93) The One Year Mark

It is crazy to think that it has been a year, almost exactly. I am pretty sure I came to Korea on July 3rd of ’06. I can’t even say what this year has felt like, but I suppose it feels like a first year abroad.

It is funny to look back and think about all the changes I imagined I would go through, and what I thought I would be like after a year here. I thought of all the possibilities of learning a new language, taking martial arts, etc. But the reality of the situation was I either didn’t have the time, or was just lazy. This is not to say I haven’t changed in countless other ways, and experienced many other things- it’s just to say it was not like I thought, and I guess it never is. Reality is always different than the imagined.

There are just so many things to think about- but it is hard to do that at this point, because I am still in the middle of this trip. I am still just living here, and not looking back on everything as one would do when a trip or stage of their life is coming to a close. But perhaps an appropriate illustration to what it has been like here are the living condition changes I have been through. I can clearly remember walking into the little cockroach filled rat box in Suji (and trying to convince myself it wasn’t so bad). I was living alone (minus the roaches) and didn’t really have any friends. Now I am living in an area I love, on a rooftop apartment with a sunroom and a balcony and I have two houseguests who are both good friends of mine. From countless corner brothels to countless trees. From the luxury of a two story house in rural Wisconsin to $2 a night hotel in rural Cambodia. Saunas and capsule hotels in Seoul and Osaka, and sharing a house with a family in Saigon. Surrounded by thousands if not millions of people in some of the worlds biggest cities, and being nearly alone in the jungle in Cambodia. It has been a wild and beautiful ride thus far.

92) Directing Traffic

The semester has just ended, so that last week was a little weird. Very tense for the Korean teachers, and pretty laid back most of the time for the foreign teachers. I played a lot of Scrabble and read a lot of Dr. Seuss.





By the looks of it, my schedule is supposed to get worse. I complained about it on Friday, so I guess we will see if they fixed it when I get back there on Monday. Hopefully it does change it for the better, or we hire a new teacher. It is an especially bad time to add to my schedule when I have a visitor!



As a joke, Eric and I were throwing around the idea of directing traffic while we had these nifty police uniforms on. I pulled out my camera, and Eric promptly turned that idea into a reality. More unexpected than that was when a taxi driver actually stopped and got out of his car. I think he knew it was a joke, and was just having fun too!

91) Hello and Goodbye

James and Eric at the hookah bar


Last night Eric, James and I went out to Hongdae. It was James’ last night and Eric’s second (but his first night out in Korea). So, Eric and I met James at one of my favorite jazz clubs, Moonglow. So we listened to some music and talked, then went out for some calbi (like a grilled meat). After that, we went to one of James and my favorite bar/ lounge. It has a really great atmosphere and you can get hookahs there, so that was a fun way to welcome Eric, and say good-bye to James.

Eric juggling peppers


...not exactly sure about this one


James and I at the resturaunt


Eric snorting a pepper at the restaurant


We didn’t stay out too late, as I had to work, and James had to get home and pack for his flight leaving the next day. I was sad to see James go, as we had spent a lot of time hanging out the past weeks and months, and he is good guy.

At the hookah bar


James blowing smoke

It is interesting how when you are leading a traveling life, people come and go from your life- and you come and go from others lives. It is nice in one way because you get to meet new people and experience new things. But it is hard in another way, because people are always coming and going, and it is hard to forge deep relationships. But in the end it is always fine.

At the hookah bar

The hookah


This is what happens when you sleep on the job...

90) Eric Fantastic Habermeyer

Tomorrow (Monday) Eric is coming to Korea. I am excited about this because he is a good friend, and so far my only visitor. About a year ago his brother (Nate) spent a year here in Korea, and I am pretty sure his sister was adopted from Korea (I hope I didn’t just make that up).

But anyways, for almost the last year, Eric has been in India doing missions work. He left for India shortly after I got back from there (and incidentally we were in a lot of the same areas of India). He will be here for about three weeks, so we will have plenty of time to catch up and have fun.

If you want to read about some of his time in India (or just look at some great pictures), you can visit the link on the right that says “Eric’s Blog” and Nate’s is right below it. The pictures on this post came from Eric's blog.

89) Funk at 50

On Thursday night Kevin and I got off a little early and headed into Hongdae to one of our favorite jazz clubs, Club Evans. We got a front row table, and really enjoyed the show. Most of the time the music is really good there, and Thursday nights show was a great. The band played a great selection of funky older music, and some disco stuff funked up, along with their own music.

88) Island Life

Last weekend Billy and I went down to an island way in the south to meet one of his friends, Jeff. Jeff used to work at Swaton with Billy before I got there, so we had a common bond that united us- our horrible experiences at that school. Another fella named Will also met us down there.



I have to admit the climbs were a little nerve-racking, and brought back some memories of being at Devils Lake with my buddy Willy. I remember climbing on a sandstone wall (which is a horrible idea) and having my last hand hold come loose, and almost falling the 30 or 40 feet back down. In the shots above, I would guess it was about a 40 foot climb up, and pretty sketch ball, to Billy and myself atleast. (The two shots above are of the same wall, just a different angle and the same with the two below).




Billy had told me a lot about the island after his visit there a couple weeks ago, so I was pretty excited to get there and check it out. It was really beautiful, and lived up to my expectations. In many ways it did not even feel like Korea- and at times I was in another world completely.









I regret not having been able to have done the cliff jumping, but I still think it was the best move for me at the time, being pretty sick. Billy, Will, and Jeff went for some pretty great looking jumps- and Jeff doing some that made Billy and I nervous for his life.




It was a really nice two-day vacation from Korea, while still being in Korea. It was great to escape from the constants in Seoul- the never-ending traffic, the lack of any real nature, the constant sound of something man made, and it was nice to be with three other foreigners and not have to worry about speaking slowly.

87) Jazz at 50

The past few weekends I have been able to get to quite a few great live jazz shows. Hongdae (an area of Seoul with lots of clubs and bars) has three places that Kevin introduced me to. Great music, and great atmospheres. My favorite place is called Moon Glow. We are pretty sure it is owned by a man named Shin Kwan Woong, who is a well-known pianist in Korea. He is always on the piano, and it appears that the band changes from show to show.



^ Mr. Shin playing the recorder with his nose!



I had been meaning to take my camera and get some shots for quite some time now, but didn’t because of rain or the prospect of drinking (ironically the one time I did bring my camera, yesterday, I drank the most).



Last night Chip, Janis, and I went to Moon Glow to catch the show. Every time I have gone Mr. Shin has put on a great performance, and of course there were no exceptions last night. What was even better is I got to talk with him during and after the show- although it was mostly through Janis translating.

^ Janis
^ Chip
^ Me, Shin Kwan Woong and Chip

86) Flowers at 50

I went to an awesome park today. I have been meaning to go back to it for a couple weekends now, but was stopped by the rain, laziness, or some other problem. But today I made it. My buddy Kevin showed me the park a while ago. He told me it was a very famous place for photographers, and he was right- there are tons of people with cameras there. Both times I have seen models there, and today I was temped to jump in the shoot and show them a couple looks that would make the photographer famous… but I refrained.





As a side note about the title: I know most of the pictures are of bamboo and not flowers, but I wanted the alliteration.