and we just set off down one road.  On the map this road dead-ends and we take a right.  Much to our surprise the road actually does dead-end and we take a right.  Then we're supposed to turn again at a 7-11.  BAM!  There's the 7-11.  Ok, final step, find the bar.  We don't know the name or where it is on this street.  We see a sign that says "Live music, no cover" and we ask what kind of music and they tell us rock and roll.  Charlie had the good sense to say "Is the drummer white with a long ponytail?"  Low and behold we found the frickin' bar in about 10 minutes after we wandered the wrong area of the city for two hours.

Anna and her sister Lisa also joined up with us and it was a great time.  Josh plays drums and Michelle plays the steel drum.  The band played a mix of cover songs ranging from Bob Marley to Sublime and they were quite good to being playing a basement bar with no cover.  Now, I'm no steel drum expert but I think Michelle is probably in the top 1% of all steel drum players in the world after seeing her last night.  It was just incredible how talented they were.  She made it look so effortless and her solos really stole the show.

After the show we took a cab home.  We were told to neogiate a flat rate of 45,000won to get us back to Suwon from Hongdae.  After a few hilarious minutes we settle on 47,000 and we were off, racing through the streets of Seoul.  The driver was a young guy and we had some good laughs with him about listening to Avril Lavigne and him smoking all of Charlie's cigarettes.  There was something so surreal about flying along the Han River at 2 a.m. after such a full, fun day.  It is moments like that where I mentally take a step back and realize how fortunate I am to be here doing what I'm doing and how happy I am to have made this decision.  I've only been here a little over 3 weeks and I've already made a lifetime of memories.  Having friends like Charlie, Ben, Anna, Josh, Michelle, and Haji just adds to the experience.  I just want to soak in everything this country has to offer and I feel like I'm off to a great start.

I intended to write a more serious blog about my experience so far but this is running long enough so I'll save that for another day.

Take it easy, but take it.

Back on the grind

Ok, no more political rants.  In all fairness though, it is my blog so I'll write about whatever I want. I can't promise it will always be Korea related.

On Sunday Charlie and I went to Itaewon.  Itaewon is a neighborhood in Seoul with a reputation for being "Foreigner Town."  There is a huge concentration of English speakers as well as Nigerians and people from the Middle East.  It also is home to Seoul's Red Light District and many "Juicy Bars."  For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, a Juicy Bar is a bar where you go, get a table, and are instantly joined by a hot female who keeps you company.  You buy her drinks (no alcohol, only juice, hence the name) in hopes that she might sleep with you.  Now I've never been and I have no idea what sort of success rate you can expect in a place like this but the idea of buying her juice to get her to sleep with you seems pretty funny to me.  We were only there during the day (on Easter Sunday no less) so we didn't get to see the darker, shadier side of Itaewon.  To us, it was just like Songtang only in Seoul with more restaurants and shops.

Getting to Itaewon was our most complicated trip yet.  It invovled two subway transfers and three different subway lines.  At our first transfer we got on the wrong direction but quickly realized our mistake, got off, and turned around.  Other than that we successfully navigated the entire crazy subway map and arrived in just over an hour.  We were both really hungry so we went into the first restaurant we thought looked good which happened to be a Mexican place.  It was great to have some guac, salsa, and fajitas.  Also, the waitor was fluent in English so it was the first time in a long time that I've been able to really communicate with the person who is taking my order.  After that we just walked around and checked everything out.  It was really similar to Songtang in that it had lots of shops catering to Westerners.  It also has tons of different types of restaurants and bars.  Most the signs were in English and almost everyone spoke English which is always refreshing.

Just as we were about to leave we noticed a sign for golf.  It turned out to be an indoor golf simulator when you hit into this screen.  $11 for 9 holes and it was incredibly realistic.  The putting was tough but once we got the hang of it (along with the mulligan button) we did pretty well actually.  I never thought golfing inside could feel so real but it really did feel just like you were golfing without the hassle of looking for your ball in the rough and walking in between shots.  We plan on going back.

Hmmm, what else?  Oh!  We have a new teacher at Talkster now.  His name is Ben and he's from York, England.  Super nice guy and he fits in perfectly with Charlie and I.  We've been showing him around the limited parts of Suwon we know and it has been a great time.  It is so great to have guys like Ben and Charlie here to share this experience with.  Last night we went and played some pool after showing Ben our Turkish hole-in-the-wall restaurant.  I think the lady who owns it thinks we REALLY love Middle Eastern food but the truth is we just have a limited selection of restaurants at our dispposal and the food there happens to be great and cheap.

Today was my first attempt and making my own lesson plan.  My kids always talk about this Korean boy band called "Big Bang" so I got to asking them about American music.  Turns out they knew Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and the Beatles.  Fair enough.  So today I burned a CD and printed out the lyrics to some songs with words missing so they'd have to listen and fill them in.  I went with "Isn't She Lovely," "You've Got a Friend in Me," and "I Love You But You're Crazy."  The kids are constantly using the word "crazy" to describe everything so it felt great to introduce them to the The Jettisons.  It was hit and miss.  Some classes loved the idea, others sat there giving me nasty looks.  I really like encorporating music into the classroom so I'll probably continue to do this randomly with the classes that enjoyed it and just keep grinding away on the workbook with those who didn't.  I think my boss was impressed that I was in the office early doing work before class to get ready and he loved the idea of using American music.  Finding songs that have simple lyrics without curse words was more difficult that I would have thought but if you go with Oldies you really can't miss.

Finally, tonight we ventured into a really nice sushi restaurant and were not disappointed.  This was really our first attempt at finding new restaurants that Tom didn't introduce us to.  It was also the first true sushi I've had in Korea (the rest is sashimi or kimbap--Google if you're unsure the differences) Luckily there were limited pictures on the menu and we were able to communicate our order by pointing and some hand gestures.  The chef was super friendly despite his lack of English speaking ability and the food was all excellent.  Not sure what everything was but there was some tuna and squid for sure, the rest was sort of a giant, delicious mystery.  On the menu it was 15,000 won for 12 pieces but we're pretty sure it was all you can eat because after those 12 pieces he just kept making more and more until I finally had to cut him off.  I would guess he would still be making them if we were still sitting there eating.  I probably had around 15 pieces and I honestly don't think I could have squeezed one more in without bursting.  All of the fish was super fresh and for 15,000 won I don't think I could be more full.  We will definitely add this to our list of regular hotspots.

Take it easy, but take it.

Politics/Religion Rant

Ok, so this will have little to nothing to with life in Suwon and will mainly be a politcal rant so if that sort of this doesn't interest you (or you're super opinionated) just quit reading now and check back soon for my post about Itaewon and our new teacher/friend, Ben.  I will say that being in Korea has given me a great perspective on how the rest of the world views America.  I also have a deep appreciation for signs of respect and understanding between different people.  Also I should say that while I voted for Obama I'm by no means his biggest fan and I disagree with him on many issues so this isn't some Obama-nut-hugging blog.  I should also prefice by saying that I originally heard about these events on the Daily Show but rest assured I don't use John Stewart as a source and I actually took the time to do my homework before getting so fired up I felt the need to blog.

So if you haven't heard (any by "haven't heard" I mean you don't stoop so low as to watch Fox News) President Obama hasn't been to church since he took office.  I guess today would mark 12 Sundays in office without going to church and someone at Fox News has been sitting there counting, marking it on the board like he's committing some mortal sin.  Fox News basically acted like this is the worst thing the man could have done.  Now, maybe it is just me and I'm totally off base but it seems like the most powerful man in the world just might have more important things to do.  Take for example two failed wars, a stock market that has lost X% in the last few months, a housing market disaster, a world perception that America is a bunch of Islam hating assholes, and an economy that is stuck in reverse.  On top of all that he is raising two young girls.  Cut the man some slack.  And the thing is, he could be privately praying or conducting full on church services behind closed doors and these fools would have no idea.

Then he added fuel to Fox's ridiculous fire by going to the Middle East and making some completely correct statements about our fine country.  While giving a speach to members of the Turkish government he was trying to stress the need for America to bridge the divide between our great country and the Islamic world.  He went as far as to say "America is not a Christian nation" we are a nation of ideals, multiple belief systems, etc etc.  And the thing is he is completely correct.  100%, no doubt about it.  I am just shocked and really appauled that Fox News (and Rush Limbaugh and his asshole following) seems to think he made some horrible mistake by saying we aren't a Christian nation.  The seperation of church and state is in the Constitution not only to keep religious practice out of public schools but rather to keep it out of anything having to do with government.  Now I know my personal beliefs about religion could potentially cloud my judgment on this issue but I feel like I have taken a giant, objective step back and really examined his words in context (something Fox News didn't give him the respect of doing; you can take any sound or video clip out of context and spin its meaning in your favor) and I still feel that he was not only speaking the truth but he was saying some very important things that the Islamic world hasn't heard from a US President in some time.  I mean, do they really think it is a Christian nation?  I would like to hear them explain that face to the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, etc, populations who pay taxes, serve in the military, and are as American as anyone else.  It just illustrates this horrible ignorance and intolerance that inexplicably is allowed to fester in religious circles.  This sort of intolerance is for some reason only tolerated under this guise of religion and it is quite disturbing to say the least.

OK, I should clarify that I don't think the conservative right is a bunch of Christian wackos.  Only the ones who run their media outlets.  Then Obama had the audacity (sarcasm) to bow respectfully when meeting a Saudi Prince.  He is a guest in a foreign country meeting their head of state and he bowed respectfully while shaking the man's hand in greeting.  They even said things like, "His head was all the way below the Prince's shoulders!"  How in the hell could that be a problem?  Fox News (I use Fox as my example and perhaps it is narrow-minded but it is easier than typing 'Conservative Media Outlets' so just roll with it) made it sound like by bowing he submitted to Islam and handed over the keys to the country.  He was showing respect for a religion and a culture that dominates a large portion of this planet who currently have a terrible, warped image of our great country and he is making strides to correct that. 

I guess the point of this rant is that, in my opinion, it is ludicrious to crucify the man for not going to church and then in the next breath critize him for attempting to restore America's image in the Islamic world by speaking the truth about the nature of our country and showing respect to foreign leaders.  I watched Obama be sworn into office and I never heard any clause about attending church; it was all about serving his country and being the best leader he can be.  Sure looks like he is doing his best to do just that.  But, again, that's just me.

Rant over, take it easy but take it.

Curse words are a universal language

Last night after work Charlie, my boss, and I went to our favorite restaurant.  It seems like everytime I blog I mention this place but I think that is just because it is probably my favorite restaurant on the planet.  Anyway, I digress.  After dinner we sit there sipping out beers, taking shots of soju, and enjoying each other's company.  All the sudden at another table this one Korean guy stands up and punches his friend in the face.  Twice.  Everything on their table goes flying, the other people in their group try to break it up, and they wrestle on the floor a bit.  This guy was just super pissed and it happened really suddenly.  Both Charlie and I were like, "Holy shit!  He just punched his boy in the face!"  We have a good laugh and I turn my back and forget about it.

Next thing I know the drunk asshole is knocking things over... on our table.  He has a tea kettle in his hand and he's now chosen Charlie as the target of his aggression.  He walks up, pokes Charlie in the face, and starts saying "Fuck? ... Fuck you!" and I realize he is serious.  Our boss is saying "Don't look him in the face" but I mean, come on!  The guy is about to hit Charlie with a tea kettle; where am I supposed to look?  So I stand up, the restaurant owner rushes over, and his friends drag him outside.  We honestly have no idea why he chose Charlie (who didn't do or say anything to him) but we almost had to throw down in our favorite restaurant against a complete stranger.  It was pretty comical once I stood up how fast he sort of "pussed out".  I'm not a small guy by American standards but in Korea I'm basically huge and I think once he saw how much bigger I was he rethought his little "hit that American with a tea kettle plan."

I felt bad for the restaurant owner who was just horribly embarrassed by the whole ordeal, even though she had absolutely nothing to do with it.  She kept apologizing over and over to our boss in Korean and we tried to express that we weren't mad at her or the restaurant or anything.  We understand that some people are assholes when they're drunk, even in Korea.  I am pretty sure she thinks we'll never be back, she'll probably relieved to see us back tomorrow night.

After that whole ordeal we headed over to NOW Bar and had a few drinks there.  Met some Indian engineers who work in Suwon, played some pool, and watched the most hilarious poker game ever.  These guys were playing PLO and it was easily the worst play I've ever seen.  If I had brought more money I probably would have sat down.

We were supposed to go to Itaewon today but I was pretty hungover and a 90 minute ride on the subway standing the whole way to Seoul didn't sound like much fun so we put it off until tomorrow.  I'll be sure to blog about Itaewon as I've heard it is a really interesting place and has the highest concentration of English speakers anywhere in Korea.

Finally, the new teacher from Britain, Ben, is arriving tomorrow night.  It will be nice to have another buddy around the school and to show him around Suwon a bit.  It also means Charlie doesn't have to teach kindergarten any more so I'll have someone to shoot around with at the basketball courts down the street in the mornings.  My basketball is the most expensive thing I've bought in Korea and I must say it has been well worth every dollar. 

Alright, going to get adventerous and try to find a new place to eat tonight.  Take it easy, but take it.

"I'm rich, bitch!"

So today I took my medical test to make sure I'm up to Korea's standards.  My boss knocked my door literally 2 minutes after I woke up so I jump in the shower, go to the bathroom, and we were off to the hospital.  So the first test is a urine test.  OK, let me recap:  I woke up, PISSED, and then came here.  I haven't drank anything.  I explain the situation the best I can (they speak very little English) and just start downing water during every other test.  I had some x-rays, they measured me, blood test, etc.  Finally at the end I was able to squeeze out about 4 drops of pee, hopefully that is enough for Korea; they seemed satisfied.

So I have to read an eye chart... in Korean.  I mean, I could see the characters just fine but I'll be damned if I knew what they were.  Maybe I should have said "circle with a line through it over top of an upside-down T"  After about 30 seconds of painful silence they realized their mistake and pulled out the English eye chart.

Also, my blood pressure was high.  Perhaps because I'm stressing over the fact that I can't pee, I just had blood drawn, and I'm going up and down flights of stairs like I'm training to climb mountains.  This isn't exactly a relaxing scenario and my blood pressure probably reflected that fact.  Also, it was one of those self-inflating machines except this one looked about 25 years old. I would guess if they took my blood pressure manually it would have been lower, but I'm just speculating.  My boss told me they might actually give me a perscription for high blood pressure--hilarious.

I got paid today for the TWO days I taught in the month of March and I'm pretty sure the envelope contained more money than I've spent in the time I've been here.  Two days of work for two weeks of enjoying myself?  How can this be?  Basically, in Korea, I'm rich.  I can easily live off about 1/4th my salary so the rest just goes in the bank.  I mean, I eat out every meal, take cabs everywhere, and drink beer regularly and I still just have tons of money.  It is really an unexpected consequence of teaching in Korea that you get paid like a king and the cost of living is so low.  Also taxes are only 3.3% so the Korean version of Uncle Sam doesn't screw you over as hard as his American counterpart.  Korea has figured out that big government with high taxation stunts the growth of an economy and verges on socialism... maybe Obama could learn something?

No school tomorrow because of Korean elections.  I honestly think the teachers were 10 times more excited than the students.  I'm especially happy because on Wednesdays I teach a full schedule of 6 classes so it is a good day to miss.  Charlie and I are going to check out another Korean town in hopes of buying some sports equipment and seeing the sights.  We're saving our trip to Itaewon for Saturday when we'll have the whole day to explore.

Take it easy, but take it.

Second weekend

Last night Charlie and I went to the foreigner bar to get out drank on.  We managed to tell the taxi the right neighborhood (amazingly enough) and when we got dropped off we were like "Well, shit, I don't know where the hell it is.  Everything looks the same."  So we wandered up and down the streets until finally we found a mini-mart that looked familiar and low and behold there was NOW Bar.  As soon as we walked in we were greeted by people we met last weekend and quickly made some new friends as well.  I lost my voice yesterday so I didn't do a whole lot of talking but we played some darts, met some U.S. army soliders and did some shots with them, and then I played pool with my Korean buddy and some Russian guys.  It is funny how pool or darts are so universal and language barriers don't really exist.  I can nod in appreciation of a good shot or laugh at a bad scratch just as if I was in the U.S.  I think Charlie and I are in agreement that NOW Bar is sort of our default hangout because we have made good friends there, the beer is cold, and it is a really great environment.  They even play American sports on the TV so I got to see some of the Cavs/Wizards game which was nice.

That brings us to today.  Charlie and I wanted to go into Seoul and Anna (one of the Korean teachers) suggested that we check out a certain neighborhood and told us which Subway line to take.  Ok, easy enough right?  Oh no.  We buy our tickets, go through the turnstile, and then sort of stand there blankly.  There are signs with numbers pointing every direction and nothing is in English.  Now we know we want subway line #1 so we follow the signs with "1" on them.  That leads to an empty platform.  OK, start over.  We go back, finally just follow the crowd, and end up on a crowded platform.  Next obstacle: which direction do we need to go?  Our conclusion was that we'd get on the first train and if we realized it was going away from Seoul we'd get off and figure it out from there.  Imagine our surprise when we got on the train, checked out the detailed map, and realized we were on the right train and headed to Seoul!  We felt such a sense of accomplishment that we figured it out without making any mistakes.  This weekend was really a best case scenario: we find NOW Bar on our own and we manage to get to and from Seoul without getting lost or sidetracked.

We arrive in Seoul in the neighborhood of Jongnu and sort of wander around a bit.  Had fried chicken for lunch and checked out some of the local open air markets.  It was just a giant complex of shops, booths, food stands, and people selling random junk on the sidewalk.  Quite the experience.  So we wander and wander and run into one of those "You Are Here" type maps and notice there is a "Royal Palace" just a few blocks north.  We figure, why the hell not?  So we walk up there and find this beautiful, 8 foot high, Asian-looking stone wall surrounding what appears to be a park.  We walk up and down trying to find an entrance and just when we think about giving up we find an entrance.  Wow, what a cool place.  It was a giant palace complex built during the 1500-1600's and it was just visually stunning.  I will upload some pictures below this but they just can't do this place justice.  It was just acres and acres of paths, gardens, and kick-ass buildings preserved in their original condition.  This is where the King and Queen used to live and it sure looked fit for royalty.  I cannot wait to go back in summer when everything is in full bloom and see it in all its glory.

We then successfully navigated the subway back to Suwon, got some Turkish food at my new favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant, and now we're just hanging out and taking it easy for the rest of the night.  Next Saturday we're going to check out another Seoul neighborhood and I can only hope it is as fun and exciting of an adventure as we had today.  Everything just worked out perfectly and our wandering keeps leading us to awesome places and experiences.

Pictures from Changgyeonggung Palace

Take it easy, but take it.

"Wonderful" life in Suwon

Hi all, sorry for the lack of updates recently.  Every blog I've ever read always has some post that start out that way and I'll try my best to update more regularly.  I'll try to make it up to y'all with a video blog and pictures.  This week I basically just taught, explored Suwon, and hung out. I recorded this video blog on Thursday but Blogger has been giving me problems lately so I'll post it now, along with some pictures of my recent adventures.  After watching the video blog I realized I say "wonderful" about 1,000 times but I think that is just an indicator of how much I'm am enjoying my time here.  Jeff, dont' worry, the next blog will be video-less and about my Friday in Suwon and our Saturday adventure to Seoul.  I'll write it as soon as this blog processes and uploads.

These pictures were taken in Hwaseo Market, which I reference in the video blog.  It is probably a 2 minute walk from my house and it is just a giant open air market where you can get meat, fish, vegetables, and just about anything else you need.

There are tons of fish stands selling these giant fish and squid.

Imagine the smell.

Sorry for the sideways formatting, Blogger won't let me rotate them.  Just look sideways.

These pictures were taken at Hwaseo Fortress about a 10 minute walk from my house.  Suwon used to be completely enclosed by this really cool, fortified wall.  As you can tell, the city has sprawled out considerably since then.  I didn't see the whole fortress but these are some random shots I took.

Now for some pictures of students.  Also gives you an idea what the classrooms look like.

Admit it, they're cute.

The last two are of my favorite class which I teach everyday at 3.  They look surprisingly well behaved and attentive in these pictures.

Take it easy, but take it.