Korea (in Pictures)

So I thought I'd upload some photos from Korea (because I've been severely lacking on that front for the last...month now? Jeez time goes by). Because blogger.com hates me - or I'm too lazy to figure it out because of the 2,404,583lbs of pizza I just ate (that had alfredo sauce in it...very exciting!) - I uploaded all the photos to a flickr account posted here. Click on "sets", as the photos are organized by categories...roughly.

Tell me your thoughts and let me know what's going on! I'm recovering from a tonsil infection, which marks the second time in as many weeks I've been out of action due to illness. I'm feeling much better than I did yesterday, though I think the nurse was having a little too much fun with my backside once she was done with the needle (is it really necessary to jiggle my ass for 15 seconds after? Eh, when in Rome). In any event, I should be back up to full speed soon.

Alright, the agenda for the week ahead - 1. get better 2. get regular with exercise/diet 3. learn hangeul 4. carry a camera EVERYWHERE. There's some fun stuff here to post, and I hope to share it with you. Weekend trip to Seoul, maybe? Maybe...

Quick Update

Hola mis amigos. I've been gone at a school conference with 200+ other teachers for the last few days. It was a heck of an experience, both professionally and socially...especially socially. I think one of the most fantastic things about teaching in Korea is that you get to meet a whole host of people from different backgrounds and countries and make friends with them. Friday and Saturday nights are not lonely, that's for damn certain...and they're sure as hell fun. I went out to a Mexican restaurant last night with a group of friends, and it was pure ecstasy to sink into a burrito filled with rice, beans, chicken, and cheeeeeeeeeeeese. La Casa Teresa en San Jose? No. But it got the job done. I love Korean food - I really do. There hasn't been a problem acclimating to the food here in that respect. BUT I do miss some of the tastes from home. 1st order of business once I get back 13/14-Aug in Las Vegas is a steak dinner with a baked potato, just frigging loaded with cheese/sour cream/butter (2 sticks if possible)/chives/bacon/death in general. I'm sure you can get it here, but 'Merica does beckon from time to time.

I've gotten past the sinus infection I went through last week; thank you to all those who asked what my condition was. I feel great now. Speaking of which, I've found myself becoming more and more reflective as of late on the condition of things...which is really saying something. I am very blessed. Not just relatively - how many people went without food or housing this evening across the world, let alone traveling to foreign places and having a great time doing it? - but subjectively. I've got food in my belly, a roof over my head, a fun job that I enjoy more and more everyday, a bunch of people that miss me back home (that I miss terribly, particularly where Phyl is concerned), and $1.30 for 500ml of beer at the local 7-11 (GS25 here, where it's "fresh, friendly, and fun" according to the adverts), where you sit outside of and pass the time with friends. My only gripe is that I hit my head on things more often here than at home, but when you're Godzirra in Korea, I guess that's to be expected. I'll post more specific and concrete things happening in my life in the days and weeks ahead (if I can get concrete; I'm a creature of the abstract...thus the philosophical crap tonight), but for right now I'll leave with this thought: I'm pretty damn lucky.

Oh - there's not a damn bit of decent cheese on this entire peninsula outside of Costco. Guess where Godzirra is going this weekend? ^^

I've Caught Yellow Fever

But not in the naughty way (which is relatively unfortunate). Last Monday, I started feeling pressure in my ears, developed a runny nose, and had a sore throat. Things went down from there, as I was taken to the hospital by my co-teacher on Wednesday. Now that may sound serious, but a "hospital" here translates into the doctor's office. It was essentially the same as me seeing my GP back home, except the doctor had that thing on his head that you only see in 1950s cartoons (I'm not sure what it is, but it's circular...and weird). My impressions of the Korean health care system are pretty positive, and that's especially relative to the system we have back in the US. Forget the liberal vs. conservative, single-payer vs. "free-market", and decency vs. screw 'em mentality arguments for a second. I'm looking only at my experience in a different country.

Each month, I pay about 40,000 won (let's say $35 depending on currency fluctuations) and have a 5,000 (roughly $4) co-pay for the doctor's visit and the necessary prescriptions. Where I come from, that's a deal! The system here seems to include a mix of state and market factors. Everyone is required to have health insurance, and employers pick up about 50% of the tab while employees pick up the other 50%. My guess is its subsidized by the government as well (I'd have to check), because that amounts to roughly $75/mo covering the vast majority of health care costs for individuals. Still, costs in Korea are lower - both nominally (of course) as well as on a per-person expenditure basis - than they are back in the States. People here are healthier, and they live healthier lifestyles. Korean food is - generally speaking - rather healthy, though they put too much salt in the kimchi.

Alright, that's enough on my healthcare rant. Being sick and stuck at home requires me to be reflective, because that's what I do with my free time - I think. A lot. And it's wearing thin on my braincells. I think that's why I'm scatterbrained (ADHD). I think a lot about my station in life, my purpose, teaching as a current and future occupation, possibly taking the LSATs (which I can do in Seoul), and the state of the 49er franchise (could be better, could be worse). One thing I am resolved in doing is to take up meditation. And by meditation, I mean running. A friend of mine is nuts about running and he talked a bit about a "Runner's High", which seems to me to be the equivalent of a meditation. And as I understand it, all practices and forms of meditation - from the Eastern forms we think of so often to the Western ones, including the Meditative Prayer of St. Ignatius - all focus on one thing: the present moment. And I am not someone who has ever been able to reconcile himself to the present moment. I'm always mulling about the future, or reflecting on the past. At the end of the day, though, the past is done and who on God's Green Irish Earth knows what the future will hold?

Oh! I got the internet, tv, and phones installed. I'm able to call the US for about 20 won a minute, which is less than .02...at least I think that is what it is. I spoke with mom last night. It was very good to hear her voice, as well as Buster's meow in the background. I do miss home, but it's amazing how a phone call will make you feel less far away.

Alright I have to sign-off now. I'm going to attempt some light-lifting at the gym in an attempt to recover the figure I once had. These sweet pastry shops all over the place are going to be the end of me.

World Cup

Not too much to report this week so far, except to say this weekend would best be described in as few as words as possible so as not to be too severely incriminating. So here goes:

I watched the World Cup's first game - Someone vs. Someone Else, I gather - and while I don't particularly care for the game of soccer (I mean "football"), I get a kick out of the experience of the whole thing. Football is really one of the few things that can unite the world. Take away all the angst, all the separation, and all the realities that plague modern human relations, and you have grown men kicking a ball on a big green field while other men - mostly drunk and ravenous - shout at them from the stands (and in the bars, which was my particular location). The main moral of the story of my weekend would go something like this - if you're going to partake in such event - and their related activites - with people from the United Kingdom and Ireland, you better damn well bring your "A" game. I've always had a great fondness for the UK, and I'm keen on my Irish and English roots. That's certainly the case now more than ever.

Though my liver would heartily disagree.

Apologies

Hola mis amigos,

I'm sorry for not getting to emails as fast as I should have been. A particularly heartfelt "I'm sorry, please don't call the National Guard (they couldn't get here anyway)" to my mom, as I've been out of contact for the last few days. I've had very limited access to emails, as only one of my addresses was functional from school. Facebook and my aol.com address were not, and as such I had 98 emails to review after not getting to it until this evening. Bloody joy.

I've got just a minute to update, as my time allotment is running low here at the PC-Bang (which translates to PC-room...how great). Things are getting better by the day, and I just got my ARC - Alien Registration Card (what a welcoming name!), so I'll be able to set up tv, internet, and phone all relatively soon.

I met a number of people who live near me that are AWESOME. One fella in particular is a Scotsman named Stephen. We were trading drinks and regaling ourselves of stories...and let me tell you: the Scottish can do both quite well. He may have been 5'8 and 140lbs, but he had my oversized Irish-American arse running for my money. Some other great people were a married couple from Portland and a girl named Amanda...which I think brings the total to 12 of Amandas that I know. But the more the merrier! Went out to dinner with all of them and we had a blast.

The kids still love me, and I'm getting to set up my own lessons and projects and everything. I've got a lot of freedom in this job IF I want to use it, and considering how boring things are from 2pm-430pm (prep time...in addition to all of Wednesday, which is basically a prep day), I intend to make it funky and creative. They'll be saying "Who Loves Kitty?" while wearing "Hello Kitty". And all the girls wear hello kitty, as do a number of the boys...

But they're not gay; just Korean.

Adjusting

The last week has been one of adjustment. The first few days of panic and homesickness here have given way to a more tempered outlook. Though I have to say, I still have some degree of panic within me - the same panic that I've carried all these years. The question of "what am I supposed to do with my life?" has not gone away, and I don't expect it to. I have enough rationality within me to know that I am not supposed to know what to do with my life at 23, and should instead be concentrating on my role in Korea as an ESL teacher, as well as to enjoy life. But I'm also a highly emotional person on the inside. Life needs balance.

I spent the week getting used to school and meeting the classes of wee ones that I'll be teaching. I've gotten some very excited reactions from the students, as the whole cafeteria of 400 students bursts into euphoria when the Great White Gorilla walks in. I've never seen anything like it. Further, students in one of the 5th grade classes that I'll teach erupted into boisterous applause when I informed them I was over 200cm tall. A hearty congratulations to me for being born tall.

The most interesting person I've met here in Jinandong (where I live...I work in Dongtan - both are in Hwaseong City, which is about 45mins outside Seoul) is a little Filipino woman in her 40s who was born in the Philippines and holds a Canadian passport. Her name is Edna. Once a magazine editor for a periodical in Manila, she grew tired of her work and went to Canada to become a teacher. She has a number of interesting stories to tell, including being shot at by Al Qaeda sympathizers in the Philippines. After about 16 years in Canada, Edna left to teach ESL in Korea and hasn't looked back. Edna can best be described as a free spirit who is very grounded, particularly in her faith. Edna has basically taken me under her wing and helped me to find everything that I've needed, and has proven to be an extremely agreeable companion. It's funny to see the two of us walking in Korea, as we're very different on the exterior - tall, young, and pasty white ginger with short, middle-aged, and Filippino. It's great.

Edna and I climbed Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon this Saturday. It was a very scenic trip, and did well to quell the restlessness inside me. We went on a day filled with students on field trips. Needless to say, they all adored me. We walked past at least 3 groups of 50 students, all of which shouted "Hello! Nice to Meet You! I love you!" at me. This celebrity is a bit much, but I take it as it was meant to be taken - with a smile. Give me a year or two, and I'll be mayor of the city.

I come home for a two-week vacation mid-August. It's been less than one week in, and I already miss everyone back home. I've already planned my first meal back - a steak and baked potato with all of the fixings. I love Korean food - don't get me wrong - but I already miss some Western fare.