North Korea Part 1: Mr. Kim's Wild Ride

Approximately one month ago, from November 2nd through November 4th, my coteacher Matt and I joined an Adventure Korea trip to Kumgangsan Mountain, just on the North side of the DMZ, in the Eastern part of North Korea. The trip was chaperoned by Adventure Korea, a group that plans and leads a number of English-language trips to various destinations in and around South Korea. I intend this entry to be primarily photo-based, but, seeing as how North Korea is, well, North Korea, I'm afraid you'll have to use your imagination for much of it as we weren't allowed to take pictures during many of the most interesting parts of the trip.

The trip began at 11:30 on Friday night. Matt and I left Suji at about 9:30 and hopped on the 1550 bus to Yangjae station. From there we rode the train to the Nambu Express Bus Terminal, located inside the Shinsegae department store in Gangnam. We didn't know exactly where the bus was going to pick us up from this point, so we waited around for quite a while until Matt finally managed to see the bus a bit down the road from where we were waiting, so we were able to get on board. I sat next to an Irish girl named Keri, and off we went.

The bus ride was quite long. It took us about six hours to get to our first destination, and during that entire time, I could not make myself get to sleep. It became nearly-painfully warm inside the bus, and anyone who knows me will tell you I cannot sleep when it's too hot. I spent most of the trip instead listening to music that I thought would get me to sleep but unfortunately did not.

After a few rest stops, we finally arrived at our first destination: a beautiful beach near the Eastern part of the DMZ (still on the South side).
As you can see, the sun was just starting to light up the sky out over the sea. We loitered on the beach for about an hour, watching the sun rise and eating a quick breakfast (mine was a delicious dish I call "M & Ms with water").
We left the rest stop at the beach and continued North. We stopped to change buses at what appeared to be some sort of tourist stop not far from the beach, and after that short interruption, we headed for border control. Our tour guide talked us through the events of the trip as we neared the border. When we finally got there, we had to leave the bus and walk through metal detectors, passport checks and the usual rigamarole on the South Korean side of the DMZ. Then, we finally left South Korean land.

The first thing I noticed about the DMZ was that it is strikingly beautiful. There is obviously very little development (other than the road we were traveling on, a series of fences and the aborted inter-Korean railroad), and the scenery was breathtaking. What surprised me was how much it reminded me of the Badlands in South Dakota. Lots of exposed, bleached rock outcroppings, scrubbly brush growth, and dusty ground. The ocean to our right as we traveled North, our tour guide announced our official entry into North Korea - or at least the North Korean side of the DMZ.

Getting through customs on the North Korean side of the DMZ was another matter altogether. We were approximately halfway through a long line of buses (probably 40 in all) creeping slowly toward the customs tent. Here the scenery was even more stark and beautiful, and I got a good long view of it because eventually the line of buses came to a complete halt. About every 50 meters along the side of the road were posted North Korean soldiers, almost completely motionless, holding red flags in their right hands. Our tour guide told us that if they saw any tourists in the buses taking photographs, they would raise the red flag and stop the entire line of buses. This was what we assumed had happened. However, much to our surprise, soon other soldiers came over and instructed us to get out of the buses.

We grabbed our luggage and started walking toward the tent, in front of the stationary soldiers who were watching us carefully. As it turns out, two of the buses ahead of us in line had had a minor collision, which brought the whole process to a standstill. When we finally got to the customs tent, our entry was actually fairly straightforward and uneventful. We lined up and waited for what was probably about 40 minutes while the same song played over and over (some hokey tune with lyrics that translated to "Welcome!" over and over again). Apparently, there was also somebody dressed up in a bear suit, but that particularly wonderful detail escaped my attention.

We got on another set of buses and continued to Onjunggak, our destination and the location of the hotel, restaurants, and branching-off points for the two trips we would take during the rest of the weekend. It was very strange to have such a spread-out little oasis of South Korean business in the rugged mountain landscape, which was just as striking as it had been in the DMZ. And finally, I was once again allowed to take pictures:
The large building on the left of the picture is our hotel. It was ultramodern and seemed very out of place with the rest of the experience. However, in this shot you can see the rugged landscape that surrounds Onjunggak.
And here's me representing the Alma Mater in North Korea.

From the plaza at Onjunggak, we didn't even have time to unpack and move into the hotel before they loaded us onto a smaller set of buses and we began what I have since referred to as "Mr. Kim's Wild Ride."

The buses first drove us North out of Onjunggak Plaza and past the hotel available for North Korean visitors to the plaza. While I was not allowed to take any pictures at this point, I should mention that this hotel was shockingly reminiscent of the Tower of Terror at Disneyworld. While at some point it was clearly a very nice establishment, the cobblestones in the parking lot were overgrown with grass, and vines crept up the pillars in the facade of the building. The windows looked dusty and unwashed, and there was absolutely no sign of life save a very short and sharply dressed Doorman who approached our buses as we slowed to a stop.

On the other side of the buses from the hotel was a rather large mural of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, the father and son legendary leaders of North Korea. Our tour guide announced that these two were referred to as "Dear Leader" and "Great Leader," respectively. We also weren't allowed to use their actual names while in North Korea, so we had to adopt these names as well. Our entire tour group assembled for a photograph in front of the mural, a photograph we weren't allowed to take ourselves. This was the tiny doorman's job, apparently, to handle all the photo-taking of the sacred mural. Our South Korean tour guide couldn't find room to squeeze in, so he lay casually in front of the group, something which caused us all to laugh. This apparently made the doorman very angry, as he refused to take the picture until our guide assumed a more dignified position.

This little stop over, we began to ascend the mountain to our first hiking destination. Again, I wasn't allowed to take pictures during this part of the tour (although I could have easily managed it), but I will try to encapsulate the experience for you.

First, imagine the weirdest carnival music you've ever heard. Take a calliope and play it backwards, add in highly-synthesized piano and a cheap drum machine 2-4 march beat. Now play it at double speed, through crappy speakers, and way too loud. This is the music that was pounding through the bus as we caromed up the mountainside. It was like a low-budget Disneyworld run through with a fine-toothed Communist comb to remove anything of musical value.

Second, the bus was traveling about three times faster than any sane bus driver would take this mountain road. The road was about 70% switchbacks, and so I felt like a pinball improbably bouncing uphill through dense woods and out over questionably-stable stone bridges over a dry riverbed. I'm sure the scenery outside was beautiful, but I was too busy holding myself into my seat to really enjoy it. I swear the bus was up on two wheels at least three times.

Third, there were these... statues occasionally popping up along the side of the road. They depicted a number of "friendly" forest friends, anthropomorphic animals along the lines of Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck. But let me tell you, friends, these animals came not from the mind of Walt Disney, but instead from the depths of Hell. I sadly couldn't take pictures of these horrors (we were moving too fast, anyway), but at the top of the mountain there was a little tableau of three of them. These pictures are not for the weak of heart.
So, that's a... raccoon-bear thing missing his hand, an overweight pig with what appears to be a stein of beer, and a slightly menacing rabbit with green panties. I have no idea what the significance of these concrete and long-faded paint statuettes are, but they lined our ride up to the top. And is it just me, or does the bouquet of flowers the rabbit is holding look a lot more like a mace? Add to that the fact that all three have RED EYES and the menace is complete.

After that bizarre nightmarish carnival ride, we arrived at our first destination: Manmulsang. Despite the forbidding spectre of those three animals at the foot of the path, Manmulsang was strikingly beautiful. The hike was very difficult, at times quite steep and winding, and rather long, but the view from the top was definitely worth it. Allow me to share a few of the highlights.
This was just beginning up the trail. I'll just shut up for a bit and let the pictures speak for themselves.
Hey, who's that sweaty creep at the summit? But nice glasses!

So, after a much easier and less eventful descent (although it did involve a stop at a spring blessed by Dear Leader himself and guaranteed to extend your life by thirty years per eight onces, it was running very slowly so I figure I only got about 3 extra years out of it), we rode the buses back to Onjunggak and checked into the hotel. Bear in mind I still had not got more than about an hour of sleep in the last 48 hours, so I was wiped out. Rather than hit the natural hot spring spa, Matt and I decided to get a good three-hour nap to prepare for nighttime activities.

Thus concludes part one of my North Korea entry (finally)! Expect a faster turnaround rate for the next two parts, as well as perhaps a few interloping entries about what I'm actually up to these days (over two months after my trip to NK). Bis dann!

Goal Disclosure

I've been getting on my own case for a while now trying to make some changes in my recently lax lifestyle here in Korea. I've already successfully implemented one big change - my lessons are now much more carefully planned than they had been in the past, with varying levels of success.

I figure the only way to really make myself do these things (I've had several "this is the day" moments already) is to publicly hold myself to these changes I'm looking to enact:

~I will get to bed earlier and wake up earlier. This will probably take a while but baby steps here, people.

~I will be all about breakfast. I miss it.

~I will get to the gym four times a week. Since I'm switching over to the YMCA when my contract at Prime Gym runs out, the inclusion of a swimming pool and squash court should provide added incentive to get my slothful behind out there.

~I will resume reasonable progress on writing projects. These include letters and this here blog.

Well, I'm publicly accountable now.

The Story of How I, Tyler Stokes, Quite Nearly Saved a Dog

Gather round, friends, and listen to my tale!

This is The Story of How I, Tyler Stokes, Quite Nearly Saved a Dog.

I was walking home from Lotte Mart, my arms burdened with creative metaphors for heavy objects, when I espied not five feet in front of my lumbering legs a 20-something Korean woman holding in her arms a dog quite miniscule.

The dog was garbed in regalia most fantastic! It sported a gray cotton sweatshirt, complete with hood, and over that a rather stylish red sweater vest. Its eyes were quite protuberant, but as we walked the little fellow did not seem to notice your humble storyteller.

When we the weary travelers arrived unto an intersection, yea, the young Korean maid placed yon dog upon a sturdy stone pedestal inscribing the corner of the intersection. The young chap was quite well-behaved and stood steadily upon the pedestal, casting his vision this way and that.

Finally his bulging eyes alighted upon your humble storyteller, and into my own eyes deeply he stared. His smallish doggy mouth began to move, as if it were forming the words, "help me." Small mournful moans escaped his canine lips. His eyes testified unto me untold mortification, the unbridled shame of being a dog in a sweater vest. "Help me," his eyes said, "Yea, for I know I am but a dog, but even a dog such as myself must surely be learned enough in the ways of the world to understand that a sweater vest belongs not on anyone, but indeed it is especially ill-suited for the likes of a dog such as myself."

"I know not what I might do to help thee," mine own eyes replied unto the mongrel. "Your owner wears heels sharp enough to punch a hole straight through my abdominal wall."

At this juncture in our wordless communion, the dogly chap's owner noticed his unwavering stare in the direction of your humble fable-weaver, and she straightaway bent down and hoisted the fellow back into the smothering grasp of her arms.

Delightfully, the small lad was undeterred, and swiveled his head around to resume eye contact. His eyes pleaded more strongly than before. "You have the power to stop this!" they exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," was all the reply my cowardly self could muster.

When his beheeled captor noticed his attempt to reestablish eye contact with your unworthy narrator, she immediately shifted his weight until his head was facing forward-ways again. Each time she did this, the indefatigable mongrel turned his head so his eyes again were staring deep into mine. This small struggle occurred five or six times, yea, and with each occurrence the beleaguered beagle's plea grew fainter and yet somehow more desperate. "You have the power to stop this."

Finally, the smartly-dressed maid won out, and repositioned the pooch so that he could not see your humble storyteller. Frustrated, the wee mongrel nipped the vixen smartly on the nose! I inwardly cheered the small victory of my captured companion, but outwardly maintained a strict aura of indifference to avoid the unpleasant possibility of a three-inch heel swinging sideways upside my brow.

This has been The Story of How I, Tyler Stokes, Quite Nearly Saved a Dog.

Well, it's been another good while, but guess who's back again? I can't stay mad at you forever, Blogger, and even though last time I tried to use your photo feature you basically crashed my computer, I'm willing to give it another shot. I guess I can't blame you. The pictures my new camera takes are so powerfully awesome that you couldn't handle it. It's ok. I'll give you another chance.


Ahh, there we go! Much better. This is my feeble attempt at an "art shot" based on our near-weekly poker game at Music Cafe. I'd call it "friendly," but the competition gets pretty fierce, especially considering the buy-in is 5,000 won. That's only five bucks, folks. But it's always a good time. Matt, Yakubu and I are the regulars, with occasional participation from Ryan, Alex and Ashleigh (which would then comprise the entire foreign teacher population of Seoul Language Institute - Suji). Also in this wonderful picture you might notice a rather fantastic-looking potation. That's a bottle of Grape Soju cocktail, a delicious confection that has more sugar in it than alcohol - actually, that's true of most drinks in Korea. But this is a particularly enjoyable drink to share among friends, and the bottle looks like something straight out of a comic-store magazine cover.
Here's what may be my most prized purchase so far here in Korea. When I first rummaged through my cabinets upon arrival in my apartment, I noticed straightaway that I didn't have any glasses. Oh, sure, I had cups, but I lacked a true and proper glass. You know, a glass made of... well, glass. The kind of glass milk was made for. This was a situation that demanded rectification.

Then, one lonely evening on a grocery trip to Lotte Mart, when I was browsing through the dregs (read: the bargain corner) I found this precious glass, among mugs that said "We Are Wildmen" and discolored ceramic figures of Yorkshire Terriers. "Vitamin Your Life!" it commanded me. The giddily bouncing carrot promised me the ecstatic existence available to me if I took heed of the glass' sage advice. So I bought this glass. And, while I'm currently sick and not quite in a giddily-bouncing mood, I must admit that that cute lil' carrot does make me feel like I am vitamining my life, no matter what nutritionally-challenged drink I might happen to place in it.

Lately I have found many occasions to travel into Seoul, be they accompanying Matt while he gets his suit tailored, picked up the aforementioned digital camera, or even just going into Hongdae to hang out. The most memorable recent trip was a Sunday excursion to meet up with Dylan, a friend of mine from college, and his girlfriend Naomi in Seoul for some good old-fashioned wanderin'. We met up in Hongdae and had a delicious lunch at a real taco joint (a rarity here!) that they new about. We cruised the neighborhood for a while, then headed over to Namdaemun Market where the real shopping was. Namdaemun Market is a crowded jumble of already narrow alleys split in twain by food stalls, clothing stands and hundreds and hundreds of people who are apparently quite happy to plow through you if you're standing in front of them, even if it's not that crowded. I managed to take a few pictures above the heads of the passerby:

Ginseng!

Whoa, a picture with people! Dylan took this one of Naomi and I showing off our polearm purchases. I plan to use my giant foam pointing hand to call on students in class, but I haven't mustered the mustard to bring it in to school yet. Finally, here's an interesting juxtaposition I saw by the ancient city gate (in the middle of downtown):
Good stuff! A night trip into Seoul this past weekend yielded somewhat different picture opportunities...
These "ghostmen" rolled through the crowded neighborhood of Hongdae in their tricked-out Mini-Coopers dropping some serious bass and handing out flyers for an upcoming dance party at one of the local clubs. I have decided I have a new future profession. Forget teachin'. I want to ride around in a little convertible dressed like a mistranslation of the Blue Man Group.

Finally, one last picture to share tonight, as it is getting a bit late and my sickness demands that I get some sleep for once.
This is the fine fare available at my favorite place to eat in Itaewon: Smokey's Saloon. Maybe it's just the fact that these are the only real burgers I've had since I left America, but man, this was a tasty burger. Yes, it is as big as it looks. Those are onion rings on top. It's called Kiss Me Later, and it was filled with tobascoey garlicy goodness. Accompanied by seasoned potato wedges and washed down by a tall bottle of Cider, it was truly a meal for kings.

Well, in non photo-supported news, my spoken Korean is still nonexistent, but I can almost read the language fluently. Granted, I have no idea what most of what I can read means, but I can finally order from a menu without just pointing at it! I'm still a little shaky on some of the compound vowels, but my goal is to have a fully-functional understanding of Korean by the time my folks get here so I can impress them. That goes double for if/when Elise comes to visit.

Upcoming things I'll probably write about: tomorrow I'm going mountain climbing with Matt and my new weekend employer, one Mrs. Bo Daniels, and in a week and a half I will be going to North Korea. That's right. North. Korea. The final frontier of the Cold War! One third of the "axis of evil!" Needless to say my first opportunity to set foot in a Communist country excites me greatly. I'll be sure to write as soon as I get home so you know I didn't get detained for being a capitalist pigdog.

A Cascading Cavalcade of Catching Up

Well, gentle readers, it has been a good long while again since I updated with anything actually directly relevant to my personal life, so here I am! Life continues as usual here in Suji, teaching has been picking up gradually since the Chuseok holiday, and now we're back up to full speed and full class sizes. I must confess that it's been more difficult as of late, a little bit of that "new-job enthusiasm" is waning and my stockpile of Creative Teaching Ideas has begun to dwindle, many of those ideas having been proven ineffective for the students I've been teaching.

In terms of actual events affecting my life here, it is a very interesting and important time to be here in Korea, as I'm sure everyone has heard. Here's a great BBC article discussing some of the potential implications of this historic meeting. Having polled several of my students, I've been surprised at the variety of reactions these events have triggered. One of my more outspoken and articulate students, Jason, is strongly in favor of reunification with North Korea, because he feels that rejoining the Korean Peninsula would greatly improve the country's economic standing in what is becoming an increasingly competitive and important theatre - Eastern Asia. It's hard to argue with him when nearby economic Cinderella Story China is putting its vast resources to great use. Other students weren't as optimistic, indicating a long-held bitterness toward the North Korean government. As for myself, an my outsider's opinion, I'm cautiously optimistic about these peace talks. While I am 100% behind finally ending the stalemated war along the 38th parallel, and in that respect I wholeheartedly endorse the actions of the summit, I also believe that reunification would be a sticky and expensive matter. For South Korea, reunifying with North Korea would be an economic sinkhole, and the tremendously high standard of living enjoyed here in the south would take a hit as the government would be forced to split up very uneven contributions between the very wealthy and very impoverished nations. In other words, South Korea would be contributing the lion's share of the money.

However, Jason makes a good point, and in the long run, South Korea has a lot to gain in terms of international standing by reabsorbing its wayward Northern brother, despite initial financial setbacks. Reunification aside, as I mentioned before I still think the economic shows of good faith are an excellent idea and will hopefully assist the people who really deserve help - the average citizens of North Korea.

Moving on to more personally current events, the most salient where this blog is concerned is the latest addition to my pantheon of consumer electronics - a new camera! I have named him Hermes (after the messenger of the Gods, naturally):


Taken with my old camera, here is Hermes in all his tiny little glory. He's an Olympus (of course) 790 SW, which means I can take him underwater up to three meters, and even drop him from my full height and he'll probably be ok (I'm not taking any chances, though). Best of all, he boasts some pretty incredible video capabilities. Excellent framerate and sound pickup. One of these days I'll find something worth taking a video of, and I'll post it on youtube and get it up here.

Well, I had planned on sharing some more pictures and stories, but it seems that Blogger's Photo App. is a little under the weather at the moment, so I shall return later and try again. In the meantime, on a musical note, my favorite band as of late has been the irresistibly catchy, American Indie-pop dynamo The Format. In the interest of sharing them with you, a quick YouTube search turned up several of their music videos, which I hadn't seen and which are very creative and enjoyable.

This is the music video for "Dog Problems," the title track of their second and latest CD. I always thought it sounded like The Format was channeling Queen a little bit in this song (it has moments that sound quite like "Somebody to Love" and moments that sound a bit more like parts of "Bohemian Rhapsody"), and this music video, in a very strange way, confirmed it. Watch the formation of the hands during the bridge and tell me it doesn't remind you of the iconic formation of Queen during Boho Rhapsody:


And this is "She Doesn't Get It," which I think quite nicely illustrates just how catchy the band is:


In any case, they're an excellent band, just hitting their stride, and they've got a third album on the way. If you like what you heard, try searching YouTube for "Inches and Failing" or "The First Single." Those are two of my favorite songs by the band, and there are many fan-made videos for them.

I shall return when I figure out what's going on with the photo app. (the error message is, due to my IP, in Korean) I fear it may be the rather large size of my photos, but that's never been a problem before, so I'm not sure.

A break in the hiatus for a good cause

Hey, just a quick update to let you know of a good cause I think you should support!

Don't worry, this isn't turning into one of those blogs, although I think a bit more social awareness could definitely perk things up around here. Plus, this cause is definitely related to the theme of East-West interaction I'd really like to start integrating in amongst the more mundane details of my everyday life.

I have a friend from college, one Mr. David Degeest, who has been selected as a potential torch runner for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing! David will be running for his adoptive host mother, Ms. Yue, who took him in, fed him and helped him with his Chinese when he was in China for a fellowship after he graduated from Grinnell. Now, David is still in China, and he's started a really fascinating project. He calls it the China Dreamblogue, and you can read all about it here. It's a pretty impressive project.

So what do I want you to do about it? I would love it if you would head here to vote for David's bid to carry the Olympic torch. This is a fantastic opportunity for a friend of mine and an excellent way to spread awareness about his charitable project. The other Expat contestants got a little bit of a head start on him, but I think he's due for a last-minute rally! The voting only lasts for the next four days, so get to it! Oh, I should also mention that the website only accepts one vote per IP, so tell a friend or two! It's an excellent cause and it'll only take you about 30 seconds to support it.

Oh, and if you made it through all that, I have a free gift for you! Well, that's not quite accurate. Radiohead has a free gift for you. If you're me, and you like music, check out Radiohead's new LP, "In Rainbows." The band, being those crazy Limeys that they are, have released the album 100% free on this website. That's right, 100% legal and free. While I can't say it's as good as their earlier work, it definitely is a good album worth your time and (no) money. However, you have the option to donate money with your purchase. Being the philanthropist I am, I threw three pounds their way (like they need it) because I feel like CDs should really cost about $6, which I would be willing to pay for nearly any disc I really liked. So check it out. Also, Lucid-TV made a funny comic about it.

Long time no blog

Well, it's been a serious while since I updated the blog, but it's mostly because I haven't been up to anything particularly interesting. The usual activities of teaching, eating and wandering about Suji have filled up my time the way they usually do. Sadly, despite my long absence, I can't promise anything too exciting with this update but, since I feel like I should at least share something, I've compiled a little photo series of my usual food haunts, along with a few miscellaneous shots.

This is Mi-mandoo, my favorite place to score my favorite snack: Mandoo. It's sort of a steamed dumpling (also available at Chinese places, only fried) that is filled with either pork and vegetables or kimchi. Myself, I like to get the variety pak that comes with five of each for only about $2.50. It's a delicious, filling, inexpensive and even relatively healthy meal. I'd say I should write commercials for these things, but they could sell themselves to a fire hydrant. Love 'em. This is also where I like to get kimbap and chamchi kimbap, both delicious variations on the rice-rolled-in-seaweed theme.And this, of course, is Pizza school. Delicious medium-sized pizza (feeds one for about a day) for five bucks! Can't beat that, well, that and the fact that it's right on my route from work back home and a great place to read student's essays while I wait for the pizza.


This is the interior of Music Cafe, or as we call it, "Treehouse Bar." It's located in the area of Suji known as "Dirty Suji," where most of the restaurants and Karaoke rooms are located. This place is amazing. I don't think pictures convey how cool it is. The wall to the right of this shot is one giant chalkboard on which are scribbled words in many different languages (albeit mostly Korean, English and Japanese) and the wall is hung with classic albums. Like, really classic - Elvis and Willie Nelson classic. The table and chairs (and sometimes benches) are all mismatched and scattered hodgepodge about the place. Also, did I mention the giant friggin' fake tree that is the centerpiece? The traditional Korean drinks are served in intentionally dent-riddled brass pots, and the music is an eclectic mix of hits from five years ago interspersed with Hank Williams and The Four Tops. But the real charm of Music Cafe comes from its compartmental seating options:
Here you can more clearly see the chalkboard walls, and also the cool segmented, elevated dining options available for the valued customers of the Music Cafe of Suji! This is actually where we went for my birthday, and we sat up there on the platform on the left. Here's a detail of what I wrote on the wall:
There it is, right next to the vent fan. It says

"タイラーはたんじょうびにいました。"

Which is totally Japanese for "Tyler was here on his birthday."

Well, that's about it for the pictures. This week (yesterday, in fact) was Chuseok, the Korean thanksgiving day. This means I haven't had to work all week! Unfortunately, it also means that everything is closed up and I'm really bored. I've been taking some of the time to start to learn how to read Korean and complete some other writing projects, but unfortunately that can't last me all day or I'll go crazy! Maybe I'm going crazy anyhow.

Or at least I would be going crazy if I hadn't been reading the sublimely insane Overcompensating.

The Miracle of Skype

I just got off the "phone" with Elise! I used Skype to call her mobile phone in Mali and, while it cost over 28 cents a minute, it was well worth it. You can reach me on skype at the user name "stokesty@gmail.com" If you have Skype as well, we can talk and even use video for free! It's a really good program.

I also wanted to share this picture:
This is the last thing an outdated digital camera ever sees. Look upon the future... and despair! This is a shot of one of the store displays in the Electronics Mart in Youngsan. That place is truly an awe-inspiring shopping experience. I am planning on upgrading my digital camera next month, possibly to an Olympus 725, which is what Matt was shopping for when we went here on Tuesday morning (I got a phone). Haggling is the name of the game, and often it only involves moving from vendor to vendor, displaying the price the last one gave you and daring them to beat it or throw something extra in. They also do trade-ins, although my camera is old I might be able to get a few bucks for the battery and charger.

Photo B(ack)log

Twice the pun for the price of one, haha!

Anyway, without further ado, here's a minimalistic chronicle of the cabin trip my coworkers and I took this weekend.

But first, we begin in Suji, near the huge (and hugely expensive) Shinsege Mall. This is an upper-crust kind of place - for example, they're just about to open a Louis Vuitton boutique. This is at one end of the luxurious under-street walkway. After coming up a set of escalators (mind you, this is all just to cross underneath the street, not inside the mall or anything), you are greeted by this charming little waterfall setup. I had to take a picture because I liked the post-modern feel of the bareness of the blocks and the use of concrete and plain tile, combined with the old-fashioned style in which the little turtles were carved:
They appeared to be made out of some kind of fake jade, but I appreciated the little detail that they added to the very 1970's Po-mo thing the whole waterfall setup had going on. In fact, if I were feeling academic (and I am), I would speculate that this waterfall isn't a half-bad symbol for where Korea finds itself today - an increasingly powerful country in the modern era, participating and participating quite well in the trappings of now-a-days, leading the world in electronics and communications technology. However, perched upon all that post-modern uniformity is a small reminder of the strong traditions and proud heritage that still support this country. In fact, since being here, I've become appraised of a bit of Korean history that relates to turtles, which I will in transition share with you here. In 1592, when Korea was under siege from the invading Japanese, the impressive armadas of Hideyoshi Daimyo (the then-leader of a newly unified Japan) provided one of the most significant threats to Korea's sovereignty. The Koreans were severely outnumbered on the water, yet success in this area was crucial. The innovative Korean Admiral Yi Sun-san came up with the Turtle Ships, low-riding warships that were equipped with armored and spiked plating that completely covered the deck of the ship, causing them to resemble snapping turtles and giving them their name. These were essentially the first "submarines," enclosed although they were unable to actually submerge. They were armed with dragon heads on the prow that not only added psychological warfare to the boat's arsenal, but also actually emitted toxic gas that occluded the ship's position and allowed it to use its other unique weapon - an extension in the rear of the ship that could ram into enemy boats. Also the dragon's head could be armed with a long-range Korean cannon to take down ships from a distance, in addition to the usual deployment of eleven to fifteen side-mounted cannons. These Turtle Ships were an invaluable addition to the Korean flotilla and inflicted costly wounds upon Hideyoshi's armada.

Returning to the present tense, we have a very modern institution: a typical example of a Lotte Mart, the flagship establishment of Lotte corporation. This is the Lotte mart in Suji, about three blocks from the hagwon I teach at. This behemoth is about five floors of partitioned purchasing pleasure. The first floor is a grocery store, about as big as any you'd find here (although falling a bit short of your average Cub Foods or Rainbow Supermarket), I'd say it's about comparable to the grocery section of a Super Target. It's a good place to stock up on anything you can't find at your local market (Sing Sing Market for me), or if you want some of those same things at a cheaper price. My best finds include liters of skim milk that come with free vegetable juice and a box of cereal that came with a free nalgene-style water bottle taped to the outside of it. Good cereal, too. The second floor is divided into sections - there's a department-style store that takes up most of the floor, including clothing, electronics and home appliances. There's also a little instrument store, where I found this little gem:Reform Pianos? Drat. Where can I find the Orthodox Pianos? Anyhow, on the third floor of Lotte Mart (which foreign locals lovingly refer to as "Scrotte Mart") are several more little shops, including a T.G.I. Friday's and a pet store. It's kind of like a mall that's all owned by one huge company.

But you didn't come here today to hear about my life in Suji, did you? You came with the promise of hearing about the Korean countryside and my adventures with my coworkers.

Ok.

Eight of us hopped into J-Bomb's van at about 2:20 on Saturday afternoon. It took us half an hour to get to Lotte Mart. I should mention something. That's about 3 BLOCKS. The traffic was absolutely insane on the part of the highway that goes from downtown Suji to over where Lotte mart is. Once we got out of downtown, it was smooth sailing, however, and soon we left the bustle of Suji for the rolling mountainous countryside of regions south of Seoul. Korea is about 77% mountains, and it really shows. The narrow valleys between the gorgeous peaks were at first filled with sky-rise apartments much like the ones we left behind in Suji, only less omnipresent, but those soon gave way to smaller housing complexes and gravel pits and eventually, finally, gloriously, open country and farmland. We passed the exit for "Everland," Korea's largest theme park, and I made a note that it's pretty dang close to Suji and I should visit sometime soon. We eventually made a pit stop at some sort of weird restaurant/rest stop/zoo, where I of course snapped some pictures of the animals in their cages. They had quite a variety, from this proud peacock to a huge hare to, um...
Rottweilers? Ok, I guess that makes sense. These little puppies and their rather dejected-looking mom were penned up between the Hare and a bunch of exotic-looking fowl. Dad was in a cage next-door, and the intrepid puppies had found one peg of the cage bars between them that was bent up enough to crawl though. It was kind of sad. Anyhow, after we all got back in the van, we continued up into the mountains and through several small towns (and over several speed bumps that send my head into the roof of the van on two occasions. Finally, we came to the resort, which was much nicer than I had anticipated. There were a couple of very friendly (insistently so) dogs that wouldn't leave us alone the whole time, and the owner was very friendly as well. We began by playing some soccer in the small field by the house, climbed trees and played a game of kickball. The cabin came equipped with a set of badminton rackets and a shuttlecock, so that saw some use as well. All in all, at first, there were nine of us at the cabin: Myself, Matt, Bobby, Korean teachers Ross, Kelly and J-bomb, and secretaries Han-sun, Somi and Eun-jin. Later we were joined by Yakubu, Mr. Lee (the big boss), Mr. Park (the lead supervisor), Jay (the director and organizer of classes), Mr. Lee's girlfriend (who used to be a secretary) and another teacher. Here's a picture of the cabin:
As you can see, it's two stories, with plenty of lovely windows and seating available. This picture was taken when we first arrived, it was probably around 6 or so in the afternoon. When all the others arrived, we started playing some Presidents and Assholes, and we even taught Mr. Lee how to play. Nothing like being able to call your boss a "Vice-asshole." We had a wonderful dinner of Galbi (which is lettuce, rice and grilled meat, held in the palm of your hand) and grilled shrimp, cooked by Mr. Lee and Ross. The next few pictures won't require as much description, so I'll probably just caption them as I show them.Here's a view of the other side of the cabin. That's Mr. Park on the left, then Somi and Eun-Jin. The TV there has a karaoke machine built in to the DVD player, which we utilized later in the evening.
Here's Yakubu and Bobby (in front) and Matt on the other side of the table.
Here's the gang playing a Korean drinking game called "3 6 9" You count around the circle, clapping instead of saying any numbers that contain 3, 6 or 9. The fact that we were allowed to count in either Korean or English complicated matters significantly, and plans were laid to get people to mess up.

The next day, after a night of karaoke and games and lots of fun, we packed up and got ready to head out to the mountains.Here's another picture of everybody in the field outside our cabin. That's Matt over near the soccer ball. The two actually looking at me are Ross and J-Bomb, from the left. Behind Ross is Bobby. On the far side of the triangle of girls is Eun-jin, the closest is Somi, and the one holding her hands together is Han-sun.Han-sun and Somi in front of a mountain by the cabin.


Here's the gang underneath a gate at the entrance to the path going up a mountain. We "climbed" this mountain to the top of the paved path, which was very beautiful and ran alongside a mountain stream. At the top was this marvel, presented in three parts!
This Ginkgo tree is over 1,100 years old! They know this because it was a gift to the emperor of Korea at the time, and has lived ever since. It's also monstrously huge! At the top of the mountain path was also this lovely shrine:
We also got to drink some delicious cold fresh mountain spring water and generally be touristy. This was kind of new for the secretaries, as well, since although they are all from Korea they are big-time city girls. They even wore heels to hike up the mountain. Whoops.

We stopped to play around in the stream for a while on the way down. I made a traveler's shrine:
Anyone who passes this shrine may now add a rock to the top and make a wish! Good stuff. Finally, down at the bottom of the mountain we indulged in a somewhat more modern pleasure:
That's right, a viking ride. You can see Matt, Eun-jin and Ross enjoying it on the other side.

After the ride, we piled back into the car, stopped for some bibibap for lunch/dinner and made a long, long, slow ride back to Suji - it took five hours. Much of this was spent crammed in a corner of the van fitfully sleeping while listening to Con Brio. All in all, a fantastic weekend.

Photo-a-Day Double Dose Payday Special Extravaganza!

That's right, Wednesday was payday. You know what that means - too busy spending money to put a photo up. But seriously, I was really busy yesterday, and only some of it involved spending money. So I have for you today, gentle readers, a double dose of photographs, rather different, including my first photograph actually involving people. That's right, real, live people. Korean people! And one American. But first, this:
This is a shop that I saw out the window of the 500-1 bus that travels from Suji to Sunae (in Bundang) this bus is the fastest way to travel between these two cities and, as I'm beginning to expand my network in that city-I-almost-worked-in, I think I'll probably end up riding it quite a bit. I took this picture on the way to play poker at a bar by Sunae station with David and some of his coworkers at SLI - Bundang on Wednesday night. Specifically, this lovely little restaurant is in the neighborhood of Migeum - kind of like Suji plus. It's fairly big, very modern, lots of great shops and restaurants. The name of this one caught my eye as a particularly illustrative example of the way English has infiltrated the culture here. All I know is that I would definitely patronize a restaurant named "I love you." You can also see a Chinese character on the right of the neon sign. This is also a common tendency, especially in banking circles, where Chinese has heavily infiltrated the language. Also, I would definitely enjoy spending some more time in Migeum.
This is a photo of me and a few of my students. From the left, there's Tom, me, Christine, Jin Su, Chris, Andy and Michelle. These are a few students from Global Leaders 1, probably my favorite class to teach. They're among my higher-level students, lots of fun and very interested in learning English. Today in class I gave the class a really difficult crossword to do based on their vocabulary review (words like consequently, obtain, phenomenon and conflict). The group that finished with all the correct answers the fastest would be treated after class to a bowl of Ddeokbukgi, or rolled rice cakes in pepper sauce. Delicious! I also treated myself to a "chicken bar" which I think was actually fried pork in the same pepper sauce. Also delicious! I even got the kids to pose with me for a picture. I chose this picture over another, more posed one that we had taken because I think it shows the kids' personalities a lot more. Tom on the left is really quiet, Christine is a model student (she even helped me organize the order and taught me the numbers two and three so I could order properly), Jin Su and Andy are quite goofy, and Chris and Michelle fall somewhere in between. It's classes like these that are the most rewarding to teach, when they pay attention and actually seem interested in what I have to teach them.

Streetscape

This is one of many ubiquitous and mysterious doorways that line the street around here. When I eventually learn enough Korean to avoid stumbling blindly from one doorway to another like a renegade but slow-moving pinball, I'll be able to discern where exactly this door leads. The purpose of the large red portal-like object in front of the door is still a bit of a mystery to me as well.
I chose this picture that I took this evening because I think it illustrates a little bit of the mystery I still experience living here. For one, I'm not sure what these red, blue and green things are. They're scattered all over street corners and they're usually accompanied by piles of neatly stacked trash surrounding them. Upon opening the door, there is a cylindrical hollow which appears to serve no purpose whatsoever. Are these mailboxes? Public unlocked lockers? I have no idea, and it's exciting. Second, I have no idea where this door leads. It is not at all unique in that respect - there are so many doors leading off the streets of Seoul, doors that lead into stairways that could lead into anything - Noraebang, bars ("hof"), jimjibang (spas) or even just restaurants or residences. There's an ongoing sense of discovery every time I find myself following friends up a new stairway.

The Photo-a-Day Project

In an attempt to both hone my photographic reflex and to force myself to update this blog more often, I've decided to try to post at least one photograph a day of my Korean experience. I expect these photographs will vary greatly in both subject and subjective quality. Hopefully they will improve in artistic merit as the year rolls on, and hopefully my writing will as well.

Without further self-indulgent shenanigans, here's the first photo, taken this afternoon:
This is the food stand at the corner of downtown Suji. Here they sell various fried foods and grilled corn on the cob (which is delicious). This picture also highlights the weird diversity of downtown Suji - the short, advertisement-covered commercial buildings surrounded by the unadorned towering high-rise apartments. I chose this picture for the first day because I wanted a sort of establishing shot - I spend probably five minutes a day waiting for the light to change here, and I like this spot - good for people watching, close to excellent food, and about halfway between work and the apartment.

Everyone Here is Extremely Gruntled

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated the blog, huh. I've finally been settling in to the teaching routine, now that busy season is over, I'm finding myself with a bit more free time. I've taken advantage of some of that time to explore Suji - get to know some of the shops, get to know some of the neighborhood. I haven't had the presence of mind to bring along my camera yet, but that will happen soon I'm sure.

I've found that teaching, while quickly becoming part of my routine, is never old hat. The kids always find new and interesting ways to either keep me on my toes (literally) or surprise me. These surprises come in both good and bad flavors, and the resulting variety tells me that this job will continue to challenge me throughout the year.

One thing that I've found interesting is the weird subtle ways I've been indoctrinated, both by others and by myself, into the culture of being in South Korea. As for myself, I've ceased thinking of myself as a stranger here - what were formerly "residents of Suji" have become my neighbors and friends. When my students ask me where I live, I have stopped saying "Minnesota" and started saying "behind Sing Sing Mart," which I guess is something of a local landmark because it's the only explanation that has gotten a recognizable response. I've compared with my students living arrangements, discussed favorite musical instruments and Beethoven pieces, and even had an in-depth discussion with one particularly bright student about the relative merits of the theories of civilization developed by Spengler and Toynbee. The TOEFL tests that I've been teaching are a fantastic opportunity to continue to learn outside of school - their subjects are specific, sometimes archaic, and usually interesting. I have learned about palmistry, tracing the evolution from dinosaurs to modern birds, and school uniform policy in Korea (and how it differs from Japan). Fascinating stuff!

Another major indoctrination into Korean culture has come through my doorbell. Just this morning, in fact, I was awoken by the rather loud chime from a blissful slumber filled with strange visions of an alternate-universe Seoul. A fast-talking Korean voice answered my groggy "hello?" from the other side of the intercom and, thinking he sounded a little bit like my boss, who is supposed to show up at some point to check my cable connection (it's been out since I got my internet installed)(yeah I know, whine whine, right?), I quickly threw on a shirt and opened the door. A fast-talking Korean man shoved a large, heavy box into my hands and showed me the address on the packing slip. From in between the hangeul characters I did indeed recognize my street address and apartment number. Thinking it was some sort of care package or something important (like maybe a new cable or box or something like that) I took the box from the deliveryman and muttered one of the few words I've managed to completely learn ("thank you") and closed the door. I opened the package with as much curiosity as my groggy self could muster, thinking for an excited second that it was full of owls, but in fact it was some sort of skin care package. Three different kinds of soap and lotion and a loofah. So I guess I'm set in that department. I might end up passing the more, uh, feminine products around to the Korean teachers at work. Or I might keep them. I'm out of control.

A second, earlier doorbell experience has me still scratching my head a little bit. This one was about two weeks ago, about 3:30 in the afternoon. I was preparing for class, actually, sitting at my computer composing a sample response for one of the TOEFL exams I was teaching that night. The door chime rang, and I went over and opened the door. Two 30-something Korean women were standing in the hallway, carrying a number of pamphlets and a bible. One of them seemed quite surprised to see a young white man answer the door, but she said something about a "bible study." Feeling accommodating, I let them in and we sat on my floor. Their English was only slightly less limited than my Korean, so it was extremely difficult to communicate so the whole thing mostly consisted of them pointing out various passages in the bible and me reading them out loud. I couldn't quite make out the thrust of their particular brand of Christianity - something about God being both a man and a woman, but having a separate female side, and then something about Jesus' second coming being from the East and then finally something about God actually being an Eagle? I might not be getting that all right. It was pretty difficult to understand, but I must admit they had some pretty solid evidence.

Then one of them pulled out her cell phone and soon I was talking to their colleague who spoke better English and they were asking when they could meet me again, and I started getting very evasive and eventually I had to tell the dude I was uncomfortable with discussing religion and I was very comfortable with my religion (whatever that is) as is, etc. etc. When I was finally able to hang up, the two women had grasped that I wasn't interested in studying the bible with them any further. One of the women (the one who spoke less) started pouting at me, trying to get me to believe their religion by being cute, I guess. They continued to make really sad faces when I politely ushered them out the door and they were muttering to each other in Korean.

Well, that should do for now. I will return with (hopefully) some pictures and a few stories of the nightlife in Suji.

Out and About

Here are some pictures from the outside of my apartment - you know, that whole big country that isn't contained in this single room.

This is "dirty Suji," the part of my city that most resembles what I had in mind when I pictured city livin' in Korea. Lots of noraebangs, DVDbans, bars and clubs. The inflatable column on the right of the picture is advertising "Exit," the bar/club where Matt and I met Ashleigh and her friends on Friday night. It was a pretty cool place where I managed to hold a spot on the pool table for a long time and where I met a lot of the other foreign teachers who teach at the other schools in Suji.


Here's the exterior of my apartment building. I'm on the fourth floor, to the left in this shot. You can just barely see my kitchen window in the corner.

This is the computer superstore in Youngsan, the electronics district. Inside that shiny building are about five floors of vendors selling cell phones and digital cameras.


This is a street in the crowded nighttime neighborhood around Hongik University. There are a lot of cool little hangouts and bars. I have been there twice now, this picture was from my first visit.

This is a picture of Itaewon, commonly known as the international district. This is where a lot of the US soldiers stationed here will hang out when they're in Seoul. It is a good place to buy cheap clothes but the food is overpriced and the atmosphere is decidedly non-Korean. Still, worth a visit, if just for the clothes shopping.

Here's the alley where my school is located. You can actually see the entrance to the building the school is in - it's that tiny ramp on the left-hand side of the alley. If my internal compass works in the Eastern Hemisphere, I believe this picture was taken facing North.
This is the alley where my apartment building is. It is taken facing South from right outside the building, which is visible on the left.

I love this shot. It gives you some idea of the typical sky conditions I've been living under, and also shows the veritable forest of high-rise apartments that surrounds the downtown area of Suji. They go on for blocks and blocks and are even taller in other parts of town.

This is the main street of this part of Suji. This is where all the buses come through, where most of the food can be found, and generally a cool place to be. I pass this every day on my way to work.
This is a totally awesome walking path that leads from a larger street into my neighborhood (those shorter apartment buildings in front fo the huge ones).
I rock out to some Journey with Anna's friends Glippy and Tom at a noraebang, or karaoke room. These places are amazing.

Well, it about time to run off to class again, so I should do just that. More musings to come, I'm sure.