Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The Feast of a Thousand Beasts

Kat is pretty gung ho about celebrating the holidays of our homeland. We missed out on Halloween, so it seemed that we should give Thanksgiving a try. We had our traditional Thanksgiving in Korea on a Friday night with three Canadians and we ate chicken. Some may say that wasn't Thanksgiving. I think it's a testament to our adaptability. We did have pumpkin pie.

The next day was Scott's birthday. We journeyed to the northern fringes of Seoul to feast and drink in mead hall we had rented out. The mead hall was more like a big transparent tent but it worked all the same. We had half a pig (really, half a pig) and stayed up into the wee hours of the night. A few weeks ago I watched the movie Beowulf and our feast reminded me of parts of the movie. For those of you who have never seen the movie nor read the tale, the monster, Grendel, is driven mad by the sounds of merriment in the town's hall. Grendel then comes down and slaughters the villagers. The sounds coming from our plastic tent were eerily similar, except we were blasting Classic Love Songs of Broadway (the only CD we could find). In any event, the Korean Grendel never attacked and we were free to go about our merry ways. Pics of merriment follow.

Full Moon Night


Full Moon Night
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
It was a fine night for a pig roast.

Firework Prepreations


Firework Prepreations
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Nick and Jeff plant the explosives while our getaway car in the background gets away.

Dueling Sabers


Dueling Sabers
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Obi Wan vs. Darth

Delicious Pig


Delicious Pig
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
We waste nothing.

Cass Tricks


Cass Tricks
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Nick demonstrates how a Cass bottle can hit hyperspace.

Blurry Scott


Blurry Scott
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Once again Scott gives us some funky facial features while Andrew points accusingly.

Trio


Trio
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Jerry and Wendy (pictured right) have finished another contract and are out to travel the world. I wish them happy travels. They will boomerang back in a few months.

The Group


The Group
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Enter the Circle of Truth, of the Circle of the Damned, or whatever game we were playing at that time.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Saga of Cameras

A couple of weeks ago Kat and I went to Gyeongju, the tourist capital of Korea. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago my camera also decided to go kaput on me. Luckily I still have the Minolta Z20, a camera as ugly as it's name. It has a big scratch on the lens so in a few of my pictures I end up with a phantasmic blur just slightly off-center. Still, some pretty good shots came out of it. Funny, the first camera I ever got lasted me 13 years. In the last 6 years I've gone through no less than 6 cameras. Maybe I should stick to disposables.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Kat and Friend


Kat and Friend
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Here's Kat posing with the golden boar right before she nabbed it off of it's pedestal. We then had to dodge poisonous arrows, tribal warriors and a boulder the size of semi.

Golden 2


Golden 2
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.

Painted Old Dragon


Painted Old Dragon
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
It's kind of nice to see a temple that doesn't have a fresh coat of paint on it. It makes ya feel as though you're in very old place with some very old traditions.

Bulguksa Temple


Bulguksa Temple
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
One of the coolest places I've ever been to.

Tree Lined Path


Tree Lined Path
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Kat and I picked the perfect time to go to Gyeongju. It was rather pretty.

Dramatic Buddha


Dramatic Buddha
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
I'm terrible with names of places. I know this place was called something other than the Big-Buddha-In-The-Rock-Place but I forget. Whatever the name, it was pretty cool.

Park and Tombs


Park and Tombs
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
The big mounds are ancient tombs from the Shilla dynasty. As tempting as it may look, you're not supposed to climb the tombs. I'm the disrespectful wanker who got caught doing such a thing. I saw a bunch of Koreans scaling these things so I figured it was okay. The Koreans had the sense to run off before the park guard came. I did not. I apologize to the ancient Shilla kings and pray that I am not now cursed.

Fishpaste


Fishpaste
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Some things get lost in translation, or maybe they don't.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

All Over Again

With a new year in Korea comes a new batch of essays:

Yesterday I played with my turtle.
My turtle's name was Willy.
My hobby was playing with my Willy.
I always play with my Willy.
I love my Willy but I want some big animal.

Along with teaching English, my job description said I should also inform students about Western culture and customs. I think I should have a talk with this student about what to say and what not to say in the States.
It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

Displayed smack dab in the middle of the Korean flag is the Yin and Yang symbol. I find this insignia to be pretty relevant right now. Things have been very up and down as of late and I feel like I've become culturally bipolar. Either things are good or bad and I can't really find the wholeness or the peace that the Yin and Yang symbol is supposed to signify; it's just one side or the other. A year and a half ago, when I first arrived in Korea, I was amazed at everything and I reveled in it all. I tried to get that feeling back when I boomeranged back here two months ago. It didn't really work out. Listed are some of the Yins and Yangs.

Price versus Seoul Board of Education

I won't bore everyone with the details of this case. Let's just say that the outcome is clear: Price losses. That's not pessimistic, just honest. To make a long story short, a bunch of us foreign suckers, I mean teachers, got conned into teaching overtime at an English camp during winter vacation. It was a case of old fashion language barrier versus Korean bullying. We get paid some extra money so I'm not too sore, it's just that this English camp we're conducting is the equivalent of a snipe hunt; too much running around and a lot of misinformation. Us suckers went to meeting two days ago where it took and hour and a half to get people into groups. It was run by the Administrators of the Seoul School District. Two distinct thought entered my mind at this meeting:

1) How come public administrators have such a difficult time administering? It's like they've never set foot into a classroom. I don't understand how people think they can half-ass a meeting with hundreds of people.
2) I thought school meetings were bad in the states, you should see them in Korea.

The meeting was conducted by the vice principal of some public school. She knew a brief smattering of English so not much of what she said was comprehensible, but she loved to talk. As I mentioned before, the school district did some pretty underhanded things to get us to sign up for this "voluntary" English camp, so none of us were too happy to be there. Then the VP started talking about how we should not complain about the low pay, that we should be willing to sacrifice for the children. I don't even sacrifice for the children in my own country, let alone over here. Still the VP droned on. This lady could dig herself into a hole better than anyone I've ever seen. In the states most principals and VPs know that it's best to stay on the teacher's good side so they try and keep meetings brief. Nope, it's all confusion over here. Once someone with a little bit of power gets ahold of mic, they're going to impart their adminasterial wisdom. This was true with my last school as well. There were many hour long meetings where I walked out and could not recollect one thing that was talked about. I watched this woman go on about nothing in broken Konglish with a puzzled and annoyed look on my face, but only one thought was going through my head, For the love of God, make this woman stop!

We were also told, before the meeting, that the foreign English teachers would be able to choose themes for their classes. Certain theme's are story-telling, drama, singing, sports, etc. At the meeting we were informed that the Korean teachers will be choosing for us instead. If I get phonics and dancing I'm going to rub kimchi in someone's eyes. It looks like winter camp will be interesting.


The Watchers

Next week the vice principal and principal will observe all the first year teachers classes. All the Korean teachers are freaking out because they are terrified of our principal. I don't know her too well, all I know is she loves paperwork. I was given a lesson plan template to follow, the only problem is it's in Korean so it's rather hard to get right. I'm supposed to follow the template, give it to the VP and the principal and they will watch my classes. I'm cool with that but they keep wanting me to change the lesson plan to fit their format, and they don't even speak English so the lesson plan makes no sense to them in the first place.


Enter Gangchon

Last week I was all Yinned out and had to get away. Luckily Scott and Al felt the same way so we hopped on a train on Saturday and went out to Gangchon. I heard that Gangchon was "a good place for to ride a bike", as quoted by one of my coworkers, so that's what we did. We rented bikes, rode up the trail, visited some waterfalls, hiked to a small village. It was nice. It town we had lunch with a few beers. We had spotted an area that looked like a small amusement park and rode over to investigate. That's when Scott and I saw the go-cart track. It was a fairly cheap track, about 10,000 won (10 dollars) for ten minutes and Scott and I instantly jumped at the offer. I was a bit concerned that they wouldn't let us on because of the beer we had drank before. I needn't to have worried. Shortly after a party of soju swilling bank employees showed up obviously sauced.We nicknamed the drunkest Mr. Soju who then challenged us to a race, the World Cup as he called it. Our pride would not let us turn down a challenge like that and despite the track owners warnings not to go too fast, once the race started our feet never left the gas pedal. There have been some amazing times in Korea: riding the mechanical bull, seeing Scott getting sprayed by the bideu, my first no-re-bong experience and now I can add tipsy go-carts to the whole thing. I agree with my coworker: Ganchon is "a good place for to ride a bike" and much more.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Hell on Wheels


Hell on Wheels
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
This is how Scott generally drives.

#16


#16
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Me just trying to keep the #16 in control to make it around the corner. This is shortly after the chain on my other cart, #14, fell apart; shrapneling everyone behind me with engine pieces.

Mr. Soju


Mr. Soju
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
If they'll let him on a cart, they'll let anyone on a cart.

Hell on Wheels 2


Hell on Wheels 2
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Sometimes Scott won through pure intimidation.

Bike Path


Bike Path
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.

Me and My Friend


Me and My Friend
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Sometimes I just find myself in some random places.

Bike Stampede


Bike Stampede
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Notice how all the bikes have fallen down around Scott? That's no coincidence.

"Gangchon, A Good Place For to Ride a Bike"

Apparently a few people had the same idea we did.

Daredevil


Daredevil
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
The white devil rides again.

Funky Dance


Funky Dance
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
This is like a form of kick ball/ volley ball and it's super fun. Pictured is a hiker extraordinare showing us how it's done.

Trees and Stream


Trees and Stream
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
A good time for hiking.

Bike Suicide


Good Advice
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Where's the rider?

Wondering


Wondering
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Al stares dreamily off into the distance and wonders, Why do they call it a hot dog? Photo credits to Scott Reid.

Halloween Decorations


Halloween Decorations
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
When you can't find a proper pumpkin you have to make do.

Psychadelic Trio


Psychadelic Trio
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Singing so hard I have rays of light bursting from my head.

No-Re-Bong Nights


No-Re-Bong Nights
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
One of those crazy Korean singing rooms.

Palace Towers


Palace Towers
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
I live in the cheapest domicile in Gangnam. Pictured in the background are the most expensive, The Palace Towers. Rumor has it that a three bedroom, two bathroom place starts a measly 3,000,000 dollars. I think I'll stick with my digs.

Pufferfish


Pufferfish
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Taunting the animals. Also taunting dinner.

Risk


Risk
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
The title refers to many things in this picture.