It was mentioned to me from one of my faithful readers that my blog gives the impression I'm not having a great time, or that the new and unusual oddities of Korea are dragging me down. I should make it clear that's not the case in the slightest, and I think I have enjoyed my time not in spite of the challenges and weirdness I've come across, but because of it. Heck, if there's exciting or bizarre to write about, I think I'd quickly grow bored and wonder why I came here at all.
I did have my first pangs of homesickness however, which were brought about by the trip to Japan. I really enjoyed Japan, and was a little let down at only having the time and money to stay for a 5-day whirlwind tour. There was something so honest and genuine about the country, and how despite the cultural differences I could still feel quite at home. This has a lot to do with Japanese being used to and accepting of foreigners (Koreans still stare and giggle at Shannon and I), and coupled with the interesting and deep history and culture of the country, I would really like to visit there again.
Korea has been a middle ground, a stepping stone from China to Japan for hundreds of years, and the history has been scoured with a mix of both cultures creating a strange identity crisis. Confucianism dominates personal daily life, Buddhism is hidden throughout all the nooks and crannies of the country, and everything you see always comes with the opening line "Originally from Japan/China..." In Japan, even the small farming communities had a slight air of dignity to them. Old buildings and architecture, which normally would leave villages drab and unkempt, but the tiny outskirt communities and inner city areas still had this rich and solemn colour to it that gave off an impression of culture and history rather than of a run-down neighbourhood or poorer district of town.
As everone I'm sure is well aware of by now, North Korea's recently set off an underground nuclear weapon. Pretty scary for sure, though it's strange how any economic or military insecurities are felt not so much from NK having a bomb, but from the response by the rest of the world, specifically the US. North and South Korea are separated by economic and diplomatic issues that, until a few years ago, were being worked through nicely. They both want to be reunited, and probably one day will. But when the Bush administration came into power, a very anti-North Korea sentiment came about over there (remember the "Axis of Evil" comment?) and suddenly NK goes on the defensive. Photo-ops between leaders were cancelled, botht he US and NK start making waves in the media talking down to each other, and now NK starts setting off missiles and nuclear weapons just to get attention.
North Korea's in a terrible state economically, and the idea of it going to war with anyone over anything is a little far-fetched. They pour huge amounts of money into the military, but huge is a relative term for them, as the country doesn't make much money to begin with. In fact, if it weren't for aid from China and other countries, NK wouldn't even be able to feed it's own people. In fact, it's estimated the population has decreased several million people over the past years (not sure how many).
So, a sudden war is very, very unlikely. What is possible is economic and political pressures exerted by other countries could put leaders of NK into a position where it was either step down and let the foreign powers dictate how the country should go, or show them that they have some power left too, and launch whatever they can as a last resort, probably agains SK or Japan (most likely Japan).
But, enough war talk. As exciting as it is to be this close to a possible one, it's much more fun drinking beer and not worrying about guns 'n stuff. On that note, it's time to teach some school.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
"A" is for Bomb
I know that's not the cheeriest title to an entry, but with what's going on in and around Korea right now, somehow I find it funny. Perhaps I should be taking the whole North Korean nuclear development a little more serious, at least in terms of how it will affect me personally, but at the moment I'm content and happy to be working and living in Korea now, and the idea of leaving hasn't taken up more than a slight flicker in my mind.
Shannon and I just had a week (almost) off for Chuseok, which we spent frolicking around in Japan. Wow, what a country Japan is. Everything about that place had something to it that made it just a little unique and special. Heck, even if you were just looking at a plain ol' can of beans, you'd still take a while to get over the bloody cost of them, as the cost of living in Japan is freakin' unreal.
We took a hydrofoil (some kind of jet-boat) to Fukuoka from Busan, and within an hour or two, we had caught a bus to Hiroshima. Over the course of our Japan trip, Shannon and I spent at least half our waking hours travelling from one place to another, which at times was perhaps not the best move as I'll explain later. Nevertheless, we were safely in Hiroshima, and our foreigner adventures were about to begin.
We hadn't done any real preparations for the trip, and had only booked one hotel for the 5 nights we'd be away (and even that we didn't know if they had space until the day before arriving). Experienced as we may be at travelling, it was constantly a challenge finding information booths around Japan, getting hotel info, finding cheap ones and making sure they had vacancy for us. Yep, almost everyday we did this, but it worked out pretty well in the end.
Hiroshima is an amazing and terrifyingly sad city. Our hotel was two blocks from where the atomic bomb was first dropped back in 1945. We spent nearly 4 hours wandering around Peace Memorial Park, looking at sights, taking pictures of one the building left standing after the A-bomb, and visiting the Peace Museum. I still can't quite come to grips with how dramatic and catastrophic the bomb dropping was to Hiroshima, but I've tasted a part of it, and travelling through the city now I noticed many of the remaining signs from that day, including what seems a very high number of people suffering health problems and physical dsifigurements or handicaps.
That evening we went to Miyajima Island, literally translated as Shrine Island. We had a cute little Ryokan to stay in, a traditional Japanese accomodation where we lay out mats on the floor and share a community bathroom (we had the building to ourselves though). Meals in Japan were wonderful up to and including our stay at Miyajima, though the night before arriving was especially noteworthy. Shannon and I walked around Hiroshima for an hour or so before finally deciding to enter this tiny little Japanese restaurant. The chef, who spoke a little English, was a giant ball of giggling, smiling Japanese delight. He talked, laughed and yelled around the restaruant, muddled through charades to figure what we wanted, and walked us out the door once we left, possibly to thank us for not complaining when the bill came out to be a shocking $50.
But, back to Shrine Island. We took far too many pictures I think here, though there was an amazing amount of (you guessed it) shrines and other sights to see. And the deer, the darn things will sneak up to you and eat your backpack while you're wearing it if you're not careful.
After Myajima we went to Nara City - an awesome little town with a ton of random events taking place, yet it was a little too remote perhaps and maybe we should have avoided it. It was a 5-6 hour busride to Nara, and we were only going for one night, so we took the bullet train. $210 later we were there, hunting for a hotel again (somehow this time we ended up in a travel agents office). We only came to see this giant wooden castle, but we did manage to find some other exciting things while in Nara, such as an evening boat ceremony (yeah, I don't really know what it was) and some traditional Japanese musicians. The castle itself was very impressive, with a 25 foor Buddha dwelling inside, however, did I mention the travel cost to get here? That was only one-way, so now we had to spend another $350 to get back to catch our boat. Whooooo, that was a fair chunk of change.
Our last night in Japan was spent at a Japanese Onsen - a natural hot springs bath. While not very "traditional", this bath did have an outdoor setting to it and was naturally spring fed. Since you do it completely naked, Shannon and I had to have our own separate Onsen adventures, but it was amazingly relaxing to just lay around and do nothing for an hour.
Shannon and I just had a week (almost) off for Chuseok, which we spent frolicking around in Japan. Wow, what a country Japan is. Everything about that place had something to it that made it just a little unique and special. Heck, even if you were just looking at a plain ol' can of beans, you'd still take a while to get over the bloody cost of them, as the cost of living in Japan is freakin' unreal.
We took a hydrofoil (some kind of jet-boat) to Fukuoka from Busan, and within an hour or two, we had caught a bus to Hiroshima. Over the course of our Japan trip, Shannon and I spent at least half our waking hours travelling from one place to another, which at times was perhaps not the best move as I'll explain later. Nevertheless, we were safely in Hiroshima, and our foreigner adventures were about to begin.
We hadn't done any real preparations for the trip, and had only booked one hotel for the 5 nights we'd be away (and even that we didn't know if they had space until the day before arriving). Experienced as we may be at travelling, it was constantly a challenge finding information booths around Japan, getting hotel info, finding cheap ones and making sure they had vacancy for us. Yep, almost everyday we did this, but it worked out pretty well in the end.
Hiroshima is an amazing and terrifyingly sad city. Our hotel was two blocks from where the atomic bomb was first dropped back in 1945. We spent nearly 4 hours wandering around Peace Memorial Park, looking at sights, taking pictures of one the building left standing after the A-bomb, and visiting the Peace Museum. I still can't quite come to grips with how dramatic and catastrophic the bomb dropping was to Hiroshima, but I've tasted a part of it, and travelling through the city now I noticed many of the remaining signs from that day, including what seems a very high number of people suffering health problems and physical dsifigurements or handicaps.
That evening we went to Miyajima Island, literally translated as Shrine Island. We had a cute little Ryokan to stay in, a traditional Japanese accomodation where we lay out mats on the floor and share a community bathroom (we had the building to ourselves though). Meals in Japan were wonderful up to and including our stay at Miyajima, though the night before arriving was especially noteworthy. Shannon and I walked around Hiroshima for an hour or so before finally deciding to enter this tiny little Japanese restaurant. The chef, who spoke a little English, was a giant ball of giggling, smiling Japanese delight. He talked, laughed and yelled around the restaruant, muddled through charades to figure what we wanted, and walked us out the door once we left, possibly to thank us for not complaining when the bill came out to be a shocking $50.
But, back to Shrine Island. We took far too many pictures I think here, though there was an amazing amount of (you guessed it) shrines and other sights to see. And the deer, the darn things will sneak up to you and eat your backpack while you're wearing it if you're not careful.
After Myajima we went to Nara City - an awesome little town with a ton of random events taking place, yet it was a little too remote perhaps and maybe we should have avoided it. It was a 5-6 hour busride to Nara, and we were only going for one night, so we took the bullet train. $210 later we were there, hunting for a hotel again (somehow this time we ended up in a travel agents office). We only came to see this giant wooden castle, but we did manage to find some other exciting things while in Nara, such as an evening boat ceremony (yeah, I don't really know what it was) and some traditional Japanese musicians. The castle itself was very impressive, with a 25 foor Buddha dwelling inside, however, did I mention the travel cost to get here? That was only one-way, so now we had to spend another $350 to get back to catch our boat. Whooooo, that was a fair chunk of change.
Our last night in Japan was spent at a Japanese Onsen - a natural hot springs bath. While not very "traditional", this bath did have an outdoor setting to it and was naturally spring fed. Since you do it completely naked, Shannon and I had to have our own separate Onsen adventures, but it was amazingly relaxing to just lay around and do nothing for an hour.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Of Volleyball and Other Sports
Korea is starting to feel more and more like home, and if I ever get a handle on the language (I'm still stuck on my few silly phrases that don't really get me anywhere), I'm sure I'll fit in quite well here. Yet... there's always "something to write home about" in daily Korean life, and today, it's Volleyball!
Every Wednesday, the staff at school plays volleyball. I remember the first Wednesday - everyone was so excited to see me on the court, as I'm a genuine monster in height and size by Korean standards, so they felt certain I could spike the ball like no one else could. Sadly, these thoughts quickly proved wrong, as they saw how uncoordinated I am when trying to pick my feet off the ground, and how my height did little to translate into skill on the court. But they saw potential, so they started to set up "training" times for me.
But why train? We only play against our own school, we put every teacher on the court at once (it's usually 10-on-10), and no one is really any good except the gym teachers. Yet there's a "need" to be great. My principal will at times stay late with me, setting and bumping the ball back and forth, and teachers are constantly showing me how to 1-2-3-jump-uh and SPIKE-UH!And it seems that maybe all this training has worked, if only a little, as the last time we played I dominated the game, though I'm a little embarrassed now because of it. I won't go into my amazing volleyball antics (I still really am terrible) but I'm not sure how good it is to encourage an unfair physical advantage to become so competitive. Remember that movie "Meet the Parents" where Ben Stiller, pressed by his in-laws to play harder, spikes the ball into the girl's face? Well, I may not have made anyone bleed, but when I crushed the poor tiny kindergarten teacher to the floor, I certainly felt like Ben Stiller did. Only everyone was giving me high-5's.
We also had Sports Day at our school last Friday, which was a really great event put on by the parents and teachers, though of course there were a few unexpected hmoments to mention as well.
The first was the race - a race between myself, the school principal, and a grade 6 girl. Why? I don't know, no one was watching, it wasn't any kind of kick-off event, they just decided we should race. I'm told that I should have let the principal win to make him look good, but wow was he slow. At least he beat the grade 6 girl.
The rest of the day was measured out in starting lines and cups of coffee. That's what I did - start a race, have a cup of coffee, then do it again. I don't really drink coffee, so after the 4th big cup they gave me, I was feeling flat-out loopy. If only the had fed me I may have help it together, but despite the heaps of pizza given to the kids, I was only allowed little buckets of re-constituted deep-fried chicken. And coke, they gave me lots of coke. When I was finally fed, it was fresh octopus, which I did manage to eat but not without some serious grumblings from the ol' tummy.
To close, I'll emphasize my point on the volleyball matter - here's the clip from "Meet The Parents", enjoy http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/02b0ebc616/meet-the-parents-volleyball-scene-from-rihannaisagoddess
Every Wednesday, the staff at school plays volleyball. I remember the first Wednesday - everyone was so excited to see me on the court, as I'm a genuine monster in height and size by Korean standards, so they felt certain I could spike the ball like no one else could. Sadly, these thoughts quickly proved wrong, as they saw how uncoordinated I am when trying to pick my feet off the ground, and how my height did little to translate into skill on the court. But they saw potential, so they started to set up "training" times for me.
But why train? We only play against our own school, we put every teacher on the court at once (it's usually 10-on-10), and no one is really any good except the gym teachers. Yet there's a "need" to be great. My principal will at times stay late with me, setting and bumping the ball back and forth, and teachers are constantly showing me how to 1-2-3-jump-uh and SPIKE-UH!And it seems that maybe all this training has worked, if only a little, as the last time we played I dominated the game, though I'm a little embarrassed now because of it. I won't go into my amazing volleyball antics (I still really am terrible) but I'm not sure how good it is to encourage an unfair physical advantage to become so competitive. Remember that movie "Meet the Parents" where Ben Stiller, pressed by his in-laws to play harder, spikes the ball into the girl's face? Well, I may not have made anyone bleed, but when I crushed the poor tiny kindergarten teacher to the floor, I certainly felt like Ben Stiller did. Only everyone was giving me high-5's.
We also had Sports Day at our school last Friday, which was a really great event put on by the parents and teachers, though of course there were a few unexpected hmoments to mention as well.
The first was the race - a race between myself, the school principal, and a grade 6 girl. Why? I don't know, no one was watching, it wasn't any kind of kick-off event, they just decided we should race. I'm told that I should have let the principal win to make him look good, but wow was he slow. At least he beat the grade 6 girl.
The rest of the day was measured out in starting lines and cups of coffee. That's what I did - start a race, have a cup of coffee, then do it again. I don't really drink coffee, so after the 4th big cup they gave me, I was feeling flat-out loopy. If only the had fed me I may have help it together, but despite the heaps of pizza given to the kids, I was only allowed little buckets of re-constituted deep-fried chicken. And coke, they gave me lots of coke. When I was finally fed, it was fresh octopus, which I did manage to eat but not without some serious grumblings from the ol' tummy.
To close, I'll emphasize my point on the volleyball matter - here's the clip from "Meet The Parents", enjoy http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/02b0ebc616/meet-the-parents-volleyball-scene-from-rihannaisagoddess
Monday, October 02, 2006
Short and Sweet
Well, it's Chuseok, and you all know what that means... 'kay, most of you probably have no clue what that means, which is just fine. It's kind of like the Korean Thanksgiving over here right now, or will be starting tomorrow. We get every day but Monday off this week, so Shannon and I are heading over to Japan to see what how much of the country we can cram in during a 5 day trip.
It's almost starting to feel like "home" here in Korea, and every day that passes leaves me a little more accustomed to the things that were once so strange and bizarre. I'm getting used to eating the bones (and sometimes head) when served fish at lunch, I almost miss it when Koreans don't come running up to me to say "hi" when I pass them on the street, and wearing garbage bags on my feet is something that just has to be done now and then. Oh yeah, I should write about the garbage bags here quickly.
The elementary schools in town have a big city-wide English competition, which most of the Canadian teachers will coach the students in. We had no student going, but I was told I'd be going anyway. So, the day of it comes, I'm driven to this other school, however there's nothing that resembles a competition here at all. After 5 or 6 tries to figure it out, I finally learn from the Korean teacher with me it's a "seminar" (nothing at all to do with the compeition). So, for the next 4 hours (4 hours!!!) I listen on how to be a better teacher. All in Korean. There was a 50 minute English class workshop, but it was 75% Korean, and the discussion afterward was all Korean as well.
Oh right, the bags.
Since this was at a neighbouring school, no one brough slippers with them, and you can't wear your outdoor shoes in the school. What to do... why not garbage bags tied to your feet? I thought it was the silliest thing you could have done, yet here are all these Koreans in suits and ties etc. with garbage bags on their feet. It was like visiting hour at the Howard Hughes residence.
I heard it's snowed at least once in Calgary lately, which I bring up only because I slept on a beach last Saturday. Korea has some really nice beaches around, and we went to this one that looked like a picture from a Californian tourism magazine. Except it was completely desserted. There was about 2 dozen people on the beach, and a baptism congregation. The town? Well, I saw more stray dogs than people, and our attempt to find a hotel room was rather ridiculous. We found at least eight hotels, however none had any staff at all to help us. We finally managed to find our way into one, but the onwner, or possibly a random guy who found some keys, was so drunk and showed us the nastiest smelling room imaginable that we decided to skip that idea and sleep by the water.
I tell you, Koreans will do things when it's time to do it, but soon as the time's past, not at all. When the beach season ends, no one even thinks of going. Every local we mentioned to that we were going to the beach asked us why and said, "too cold, beach season over."
Anyway, gotta run now. I'm 20 minutes from my holidays, and I should probably say goodbye to my teachers and principal. It was suggested I buy them presents (?) but I think I'll settle for just giving them a handshake.
It's almost starting to feel like "home" here in Korea, and every day that passes leaves me a little more accustomed to the things that were once so strange and bizarre. I'm getting used to eating the bones (and sometimes head) when served fish at lunch, I almost miss it when Koreans don't come running up to me to say "hi" when I pass them on the street, and wearing garbage bags on my feet is something that just has to be done now and then. Oh yeah, I should write about the garbage bags here quickly.
The elementary schools in town have a big city-wide English competition, which most of the Canadian teachers will coach the students in. We had no student going, but I was told I'd be going anyway. So, the day of it comes, I'm driven to this other school, however there's nothing that resembles a competition here at all. After 5 or 6 tries to figure it out, I finally learn from the Korean teacher with me it's a "seminar" (nothing at all to do with the compeition). So, for the next 4 hours (4 hours!!!) I listen on how to be a better teacher. All in Korean. There was a 50 minute English class workshop, but it was 75% Korean, and the discussion afterward was all Korean as well.
Oh right, the bags.
Since this was at a neighbouring school, no one brough slippers with them, and you can't wear your outdoor shoes in the school. What to do... why not garbage bags tied to your feet? I thought it was the silliest thing you could have done, yet here are all these Koreans in suits and ties etc. with garbage bags on their feet. It was like visiting hour at the Howard Hughes residence.
I heard it's snowed at least once in Calgary lately, which I bring up only because I slept on a beach last Saturday. Korea has some really nice beaches around, and we went to this one that looked like a picture from a Californian tourism magazine. Except it was completely desserted. There was about 2 dozen people on the beach, and a baptism congregation. The town? Well, I saw more stray dogs than people, and our attempt to find a hotel room was rather ridiculous. We found at least eight hotels, however none had any staff at all to help us. We finally managed to find our way into one, but the onwner, or possibly a random guy who found some keys, was so drunk and showed us the nastiest smelling room imaginable that we decided to skip that idea and sleep by the water.
I tell you, Koreans will do things when it's time to do it, but soon as the time's past, not at all. When the beach season ends, no one even thinks of going. Every local we mentioned to that we were going to the beach asked us why and said, "too cold, beach season over."
Anyway, gotta run now. I'm 20 minutes from my holidays, and I should probably say goodbye to my teachers and principal. It was suggested I buy them presents (?) but I think I'll settle for just giving them a handshake.
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