Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Asian Swimming Pool

This is actually in Tokyo, not Seoul. None the less I'm starting to feel like I need to escape Asian cities.

Monday, May 19, 2008

The Eagle Flies Again


The Eagle Flies Again
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Last spring I spent a few hours every weekend tooling around the outskirts of Suji/ Suwon on my bike. It was kind of crazy what I found as the mega-apartment developers had bought up all the land and were tearing down perfectly good houses, restaurants and schools. I would wander in and out of these half demolished buildings wondering what the hell was going on (I had no idea high-rises were being built there). It was pretty surreal.

This year, with the ankle surgery and all, I haven't been able to get out as much as I've wanted. As soon as I got clearance from the doctor, I hoped on the bike and hit the trails. The trails of Seoul are tame, too tame, but there's still a lot to be seen. Plus riding my bike keeps from staying inside and bludgeoning myself out of angst.

Where Scooters go to Die


Where Scooters go to Die
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
I kind of feel like being around broken things. I feel akin to them.

Odd Korea Sighting


Odd Korea Sighting
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Kind of like a psychedelic Korean Dorthy following the dusty, green bike path.

Walking into the Light


Walking into the Light
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
When I went biking this weekend I ran into a lot Korean hikers. One group that I passed was so drunk I think they thought they were up on the mountain.

I put this photo in the flickr group,Entrance to Heaven. This is much easier to post in than the opposite groupEntrance to Hell . Entrance to Hell has about 10 times more members and much tougher guidelines. Funny, it seems like it should be the other way around. Both are great sites.

Spider Web


Spider Web
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Creepiness.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Tea vs. Coffee

The thing that threatens interracial and cultural peace at my school aren't differences in languages, beliefs, or customs. No, it's the coffee maker. That machine is going to kill a Korean soon and then all hell will break loose.

I used to make coffee at school via French press. Since myself and the other foreign teacher were the only ones who drank it, everything ran fine. This semester one of the Korean teachers had an unused coffee maker at home, the Mr. Coffee drip kind, and decided to bring it to school. The Korean teachers, who always get to school before I do, insist on trying to make coffee with this machine even though they don't drink the stuff. Basically, they are trying to be nice and in the process they make the worst coffee known to man. They usually add a teaspoon of coffee grinds, heat water via a kettle, turn on the coffee machine, and pour the hot water in. Anyone who has a working knowledge of a coffee machine knows you do not heat the water and then pour it in. This has the effect of making the coffee machine very angry as it hisses steam and spits hot water all over the place like a pissed off water-dragon. The Koreans try and remain calm but I know they're all thinking, "Jesus, this thing is possessed!" I've tried explaining that we should use cold water, but that point doesn't seem to get through. The Korean think I'm crazy, "He wants hot coffee, but insists that we use cold water? What does he expect from us?" To compound problems, my co-teacher consistently over-fills the water reservoir in the coffee maker so the coffee pot then overflows as well. The result is an enormous quantity of tea-colored coffee and some badly burned Koreans. I've tried to tell my co-workers politely to leave the job to me, but they insist on trying to be hospitable and mastering the art of coffee making.

Now to me this scenario seems asinine, but when I look at it from the Koreans perspective, my coffee habit must seem ridiculous. For one, I am horribly addicted to this black liquid. Without it I'm groggy and sluggish. I insist on having it everyday. The Koreans probably wouldn't be surprised to show up to work the next day and see me overdosed in the corner with a syringe full of coffee sticking out of my arm. Two, coffee seems ridiculously hard to make, and then I add lots of milk and sugar so I don't have to taste it. Yeah, a lot of that doesn't seem to make sense either.

Still, it's nice to know that all of this is done in good spirits, that my co-workers are trying so show me that they care. In this case I fill up my mug; take a sip; tell them thank you in Korean, that the coffee is very good; walk out the door, and pour it down the closest drain. Maybe they will break me of my coffee habit after all.

Monday, May 05, 2008

One-Legged Musings

It's been a little over two weeks since I got the ankle operated on, and I'm supposed to be on crutches for a little less than two more weeks. Here are some random musings about hobbling around in Korea and such.

--While the left leg is whithering away, the right leg is getting buff. I teach both sixth grade and third grade, which are both on the top floor, the forth floor, of my school. Also, my school doesn't have elevators as it is very old. They are building a new school as we speak. Even so, Korea is definitely not up on its citizens with disabilities act, then again I'm not a citizen so I don't even know if I have the right to complain. Everyday the kids get to watch me hop up three flights of stairs. They think it's kind of amazing. They clap when I get to the top. I don't know if that's encouraging or humiliating.

--I've found a use for all those single socks without a partner.

--I'm a little concerned I'm wearing out my right shoe more than my left. I wonder if this will leave me lop-sided when I am two legged again.

--My Korean vocabulary skills have gotten better concerning medical language. I just learned how to say, "Please change my bandage." It's funny what they teach in phrase books and what I actually use.

--Being laid up at home has given me the perfect opportunity to catch up on all the movies I've wanted to watch and re-watch. I've once again become convinced that the Bourne Trilogy is without a doubt the best group of spy movies out there. James Bond wishes he could be Jason Bourne. I've also become convinced that documentaries are the scariest movies. Screw horror flicks; check out Enron, the Smartest Guys in the Room; Who Killed the Electric Car; and Jesus Camp. What actually happens in this world is more terrifying than what we can imagine.

--I got a blister on my hand from walking around all day yesterday. That's a first.

--The last three movies I've taken Kat to are Beowulf, Cloverfield, and Iron Man. I think I owe her a chick flick.

--It has become rather difficult to explain to people what happened to me. They want to hear a tale of bravery or at least that I rolled my ankle playing soccer. The truth is the ankle is in the condition its in because of genetics and a build up of sports related bloopers over the years. If I could show people a montage of all my sports accidents over the years, I'm sure it would be extremely entertaining, but as it all I can say is, "Many sport, many sports have caused this." That's not even the truth though because I leave a lot of sports alone. The only big ones I do regularly are hiking, snowboarding, mountain biking and occasionally basketball--and my participation in these activities has dwindled in the last few years.

--A forth grade girl, who I taught last semester, asked me what happened to my ankle. This girl is very sweet and has some sort of mental handicap that leaves her struggling for words and a little too trusting of people. I told her that I played too many sports. She then informed me that I should not play anymore sports. I told her that I liked sports. That was the wrong answer as she began to cry and begged me to say I would not play any more sports. It was without a doubt one of the saddest things I have ever seen and I promised with all my heart that I would leave all sports related activities alone. I figured out how we can get world leaders to agree to world peace; get a bunch of forth grade girls to sniffle and cry and implore these leaders to promise not to start any wars. That ought to do the trick.