Happy New Years (long post)

I know it's a little late but Happy New Years to all of you my devout and loyal readership. For those of you who are still reading this blog, and I can't really understand why you would be here are some highlights of the past year for me.

1. D.C. Trip: It's sad I know that chaperoning a group of 40 eight grade students across the country to D.C., Philly, and N.Y.C. would seem like a highlight. Well, actually it was absolutely a great time. For the history goober in me I was allowed to see several things that I thought I might not be able too. It was also a great way to realize that I was very appreciated for the hard work and time I spent at my Middle School.

2. Korea: Honestly I cannot say enough about the experience this has been so far. I've received several compliments from my time here in Korea, but by far I think the best one has been that I am a lot of peoples favorite foreigner. It's weird to think that I'm actually somewhat popular out here, and far weirder then that I'm popular with the ladies too. I guess delusion does have some positives after all.

3. My friends: Honestly I miss all you. Then again, I do have some great friends here in Korea. I even managed to drag a few with me from San Diego. My friends here in Korea, and my friends at home it has honestly been a highlight this year. Who will ever forget Jordan's epic vitriol at my going away party.

4. Teaching: I have to say I absolutely love my job. Be it teaching English, or teaching History. I truly have found my passion in teaching.

5. Getting paid to travel: Now everyone knows my absolute love of traveling. Let me tell you it's even better when you're getting paid to do it. I think that when my time is done here in Korea that I will have had an experience that will last me my entire life.

Ok, now that I'm done with my musings on the past year, let's get down to the real reason you all are here. I have to say that the past two weeks have been pretty awesome. I have been on Vacation since Christmas, and also basically found out that besides the English camps, I'm basically on vacation till March. I have a couple of weeks of work in this time, but nothing major. Now anyone who has ever worked in Education knows that the first week of any vacation is basically rest time. I don't know what it is about kids but after working with them for six months you need a week of sleeping and resting to be able to enjoy your vacation. Well, that's how my vacation started.

It was followed by a weekend trip down to Busan. Busan is the second largest city in South Korea. It's also the second most important because of the port. Busan's port is the 5th busiest container port in the world. Busan has several things to do, and to see. By far the biggest two tourist attractions are Bemosa Temple, and the U.N. Cemetery. Bemosa is an absolutely beautiful temple. It is nestled in the hills above the outskirts of Busan, and is a place of serenity and beauty. As we wandered about the buildings and prayer halls of the temple, I found my self thinking again that I wish I understood more about Buddhism so I could understand the temple's images and icons better.

We followed up Bemosa Temple by another place of serenity and beauty. However, it is only serene and beautiful in the way that a military cemetery can be. The U.N. Cemetery was truly a moving experience. Most Americans understand nothing about Korea. They don't know why there was a war, and even if they know why, most do not understand the sheer brutality of it. Americans see Korea as just another intervention. Most think it was no bigger the Grenada or Panama. The simple truth that is America sent 1.6 million soldiers to Korea, and we lost over 36,000 of them in that country. That doesn't even include the wounded. America's contribution is more then every other UN nation combined, except for Korea. South Korea had 250,000 soldiers killed, and lord knows how many civilians. The Korean War is the seminal piece of modern Korean history. Yet nobody knows about it.

I apologise for the diatribe. As Brenden, Carissa, and I walked into the cemetery, we were immediately asked by the South Korean Military Guard where we were from. After responding that we were American the guard quickly snapped off a salute and thanked us. This was not the only time this happened. I think the most moving, was the old groundskeeper who asked us the same question. The man spoke no English, but in Korean I told him that we were American's. The old man, who was probably a veteran from Korea saluted us, and then offered a prayer of thanks. It's weird being thanked for something that you had nothing to do with. Honestly it is also very moving. The starkest part of the Cemetery was The Wall of Rememberance. This was is engraved with the name of every foreign soldier who died in Korea. No Koreans are on this wall, only foreigners, of which, the majority are American.

Side note, the bathroom at the Cemetery is the best bathroom I've seen in Korea, and honestly one of the best bathrooms I've ever been in abroad. After the very moving, but heavy experience of the Cemetery the three of us descended upon Lotte Department store for Lunch. That was an experience let me tell you. The department store, or a better word for it would be massive mall, had a replica fountain of Trevii outside it. When I say replica, I mean it was a full size replica. I laughed a little, I cried a little, I may have even peed a little. Here is the wonderful piece of Italian Art and History, in Busan Korea, with a shoe stand in front of it. It was tragic, if it wasn't so funny. The department store however was impressive. Inside this store were all the super expensive brand names. Koreans love their fashion, and spend the money for it too. They think that I am lucky because I spend twenty bucks on a pair of pants. The would willingly spend 100 dollars on the same pair.

The morning we left Busan we headed over to Haeundae Beach first. This beach is the most famous beach in Korea. Being from San Diego I have an appreciation for nice beaches, and this was one of them. I won't go into the misleading information in my guide book that said something about Bacon and Eggs being served at a bakery there, but the beach was awesome. What was not as awesome was the KTX adventure getting home. Well first let me say the KTX is a high speed rail that makes traveling from Seoul to Busan a three hour Journey. On our way down to Busan, Brenden, Carissa, and I happened to get on the wrong KTX train. Our train was three minutes after this train. Luckilly both went to Busan, so at the next stop we got off and boarded our train. On the way back the KTX was sold out, so we bought standing room only tickets.

Needless to say this post has been really long. Hopefully it has been fun, but it has been really long. A Happy New Years to you all.

a Very Korean Christmas

Well folks, you might be wondering what does a foreigner do for Christmas in a country that doesn't really celebrate it. First off I guess I should explain what Christmas is in Korea. Christmas is a national holiday, but it is a national holiday in the sense that Memorial day is a national holiday. Korean's celebrate Christmas not by giving many gifts, but by simply giving one thoughtful gift to each other. Christmas is also not a time for family, but instead a time for friends to go out and drink. I think the best way I can explain Christmas is by saying that it is more like New Years. With that fun explanation aside let us begin this wonderful exploration of my Christmas.

For starters, even though Christmas is not that huge here, that does not stop the stores from doing all those wonderful things we do back home. Nor does it stop Christmas Carolers. I was walking home past the local movie theater on Christmas Eve and what did my eyes behold but fifteen high school girls Christmas Caroling. Sadly I did not have my camera on me at that moment, but luckily my friend Eli happened to go by at a later time and took a video of it. I feel that I cannot accurately explain this, so I will just show the video. All I can say is, enjoy.



Honestly, I think that if Christmas Caroling was like that back in the states it would be far more popular.

With Christmas Day upon us Brenden, Carissa, and i hopped the first bus to Boreyong to make Christmas dinner with our friend Drew. Honestly I was filled with a little apprehension about this trip, not because of the company, but I was afraid that somehow it wouldn't feel like Christmas. Luckily, I was dead wrong. Everything went awesome besides a little bit of an awkward situation on the bus to Boreyong. In short a girl who I have a little bit of a history with here in Korea was on the bus. What was the funniest thing was that we spent about half the bus ride texting each other. Nothing bad happened but still it was just kinda awkward.

Dinner, however was awesome. I was actually surprised by how well everything turned out. The chicken we roasted was delish, the sweet potatoes and orange juice didn't disappoint, neither did the mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, or the garlic bread. Carissa made dessert which consisted of Walnut pie and cookies. All told the meal was as epic as it could get.

An Ode

An Ode

I awake at 7:20
Darkness envelops my room
As I stumble for the light I look out upon a dark world
Oh where have you gone?
My dear friend, why don’t you come?
I need you now more then ever

At 7:30 I enter my shower
Still dark, still cold
As the water begins to course over my body
I find myself thinking of everything you make easier
Ohh the world without you is dark far longer
My dear friend please come to this country

Ohh daylight savings time
Please make my morning easier
Without you the world is dark far too late
I cannot awake without you
You bring the blessed sun to the early morn
Oh when and where will I see you again?
When will I awake to the sun and not the moon?

I want to shower in the daylight
Please let me save some time my dearest
One simple hour is all I ask
Just give us one hour of savings
Let me awake to the sun and the birds
Ohh I do miss you my friend
Maybe another year I will see you again

The Foreigner Treatment

Now that I have settled in and things are becoming routine I've started to notice a few things. One of these things is what I call the foreigner treatment. It's hard to notice at first, but over time you generally start to realize that as a foreigner in Korea you are definitely treated differently then a Korean. There are several ways to help explain this phenomenon but I believe using direct examples is the best way.

First and foremost Koreans actually can be quite rude when you're using something at a bar. Take for example a pool table or a dart board. Now, I'm all for sharing and taking turns, what teacher isn't. Yet, I find this beginning to happen more and more. I will be in the middle of my first game of pool, or I will be playing darts with my friends and a bartender will walk up to me and tell me that other people are waiting for the table or for the board. Now this means we get to finish out our game and then vacate the machine. No problem with this. What bothers me is when they think that we are taking to long so they send the bartender or whoever speaks English five times during the course of our game. Yes, the people may have been a little impatient, but still a game takes until it is finished, and we're not even talking about using it for extra long. Now what's most important here, is that they expect us to limit ourselves to one game, however, when they get the table or machine they often will play three or four. That is what I call the foreigner treatment.

Another example would actually be this woman who took my cab. Drew and I had been waiting for about seven minutes to get a cab. Finally one starts coming down the road. Now I've already got my hand up, but this woman simply walks across the street and flags the cab down ten feet before us. I mean seriously my arm was already up flagging this guy. Luckily there was another cab two seconds behind it, but still it was rude. Once again the foreigner treatment. Had I been Korean she would not have done that. Now, it may seem like I'm just making a big deal out something that isn't that big, but still it does bother me.

I've never truly felt discriminated against, but I'm starting to get there. Another thing that helps is that I pal around with TC. TC is a Pakistani, Canadian, American who looks Pakistani. Simply put Koreans are somewhat racist. There is a definite hierarchy of races in this country. Luckily as a white person I rank second. However, TC being brown ranks him just above the bottom. This means that when we are out, Koreans are a lot more willing to be rude to him, and then subsequently rude to me. Now I do realize that I am talking very generally about things, and probably making several leaps in my theories but the simple truth is I know what I see.

I have one last piece of evidence to offer in support. This has more to do with Korean male insecurity, and the dreadful state of feminism in this country. Yeah, yeah, yah. I know I should be the last one to talk about feminism, but simply put this country could definitely need a massive infusion. Behind the bars in Korea now a days are mostly younger women. These women range from 19-35. There job is to not only serve drinks, but to also talk to and interact with the customers. Well, at several bars in the Seosan area I am a regular. This means also that I am rather good friends with many of the bartenders. I actually have several of their phone numbers.

Now what normally happens is I will be at a bar having some drink and talking to the bartenders. A rather drunk Korean man, or several will enter the bar and sit down. After placing their orders and sitting for a few moments, they will many times become very angry with the bartenders. They do because I am a foreigner and the girls are ignoring the Koreans to talk to me. Well, let's rephrase that, they're not ignoring them, they're just not paying attention to them. Seriously I have had several Korean men start barking orders at the bartenders. I've actually gotten very offended by this treatment several times. The worst part is that the girls actually go over and then pay attention to this guy. Ugh. Feminism please come to this country in massive amounts. I'd rather deal with militant feminists then practically subjugated women. At least then, the men in this country would have to start treating their women better. That's another story for another blog though. If I'm not careful I'll turn this into a really long post. Alas that is my diatribe on the Foreigner Treatment.

Snow, Snow, everywhere.

Well, it was everywhere until yesterday. Sad. As I said before this city is really awesome when it's covered in snow. Now it was truly covered in snow this time. We had over six inches of snow on Friday. It was truly beautiful. Here are some pictures. I would like to thank Drew for taking these wonderful pictures while we were out and about in Seosan. On that note lets begin the wonderful exploration of this past week.

School has been progressing well. The school year ends here during the winter so the students are starting to get a little rowdy. They are also beginning their cycle of testing which determines their grades. Unlike back home, grades are determined by tests in this country. Honestly I feel bad for the teachers because while they can still use corporeal punishment there is little else they have to maintain order. Luckily with these students that is all most of them need. I've talked with several of my other teachers here and have finally found the largest difference between our two education systems. Surprisingly it's not the fact you can hit your students, it's the fact that students at home make you earn their respect. Here there is an utter lack of disrespect. No that is not a typo. The students here would not even think to disrespect a teacher. It's creepy. I actually find myself wanting a student to disrespect me so I can maintain some semblance of normalcy. I mean seriously. The worst thing they do is mutter to themselves in Korean. Even the ADHD kids aren't that bad. It's nuts. It's like I died and went to respect heaven or something. I wouldn't say teacher heaven because there are still problems with the system.

Other then that this week was pretty low key except for a small things. For starters my friend Drew, who some of you may know arrived in Korea to begin teaching on Friday. Once again I made the trek up to Incheon International Airport to pick someone up. What made this trip so much fun was the fact that in and around Seosan there was six inches of snow falling. In Incheon and Seoul there was no snow, but around home it was flurries. Which meant that for the last 60 kilometers of our journey we were traveling at about 35 miles an hour. What's even more sad is that while we were doing this our car actually ended up sideways at one point but still moving forward. We hit a patch of ice. However I must say thanks to the superior driving skills of my recruiter Ryan he steered perfectly into the turn and straightened us out without even having to stop. Mad props Ryan.

The other big event of this weekend was the Saturday drinking fest known as Carissa's birthday celebration. The night included a bottle of whisky, some boilermakers, and a giant fireball of 151 that may or may not have singed some peoples eyebrows. Luckily I was behind the fireball taking pictures. Needless to say it was a good night. Most importantly what night like this wouldn't be complete without the following two things, one a fifteen minute pick on Will session, and me completely misinterpreting a text message and almost totally blowing it with a girl because of that. Freaking Konglish.

This week promises to be a very calm week for me, however there is the possibility that I once again will run up to Seoul this weekend. Drew wants to explore the ginormity that is Seoul, and I'm thinking about buying some really cheap stuff in Yongsan electronics district. Until then.

This Is Necessary

This has always been one of my favorite movie clips.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I know for most of you this is coming a whole day early, but I wanted to use my forum to express my heartfelt Thanks on Thanksgiving. From my parents who have always supported me, my family who have always loved me, to my friends who I've always relied on, and everyone else who I've had the pleasure of meeting in my life. Thank you so much for anything and everything you've ever done for me. I know for a fact that without you I would find myself in a far different place, and more then likely a far different person. Thank You for all the memories we have, and all the memories to come.

I'd like to take a moment to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to my Grandparents Stuchell and Mason. I don't know where I would be in my life without your constant love and support in any of my endeavours. Your support helped make my current dream come true. Thank you and I miss you.

To my parents, I don't know where to start. I love you and want to say thank you for everything. You have always supported what I do in my life, and have always been there whenever I fell. I could not have asked for anyone better then you as my parents. You have done an excellent job as my parents, and I can only hope that I do as good of a job when I have my own children.

Hollie, well sis, I don't have a clue where to start. Thank you for being the big sister that every little brother is terrified off. Kidding, but thank you for being my sister. Thanks for being someone who I could always approach and expect an honest answer from. I learned a lot from you and I expect I will still learn lots from you during the course of our lives. I hope you and Mike have a great Thanksgiving.

To my friends, honestly guys, you rock. Without you I would never have grown from being an awkward teenager who couldn't talk to girls to an awkward man who cannot talk to women. I miss you guys lots, I especially miss the BBQ's at the cat house and all the good times, and honestly all the bad times we've had together. I wish you were all here right now so you could experience some of the joy that I've found in my current occupation. I'll see some of you in Feb. when I make a short trip back to San Diego.

To anyone who may feel left out, I apologize but I can only manage so much sappiness in one post. Maybe at Christmas I'll get every single person, but I doubt it. I love you all and I will see you whenever our paths cross again.