Sleeping on the Floor

            Last week I had my four day vacation and on Thursday night I had a very entertaining night but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share my adventure as I ended up sleeping in my hallway outside my apartment.  But sometimes in life stuff just happens and if you can’t laugh at yourself then you aren’t really living.  So here is my story of how I ended up sleeping on the floor.

            Last Thursday was the first day of my vacation and I made the most of it by getting my apartment in order, paying off the last of my student loan, getting a haircut and shaving my beard off.  After all that I met up with Jonathan and we went to a mutual friends place for some drinking and games.  There were five of us and we did the standard drinking games but also sat around and talked about Korean society.

            Everyone commented on some of the same things I’ve touched on, specifically the lack of public trash cans, the intense education system and the huge generation gap between the oldest generation and the young one that’s around my age.  Brad, the other guy Jonathan and I were talking to, felt that the younger Koreans are waiting for the old generation to die off so they can then start to implement progressive changes.  A fair point but I think that can be the case in any society but that’s another topic for another day.

            After we finished our drinks we went downtown and decided to go to Speakeasy as our first stop.  They were starting to close up since it was 1:30am on a Thursday but I then saw that Dan Henrickson was there with some of his buddies and we sat down to hang out.  It was at this point that I realized I might have had a couple because I could understand everything Dan was saying.  Dan is Canadian and has the total accent with more “Eh’s” than you can shake a hockey stick at and I understood him perfectly.  So either I was suddenly fluent in Canadian or I just thought I was.  Regardless we hang out for a bit then bounced to meet up with some other people that Dan knew and sat on a patio.  It was fantastic to sit on a real patio and just hang out but I was only there less than an hour before I decided to go home. 

            I walked home, headed up the stairs to my apartment, pulled out my key and unlocked the door.  Except the door didn’t unlock because my key snapped in half with one part still in the deadbolt, and to my shock, the deadbolt hadn’t unlocked.  I was stunned because I knew I couldn’t unlock the door but I still tried to force the broken key back together and then twist it so it would unlock.  It wouldn’t work because when the key broke it somehow stripped itself and wouldn’t catch again.  

Ironic how there's a heart in the key hu?

            I then decided to walk around the apartment complex to see if I could find the janitor’s closet and hopefully find a tool to twist the key.  I walked around but I couldn’t find anything so I went to look at my window and see if I could’ve climbed up to it but there was absolutely no way.  I went back to my door and tried to open it again but had zero success.  That was when I got real serious about getting in my room because if I didn’t I had nowhere else to go.  I wasn’t sleeping in a disgusting sex motel and it was 25 minutes to Jonathan’s place and that was if he was even there so I decided to try my only option left.  I lined up myself up, braced myself against the wall across from my door and kicked my door as hard as I possibly could.  The door just laughed at me because it didn’t budge.  I tried again and again but was stopped cold. 

            I paused and collected all my energy knowing that I’m 2.5inches from my soft bed, a cold glass of water and channeled my inner, “I am the only Highlander!” and kicked that door with every ounce of determination and nothing.  Absolutely nothing happened.  I dropped my head and grudgingly admitted defeat by lying down and falling asleep in front of my apartment.

No way a solid steel door keeps this man out of his bed at 3am.

            I woke up to my neighbor shaking my shoulder and I quickly showed her the broken key in the deadbolt.  She called my landlord and after five minutes of trying to twist the key he finally got it open.

Worst bed ever.

            I don’t know why I wasn’t suppose to stay in my apartment that night but everything happens for a reason even if it doesn’t make sense at the time.  Now let’s take a moment and think about how if I was kicking my house door back home it would’ve busted no problem.  Korea has virtually no petty crime but my apartment door is so strong it would’ve taken C-4 to open it.  I think it sums up Korean culture pretty well.  They don’t want you to bother them and you won’t break down their cultural barriers unless they decide to let you in.  Lastly, how fortunate was I that I didn’t break the door down, my neighbors didn’t call the police and I didn’t break my foot while trying to break into my own apartment.  

           If you've got a funny story like this then email me and share it with me.  I've also fixed how you can comment on my posts so anyone but the spamers can comment now.

Vacation Time!

            This week I have my first vacation since coming here in March. Since I work in a Hagwon, a private academy, I don't get the longer vacation time that the public teachers do. I know a bunch of people that went and traveled around Korea, Taiwan, Jeju Island and the South Pacific but this month is all about saving the Benjamin’s for me. However tomorrow I will go outside of Gwangju to what is supposed to be a beautiful river located within a gorge at Gangcheonsa.

            I really was ready for a couple of days off from school just so I could read, write, exercise, and just enjoy not being in the ridiculous heat here. It's as oppressive as back home but without the sundresses and patios to look forward to at the end of the day.

            I know that I haven't talked about what the education system is like here so I'll take the time to do that now. The school year goes from about the end of February through the end of July and then from September to early February. The public schools get about two to three months off in total but that really doesn't matter if you work at a Hagwon. Now a Hagwon isn't limited to just English as it can be in any subject or field including athletics like Taekwondo. So even though the kids will be off from public school they will still go to three or four different Hagwon's so they won't fall behind in their studies.

            This is important to understand because these kids have no idea what a true vacation is. They don't have summer vacations filled with camps, lazy days and hanging out at the pool or lake. To be able to relax and enjoy not being in school is such an alien concept that even when they have time off they still use most of it to study. Sometimes the English books we use talk about kids being at a summer camp or at the lake and I have to spend time explaining what that means and then I’ll teach through the lesson.

            After being here and experiencing this, I really have a soft spot for these kids when it comes to giving them homework over the vacation. I can't make myself do it since I know they're in two other Hagwon's that will be giving them homework. In addition, Josh and I, my coworker who is fantastic to work with, don't emphasize a lot of grammar and vocabulary but we push on pronunciation and fluency. For example we’ll try to tell Western expressions and jokes but it is like training Data or Spock because before they can understand a Western joke you have to set up what the cultural meaning is that makes the joke funny. That whole process is hilarious in of itself.

            One thing that isn't funny is how damaging this relentless pressure to always study is for the kids. Korea has an extremely high suicide rate for children* and it's because of the pressure put on by Korean society to excel and not disappoint or shame their families. So if they spend all of their time studying and preparing for their big state exams and then they don't meet their family’s expectations to excel on those exams, they believe what else is there to live for? These state exams are similar to the ones we have, ACT, SAT, TCAPS etc but on steroids because of how important they are to being admitted into a university here.

            Anyways, only 33 days until college football season starts and I can’t wait to watch the Vols, on delayed replay of course, run through the T in Neyland Stadium!

*http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2918314

Annoying K-Pop

      I'm sure that from the title you might be thinking that I'm talking about Korean cereal but I'm definitely not.  I'm talking about the pop music here known as K-Pop.  K-Pop is very popular and they have a couple of TV shows that are similar to American Idol and Star Search but there's one show that is the Korean version of American Bandstand.  Evidently if you're a Korean singer you want to get on that show for your big break. 

     The thing that's funny to me is just how many Korean pop groups, boy-bands, girl-bands and wannabe's there are but a couple of singers have made it big.  One guy called Rain is a combination of Usher and Justin Timberlake.  Another big star is a girl called Hyuna and I think that she's a Korean version of Miley Cyrus.  I hear her damn song "Bubble Pop" everywhere and it has been stuck in my head all week so I'm putting it up so you too can endure the misery of this super-catchy song.  The third video is from a younger girl named IU whose video, "Good Day" has exploded all over the country.

     These videos will give you an idea of what Koreans, especially the younger generation, thinks of as their "ideal" girl or guy.

Bubble Pop, Hyuna:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw9CALKOvAI

Rain, Love Song:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx5COTBjcNc

Good Day, IU:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeqdYqsrsA0
The parrot at the beginning of the video says, "Oppa" which means "I love you."

The Lady Leaving Korea

       Well all good things must come to an end and The Lady has returned back to the States.  I was definitely bummed to watch her leave but I enjoyed every moment she was here and am excited that I get to see her when I return to the States. 

Eating at one of our favorite places, Cafe Lemon Table

Celebrating the 4th!

Eating lunch with the owners of our favorite cafe, Ji Hae and Young Chung.

Planning her next shot.

Owning the jumbotron and the Gryffindor section

Boryeong Mud Festival

Namgwangju Fish Market

TL hated the self-boxing too.

Teacher's lunch for my school.

Saying bye to Ji Hae

TL and I after a fantastic lunch.  Eight months and counting.

        However, after helping her pack up and seeing her off at the airport I realized that even though I would love to visit my friends and family back home I'm not ready to move home.  I have a lot to see and do  here and am excited to get started on doing just that.  One thing that I am going to start doing is playing some Rugby.  I've always wanted to do it and just before TL came here I played a backyard game, did pretty well and was offered to come and tryout for the foreigner team.  So I have that to prepare for, my birthday is in a month and then it's college football season! Can't wait to watch the Vols play and win some games! 

Playing In The Mud

      This past Saturday The Lady and I met up with Jonathan and went to the Boryeong mud festival.  The Boryeong mud festival has been going on for 14 years and started because the mud in Boryeong was used in cosmetic products and the sellers wanted to create some buzz so they started the festival.  It's actually a pretty big event here in Korea but it is especially so for us foreigners and particularly the military.  Since coming here to Korea I've been looking forward to going and was excited that TL was able to come with me.

      After getting up early, we headed to the bus station got our tickets and got in line for the bus.  Yup, there were some other foreigners already in-line and ready to go.  We hop on the bus and get on the front seats because we wanted the leg room and also Jonathan and I knew that the bus was overbooked and people would have to sit in the aisle.

People were lined up almost to the front!

      Once we got there we immediately bought our return tickets for the last bus to Gwangju just in case we wanted to leave since they would refund our tickets if we didn't take the bus.  I didn't get too many pictures because we were at a mud festival and I didn't want to ruin TL's camera so I've borrowed from some internet sites. 

No shower no problem.

The cleanest everyone was for the rest of the day.

By 3pm that stage was surrounded by thousands of mud-caked people.

 

     Overall we had a great time, the ocean water was pretty warm but the atmosphere was succinctly summed up by TL when she said, "It's Panama City done Asheville style."  It was a mixture of laid-back hipsters/hippies and army people.  So we had a good time but we didn't want to stay through the night as we knew it was going to get rowdy and we didn't want to stay in a hotel.

     For some great pictures of people in the mud festival check out these sites: 

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/182054/20110718/spectacular-images-14th-boryeong-mud-festival-korea-foreign-visitors-daecheon-beach-tourists-2011.htm

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_2_1.jsp?cid=697135

http://www.festivalpig.com/Boryeong-Mud-Festival.html

End Of An Era-Harry Potter

       So the The Lady and I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows conclusion today and let me tell you it was fantastic to watch!  If you haven't seen it, don't worry I won't give away any spoilers but if you want to have an in-depth discussion about the movie please email me and I'll be happy to go through it point by point. 

       I do want to talk about how this movie is the end of an era for many of us and how I felt about watching it in Korea.  For people around my age the Harry Potter franchise is something that we've read and watched as we grew up.  I can remember I first heard about Harry Potter when I was 14 and I wasn't impressed.  I didn't think it sounded all that cool and I really didn't want to read another British take on how a magical world should be.  However I did finally read the first book and was instantly hooked, devouring it and the second in mere weeks.  When the first movie came out I was eager to see how it was, carefully checking to see what was omitted from the books and if I still enjoyed it, and I definitely wasn't disappointed.  

        Moreover, Harry Potter was more than a movie adaptation for me because it was the first thing that my mother, brother and I could all actively talk to one another about, while having fantastically spirited discussions about what each character's role was, what J.K. Rowling was planning for the next book and if Harry and Ginny or Harry and Hermione ended up together.  For example I can remember coming home late one summer during college and seeing my mother's bedroom light on, knowing that she was finishing the newest book, and waiting until she had her coffee the next morning before asking in-depth on her opinion.

       The only comparison that I can think of that created the same buzz and excitement was Star Wars and Indiana Jones.  They were incredible trilogies but neither were books first and their unity is that Harrison Ford starred in both of them and George Lucas produced them.  Whereas the Harry Potter films maintained their unity in all of the major and minor characters and I was able to read the newest book before the next movie came out.

        But I'll finish how I started and share with you my experience of watching the last Harry Potter movie here in Korea.  We get to the theater and there wasn't anyone dressed up like they were going to Hogwarts, and as I watched the movie TL and I were the only ones getting pumped when the characters, major and minor, finally had their shining moments.  There wasn't any spontaneous applause, laughter or loud sobbing and I left the theater feeling cheated.  Cheated that all those years of enjoying every Harry Potter movie and the last one I watched was the one I wanted to enjoy with everyone else in the theater and instead it felt like I watched it on my living room couch. 

       I'm going to go back to the theater and I'm going on a Friday or Saturday night just to make sure that I got the authentic Korean experience and I hope that my first impression is the wrong one.

Gwangju FC Soccer

      On Saturday TL and I met up with Jonathan to go and watch the local professional soccer team play.  Now the team is called Gwangju FC, and it's their first year in the K-League, Korean Soccer League, and they're not at the top of the division but it's fun to watch and hang out.  We met up with TESL Korea, which prints the foreigner magazine here in Gwangju, and I also met the guy who got me my ESL job here, Dan Henrickson.

       Even though it was pouring rain the entire day we had a great time since you can bring coolers, yes coolers, into the stadium without being checked or paying an extra fee.  I'll go through the pictures and show you how it went.

Everyone sat on one side of the stadium because the rain kept most people from coming to watch the game.

Supporting the team!

That little kid wanted my scarf so bad and he kept yelling at the ref all game long.

Dan and I were definitely on the right page.

The FC supporters lit the flare..

And then they burned their sign.  Amateurs.

Our fellow Southerner we met at the game by way of Baton Rouge.

After missing some easy chances we finally got the first goal!

Everyone was pumped but our section was just a little bit louder than the rest of the stadium.

I tried to get a picture showing the rain but trust me it was a downpour.

He was finally escorted out for being so loud and obnoxious.

TL zoomed in to show the guy proposing and she said yes!

Korean cheerleaders without rain gear and it wasn't cute.

Goal number two!

Because TL was one of the three blonds in the stadium we got on the jumbotron!

One Korean family dared sit next to the foreigners and who was the polite liaison, this guy. Well done sir.

Ok ok I'll stop yelling in English at the Korean ref but he deserved it.

First time in my life I went to a sports game and didn't hear a rap song.

Many thanks to Brooke and Darrell for setting the event up!

We waited 45 minutes for a taxi after the game in the horrendous downpour. TL wasn't digging it.