Wow, I have just realized it has been another month since my post and I have completely neglected to write about all the sweet Vietnam stuff. For that reason alone there will be two posts ASAP because a lot has happened.
We began our adventure by getting dropped off at the wrong hotel by whatever random taxi driver we could find that would leave me alone long enough to explain where we were going. The room had a really sweet queen size bed ... except the room was barely a full sized room so the bed hit the door everytime you opened it. It was really hard to argue with a ten dollar room though so I conceded and we decided to stay there for a few days. Our main goal in Ha Noi was to go on a Ha Long Bay tour (soon to be another wonder of the world) and ended up meeting a really sweet Australian couple on the boat and had a great night hanging out with them. They had overcharged booze on the boat so we decided to spend 5 dollars on vodka and bring our own liquid enjoyment on board (despite the fact the captain told us we'd still have to pay 60 cents per glass we drank). We also had the opportunity to do some late night squid fishing. I never pass up a chance to do some sweet fishing so I sat out with my bamboo stick for over an hour as everybody laughed at my persistance ... screw them I saw at least 3 squid and they didn't. After a sad departure from that junk (they call the big boats you ride on junks) we went straight from Ha Noi down to Hue.
Instead of paying the ten extra dollars to take a train we decided to ride on a sleeper bus. What is a sleeper bus you ask? It's a bus with midget sized beds that drives through the night ... self explanatory. Better yet I had to take an upper bunk middle seat with a broken seat belt. I apologize to any asian who reads this but the one thing I've learned about racial stereotypes is that the stereotype that Asians are crazy drives is more than true. I couldn't sleep a wink on that bus because I was laying with white knuckles holding on to the guard rails (if you could even call them that). Needless to say arriving in Hue was a very comforting moment.
In Hue we visited a very famous palace that was destroyed during the Vietnam war and spent the day taking a lot of pictures. I also got to see a lot of lizards and try my hardest to catch them (those guys are so fast but don't worry I eventually caught one in Hoi An ... details will come later). Our Hue visit was only for a night as we had to head down to Hoi An which would soon be my favorite place in Vietnam ....
We hopped on another bus (luckily for only a two hour ride yet I managed to sleep more on that than I did on the sleeper bus ... gotta love irony). We arrived in Hoi An and after having to play Mary and Joseph again and be turned away from all the Inns we wanted to sleep at we settled on one that had lizards in the room, one channel on the T.V., and conjoined bathrooms ... I guess it still beats a manger. Hoi An was beautiful and full of people offering you motorbikes and travel guides. It was also full of tailors willing to make you anything you desired. For that reason, I decided to buy a sweet three piece suit for almost the same price as what my new Van's I bought in Korea had cost. Lauren got some very nice dresses made and then we saw some really sweet zip-up hoody sweatshirts we wanted to buy. I had told the lady straight up that I wanted to know how much it would cost and she kept saying she had to measure us first. She told us they would be 80 dollars for two ... I've never purchased a sweatshirt for more than 30 let alone in a third world communist country. After almost bringing the lady to tears I talked her down to my original price of 40 for both and she obliged. Well worth the purchase.
After a great stint in Hoi An we headed down to Nha Trang ... where tourists are advised to stay off the beaches at night based on the amount robberies. Luckily our hotel was nextdoor to a sweet pool hall so we could hang out there at night. Nha Trang would have been my least favorite place if it wasn't for the amazing boat tour we went on there. We stopped on three islands. The first had Ostriches and Deer that you can feed, the second had an elephant show and the third had the greatest feature of all ... wild monkeys who loved mooching off Americans. Ostriches don't mess around when they bite at the twigs you feed them and Lauren yelled at me on multiple occasions for touching them when they got too close. The deer were boring but that's pretty much assumed and it really makes you apprecite deer hunting season. The elephant was terribly depressing and had clearly been beaten far too much. You know when you watch those videos on RealTV where the Elephants fight back? From now on I'm rooting for them to win.
The Monkeys, however, deserve their own paragraph. Man did I have a great time with them. We started out there by watching a sweet Monkey show which ended with them riding around in tiny little bikes. This my seem adorable but it turned bad-ass when two of the monkeys collided and all hell broke loose. I can now cross "watching a monkey on a tiny bike speed after his enemy, throw his bike down, and beat the bananas outta him" off my list of things to witness ... nine more to go. Feeding the monkeys also was just as fun as it sounded. Some were very polite and took one at a time while others felt the need to grab the handful of peanuts outta your hand or go fast first into your palm in true Randy from "A Christmas Story" fashion. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to smuggle any monkeys off the island because the mothers were too protective of their young and the other monkeys just wouldn't fit in my cargo shorts. That would be our final adventure in Nha Trang but let me tell you it was the best.
From Nha Trang we headed to Ho Chi Minh/Saigon ... the worst place in Vietnam. If you can imagine a loud, pushy, smelly, and dirty country ... just picture the loudest, pushiest, smelliest, and dirtiest place that would be in it and that's Ho Chi Minh. "No, I don't need my Van's sneakers cleaned" turned into a pretty common expression there as well as "GO AWAY!" towards the end of our frustration. We went to a huge buddha statue which was suppose to be a spiritual place and upon entering were followed by a large group of hustlers claiming they worked for an orphanage and would let us get into the temple for free if we bought their postage cards (the temple was free to start with). After realizing what they were doing, Brock broke into a little speech about the commercialism of religion and how they are ruining any spiritual aspect of this temple because of their shady ways. I recieved a frustrated "Oh my GOD!" as one of the guys walked away thus proving my point entirely ... though shall not take the name of the lord your God in vain ... especially at his house of worship ... what a saint. Once we finally made it to the top, a little girl tried to charge us for turning the shoes we had removed as we entered the temple 20 degrees so we would more comfortbly be able to slide our flip flops on. "Baby hungry! Baby Hungry!" turned out to be her battle cry but her shotty English turned out to be her downfall as she was at least seven and therefor not a baby. If I would have found that hungry baby I would have fed her but alas she was nowhere in sight. I can't think of much more to say about Ho Chi Minh other than it sucked and we got in a car accident on the way to the airport. Not once were we asked if we were ok but instead our driver flagged down another taxi for us as he explained to his employer why he blindly entered oncoming traffic. I don't think "but it's my first day" is going to fly. We flew back to Hanoi for a night and spent it in peace before heading back to Korea the next day.
All in all ... Vietnam was amazing. It was the best vacation I've ever taken and was able to buy more souveniers than you can ever imagine for under 20 bucks. The people were both friendly and annoying but I must say I prefer that to rude and frustrating (... old ladies in Korea). I will definitely be returning to Vietnam at some point in my life but first I promise I will be returning to this blog and writing a new post. Keep your eyes to the sky because a new one will be coming this week.
- Brock
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Merry Christmas, Happy New Years, and GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!
My apologies for the long delay in blog posts but the last month has been hectic. Whether it be planning Lauren's birthday, organizing secret santa parties, setting up English camps, or planning a trip to another Asian country I haven't had a whole lot of free time.
This post comes from the crazy land of Vietnam but I will wait until I return to share my wonderful tales of that adventure. Just to give you a taste of what's been going on ... we've played with a lot of Australian people, mingled with the annoying locals, and I got a three piece suit made! I'm gunna look so adorable in it when I go back to school until some little shit in my classroom glues paper to the back of it (true story ... sometimes they glue things to my clothes).
Anyways, back to my Korean travels. Lauren's b-day was a month ago and I found out I'm not very good at suprises. I planned a suprise party at a bar called "the beer factory" and organized it so all of our friends would meet there around 9 or so and then I would take Lauren there and suprise here. Well people kept pushing the time back until it was about 10:30 and at that point Lauren was getting pissed that we were just sitting in the hotel room. If that wasn't bad enough, I found out too late that there are two beer factory bars within 100 meters of eachother and low and behold all of our friends met at the one I DIDN'T take Lauren too. I think she caught on right about the time we walked downstairs and I looked around the bar for 5 minutes, ran outside to make a phone call, and yelled "What are you doing?!" as she had ordered a pitcher by the time I came back inside. It might have been even more of a dead give away when I told her I didn't like the bar we were at so we had to leave only to take her to a bar by the same name. Luckily by about 11 we made it there and everyone was waiting with a b-day cake. SUPRISE LAUREN ... Brock's an idiot. I don't think she was too suprised to find that out though.
As far as Christmas went we made do with what we had. We had a secret santa exchange where I recieved money ... practical but santa would be spinning in his grave if he found out about that. I think Lauren got socks and a yo-yo but it's cool, I've been getting a lot of face time with the yo-yo. We had a couple friends over for Christmas and on Christmas morning we woke up and ran to the tree to open presents. If you think that's not childish enough, you should see all the sweet toys I got. Lauren also got me a really sweet air-soft gun that can really pack a punch but I keep getting it taken away because I can't be trusted to behave with it and I have stellar aim ... terrible combo.
New Years was Celebrated in a typical New Years fashion. We didn't get to watch the ball drop unfortunately (probably because we're 13 hours in the future) but we didn't get to watch the bottles drop as we drank obnoxious amounts of champaign and SoJu. Unlike most New Years drunks, we didn't have the luxury of sleeping late the next day because it was time to pack up and head to another country full of Asians ... YAY!
We have been here since January 2nd and will be staying until the 15th. I will wait until I return to tell you all our tales because I am sick of writing this from a hotel lobby (the receptionist keeps asking me if I'm going shopping today ... I don't get it). Until then, may the sun shine on your face, the wind be at your back, and the wings of destiny carry you to dance among the stars.
This post comes from the crazy land of Vietnam but I will wait until I return to share my wonderful tales of that adventure. Just to give you a taste of what's been going on ... we've played with a lot of Australian people, mingled with the annoying locals, and I got a three piece suit made! I'm gunna look so adorable in it when I go back to school until some little shit in my classroom glues paper to the back of it (true story ... sometimes they glue things to my clothes).
Anyways, back to my Korean travels. Lauren's b-day was a month ago and I found out I'm not very good at suprises. I planned a suprise party at a bar called "the beer factory" and organized it so all of our friends would meet there around 9 or so and then I would take Lauren there and suprise here. Well people kept pushing the time back until it was about 10:30 and at that point Lauren was getting pissed that we were just sitting in the hotel room. If that wasn't bad enough, I found out too late that there are two beer factory bars within 100 meters of eachother and low and behold all of our friends met at the one I DIDN'T take Lauren too. I think she caught on right about the time we walked downstairs and I looked around the bar for 5 minutes, ran outside to make a phone call, and yelled "What are you doing?!" as she had ordered a pitcher by the time I came back inside. It might have been even more of a dead give away when I told her I didn't like the bar we were at so we had to leave only to take her to a bar by the same name. Luckily by about 11 we made it there and everyone was waiting with a b-day cake. SUPRISE LAUREN ... Brock's an idiot. I don't think she was too suprised to find that out though.
As far as Christmas went we made do with what we had. We had a secret santa exchange where I recieved money ... practical but santa would be spinning in his grave if he found out about that. I think Lauren got socks and a yo-yo but it's cool, I've been getting a lot of face time with the yo-yo. We had a couple friends over for Christmas and on Christmas morning we woke up and ran to the tree to open presents. If you think that's not childish enough, you should see all the sweet toys I got. Lauren also got me a really sweet air-soft gun that can really pack a punch but I keep getting it taken away because I can't be trusted to behave with it and I have stellar aim ... terrible combo.
New Years was Celebrated in a typical New Years fashion. We didn't get to watch the ball drop unfortunately (probably because we're 13 hours in the future) but we didn't get to watch the bottles drop as we drank obnoxious amounts of champaign and SoJu. Unlike most New Years drunks, we didn't have the luxury of sleeping late the next day because it was time to pack up and head to another country full of Asians ... YAY!
We have been here since January 2nd and will be staying until the 15th. I will wait until I return to tell you all our tales because I am sick of writing this from a hotel lobby (the receptionist keeps asking me if I'm going shopping today ... I don't get it). Until then, may the sun shine on your face, the wind be at your back, and the wings of destiny carry you to dance among the stars.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Sometimes life can be such a beach
Yikes this is a very delayed post.
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all and an early Merry Christmas! I hope your Thanksgivings were great and filled with lots and lots of Turkey. Our Thanksgiving consisted of fried chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, spaghetti, garlic bread, curry pork, and a cake that said congratulations on it. I guess we were congratulating all us Americans for having a feast in a foreign land ... a little different than the 1621 feast but what can you do. It was a fun night filled with food and booze so that's always a plus. Lauren and I also decided to celebrate Thanksgiving in true American spirit and spend the rest of the weekend doing very little. We managed to find a Christmas tree and an assortment of holiday decorations to hang up in her apartment. We are the only two apartments in our building (and possible all of Korea) that have Christmas decorations on our door.
After our weekend haitus we decided we should do a little traveling the following weekend. Instead of making a plan, we thought we (Lauren, Will, and I) would jump on a train and head towards the coast. The trains in Korea have kareoke booths in them and good ol' Will managed to talk the chick into letting us take the booth for half the price. Nothing beats singing Bohemian Rhapsody while speeding along at 60 mph. We arrived at our destination safetly and luckily all singed out so we snagged a quaint little love motel to spend the night in.
The next morning we awoke and decided to head towards the main attraction of the city ... a cruise ship on top of the cliff which has been turned into a hotel. After a quick detour on the beach we arrived and got a room that was far nicer then the love motels I have grown so accustomed to. Once we got settled I decided I'd take Lauren to a nice lunch for her birthday week so we headed up to the hotel restaurant. Luckily Will decided to stumble in later and not only pay for both our meals and buy an expensive bottle of wine. Not only that but he insisted on teaching me high class table manners ... this coming from the guy that had been drinking hennesey since noon. After a nice lunch we retired to the room so we could get ready for the evening. Will "fell asleep" and when he woke up I decided it would be fun to try to convince him it was midnight (it was 6 p.m.). We strung him along on that lie for quite a while until we decided we would head down to the city. Being on a cliff, we didn't have a way to get down so we decided to ask a nice young Korean couple to give us a ride down. They obliged so we took them out for dinner and drinks after. Their English was pretty shotty but everybody here understands the language of SoJu and shot glasses so we all got along. We retired to the room for an early sleep so we could wake up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.
7 a.m. came all too quick but the sight was amazing and well worth rubbing the sleep outta my eyes. After checking out of the hotel we spent the rest of the day on the beach collecting sea shells and sea glass ... I will never grow up. Unfortunately, I didn't have a bucket or a shovel so no sandcastles were built but you still gotta love being on a beach in December wearing full winter attire. We hopped on the train and took home a collection of shells and memories that will be with us forever (ha, I'm pretty sure the shells will only be around for another week).
This weekend we have mid-training but my school decided that I can't go because "I've had enough training" which translates to "we don't want to give you Thursday and Friday off". Instead of getting a vacation in Seoul I get to continue teaching ... or have my kids watch movies the next two days because I'm not suppose to be here anyways and think I'm getting jipped big time.
I hope all is well with you all in America and I hope more importantly that my kids enjoy watching Christmas movies for the next two days ... maybe I do need more training ...
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all and an early Merry Christmas! I hope your Thanksgivings were great and filled with lots and lots of Turkey. Our Thanksgiving consisted of fried chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, spaghetti, garlic bread, curry pork, and a cake that said congratulations on it. I guess we were congratulating all us Americans for having a feast in a foreign land ... a little different than the 1621 feast but what can you do. It was a fun night filled with food and booze so that's always a plus. Lauren and I also decided to celebrate Thanksgiving in true American spirit and spend the rest of the weekend doing very little. We managed to find a Christmas tree and an assortment of holiday decorations to hang up in her apartment. We are the only two apartments in our building (and possible all of Korea) that have Christmas decorations on our door.
After our weekend haitus we decided we should do a little traveling the following weekend. Instead of making a plan, we thought we (Lauren, Will, and I) would jump on a train and head towards the coast. The trains in Korea have kareoke booths in them and good ol' Will managed to talk the chick into letting us take the booth for half the price. Nothing beats singing Bohemian Rhapsody while speeding along at 60 mph. We arrived at our destination safetly and luckily all singed out so we snagged a quaint little love motel to spend the night in.
The next morning we awoke and decided to head towards the main attraction of the city ... a cruise ship on top of the cliff which has been turned into a hotel. After a quick detour on the beach we arrived and got a room that was far nicer then the love motels I have grown so accustomed to. Once we got settled I decided I'd take Lauren to a nice lunch for her birthday week so we headed up to the hotel restaurant. Luckily Will decided to stumble in later and not only pay for both our meals and buy an expensive bottle of wine. Not only that but he insisted on teaching me high class table manners ... this coming from the guy that had been drinking hennesey since noon. After a nice lunch we retired to the room so we could get ready for the evening. Will "fell asleep" and when he woke up I decided it would be fun to try to convince him it was midnight (it was 6 p.m.). We strung him along on that lie for quite a while until we decided we would head down to the city. Being on a cliff, we didn't have a way to get down so we decided to ask a nice young Korean couple to give us a ride down. They obliged so we took them out for dinner and drinks after. Their English was pretty shotty but everybody here understands the language of SoJu and shot glasses so we all got along. We retired to the room for an early sleep so we could wake up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.
7 a.m. came all too quick but the sight was amazing and well worth rubbing the sleep outta my eyes. After checking out of the hotel we spent the rest of the day on the beach collecting sea shells and sea glass ... I will never grow up. Unfortunately, I didn't have a bucket or a shovel so no sandcastles were built but you still gotta love being on a beach in December wearing full winter attire. We hopped on the train and took home a collection of shells and memories that will be with us forever (ha, I'm pretty sure the shells will only be around for another week).
This weekend we have mid-training but my school decided that I can't go because "I've had enough training" which translates to "we don't want to give you Thursday and Friday off". Instead of getting a vacation in Seoul I get to continue teaching ... or have my kids watch movies the next two days because I'm not suppose to be here anyways and think I'm getting jipped big time.
I hope all is well with you all in America and I hope more importantly that my kids enjoy watching Christmas movies for the next two days ... maybe I do need more training ...
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
I always thought I'd catch H1N1 the day that pigs fly but unfortunately last week the Swine Flu
What began as a lovely weekend in Seoul ended with a boring week in bed. We went to Seoul on Saturday to partake in our favorite all you can drink all you can eat buffet at the Hilton. It was delicious as usual and once again a pleasure to drink wine that didn't taste like it was made by Welch's. We next ventured to the casino next door. Only foreigners are allowed into casinos in Korea because evidently it's illegal for them to gamble. I feel like building a casino in a country where gambling is illegal isn't the best business venture but then again as long as you can just sucker a few people into chasing the almighty jackpot you're probably still making bank. The casino was fun but we called it an early night because we had a great day planned at the zoo on Sunday.
I awoke Sunday and was very excited to go to the zoo but unfortunately I was more excited to find a toilet to call some dinosaurs in. Hoping the vomitting had been induced by the champaign and wine from the night before I didn't think much of it and we went to the zoo. This zoo had everything including bathrooms that had mirrors in them so you could watch the animals while doing your business. I thought that was a great idea. As the day wore on I began becoming more and more pale which is the exact opposite of what happens to me at the zoo. Usually I need one of those little kid leashes just so you can keep up with me ... I love animals. Finally by the end of the day I felt as though I could barely stand and had to cancel our dinner plans in Seoul so that I could get to my bed and sleep. Once again my plans were to change as I didn't sleep more than an hour that night due to my coughing, chills, and pain. The doctor confirmed my worst fear the next day and sent me to quarentine in my room where I was to remain for a week.
I don't get what the big fuss with this flu is. After two days of rest I felt perfectly fine and was able to carry on with my life. Unfortunately the school wouldn't let me return to work so I went and bought a Tech Deck and that fingerboard along with many online movies took up the majority of my week. There were definitely much more productive things I could have done, but grinding on the sides of books and watching Zombieland was just too much fun.
Know what movie you should never see? The Time Traveler's Wife. Lauren claimed the book was very good and was excited to see it came to theaters here so by using a rock hammer and 19 years of patience I broke out of shawshank prison and went to the movie with her. Ten minutes into the movie she turned to me and said "This isn't that much like the book" and I figured, well it's a movie and they change a lot so didn't give her comment much thought. Forty five minutes into the movie she turns to me and says "Wait! I didn't read the Time Traveler's Wife ... I read the Time Keeper's Daughter!" Though this mistake was very comical and easy to make, I still had to watch Eric Bana emerge from the woods naked and convince a little girl that he was going to marry her some day. With that kind of pedophiliac tone I thought we had accidently went to Michael Jackson's "This Is It" (too soon?).
Good news! I recieved a generous care package from my parents which included the battery charger for my camera so now I can take plenty of great pictures to show you all my adventures. I don't have anything left to report but we will hopefully be doing a temple stay this weekend. I hope they don't find out a killed a praying mantis but what's the worst a monk can do to you ... the silent treatment maybe?
I hope you all stored enough nuts and berries for the upcoming winter. Stay warm and keep your stick on the ice.
I awoke Sunday and was very excited to go to the zoo but unfortunately I was more excited to find a toilet to call some dinosaurs in. Hoping the vomitting had been induced by the champaign and wine from the night before I didn't think much of it and we went to the zoo. This zoo had everything including bathrooms that had mirrors in them so you could watch the animals while doing your business. I thought that was a great idea. As the day wore on I began becoming more and more pale which is the exact opposite of what happens to me at the zoo. Usually I need one of those little kid leashes just so you can keep up with me ... I love animals. Finally by the end of the day I felt as though I could barely stand and had to cancel our dinner plans in Seoul so that I could get to my bed and sleep. Once again my plans were to change as I didn't sleep more than an hour that night due to my coughing, chills, and pain. The doctor confirmed my worst fear the next day and sent me to quarentine in my room where I was to remain for a week.
I don't get what the big fuss with this flu is. After two days of rest I felt perfectly fine and was able to carry on with my life. Unfortunately the school wouldn't let me return to work so I went and bought a Tech Deck and that fingerboard along with many online movies took up the majority of my week. There were definitely much more productive things I could have done, but grinding on the sides of books and watching Zombieland was just too much fun.
Know what movie you should never see? The Time Traveler's Wife. Lauren claimed the book was very good and was excited to see it came to theaters here so by using a rock hammer and 19 years of patience I broke out of shawshank prison and went to the movie with her. Ten minutes into the movie she turned to me and said "This isn't that much like the book" and I figured, well it's a movie and they change a lot so didn't give her comment much thought. Forty five minutes into the movie she turns to me and says "Wait! I didn't read the Time Traveler's Wife ... I read the Time Keeper's Daughter!" Though this mistake was very comical and easy to make, I still had to watch Eric Bana emerge from the woods naked and convince a little girl that he was going to marry her some day. With that kind of pedophiliac tone I thought we had accidently went to Michael Jackson's "This Is It" (too soon?).
Good news! I recieved a generous care package from my parents which included the battery charger for my camera so now I can take plenty of great pictures to show you all my adventures. I don't have anything left to report but we will hopefully be doing a temple stay this weekend. I hope they don't find out a killed a praying mantis but what's the worst a monk can do to you ... the silent treatment maybe?
I hope you all stored enough nuts and berries for the upcoming winter. Stay warm and keep your stick on the ice.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
I know why the caged mantis prays ...
Hello Yankee Doodles,
I'm well aware that I should be posting more, I just keep losing track of time and before I know it, I'm two weeks late, but low and behold I'm back with updates on Korea!
After the Jazz festival school remained the same aside from the fact students are dropping off like flies (with swine flu) and my classes continue to get smaller. I hear it's just as bad there so make sure you are all wearing your masks. People here wear masks to prevent themselves from getting the flu. I think gloves would be a little more practical because that darn virus is going to find a way into your body one way or another but who am I to judge. To each its own.
We ventured to Seoul two weekends ago with the intention of going to the Hilton's happy hour buffet. They had Cheese and good wine ... enough to make any Frenchman or deprived American happy. It was very good and a most excellent decision.
Since we were with our good buddy Will he introduced us to Homo Hill. Homo Hill is exactly what it sounds like ... it's where all the gay bars are in Seoul. It was funny and I couldn't believe a place existed in such a close minded society. Wine, Cheese, and Homosexuals ... I felt like I had taken a bus straight out of Korea for the weekend but come Sunday I was more than willing to head back to Wonju.
I introduced Halloween to my classes and I'm pretty sure the only message they took from it was Halloween = candy but then again they weren't that far from the truth. We made masks and watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas" for a good chunk of the week. I tried my best to explain the movie but they didn't understand that the "Pumpkin king with the skeleton grin could grow so tired of the same old thing" ... they didn't get the metaphor.
Once the Halloween festivities had finished at school I began an adventure of my own, trying my hardest to find a Halloween costume. I don't really like the analogy "finding a needle in a haystack" because needles aren't generally in haystacks to start with so why would you try to find one in there. I feel like shoelaces and bath robes are generally found in department stores, however, none were to be found and they seemed shocked that we even asked if they had them. It was like "finding a shoelace in a store that sold shoes with laces"... it should have been easy but was far from it. We ended up finding some sweet children's blankets with adorable little panda and pig hoods. These were easily manipulated into panda and pig costumes and I think we pulled them off pretty well. Though only 10 people dressed up for the Halloween party that one of our friends rented out the bar for, the 3 that did not dress as "nerds" (most popular costume) really looked like a million bucks. Especially Will in his "Absolut Devil" costume inspired by the vodka brand. We played the cards we were dealt and did a sweet job bringing Halloween to Korea, which I couldn't be happier about.
I end this post with devistating news. Since my last post there was in fact a new addition to my family who only spent a short time in my presence. A friend of mine had found me the praying mantis I had been "praying" for. She was beautiful and very kind. Her name was Pickle. Her favorite game was "got your nose" and as far as I know it was the only game she knew how to play but I tell you she played it well. I had spent every night gathering her bugs and watching her eat various things at it had become a very enjoyable pass time. As we all know, good things don't last forever and the cold air mixed with the end of praying mantis season soon proved to be too much for this graceful creature. She passed peacefully in the night and I like to think her last thoughts were of the fun times we shared but most likely they were about bugs she's eaten, sticks she's climbed, and mate's she has devoured after copulation. Her time in my life was short but her memory will live on forever as I too now know why the caged mantis prays ... Peace, love, and empathy to you all and live your lives to the fullest.
I'm well aware that I should be posting more, I just keep losing track of time and before I know it, I'm two weeks late, but low and behold I'm back with updates on Korea!
After the Jazz festival school remained the same aside from the fact students are dropping off like flies (with swine flu) and my classes continue to get smaller. I hear it's just as bad there so make sure you are all wearing your masks. People here wear masks to prevent themselves from getting the flu. I think gloves would be a little more practical because that darn virus is going to find a way into your body one way or another but who am I to judge. To each its own.
We ventured to Seoul two weekends ago with the intention of going to the Hilton's happy hour buffet. They had Cheese and good wine ... enough to make any Frenchman or deprived American happy. It was very good and a most excellent decision.
Since we were with our good buddy Will he introduced us to Homo Hill. Homo Hill is exactly what it sounds like ... it's where all the gay bars are in Seoul. It was funny and I couldn't believe a place existed in such a close minded society. Wine, Cheese, and Homosexuals ... I felt like I had taken a bus straight out of Korea for the weekend but come Sunday I was more than willing to head back to Wonju.
I introduced Halloween to my classes and I'm pretty sure the only message they took from it was Halloween = candy but then again they weren't that far from the truth. We made masks and watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas" for a good chunk of the week. I tried my best to explain the movie but they didn't understand that the "Pumpkin king with the skeleton grin could grow so tired of the same old thing" ... they didn't get the metaphor.
Once the Halloween festivities had finished at school I began an adventure of my own, trying my hardest to find a Halloween costume. I don't really like the analogy "finding a needle in a haystack" because needles aren't generally in haystacks to start with so why would you try to find one in there. I feel like shoelaces and bath robes are generally found in department stores, however, none were to be found and they seemed shocked that we even asked if they had them. It was like "finding a shoelace in a store that sold shoes with laces"... it should have been easy but was far from it. We ended up finding some sweet children's blankets with adorable little panda and pig hoods. These were easily manipulated into panda and pig costumes and I think we pulled them off pretty well. Though only 10 people dressed up for the Halloween party that one of our friends rented out the bar for, the 3 that did not dress as "nerds" (most popular costume) really looked like a million bucks. Especially Will in his "Absolut Devil" costume inspired by the vodka brand. We played the cards we were dealt and did a sweet job bringing Halloween to Korea, which I couldn't be happier about.
I end this post with devistating news. Since my last post there was in fact a new addition to my family who only spent a short time in my presence. A friend of mine had found me the praying mantis I had been "praying" for. She was beautiful and very kind. Her name was Pickle. Her favorite game was "got your nose" and as far as I know it was the only game she knew how to play but I tell you she played it well. I had spent every night gathering her bugs and watching her eat various things at it had become a very enjoyable pass time. As we all know, good things don't last forever and the cold air mixed with the end of praying mantis season soon proved to be too much for this graceful creature. She passed peacefully in the night and I like to think her last thoughts were of the fun times we shared but most likely they were about bugs she's eaten, sticks she's climbed, and mate's she has devoured after copulation. Her time in my life was short but her memory will live on forever as I too now know why the caged mantis prays ... Peace, love, and empathy to you all and live your lives to the fullest.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Chuenchon and all that Jazz
Hello America,
It seems I haven't been posting as much as I promised but this time around I will try even harder to keep up with the blog.
Last weekend we ventured to Chuenchon for a Jazz Festival and it was fantastic. The festival was set on an island surrounded by mountains so as the sun set it was one of atmospheres I had ever been lucky enough to be a part of. The music was very good including a Jazz cover of Nirvana's Heart Shaped box as well as a cover of Britney Spears' Toxic. The first day of the festival was very relaxing which was nice because the following day would be much more hilarious.
Attempting to find a hotel at 10 pm proved much more difficult than I had imagined. After the first 3 hotels I was beginning to empathize with Mary and Joseph ... there was just no room at the inn for baby Jesus. At last we found a quiet little motel in a back ally which welcomed us with toothbrushes and razorblades. The dark back ally should have been the first sign that this was no Holiday Inn but the complimentary personal hygene products really got me excited to see what we were in for. The room actually wasn't that bad and mildly clean. There were a lot of extra blankets and they were even kind enough to leave a profalactic next to the bedstand ... I guess they were all out of mints. Finally it was clear that we had booked a "love hotel", something people had been talking about since we got here. Unfortunately we had booked a crappy love motel and I was dissapointed we hadn't shopped around because people were telling us about ones with flatscreen T.V.s, different colored lightings, and "adult" vending machines in the rooms ... that would have been hilarious.
We were happy to awake the next morning and find ourselves not murdered by drug dealers or pimps and set off for day two of the Jazz festival. The weather was amazing and that day we got the pleasure of hanging out with our good old friend Will. I say old friend because he really is old ... like 46 or something but he won't admit it. He has been a very fun person to hang out with in Wonju due to his hilarious antics and lack of a sensor so we figured he could really liven up the Jazz festival and boy did he ever. His favorite game to play was to ask any Korean couple with a camera if they wanted him to take a picture of them. After they agreed and Will snapped the pic he would instantly turn and run off the other direction. Their reactions were priceless. Some people chased him and others just sat there looking sad. It was all in good fun and most of them found it really funny and wanted a picture with him after so they could remember the prank. Will also decided a fun game would be to army crawl up to people when they weren't looking and see what he could sneak back and set next to our table. People really look confused when the bike they had sitting next to them somehow moved 10 feet and is now sitting with a table of white people. All these things did a good job of making me laugh. We had a great spot that allowed us to listen to a Korean band cover Radiohead's Creep four different times and I managed to muscle my way through the crowd to get a free CD of theirs. God bless their small stature. The night ended with good music and good company and we headed back to Wonju with a much better appreciation of Jazz and comedy.
We went out last night (Tuesday) for dinner and drinks with some friends and were welcomed with free food at two different restaurants. The first place had cement floors and poorly insulated walls so I can only imagine what it's like in the winter but I will be returning soon due to the fact the owner gave us free chicken breast and chicken foot because "the men are so handsome and the women are so beautiful". If tipping wasn't insulting to people I would have given here a whopper for her flattery.
We might be heading to a Rice festival this weekend but the jury is still out on that one. I bought a KBA Basketball here so I would like to play with that soon too. I will keep you posted on my adventures and I end with one final thing ... Damn you Nick Punto ... Damn you.
It seems I haven't been posting as much as I promised but this time around I will try even harder to keep up with the blog.
Last weekend we ventured to Chuenchon for a Jazz Festival and it was fantastic. The festival was set on an island surrounded by mountains so as the sun set it was one of atmospheres I had ever been lucky enough to be a part of. The music was very good including a Jazz cover of Nirvana's Heart Shaped box as well as a cover of Britney Spears' Toxic. The first day of the festival was very relaxing which was nice because the following day would be much more hilarious.
Attempting to find a hotel at 10 pm proved much more difficult than I had imagined. After the first 3 hotels I was beginning to empathize with Mary and Joseph ... there was just no room at the inn for baby Jesus. At last we found a quiet little motel in a back ally which welcomed us with toothbrushes and razorblades. The dark back ally should have been the first sign that this was no Holiday Inn but the complimentary personal hygene products really got me excited to see what we were in for. The room actually wasn't that bad and mildly clean. There were a lot of extra blankets and they were even kind enough to leave a profalactic next to the bedstand ... I guess they were all out of mints. Finally it was clear that we had booked a "love hotel", something people had been talking about since we got here. Unfortunately we had booked a crappy love motel and I was dissapointed we hadn't shopped around because people were telling us about ones with flatscreen T.V.s, different colored lightings, and "adult" vending machines in the rooms ... that would have been hilarious.
We were happy to awake the next morning and find ourselves not murdered by drug dealers or pimps and set off for day two of the Jazz festival. The weather was amazing and that day we got the pleasure of hanging out with our good old friend Will. I say old friend because he really is old ... like 46 or something but he won't admit it. He has been a very fun person to hang out with in Wonju due to his hilarious antics and lack of a sensor so we figured he could really liven up the Jazz festival and boy did he ever. His favorite game to play was to ask any Korean couple with a camera if they wanted him to take a picture of them. After they agreed and Will snapped the pic he would instantly turn and run off the other direction. Their reactions were priceless. Some people chased him and others just sat there looking sad. It was all in good fun and most of them found it really funny and wanted a picture with him after so they could remember the prank. Will also decided a fun game would be to army crawl up to people when they weren't looking and see what he could sneak back and set next to our table. People really look confused when the bike they had sitting next to them somehow moved 10 feet and is now sitting with a table of white people. All these things did a good job of making me laugh. We had a great spot that allowed us to listen to a Korean band cover Radiohead's Creep four different times and I managed to muscle my way through the crowd to get a free CD of theirs. God bless their small stature. The night ended with good music and good company and we headed back to Wonju with a much better appreciation of Jazz and comedy.
We went out last night (Tuesday) for dinner and drinks with some friends and were welcomed with free food at two different restaurants. The first place had cement floors and poorly insulated walls so I can only imagine what it's like in the winter but I will be returning soon due to the fact the owner gave us free chicken breast and chicken foot because "the men are so handsome and the women are so beautiful". If tipping wasn't insulting to people I would have given here a whopper for her flattery.
We might be heading to a Rice festival this weekend but the jury is still out on that one. I bought a KBA Basketball here so I would like to play with that soon too. I will keep you posted on my adventures and I end with one final thing ... Damn you Nick Punto ... Damn you.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Ain't No Mountain High Enough ...
Hello America the Beautiful,
I'm trying to get better about my postings on here but thank you to my loyal followers ... when buddha's birthday roles around your loyalty will not be forgotten.
Last Saturday we climbed a mountain as I had spoke about earlier. There is no way to say this with out sounding like a fool, but when they say climb a mountain ... I didn't know you would be CLIMBING a mountain. We "climbed" a mountain during orientation but I guess that was more of hiking. That one was walking up slight inclines on a well paved path. The mountain in Wonju took 4 hours to get to the top and it was the hardest work out I've had since mile repeats in cross-country. You walk 2 kilometers on a nice path and then you get to spend some time playing in a little stream until you start the second half of the mountain ... which takes 3 more hours. It starts with a 400 step staircase ... no biggy ... followed by upwards of 50 more sets of stairs taking you up. When I say stairs, I mean anything resembling a stair. Half are man made, half are rocks made to look like stairs by man. The stairs really aren't the worst part ... it's the places that don't have stairs that get you. At one point there was a 3-4 foot wide rock path with 50 foot drops on each side and in order to cross it you had to jump over a gap in the rocks. Not what I expected. The worst part was watching all of these old people who hike the mountain every weekend pass you in their hardcore mountain climbing gear and tell you "don't give up" and "you're almost there". I also liked the guy who told me I needed mountain climbing shoes ... you're right sir, I realized that seven steps into the first stair set. As brutal as it was going up, it was probably the most rewarding experience of my life as I stood on top of the mountain and could see everything. Our city was probably a good 30 minutes away but you could see it from the top of the mountain which made the trip worth it. It took only about 2 and a half hours to get down but with each step I got more disappointed that I didn't achieve my one true goal ... find a praying mantis. All the kids in my class told me the mountains would be the best place to find one and I have been searching since the moment we came here for a pet praying mantis. I'm literally the only person I've talked to who hasn't seen one. I think a praying mantis is pretty similar to the food in neverland or santa clauses workshop ... you can only see it if you believe in it and I no longer believe praying mantis' exist.
Sunday we made a trip to Seoul to meet up with friends and to find mexican food. Mexican food in Korea is what you think Mexican food in Korea would be like ... not good and confusing. I miss mexican restaurants where you are able to buy a plate of food that will take a minimum of 2 months of your life by eating all the greasy bad food. Itaweon (where we went) is suppose to be very westernized and I was very excited to see all the MLB hat stands there. Unfortunately one team didn't make the list and unfortunately it wasn't the brewers ... it was my hometown heroes the Minnesota Twins. Each stand would have a surprising new team that you hadn't seen at others but after seeing the diamondbacks, the astros, and even the montreal expos (COME ON!) there wasn't a Twins hat in sight. I left with a heavy heart and hopes that someday Korea will wise up.
On a positive note, I have seen some great things here that have made me happy. Last Wednesday I found the Watchmen graphic novels all in Korean but half the price as they are in the U.S. God bless the nerd in me who knows a comic book deal when they find one. Also ... they have random pirate DVD stands when you get in big cities and they had the movie "Harsh Times" in the mix of the other big names. I couldn't even find that DVD in the U.S. for the longest time so kudos to you Korea .... now pirate me a damn Twins hat. The surprising lists of movies I find on T.V. here continues to grow with new additions such as "Underdog", "When Harry met Sally" and "P.S. I love you". I also had the pleasure of watching a prison break marathon ... every episode in 3 days. Those fools didn't realize after season one the show is no longer prison "break", it's prison "break in, break out, run, get caught, break in, break out, break back in because they forgot their car keys, break out, stop for lunch, get caught again, break out, break in, break out ... over" ... I guess that wouldn't have fit on the DVD case though. How does one man break out of prison 3 times? Just watch him a little closer or something. No hard feelings though, they were all innocent and deserved their freedom it just got too ridiculous for me but I still chose that over watching 24 hour Starcraft on T.V.
I don't have anything else to report. Oh wait yes I do ... I lost my apartment keys on the only Korean holiday of the semester. We went to play football and I forgot to pick them up so Lauren and I searched the park at 2 am trying to find them and finally gave up. I called my mentor teacher to ask her to call my landlord but Korea again blows my mind with the fact that your landlord doesn't have a spare key. If he/she ever knocks on my door for any reason they are not getting in so I can prove a point. I had to get a locksmith to come and break in, replace my locks, and charge me up the ying yang so I could get in.
Ok now I really don't have anything else to report. I hope everything is going well for all of you and you are staying out of prison. I miss you guys and next time I climb a mountain I'll make sure it's high enough to wave to you.
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