We started in Itaewon with some rooftop drinks and languid conversation, then the texts started to come in.  Yeujin, a new lady friend, requested our presence in Hongdae.  Relying on the interpretive powers of all three of us to decipher the directions scribed in Hangeul, we made it there none the worse for wear.

Over beers we discovered that Yeujin and her roommate had been waiting on their reservation to enter a basement club for the last two hours, and we were more than welcome to join them.  However, they informed of us of the catch: this place did not cater to top 40 radio, electronic or house music, or really any western styleings at all.  No, they played only Korean 80s hits, from romantic ballads to pop operas.  Yeujin was worried that we’d drop out, but Tad and I were intrigued…

And with the decision made, I proceeded to have one of my best nights in Seoul since I’ve gotten here.  Yeujin and I danced up a storm, I was involved in more than one dance throw down with various Koreans, and even though I understood next to none of the lyrics, the music was fantastic.  We stayed until the sun came up.

The kicker?  All of this was right across the street from a live music bar I’ve been going to for months.  It makes me wonder how many other hidden gems there are just waiting to be discovered.  I wish I had pictures, but I’ll be sure to grab some on my next visit.  The morning after:

I will Yeujin, I will.

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2. Vigilante Justice
3. I’m A Seoulite

I must admit, I’ve been afflicted with a serious case of writing block for the last long while.  With the new school year starting up here in Seoul and my paid writing projects, I just haven’t found the time or motivation to write much on here.  That said, my schedule has settled down considerably so I’m no longer completely taxed out.  Maybe I’m just waiting for a lightning bolt of inspiration.

There have been a helluva lot of happenings since I last wrote.  I’m going to stay in Seoul another 6 months beyond my current contract.  The new expat soccer season started back up.  Yellow dust has arrived and it is evil.  I got the black lung, pop.  I formed the Dae Dong High School Hiking Attack Team.  I started playing more chess.  I started salsa dancing again.  Old friends have arrived in Seoul, new friends have arrived in Seoul, and femaliens have been met.  I’m taking my camera out again.  And last but not least, I’ve received two AAA compliments from Korean gals:

1) “You have nice butt, like oranges.”

2) “You have eyes like Bluefin tuna.”

Rock on.  Stay tuned.

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2. Vigilante Justice
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These are my favorite passages, completely unedited, from reviewing their journals.  My students are awesome:

“Initially when I entered the Laser tag bar, I think it was gangster’s agitation point. It looks like dumping ground. So, It was scared.”

“Tomorrow I’ll go to Capilano Suspension Bridge. My heart goes pit-a-pat.”

“The ice was bumpy so skating on the ice was hard, I fell with a thud. My knee hurted very much.”

“Also, before come to Canada, I lived like the frog in the well and beat the person.”

“Today’s lunch was noodle but is was just ramen with source. The ramen source!”

“Ah in TV advertising we can see some funny things. most advertising is about health tools and cooker. In the advertising they start the from ridiculous price. A dumbbell is $1000!!  like this. And they cut off the price lower and lower. At last the price is become to reasonable price. It looks stupid. Who fished by that advertising?”

“We lated for school for about ten minues. But, I was okay because I’m so cool. It’s kidding.”

“Mother was a very friendly. When we comes outside would lost home she write her phone numbers even though fun to play then she ride us.”

“I couldn’t believe the Canadian foods were not rich comparing with their fat body.”

“Gachllan teach while the moring class. She is very fun, highly humorous and a little fat.”

“And came home, for the first time, I touched Max who was cat. But Broudy was still wary me. But I was happy because I played Max.”

“However, changed teacher was some strange. Because she was like a pig that was ugly. She also really likde boys and showed it.”

“By the way, there was strange thing in the entrance. Someone was taking care of a baby. It is how she controlled that matters. She grab a string linked to the baby, like dog. It was very strange for me. I thought It was children abuse.”

God help me if I ever see what they write about me.

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My time in the Philippines was fantastic, and just the break I needed from the manic pace of Seoul.  Palawan is as quiet and relaxing as Boracay is nutso and drunken.  There weren’t a ton of travelers there, but that’s what I was wanting.  Palawan is also known as a haven for adventurous and outdoorsy types, and it didn’t disappoint.

My days consisted of swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, scuba diving, hiking, and gorging myself on fresh pineapple and cashews.  Pure bliss.  The highlight for me was El Nido, a sleepy beachfront town in the north of the island, known for its perfect water and limestone karsts rivaling places like Vietnam’s Halong Bay.

I spent the majority of my time on the island there, and with good reason.  I stayed at a place called The Alternative, and I can’t recommend it enough.  The staff were all imported from a resort that shut down, so the food is fantastic and the people friendly.  The 2nd floor is also open to the air, with two lookouts perched directly above the water.  I ended every day laid out in one of ‘em, beer in one hand and a book in the other.

My buddy Don, the guy who mentioned ‘island time’ the most, was my tour guide and source of local info for the town.  He took me out on tours of the islands where I got my best photos.  El Nido’s Big and Small lagoons are the best sites, and perfect for swimming or snorkeling.  Throw in freshly caught Yellow Fin for lunch, and you’ve got me hooked.  I also rented a kayak to play out my own Robinson Crusoe fantasy, finding my own island to spend the day on.  Who knew rum-soaked pineapple goes so well with your own private beach?

I also found the time to get some dives in, and it was a really great feeling to get back in the water after such a long break.  Apparently the Philippines also have the cheapest PADI courses in Southeast Asia, so I’ll be heading back to get some more certs at some point.

This was my first taste of travel in Asia (besides a quick jaunt to Tokyo two years ago), and you can color me excited!  I’ve only just whet my appetite, and trip planning will begin in earnest for this summer soon!

If you’d like to see more of my trip photos, feel free to check out my Flickr page.

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3. 2010?

I’ll be there until the 30th, with the majority of my time spent exploring the island of Palawan for island hopping, diving, snorkeling, hiking, and general tomfoolery.  I think it’ll be a blast.

As an added bonus, I’ve decided to try an experiment with packing light.  I’m only taking my small pack, with a very light load out of only the essentials.  It should be an interesting trip.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8exGPUMzlew

I don’t know what sort of internet access I’ll have available while I’m on my trip, but if I don’t get to post on here during, I’ll be sure to give a trip report at the conclusion!

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1) Top off my $10k emergency fund (started last year, should be completed soon!).

2) Top $1k per month minimum in pure writing income.  This is fairly easy to do with the current work I have, and I’ve got it down to a daily routine at this point.

3) Fully fund my Roth IRA for the 2010 calendar year ($5k).

4) Take 5k photos.  I’ll get a jump start on this as soon as I get to the Philippines on the 16th!

Those are the goals I’m willing to share, though I have a couple more that are a bit less cut-and-dry.

We missed each other for the month of December, which proved to be a month full of drama, shenanigans, and cold weather.  I’ll let that bad boy lie back in 2009.

January in Seoul has brought extremely cold weather, and the largest snowfall in close to 70 years.  A foot of snow overnight and the entire city freaking out about the white stuff?  Priceless.  My school principal calling to make sure that I knew how to walk in the snow?  Also priceless.

Winter camp is going swimmingly, though this focused dose of Canada prep is driving me bonkers.  I’m tempted to tell my students that they all ride polar bears and live in igloos eating whale blubber in their flannel footie pajamas.  Luckily I’ve got the mighty large carrot of the Philippines dangling at the end of a stick.

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My buddy Tad and I enjoyed a couple White Russians in the bubble area of Da Bar (covered in plastic and looking over Hongdae) along with some good conversation, then headed to Zen Bar to meet up with some of his friends.  Here’s where the plot begins to thicken…

We threw both of our jackets onto a spare chair and set to enjoying ourselves.  Not 10 minutes later, I swing by to check on our jackets and they’ve vanished.  Poof.  Tad and I both scoured the bar looking for ‘em, but to no avail.  His jacket was a pretty large peacoat, and mine was an Arc’Teryx shell that’s been my go-to jacket for close to 3 years now.  Being that it was 40 degrees out and I was in a ratty old shirt, I was none too pleased.  Tad’s a big dude so no Korean would sport his jacket, and my jacket was too outdoorsy to be fashionable on the streets of Seoul.  There’s a chance someone mistook them for their own, but with both of them being so different I think it’s more likely they were stolen.

I spent the rest of the night playing out slow-motion “300″-style beat downs in my head, hoping to catch the thief.  The righteous fury that would fuel my anger when I saw him in the street would be suitably epic, and would end with me walking away victorious, jacket in hand.  The bartender said it was really rare for a jacket to be taken, so there’s a small chance someone will drop it back by the bar.  I’m not too hopeful though.  At least I’ve got a new one coming in the mail!

I try not to become too attached to material things, but I’ll miss that damn jacket!  So here’s to you Mr. Arc’Teryx shell, may you rest in peace.  And whoever took it better pray that I don’t catch ‘em, because vigilante justice will be carried out on the streets of Seoul…

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This is my 3rd Thanksgiving abroad in a row, and it’ll be the 3rd that has consisted of a pot luck dinner at someone’s apartment with a bunch of displaced folks.  Last year in Buenos Aires was a lot of fun, we had about 13 people in an apartment and even managed to find a turkey!  This year we won’t have any big birds to cook (80k won / $70 for a small turkey?!), but we’ll make do.  I think the company is more important than the food anyways.

I had a chance to speak to my family this morning, and I’m glad to say they’re doing well.  Everyone is getting together down in Augusta, and I’m missing out on the epic cooking of my mother, her sisters, and my grandmother.  Miss you guys!

This week in school has been really interesting because of my class exam.  I’ve been giving short one-on-one interviews to my students, and some of them have really surprised me.  Girls in class that absolutely refuse to speak to me in front of their peers suddenly bust out the present perfect while talking about their hobbies, or boys that are always rowdy in class give me sound reasoning for their Starcraft obsession.  On the flip side of that coin, I have students that are superstars in class but were terrified of me in this exam setting.  If they get this nervous around me, I can only imagine the stress of the Korean SAT for them.

With that said, giving these exams is nerve wracking for me as well.  I don’t like having to assign grades based on a distribution for each class that roughly follows 10% As, 20% Bs, 40% Cs, 20% Ds, and 10% Es.  It’s mandated by the school, but I try to give the students every opportunity possible to get up to that C level.  I know that their grade in my class is only a very small portion of their overall English scores, but I can’t say I like failing a kid.

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The Korean SAT was last Thursday, and from what I can tell it’s complete madness.  The day after the exam I held a debate about Korean testing methods with my advanced after school class, and they all are deathly afraid of this test (rightly so!).  The test covers 7 subjects, 4 of which the students have a bit of autonomy in choosing.  My SAT covered two: math and a verbal section.  I only teach the 1st year students, but they are already studying for this test two years out.

The test can only be taken once for universities, and there is only ONE day a year that it is administered.  There are no make ups whatsoever.  If you check the article I linked above, you can see the photo of a student suspected of having swine flu taking the test all by his lonesome in an isolation room.  Hell, they even had students taking the exam IN THE HOSPITAL.  WTF mate?  I have to give props to the Korean education system in most aspects, but this is absurd.

When I held the debate the next day my students were all overwhelmingly against the SAT as it stands.  They study until 10pm most weekdays in order to do well on this exam.  I took social dance 5 times in high school.  They have school twice a month on Saturdays.  I played computer games and ate waffles.  Their college admission is a matter of family honor.  My parents just would have murdered me if I didn’t go.  Ok, maybe that last one is pretty similar, but parental intervention certainly isn’t as ubiquitous in the US.  They had police posted at every testing site to prevent parents from causing disturbances, and doctors on hand for swine flu problems and nervous breakdowns.

If you’re reading this from the US, be thankful you don’t have it like these kids!

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phrozted: “hey evan, sup?”

evankub: “hey ben, where you at man?”

phrozted: “well, i was going to beijing but i didn’t realize i needed a visa, so i may come to seoul.”

evankub: “word.  you can crash here if you need to.”

And with those words, the madness began.  Come Tuesday evening, Ben was in Seoul crashing on my apartment floor.  He’s an old high school buddy that’s currently on a world tour of sorts, and he crash landed here when his China plans derailed.  Since then my time has been consumed with squiring him around this fair town and inviting him to school events where my co-teachers get down with their bad selves:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMoyraP8wNI

Notice all the green bottles in the video?  Yeah, those are all empty soju (Korean liquor) bottles.  Immediately following this I sang a rousing rendition of the theme song for “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” since it was the only song I could remember completely off the top of my head when the teachers asked.  Ben sang with me, and it was magical.  Here’s a photo of us after our harrowing karaoke experience:

We’ve had a lot of fun this week, and come Friday we’ll be heading our separate ways.  Ben to China, and myself to Seoraksan for a weekend hike.  It was good to see a friend from home though, and hopefully I’ll pick up some travel tips from him about the Philippines for my winter break.  But that’s a post for the future!

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