Where is Mike Nelson?

Day 42: the not-so secretive underground market

2008-08-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

"Meet me at the underground market," she said. Underground market? Most black markets aren't that easy to find, so i asked how to get there. "just ask somebody..." she said, ending the conversation. I guess it was easy...

after asking 2 or 3 people, i found out which subway stop i should take. after getting off the train, i directly looked up, and there was a sign that said "underground market this way." i followed the signs and came upon tunnels under the city that were lined with shops. thats why it was the "underground" market, because it was literally underground. duh.

it contains the biggest flower market in korea (you wouldn't think that flowers would do so well in florescent lighting, but you'd be surprised.) there were thousands of people there. i met up with Kim Young and we shopped for 4 hours, and we still didn't see it all. then we took a break, got some 만두 (korean style potstickers) and went back out. we shopped until 2 in the morning and there was much more to be done. that lady has stamina, and she's 52 years old!

days 39-41: the rooms of all colors

2008-08-17T06:23:00.000-07:00

i have compressed the past 3 days into one entry mostly because: a.) it was too crazy to separate which days i did things and b.) i'm just lazy.

The BYU interns all finished on thursday night, so i've been hanging out (more like living with them) a lot. One of my buddy's roommates moved out, and so i moved in for the weekend. i couldn't turn down the offer to sleep in a bed that my legs actually didn't hang off. most of the time, we ended up watching the olympics during the day, and going out to the different specialized rooms at night. they have DVD rooms, Karaoke rooms, billiards rooms, computer game rooms, and board game rooms. with how much fun korea is, i didn't think that i missed having full conversations in english, but it felt so good to speak to someone without pulling out a dictionary.

I joined them for church at the english ward and got hit on by a 32 year old lady named Di who teaches english here. my BYU buddies say that she's tried to put the move on every single white guy that comes in, and its funny to watch. i guess i was todays show for the spectators.

afterwards, i came home, took a nap, and then left for dinner. i looked at the subway map, and dinner didn't look that far away on the little piece of paper, but i sure was wrong. it took me an hour and 45 minutes by subway to get there. i met up with Son Kisick and we had cow intestine stew. (Yummy... uh, wait a second...)

day 38: the resting place

2008-08-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

this one is for mom. today we went to Jean's Grandma's grave. I wasn't depressed because of the thought of the deceased, but because i had to drive with Jean's dad again...

when we arrived, we walked into a huge church where they showed us to Jean's grandma. she was in an urn in a wall with thousands of other people. Jean grabbed a mat and we did some traditional bows. then he turned to his dad and told him that i was going to do some stuff for his grandma. i looked at him a little weird, so he said, "remember when we went to your temple. you said you do stuff for people that die. well, go ahead." i tried to explain that we only do that stuff in the temple, but Jean didn't see the difference between the huge church and our temple. his dad shared the same feelings. I didn't know what to do, so i said a short prayer, and looked up. they looked disappointed that that was all. Jean asked me what i prayed for, and i said, "you know... stuff about fire and brimstone, the celestrial kingdom, and being patient while she's in the spirit world." (which wasn't at all what i prayed for, but i love to see Jean's reaction when he doesn't understand a word i say.) he said, "huh?" and i just told him not to worry because it was a good prayer.

then we all went out to VIPS, which is an upper class version of sizzler. Jean ate probably ten pounds of meat, while i gorged down the salad. (not a specialty of the koreans... so when i get some good type, i chow down.)

day 37: the midnight shops

2008-08-14T05:28:00.000-07:00

you would think that 4 square miles of malls would be enough shopping for a city. well, you'd be wrong. when the sun goes down, the tents go up. the streets are lined with vendors who sell anything and everything; from halloween costumes to to camping gear to designer purses. i started looking around and stumbled across a concert. i guess if you get bored, you can sit down and watch a show, buy some drinks, and go back out. (i was told that most of the tents start to go down around 5 am.) since the subway closes down at 12:15, most people stay the whole night shopping until 5 am when the subway starts back up again. anyways, the concert was one of the weirdest things i had ever seen. what caught my attention was the rock music that centered around an aboriginal didgeridoos. then they moved to a guitar keyboard and had people start doing back flips. for the hour i watched, they probably used every instrument imaginable with all kinds of dance styles to amplify to night filled sounds. i moved out to the shopping area, and i was thinking, "hey, i could probably get hooked up with some sweet Louis Vatton knock off ties or maybe tiger fur for the new hard would floor in the family room." well, i would listen in, and then and hear the price. but because i'm white, they would always start high. that is one skill i haven't mastered yet... the art of bargaining.

day 36: the waste basket

2008-08-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

usually, when i see a waste basket i don't mind it. after studying today, we went to go see "The Dark Night" (the new batman movie). well, after sipping down a huge cup of korean juice, you can guess what i had to do. well, i accidentally knocked over the waste basket and found the most disgusting surprise. the waste baskets here are actually human waste baskets. they don't flush down their toilet paper, they throw it away. when I told Jean that there was no way i was cleaning it up, he agreed that that would be a good idea.

day 35: the 2 kingdoms

2008-08-11T04:42:00.000-07:00

they said it was at SoeDaeMun. i checked the adress again and we kept asking people where it was. it wouldn't have been a big deal if it hadn't of taken us over an hour to get there. then i heard someone say, "are you lost?" i turned around, and there were the missionaries. i explained how it had taken everything in me to get Jean to go to the temple with me, and then i couldn't find it. turns out we went to the wrong subway stop, but still got what we were looking for. Jean said, "that is so strange that we were looking for your church and then your missionaries were just there." that little Jean has so much to learn!

we showed up to the temple and i knew that since it was monday that there wouldn't be anyone inside. i was atleast expecting there to be someone there in the visitor center. well, it turns out that they don't have a visitor center, nor do they have visitor center missionaries. the only person that was there was the head of security. he was a nice guy and let us walk around the very small grounds and take some pictures. (pretty much what you see in the picture is all of the temple grounds.it is extremely packed in.) Jean was highly disappointed that we had come this far, and that was all there was to see. I think its a good thing since it will just raise a lot more questions in his mind.

Then we hopped back on the subway and rode it to InSaDong. We got out and were completely astonished by the difference. we had arrived to the king's palace. the buildings are massive and there was a lot of history. unfortunately, a lot of it is under renovation and some archaeological digs, so we didn't get to see all of it; leaving me with a lot of questions in my mind. (mostly because we missed the english tour and jean had no idea what anything was for.)

we finished up our day by shopping at the art district. they have these streets that are lined with people's drawings, crafts, costumes, statues, etc. I think adam would have loved some of the interior design stuff, and matt would have loved the artsy stuff. you would go for a couple of shops, then a couple of restaurants, then there would be a little art gallery. then it would repeat. the streets were packed with foreigners; our stomachs were packed with korean candy; and our shoes were packed with swollen feet. (we had been on our feet for almost 10 hours.)

day 34: the end of the world?

2008-08-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

you know in the movies when all of the people gather around the tv to watch uniforms performing various sporting events. it was the women's archery that was how its the end of the world? today was like that. i was walking down the street and i came across a huge crowd gathered in front of a TV store. there was very little room to walk around on the side walk, and people were climbing trees to watch what was being shown. Taxi cab drivers were even stopping their cars and getting out to see the TV. I was thinking, "did the president get shot? was there some natural disaster? Am I on TV again? (that last one was a joke...)" i made my way through the crowd to see people in different colorcurrently being shown. a little history that i learned was that since 1980, the koreans have never lost this competition. the reason? i was told it was because koreans use silver chopsticks which give them a better grip. ha ha. whatever the reason, they do a good job.

i was also informed about every other korean gold for the day. the teenage swimmer (previously mentioned in another post), Park Taehwan, won the first korean gold medal in the 400 meter. and then there was the sweet Judo wrestling match where the koreans dominated.

i love to be in a country where everything stops for pride.

day 33: the folk village pleasantries

2008-08-09T23:39:00.000-07:00

The Amish might still live in the 1800s, but the koreans have found a way to outdo them too. This morning we went to a traditional folk village in Suwon. Kim Young and her friend Grace picked me up and we took the hour drive in fond memories of california traffic.

there was a large castle like wall that surrounded the village and all of the people were wearing traditional clothing. there was pottery, bamboo toys, oriental fans, and pretty much anything you could think of. they grow all of their own food. they raise animals. they even have oxen to pull, plow, and grind down grains. the picture to the left is of a korean guy selling things that he had made out of bamboo/wood/weeds. i thought it was funny that he didn't have any outer walls, but still had a modern door between rooms.

Kim Young and Grace had seen this place more than they could
remember (Grace grew up next to the village) so keeping their attention was a toughy. however, when it came to jumping on the see-saw, shooting archery, making pottery, swinging, seeing the calligrapher write words in chinese, or eating buckwheat noodles, they were all up for it. (we had this noodle soup that was in cold water/vinegar and cayenne pepper. spicy, delicious, and refreshing!)

Grace and Kim Young pretty much threw their towels in after a couple of hours, and we just drove around the wall and other sites. it was funny because they planned on looking at a lot of things, but you had to get out of the car. they didn't want to do that since it was hot, so we would drive up to the entrance, they would tell me what was behind the wall, or on top of the mountain, or whatever, and then we would drive to the next site. there is nothing like the korean pleasantries in life!

day 32: the korean swimming pool

2008-08-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

there has been some concern for the welfare of my soul. i'll let you know that i am perfectly safe, and intend to be that way. my writing must be very captivating for you to worry, but think of it as only dramatic elements. i have never been more happy, healthy, or intact in my life.

having said that, today Jean and I went swimming today. (don't worry, i wore sun screen and there were no sharks either.) there is this huge water area near the river that everybody hangs out at. Jean came to my house and then we took a bus over to his buddy's. we waited and waited and waited. (Korean standard time is very similar to mormon standard time.) jean said that this was the first time he saw me not smile, so he took a picture. when we were about to leave, his buddy walked up the stairs. turns out that his buddy was waiting for us at Jean's house. (and i thought i couldn't communicate in korean.)

the place was packed with all ages because it is summer break right now and its about 100 degrees every day. when we walked in, they made us all buy hair caps. there were huge posters of the korean olympic swimmer everywhere. i was thinking that they just made me buy the stupid hair cap because they want everybody to look like the famous Olympian. i was looking forward to at least swimming some laps in my stylish new fashion, but was disappointed when i found out that the deepest pool went up to my chest and that koreans find speedos to be appropriate for public places (plus, there wasn't any room to actually swim that much with how many people were in the water.) we splashed around a little bit, and jean got his buddies and a lot of little koreans to try to take me down. little did they know how adapt i am to to water fights.

we came home, dried off, and went to Mcdonalds. (my idea, since i am getting a little sick of kimchee every day.) it still didn't taste american, but was close enough to make me happy.

day 31: the most dangerous meal

2008-08-07T18:47:00.000-07:00

Silk worm larva? check. Dog meat? check. Live octopus? check. what else could there possibly be left?

I asked Jean what we could go eat for lunch. "what do you want to eat," he asked. "uh... something new and exciting," i replied. boy, was i in for a treat. we took a taxi to this restaurant called a 복집, which means "pufferfish house." by being educated by the simpsons, i knew that pufferfish/swellfish (or Fugu, as the japanese call it) is one of the most dangerous meats on planet earth. there is very little that is actually eatable due to poison that runs through the fish. one little slip of the knife can leave a person in a comatose state, or could just simply kill him. I think this is wear Jean and i really bonded. he could totally feel my excitement.
we walked in, where we were greeted to the chef. (this is a common practice since you are putting your life in their hands.) turns out that Jean's mom is really good friends with them, and we got the meal for free. which is really good because swellfish is super expensive. (wouldn't you feel guilty if you charged your friend's son for a meal that killed him? i sure would.) on the wall was a few facts about the blowfish. here are the few that i could remember:

* A six-pound tiger swellfish has enough poison to take out at least 32 healthy adults.
* Swellfish is still widely banned in europe for consumption.
* The amount of swellfish poison required to kill a man can fit on the head of a pin.
* In modern Japan, it’s illegal to serve fugu to the emperor.
* All uneatable portions must be locked up and disposed by authorized officials.
* All chefs must be certified and must display certification.

They brought out the fish raw in a large pot. then threw in all sorts of vegetables and spices and cooked it in front of us. Jean and i could hardly wait. i took a big breath and took a bite. it was by far the best tasting fish i had ever tasted.

and considering that i'm sitll alive is a definite bonus!

day 30: the Con

2008-08-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

tonight i was walking down the street looking for a place to eat. there didn't look like anything that would hit the spot, so i sat down at a little cafe and ordered a smoothie and opened up my new book. while i was reading, this little korean guy came and sat next to me and started up a conversation. (it seems that when i sit down to study somewhere i gain an instant friend.) so we talked for about 20 minutes and he said he was going to go meet up with his buddies and asked me if i wanted to join him. it seemed like a new adventure, plus new people to meet, so i was totally up for it. we talked on our way down the street and made our way into a building and down some stairs. it opened up to a large bar, a lot of stalls, and a vacant dance floor. i was thinking, "oh no... i sure hope he didn't bring me to a night club..."

he sat me down at one of the booths and his friends showed up a few minutes later. they sat down next to me and we kept talking over the music, (mostly about how i didn't drink... they couldn't believe it!) and then the little korean fella said, "oh, we need 이만원 ($20) from you." i looked at him and said, "oh, don't worry.... remember, i don't drink. and plus i just ate, so don't order anything for me." he just looked at me. then he said, "we need the money. we work here." "why," i asked. "well, you walked in. the price of this club is 이만원. since you have been here for a while, you have to pay us. its not free." i remembered a conversation i had with a return missionary when i was at BYU. he told me to be careful because sometimes older people will give you "free" food, only to demand payment after you eat it. this was like that, but on a different scale. so i played the stupid american card and said, "huh, i didn't understand those words. can you repeat them?" he repeated. i wasn't going to let him get the money, so i still acted like i didn't understand. he grabbed a napkin and drew a door with a guy passing through it and then he drew the money sign. i looked up at him and said, "oh, pictionary. i love this game! how many syllables?" (simply a miracle that i came up with that.) he looked at his buddies and then at me with a blank stare. "you know... pictionary...," i said as i grabbed the pen and started to draw another picture. "this game is going to be really tough for me in korean because i don't know a lot of vocabulary words... we should play another game." again, they just looked at me. "did you understand me?" i asked. the shook their head no. "okay, stay here. i will go get my dictionary and i'll come right back. this will not be a fun night if you don't understand me." i stood up and the little korean stood up with me. "no, go ahead and stay with your friends. order some drinks and i'll come right back. i only live around the corner." he actually bought it and sat back down. i took off up the stairs, went to my apartment, grabbed my bag, and returned to the night club...

but only to take a picture for all y'all sakes. to top off the night, i found this help wanted sign on my way back. (click on the picture to enlarge it.)

it was a funny evening.

day 29: the view

2008-08-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

with how exciting studying is, its pretty easy to get cabin fever. i went for a walk around 4:30 today, just to get some fresh air, and i didn't get home until 10. when i first went out, i met this down syndrome kid named Yoseph (the koreans adopted the Portuguese spelling of Joseph for some reason). he told me that he was thirsty, so we went and got a drink to eat and i sat and talked to him in korean for an hour. he was way funny, and i could understand him pretty well. As we sat there, Kim Young called and asked me to dinner. i showed up at the building and called her. she told me to come up to the 6th floor and i would see her. there she was, getting her nails done. if not being asain was bad enough, try being a guy in a nail parlor. that really turns heads. luckily, kim young didn't make it awkward at all by asking me if i thought the girl that was doing her nails was pretty...

so then we took an elevator to the top floor, where we had a view of all of Cheunho (the part of Seoul that i live in). it was awesome and with the lights the streets just dazzled. then i realized what was around me. there were just a ton of couples everywhere, eating and enjoying the view. then i realized that it probably looked like i was on a date with a 55 year old lady. then i realized that i needed an excuse to get out of their quickly.

the stars must have alligned, because the missionaries called and asked if i was going to help teach the english class. i was so relieved! we ate quickly and i said goodbye to the view.

day 28: the battle at the gates

2008-08-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Jean was sick so i had the day to myself. (prayers do get answered!) i was thinking, "hmm... what will i do today? i could go hiking, sightseeing, or catch a movie." i didn't do any of those thoughts. i ended up trying to find a laundromat nearby. i spent an hour and a half walking up and down the streets asking people if they knew where a close one was. i never found it.

after lunch i came back here and worked on some english stuff and then i got a call from some of my BYU buddies that are here. we all met up and had dinner together and walked through the huge markets. then we went back to their dorms. because i am not a student there, i was supposed to get some guest pass but the station was closed. so they told me to just walk through with them. they have these narrow passage ways with glass doors that swing open (like an elevator door) when you slide a card, and then close after you pass through. they all went through and then i followed danny through. it closed on my leg and hurt like crazy. so i backed up and we tried it again. this time it closed up on my arm and gave me a huge gash. i didn't think the third time would be a charm, so i just jumped the dang thing. none of them had anything to clean it up with, so i wrapped it up in toilet paper. i make a way better mummy than jet lee. anyways, by the time i was half way home on the subway, it had seeped through. the bad thing was that the subway was packed, and i couldn't move my arm that much without touching someone. luckily, i made it home without spreading my magical blood on these wonderful people.

day 27: the coffee break

2008-08-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

Due to the freak thunderstorm last night, we got up at 3 o'clock and huddled under a little fort thing until it died down. we all fell asleep there until daylight, and i woke up with Jean's dad's arm flopped on top of me and Jean's legs on top of mine. its too bad that we didn't get a picture of that.

we made some more ramen noodles with some fish that we caught the night before for breakfast and packed up our soaked things. on the way back... the dog threw up on me again.

it took us a while to get back because we got lost, and they made frequent stops for "snack breaks" which were really full course meal breaks and where they could smoke a chimney afterwards.

It felt good to be home, but i didn't get that comfortable. i met up with the elders around 6 and we went and taught a few less actives (single girls that they can't teach without someone else) and waited for this guy from iran to meet us in front of E-mart. he must have caught the korean time schedule, because he showed up an hour late. in the mean time, we street contacted and everyone kept looking at us. can't 3 white guys walk down the streets of seoul without anyone being suspicious or curious? all we were doing was stopping every body and asking them if they'd like to learn more. is that so strange?

Masoot (the guy from Iran) was awesome. he is a presbyterian and has a ton of questions. he had previously looked into the church a few years ago, but he did it here in korea when his korean wasn't that good, and neither was his english. but now he speaks korean really well. the only place we could find to sit down was at a coffee place. that would have made for another good picture: 3 mormons from america at a coffee joint on sunday teaching an arab guy in korean.

day 26: the fishing extravaganza

2008-08-03T00:45:00.001-07:00

I awoke to a bad smell. (this is happening to me more than i would like.) the people that Jean and I rode up with had a dog and it had just thrown up all over me. (another thing that happens more than i would like.) with how funny it was, we still drove on for another 2 hours.

we pulled up to the campsite early in the morning and set up our tents and claimed our territory. we ate some ramen noodles for breakfast and took a short nap, and then we went fishing. not with poles, but with nets. i caught the largest fish, which was a whopping 2 inches. all the fish that we caught went into a stew that we had for dinner. and all the case of alcohol that Jean's parents brought from their restaurant was consumed within a half an hour. the whole company was completely plastered, which left me the only civilized person within miles. luckily, the conversations with the drunks the night before had trained me how to understand a drunk korean.

when everyone had wound down, we went night fishing. we caught some biggies and then sat back and watched some fireworks... how romantic.

day 25: the american night

2008-08-03T00:29:00.000-07:00

My wish didn't come true, but atleast it was a good night. Jean came over with his girlfriend at 5:30 to see what i was doing. i didn't have any plans, but i had bought a new book on korean culture and idioms and thought i'd just take a long soak and read. he didn't like that idea, so he went and bought me a ticket to the new "mummy 3" movie. if you know me, you would know how much i'm a fan of the mummy movies....

Jean's girlfriend got us pretty good seats and i sat back with some popcorn and coke. (they don't have diet coke with lime here... so disappointing...) even though Brendan Frasier's acting still is horrible, Jet lee did a good job. (there's the optimistic mike that you've been missing.)

when we left, i was way hungry, so we went to pizza hut. here, Pizza Hut is actually a nice restaurant. we got a large (which is the size between one of our smalls and mediums) and it cost me 22 dollars. they put sweet potato on the edges and some other things are different, but it was still good. then Jean said, "my parents picking us up at 3 in morning." i started thinking, "wow, Jean, you are 20 years old and you are still having your parents pick you and your girlfriend up?" then he said, " when we ready, i will call you. ok?" i then realized that i was involved in this "us" that he was talking about. "where are we going Jean?" i asked. "valley place. fireworks. fish. very very fun," he said. so we sat and talked there in pizza hut until about 12:30 and then i went home and packed and took a short nap.

i went outside at 2:45, and like always, Jean didn't show up until an hour late. it was ok, because i had a lot of language practice with a lot of drunks that were intrigued by a white kid.

then we waited for the rest of Jean's Parent's workers to join us. they all showed up at the meeting place at 4:30 and we drove off.

day 24: the new pen pal

2008-08-01T01:41:00.000-07:00

its a good thing that i didn't bring any mosquito repellent because then i wouldn't be itching like i am. last night emily's mom woke up in the middle of the night and came into our room and she said it felt like a sauna, so she opened a window. when i woke up, my legs, arms, and feet were covered in bites. it made for a really comfortable 14 hour travel home.

we got on the ferry at 8 a.m. and got put in this gigantic room with 85 other people. there wasn't any place to sit, so jean and i sat up on the deck. while we were there, this korean lady in her late 30s asked if i would talk to her son in english. she introduced me to her 9 year old son, and we talked for a little bit. he kept giggling and kept saying, "i don't know." so, then he finally got away from his mom's grip and ran off. she stayed by me for most of the rest of the 5 hours asking me questions about how i liked korea and all that jazz. she was a very nice lady, and it turns out that she's going to send her son to america in the next 2 years to be a foreign exchange student. then she asked me if i would be his teacher while i stayed here in korea. i told her that i didn't have any time, plus we lived in seoul (she lived near the bottom of korea) but that i'd be happy to be his pen pal. we exchanged email adresses and then the boat came to the port. (its surprising how many people i've given my email adress to. i should have made up business cards or something so i wouldn't have to write it on an old wrapper or napkin or something.) we said our goodbyes, and as we were walking off, she asked where we were going next. we told her, and she told us to wait for 5 minutes for a surprise. Jean wanted to go because he thought she was crazy (which she kind of is) but i was curious. then she pulled up in her car and told us that she would drive us to the bus terminal since it was another 30 minutes away. ah, I love being an American.

we finally arrived home at 10 pm, and i really hope that Jean gives me the weekend off because i'm starting to get sick of being with him every waking moment.

day 23: the reason God created hiking boots

2008-07-31T18:14:00.000-07:00

Today I found out why people buy hiking boots. We woke up at 6 am to catch the bus to Halla Mountain, one of korea’s natural treasures. The bus brought us to the bottom and we hiked and hiked and hiked. Imagine climbing up 80,000 flights of stairs, then you will come close to understanding. We hiked 2000 vertical meters in 3 hours. I’m not going to brag, but we did it an hour faster than all the people say it would take us. At the top was a huge crater that was left from a volcano thousands of years ago. We sat up there after feeling like we had just been mugged by the stair-master. That lasted for about a half an hour, and then we started the decent. If you thought climbing up hot molten rock was easy, try going down it. it almost took us the same amount of time to go down, but we luckily made it down in one piece. (Well, as one-piece-ish as you can call legs that don’t work anymore.)

Then emily’s dad came and picked us up and drove us to the biggest lava tunnel in the world. It was long, dark, cold, and all the other adjectives that describe cave like structures.

Day 22: the windless wind surfing

2008-07-31T18:08:00.000-07:00

When the wind is strong, that is the best time to go wind surfing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that way for us. We somehow picked the weakest day to go. After a short tutorial, we paddled out to sea and got on our boards. It took me about 5 minutes to master my balance, but then I soon found out that it is hard to actually stay up when you the waves are pushing you around instead of the wind. Jean and I tried it for a half an hour, but the wind didn’t ever pick up. So, we just played out there in the ocean until the main instructor came out to us on his wave runner and told us to come in. as we paddled in, the wind picked up and Jean and I got 10 minutes of good riding until our time was up. (We rented the boards for only the hour.)

Then we went to the Mongolian ruins. I was expecting something like the Mayan ruins from the little drawing that they had on the tourist map. When we showed up, it started to pour down, and there wasn’t anybody around. I was thinking, “sweet, this place is going to be all to ourselves!” I soon found out why the place was abandoned. It turned out to be a recent memorial for the soldiers that fought bravely 600 years ago. There was a huge headstone and that was about it. No broken down walls, no broken pottery, no idol worship. I was pretty disappointed and I bet that other people were too. (except that i know that my mom would have loved every bit of the headstone...) Then we found out that we weren’t on a bus route, and that because of the rain, there weren’t any taxis on the road. So we walked a mile or two until we came to a little information desk at the bottom of the mound. They called us a taxi, and we came back to the Ho’s house and ate some more spicy fish. My tongue wants a break.

day 21: the hawaii of korea

2008-07-31T17:35:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Jeju a little early, and caught a taxi to the Ho’s house. It was pouring down sun, and we were sweating up a storm. Because we hadn’t showered for about 2 days, we went over to the bath house and had one of those Korean style wash downs. Then Jean informed me of a room that they have that you can go sleep in if you want. I was totally up for that since I pulled an all-nighter. Emily joined us for a little bit, but then she had to go to work (at a dog restaurant). we went and saw this lava rock that looked like a dragon and tried to rent a Vespa. They don’t like foreigners driving their things, so they wouldn’t allow us to take it. (and they think that we are the bad drivers...) lastly ,we went swimming at the beach, which is way warm. The bad thing is that its near the port, so its extremely dirty. And to top off the night, we bought some apples and watched a drama that revolved cooking pork. Only in Korea would you see a drama about finding the best pork chef.

Day 20: the korean titanic

2008-07-31T17:24:00.000-07:00

So, the ferry to Jeju was supposed to bearable. That was an overstatement. After overbooking the boat by 75 people, we ended up in the boiler room. If the Titanic was run by Koreans, I bet a whole lot more people would have died. It was loud, hot, and there was no way that I was going to get any sleep (we left at 7 pm and would arrive at 7 am). We were in there with another 8 people, who were in our same position. One of the guys works for Korea Air and he was way funny. After an hour of complaining, they put us in another room… but this one was full of little kids. I’m not sure which was worse: a boiler room, or a room full children that have never had any interaction with a foreigner and like pulling his arm hairs and going through his luggage and making him translate every word in the Korean language to English. It’s a toss up. Luckily, I could always go out on the deck and have all the young teenage girls come up and say “hi, my name is (fill in the blank), how are you?” when I would respond, they would just look at me with blank stares not knowing what to do next. Then I would start talking to them in Korean and they would all giggle as they ran away. Simply priceless! ( Now if only I could get the older ones to do the opposite!) Luckily, around 1 a.m. the deck cleared out and I had it to myself, all until the funny guy from Korea air brought out some Japanese beer for me. I declined, but it raised a lot of questions. We sat out there on the deck until 4 talking about our differences in cultures, religions, and girls. (He brought that last subject up, not me – just to make it clear.)

day 19: the destined hard floor

2008-07-31T17:06:00.000-07:00

Trying to sleep on a marble floor really isn’t the most comfortable thing. But if you don’t take my word for it, then go ahead and try it. It was easy for Jean because he had a couple of drinks with his uncle’s friend. I, unfortunately, didn’t have that pleasure.

After Jean got over his hang over, we headed to another Buddhist temple on the beach. This place is extremely beautiful. If I was Buddhist, or if I knew a lot about being one with nature, I’d probably appreciate a lot more. We went down from the temple and went swimming at the beach. They have absolutely no waves, which is so weird. I was thinking that I’d see some type of sport out there, but it was just a lot of people on inflatable tubes. Jean also has a little bit of a skin deal, so he can’t go swimming, which left me to swim solo. It’s a good thing that I had such a good life saving merit badge counselor because I had to help a girl that couldn’t swim back to shore.

Then we went and ate barbecued clam. I hope by the end of this trip I’ll learn to like sea food like a pure Korean does.

day 18: the boxing match

2008-07-31T16:53:00.000-07:00

Jean was hungry, and it was 7:30 in the morning. Our bus to Busan left at 8:45, so we had plenty of time to go grab a bite. Well, after eating stew for breakfast (that’s a normal thing here) we went back and found out that our bus actually left at 8:00. We had to wait there for another 4 hours at the bus stop for another bus. Luckily, I am well trained in the art of hang man. We arrived in Busan in the late afternoon and met up with a friend of Jean’s family. He took us to the beach and we walked around the area. Here, different companies own sections of the beach and rent out spots to lounge on where you can try out their products while you swim. Then we went to the aquarium where we watched an excellent rendition of beauty and the beast. Only, they changed the beast into a shark, and made it under water. So, it was more like the little mermaid and the shark. It was funny to hear them sing Americans songs, because I had no idea what they were singing, even though it was in English. The pronunciation was terrible. The shopping here is crazy and the Sashimi is amazing. We had dinner at a little sushi restaurant on the beach and I swallowed down some live octopus. Everybody should have a go at that. It’s kind of having a little boxing match in your mouth.

day 17: the variety of squid treats

2008-07-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

what’s better than an American burger? How about a squid burger? Or maybe a kimchee burger? Or even a combination of the too if you wanted? That’s what you get when you go to Lotteria, a knock off of the good old McDonalds. Since we were hungry before our voyage to the southern tip of korea, we stopped in and got a burger. Lets just say that korea should stick to making rice, and America should stick to making healthy foods like hot dogs and hamburgers.

Anyways, the 5 hour train ride was looking pretty dim and boring until I got onto the train. I was welcomed with “let it be” by the Beatles, but only this was the Chinese instrumental version done with a kayagum (one of those oriental harp things). I love how our cultures have made such a great bond through pure talent. I knew that it wasn’t going to be that bad, and fell asleep instantly. I was awoken by a strange smell a couple of hours later. Jean had purchased some Jerky from the little vendor on the train, but it wasn’t the normal type. It was Squid Jerky. And, other than the smell, it tasted pretty good. I can’t get the smell off my hands or breath though, even after scrubbing with soap. Everything has its ups and downs, like the bathroom with windows so you can see if it is being occupied. Ha ha. No joke. But you gotta do what you gotta do.

When we got off the train, we hit up the Buddhist temple where Jean explained what was up with the sweet buildings, gold statues, and the water that you drink right out of the hills. (I just pray that I don’t get some weird mountain bacteria from trying it out.)
Then we came back and went to the hot spring and health club to relax. However, I had a hard time relaxing because the health spas here are like bath houses, and everybody walks around naked. They even work out the buff. There was no way that I was going to go near that weight bench!

Day 16: The Big Surprise

2008-07-23T07:09:00.000-07:00

I have good news and bad news. i think finishing as an optimist is the best thing, so i'll start with the bad news. the bad news is that i won't be living in my little quarters for the next week updating the blog. why, you may ask. well, here comes the good news:

this morning i got a phone call from Kyu and he said that he arranged for Jean and I to go to JeJu Island. the only thing is that we leave tomorrow morning at 5. we're going to stop in KyoungJu, which used to be the old capitol of korea, and see some sweet ruins and do some Buddhist incense burning and who knows what. then we are going to stay the night there at a top notch hotel and get free massages and room service and wear robes. after waking up, we'll catch a bus to Pusan, and spend the day at the beach and snorkeling. we'll spend 2 days there looking at sites and then on to a ferry to the Island. this is some of the bad news i guess, because its a 12 hour ride from the main land to our destination. i guess that just means a lot of solitaire and 20 questions.

we'll arrive on the island on sunday the 27th, stay for 3 days, and then head back home, which will probably take a day or so. our estimated return is the 1 of august. i'm sorry, but i don't think i'll have that much time to keep you updated. but if i get attacked by a shark or get stung by a jelly fish and Jean has to pee on me, then i'll be sure to remember and write about it later. (cuz thats the kind of things that happen on an island, right?)

Day 15: The Line Dance

2008-07-22T06:24:00.000-07:00

The earth would be a better place if there were only less babies throwing up all the time. after english class tonight with the elders, we had a big fiesta to say goodbye to some of the elders and sisters going home. everybody brought some type of treat or drink to add to the celebration. then one of the sisters thought it would be a good ol' time to line dance (because she's from texas and every texan always wants to line dance at every waking moment of existence). so, she got out her CD of country line dancing songs and plugged it into the gym. everybody moved into the tiny room to learn this strange new movement, even the young ones. after 10 minutes, we were all boot scoot n' buggying around, but nobody seemed to realize the fatal mistake this soon would raise. Because there was a table left unattended full of treats, the 4 and 5 year olds thought that this was some new offering that they could splurge themselves on. they came running in, on full stomachs of sugar, and joined us. it was like multiple energizer bunnies running around, and then it was like multiple energizer bunnies throwing up all over the place. the timing was impeccable; one after the other. the funny thing is that the gym also doubles as the chapel. the elders and i spent a while with wash cloths and soap, but i think its just going to be a smell that will have to be absorbed into people's clothing like it was in ours.

before that, the rest of the day was pretty mundane. we went shopping and then Jean took me to a restaurant that serves a bowl of spicy ramen noodles with hot dog. (not real dog like earlier - this is the sausage type hot dog that we have in the states. i hope that i don't have to keep clarifying that...) anyways, the soup came boiling out and jean just kept putting more and more in my bowl. then i realized that he didn't want to pay, so he was making me feel like i ate most of it. he's a tricky fella, that Jean!

Day 14: The Sight of a Thousand Lifeless Bodies

2008-07-21T23:33:00.000-07:00

It took Jean and I about an hour and a half to get there. it was far outside the city where the rent was cheap and the noises wouldn't disturb. As the aroma overcame me, KyuSeuk said, "and if you look in that room, you'll see the limbs." The dark liquid was splattered on the wall and covered the floor, making it almost impossible to walk on without getting it on your shoes; the carving instruments hanging on the wall, shining as if they had done a good job. we walked from room to room observing the master's work while shouting over the heavy machinery that transported the lifeless bodies. The warehouse was the most surprising, with the thousands, standing in rows, yet not a breath in their structures. It was very interesting how the mannequin business worked, and a little creepy to say the least.
After the tour, KyuSeouk took us out to lunch to eat some Shabu-Shabu (this was the 3rd day in a row that i had eaten this... its becoming a very popular dish here i guess - but becoming less popular every time i eat it each day in a row) and we talked shop. We talked about how successful a mannequin business from Korea would be in the states. I shot him some of my business ideas and he gave me some connections of people he knew in korea that could give me a good start. (maybe even financial backing...KyuSeuk is a high roller, so i'm guessing that his friends are high rollers too.) then we hiked back to the bus stop and gave the driver 2000 won (which is about $2.00) to get us back to the city. Jean and i both fell asleep and woke up a few stations farther away than our destination. Jean was running out of time before he had to go practice his driving at the driving school, but we both made time for some Dunkin' Doughnuts.

Day 13: the christian rock info-mercial

2008-07-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

if i was into priestcraft, i'd sure be up for a good ol' time at kim young's church. I kept my agreement today and went with her to her service at SaRang Church. (사랑의 교회) i've been to a lot of churches, but this was more of a rock stage with Jesus' name plastered around. it was pretty impressive though. i'm guessing that people go and feel that they had such a good time that they should pay the people for entertaining them for an hour and a half. (or because the donation bag is passed around and all eyes are on you.) more than half of the time was consumed in the congregations singing christian rock songs, only to repeat the exact same words over and over again. (most of the time it was: Jesus, we praise you. i think i sang those words over 75 times.) the rest of the 45 minutes was a stand up comedy act or chanting your own prayers out loud. it was pretty funny, and i'd come back every sunday just to see that show again. heck, i might even look into it for myself. it could be a good career move.

day 12: the 101st day celebration

2008-07-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

Sitting on a hard wood floor becomes pretty uncomfortable after a while. the typhoon weather is sure taking a toll here and so we've been spending a lot of time inside... with no furniture. Jean was feeling a little cabin feverish in my little living quarters, so we've been studying at his parent's. its a pretty nice apartment, with large windows, a huge t.v. and absolutely nothing to sit on.

anyways, kim young invited us to a first birthday party for her cousin's daughter, and i couldn't pass up any opportunity to get my aching backside off the ground. plus, there was going to be free food. when we got to the building, we found that it was going to be held in the top floor of one the biggest buildings in the area. we rode the elevator to the top, only to find ourselves a little out of place. well, when i say we, i mostly mean just mean me. you know those old country westerns when the outlaw goes into the saloon and the piano stops playing the the bar tender slowly hides behind the counter? it was like that, but more modern and more a lot more balloons. i found kim young, shook some hands, did a lot of bowing, and everything went back to normal. they had the biggest buffet i had ever seen in my life, full of sushi and soups and other good stuff. we packed our stomachs full and then watched the 돌잔치. its when the baby hits its 101 day mark. they put all sorts of items in front of it and have it pick something which will determine what the baby will end up doing for the rest of its life. they have a microphone, which represents music; money, which represents business; rice, which represents food; a long string, which represents a long life; and pencils, which represent learning. its way funny to see the parent's reaction when the baby picks up something. then they take a lot of pictures, give out a lot of rice cakes, and call it a night.

oh yeah, that place is really called "Hunt Kids." catchy name, isn't it?

Day 11: the wild goose chase

2008-07-18T02:57:00.000-07:00

whats black, white, and red all over? a heat exhausted mike nelson wearing a black shirt. Kim Young called me last night and asked me to meet her in 이태원 (little america). I called Jean to tell him that we were going to meet at 10 instead of 12, but he didn't answer his phone. so i slept on it thinking that i'd just call him in the morning. then i awoke to a dead phone (again...). so i went on a wild goose chase trying to figure out how to get a hold of him before i left. i got pretty desperate, so i just asked a stranger on the street if i could use their phone. surprisingly, they didn't even think twice. Jean didn't answer because he was sleeping, of course.

I told the land lady what happened (through a lot of grunts and body language... much like the cave men i saw yesterday) and conveyed a message that if Jean showed up, to tell him that i went to little america. I hopped on the subway and rode it to my destination. I barely made it by 10:00 to the stop that we agreed on, but there was no sign of kim young, so i waited for a little bit. i waited for about another half an hour and then went to find another phone. after another struggle, i got a hold of her. she called this morning and left a message that she couldn't make it. but then when i didn't call her back, she started to get worried, so she called Jean. then Jean ran for 20 minutes to my house, only to find me not there and a land lord acting out grunts to him. so, he called Kim Young up and told her that i wasn't there. she hopped in a taxi and was a block away when i finally got a hold of her. i don't know what the big deal was. i made it there just fine, so i could make it back just as well if needed. anyways, she and i walked around little america for a little bit in the blistering sun (didn't she notice what i was wearing?) and ate at ColdStone. then she showed me a house that she owns that she is renting out. this thing could have been in a horror movie with the barred windows, stray dogs, and graffiti. (which was the first time i had seen that kind of thing in korea.)

Jean met up with us for lunch and we went to the little america's town that is like Beverly hills. (thats why i was semi dressed up) it was a nice restaurant that served geese. with how civilized these people are, you'd think that they would stop killing and eating everything that moved. (I say that because i found out this morning that silk worm is a delicacy.) We then visited the only Islam temple in Korea, hit up some books/cd stores, and caught the train home.

Day 10: The Road Rage to Prehistory

2008-07-17T05:58:00.001-07:00

When Jean showed up today, he asked if i was hungry. that was no big surprise, because he asks that everyday. (mostly because he'd rather eat than do english.) but today was different because his parents wanted to take me to lunch. I said that would be awesome and so they came and picked us up at 1:00. it wasn't awesome.

the next 40 minutes were filled with prayers to god that he would spare my life. Jean's dad isn't the worst driver on this side of the mississippi, but he sure isn't good. and it sure didn't get better when he was cut off by a motorcyclist. we swerved in and out of traffic just so he could catch up and say some choice words to the fellow. (luckily i never learned those words, so i had no clue what he said to the guy. maybe it was a, "hey, sorry to bother you, but maybe next time would you be more considerate to your fellow motorists?" and he was just saying it loudly because of the noise. i'll give him the benefit of the doubt.) anyways, after the ordeal, and trying to keep my pants dry, i asked Jean where we were headed. Lunch didn't seem like an all day event and we had been driving for a while. he told me we were going to lunch with a look like, "duh, i already told you... can't you remember?" we finally arrived at this little shack of a place and sat down for lunch. we had this noodle soup with all the magical creatures of the deep blue sea: clams, crab, shrimp, octopus, squid, seaweed, and there probably was some coral in there too. I don't know. I don't think that it was worth an hour there or hour back, but maybe they just enjoyed the drive or something...

They dropped us off at what Jean called "prehistory". it is an archeoligical site of the netho-something people that lived in korea around 3000 b.c. it kind of looked like jurrasic park, but in a much older korean style. at this point, i didn't know what it was, and i asked Jean if they would allow us to ride the dinosaurs. (Jean is going to have the weirdest view of americans when i leave...) unfortunately, there weren't any dinosaurs, but there were really cool things, such as: broken pieces of clay, straw, sticks, a few bones, mannequins dressed in fur, and a few big maps that i couldn't read. it was sweet! you could go in one of the prehistoric huts and check it out, but no body was going in, so i tried to get a big group to go in with me. (you kind of had to crawl to get into the big room.) my efforts died in vain.

(but check out the cool pictures and video!)

day 9: the rain and sweat

2008-07-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

today it rained... hard. we didn't do anything because Jean was on his last t-shirt for a couple days and didn't want to get it smelling like a musty city. (most people have to go to a laundromat here and its kind of expensive.) so we stayed inside and studied. then i finally talked him into going to get something to eat. it wasn't that good.

he left to go take his driver's license test and i went out and studied in a little cafe. it was funny how people would say: "look, a foreigner!" i just kept on drinking Sweat. (thats the name of the drink. well, actually its Pokery Sweat) what a great name for a drink, eh?

Day 8: the return to familiar territory

2008-07-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

Jean and I studied for a little bit this morning and i made him explain what his ideal girl would be. oddly enough, i imagined Jean with a wig when he was done. anyways, we went back to Technomart again today. we ate sushi at the food court and went upstairs to wait in the long line for our customer service rep to help us. they wear these hideous orange sweaters. (sorry, that was a tangent...) so we were almost up and i reached in my bag to get my passport, only to find it not there. then i realized that i hadn't actually put it in my bag, but it was still sitting on my bed. so, we hopped back on the bus back home. it only actually took us 20 minutes to get home. yesterday Jean missed our stop so we drove around for a while until we came to one that we could get off on, so going back home wasn't a big deal. we grabbed the passport, returned once again to Technomart, and got my cell phone working. I know you could care less about what it looks like, but i'll humor you with a photo. its got a 4 mega pixel camera, 1 gig memory chip, and connects to the internet for only $10 dollars a month. (this is a pay as you go phone too.) man, i wish america would jump on this band wagon!

Jean had a hot date with his girlfriend, so he left me to my own devices for the evening. i helped the missionaries teach english class and i remembered how much i don't miss that. their class is huge though! they probably had about 55 people show up. they divide everyone up into levels. i got the beginning level which was ok, because its mostly just acting instead of teaching. then Jean's uncle called me up and asked me to come to dinner with him. i hopped on the subway to the restaurant and we ate some weird noodle stuff. he's a pretty funny guy for how much i understand. i found out that he's funding most of this for Jean. (even though Jean's parents make bank at their restaurant. its packed until 3 am everyday.) after force feeding me once again, we made arrangements for some more sight seeing and better sushi restaurants.

Day 7: the Technomart

2008-07-14T05:58:00.000-07:00

i am pretty sure why star trek fans are such huge fans of asia. today we went to Technomart - a 12 story mall full of electronics (see picture). My phone doesn't work and there they have the customer service for my provider, which is SK. (man, SK keeps on coming back and biting me in the butt!) there were rows and rows of everything you could imagine. anyways, the place was packed with shoppers and we waited over an hour to talk to somebody. well, it turns out that they couldn't help me without a passport since i would be the primary user of the phone. sadly, my passport was back at my apartment, which was a 40 minute subway ride. so, we made the best of it and went and saw a movie (which is the top floor of Technomart).

Then we met up with Jean's aunt for dinner. we had 갈비 which you cook right in front of you. it was super good, but you leave smelling like meat. Jean's cousin came too, and Jean told her how i had dog meat. she didn't say much to me the rest of the night and i asked Jean if she was upset. he told me that she is a dog beautician. i didn't need to ask any more questions.

Day 6: the North Korean Spy Game

2008-07-13T04:42:00.000-07:00

I was supposed to go to church with Kim Young today. (It was a deal that i made a long time ago.) the bad thing is that you have to have some type of nifty card to use the public phones here, and i don't know where to get one. so, i couldn't call her and ask for directions... meaning that i went to the mormon church. i made a pretty big idiot of myself in sunday school. they were talking about the anti-nephi-lehis and i thought, "yeah, i've got this in the bag if they ask me a question. i know that story like the back of my hand." well, turns out that i nailed the story, but flopped the question. they pulled a fast one on me and changed the subject 30 seconds before i got the question. i had no clue. after giving my grand sermon on how we too must bury our weapons, temptations, and sins, the girl next to me leaned over and said: "uh... we are talking about different thing." i slumped right back into my chair.

When sacrament started, Jean showed up. (I left a note just in case he was feeling better and wanted to study today.) I was thinking, "sweet! i didn't even have to extend an invitation and he came. why wasn't my mission this easy?!" then he said, "we must go. my parents waiting." i hadn't met Jean's parents before, and i didn't want to make a bad impression, so i packed up my things and left. his parents were parked around the corner in a van, dieing in the heat. I did the bows and and all that jazz, and they ushered me into the van. i didn't know where we were going, but everyone seemed excited about it. we pulled up to this tiny place that was crowded with people. i soon realized that we were at a restaurant waiting to be served. we sat on the floor (my legs still aren't getting adjusted to sitting indian style for an hour) and i asked what we were going to eat. they said, "보신탕. Jean said you wanted to eat 보신탕." I had no idea what 보신탕 was, so i said, "yeah, sure. sounds delicious." they brought it out and it was just like anything i had eaten before in any korean place. the beef was really tender and fatty, but other than that, it was just another traditional meal. when we walked out i told Jean that it was really delicious. His uncle turned to me and said, "that was dog. i didn't think you were going to like it, but i'm glad." I had previously made a lot of jokes about eating dog with jean, but i then realized that hadn't probably picked up on my sarcasm. oh well, it tasted good!

we hopped back in the van and we kept driving for about an hour, until we finally arrived at the DMZ. this is where the North Koreans and the South Koreans have their border. its divided a river, and the only thing that connects the two sides is a rebuilt bridge that is built next to one that was blown up. we stood on one side of the river and stared down those dirty northerners. i was pretty intimidating, so i think they'll be signing a treaty pretty soon. and i know they saw me because i was the only white guy there, and especially because i was the only person wearing a shirt and tie.

The good thing about it the trip was that they have turned it into an amusement park to show off how much fun it is to be free. The sad thing is that it was 10 times as bad as Lagoon. I don't know which is better, walking around in a shirt and tie in an amusement park, or going on spinning, loopy, and crazy roller coasters on a stomach full of dog meat. i almost lost it on the "super viking" which was a ship that went back and forth high and higher in the air. The lagoon has one just like it next to the swings, but this one has such a cooler name. plus, when the koreans say it, it comes out as "shoopah biking". thats worth it right there.

we finished the night off by eating at Jean's parents' restaurant. they own this amazing chicken place that puts every Boston market, KFC, and Popeyes in the dust. (its a sit down restaurant though.) i don't like fried chicken, but this stuff must have been drenched in MSG or something because it was amazing. i was introduced to the whole staff and we ate next to the kitchen because the place was packed from wall to wall. and when we left, my stomach was packed from wall to wall with the dogs fighting the chickens. i sure hope one of them wins before i fall asleep!

Day 5: the sign

2008-07-13T04:16:00.000-07:00

day 5 was pretty uneventful. Jean was super sick, so he stayed home, which left me to wander through the city. it would have been fun, except God decided to make it rain all day, which dampened my exploring spirit. i ended up working on the english program and then i watched some korean dramas. i finally got hungry enough to go get a bite to eat, and when i did, there were the mormon boys walking down street. turns out that the church is only a 15 minute walk away from where i am staying. i wouldn't have ever been able to find it if they didn't draw me a map. its its down this skinny alleyway that doesn't have a street name. (that is pretty typical here.) anyways, on the walk back, my hands became extremely sticky from a sweet bread that i bought from a street vendor. so, i started looking for a bathroom and i came across this sign. "disabled man bathroom"...person wearing a skirt... you do the math. maybe this just means that only gay people are handicapped? hmmm... i'll have to sleep on this one

Day 4: the demonstration

2008-07-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

well, sorry kids, i didn't get any of those line dance pictures for you. it was way too risky. this morning was even more hilarious though, because i got there for the ending and they all lined up and started hitting eachother on the back and on the butt. then they all had a good ol' laugh. i really felt like i was looking onto a prison yard scene or something. those silly koreans...

anyways, we started our day off with some lunch at a little whole in the wall place. we found a coupon on the street, so we thought we'd try them out. (we constantly see the businesses place coupons on the ground instead of handing them to people.) they handed us aprons because it was like spaghetti but with a spicy red pepper sauce. so, there we were, with our little aprons on, sitting on the floor, eating noodles with chopsticks. what a sight.

we finished and hopped on the subway. in the back of every car, there are 6 seats. i found out from jean that its an unwritten rule that you leave those seats for the elderly. but when the elderly get in fist fights, you can step in and take one of their seats. Luckily, thats what happened today. there were 2 grandpas sitting next to each other, and one of them said something in low form to the other. thats another big no no. so, they started yelling at each other and then shoving each other around. Jean and i bravely intervened, but Jean got punched. it was pretty funny and we all had a good laugh.

we got out at MyoungDo, which is a big mall. if i was a girl, i'd probably think it was heaven. there were shoes and sunglasses everywhere. its almost seemed that this was the only thing that korea was manufacturing. it got boring real fast so we caught a taxi and went to a museum. the place was a ghost town. i guess everybody else already knows korean history, so we had the whole museum to ourselves. there was this ceramic pottery puzzle for children that was impossible. it took Jean and I about an hour to put it together. if i had every wanted to become an archaeologist, i buried those hopes in that moment. it just proves how genius these asians really are... minus Jean.

after that we hit up a demonstration against american cattle regulations. i don't really know what it was all about, but there were about 300 police officers standing to pounce at the scene of a riot. people were throwing water balloons at big signs of ranchers and stuff. it was crazy fun. we actually went to go see the fountains and stream that ran through the plaza, but when we showed up, we couldn't turn back because the police had blocked the way. so, Jean and i made the most of it... meaning that we walked through it and found another way out. but atleast now you can say that you have a liberal friend that participates in demonstrations against the united states.

Day 3: the conquering

2008-07-10T05:08:00.000-07:00

I can't wait for tomorrow to go back and take a picture of what i experience this morning. on my morning jog through the city, i discovered a mecca of elderly fitness addicts that were doing some kooky version of line dancing for aerobics. I'm starting to guess if that is where everyone is in the morning, since they aren't working. It is a little park full of pull up bars, circle things, jumpy things, push down things, weight benches, and a courtyard for hitting birdies for badminton. (you actually can't play badminton, you can only hit birdies to each other... simply amazing!) Sneaking a photo might be like sneaking into Tibet, though. Its definitely doable, but highly tricky.

after the stores opened, i made my way to get some school supplies for Jean. i don't know if its because i'm white, but every store i walked into, i had somebody follow me around like i was going to steal something right off the shelf. at first it made me uncomfortable, thinking that they couldn't trust me and all that jazz, but then i made a game of it. when i was in the shoe section, i asked them if they knew what kind of shoes the president of korea wore, because i wanted to buy the same kind; when i was in the electronics section, i asked where the typewriters were (that took me a while to translate typewriter); and when i was in the bakery section, i asked them if they thought that i'd gain a lot of pounds if i ate cookies everyday. seeing the looks on their faces was priceless!

Jean showed up on time and we studied for a couple of hours. we got hungry, so we made ourselves some ramen noodles... korean style. (thats actually how they are supposed to be since the koreans have mastered the art of the complex ramen noodles) Jean is a pretty good cook. he added just the right amount of water to the mix and it turned out perfect. during lunch i found out that he has a girlfriend that he has been dating for 2 years. she goes to some university, but they both don't want to get married until they are atleast 30. (i guess thats a normal thing here.) so they are betrothed to each other until then.

after lunch we packed our things and went hiking. but first we had to take the subway. i saw my first white person today down there. i'd love to hang out down there more, but its so stuffy and crowded, plus people think you are weird if you hang out in the subway. it took us about 40 minutes to get where we were headed, and then we had to take a 10 minute taxi drive to get to the mountain. its called NamSan. it is actually an old fort that the chinese built in 1280. from the NamSan tower, you can see all of seoul. it was awesome. i bet it would be even more beautiful at night, where everything is lit up. multiple people told us to come back with girls so we could get some action. ha ha. what you do is you grab a lock, and there is only one key. the lock is supposed to represent your unbreakable love for each other, and the key is the only key to your heart. real sappy, but there are thousands of these locks at the top that are locked to wires from the look out. i felt like i was some korean dimension of sleepless in seattle or something.

The mood soon changed when we saw an old fashioned beheading for us! (that, i wouldn't take a girl with me, but it was still sweet!) there were these people that acted like traditional fighters for the army and they cut stuff up, including a fake person. It was like the last samurai, but more real and less blood. what else could someone ask for?

on the walk down from the mountain, i figured that koreans love to be extremely close to whoever they are with - meaning that they are pushing you wherever you go. not only was Jean leaning into me, but everyone was shoulder and shoulder. when we got to the bottom i felt like i had been rubbing against a wall for a couple of miles.

We ate dinner with Kim Young and her husband. it was a 5 course meal that was super weird and super expensive. we had everything from crab (head, claws, body) to moss/algae soup to clam stew to halibut to swordfish. it was disgusting; it was amazing; it was indescribable.

day 2: the jet lag

2008-07-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

You know, if everyone wanted to follow D&C 88, flying to korea would be ideal. this whole "early to bed, early to rise" thing isn't too tough when you are super jet-lagged. i woke up yesterday morning around 5, went and ate some rice and kimchee from our little shared kitchen, and started my day. (the thought of eating kimchee probably disgusts many of you, especially for breakfast. but i say, "when in rome...") i worked a little on the english program, not knowing where to start, and then finally went to go get some shampoo, a towel, and a few more things from the store. It was about 8:30 in the morning, but this place was a ghost town. the only people walking around were school kids dressed up in their little uniforms trying to catch the bus. i walked around for an hour, but didn't find one store open. (not even coffee stores!) so, i just went home and waited for Jean to show up. but i realized that i still needed to shower, so i grabbed some soap from the kitchen and used an extra t-shirt for a towel. there's nothing like being a boy-scout and improvising...

Our lesson was supposed to be at 11, but Jean didn't show until 12. i'm starting to think that i should get used to this kid being late. anyways, we studied for a few hours, and then i made him go with me to buy the things i needed. i asked what time the stores usually opened, and he said that they open around 11. we played the 20 questions game so he could practice asking questions. when it was his turn to guess, he would always say, "it is big?" it took us about a half an hour before he started saying, "is it big?" He's a funny kid, but i don't have my work cut out for me.

on the way back i saw 2 people drive down the sidewalks. they don't have curbs here, so its pretty easy to just pull up on the side walk and do whatever you want. so, the city has started to implement little 3 foot pedestals every few feet to discourage this behavior. it doesn't really work. since there is no parking, people just park their cars wherever they feel like. its pretty amusing.

when we got back, Jean came back up to my room and used the internet. he said he usually goes to a internet cafe (which they call PC rooms) and checks his email and plays starcraft. but since i have it for free, why not use mine? we made some plans for the upcoming day, i gave him some homework and then he was gone an hour later. i thought i'd take a quick cat nap because of all the walking and trying to pull the lost/forgotten korean from my brain. i slept for 12 hours, and woke up at 4 in the morning..."early to bed, early to rise..."

The Arrival

2008-07-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love to fly? I don't see how one couldn't when they are surrounded by 4 nuns for a couple of hours, and then given their own little entertainment center to try to keep them from killing themselves on a 12 hour flight. Plus, theres the occasional random screening and watching another man get full on patted down and violated in public. ahhh, the wonderful aspects of flying...

anyways, i left Monday morning and arrived Tuesday night. I schmoozed my way through customs and went and picked my bags. I was told that I was going to have Jean (the 20 year old college guy i'm teaching english to) be there with a limo. well, that was only half true. Jean showed up a half an hour late with a public bus. Furthermore, he doesn't speak a lick of English. Luckily for me, he was able to use his sweet techno cell phone to translate all the words that he wanted to express. He is going into the service in October (its a mandatory thing here in korea) and then he's going to go to school for exercise science. He's a pretty easy kid to talk to... for as much as I can get across to him.

we rode the bus for 2 hours and arrived in Jeunho. We pulled my luggage through the streets for a couple of miles and then finally arrived at where i'm staying. its called "싱글하우스21" which is "singleshouse 21". I'm on the 4th floor with a studio apartment. well, i don't think studio is a good word for it. more like a crawl space. the cool thing is that i have my own little bathroom. you shut the door and its a toilet, sink, and shower all in one. the land lady is pretty cool, but i don't understand a word she says. ha ha. this is going to be a fun 6 weeks!

When i woke up this morning I thought i woke up in a hot sweat, but then realized that there was just condensation on everything in the room. its extremely humid here and you feel like you are drowning. running this morning was like swimming through an extremely dense, invisible, and smelly fog - definitely took a few years off of my life.