Field Trip

Last Friday we went to the National Science Museum in Gwacheon, which is like 15 minutes away from the school. It was awesome. Here's a taste of what me and the babies saw:



The music is from Mount Righteous, the best band to come out of Dallas-Fort Worth.
Check 'em out here, and buy their album!

Government Screening Results:

Name: 마이키 (pronounced "ma-ee-kee" or "Mikey")
Height: 171.7cm
Weight: 60.4kg
Blood Type: A+
Blood Pressure: 118/72
Colorblindness: none
Vision: 15/15
Hearing: normal
HIV: negative
Cholesterol: normal
Illegal Drugs: negative
Chest X-Ray: no abnormalities
Psych Screening: not crazy

Where Everybody Knows Your Name Race

Normally in Korea, when I'm without the foreign teachers I work with (meaning Westerners, not Koreans), I see maybe one non-Korean a day if I'm lucky. This is a huge jump from the one or so a week I'd see last time I was in SoKo. Regardless, every foreigner here secretly knows the little tinge of excitement when you see another wayguken ('foreigner' or 'outsider' in Korean... that's what they call us). Sometimes you can't help but wave at the stranger.

There's an area in Seoul where this is definitely not the case. It's quite the opposite, actually. I don't know how it started, but Itaewon became the foreigner hangout neighborhood a while back. I assume it's because it's relatively close to a US military base. Last weekend, I went there for the first time ever. This was on purpose. Some foreigners go there every weekend (some twice or three times a weekend), but I wanted nothing to do with it. It's full of sorority girls and G.I. meatheads, and a bunch of drunken bullshit occurs which I want nothing to do with. Austinites, think of The Aquarium or The Library on 6th Street and expand it by ten city blocks. Sick.

Besides, I'm in Korea, and I wanna feel like I'm in Korea. So why take out all the Koreans? That cultural clash is the kimchi spice of my life right now.

Anywho, so I get taken there (practically by force) by some friends, and all those months I avoided this part of town like the plague.... you know what I actually came to find out? I was absolutely right. This place sucks. There is very little evidence of awesomeness anywhere. I tried a street meat vendor while walking around, and it was really delicious, but then again it was run by an old Korean lady (call them "ajumas"), so I can't even credit that to the whiteys in Itaewon.

Without further ado, here's a bunch of white people getting boozed up in Seoul... click the "HQ" for better sound/video:

Fridays Are Good Days.

Here's a little video of my Friday at work. God I love these little Asian babies.

I have a new addiction

K-Pop (short for Korean Pop, of course) has always had its revolving door of cutesy girl groups-- for example, The Wonder Girls.

But upon returning to Korea, I've been hearing a new song alllll over the place. It's called "Gee" and it's by Girls Generation (소녀시대 in Korean). Apparently it was featured on Perez Hilton. It's catchy catchy catchy. You have to check it out. Right now.



This one's better than any American pop song I've heard in a while, with the exception of Kelly Clarkson. The 9 girls in the group are 18-21, and they're all ridiculously gorgeous. It's really difficult to pick a favorite. So far I think it's Yoona. But as for the beat's pretty damn infectious. When you've got the bass going, it's fucking sick. My current mission is to learn the song in Korean so I can sing it at noraebang. If I accomplish my goal, I'll post a video of it.

Here's their homepage, pick your favorite!

The Lollypop Guild Dance

An Ode To Hongdae

Last night I went out with fellow teachers Mahya and, well, let's call him "new guy", to Hongdae. Hongdae is a big university district in Seoul, where a bunch of clubs, bars and restaurants are located. Last time I was in Korea, I'd go there every weekend. It gets pretty damn crunk.

When we first arrived, I took them to my favorite bar in all of Korea, Bar 다 (which is pronounced Bar-Da, a play on "bada" which in Korean means "the sea"). It's incredibly small and secluded, kind of run down and dark, only big enough for 8-10 customers, but they play great music and I find it pretty fucking charming. After one drink, I could tell they kinda liked it, but it really wasn't their scene. They wanted to GET DOWN. Time to move on.

Then we got Korean barbecue (Dwejji Galbi to be exact, which is marinated pork rib). It was incredibly delicious, as always. A few bottles of soju/beer later, we went to Brickx down the road and smoked hookah. Apple. Yumz. Next we met up with LEAH FREAKIN FILLION at Club FF, and listened to some crap cover band for a bit. Following this, we headed to Tinpan 1, which I thought would be more Mahya and new guy's scene.

Sorry for the "and then, and then, and next," format of this, but here's the point of my story:

New guy made an ass of himself.

He's been in Korea for 18 hours. He got off the plane, went to the school, then left with us to go downtown. Really nice guy, but man, that soju tore him up. I'm not going to hold this against his character, because I've been there before. Actually, I was there Tuesday. But boy was it not fun dragging his drunk ass around!

At Tinpan, he saw a couple of Korean girls dancing-- and dancing quite well, I must say-- on the bar. Of course he decided to get up there and join them. His dance consisted of pelvic thrusts and self-body caressing. Then he got the wonderful idea of jumping up to grab the fire sprinkler pipe above him, and hang from it. He swung his legs up and tried to get them wrapped around the pipe, I guess so he could be upside down and continue to dance, but the ENTIRE packed bar shouted WTF! in either Korean or English. The bartenders and security rush over to pull him down and get him out, but before they can, he loses his grip on the pipe and falls. Hits the bar. Hits the barstool. Hits people. Hits the floor.


He got up and dusted himself off, and everyone's laughing at him. Then he dropped this line on me: "Dude, I'm totally not gay, but wouldn't it be awesome if we made out???"

Then he kissed me.

Ummmmm nice to meet you, new guy.

It's Getting Better All The Time

Right now it's Friday morning at 7am. For the record, Korea is 15 hours ahead of Texas. Let me tell ya, the future is awesome.

Today completes my first week as a kindergarten teacher in Anyang, a suburb of Seoul. "Suburb" is such a tricky word to use here, because when the city-proper is as big as Seoul, the suburbs are roughly the size of Manhattan. As far as city planning, nothing grows outward, only upward. It's rare to see a one-story building. I'll get some pictures of this up pretty soon.

My school is incredibly disorganized as far as handling the influx of new teachers. There's about ten of us, with only three veteran teachers. None of us had apartments (I'm still living in a Love Motel, but more on that later), half the teachers walked off the plane Monday and were driven directly to their classroom to start teaching, and we still haven't gotten Alien Registration Cards or health insurance. Not to mention on top of all this, we're supposed to be writing lesson plans for the entire month, due ASAP. I teach an English coursebook to 5 and 6 year olds for most of the day. They're absolutely adorable. I cannot stress this enough. Expect about a zillion videos of my little asian babies saying cute things.

As I said before, I'm in a Love Motel. This is something you find all over Seoul... it's a motel that's very cheap (some rent by the hour), and men bring their mistresses here to go to bonertown. Also, in Korean culture you're supposed to live at home with your parents til you get married, so if you and your girlfriend wanna bang, then a Love Motel is the place to be. I get to hear lots of interesting things through the ultra-thin walls of my hotel room. My bed has neon green lights. When I checked in, I was handed a free condom and a toothbrush. Awesome.

Although I have a ton of things to dislike about my current situation, I gotta say I've met some really great people at my school, I'm already seeing a shitload of progress in my little babies' English, and the stir of confusion is growing smaller by the day. I think I'm in a good place.