It is that wonderful time of year again where teachers rejoice and students disappear. Wait, sorry, that's in America. Summer vacation in Korea is an entirely different animal. In America I waited for summer vacation with baited breath because I knew it was a time where my responsibilities were lessened and I was able to relax just a bit more. Even in college when I was busy working most the summer, it was still a time where I didn't have to study. Well, ok, I studied, but I studied by traveling.
However, in Korea, summer vacation seems to be a time for the school to offer the classes that it should have been offering all year around. I will be running a summer camp which consists of two, two hour classes. On top of my English camp there will also be math camps, science camps, etc. These classes are designed to either help students who have fallen behind or to teach those students who achieve the highest achieve even higher. I feel that these camps achieve more teaching in two or three weeks than the regular classes do in 2-3 months. However, one strange thing, is the after school program run by this school is not cancelled. I still have to teach the little buggers twice a week.
This summer I waited far to long to purchase my flights. My heart was set on spending a week or a week and a half in San Diego. I miss it dearly, as I miss my friends. However, when I first started looking flights where a prohibitive $1,000. Thinking that I could find a deal if I waited, I did. unfortunately no deals were to come, and by the time I decided that I was coming home the cost of my flight was going to be $1500. At that cost, I cannot in good conscience return. I miss it dearly, but for $1500 I can pay for my entire vacation to the Philippines and Hong Kong. For the total cost of a vacation back to San Diego (roughly 2000-2500 dollars) I can pay for my trip and potentially get eye surgery. That and considering my more than likely return to the US in March I have to take the opportunity now to travel.
Sorry folks, you're going to have to wait a little longer to see me.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Seoulmazingly Tired
Some of you may watch a show called the Amazing Race. For those that don't watch it, I'm pretty sure most of you are aware of the premise of it. The show revolves around teams who race around the world completing tasks and experiencing the world in a way never thought possible. Well, I'd be lying if I said that is what I competed in a week ago, however, a foreigner operated magazine in Seoul did their best to create an amazing race style event in Seoul.
The race consisted of 35 teams scrambling around Seoul for twelve hours (There were 16 stops). It was an epic marathon of sweat, eating, getting lost, and experiencing more in one day than I have ever done in Seoul. The events included some relatively easy tasks such as finding an establishment, or beer tasting. There were also some creative tasks such as writing our names in Korean, getting kids to guess English words, making and selling Kimbap (Korean version of a California roll), and trying to catch water balloons blindfolded. However, for my team, the most terrifying and horrid tasks were the eating tasks. They weren't bad because everything we had to eat was something I had eaten before. They were horrible because nobody else on my team could eat them, meaning I had to ingest all of them. The first eating challenge was not difficult at all. I think they may have run out of the original item, or the fish they chose did not ferment at all. Either way it was simple, but chewy. The last challenge however was where the race separated the strong from the weak. Enter canned silkworm larva.
Now, for anyone who has ever been to Korea, they know about this stuff and tend to avoid it like the plague. Put it this way, most Koreans don't really like this stuff. In essence, Beondegi (bone day gi) is boiled silkworm larva. However as unappetizing as that sounds, the stuff smells and tastes like three week old gym socks. And this is the fresh stuff that is made in the markets and stuff. The canned version of it, like the canned version of pretty much anything is nastier. When I realized that I was going to have to eat an entire can of Beondegi I immediately began to fear for my team. This was the one thing in Korea that I was afraid of having to eat. I have had them a few times before and they're not good. The biggest problem is that when you bite into them they tend to explode and squirt foul tasting liquid. One at a time they are manageable and do not cause much of a gag reflex. However, when you have a mouth full of them and they all explode at the same time, you can't help but gag. Luckily one of my team mates had a bottle of vitamin water. The taste was so bad that I was having to put ten to twenty of them in my mouth, fill it with vitamin water, and then chew and swallow. Afterwards I had to drink again to help keep them down. There was actually a few times I almost threw up while eating. Not fun. Needless to say though, my ability to power through something this nasty was a major reason for our success.
I wish I could say that we won the race and our team was showered with adulation and honor, however, we came in 16th of 35. This is not as bad as you'd think. When we hit our first pit stop we were 11th. However, at the next pit stop, due to some unfortunate directions and getting lost we were 32nd. In 6 stops we managed to pick up 16 spots. I'll count that as a win any day of the week. We emerged from the day, worn out, exhausted, and happy. It was a great day, and while the result may not have been great, I would do it again if it ever presented itself. I had a great team. My team was Gisela, Malani, and Hana. We all did our parts and supported each other when we needed it. I'd do it with them again, however, I might choose to make them eat the silkworm larva next time.
The race consisted of 35 teams scrambling around Seoul for twelve hours (There were 16 stops). It was an epic marathon of sweat, eating, getting lost, and experiencing more in one day than I have ever done in Seoul. The events included some relatively easy tasks such as finding an establishment, or beer tasting. There were also some creative tasks such as writing our names in Korean, getting kids to guess English words, making and selling Kimbap (Korean version of a California roll), and trying to catch water balloons blindfolded. However, for my team, the most terrifying and horrid tasks were the eating tasks. They weren't bad because everything we had to eat was something I had eaten before. They were horrible because nobody else on my team could eat them, meaning I had to ingest all of them. The first eating challenge was not difficult at all. I think they may have run out of the original item, or the fish they chose did not ferment at all. Either way it was simple, but chewy. The last challenge however was where the race separated the strong from the weak. Enter canned silkworm larva.
Now, for anyone who has ever been to Korea, they know about this stuff and tend to avoid it like the plague. Put it this way, most Koreans don't really like this stuff. In essence, Beondegi (bone day gi) is boiled silkworm larva. However as unappetizing as that sounds, the stuff smells and tastes like three week old gym socks. And this is the fresh stuff that is made in the markets and stuff. The canned version of it, like the canned version of pretty much anything is nastier. When I realized that I was going to have to eat an entire can of Beondegi I immediately began to fear for my team. This was the one thing in Korea that I was afraid of having to eat. I have had them a few times before and they're not good. The biggest problem is that when you bite into them they tend to explode and squirt foul tasting liquid. One at a time they are manageable and do not cause much of a gag reflex. However, when you have a mouth full of them and they all explode at the same time, you can't help but gag. Luckily one of my team mates had a bottle of vitamin water. The taste was so bad that I was having to put ten to twenty of them in my mouth, fill it with vitamin water, and then chew and swallow. Afterwards I had to drink again to help keep them down. There was actually a few times I almost threw up while eating. Not fun. Needless to say though, my ability to power through something this nasty was a major reason for our success.I wish I could say that we won the race and our team was showered with adulation and honor, however, we came in 16th of 35. This is not as bad as you'd think. When we hit our first pit stop we were 11th. However, at the next pit stop, due to some unfortunate directions and getting lost we were 32nd. In 6 stops we managed to pick up 16 spots. I'll count that as a win any day of the week. We emerged from the day, worn out, exhausted, and happy. It was a great day, and while the result may not have been great, I would do it again if it ever presented itself. I had a great team. My team was Gisela, Malani, and Hana. We all did our parts and supported each other when we needed it. I'd do it with them again, however, I might choose to make them eat the silkworm larva next time.
Monday, June 6, 2011
The Prohibitive Cost of Flying
While living in a foreign country, you tend to track certain things. First of all, if you are being paid in the local currency and not your currency you tend to keep a real close eye on the exchange rate. Other things you pay attention to are health scares, family issues, and the price of flights. Now, normally, I'm not one to balk at the notion of spending 600 or 700 dollars to cross an ocean. I understand that the price of a flight is not directly proportional to the services you receive. I have been on some flights which cost 500 dollars and had excellent service, and others which cost 800 dollars and had no service. I have also had the pleasure of sitting in a 2,000 dollar one way seat and I must say that the service was ridiculous.
Now, my current dilemma. I have for the past few months been desiring greatly to spend a week or two in San Diego. You can call it home sickness, or just a general longing to see people and places that I have known for a long time. In fact, I have been looking into traveling to San Diego for several months now, and the entire time there was one giant, glaring issue. The price of a flight from Seoul to LA or Seoul to San Francisco has risen drastically. We're not talking by 100 or 200 dollars, but in some cases by over 600 dollars.
I have spent the last few weeks trying to figure out how exactly this cost increase has come about. Part of it can be attributed to the weaker dollar driving up costs, but actually, the dollar was roughly the same strength the last time I went back home. Maybe it's when I'm travelling, being August and generally considered peak season for traveling I am expecting an increase in price, but not 600 dollars. That doesn't explain it. Honestly, I'm having a really hard time finding out why the price has increased, besides the fact that, the price has increased. That is truly the only reason I can find for such a drastic increase.
Then, in the back of my head I thought of two things, one which was dismissed rather quickly, the other I haven't been able to shake off. At first I thought maybe the earthquake and subsequent radiation leak had cause airlines to change their paths thereby incurring more costs. This theory, while holding some potential, is pretty much false. Most flights going to the west coast of the United States, and the United States in general go by a northerly route when leaving from East Asia. They fly north past Siberia, cross the Bering Strait and then follow the coast line down. Unfortunately for the radiation theory, the only radiation found on this path is from the now defunct USSR.
Which leads me to a small article I read several months ago. It was talking about how 10-15 airlines had been convicted in court of conspiring to artificially inflate and maintain high prices. Several of these airlines just happened to operate out of Korea, Japan, and China. In fact, most of the airlines were fined severely by the US government. Not that I saw any of that money but hey, I'm just the little guy. Now, considering that many of the airlines who operate trans pacific flights lost billions of dollars in fines to the US government, it only makes sense that they will try to recoup some of this money by raising prices and fees on their long haul flights. This increase in prices would also cause a corresponding raise in the prices of other airlines. I'm just guessing, but this does seem to make some sense here. If some airlines are charging a much higher price, what is going to stop those airlines who don't need to charge as much from raising their prices, but maintaining a price about 100 dollars cheaper to get increased business.
No matter the reason, it still is baffling to try and figure out just how some of these flights can cost so much more in such a relatively small amount of time. When I flew home for my sister's wedding it cost me 750 dollars on Singapore Airlines. For those that don't know Singapore Air is widely considered one of the best international carriers in the business. They were only 50 dollars more expensive than the other guys but the service and comfort was more than worth it. If you take that exact same flight booked through the exact same website, the current cost is 1600 dollars. That is an increase of almost 1,000 dollars. Someone explain to me how in just 1 1/2 years the cost for the exact same flight can cost nearly 1,000 dollars more.
My biggest concern, is that while I do yearn to visit San Diego and spend some time with people I miss, the cost of flying there is quite possibly going to derail those plans. For the cost of the flight, I could spend almost two weeks in the Philippines traveling. It's frustrating, but it may mean instead of coming back I take a short ride over to Japan and see some things that I have been wanting to see for a long time.
Now, my current dilemma. I have for the past few months been desiring greatly to spend a week or two in San Diego. You can call it home sickness, or just a general longing to see people and places that I have known for a long time. In fact, I have been looking into traveling to San Diego for several months now, and the entire time there was one giant, glaring issue. The price of a flight from Seoul to LA or Seoul to San Francisco has risen drastically. We're not talking by 100 or 200 dollars, but in some cases by over 600 dollars.
I have spent the last few weeks trying to figure out how exactly this cost increase has come about. Part of it can be attributed to the weaker dollar driving up costs, but actually, the dollar was roughly the same strength the last time I went back home. Maybe it's when I'm travelling, being August and generally considered peak season for traveling I am expecting an increase in price, but not 600 dollars. That doesn't explain it. Honestly, I'm having a really hard time finding out why the price has increased, besides the fact that, the price has increased. That is truly the only reason I can find for such a drastic increase.
Then, in the back of my head I thought of two things, one which was dismissed rather quickly, the other I haven't been able to shake off. At first I thought maybe the earthquake and subsequent radiation leak had cause airlines to change their paths thereby incurring more costs. This theory, while holding some potential, is pretty much false. Most flights going to the west coast of the United States, and the United States in general go by a northerly route when leaving from East Asia. They fly north past Siberia, cross the Bering Strait and then follow the coast line down. Unfortunately for the radiation theory, the only radiation found on this path is from the now defunct USSR.
Which leads me to a small article I read several months ago. It was talking about how 10-15 airlines had been convicted in court of conspiring to artificially inflate and maintain high prices. Several of these airlines just happened to operate out of Korea, Japan, and China. In fact, most of the airlines were fined severely by the US government. Not that I saw any of that money but hey, I'm just the little guy. Now, considering that many of the airlines who operate trans pacific flights lost billions of dollars in fines to the US government, it only makes sense that they will try to recoup some of this money by raising prices and fees on their long haul flights. This increase in prices would also cause a corresponding raise in the prices of other airlines. I'm just guessing, but this does seem to make some sense here. If some airlines are charging a much higher price, what is going to stop those airlines who don't need to charge as much from raising their prices, but maintaining a price about 100 dollars cheaper to get increased business.
No matter the reason, it still is baffling to try and figure out just how some of these flights can cost so much more in such a relatively small amount of time. When I flew home for my sister's wedding it cost me 750 dollars on Singapore Airlines. For those that don't know Singapore Air is widely considered one of the best international carriers in the business. They were only 50 dollars more expensive than the other guys but the service and comfort was more than worth it. If you take that exact same flight booked through the exact same website, the current cost is 1600 dollars. That is an increase of almost 1,000 dollars. Someone explain to me how in just 1 1/2 years the cost for the exact same flight can cost nearly 1,000 dollars more.
My biggest concern, is that while I do yearn to visit San Diego and spend some time with people I miss, the cost of flying there is quite possibly going to derail those plans. For the cost of the flight, I could spend almost two weeks in the Philippines traveling. It's frustrating, but it may mean instead of coming back I take a short ride over to Japan and see some things that I have been wanting to see for a long time.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Cirque du Holy Crap
One of the nice things about becoming an adult is being able to do the nicer things in life. My weekend excursion to Seoul last weekend is one of those. Being a teacher in Korea provides for a semi-comfortable life, provided you don't have kids and aren't running around pretending you make tons of money. This past weekend my friend Gisela and I decided to go to Cirque Du Soleil. Now as my friends and I have gotten older I dare to say that our tastes have gotten a little more sophisticated. No longer is it the 10 dollar handle of whiskey. It is now the 50 dollar bottle of scotch. I would not be surprised if in fifteen years it is no longer the punk concert, but the classical recital we are all attending. Ok, maybe I'm getting a little ridiculous here but it's all in good fun.
To this point, I think the main difference is not that our tastes have changed, but we finally have the disposable income to be able to afford to do all these awesome things. I have had several friends in the past few years attend a show and all of them have come away seriously impressed. Knowing this, I went in with high expectations. I was not let down.
The show here was about an alien who crash landed somewhere and was experiencing the local customs and life. However, the plot line really seems to be secondary to the ridiculous gymnastics. It's surprising when one of the least spectacular things you see on the stage is a contortionist. The lady seriously was standing on one leg with the other leg fully extended behind her head. If that wasn't scary enough, she then kept going to the point where her foot was next to her ear, the ear on the other side of her body. Like I said though, this was possibly one of the least impressive feats. Most of the things that I found seriously impressive took huge amounts of timing, body control. I don't even want to know how bumped and bruised these guys got during practice.
An excellent example of the body control and timing was in the final act. People were flying across the stage left right and center, but nobody hit each other. In fact there were several times where people went flying across the stage, and were caught, but not caught like a firefighter catching a falling baby, caught like a cheerleader going up for a stunt. It was honestly ridiculous. See the attached video at about 3 minutes in to see what I'm talking about. The show was spectacular and when I walked out of the show I felt like it had been money well spent.
To this point, I think the main difference is not that our tastes have changed, but we finally have the disposable income to be able to afford to do all these awesome things. I have had several friends in the past few years attend a show and all of them have come away seriously impressed. Knowing this, I went in with high expectations. I was not let down.
The show here was about an alien who crash landed somewhere and was experiencing the local customs and life. However, the plot line really seems to be secondary to the ridiculous gymnastics. It's surprising when one of the least spectacular things you see on the stage is a contortionist. The lady seriously was standing on one leg with the other leg fully extended behind her head. If that wasn't scary enough, she then kept going to the point where her foot was next to her ear, the ear on the other side of her body. Like I said though, this was possibly one of the least impressive feats. Most of the things that I found seriously impressive took huge amounts of timing, body control. I don't even want to know how bumped and bruised these guys got during practice.
An excellent example of the body control and timing was in the final act. People were flying across the stage left right and center, but nobody hit each other. In fact there were several times where people went flying across the stage, and were caught, but not caught like a firefighter catching a falling baby, caught like a cheerleader going up for a stunt. It was honestly ridiculous. See the attached video at about 3 minutes in to see what I'm talking about. The show was spectacular and when I walked out of the show I felt like it had been money well spent.
Monday, April 25, 2011
It's hard to explain....
In any industry there are things that are easy to explain and things that are hard to explain. The interesting thing is trying to explain those concepts or feelings to people who have never worked in that field. Add in a language barrier and it becomes damn near impossible to accurately explain why certain things happen and how it effects you. Today is a perfect example of that. As any teacher knows, or any parent knows there are good days and bad days for behavior. On any given day a class may decide that they are going to be the worst class in the entire school. It just happens. Another interesting phenomenon is when an entire grade, or school decides to have a bad day. I've been there for enough of them to tell you that it really happens.
If you have been involved in education long enough you know that the only thing you can do is bear down and get through the day. It makes the day exceptionally frustrating and aggravating but at the end of the day you know that you fought the good fight. You may want a shot or two of something hard, but you know you got through it. Most people, however, only have classroom experience from the student side. Day like this, (like today for me) take a huge toll.
How do you explain to someone that it's hard not to feel like you have failed in some way. Take my case for example, I have been teaching most of these kids for close to 3 years. They know they my rules and they know that I expect the best behavior from them. Not only do they know this, but they actively work to reach my expectations. When my students have a bad day, it's hard for me to not take it personally. You can think that you have made giant strides in behavioral control and classroom management, only to have months of work undone by one hour of student behavior. Every time this happens it's hard not to have a few twinges of self-doubt about how your approach is being received.
As a teacher your job goes far beyond just teaching. Discipline is something that we are constantly involved in, not because it makes our jobs easier, but because schools are expected to socialize our students for entry into the workplace. Where do you think you learn the consequences of being late, not doing what is expected of you, not following directions, etc? Schools, and more importantly teachers are responsible for this education. We are constantly trying to create and develop positive growth in all types of areas. I have spent months trying to get a class to recognize that their behavior has consequences and when they do not meet my expectations the consequences are not fun. When a class or school are having a bad day it's really hard not to think for a moment that you actually have accomplished nothing. It's not entirely true, you have still accomplished something, but you have a major setback and must start at a point much farther away from where you want to be.
If you have been involved in education long enough you know that the only thing you can do is bear down and get through the day. It makes the day exceptionally frustrating and aggravating but at the end of the day you know that you fought the good fight. You may want a shot or two of something hard, but you know you got through it. Most people, however, only have classroom experience from the student side. Day like this, (like today for me) take a huge toll.
How do you explain to someone that it's hard not to feel like you have failed in some way. Take my case for example, I have been teaching most of these kids for close to 3 years. They know they my rules and they know that I expect the best behavior from them. Not only do they know this, but they actively work to reach my expectations. When my students have a bad day, it's hard for me to not take it personally. You can think that you have made giant strides in behavioral control and classroom management, only to have months of work undone by one hour of student behavior. Every time this happens it's hard not to have a few twinges of self-doubt about how your approach is being received.
As a teacher your job goes far beyond just teaching. Discipline is something that we are constantly involved in, not because it makes our jobs easier, but because schools are expected to socialize our students for entry into the workplace. Where do you think you learn the consequences of being late, not doing what is expected of you, not following directions, etc? Schools, and more importantly teachers are responsible for this education. We are constantly trying to create and develop positive growth in all types of areas. I have spent months trying to get a class to recognize that their behavior has consequences and when they do not meet my expectations the consequences are not fun. When a class or school are having a bad day it's really hard not to think for a moment that you actually have accomplished nothing. It's not entirely true, you have still accomplished something, but you have a major setback and must start at a point much farther away from where you want to be.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
I'm not even surpised....
When you first arrive in Korea you are literally assaulted by a sense culture shock. When you are visiting and staying in the major cities it is not as bad, but when you come here to live the culture shock can be quite intense. I tell most the new arrivals that I meet that it will take them about 3 months before they begin to feel comfortable operating and working in this environment. Luckily over time the culture shock wears away slowly but surely. When I first arrived here I thought there was no way that I would ever be able to have conversations in Korean or talk to people whose English skills weren't in the top 5% of the country. Boy was I wrong.
For all intents and purposes, as you may expect given how long I have been here, I have been Koreanized. However, what started as myself dealing with culture shock has now given way to something that is the exact opposite, reverse culture shock. No longer am I surprised about Korea, but Koreans who I have never met are surprised by me. It comes in many different forms, sometimes it's simply talking in Korean, or participating in activities with my school. Other times though, it can be quite memorable. This week was one of those times, and if I said it was the first time it had happened to me here it would be a complete lie. However, this one is perhaps the most entertaining.
It happened on Wednesday when I was eating dinner with my school's volleyball team. There are thirteen men at my school and we (with some female teachers) play volleyball every Wednesday. After 5 the female teachers leave us and we play a few more games that will last to anywhere between 6 P.M. and 9 P.M. Afterward, we normally head off to a restaurant to grab some dinner. Recently my school has been going and getting 영양탕 (Korean pronunciation young yang tong) or nutrition soup is the rough translation of it. In reality it is dog or chicken soup, my school prefers dog. Well on Wednesday we went to a restaurant to grab some soup and some braised dog meat. We have eaten at this restaurant a few times before and the staff doesn't think it's weird that I eat there. However, this week when we went there, there were two older ladies who had not seen me eat there before.
As the meal progressed one of the women realized that I was eating dog. This was the quite a shock to her as she had assumed that foreigner were either unable to eat it (due to allergies or something) or unwilling to eat it. She proceeded to walk over to our table and ask a male teacher sitting next to me if I knew what I was eating and if I liked it. I understood enough of what she said and answered in Korean that it tasted good and that I liked dog. This was my first mistake of the evening. About five minutes later our table asked for some more kimchi to be brought and the same woman noticed that I was eating kimchi. To this she was very surprised because she had apparently never seen a foreigner who liked kimchi before. She asked me if I liked it and I told her that it was good and that I enjoy it. Well apparently this was too much for because she ran off to the kitchen to talk to one of the other ladies there who had apparently made the kimchi. Next thing I know the two ladies have emerged from the kitchen with several other things for me to try. After each one they asked me if I like the food and pretty much every time I said yes (sensing a theme yet?).
As if this wasn't enough we had closed out the restaurant but were still there finishing up the last of our drinks. The one woman realized that I was drinking soju. This inspired her to see if I'd ever had makeoli (mock o li). Which if she knew how long I'd been in Korea is just a stupid question. Generally when you go out with your school you drink one of three things: soju, beer, or makeoli. These three are considered the holy trinity of Korean alcohols. At this time she has been embolden by the fact that I have not gone running for the hills yet and decides that not only should I try makeoli, but I must do a love shot of the stuff with her. For those that don't know a love shot means drinking a drink with another person with your drinking arms interlocked. I feel the need to also explain that a love shot can be done with anyone. A guy with another guy, a girl with another girl, a father with a daughter, etc. After the shot we get up to go. I guess I should also state that all the male teachers from my school are laughing and enjoying the spectacle of this. As we stand up to leave the woman asks for a hug which I gave her and then proceeds to touch my goatee. This is also something that happens more than you'd think.
After we pay we are headed out the doors and my co-teachers are trying to lock me in the restaurant with these older women. As I told you, they were loving every minute of this spectacle, because they have all told me before several times that I'm 1/2 Korean. The worst thing about all of this, is that these ladies had never experienced anything like this before, but for me, it was routine. I'm not surprised anymore when some randomly asks me to drink with them because they have never drank with a foreigner before, or when someone asks me about Korean food. It has happened so many times to me now that it's just part of life, but for them, it's reverse culture shock. It blows their mind that foreigner could actually enjoy all these things. I guess I'm breaking down barriers, but honestly, if I could make one request, at least make the women around my age so I can get a phone number and maybe a date out of it.
For all intents and purposes, as you may expect given how long I have been here, I have been Koreanized. However, what started as myself dealing with culture shock has now given way to something that is the exact opposite, reverse culture shock. No longer am I surprised about Korea, but Koreans who I have never met are surprised by me. It comes in many different forms, sometimes it's simply talking in Korean, or participating in activities with my school. Other times though, it can be quite memorable. This week was one of those times, and if I said it was the first time it had happened to me here it would be a complete lie. However, this one is perhaps the most entertaining.
It happened on Wednesday when I was eating dinner with my school's volleyball team. There are thirteen men at my school and we (with some female teachers) play volleyball every Wednesday. After 5 the female teachers leave us and we play a few more games that will last to anywhere between 6 P.M. and 9 P.M. Afterward, we normally head off to a restaurant to grab some dinner. Recently my school has been going and getting 영양탕 (Korean pronunciation young yang tong) or nutrition soup is the rough translation of it. In reality it is dog or chicken soup, my school prefers dog. Well on Wednesday we went to a restaurant to grab some soup and some braised dog meat. We have eaten at this restaurant a few times before and the staff doesn't think it's weird that I eat there. However, this week when we went there, there were two older ladies who had not seen me eat there before.
As the meal progressed one of the women realized that I was eating dog. This was the quite a shock to her as she had assumed that foreigner were either unable to eat it (due to allergies or something) or unwilling to eat it. She proceeded to walk over to our table and ask a male teacher sitting next to me if I knew what I was eating and if I liked it. I understood enough of what she said and answered in Korean that it tasted good and that I liked dog. This was my first mistake of the evening. About five minutes later our table asked for some more kimchi to be brought and the same woman noticed that I was eating kimchi. To this she was very surprised because she had apparently never seen a foreigner who liked kimchi before. She asked me if I liked it and I told her that it was good and that I enjoy it. Well apparently this was too much for because she ran off to the kitchen to talk to one of the other ladies there who had apparently made the kimchi. Next thing I know the two ladies have emerged from the kitchen with several other things for me to try. After each one they asked me if I like the food and pretty much every time I said yes (sensing a theme yet?).
As if this wasn't enough we had closed out the restaurant but were still there finishing up the last of our drinks. The one woman realized that I was drinking soju. This inspired her to see if I'd ever had makeoli (mock o li). Which if she knew how long I'd been in Korea is just a stupid question. Generally when you go out with your school you drink one of three things: soju, beer, or makeoli. These three are considered the holy trinity of Korean alcohols. At this time she has been embolden by the fact that I have not gone running for the hills yet and decides that not only should I try makeoli, but I must do a love shot of the stuff with her. For those that don't know a love shot means drinking a drink with another person with your drinking arms interlocked. I feel the need to also explain that a love shot can be done with anyone. A guy with another guy, a girl with another girl, a father with a daughter, etc. After the shot we get up to go. I guess I should also state that all the male teachers from my school are laughing and enjoying the spectacle of this. As we stand up to leave the woman asks for a hug which I gave her and then proceeds to touch my goatee. This is also something that happens more than you'd think.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Revenge can be so sweet....
Well, this is not truly a revenge story for me, but just for good guys in general. I've heard of stories like this happening but for once it was nice to actively participate in them. I went up to Seoul this weekend to hang out with a good Korean friend of mine. In fact she was one of the first Korean's I met in this country and can be counted among my closest Korean friends. She moved to Seoul a little over a year ago and every few months I head up there to hang out and have some fun.
This time we found our way to Hongdae which is a vibrant center for youth at night. It's located right next to a university and seems to be one of these places that people want to go to. At the local park you can witness people break dancing, rapping, artists doing free portraits for the practice and almost anything else that is a Korean adaptation of western youth culture. You can even still find Korean cultural things to do here, but those mostly involve drinking or singing. Needless to say when I'm looking for a night out in Seoul I normally end up in Hongdae because it is so different from the rest of Korea.
Anyways we met up with some of her friends in Hongdae and proceeded to go to a bar/club. It was basically a bar with no seating, loud music, cheap alcohol, and people dancing everywhere. I'd heard about these places but this is one of the first times I've ever found myself in one of them. Well, the friend that I was visiting is quite an attractive woman and the second we walked into the place had guys walking up to her and trying to talk to her and buy her drinks. In fact, one Korean guy who would fit the mold of "player" to the bone decided to come up and try his game on her. She politely refused and he couldn't understand why. Needless to say he couldn't accept the this girl was saying no to him, so very much like the President, he figured he just hadn't explained it correctly and that's why she turned him down. He came back and tried a different approach to which she a little less politely refused. However, this convinced him he was just doing it wrong and so he decided to change tactics and try again. I have to give the guy credit for stubbornness and determination, but little for being able to accept defeat. This continued over the course of the next hour or so while we were there and I was just marveling at the whole situation.
Needless to say, he was still unable to accept that fact that this girl wouldn't be interested in him, and he finally pissed her off. Next thing I know, I hear her exclaim "I'm here with my boyfriend" (she currently doesn't have one). The guy is clearly taken aback and while he is Korean she explains in English primarily so I understand what's going on that she's here with me and that I'm her boyfriend. The guy looks at me, I feel the need to state that I was dressed in a pair of ratty jeans (I was on my emergency pair because my other jeans hadn't finished drying yet) and a polo. In other words, I wasn't looking my best, and the guy couldn't believe that she was there with me. After trying to process for a few minutes and asking her again several times in both English and Korean the guy walks up to me and starts apologizing profusely. Me finally being clued into what is happening (the alcohol may have had something to do with this) decided to screw with this guy. He looks at me and is while apologizing and saying something along the lines of "Man, I apologize I didn't know." I just looked at him and said "It's alright, I take it as a compliment, and I know who she's sleeping with tonight." *Point of reference, I was staying at her apartment that night so it wasn't a total lie.*
After retreating with his tail between his legs I could see him standing in the corner wondering what the hell this girl is doing here with big, goofy ole me. Honestly, the girl is out of my league in the looks department. Anyways the next few hours at the place go by without any further major complications. However, it was amusing to watch this procession of guys walk up to my friend and to try and get her to dance with them and therefore try and sleep with her. Almost every move I've heard of or seen was tried. Well, considering she had asked for my help before I decided to keep screwing with the guys who were trying to woo my friend. I decided to come up and give my friend a hug and tell her something. Given that the music was really loud I'd have to talk straight into her ear so it looked like we were dating. Every time I did this it would chase off another guy or two and produce the same thoughts of "What the hell is going on here?"
Alas it was still fun to screw a guys game over who obviously thought that when he chooses a woman to pay attention to she is required by the fact that he is who he is to bed him. HA. I must say that I am relishing the fact. I call it a win for good guys everywhere who are given bad names by guys like this.
This time we found our way to Hongdae which is a vibrant center for youth at night. It's located right next to a university and seems to be one of these places that people want to go to. At the local park you can witness people break dancing, rapping, artists doing free portraits for the practice and almost anything else that is a Korean adaptation of western youth culture. You can even still find Korean cultural things to do here, but those mostly involve drinking or singing. Needless to say when I'm looking for a night out in Seoul I normally end up in Hongdae because it is so different from the rest of Korea.
Anyways we met up with some of her friends in Hongdae and proceeded to go to a bar/club. It was basically a bar with no seating, loud music, cheap alcohol, and people dancing everywhere. I'd heard about these places but this is one of the first times I've ever found myself in one of them. Well, the friend that I was visiting is quite an attractive woman and the second we walked into the place had guys walking up to her and trying to talk to her and buy her drinks. In fact, one Korean guy who would fit the mold of "player" to the bone decided to come up and try his game on her. She politely refused and he couldn't understand why. Needless to say he couldn't accept the this girl was saying no to him, so very much like the President, he figured he just hadn't explained it correctly and that's why she turned him down. He came back and tried a different approach to which she a little less politely refused. However, this convinced him he was just doing it wrong and so he decided to change tactics and try again. I have to give the guy credit for stubbornness and determination, but little for being able to accept defeat. This continued over the course of the next hour or so while we were there and I was just marveling at the whole situation.
Needless to say, he was still unable to accept that fact that this girl wouldn't be interested in him, and he finally pissed her off. Next thing I know, I hear her exclaim "I'm here with my boyfriend" (she currently doesn't have one). The guy is clearly taken aback and while he is Korean she explains in English primarily so I understand what's going on that she's here with me and that I'm her boyfriend. The guy looks at me, I feel the need to state that I was dressed in a pair of ratty jeans (I was on my emergency pair because my other jeans hadn't finished drying yet) and a polo. In other words, I wasn't looking my best, and the guy couldn't believe that she was there with me. After trying to process for a few minutes and asking her again several times in both English and Korean the guy walks up to me and starts apologizing profusely. Me finally being clued into what is happening (the alcohol may have had something to do with this) decided to screw with this guy. He looks at me and is while apologizing and saying something along the lines of "Man, I apologize I didn't know." I just looked at him and said "It's alright, I take it as a compliment, and I know who she's sleeping with tonight." *Point of reference, I was staying at her apartment that night so it wasn't a total lie.*
After retreating with his tail between his legs I could see him standing in the corner wondering what the hell this girl is doing here with big, goofy ole me. Honestly, the girl is out of my league in the looks department. Anyways the next few hours at the place go by without any further major complications. However, it was amusing to watch this procession of guys walk up to my friend and to try and get her to dance with them and therefore try and sleep with her. Almost every move I've heard of or seen was tried. Well, considering she had asked for my help before I decided to keep screwing with the guys who were trying to woo my friend. I decided to come up and give my friend a hug and tell her something. Given that the music was really loud I'd have to talk straight into her ear so it looked like we were dating. Every time I did this it would chase off another guy or two and produce the same thoughts of "What the hell is going on here?"
Alas it was still fun to screw a guys game over who obviously thought that when he chooses a woman to pay attention to she is required by the fact that he is who he is to bed him. HA. I must say that I am relishing the fact. I call it a win for good guys everywhere who are given bad names by guys like this.
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