Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the wide world of awesome. Ok, well maybe not awesome for you, but seriously awesome for me. I will start up right where I left off for those of you who are still following this for some reason.
Our last day on Koh Lanta Brian and I rented scooters with Megan and Chad (cousin and husband) and went to a restaurant that had an amazing view. It was perched on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Normally for a view like this you would expect lunch, dinner, or even a cocktail to cost you a minimum of 15 dollars. However that was not the case. The average price for the expensive food was 4 dollars. After this we headed to a isolated beach and after a fun jungle change (I forgot to put my board shorts on before I left my hotel) we did some light snorkeling and swimming. This was followed by a trip to Chad and Megan's place and a dinner of street food after. Following that Chad and I decided to go for a scooter trip around the island at night. Being a partially seasoned motorcycle driver I couldn't resist the temptation. We ended up doing three laps of the island on our scooters. It was great, except for the occasional man sized pothole that would sneak up on you and threaten to eat your scooter alive. After the laps Brian and I said goodbye to Chad and Megan and I gave Brian a lift back to our hotel. I have to admit the view of the two of us on a scooter must have been a little ridiculous, but we made it.
Following that we decided to head to Railay Beach near Krabi. While not technically an island, it may as well been. The area was only accessible by boat and was host to the most stunning scenery I saw in Thailand. The cliffs there were absolutely epic. Huge limestone karsts sticking straight up out of water and land alike. This place is a climbers dream. In fact half the tourism on the island is devoted to rock climbing. The first day we arrived around noon, found our place and went for a swim on Railay West (Railay is divided into east and west with the west being the best). After dinner we walked back to our Bungalow to grab some sleep and start our last full day travelling together. We awoke that morning and decided to hike to Tonsai Bay/beach. The sign said it was only about 800 meters, and while that technically may have been correct, it neglected to say they were jungle meters and over jungle hills on a small path. It wasn't too horrid, it just really wasn't expected by two guys who wanted to go get a quick breakfast. After trekking through and seeing quite possibly the biggest spider I've ever seen in my life we made it to the beach and had our breakfast.
We took a boat back to Railay West and booked a sunset snorkeling tour. For 30 bucks it included: mask, snorkel, boat ride, dinner, and guide. It was worth every scent, and it even included a night swim amongst phosphorescent algae. We started off with an hour boat ride to a spot to do some deep water snorkeling. While swimming around and seeing some stuff, it turns out the greatest discovery of this part was the small jellyfish I almost swam right into. This was the second time I actually almost swam into one (the first time being on Koh Lanta without a mask and blind). After that spot we went to the next place which was just beautiful. It had coral, sea slugs, fish galore and even sea urchins. The next stop was to watch the sunset on a small island and have a BBQ there. This is when mother nature decided to hate us. We were caught in a downpour for almost 2 hours after we hit the island and this included Brian and I eating in the rain. It was quite like the army, and even the guide agreed. Most the people were huddled under a small tin roof eating, but there was not space for Brian and I, and I had given up being dry and was embracing the rain.
We made it back to Railay well after dark and Brian and I had our last dinner together. We awoke the next morning and headed our separate ways. I was headed to Bangkok and then Laos, he was headed to Phuket. I should have noticed yesterday when I got of the boat that I was doomed in my travels. As I hopped off the boat into the water (which was about knee deep) I was hit by a wave that was waist high. This was annoying but not crucially important. The next part of the trip went fine with a taxi ride and an air trip to Bangkok. However, in Bangkok stuff started to go wrong, and primarily it was all my fault. I had an option of a flight that got in a 5 in the evening or got in at 11 in the morning. I should have taken the earlier one because I forgot that I was trying to take the night train on a Friday during peak times. I needed to purchase earlier in the day, and while I got out of the airport in decent time, traffic jams conspired to get me to the train station at 7:30 for an 8:00 train. After finding out the trains for the whole night were sold out I found a guesthouse next to the train station for 10 bucks a night and sat down to figure out my next play.
I needed to figure out how I would be getting to Laos to continue my journey. A night train was an option, but in reality not a good one. It was going to give me 3 nights in Luang Prabang, but only 2 days. This was not acceptable as there was too much that I wanted to see and do here and I needed at least 3 full days to do it. I decided to catch the morning flight to Luang Prabang and after my first trip in a prop plane in well over 15 years I landed in Laos.
Unfortunately my post on Luang Prabang will have to wait until next time, but I have the feeling it will be glowing. There is just an air about this place, a feeling that is impossible to describe right now. You walk off the plane and it settles around you. Perhaps a word to closely describe it is serenity, but that is not the right choice. I will let you know in the next few days. Pictures will be up soon I promise.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Thailand so far
If I told you where I was as I was writing this I know you wouldn't believe me. Well ok maybe you would, but you might be insanely jealous. I will therefore let the fact go that I am sitting on a beach in Thailand typing this post.
I will start this post by talking about my last night in Singapore. My day went fairly well. I ran out of my hostel as quick as possible that morning due to the craziness that was sleeping mere feet from me. Luckily she was still asleep while I snuck out. I don't think anything bad was going to happen, but I didn't want to explain to her that she couldn't tag along with me and then come back to my place and find my stuff shredded. Well I wandered around town and then met up with my friend Pablo from Korea. Pablo is a teacher down in Daegu and we both just happened to be in Singapore at the same time. We met up and met a friend of his that he met through Couch Surfing. We headed down to Arab street and had an awesome Arab style dinner. Hummus, couscous, feta cheese, chicken, everything was just succulent. After that we wandered around town more and I realized that I really do love the buildings in Singapore. After an hour or so of wandering we sat down at a coffee shop and proceeded to order desserts. The conversation was excellent and we closed the place out. After that we said our goodbyes as I was leaving in the morning.
I awoke the next day to take my journey to Bangkok. The flight went without a hitch and I arrived in Bangkok around 2. After terrorizing some Koreans who were in the Immigration line next to me (they were quite surprised when I spoke Korean to them), I walked and grabbed a taxi to my Guesthouse. Now, taxis in Thailand are an adventure. The government recently stipulated that all taxis must use meters, however, this is not the case. I knew that there was an official taxi stand where the drivers were supposed to use the meter and they were given your destination by someone who spoke English and Thai. Yet, even though I went through this, my taxi driver still didn't use the meter. We agreed on a price that I knew to be fair. He may have made an extra dollar on me but it was a fair price and he didn't try to screw me. However, the way the system is enforced when you use this method is that you are given a ticket. This ticket is a complaint form that you can send in. You do not give this ticket to the driver ever. However, my driver asked me for the ticket at least 5 times before I just finally told him no. Welcome to Thailand. I haven't even been in the country an hour and someone is trying to screw me out of some money already.
I unfortunately did not have anytime to explore Bangkok. I was meeting Brian at our guesthouse whenever he got in, and I was really tired. When Brian arrived we went and had dinner and then explored Ko San Road. For those of you that have never been to Thailand or Bangkok, Ko San Road is like being on Spring break. It is a pulsating, surging mass of people who are primarily foreign. It's a backpacker hub and drunken adventure. It's impressive to sit and watch. Everywhere are tuk tuk drivers asking if you want shows or boom boom. Needless to say that part was annoying, but it is amazing people watching. The next day Brian and I headed for Koh Lanta. We hoped a plane a bus and a ferry to get to our destination. The ferry ride, while loud was exceptionally beautiful. The pictures don't quite do it justice. We arrived at Koh Lanta and began our haggling with a taxi driver to take us to our hotel. Upon arrival we realized that we really don't belong at this place. This place is designed for rich families and richer people. I feel like we declass the joint a bit, but besides the room rates this place is excellent. We have our own beach, and while it's not great, it's also not bad. Located up and down our strip of sand are numerous places with cheap food and cheap drink. In fact, I think as soon as I finish this post I'm going to go put my suit on and take my morning swim.
We met Brian's cousin and her husband yesterday at our hotel. We hung out all day drinking on the beach and had dinner together. Today around noon they are going to come and we're all going to go snorkeling together somewhere. In fact we're going to get there by renting scooters. Luckily I know how to ride one but it should be a great time to go cruise this island.
This will probably be my last posting until Laos so I wish you all life and love.
I will start this post by talking about my last night in Singapore. My day went fairly well. I ran out of my hostel as quick as possible that morning due to the craziness that was sleeping mere feet from me. Luckily she was still asleep while I snuck out. I don't think anything bad was going to happen, but I didn't want to explain to her that she couldn't tag along with me and then come back to my place and find my stuff shredded. Well I wandered around town and then met up with my friend Pablo from Korea. Pablo is a teacher down in Daegu and we both just happened to be in Singapore at the same time. We met up and met a friend of his that he met through Couch Surfing. We headed down to Arab street and had an awesome Arab style dinner. Hummus, couscous, feta cheese, chicken, everything was just succulent. After that we wandered around town more and I realized that I really do love the buildings in Singapore. After an hour or so of wandering we sat down at a coffee shop and proceeded to order desserts. The conversation was excellent and we closed the place out. After that we said our goodbyes as I was leaving in the morning.
I awoke the next day to take my journey to Bangkok. The flight went without a hitch and I arrived in Bangkok around 2. After terrorizing some Koreans who were in the Immigration line next to me (they were quite surprised when I spoke Korean to them), I walked and grabbed a taxi to my Guesthouse. Now, taxis in Thailand are an adventure. The government recently stipulated that all taxis must use meters, however, this is not the case. I knew that there was an official taxi stand where the drivers were supposed to use the meter and they were given your destination by someone who spoke English and Thai. Yet, even though I went through this, my taxi driver still didn't use the meter. We agreed on a price that I knew to be fair. He may have made an extra dollar on me but it was a fair price and he didn't try to screw me. However, the way the system is enforced when you use this method is that you are given a ticket. This ticket is a complaint form that you can send in. You do not give this ticket to the driver ever. However, my driver asked me for the ticket at least 5 times before I just finally told him no. Welcome to Thailand. I haven't even been in the country an hour and someone is trying to screw me out of some money already.
I unfortunately did not have anytime to explore Bangkok. I was meeting Brian at our guesthouse whenever he got in, and I was really tired. When Brian arrived we went and had dinner and then explored Ko San Road. For those of you that have never been to Thailand or Bangkok, Ko San Road is like being on Spring break. It is a pulsating, surging mass of people who are primarily foreign. It's a backpacker hub and drunken adventure. It's impressive to sit and watch. Everywhere are tuk tuk drivers asking if you want shows or boom boom. Needless to say that part was annoying, but it is amazing people watching. The next day Brian and I headed for Koh Lanta. We hoped a plane a bus and a ferry to get to our destination. The ferry ride, while loud was exceptionally beautiful. The pictures don't quite do it justice. We arrived at Koh Lanta and began our haggling with a taxi driver to take us to our hotel. Upon arrival we realized that we really don't belong at this place. This place is designed for rich families and richer people. I feel like we declass the joint a bit, but besides the room rates this place is excellent. We have our own beach, and while it's not great, it's also not bad. Located up and down our strip of sand are numerous places with cheap food and cheap drink. In fact, I think as soon as I finish this post I'm going to go put my suit on and take my morning swim.
We met Brian's cousin and her husband yesterday at our hotel. We hung out all day drinking on the beach and had dinner together. Today around noon they are going to come and we're all going to go snorkeling together somewhere. In fact we're going to get there by renting scooters. Luckily I know how to ride one but it should be a great time to go cruise this island.
This will probably be my last posting until Laos so I wish you all life and love.
Friday, January 7, 2011
A Whole Boatload of Crazy
I like to joke around with my friends that I like crazy women. To be honest, I like women who meet my definition of crazy. By this I mean that I like people who are spontaneous, weird, and just generally a lot of fun to be around. I call it crazy just because crazy is a catchall for what I'm looking for. However, my experience at this hostel has been something of another type of crazy all together.
For starters, for those of you that have never stayed in a hostel it is quite an experience. I say it is quite and experience because when you get a good hostel, you don't want to leave. When you get a bad hostel, you can't wait to leave. A good hostel may party, it may not. However what every good hostel has in common is a group of travelers who are passionate about travel and very friendly. The hostel I am staying at is no different. Upon arrival I quickly met a Pole who lives and works in London. We spent an hour chatting about travel and where we had been and went to get lunch together even though we'd only known each other about an hour. This is quite common. In fact this is exactly how this story starts.
On my second day in Singapore I was chatting with a girl who is sleeping in the same dorm as I am. She happened to be in the common area the same time that I was and that is cause for a conversation in most hostels. During our conversation she asked me if I'd like to go get a bite to eat. I had already eaten, but I told her that I would as soon as I finished doing what I was doing which would only be about 15 minutes. She waited and we headed off so she could have some food. Upon arrival I noticed a few things were a little off about this girl, but I chalked it up to simply a fish out of water traveler. Someone who thought they could do it by themselves but found the experience too awkward and didn't know how to interact with fellow travelers. Try as I did during her meal to hold a conversation, I just couldn't hold one down because the standard lines of conversation (travel, life, education, ect) and the non standard ones were being met by rather unintelligible responses. She would half answer half not answer. Ok, no big deal, I have students and know people who are just really not comfortable with themselves or with other people so she's awkward, that's not a crime.
Well, during the meal I noticed she kept making a few "crazy faces" and I even told her about it. She took it in stride and actually laughed about it. After the meal she asked if I'd like to go for a walk which I willingly obliged. Half the fun of traveling is walking. We ended up walking for five miles in which the highlights were her not wanting to go into a temple because there were bad people in there who wanted to hurt her, and a little bit of paranoia when she looked at me and said some poor dude manning a shop was one of them. Most of the walk passed in relative piece and a disturbing amount of quiet because I had given up trying to keep a conversation going. Upon arrival back at the hostel we grabbed a bite for dinner at a street place close to our hostel. I figured at this point that I was done with it, and had lost nothing more then a little bit of time in which I did what I wanted to do anyways. No big loss. I decided that I was going to lay down on my bed and do some reading. About thirty minutes into it she walks into our dorm.
*Enter the boatload of crazy* As she walks in I look at her as she states "What did you put in my food. I'm going blind what did you put in my food." For the record we ate the same meal family style. I'm a little shocked by this, but being a single female traveler I can understand being a little paranoid about some guy you just met. I tell her nothing and that I ate the same things she did. She became visibly relieved and then asked me again. I gave the same answer and she became visibly relieved again. Rinse and repeat for the next ten minutes. As if this wasn't enough, she then launches into a full blown meltdown talking about the CIA tracking her, that I'm working for the CIA, the hostel has put sars in her bag, the police are protecting perverts, how soon is too soon to want to have sex with someone, the police are following her, people are poisoning her food, etc. Somehow, and I do mean somehow I managed to maintain my composure and while I felt like my mouth was agape I know that it wasn't. The only point I got a little antsy was the moment she placed her hand inside her purse and left it there. I wasn't fearful, but this girl had just proven herself to be a paranoid schizophrenic who thought I poisoned her. Who the hell knows what she had in that purse. Needless to say I slowly backed up out of lunge distance and brought my hands to my side just in case.
After about twenty minutes of this, with some weeping intertwined, she recovers and walks out of the dorm. I stand there shocked for 30 some odd seconds before laying back down and continuing to read. I am also suddenly a little fearful that I have to sleep in the same room as this women. About 45 minutes later she walks in and says "I don't think you put anything into my food, I'm sorry. I'm just scared all the time and you were the first person who had been nice to me." Sadly, while this apology eased my nerves about sleeping there it didn't make up for the sheer level of crazy she had unloaded on me. The next day, needless to say, I was out of the hostel before she even woke up and was out all day. .
For starters, for those of you that have never stayed in a hostel it is quite an experience. I say it is quite and experience because when you get a good hostel, you don't want to leave. When you get a bad hostel, you can't wait to leave. A good hostel may party, it may not. However what every good hostel has in common is a group of travelers who are passionate about travel and very friendly. The hostel I am staying at is no different. Upon arrival I quickly met a Pole who lives and works in London. We spent an hour chatting about travel and where we had been and went to get lunch together even though we'd only known each other about an hour. This is quite common. In fact this is exactly how this story starts.
On my second day in Singapore I was chatting with a girl who is sleeping in the same dorm as I am. She happened to be in the common area the same time that I was and that is cause for a conversation in most hostels. During our conversation she asked me if I'd like to go get a bite to eat. I had already eaten, but I told her that I would as soon as I finished doing what I was doing which would only be about 15 minutes. She waited and we headed off so she could have some food. Upon arrival I noticed a few things were a little off about this girl, but I chalked it up to simply a fish out of water traveler. Someone who thought they could do it by themselves but found the experience too awkward and didn't know how to interact with fellow travelers. Try as I did during her meal to hold a conversation, I just couldn't hold one down because the standard lines of conversation (travel, life, education, ect) and the non standard ones were being met by rather unintelligible responses. She would half answer half not answer. Ok, no big deal, I have students and know people who are just really not comfortable with themselves or with other people so she's awkward, that's not a crime.
Well, during the meal I noticed she kept making a few "crazy faces" and I even told her about it. She took it in stride and actually laughed about it. After the meal she asked if I'd like to go for a walk which I willingly obliged. Half the fun of traveling is walking. We ended up walking for five miles in which the highlights were her not wanting to go into a temple because there were bad people in there who wanted to hurt her, and a little bit of paranoia when she looked at me and said some poor dude manning a shop was one of them. Most of the walk passed in relative piece and a disturbing amount of quiet because I had given up trying to keep a conversation going. Upon arrival back at the hostel we grabbed a bite for dinner at a street place close to our hostel. I figured at this point that I was done with it, and had lost nothing more then a little bit of time in which I did what I wanted to do anyways. No big loss. I decided that I was going to lay down on my bed and do some reading. About thirty minutes into it she walks into our dorm.
*Enter the boatload of crazy* As she walks in I look at her as she states "What did you put in my food. I'm going blind what did you put in my food." For the record we ate the same meal family style. I'm a little shocked by this, but being a single female traveler I can understand being a little paranoid about some guy you just met. I tell her nothing and that I ate the same things she did. She became visibly relieved and then asked me again. I gave the same answer and she became visibly relieved again. Rinse and repeat for the next ten minutes. As if this wasn't enough, she then launches into a full blown meltdown talking about the CIA tracking her, that I'm working for the CIA, the hostel has put sars in her bag, the police are protecting perverts, how soon is too soon to want to have sex with someone, the police are following her, people are poisoning her food, etc. Somehow, and I do mean somehow I managed to maintain my composure and while I felt like my mouth was agape I know that it wasn't. The only point I got a little antsy was the moment she placed her hand inside her purse and left it there. I wasn't fearful, but this girl had just proven herself to be a paranoid schizophrenic who thought I poisoned her. Who the hell knows what she had in that purse. Needless to say I slowly backed up out of lunge distance and brought my hands to my side just in case.
After about twenty minutes of this, with some weeping intertwined, she recovers and walks out of the dorm. I stand there shocked for 30 some odd seconds before laying back down and continuing to read. I am also suddenly a little fearful that I have to sleep in the same room as this women. About 45 minutes later she walks in and says "I don't think you put anything into my food, I'm sorry. I'm just scared all the time and you were the first person who had been nice to me." Sadly, while this apology eased my nerves about sleeping there it didn't make up for the sheer level of crazy she had unloaded on me. The next day, needless to say, I was out of the hostel before she even woke up and was out all day. .
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Singapore
I know that it's been forever and a day since I actually posted. As normal I have no excuse for this beside a general lack of anything interesting to talk about. Life is life, and I apologize for the fact that it's just not that interesting. However, no I am traveling, and that is always interesting. Well, at least it is to me and if it's interesting to me then I make sure to pass it on to you.
Where to start? Well I guess the first thing would be why I decided to spend some time in Singapore. To be totally honest this city has intrigued me for a while. What started it was when the American student was caned here in Singapore almost 15 years ago. The idea that there was a country that had such strict laws and strict interpretations of it was a revelation. In the United States we don't have very strict punishments. Here, the average fine for simple offense (jaywalking for example) is between 100 and 400 dollars. That's a ton of money for crossing a street. After the student was caned I learned a lot about the history of this city state. It is poised on the Straits of Malacca and is subsequently one of the most important shipping locations in the world. In college, I learned about the diversity and culture of Singapore, and most importantly, the food. I hate to say this but I came here to eat. The fusion of cultures has produced some of the most unique and honestly delicious food anywhere in the world. Imagine walking down a street and being able to get world class Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Thai food, all for about 3 bucks a pop. That is what I call awesome.
For anyone who watches No Reservations on the Travel Channel you will know that Bourdain considers Singapore to be as close to foodie heaven as you can get. I am starting to agree with him. Tucked away in hot humid hawker centers are simple stalls selling amazing food at dirt cheap prices. There is no excuse to go to a restaurant here. There is none at all. All you need to do is walk down a street that sells food and let your eyes, nose, and stomach guide you. You can have it all here, and there is little to no chance at food poisoning. In most of South East Asia street food is a wonderful gamble. It tastes awesome, but the chances of catching a bug significantly increase. The water, unlike almost any other South East Asian country, is drinkable out of the tap. That is a entirely rare. In fact this might be the only place in S.E.A (SouthEastAsia) that it is possible.
I find myself for the next few days located in the middle of Chinatown. My hostel being located on a street food, and about five minutes walk from one of the best hawker centers in town. For those that don't know, a hawker center is a food court. It's a cheap cheap place to get awesome food, and I do mean awesome food. My meals so far have consisted of Chicken Rice (exactly what it's name implies but the rice is out of this world good), Roast Duck with noodles, and Roast chicken with rice and braised veggies. I have yet to try the Singaporean special known as Chili Crab, but that will be taken care of tomorrow. My stomach is already growling thinking about more food. Yum, I will have to come back to this place.
Today was my first real day in Singapore. I arrived yesterday, but in truth I was worn out from my travels. Unless I am exhausted I simply cannot sleep on an airplane. Even though I took the red eye flight I only managed about two hours of sleep. Upon arrival I found my hostel and quickly met a Polish backpacker who lives in London named Mike. After I took a quick shower we headed off to get some grub (Chicken Rice). Upon return I promptly took a nap which turned out to be roughly a 5 hour affair. Waking at about 10 PM I decided to take a walk and to get accustomed to my surrounding. I toured Chinatown taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of a place which is wholly unique. It is unique not because it is a Chinatown, but it is a Chinatown in a country that is 75% ethnically Chinese. The stuff here, while some of it is directed at tourists is also directed firmly at the Chinese population. They come here for quick, tasty, and authentic food. After my tour I headed back to my hostel and talked with the other backpackers until about 1 AM.. I decided to turn in and get some sleep.
I awoke this morning at 7:30. I ate a quick breakfast, did some research and then headed off to the Marina Bay area. This area is a land reclamation project that is almost finished. Some of the highlights include the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino, the Merlion, and the Double Helix Bridge. The Merlion is honestly a little creepy. It's a half lion half mermaid statue spitting water out into the bay (and drug possession or distribution carries a mandatory death penalty here!). The Double Helix Bridge is the worlds first curved bridge. It is an arced bridge designed in a double helix to represent the Yin and Yang of life, but also DNA. It is curved at a gentle angle, but it is still curved. I toured the entire Marina area, walking for at least 7 miles today. I was lucky in that while still hot and humid today, it was cloudy with a good breeze. It made it bearable to be outside.
CitiLink. The job of this mall is actually to interlink three other malls. The nice thing about it though is that the entire time you are underground and in air conditioning. Upon return to my hostel I headed out for a quick lunch, and then went for another huge walk with another traveler here at my hostel. We easily walked another 5- 6 miles. Needless to say my feet hurt, but I have seen tons of the city.
What I have found so amazing during my travails here in Singapore is just how clean everything is. I think I may have spotted one homeless dude during all my walking today. ONE! Across Asia homelessness like the rest of the world is a huge problem. It is especially a huge problem in large cities which are surrounded by poverty. Normally in a city this size, you would see lots of beggars and homeless. I may have seen one, and even then I am not sure he was. He was way to clean. I joked with a few travelers here that I keep thinking I will turn a corner and see litter or dirt somewhere, but it is not the case. In fact when I was walking through one mall, the main scent I smelled was antiseptic. Yeah, its that clean.
Tomorrow I am planning on hitting one or two museums and then hopefully meeting up with Pablo. Pablo is a guy who I met in Daegu and just happens to be in Singapore the same time that I am. After tomorrow I head off to Bangkok to meet up with Brian and to spend some time on an island. This will be the major relaxing part of my vacation. I am sure that numerous numerous photos will accompany it. Keep tuned sports fans, for there will be a plethora of blogs (provided I have internet access) over the next few weeks. In fact I might even hit four posts before the end of the month. No promises though =P
Where to start? Well I guess the first thing would be why I decided to spend some time in Singapore. To be totally honest this city has intrigued me for a while. What started it was when the American student was caned here in Singapore almost 15 years ago. The idea that there was a country that had such strict laws and strict interpretations of it was a revelation. In the United States we don't have very strict punishments. Here, the average fine for simple offense (jaywalking for example) is between 100 and 400 dollars. That's a ton of money for crossing a street. After the student was caned I learned a lot about the history of this city state. It is poised on the Straits of Malacca and is subsequently one of the most important shipping locations in the world. In college, I learned about the diversity and culture of Singapore, and most importantly, the food. I hate to say this but I came here to eat. The fusion of cultures has produced some of the most unique and honestly delicious food anywhere in the world. Imagine walking down a street and being able to get world class Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Thai food, all for about 3 bucks a pop. That is what I call awesome.
For anyone who watches No Reservations on the Travel Channel you will know that Bourdain considers Singapore to be as close to foodie heaven as you can get. I am starting to agree with him. Tucked away in hot humid hawker centers are simple stalls selling amazing food at dirt cheap prices. There is no excuse to go to a restaurant here. There is none at all. All you need to do is walk down a street that sells food and let your eyes, nose, and stomach guide you. You can have it all here, and there is little to no chance at food poisoning. In most of South East Asia street food is a wonderful gamble. It tastes awesome, but the chances of catching a bug significantly increase. The water, unlike almost any other South East Asian country, is drinkable out of the tap. That is a entirely rare. In fact this might be the only place in S.E.A (SouthEastAsia) that it is possible.
I find myself for the next few days located in the middle of Chinatown. My hostel being located on a street food, and about five minutes walk from one of the best hawker centers in town. For those that don't know, a hawker center is a food court. It's a cheap cheap place to get awesome food, and I do mean awesome food. My meals so far have consisted of Chicken Rice (exactly what it's name implies but the rice is out of this world good), Roast Duck with noodles, and Roast chicken with rice and braised veggies. I have yet to try the Singaporean special known as Chili Crab, but that will be taken care of tomorrow. My stomach is already growling thinking about more food. Yum, I will have to come back to this place.
Today was my first real day in Singapore. I arrived yesterday, but in truth I was worn out from my travels. Unless I am exhausted I simply cannot sleep on an airplane. Even though I took the red eye flight I only managed about two hours of sleep. Upon arrival I found my hostel and quickly met a Polish backpacker who lives in London named Mike. After I took a quick shower we headed off to get some grub (Chicken Rice). Upon return I promptly took a nap which turned out to be roughly a 5 hour affair. Waking at about 10 PM I decided to take a walk and to get accustomed to my surrounding. I toured Chinatown taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of a place which is wholly unique. It is unique not because it is a Chinatown, but it is a Chinatown in a country that is 75% ethnically Chinese. The stuff here, while some of it is directed at tourists is also directed firmly at the Chinese population. They come here for quick, tasty, and authentic food. After my tour I headed back to my hostel and talked with the other backpackers until about 1 AM.. I decided to turn in and get some sleep.
I awoke this morning at 7:30. I ate a quick breakfast, did some research and then headed off to the Marina Bay area. This area is a land reclamation project that is almost finished. Some of the highlights include the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino, the Merlion, and the Double Helix Bridge. The Merlion is honestly a little creepy. It's a half lion half mermaid statue spitting water out into the bay (and drug possession or distribution carries a mandatory death penalty here!). The Double Helix Bridge is the worlds first curved bridge. It is an arced bridge designed in a double helix to represent the Yin and Yang of life, but also DNA. It is curved at a gentle angle, but it is still curved. I toured the entire Marina area, walking for at least 7 miles today. I was lucky in that while still hot and humid today, it was cloudy with a good breeze. It made it bearable to be outside.
CitiLink. The job of this mall is actually to interlink three other malls. The nice thing about it though is that the entire time you are underground and in air conditioning. Upon return to my hostel I headed out for a quick lunch, and then went for another huge walk with another traveler here at my hostel. We easily walked another 5- 6 miles. Needless to say my feet hurt, but I have seen tons of the city.
What I have found so amazing during my travails here in Singapore is just how clean everything is. I think I may have spotted one homeless dude during all my walking today. ONE! Across Asia homelessness like the rest of the world is a huge problem. It is especially a huge problem in large cities which are surrounded by poverty. Normally in a city this size, you would see lots of beggars and homeless. I may have seen one, and even then I am not sure he was. He was way to clean. I joked with a few travelers here that I keep thinking I will turn a corner and see litter or dirt somewhere, but it is not the case. In fact when I was walking through one mall, the main scent I smelled was antiseptic. Yeah, its that clean.
Tomorrow I am planning on hitting one or two museums and then hopefully meeting up with Pablo. Pablo is a guy who I met in Daegu and just happens to be in Singapore the same time that I am. After tomorrow I head off to Bangkok to meet up with Brian and to spend some time on an island. This will be the major relaxing part of my vacation. I am sure that numerous numerous photos will accompany it. Keep tuned sports fans, for there will be a plethora of blogs (provided I have internet access) over the next few weeks. In fact I might even hit four posts before the end of the month. No promises though =P
Monday, November 22, 2010
Morality.
In a way it is only fitting that I'm thinking about morality this week. Through a confluence of events and plans I find myself confronted with a myriad of moral issues. First, I guess I should give you a little background on my sense of morality. For lack of a better word it is strict. I have always held myself to a higher moral code than most. I believe that morality is a personal decision and that while my morality fits me, it is not for everyone. Everyone has to decide their own morality and cannot have it forced upon them by an outside person or force. That being said, there are just some things that run across cultures and are seen as moral throughout most the world.
I'll start with one of the easiest issues in front of me right now. I am planning a vacation to Southeast Asia which will include stops in Singapore (I'm really excited about), Cambodia (also really excited about), Kuala Lumpur (sorta excited), and Thailand (kinda apathetic). I feel bad for being somewhat apathetic towards Thailand, but there is a significant reason for it. It has to do with a moral issue, prostitution. I don't believe that prostitution is an evil vice and should be eliminated. In fact I think it should be legalized. It should be legalized for the protection of the women who find themselves involved in that business. If you legalize it, you can mandate testing for drugs and disease, you can require the use of condoms, you also help eliminate the criminal element. However, granted I am for legalization, I am not a supporter of engaging the services of prostitutes. Unfortunately, a large portion of the tourism in Thailand is designed around prostitution and the services rendered. In fact it is so bad that it has become a sex tourism (that's right there is actually a type of tourism now designed around it) destination. Most young males ideas and ideals about Thailand revolve around the fact that for as little as 50 dollars you can "rent" a beautiful girl for the night. In fact, you can "rent" girls as young as 18 legally and as low as you illegally can dream. Forgive me if it sounds puritanical, but I'm not interested in it, and honestly am not looking forward to being around people whose idea of a vacation is how many girls they can purchase in a week.
This bothers me because I know that I am allowing myself to be jaded before I set foot into a country. It's a beautiful country with thousands of years of history and culture which I'm very interested in. I don't want to be jaded walking into it, but I would be lying if I didn't say the sex tourism trade was negating whatever excitement I have towards the country. I guess that was a large part of the reason while I was in Bali that I didn't go out partying. I'm just not interested in going to bars and then paying the bar to take the girl home. There are lots of things to see and do in Thailand, I guess I will just have to choose carefully where I go.
Besides the morality of prostitution, I guess the real thing that has morality ensconced in my head right now is what recently happened at my school. It's been bothering me for a week or so now, and it finally hit home yesterday. According to my co-teachers between one and five 4th grade girls were molested at my school by one of our teachers. The teacher has since apologized for his actions and has been fired. However, I must state accordingly right now I don't know exactly what his actions were that got him fired. I don't know if he sexually molested them, or if he groped them, or if he just did something inappropriate with them. The reason for my confusion is due to the varying degrees of information I have received since it happened. My co-teachers are using the world molest. However, I do not know if this is a translation issue. It is possible that in Korean there is only one word for the whole spectrum of horrible things that can be done to a child. After what I saw yesterday I'm inclined to believe that they were molested. However, the school has had several meetings (which I didn't attend due to the fact they were in Korean), where the basis of the meeting was that you don't touch your students. This is a new idea here in Korea. As I have stated before Korean society is a lot more liberal when it comes to touching another person. The idea of a personal space is a lot looser here. The last fact that has added confusion on my part is that the teacher was fired, but the authorities were not contacted. The parents did not want to press charges or make a scene and the principal is more than willing to allow that. It would be really big news if this got into the news here and the school would lose a lot of face.
However, even with that in mind, I still feel bound by my training in the US that I am required to report this. The problem is that while the teacher has been fired, I'm not entirely sure if any notation was placed in his file as to why he was fired. I'm also not entirely sure if he will ever be able to work with children again. The teacher is an older man and I'm not sure if he will be able to get another job. Personally I believe that his ass should be paraded down the middle of the city wear a sign that says child molester on it while people get to throw whatever they want at him. I don't care if he apologized. The man targeted and abused my students. He's lucky his ass was fired before I found out about it. All in all the lack of information is what is my biggest problem. I cannot make a decision whether or not to report this unless I have all the information. That being said, the school is not passing information on to me. I cannot make this decision based on incomplete facts. That and I cannot really ask a lot of my coworkers about it because they are uncomfortable talking about it. If he was fired and a notice was placed in his file that he groped a child I'm ok with that. However if he molested a child, I believe more is needed. Apology or not the man needs to punished in the court of law. I believe it's only fitting as he was our morality/ethics/civics teacher.
The hardest part of all this was yesterday. Before yesterday the student/students who were abused were faceless entities at my school. I found out yesterday that they were fourth grade students, and on top of that they were my students. I taught them yesterday, and while I am only sure that one student was abused, that is more than I am willing to allow. The student he abused was one of my favorite 4th grade girls. She was a very quiet and shy girl. She was not the smartest girl, however she was eager to learn and if you engaged her she was a pleasure to teach. Yesterday in class she was exhibiting classic signs of abuse. Her demeanor had changed. There was a cloud hanging over her. She was uncertain, nervous, and tense. Every time I walked by in class you could visibly see her tense up. For a while in class I noticed that she was running her hands through her hair and then pulling out a single strand of hair. She did this for about twenty minutes.
Yesterday was a tough day. The only silver lining in it all was I noticed several times during the class that my student was smiling and behaving like a child. She's still eager to smile, and I can only hope that she can recover from this.
I'll start with one of the easiest issues in front of me right now. I am planning a vacation to Southeast Asia which will include stops in Singapore (I'm really excited about), Cambodia (also really excited about), Kuala Lumpur (sorta excited), and Thailand (kinda apathetic). I feel bad for being somewhat apathetic towards Thailand, but there is a significant reason for it. It has to do with a moral issue, prostitution. I don't believe that prostitution is an evil vice and should be eliminated. In fact I think it should be legalized. It should be legalized for the protection of the women who find themselves involved in that business. If you legalize it, you can mandate testing for drugs and disease, you can require the use of condoms, you also help eliminate the criminal element. However, granted I am for legalization, I am not a supporter of engaging the services of prostitutes. Unfortunately, a large portion of the tourism in Thailand is designed around prostitution and the services rendered. In fact it is so bad that it has become a sex tourism (that's right there is actually a type of tourism now designed around it) destination. Most young males ideas and ideals about Thailand revolve around the fact that for as little as 50 dollars you can "rent" a beautiful girl for the night. In fact, you can "rent" girls as young as 18 legally and as low as you illegally can dream. Forgive me if it sounds puritanical, but I'm not interested in it, and honestly am not looking forward to being around people whose idea of a vacation is how many girls they can purchase in a week.
This bothers me because I know that I am allowing myself to be jaded before I set foot into a country. It's a beautiful country with thousands of years of history and culture which I'm very interested in. I don't want to be jaded walking into it, but I would be lying if I didn't say the sex tourism trade was negating whatever excitement I have towards the country. I guess that was a large part of the reason while I was in Bali that I didn't go out partying. I'm just not interested in going to bars and then paying the bar to take the girl home. There are lots of things to see and do in Thailand, I guess I will just have to choose carefully where I go.
Besides the morality of prostitution, I guess the real thing that has morality ensconced in my head right now is what recently happened at my school. It's been bothering me for a week or so now, and it finally hit home yesterday. According to my co-teachers between one and five 4th grade girls were molested at my school by one of our teachers. The teacher has since apologized for his actions and has been fired. However, I must state accordingly right now I don't know exactly what his actions were that got him fired. I don't know if he sexually molested them, or if he groped them, or if he just did something inappropriate with them. The reason for my confusion is due to the varying degrees of information I have received since it happened. My co-teachers are using the world molest. However, I do not know if this is a translation issue. It is possible that in Korean there is only one word for the whole spectrum of horrible things that can be done to a child. After what I saw yesterday I'm inclined to believe that they were molested. However, the school has had several meetings (which I didn't attend due to the fact they were in Korean), where the basis of the meeting was that you don't touch your students. This is a new idea here in Korea. As I have stated before Korean society is a lot more liberal when it comes to touching another person. The idea of a personal space is a lot looser here. The last fact that has added confusion on my part is that the teacher was fired, but the authorities were not contacted. The parents did not want to press charges or make a scene and the principal is more than willing to allow that. It would be really big news if this got into the news here and the school would lose a lot of face.
However, even with that in mind, I still feel bound by my training in the US that I am required to report this. The problem is that while the teacher has been fired, I'm not entirely sure if any notation was placed in his file as to why he was fired. I'm also not entirely sure if he will ever be able to work with children again. The teacher is an older man and I'm not sure if he will be able to get another job. Personally I believe that his ass should be paraded down the middle of the city wear a sign that says child molester on it while people get to throw whatever they want at him. I don't care if he apologized. The man targeted and abused my students. He's lucky his ass was fired before I found out about it. All in all the lack of information is what is my biggest problem. I cannot make a decision whether or not to report this unless I have all the information. That being said, the school is not passing information on to me. I cannot make this decision based on incomplete facts. That and I cannot really ask a lot of my coworkers about it because they are uncomfortable talking about it. If he was fired and a notice was placed in his file that he groped a child I'm ok with that. However if he molested a child, I believe more is needed. Apology or not the man needs to punished in the court of law. I believe it's only fitting as he was our morality/ethics/civics teacher.
The hardest part of all this was yesterday. Before yesterday the student/students who were abused were faceless entities at my school. I found out yesterday that they were fourth grade students, and on top of that they were my students. I taught them yesterday, and while I am only sure that one student was abused, that is more than I am willing to allow. The student he abused was one of my favorite 4th grade girls. She was a very quiet and shy girl. She was not the smartest girl, however she was eager to learn and if you engaged her she was a pleasure to teach. Yesterday in class she was exhibiting classic signs of abuse. Her demeanor had changed. There was a cloud hanging over her. She was uncertain, nervous, and tense. Every time I walked by in class you could visibly see her tense up. For a while in class I noticed that she was running her hands through her hair and then pulling out a single strand of hair. She did this for about twenty minutes.
Yesterday was a tough day. The only silver lining in it all was I noticed several times during the class that my student was smiling and behaving like a child. She's still eager to smile, and I can only hope that she can recover from this.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Unreasonable Expectations
I guess by now that I shouldn't be surprised by this. I know that Korea is obsessed with the appearance of success, but this is taking it a little too far. In the recent citywide elementary school English contest, my school did better than every other school. We did not place first in any event, but we were the only school in which every student who participated received a medal. We received two silver medals and two bronze medals in reading, speaking, writing, and the golden bell (English quiz). In the United States having 4 of 4 students earn either a silver or a bronze medal is something to be proud of. Especially considering the fact that the student who won the golden bell had spent the past 6 months in the United States going to school. We earned a silver and a bronze in that event.
However, according to my principal and my vice principal, if we did not win a gold medal we did not do a good job. I actually had two of my students apologize to me because they didn't win their respective competitions. Forgive me if this seems a little unreasonable. Yes, getting first place would be nice, but even without it we proved that our school is one of the better places in this city to obtain an English education. I think we should be praising our students for a job well done, not criticizing them because they didn't win it all. Now the criticism is coming from my principal and vice principal but still my co-teachers are sad because they see it as a failure on their part.
I guess it just comes down to differences in opinion, but I have to say that I think I'm right here. My kids did a wonderful job, and I know that most every other foreign teacher here agrees with me. Call it cultural, call it whatever, still, these kids are in 5th and 6th grade. At least tell them they did a good job.
However, according to my principal and my vice principal, if we did not win a gold medal we did not do a good job. I actually had two of my students apologize to me because they didn't win their respective competitions. Forgive me if this seems a little unreasonable. Yes, getting first place would be nice, but even without it we proved that our school is one of the better places in this city to obtain an English education. I think we should be praising our students for a job well done, not criticizing them because they didn't win it all. Now the criticism is coming from my principal and vice principal but still my co-teachers are sad because they see it as a failure on their part.
I guess it just comes down to differences in opinion, but I have to say that I think I'm right here. My kids did a wonderful job, and I know that most every other foreign teacher here agrees with me. Call it cultural, call it whatever, still, these kids are in 5th and 6th grade. At least tell them they did a good job.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
My life or something like it.
I have the distinct feeling that for those of you who are still following this blog you might be slightly annoyed by the dearth of posts in the past few months. I wish I could say that it was simply because I have been so busy that I have not had time to write. I could try and sell you on that line, but it would be an utter waste of my and more importantly your time. The simple truth is that life here is now more or less the same as life everywhere. There are still small quirky things that happen from time to time, but in general, it's the same as if I was living in the United States and working. It honestly doesn't make the most interesting of blogging material.
Alas, life still moves forward. I have started my third contract here in Korea. Some of you might be wondering just how it is I could resign for a third year. Well, in all honesty, money is what kept me here. After playing with numbers and making some rough estimates I have come to the conclusion that I have a job which is paying me between 35,000-40,000 dollars a year here. The reason this number is so high is because I do not have to pay for rent. Once you factor in even the cheapest of rental options in San Diego you're still looking at a minimum of 6,000 dollars. I ran my numbers using an estimate of 1,000 dollars a month. This number is rather high, but it includes, vehicle costs, utilities, and other small things that come as part of being a functional member or society. Assuming these numbers, that is an extra 12,000 dollars a year that I'm not paying. Now, granted I make less than this 40,000 a year. In fact I probably make about 66% of this number when it's all said and done. However, the benefits here far outweigh the uncertainties when considering coming home.
There are too many things right now that just are not clear enough to warrant leaving my job. I do really want to come home, and I'm planning on coming home sooner rather then later. However, the current joblessness when combined with underemployment have me scared out of my mind. I am not going to come back to the states just to pick up a wrench again or substitute teach again. I'd like to say that I have some level of hope that this problem will magically fix itself before I come home, but I know better. When you combine this with the potential of another recession next year, I could not come home. I couldn't abandon a relatively secure job and a positive work environment for the unknown that waits back home. Don't mistake this for complacency in my situation. I am far from it. I am just realistic. I don't have the money saved to wait this out right now, nor am I certain enough of my resume to ensure myself of a job when I arrive.
The current plan is to complete my contract, and then to evaluate myself when I get closer to the time to make a decision. I plan to come home at the end of this contract, or to extend through the end of the school year here to set myself up better in the states. Granted for a lot of you this is not what you'd like to hear. I unfortunately cannot offer much sympathy to you. This is the decision that I made after some intense contemplation and thought. I believe that this is what is best for my life right now. Had this whole recession thing not happened then maybe I'd be in a completely different boat. Yet, it did, and this is where I find myself now.
Given the fun nature of this post so far I figure that I should probably change tones and talk about my life in the past month. After my experience with the typhoon (see previous post) life has been more or less the same. I know you're so surprised at that statement. Don't rush to judgment too fast here. There are actually a few interesting stories in here.
I will start with a recipe that I "discovered" here. I warn you not to make this because they are like crack. It's a candied walnut. I was trying to make roasted pork in a honey citron tea sauce. There are several honey based teas here in Korea that are quite delicious. The stuff is basically honey marmalade. Well as I was roasting the pork I threw some veggies and walnuts in to roast also. While I was eating dinner I noticed that the walnuts were ridiculously awesome. In fact the pork wasn't that great because the tea I chose was too sweet (the honey ginger tea will work much better). Well I decided to roast some walnuts the next day in the sauce. I roast them until the sugars in the honey start to caramelize. Right before I pull them out I've been throwing a little bit of shredded coconut onto them. Once the stuff cools down you end up with some awesome walnuts. You should be able to find the teas at almost any Asian supermarket. I must warn you though, these things are addicting. Do not make them if you are hungry. You'll burn your mouth because you're eating so many of them straight out of the oven.
Outside of my accidental recipe discovery my cooking life has been relatively simple. I have executed and managed not to screw up making my mom's pasta salad several times. I have also made a couple of face melting salsas with my absolutely lovely food processor. I know, I know, a guy who loves sports shouldn't be talking in such away about a food processor. I promise there is a sports story coming soon.
Life outside of cooking has been pretty simple recently. There has been a whole new bunch of teachers arriving and making there way into the Seosan foreigner scene. This means I am meeting new people and trying to remember all their names. Not an easy task when you're as bad with names as I am. If I could I would just name them all Bob and Susan. It does however lead to some interesting conversations with the recently arrived. One person, who shall remain nameless, is unfortunately the type of person that we've managed to avoid having around since I've been here. The easy access to alcohol and exceptionally low cost of it is not a good thing for this person. What is worse though, is the boorish/misogynistic mentality that he develops with liquid courage. The first time I ever met him he asked me about how easy it was to score with Korean chicks. Sensing this conversation was not going to go well I told him the truth that it was difficult, but not impossible. He then proceeded to talk about a friend of mine for about fifteen minutes and how he was going to "get her" before long. Unknowingly to him this woman has a boyfriend and is friends with a lot of the foreigners. Needless to say he's made a bad impression with lots of us and is unfortunately making a name for himself with the Koreans also. Which, sadly is passed on to all foreigners.
Okay, fine, here is the sports story. I'll try to keep it short as this post has already gone on long enough. For those of you that have read previous posts or I have talked to , know that Koreans love to play volleyball. They love it so much that every public school here has an intramural team that plays other schools. Well we recently had an 8 team tournament. Our school took second place in the tournament. We actually should have won but we blew a 5 point lead in the final set. Needless to say, yours truly played quite well. I'd like to say I have a glamorous job, but my job is basically to block when the ball is set to my side and to clean up the net. Basically my job has become is the past few weeks to scramble, dive, and generally risk my well being in an attempt to make the play last longer. Well, second place isn't that bad, but the funny thing is watching a 6 foot 265 pound white guy playing volleyball with a bunch of 5'5" to 5'10" 165 pound Koreans. Needless to say, and I am quoting a friend here, "It's like watching a rhino playing with gazelles." My body still hurts from this tournament because we played 5 games on Sunday and played 12 sets of Volleyball. Last time we played in the tournament lost our first two games and went home. I'd say this was quite the improvement.
Alas, life still moves forward. I have started my third contract here in Korea. Some of you might be wondering just how it is I could resign for a third year. Well, in all honesty, money is what kept me here. After playing with numbers and making some rough estimates I have come to the conclusion that I have a job which is paying me between 35,000-40,000 dollars a year here. The reason this number is so high is because I do not have to pay for rent. Once you factor in even the cheapest of rental options in San Diego you're still looking at a minimum of 6,000 dollars. I ran my numbers using an estimate of 1,000 dollars a month. This number is rather high, but it includes, vehicle costs, utilities, and other small things that come as part of being a functional member or society. Assuming these numbers, that is an extra 12,000 dollars a year that I'm not paying. Now, granted I make less than this 40,000 a year. In fact I probably make about 66% of this number when it's all said and done. However, the benefits here far outweigh the uncertainties when considering coming home.
There are too many things right now that just are not clear enough to warrant leaving my job. I do really want to come home, and I'm planning on coming home sooner rather then later. However, the current joblessness when combined with underemployment have me scared out of my mind. I am not going to come back to the states just to pick up a wrench again or substitute teach again. I'd like to say that I have some level of hope that this problem will magically fix itself before I come home, but I know better. When you combine this with the potential of another recession next year, I could not come home. I couldn't abandon a relatively secure job and a positive work environment for the unknown that waits back home. Don't mistake this for complacency in my situation. I am far from it. I am just realistic. I don't have the money saved to wait this out right now, nor am I certain enough of my resume to ensure myself of a job when I arrive.
The current plan is to complete my contract, and then to evaluate myself when I get closer to the time to make a decision. I plan to come home at the end of this contract, or to extend through the end of the school year here to set myself up better in the states. Granted for a lot of you this is not what you'd like to hear. I unfortunately cannot offer much sympathy to you. This is the decision that I made after some intense contemplation and thought. I believe that this is what is best for my life right now. Had this whole recession thing not happened then maybe I'd be in a completely different boat. Yet, it did, and this is where I find myself now.
Given the fun nature of this post so far I figure that I should probably change tones and talk about my life in the past month. After my experience with the typhoon (see previous post) life has been more or less the same. I know you're so surprised at that statement. Don't rush to judgment too fast here. There are actually a few interesting stories in here.
I will start with a recipe that I "discovered" here. I warn you not to make this because they are like crack. It's a candied walnut. I was trying to make roasted pork in a honey citron tea sauce. There are several honey based teas here in Korea that are quite delicious. The stuff is basically honey marmalade. Well as I was roasting the pork I threw some veggies and walnuts in to roast also. While I was eating dinner I noticed that the walnuts were ridiculously awesome. In fact the pork wasn't that great because the tea I chose was too sweet (the honey ginger tea will work much better). Well I decided to roast some walnuts the next day in the sauce. I roast them until the sugars in the honey start to caramelize. Right before I pull them out I've been throwing a little bit of shredded coconut onto them. Once the stuff cools down you end up with some awesome walnuts. You should be able to find the teas at almost any Asian supermarket. I must warn you though, these things are addicting. Do not make them if you are hungry. You'll burn your mouth because you're eating so many of them straight out of the oven.
Outside of my accidental recipe discovery my cooking life has been relatively simple. I have executed and managed not to screw up making my mom's pasta salad several times. I have also made a couple of face melting salsas with my absolutely lovely food processor. I know, I know, a guy who loves sports shouldn't be talking in such away about a food processor. I promise there is a sports story coming soon.
Life outside of cooking has been pretty simple recently. There has been a whole new bunch of teachers arriving and making there way into the Seosan foreigner scene. This means I am meeting new people and trying to remember all their names. Not an easy task when you're as bad with names as I am. If I could I would just name them all Bob and Susan. It does however lead to some interesting conversations with the recently arrived. One person, who shall remain nameless, is unfortunately the type of person that we've managed to avoid having around since I've been here. The easy access to alcohol and exceptionally low cost of it is not a good thing for this person. What is worse though, is the boorish/misogynistic mentality that he develops with liquid courage. The first time I ever met him he asked me about how easy it was to score with Korean chicks. Sensing this conversation was not going to go well I told him the truth that it was difficult, but not impossible. He then proceeded to talk about a friend of mine for about fifteen minutes and how he was going to "get her" before long. Unknowingly to him this woman has a boyfriend and is friends with a lot of the foreigners. Needless to say he's made a bad impression with lots of us and is unfortunately making a name for himself with the Koreans also. Which, sadly is passed on to all foreigners.
Okay, fine, here is the sports story. I'll try to keep it short as this post has already gone on long enough. For those of you that have read previous posts or I have talked to , know that Koreans love to play volleyball. They love it so much that every public school here has an intramural team that plays other schools. Well we recently had an 8 team tournament. Our school took second place in the tournament. We actually should have won but we blew a 5 point lead in the final set. Needless to say, yours truly played quite well. I'd like to say I have a glamorous job, but my job is basically to block when the ball is set to my side and to clean up the net. Basically my job has become is the past few weeks to scramble, dive, and generally risk my well being in an attempt to make the play last longer. Well, second place isn't that bad, but the funny thing is watching a 6 foot 265 pound white guy playing volleyball with a bunch of 5'5" to 5'10" 165 pound Koreans. Needless to say, and I am quoting a friend here, "It's like watching a rhino playing with gazelles." My body still hurts from this tournament because we played 5 games on Sunday and played 12 sets of Volleyball. Last time we played in the tournament lost our first two games and went home. I'd say this was quite the improvement.
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