61) Steak looks nothing like a cow

Last night my card got stuck in the ATM- and the process of getting it out took much longer than initially expected. The twenty minutes it was supposed to take ended up taking more like two hours- but it was no big deal, and in the end it lead to a good night.

So when everything finally got straitened out I asked John (pictured with me in the santa photo in post #60) if he wanted to go get some food. He said he did, and another one of my co-workers, named Julie teacher (pictured in this post with santa), also said she would like to come. Julie is probably one of the nicest individuals I have ever met- she is the kind of person that always has a smile on her face. When I ask my students “Who is your favorite teacher?” nearly every kid, without hesitation says “Julie teacher!”- although she is not actually a teacher, she is the secretary. And I don’t know if I mentioned how nice John is- he is a very kind and gentle person who would instantly drop everything to help you out. He also works harder than almost anyone I have ever met. So the three of us decided to go out for some food, and Julie teacher and John said they wanted to drink, as well. I could not picture Julie as being much of a drinker- but she said she likes it. As we were joking around I made gestures of her zig-zagging across the sidewalk (in reference to how she would be walking home at the end of the night). She laughed and said no- then made little wings with her hands and gestured that she would be flying home tonight- it was pretty funny.

John was pushing for us to go to a calbi (beef or pork you grill up and eat with lettuce) restaurant- but only because he knows that is a meal that I like. But I was not in the mood for food that I had already eaten numerous times and knew well. I was feeling a bit adventurous, and ready to try some new foods. So I just suggested that we go to a Hof and get several different dishes (for you folks back home a Hof place has alcohol and food- the standard as far as I can see is you order several different dishes of food and a couple bottles of soju). Before we got there another one of our co-workers joined us, she is the school cook. We tried to decide what to order, but eventually I just told them to get what they liked, and I would try it out. That was a choice that nearly resulted in me vomiting all over the table.

I have been meaning to try octopus since I got here- but just never got around to it… or had the courage. I think I had accidentally eaten little bits of it in the past- but it was only after the fact that I realized it- and that is never as bad. I had decided that I was finished with unwittingly eating little bits of food- I was going to man up and just eat it. I don’t know the name of the dish we got, but it was full of whole little baby octopuses (dead)- approximately 3 or 4 inches big. First I watched Julie teacher pop one in her mouth, and after she put one on my plate I did the same. The taste was not bad at all, and feeling the little suction cups in my mouth was interesting. But what got me was the occasional realization that I had a whole baby octopus in my mouth- and at one point while I was just trying to muscle it down, it almost puked itself back up. I decided that was going to be about enough of the octopus for the night. A little later we ordered some kind of “Korean pizza” which came equipped with squid tentacles. It was actually pretty good, and only eating the tentacles made it easier for me and my stomach. I think the biggest problem for me is eating food that looks like the animal (in this case because it was the whole animal). If you think about what we eat in the US it doesn’t really look like the animal. For example- steak looks nothing like a cow, and I think that is the case for most of our food. I guess that is something that will just take some getting used to.
In the end I was happy that the ATM ate my card. If it had not, I doubt I would have had the opportunity to hang out Julie, John and the cook, and try some new foods. Eventually John and I took Julie home, and then the two of us stayed out for some more drinks and food.

60) Merry Christmas Everyone

Well, it is Christmas eve, and it doesn’t really feel much like it. It feels like Christmas season, but not being at home and with family takes away a lot of what Christmas is about in the U.S.

Last night after a great dinner Chip and I went to a huge market called Dangdaemun, in Central Seoul. We spent a couple hours walking around and shopping and enjoying ourselves. The exact minute we got down to the subways to head back to my apartment they started closing them down- and we missed the last train home. The busses were still running, but we had no idea which bus would take us back to my place, and didn’t feel like messing around with any of that. So we just decided to stay out all night, which isn’t too hard or expensive to do in Seoul. After a long walk we found ourselves in an area of town that I recognized, and new where there would be a good nightlife scene. We ended up at a wa bar for a couple of hours, and had some great food and drinks. The place was still packed when we left at 3 am. At this point only having about 2 hours left before the subways started running again, we decided to enjoy ourselves in a sauna for the rest of the night. We eventually fell asleep for a couple hours there, and then started making our way back home. All in all it was a good way to spend the eve of Christmas eve- with some familiar company- which isn’t so easy in a foreign land.

Tonight I am going to meet back up with Chip in Gangnam (his neighborhood) and we are going to a Christmas party held by his church. Hopefully it will be fun, and a good opportunity to meet some new people.

59) A Christmas Party

Today we had a Christmas party for most of the day at school. It was pretty fun, and the time just flew by. The way it worked was each teacher had a room and a certain game to play for the room. The students rotated from room to room, playing games most of the day. My game was pin the tail on the donkey. It was a lot of fun, and things got out of control right from the start. Kids screaming, laughing, climbing on desks, falling to the ground, etc. It was a great chance to meet and play with some of the students who I do not have in my classes, and it was also great to just be able to cut loose and play with the kids from my classes- instead of worrying about their behavior or if they are learning the material for the day.

The day started out with me being Santa for the morning kindi kids (I don’t have the kindi kids, but my school has kindergarten on the floor below the one I work on). It was a pretty fun time, I mostly just said “ho ho ho, and a merry Christmas”, and handed out presents. It was pretty funny to see the mix of the reactions from the kids. Some were pretty scared of the bearded fat man dressed in red, and others happily jumped on my lap.

After classes were over all of the teachers went out for food and drinks. It was a nice time, and a good chance to get to know some of my new co-workers a bit better. It wasn’t too late of a night, I made it home around 3, while some of the others decided to continue on- trying to make it till the busses start to run again. All in all it was a great way to end the week and bring in Christmas.

58) Thrown into the mix

This last week was a little crazy. After some confusion at the immigration office on Monday, I showed up late to my first day of work. I couldn’t really help showing up late or the confusion, but I didn’t think that was going to be too big of a problem as I was only supposed to be training for the week. When I showed up, one of my co-workers casually said “oh, you’re late”, which of course I knew. But what I didn’t know is the guy who was to be training me, Roy, was in the hospital. His apartment started on fire with him and his girlfriend in it, he ended up in the hospital and his girlfriend escaped out the bathroom window. Apparently it is pretty serious, he sustained burns and inhaled a lot of smoke. So I think he will remain in the hospital for a while longer.

The original plan was for me to get one week of training, then cover for Roy while he went on vacation for a couple weeks, and then move to downtown Seoul and teach at a public school for the rest of the year. Not surprising things didn’t work exactly as planned, that seems to be par for the course while in Korea.

So I will probably be teaching at this school for a couple months, and then I guess we will see what happens after that. If you are getting the idea that I am annoyed by any of this, it is the wrong idea. So far almost everything about this school has been so much better than what I was coming from in Suji. For starters the apartment is close to twice the size of the cockroach box I was living in while in Suji. The location is also much better- as far as having things to do. I would still like to be in the downtown area, but I am only about 20 minutes away by subway, so that is not too bad at all. And it is nice to be in an area where there are girls my age- not just moms and high schoolers (nothing against either one of them, but they are not really in my dating category). So far this school has been much better as well. For starters the afternoon schedule is unbelievable, I am able to wake up whenever I want, and then get to the gym before school starts. I can also eat two meals a day at the school, so that helps cut down on food costs. And the classes themselves are a lot nicer. They are 40 minutes each- which seems like they are over before they even begin, after coming from 80 minute classes. The short classes also make it easier to control the kids- 80 minutes can get pretty long, and you can only play games for so long before they stop being fun. The overall atmosphere is also much better. The people I work with actually want to be there, and it is much more relaxed. There are no bells (anyone having worked at Swaton would know how that bell haunts your dreams) and getting to class on time is not really too big of a priority. All of this combines to create a much nicer atmosphere.

I still don’t have internet in my apartment, but it is not too big of a problem as the PC rooms here are about the same price as in Cambodia, at roughly a dollar an hour. The biggest draw back of not having internet in my apartment is updating this blog. It is a bit of a pain to do it in the PC room, and it is just not worth posting pictures, because it just takes much effort and time. But hopefully soon I will have access in my apartment, and then I will be able to post some pics of my new students.

57) A week to relax

This last week was really nice on several accounts. I was able to move into my new temporary apartment last week Saturday. The apartment is much bigger than what I had in Suji, which is a pretty nice change. I had no real commitments for nearly a week. This was really nice after a non-stop month of action in Cambodia, and then a couple of exhausting days traveling all around Seoul for interviews. Both Cambodia and the interviews left me sans the sleep my body is accustomed to- so being able to just lay in bed and sleep and read was a great change of pace for a week. I also found an awesome sauna near my apartment, it is easily one of the nicest ones I have been too.

My first day of work was yesterday (Friday), and it was only from 1:50-5:20. This school is a lot more laid back and enjoyable than Swaton was (at least from my initial observations). There is no real brake scheduled between classes- but somehow that doesn’t mean that you can’t pull off a 5 minute brake between the classes, 10 minutes if you know what you are doing. Most of the kids I had were great, and really a pleasure to have in class.

Right now I am filling in at a school for the rest of the month while one of the teachers takes an extended vacation. This next week will be a week of training, then I will be teaching his classes for the following two weeks. In the beginning of January I will be moving to downtown Seoul and teaching at a public elementary school there. That is where I will stay for the rest of the year (granted everything works out). I am really excited about living and working in downtown Seoul. I went to visit the area where the school is the other day, and it is really awesome. It is very near Bukhansan National Park, and the prospect of living close to a National Park again makes me very happy. I don’t have any pictures to post with this entry, but I may get some shots of my new surroundings and or classes soon enough.

56) CAMBODIA: in pictures: Angkor Temples (Part II)

Here are ten more pictures of temples in the Angkor Wat area (and some of them at the actual Angkor Wat temple). Some of these pics may help to give you an idea of how beautifully intricate these temples are- even today. One of the most famous parts of these temples are the beautifully carved woman that seemed to appear on every wall in some temples. It is a wonder how some of these carvings could be in such great shape hundreds of years after they were created. I could not help thinking to myself what this area must have looked like when this was the capital city of Cambodia, when it was new, and functioning as it was meant to. It must have been truly wonderful.

55) A little girl at a temple

Here is the background to these three pictures (I can only seem to get two of them to work right now). One of my first days in Cambodia I took a trip out to the middle on no-where on the back of a moto. It took us about two hours to get to our destination from Phnom Penh. The second I stepped off the moto at the temple these pics were taken at, I was swarmed by children. They were apparently just hanging out at the temple before the went to school that day. The first thing they did was try to sell me flowers and incense. After I declined several times they just tried to give it all to me. It was pretty clear these kids did not see many Westerners, and I confirmed that with my driver.

So after a little while I started taking pictures of the kids, and then giving them money. It was pretty cool how they would share- I gave about 50 cents to a group of kids, and they all agreed to share it, and then left me alone. And I kept doing the same to other groups of kids who all agreed to share the money. My driver said just give the money to the oldest kid, and he will share it with the rest. Apparently 50 cents split among 5 to 10 kids can go a long enough way in the country side of Cambodia. After a while I noticed an adorible little girl. She was by herself, and never asked for any money, even after I took her picture. Then before I left I saw her again, but this time with her family. I took another picture of her and her family, and then the girl asked for some money (according to my driver- she only spoke Khmer). When I gave her the money she put her hands together at her forehead, and bowed, then walked back to her family. There was something about this girl that was striking to me- she always had the same expression on her face- and it was very different from the other children I saw at this place. You may be able to get the idea of what I am talking about by looking at the pictures below.

54) Genocide

“The Khmer Rouge was the extremist Communist organization that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. The term "Khmer Rouge," meaning "Red Khmer" in French, was coined by Cambodian head of state Norodom Sihanouk and was later adopted in English. It was used to refer to a succession of communist parties in Cambodia which evolved into the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and later the Party of Democratic Kampuchea. The organization was also known as the Khmer Communist Party and the National Army of Democratic Kampuchea.
The Khmer Rouge regime is remembered mainly for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people although some claim the toll to be as high as 3 million (from an estimated 1972 population of 7.1 million) under its regime, through execution, starvation and forced labor. Although directly responsible for the death of about 750,000, the policies of the Khmer Rouge led, mainly through starvation and displacement, to the death of over 1 million people. In terms of the number of people killed as a proportion of the population of the country it ruled, it was one of the most lethal regimes of the 20th century. One of their mottos, in reference to the New People, was: "To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss."
The Khmer Rouge regime was removed from power in 1979 as a result of an invasion by Vietnam. It survived into the 1990s as a resistance movement operating in western Cambodia from bases in Thailand. In 1996, following a peace agreement, the Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot formally dissolved the organisation. With the death in custody of Ta Mok (The Butcher) in July 2006, Khang Khek Ieu, also known as "Duch," remains the only member of the regime currently imprisoned awaiting trial in the Extraordinary Chambers currently being established to try certain former officials of the Pol Pot regime.”
-wikipedia.org

53) CAMBODIA: in pictures: Angkor Temples (Part I)

“Angkor Wat (or Angkor Vat) is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built for king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. The largest and best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre—first Hindu, then Buddhist—since its foundation. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temples. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the gods in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 km (2.2 miles) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. As well as for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, the temple is admired for its extensive bas-reliefs and for the numerous devatas adorning its walls.
According to Guinness World Records, it is the largest religious structure in the world.”
-wikipedia.org

This was one of the places I really wanted to see while visiting Cambodia. It is an impressive site to behold. Most temples had intricate carvings covering everything but the ground you walked on. The carvings were absolutely beautiful, and a perfect compliment to the beautiful architecture.
The only problem about this place is how touristy it was. Oddly enough hordes of Korean tourists flooded this place by bus every day. Sometimes the overwhelming amount of people wrecked the vibe of the ancient beauty of this place. But at other times the crowds could be avoided entirely. Early one morning just after sunrise I went to a less popular temple in the area, and had the place nearly to myself.

52)Back In Korea

I got back in Korea just a couple days ago. When I left Cambodia I wasn’t really too excited to be coming back. I had a couple job leads, but no job, and I would be staying in friends apartments- which isn’t always the most comfortable (especially when you are sharing a bed). The other thing that I was not to pumped about is that it is considerably colder here than when I left, and a world apart from Cambodia. But after just one day I was pretty happy to be back again. I don’t exactly know what it is about Korea or the people that I like, but something makes me happy to be here.

I just accepted a job offer today, and now I will be working in Seoul- which I am pretty excited about. I will be right in the heart of the city, and teaching elementary classes just in the afternoon hours at a public school.

It was pretty cool how this job came about. I had a pretty good interview with a big school in Korea, and they offered me a job. So before I was going to accept that job I wanted to think about it for at least one night. That evening after the interview I decided to go to the area of Seoul where the school and my new apartment would be. I wanted to check it all out, and was pretty sure I would be accepting the job, and I was trying to convince myself it was going to be a good job for me. So after a bit of wandering around just looking for the school with no real direction, I met a random guy on the street. He asked me if I was looking for a job, or at least a temporary position. He was going on vacation for about a month and needed someone to fill his spot. I told him I was not interested, because I already had a job that I was going to take. But we talked for a little while anyways, and then eventually I asked him if I could just talk to the manager. When I went in to talk to her she seemed pretty interested in having me work there. But I was not really interested in just working for just a month. Then she informed me that a full time position just opened up, and she wanted me to fill it. But I was not so excited about the location of this job- it is nice, but I wanted to be in a great spot or at least closer to my friends. She told me that the position is in central Seoul, and it is a public school position (which are pretty sought after positions). So after a little bit of thinking about it, I decided this position could not be passed up. They said I could move into the apartment tomorrow, and I will have another week before I actually start working. So I was pretty excited about how it all worked out.

51)VIETNAM: in pictures: Daily Life

This is a collection of all sorts of photos from Vietnam, mostly dealing with the daily life of the people who live in the Southern part of the country. The locations range from Saigon to the East coast to the Western boarder. As you can see the children often got very excited to see our boat go by.