So, four of us went to Namhansenseong Fortress yesterday. It’s on the outskirts of Seoul which is seriously the largest city I have ever seen. It’s ridiculous. Ten million people. It stretches for days!
The fortress was little more than a giant wall that outlined a massive amount of property. We had to hike a very steep incline and there lots of Koreans doing the same – yesterday was Election Day, a national holiday, so everyone had the day off. Anyway, it was really, really beautiful and it was nice seeing some Korean culture (rather than bars and subways – although they too serve their purpose).
Oh, and there was a temple up top. It was ridiculously cool, and from what I’ve been told, that’s nothing compared to some of the others around Korea. Ross tried lighting some incense, but was doing it wrong, so a Korean woman came up to him and showed him the right way. It was very, very cool.
Anyway, enjoy the pics and here’s a few videos. I hate my voice, by the way.
This first one is us walking up these steps that never ended. I mean, they did end, but not for a while.
This next one is a view from the highest point we reached during our trek. Seriously, Seoul is massive. You have no idea.
And here’s some pics of the excursion. Enjoy!Ciao.
Well, I have nothing too pressing going on at the moment. I’m going to Seoul tomorrow for the day, so I expect to have much to write about then. In the meantime, though, here’s some randome pics/video to sate all of you vultures back home.
First up, here’s a busy part of Incheon, called Bupyeong. I just love going down these side streets (they aren’t dangerous, don’t worry). Lots of lights. Lots of people. Very cool.
(Sorry, but the video is sideways and a bit blurry and I’m singing in it. Just deal, please.)
So apparently it’s election time in Korea. For what? I have no idea, I haven’t found that out yet. But man oh man you have never seen an election fervor like this before!
For starters, everyone in Korea gets election day off. Pretty rad. Second, each candidate hires dancers (who end up being middle-aged women) to stand on street corners dancing next to huge speakers blasting music. Oh, and each candidate has a number assigned to him/her – I’m assuming to make it easier for everyone.
Check out the vid:
Man, the USA prez elections would be so much more exciting if they got down like this!
Obviously there are cultural differences between every country, major and minor, but it’s these things that make us unique, right? Well, there’s this place in Incheon called Dr. Fish (I think the idea came from China, though…I think) and I went to it yesterday and the basic premise is that it’s a sorta swanky coffee shop (with ice cream). The kicker is, though, that for two dollars you can pay to immerse your bare feet in a fish tank with a ton of little fishies swimming around and they eat the dead skin off your soles. Seriously.
And why not, I say?!
So we went. And it was nutty. I’m not usually a ticklish person, but my god it was bad! I was squealing like a little girl. The second you put your feet/legs/hands in, they just swarm to you and go to town cleaning. Now, I consider myself a clean person, of course, but we all lose a crap-ton of dead cells every day (they slough off when we do anything), so having them feed some hungry fishies instead of going to waste was change of pace.
At any rate, here are some videos. Please bear in mind I already know I sound like a child.
I finally saw corporal punishment first-hand today. One of my students (oh…let’s call him John) was out of line and Mr. Jang – sweet, innocent Mr. Jang – told him to stand up and then smacked the kid on the forehead harder than I have ever seen (and heard) before. The kid slunked down in his chair immediately and everyone was quiet.
The real kicker? Mr. Jang walked over toward me (we were getting ready to put a movie on) and was laughing and chuckling (he’s just this adorable old man) and he says to me: “Very affective, yes?”
I didn’t know if I wanted to cry or laugh. Well, to each their own, I guess.
This will be ongoing, as I see and experience more food and drink on my adventure. Some of this I like, some I abhor, others are just noteworthy for being, well…odd.
Rice Cake (Tteok) – Okay, this stuff is gross. Sure, it looks pretty, but man oh man, does it taste foul.
First of all, even though it looks sweet, it surely is not. In fact, they are mostly what you would consider savory. And, they use red bean as a desert, which is just gross. They come in all sorts of shapes and they eat them like…well, like candy.
Ooh, story time!
Okay, so I was sitting in my lounge yesterday at my desk, surfing the internet, and the teachers started gathering around these couches, talking and sitting over a giant plate of rice cakes of various colors and sizes. My buddy, Mr. Jang, waves me over and says “Robot, they would like to have rice cakes with you. Hurry, before they are gone!”
Yes, very generous and I was thrilled. Part of the teachers – I have been accepted. So I go sit on the couch and Mr. Jang leaves. The only other person in my lounge (the English dept.) that speaks English is Mrs. Kim (or who I have dubbed Lisa) and she was gone too. But, whatever. I sat down and one teacher hands me chopsticks and then offers me the plate. I’ve had one or two of these “cakes” before and knew which one I could stomach (for the record, it isn’t THAT bad, just really chewy with no flavor), so I was reaching for one and she stops me and says “no.”
Then she precedes to hand me the biggest rice cake on the plate. It looked like a log with red beans all over the top of it. So, I couldn’t say no, and I took the thing in one bite and I swear it took me close to five minutes to chew it. Luckily, another teacher handed me a cup full of Pepsi and I chugged it down while I was trying to chew as if my life depended in it.I almost gagged twice but felt bad and didn’t want to show it so I was trying to smile, drink Pepsi, chew, not puke, and be as pleasant as possible all at the same time.
Ugh. This sorta thing happens almost daily with a wide variety of food.
Kimchi – By far the most plentiful dish in Korea. And there are so many times. Basically, kimchi is pickled whatever. In most cases, and the most well-known, it’s cabbage. Fermented, pickled cabbage. It’s actually really, really great, but they eat it every day for every meal. In some form. There’s even kimchi ice cream, I’ve been told.
And then there’s radish kimchi (Calibri), which is my new favorite. It’s basically cubed, fermented, pickled radish and it’s pretty good. I try not to ask too many questions, about a lot of the dishes, because I figure I’ll just freak myself out.
Mushrooms – They are EVERYWHERE here. Seriously. I like mushrooms, but man, it’s an overkill.
Seafood – Korean food is not for the squeamish. I myself fell into that category for a majority of my life but really opened up in the last five years. And man I’m glad I did. This is the type of place where you physically see your food swimming in front of you and you pick it out and they chop it up. That simple. For example, take these little buggers:
On my block alone there are so, so many tanks of octopi and squids swimming around, trying to make the best of a small tank. Saw a guy scooping one out with a net yesterday. Right to the pot, I assume. Granted, I’d rather have fresh seafood, and I have since being here, but just getting used to seeing it wriggling is a bit odd. But, I love meat, so no going back for me.
Fried seaweed – So, so good. I couldn’t find the exact picture (I imagine it changes depending on where you go), but it’s sweet and savory at the same time with a great crunch to it.
Seaweed in general is one of those things I could probably eat every day and not get sick of.I love it and it’s prepared in so many different ways.
I guess we’ll see after a year, though, how I feel.
Okay, okay, so I ripped off the title from James Baldwin’s seminal piece of fiction for my blog entry. Sue me. I’m sure he’d understand. Granted, my work has nothing to do with racial and sexual issues in the mid-20th century, but yeah…
Moving on…things are well. I started teaching this week and boy, oh boy, is it something. I teach at an all boys school with about 1500 sixteen to eighteen year-olds, although I only deal with the sixteens and seventeens. Out of these, including the teachers, I am the only Westerner. It’s crazy. The students heard a new teacher was coming and they all found out my name (which the pronounce “Robot”) and so the first day I got here they were saying my name. They do it even more now that I’ve taught a good portion of them and when I walk the halls it’s nutty. They all stare and they all chant “Robot” or “So handsome”, and they applaud me for no reason. It’s very odd and I think that is the best way of describing it for now.
The Korean people are very generous, I’ve noticed. They are always asking if I’m alright, always trying to take care of me, and sometimes it can get a bit overwhelming – but not in a bad way. At most I teach four classes a day, ranging from first year-students to second-year students. Oh, then I also have classes with some of the faculty, to help improve their English – although they don’t always show up.
Other than that, there is no set ciriculum, which is cool. Basically, I have free-reign to come up with whatever I so choose. Some of my co-teachers help me out, others just stand there. Mr. Jang, my main co-teacher, well…I have him often because he teaches all the first-years. So I see him at least once or twice a day. Then I see a mixture of other teachers to round out my schedule. It’s an odd schedule, but I guess whatever works. And they still practice corporal punishment, although I haven’t seen it yet. Heard stories, but havne’t seen anything. Should be interesting.
I have a desk in the teacher’s lounge, which is just surreal more than anything, and then I have my own classroom called the “English Zone” (which they pronounce “English John”) and this is where I teach. I have a desk here as well and once a week I eat in here and offer a “free talk” session for any students. Supposedly no one comes, though.
I had my first school lunch today which was very traditional Korean food (which is eaten at all times of the day). I had a fish cake (nummy), some radish kimchi, some cucumber kimchi, rice, and then beef and tofu soup to round it out. I love this food, so it’s been great so far. We’ll see what happens after a year.
I have to put together about one different lesson plan per week. I make it slightly harder for the older kids, dumb it down for the younger ones. Already completed one and a half today, but this week’s been nothing but winging-it, which I find is much easier than I would have thought. Next week I’m going to talk about food and eating and dining out. Ha.
My apartment is right across the street from a Mexican restaurant, which is rare, and I’m super excited about that.
My initial thoughts are that it’s going to be a very great year. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I need to treat it as such. I’ve already eaten boiled silkworm pupae (check my photos on the earlier post) and I’m ready for whatever else comes. I’m not used to being an outsider, though. Yes, we’re all outsiders on some level, but I’ve never experienced anything like this before. They’re not rude. On the contrary, Koreans really, really like foreigners. A lot. People go out of the way on the streets to shake your hand or smile and wave. It’s comforting. Granted, there’s a language barrier (although I’m working on that), but it’s still just something to get used to.
I think, though, this is going to be good for me. On many levels. I think, as a writer, it will help me grow because I haven’t yet experienced anything like this and I think it’s important to have real emotions and memories to pull from when you write. And I think I will be getting a heaping amount while I’m here, to say the least. So I look forward to the material I come up with. I feel inspired already, so that’s a good sign. I also think this is going to help me grow as a person, in general. Cheesy, yes, but you get so caught up in your own little niche that it’s hard sometimes to realize there’s a great big world out there. And I think, even on a small scale, my eyes will open up a bit more.
Okay, well…as promised, some photos to prove that I’m actually in Korea.
First up, a tour of my apartment:
And next, some pics from Orientation at the Paradise Hotel. This is where I was at from the day I arrived until the day before I started teaching. I made some awesome friends and it’s helping me get through the initial culture shock.
Wow. My first official post from Korea. Where to begin, eh?
(Disclaimer: I’ve been surrounded by Canadians for the last five days, so excuse the ubiquitous use of “eh” throughout this post.)
Anyway, wow. I’m in Korea. I arrived last Thursday, along with four other gentlemen from the States, and we were escorted to the Paradise Hotel. I am living in the city of Incheon, which is near Seoul, and for five days we had lectures about teaching, some history about the city, etc. Basically, Incheon is trying really hard to be a very English-friendly city. There were maybe 50 teachers who came to orientation and were put up in the hotel, all of which except us five Americans had been here anywhere from 2 weeks to five months – but the orientation was mandatory. So the school board of Incheon put us up and took care of us and it was great. Met some awesome people which is making an otherwise very lonely time bearable.
So we did the crap we had to do, had some city tours, etc. I found some beondegi on the street – or boiled silkworm pupae – and indulged. And yes, this is exactly what it looked like:
And then my reaction:
Basically they tasted like juicy peanuts. Pretty gross.
Mr. Jang (his English name is James) is my main co-teacher, and basically my go-to guy. Apparently he chose his English name because he’s known as Mr. Fix-it and likens himself to James Bond and Macgyver. Pretty funny. But he’s taking good care of me and drinks like a fish. Seriously. It’s crazy how much soju (the national liquor) he can put down.
My school is comprised of 1,500 boys from the ages of 16-18 and I am the only Westerner here. Needless to say, they heard I was coming and found out my name and I have a hallway of teens shouting “Robot, Robot” like it’s going out of style. I feel like a rock star with groupies. And I can’t really escape them, being the only white person in the school. So…yeah.
Anyway, more to come when I can manage to get my computer working in my apartment and whatnot. And I’ll get some pictures up real soon.
