Snowboarding in Muju

Admittedly, I’m not in the best mood as I do some notepad blogging while on a ski trip in Muju.  It’s nothing serious, just not the typical food or sleep, the weather is cold and I’m growing a bit irritated with my companions up here.  Eight people in close contact for four straight days and it’s bound to happen; it’s all good.  What’s alsogood is this location.  Muju is only two hours from Changwon by train but it is a different world.  It reminds me of Santa Cruz; the ultimate laid-back town that somehow manages to stay that way despite thousands of people traipsing through daily to experience what it has to offer,  What Muju has to offer is excellent skiing and snowboarding.  I’m not a snowboarder (or a skier), but this place really makes me want to be one.

Everyone and their mother is here.  The resort is packed due to the Seol Nal holiday.  Koreans of all ages a decked out in hip, colorful snowsport attire.  The slopes are giant canvases, peppered with ants (well, they’re not THAT small…maybe beetles) trailing down them to reach the crows of people at each base.  The snowfall alternates between zero and blasting and there is a serene feeling riding the lift up to the top of a slope.

I had been snowboarding only once before — back in 2001.  Eight years is definitely too long between trips because I was pitiful on that first day.  I couldn’t even get up off the ground.  Cliff kept pulling me up to get me started, but without him I could only struggle or sit in the snow developing an ice ass.

My major breakthrough came when I figured out I should push myself up from a face-down position (easy) instead of from a face-up position (difficult at 200lbs).  With the revelation, my falls would only ground me for seconds as opposed to minutes and I could practice being on my feet much more.  Now, on this third and final day of snowboarding, I’m barreling down the hills at high speeds and showing what I think is reasonable control for a beginner.  Granted, it’s all heelside work because I’m afraid to turn my body away from downhill for even a second, but there’s no doubt I’ve picked up a new skill and there’s no doubt I’ll be doing this again soon.

 

SNSD Extra!!

This commercial for Gubne Chicken plays about 2500 times per day in Korea.  I told the students it was my favorite commercial and they told me it was SNSD (Girl’s Generation)!  So, check it out.  This is something you would see watching television on Korea.

I have not tried the chicken.  Even if I knew what to say when I called for delivery, I haven’t the slightest idea what my address is.

 

Rainism

If you are Korean, then this song is probably old news.  But, in my case, I’ve just identified it last week.  The song is pretty hip and the dancing is dynamite.  I’d say Rain is the biggest solo music star here, and I know he’s already gone global.  Check him out!

 

Another Ass Coworker

Back at work, after a single-day weekend, trying to learn these kids some goddamned English.  I’m kidding, of course; I have a much better attitude than that.  Also, I’m doing a very good job at work this month.  But things have happened that have made the academy a much more aggravating place to be.

First, our new foreign coworker is proof that a person can be intelligent but still a dumbass.  The thought of him is like watching the dark clouds rolling and the sight of him is like the torrential downpour.  Hearing him speak is like being struck by lightning.  What is the mindset of those people who come to work here with a negative attitude?  This isn’t a business trip.  Your company did not force you to spend a year here.  So why make a conscious decision to do something you don’t want to do?  But, whatever, about the negativity — how about the self-centeredness and compulsive lying?

What did this idiot tell me within the first week of meeting him?  I, fucking I, I, I.  I went to culinary school/went to Johns Hopkins/got my Master’s degree/taught at the worst school in Baltimore/owned a pizza joint/cleaned up a pizza joint/won $20,000 at the casino/am a member of MENSA/ran a marathon/jogged 10km yesterday/am working on my second book/was president of the French club/had kidney surgery/played college football/speak German/boxed in college/grew up in Reno/come from a family of teachers/worked at a ski resort/saw that movie/heard that song/visited that place/follow that team/read that book/WON’T SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!  Even in college with a lot of whiny rich-kid types I never heard so much self-promotion.  But the key was the jogging.  I was doubtful before, but when he said he’d run 10km one day I knew he was full of it.  I’ve been on fire lately despite the cold weather and I know (not with that paunch) he hasn’t been running more than me.  Note that my self-promotion is only for purposes of example.

I hate to hate people, but this bitch is already #1 on my Least Favorite People in Korea list and he sits right next to me.  I am now sandwiched between a 50-year old Korean man who thinks he is my friend and waits for me to say something before moving his book off my desk and a person who says nothing I care about nor believe.  Maybe that’s why I’ve been doing a good job…just so much irritation to channel into productiveness.

 

Gee

I heard this song “Gee” listening to the playlist at Kevin’s Bar and I was hooked by the catchy vocals, the rhythmic break during the chorus (listen for it!) and the ridiculous English lyrics.  Don’t get me wrong…the entire song is ridiculous, but the words especially so.  The video screen at Kevin’s showed the lyrics, noraebang-style, as the song played, so I was watching “Gee gee gee gee” flash across the screen to my bewilderment.  I downloaded the song, though, and looked up the group.  It’s called Girl’s Generation (crap) and they have NINE members.  That puts even the Dorco Pace 6 to shame.  Don’t believe me?  Check it out!

Nine freaking performers.  I guess the choreography has to be simple to keep it from appearing like nine girls dancing individually — but it was good enough to keep me watching.  I chuckle every time I see the cat paw move, too, because I just don’t get it.  My coworker, Amber, greets me every day with that cat paw wave and she’s a grown woman and it just freaks me out a little.  Anyway, enjoy.

 

Craziness Working

I am working more hours now than I have ever worked in my life, I think.  Eleven hours per day at the workplace, 7.5 of which are on my feet teaching.  And I’ve been seriously teaching, too.  Good lesson plans, managing students and taking work home so I can return it to them in a timely manner.  I wanted to start strongly after fading away near the end of the last term (although it didn’t help that no one at the school could tell me when the term began or ended).

But yes, many work hours.  Also, it’s cold as fuck and windy out there.  I thought I had a winter coat but I guess I don’t and the my gloves may as well not be on my icy, numb hands.  And it’s not like they’ve got the heat blasting at the school either; it’s barely preferable to be inside the place.  It hasn’t stopped me from running my longest distances since I’ve been in Korea and with consistency and from cranking out my gym-budget-saving pushups.  Incidentally, I don’t consider those to be New Year’s resolutions because I started them just before the new year!

Anyway, it’s been a crazy pace for this term and we work on Saturday again this week!  Somehow it got me to comparing the winter schedule here and the summer school in the Haystack.  I’m at the English academy more than twice as long each day than I was at the high school, but it’s much more bearable and I’m much more in harmony, I suppose, with my job now.  Those summer school days seemed neverending and I would struggle to fill time and to get the information across.  Maybe I am a better teacher now, but there are other factors, too.  English isn’t even my field but I’m buoyed by the high expectations of the students.  It’s not that they expect me to make them experts or that they’re even considering the skills they’ll possess once they leave my class.  It’s that they arrive knowing that I have something to offer and they are truly ashamed to be delinquent or to fall behind in their learning.  Anyway, I’m losing the point of this post and I don’t want to badmouth U.S. students especially because my current high could be a result of personal growth or maturation or something else.  It’s just interesting that the craziness working here is more tolerable than the craziness working at home.

 

Changwon Crew

There is no shortage of foreigners doing various things in Changwon, but I’m fortunate to have hooked up with a small community of friends who are good-natured and fun along with being responsible and trustworthy.  This is a group from which I see one or more members virtually day.  I’ve come to call it the Changwon Crew and Saturday night was one of the most fun I’ve had with the group.  It was the perfect storm, I suppose…this was the first weekend since we had all started working longer hours for the winter schedule.  It had been some time before the last major get-together because some were away during Christmas and New Year’s Eve and there was some underlying expectation of seeing everyone.  It started innocuously — a message on Facebook suggesting the Indonesian restaurant at 7pm — and after a bundle of emails and phone calls and coordination and taxi rides, there we were.  Who was there?  Cliff, of course, and Sarah, Johnny and Laurel, Pieter, Paul, Luke, Josh, Levi, WhatUpThen, Tina and even Max Kim.  I know the listing of names does nothing for readers who aren’t a part of this group but, trust me, it’s pretty meaningful.

After dinner, I finally made my first trip in Kevin’s Bar with the group.  We were joined by Roger, Vicky and Virginia, imbibed on 1,000 won beers and 3,000 won gin & tonics (but they still don’t have limes!!) and stayed for hours; just took over the place.  I said before that I go to the bar more frequently now than ever in my life, but when everyone in the place is a friend of yours, it’s a whole new awesome experience.  There we were reconnecting, talking about coworkers and vacation plans, playing darts, flirting with the Korean bar girls, choosing songs on the playlist and collectively letting off steam.  Incidentally, we learned to never let Pieter choose the fucking music. Maybe it had just been awhile since I’d been out, but I was legitimately happy to see each person there.  And the part about them being cool is important, too.  Lately, I’ve dealt with a few people who are deficient in parts of their personalities and it’s refreshing to have the Changwon Crew, from all different parts of the world, and to know that they are each appealing persons in their own rights.  Unfortunately, there are no photos.  It’s too bad because it would be nice to commemorate something that was obviously special to me and because Tina was scorching hot in that cold weather!  But hopefully this blogger post will serve to keep our night out fresh in my memory.

 

Seoul Vacation, Part IV

My feet are the most cracked and rough they have ever been.  Thanks to Changwon Chica I know that I am not alone in this experience!

Okay, so the trip was long ago now and I should have finished this posting.  The school schedule has changed so that we work from 8:30am through 7pm.  It’s not a crazy schedule under normal circumstances but being thrust into it after 3 months of leisurely, alarm clock-free living isn’t the easiest thing.  So, here’s the last part of the post where I actually discuss some of the places I visited in Seoul (which I’m learning to pronounce with two syllables).

Those photos in Part II of the city from high up were taken from Namsan Tower.  As I heard, it used to be the second tallest tower in Asia.  The four Canadian women I was with continually referenced the CN Tower in Toronto.  Incidentally, they made me want to visit CN until Tina mentioned that it costs $40 to go to the top!  Who knows?  Maybe you come down knowing the meaning of life.  The coolest thing about the tower other than seeing the vast city (and the fact that there was A Twosome Place inside the tower!) were the signs painted on the windows circling the tower.  The signs indicated the distances to various cities.  As you can see from the photo, I took it facing in the direction of North Korea…a short 193km away!

We hit a pretty nice club, M2, in Hongdae.  It was standard dance music, expensive drinks and a giant floor.  The highlight, though, was when the live band came onstage and played along with the DJ.  There was a singer and he was GOOD!  There was a saxophonist and he was FUCKING GREAT!  And they carried the place and everyone (even myself after throwing back a few) was dancing it up.

Many of the Part II photos come from the War Memorial Museum near Itaewon, where the U.S. military base happens to be located.  There was so much information and so many artifacts; a person could spend days in there.  It was fascinating, though…so many weapons, so many classes of soldiers, and so much devastation over so many years in so many wars.  Some of those weapons were still pretty scary even inside a display case.  Even better were the military planes and vehicles rooted outside of the museum.  Planes, large and small, tanks and artillery were there with doors open so you could climb in a get a feel for them.  I was impressed by the engineering of those vehicles — I understand now how one could level a city with a few of those babies.

When I had a little time to myself, I strolled through Jongno for some shopping, cafe and the bar.  I impressed a couple of limited English-speaking Korean ladies by playing them tracks on my iPod on which I sing.  I may also have lied about one song, saying I was the singer when I most definitely was not.  They said that Saturday night was not a busy night for the bar, which I’m still trying to wrap my head around but, in truth, there were only a couple of patrons given the throngs of people roaming the streets upstairs at that time.  Unfortunately, they weren’t interested in taking me dancing with them once it was time to split the bar.  Oh well, always have fun trying!

And that’s that!  I enjoyed myself in the fantastic city and I’ll be heading back before long!

 

Seoul Vacation, Part III

My first trip to Seoul was began a week ago today and, although the instant enthusiasm about it has subsided, it was still so wonderful that I’d like to share!  One thing which seems so irrelevant but just tickled me during the entire weekend is a cafe that is now my all-time favorite.  All over Seoul we saw “A Twosome Place”…in Hongdae, in Itaewon, and right outside of my motel.  It’s no different from the myriad other chain coffee shops in Korea (and there are a ton of them: Dunkin’ Donuts, Angel-in-Us, Caffe Ti-Amo, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Holly’s Coffee and the omnipresent Starbucks).

But I just couldn’t get over the ridiculous name.  I repeated it to myself and the girls a thousand times over the weekend.  Damned good sandwiches, good coffee and a nice atmosphere in each one.  How could I possibly go to Holly’s Coffee when I could go to A Twosome Place?  So now, of course, the trick is to actually visit the place as a twosome…we’ll see what happens.

I stayed in a motel while Tina stayed a block away at her friend Kristine’s apartment.  Visiting Kristine’s was my first experience in one of the high-rises that pepper every city in Korea.  Her apartment was nice, modern and spacious but she had only been there for a month so the decoration was a work in progress.  One more thing I should mention is that Kristine has been to an Air concert.  You may know from reading this blog that the Air live show is unreal and Kristine’s simple accomplishment has instantly rocketed her to the top of the list of the most attractive and desirable women I have ever met.

I did not eat any Korean food while in Seoul.  There was snacking and a Korean fried chicken restaurant, but the eating highlights were the Italian restaurant and the Hard Rock Cafe in Itaewon, the America of Seoul.  Tina, Kristine and I agreed that the garlic bread sucked at the restaurant but that everything else was divine.  Fresh Caesar salad, margherita pizza and gnocchi…hot, chewy, savory and a lot of it.  I promise I will make a return trip.  If the Italian place was divine, then the Hard Rock Cafe was the best the Earth had to offer.  I went for it: a giant bacon cheeseburger, fries and a non-corresponding mojito.  That meal was killer (literally!), it hit me like a ton of bricks a few hours later and would have been the best thing I’ve had in three months if they didn’t replace limes in Korea with lemons.  Very satisfying.  More to come!