Mulloskeys Adventures Abroad

Why oh why did we not get bikes earlier?!?!  It was our friend Ben and his generous hand down of his bike to me that inspired us to get one for Erin as well. It just so happens we live next to Ansan’s largest park and bike path.

There is no better way to get around and see a city than by bike, with the possible exception of hovercraft. When you don’t have a car, it really can change everything. Bike owners can appreciate the unbridled freedom, the desire to explore and find hidden treasures all about town. First let’s take a look at the park’s perspective:

From the park, off a humble offshoot of a path, is an underpass. To our amazement and surprise it opens up to the sea, and adjacent wetlands and tidal mudflats. A light ocean breeze seemed to push us along as we marveled at the serene beauty and abundant sea birds that have been in our backyard this entire time. Stunning.

Bike riding isn’t just about parks and bike paths. The true afficianado enjoys the inner-city streets and alleys aswell. In Korea such a journey is about searching out new restuarants, markets, and pubs. Moreover, it’s about having no destination at all. its about always being ‘at’ where you are ‘going’ , already and not yet there simultaneously – such is the journey of life right? We were near the neighborhood where many migrant factory labourers lived. This was the perfect place to buy a large Tsingtao beer to cool off in the mid-day sun. We hit a bench in the nearby park and had no idea what was about to happen….

Korea is a magical place of random events and spectacles. You never know when one will happen – but something great will happen. Today it was a group of men drinking and eating across the park. One of them spoke very little English – the worst amount. He introduced himself as “Phil Kim” and started going on about the singer Kris Kritsofferson. Now when a drunk korean man is talking to you… you are trapped. There is no way of politely leaving with his dignity intact so you tough it out.  This time however, was rewarding beyond measure. Not because of the ice cream they bought us, but for the sweet serenade:

On our way out of the neighborhood we happened upon a drinking and driving checkpoint – like Canada’s R.I.D.E. program. The only difference was this was 1:0opm in the afternoon.. oh Korea, I love you.

With too much ambition we rode for almost 2 hours to the costal village of Oido, which you may recall from horrible food poising 3 years earlier. 

It was sunny and beautiful and we weren’t going to eat anything. What could go wrong? How about a flat tire. So what would you do? Cant pump it at gas station, there’s a hole in it. Can’t take a taxi with the bikes. Can’t take a bus with the bikes. There are no bike stores in town. And you are in a rural part of a foreign country with little to no English and your Korean is pretty bad. Let it sink in..

So what did we do? In a country where anything can be sold off the back of a truck anywhere, we happened (by sheer chance) to stumble upon a moblile bike repair guy parked at the side of the road. GOD I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!!!  Here he is fixing my bike, putting in a new inner tube and sealing the leak – for $3.

I think it’s still worth talking about the amazing entrepreneurs that work their tail off from various trucks all around this country. You can’t go 5 mintues wanting or needing something without finding it. It is such a uniquely Korean experience that I truly take for granted. Let’s say you have been though the long end of the meadowlands trail. You want a place to sit, a snack and perhaps a cold one? But there is no commercial area or restaurant nearby – no problem. There is a truck for that:

Now it’s tomato and weird yellow melon season. You want fresh from the farmers market – not that unripe stuff that goes to the big grocery stores. And I don’t want to walk more than 100m. Theres a truck for that too!

But what about my vegetables you say? And what’s that? You have a fear of trucks since one ran over your cat?..  leave it to the ajumas to sit on the sidewalk doling out everything and anything green or with a bulb on it.

As one gallivants around town, in and out of public spaces and parks, you are sure to encounter countless pieces of public art. Some are more obscure than others – but I am no art critic.

What would bikes be if we didn’t use them at night too? The park is abandoned on Sunday evenings and the perfect place to go with a mat and a bottle of bubbly, and listen to the frogs croak. It just so happens to be a great place to take some photos. The takeaway message here (teachers in Korea and everyone everywhere) – GET BIKES!

And the frogs sing us out…

It was three years and 8 megapixels ago that we first blogged about Buddha’s birthday in Seoul. If the quality of the photos and the intense colour of their subjects wasn’t so magnificent we might have left it as is. So, in an effort to increase readership in the 21st century, this will be short in text, and, hopefully, dazzling in photos. First stop Jogyesa temple and the lighting of the lanterns. Don’t worry, there is a video too.

Sorry about the end of the video – I happen to run into an old friend who didn’t know we were recording.

I want my back yard to look like this. Wait, I want a back yard.

Erin loves the feature that allows us to isolate certain colours – what a way to experiement here in the sea of colours.

When the sun goes down, it’s time for the parade. This is a top 3 MUST NOT MISS annual event in Seoul. Can’t think of the other 2 right now, I just didn’t want to say it was #1 in case I excluded something and sound like a douche. In another act of Korean generosity and hospitality, some nice Korean woman gave the girls in our group free lanterns.

Let the parade begin. Somewhere in the middle was a hilarious Buddha’s ‘helicopter’ float. The connection to Buddha? Thats a head scratcher.

We are nearing the end of this time abroad, and only a handful of posts remain. Stay tuned….  

For those of you just joining us “Jorkat” is the combination of Jordan and Katie. It seems our friend Mike “Migs” Mulqueen (yes, we claim it was him and not the tabloids that coined Brangelina) started a trend among couples several years back when he merged our last names in Mulloskey (Mullin + McCloskey). It was such a hit that virtually all couples to follow were handed such monikers.

What was intended to be a short 4-month stop in Korea for these authors became even more enticing when we learned our close friends Katie and Jordan would be spending a year in Korea. When they had decided to come in the winter of 2008, we were overjoyed but admittedly pissed off. We had spent 2 years in Korea with no intention of returning. Yearning always for more friend visits (after the wonderful time with the Mulqueens in 2007), you can imagine the frustration of learning our friends were coming for a year, but not until after we had returned to Canada. So our hands were tied. We booked our flights and signed another contract in August 2009.

Since then we have had many adventures together. We have been generously included into their amazing group of friends, both expats and Koreans. We became part of their community and their couch. We experienced laughs and tears, food and culture, hugs and more hugs. We even have a theme song. They were there for us as a reminder of home and example of true friendship, especially when we found ourselves homeless and unemployed for the month of February. There are so many highlights to share and I will do my best to cover most and honour our amazing time together. The trip that sealed the deal – our trip to Taiwan together has already been covered in great detail, so go ahead and assume that is #1. As for the rest, these memorable experience fall in no particular order:

McMullorkat – A 4-way combination of our names. Yes, it is awesome!

Sleepovers – Even (or especially as Erin likes to point out) as an adult, sleepovers can still be fun. That is…  unless you have the spins and duck out to bed early to avoid being sick and Jordan jumps onto the bed to test the limits of your gag reflex. Katie is the unsung hero of getting coffee for us in the morning. I don’t use the word “hero” very often….

Screen golf – As flat land is a valuable commodity in Korea, the golf courses are rare and expensive. Instead residents have a plethora of screen golf establishments to visit when the urge to slice one’s ball, curse, and slam your club arises. We would have gone more often if there was more than 1 place in the entire country with facilities for a left-handed golfer.

The cool part is there is a beer cart but it’s a girl pushing an actual cart from room to room. There are couches to sit on between shots and one has the pleasure of a digital driving range to warm up on. A machine auto-loads your ball onto the tee or mat, and video replay shows just how much worse your swing is getting with each passing of the beer cart. What impressed me the most was that the platform actually moved to match the slope of the ball lie on the screen. See here how Jordan is chipping from the side of a hill? This is the closest I will ever come to playing Pebble Beach.

Halloween – I had only met Jorkat’s friend and co-worker Kirsten once before I found myself handing her $40 for two costumes for Erin and I. She found a website with a bunch of different animals. Jordan was regretfully a bit wet-blanketish on this day – choosing to go as himself in a baseball jersey. Boo. We headed into the university district and got sloshed. We danced up a storm and constantly berated the DJ to play our newly discovered theme song. PS – Koreans don’t dress up on Halloween – we got some stares on the bus.

(Below –  Photo Credit: Jorkat)

Hiking – The fall is the perfect time to hike this beautiful country. Equidistant from our places towers the picturesque Gwanak mountain. We met there and set off on our way up.

A gorgeous temple greeted us near the top. The serenity was only broken by the sound of jet engines overhead. Unable to spot the source, our curiosity lingered until the next day (see zoo below).

Nothing beats the feeling of triumph and sense of accomplishment of reaching the top of a 3 hour trek up a mountain. Unless of course there is a nice cold one waiting for you at the top. I managed to fit 4 tall boys in a small cooler bag in my backpack and lugged them all the way to the top. The plan was to unveil my surprise at the summit and accept the various accolades that I am the best guy ever. Alas, (I should have realized that ‘This Is Korea’) there was a guy with 3 fridges full of beer selling frosties at the top of the mountain. Jordan offered to buy me one before I even had a chance to whip my backpack off. The view was spectacular.

Zoo – One of our best days, if not the best, from our last time in Korea was a fall day at the zoo.  Despite being tired and sore from the hike the day before, we pushed on to the zoo. We couldn’t walk the next day – it was a mistake, but we saw all kinds of cool stuff, including and especially the air show planes overhead.

My favourite part was a fenced in leaf pile where kids were having an all out free for all. They were in their glory and we just soaked in the inocent joy. That, and we took a thousand photos.

Sporcle – Lazy sunday afternoons doing online trivia. We could never quite get 100% right. Except for the quiz with only one question… “Things Meatloaf Won’t Do for Love”……………(Answer: that)

Talking about Twilight – I do not need to post a photo of Edward because he is already in my dreams *sigh*. Still, if Edward is, like, the perfect guy ever, and Bella is ‘drawn’ to him by some mystical force, could she really be that conflicted about Jacob? Yeah, okay fine, he left her for a while and Jake was there for her, but come on… I’m not buying it.

Exploring Seoul - Jorkat’s neighborhood had it all – everything a foreigner could want. It’s no wonder why its residents rarely feel the need to explore other parts of the city. Yet with time in Korea fleeting we managed to hit some of our favourite spots together.

Shule - This was an offshoot of a fundraiser our friend Pat does back home. Pat’s sister ran it here in Korea.Readers Digest version: ‘Shule’ means school. Pat made friends with a guy when volunteering in Africa and promised him that if he went to university there that Pat would raise the money for tuition and living expenses for his wife and children. He is now in his 2nd year of university and despite all of our good efforts leading up to the event, Jordan and I just had to decorate one of the posters in an utterly juvenile manner. No disrespect intended.

 Beer, Wings, Wine, Shwarmas and Nachos – Not sure where to go with this. We love them. We loved them together.

Trip #1 – Sanjeng Lake – A brilliant addition to the Jorkat community in Seoul were Korean friends Eunjin and Hooyoung. It was a great priviledge to hang with them in Seoul, and an even greater one to get taken on a roadtrip to the country. It’s ironic how going on a trip makes us feel most at home. It felt just like we were headed to the cottage for the weekend.

We packed our costco bags into a rented van and, despite Eunjin’s driving, we made it there safely. The suite was nestled in the mountains near a man-made lake. We had a blast! Bonding with Darren and Kirsten was an added bonus. Strange art was confusing.

Cuddle Puddle & Katie at her best…..

Noraebangs… Is it legal to have this much fun singing?

(Below – Photo credit: Jorkat)

“F*ck the Sun” – This was the lasting motto for Jordan’s birthday and all-out gong show. The line was famously uttered by my sister on a recent trip to Vegas. Without knowing it she had partied all night. When a friend saw the sunrise and suggested sleep, my amazing sister in typical party-bully style retorted “f*ck the sun!”

So that was the plan. All night with a sauna in the morning to throw up in. As per the birthday boys wishes we all donned his sports jerseys and headed to the noraebang.

(Below – Photo Credit: Jorkat)

Before heading to the Suana/bathhouse at 5am, Jordan had the brilliant idea of having a race with Darren. I prayed one of them would fall on their face. Alas. For the record, and as proven in this video -Darren is faster than Jordan. Maybe it’s because he actually looks where he is going.

Christmas - What a special treat to have them with us on the special day. I will never forget Jordan flirting with my mom (very over the top) and his stupid winks to me afterwards. Thanks asshole.

Darren & Kirsten & Brielle – I will miss arguing politics with Darren and my kinship with Kirsten and her love of seemingly random stuff; like wind. I love wind too. Darren is my new BFF. It was a friendship that could only flourish in the absence of Jordan, like a rosebush growing in unweeded soil. We are blooming. Brielle is stylish and awesome, adding a third person to the question “How did Jorkat get so lucky to work with these awesome people?”

(Below – Photo Credit: Jorkat)

Summer in the Park – Drinking beers, having a picnic, Jordan stealing the baseball bat from some kids and insisting on playing until he hit a homerun. Priceless. I forget what that kid with the pool skimmer was all about.

Trip #2 Seokcho – Once again Hooyoung and Eunjin treated us to a roadtrip and weekend away. An even more luxurious suite awaited us in the coastal town of Seokcho, at the foot of Seoraksan mountain and national park. We explored the coast, taking in the fresh ocean air.

We found our dinner at the fish market located at the docks. After we bouth the fish a group of woman filleted them with ninja-like precision.

That night – wine, music and a lot of love. It was coming to the end of our time together. When we played our group song, it sounded just a little bit sweeter.

The next day, we took a cable car up one of Korea’s tallest mountains. We hiked the last bit of it (after taking a huge cable car for the bulk of the journey) - enough to feel overly pleased with ourselves. Here’s what the top of Korea looks like with some handsome dudes on it.

Martini’s – I f*cken love them. I think I will owe Jordan for life. Thanks for bringing martini’s and I together Jordan. You are so classy.

Loving Katie More – Do I mean increasing the amount of pre-Korea love for Katie or do I mean I now love Katie more than Jordan?

Both.

And that, I would easily say, is the real #1 on this highlight list. Katie Algate. Katie, you are a star. A shining star fallen down to earth and wrapped in Lulus. The Foie Gras of friends, the Kobe beef of buddies, the Blue Label of babes. Thanks for putting up with Jordan’s crap so that Erin and I get the pleasure of your company. You are without a doubt my standout highlight of the year.

Our Song – It all started on a night of You Tube clips. You all know it for sure – but to us it will always be, in the way only music can do,  our link to a place and time that was just ours together. Though we left, it will never leave us. ‘It’s like Ive been waiting my whole life……‘

Katie and Jordan. Thank you.

Goodbye.

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Epilogue - Has there been a more heartfelt goodbye in the history of the Korean peninsula? I can only think of one. That scene from the last episode of M*A*S*H, where Hawkeye lifts off from the helicopter and his best friend Hunnicutt has left a ‘goodbye’ spelled out in rocks. Still wets my eyes just to think about it.

Thankfully, I will see you again in a few short months.

Unless you live in a cave with your eyes shut and your fingers in your ears, you know by now Korea has been eliminated in a hard fought game against Uruguay. But our experience watching that game was so epic that it warrants a short follow-up post to our previous one on experiencing the World Cup from Korea.

We had stayed local for the previous 3 games and since this round of 16, do or die game was on a Saturday, going into Seoul was the obvious choice. Being able to cheer on your team in crowds of thousands of people is a once in a lifetime opportunity not to be passed up. We were determined to watch the game in a huge public place and there was only one problem… rain.

At about the same moment on a rainy Saturday afternoon, my friend Darren and I came up with the solution. The game would be shown on the big screens at Seoul’s 2002 World Cup Stadium, a stadium with covered seats! Brilliant!

Along with about 35,000 fellow ‘red devils’, we enjoyed one of the best sporting events of my life… and the game wasn’t even being played there. To give you an idea of the energy, here is the place at 9:30pm.. a full hour and a half before the game started.

To control the amount of people moving through the stadium, security would lock certain gates effectively closing off entire sections of the stadium. ‘Effectively’ if this was anywhere else besides Korea.

Here is more pregame action, right before kick off. Keep in mind that all the people on ground level, and those in the first few rows of stands are getting poured on with heavy rain!

As the game began, it was apparant to one youngster that the large stadium screens were insufficiant for game watching. So he pulled out his cell phone and watched it on its live TV feature.

Korea went down 1:0 early and a strong Uruguay team went on the defensive. This made for an exciting 2nd half full of chances and near misses. Although no one really expected Korea to make it to the finals, or win this game, I still felt entitled to one simple request: a goal.  I told our friends with us that I would not be exessively heartbroken with a loss, but I would be devestated if I couldn’t have just one goal. How can one imagine a spectacle like this without the chance to explode with sheer ecstasy with 40,000 people just once? Oh please god, just once!

It was Lee Chung Yong who’s header answered my prayers in the 68th minute to tie the game, and bring the house down. Erin managed to catch it right as it went in, but in the excitment (in combination with my jostling) stopped recording after 1 second. She immediately started again… so technically there is only one second missing between these two videos. I have never experienced the level of happiness from sports as I did at this moment. And I probably won’t ever again.

It was while releiving myself in the bathroom that Uruguay striker Suarez curled in possibly the most beautiful goal of this world cup, and put an end to the Korean dream. But here is where the story contains real heart – the fans were happy and grateful. The mood was solemn yet very pleasant, as if at the end of an amazing rock concert. They were sad it was over and knew the end would come eventually, but they had a blast while at the show. Fans were still cheering “Dae Han Min Guk” on an exceptionally crowded subway.

I am very lucky to have been here for this experience. Like I said before, I will be a Korean Red Devil for life! DAE HAN MIN GUK!

Stay tuned for a tribute to Jorkat…

As part of our job, Erin and I mark and comment on over 400 diaries a week from each of our 22 classes. 10% of them are sad and depressing – drunk dads, angry moms, incredible stress of school testing, being told they are fat, and of course being hit by parents and teachers. 10% are unintelligible, unreadable and frustrating to mark. A 30% majority are complaints about too much homework. Somehow, 20% are about grandparents birthdays – I think they get more than one each year or something, and 20% are about ”I love the meat” – no joke.

That leaves about 10% for miscellaneous. Many students consult outdated dictionaries when expressing themselves and with the added folly of poor grammar, the result are some truly hilarious entries. Here is an assortment of quotes from some of the dairies this month. These are unedited and as we get them. Let’s start with my personal favourite.

(Note “JLS” is the name of our English Academy)

“Today was my father birthday. My mom was don’t think fathers birthday. Then my grandmother was call the phone. Then Mom think father birthday. My mom fast move. Mom make seaweed soup and woke up we. My mother ask me “you today father birthday gift provision make?” Then I said “No”. But it ok because my father was late come back home. My mother and me and my brother was go to the stationary and we are choose the gift. I choose tape. This tape was listen the tape. And mini electric and cap light.”

“I went to dragon movie with my Dad. Dragon movie was anamation movie. The dad was doze”

“my father is go to the middle school and suffrage. i’m not have a voting. I’m go out of the middle school. My father car tire is hole”

“Today is election D-day 2. My mohter is determination pick HeoSoong. I think maybe HeoSoong being election because another candidate Park Joo Won take bribe. So he is abstention. I like HeoSoong because he is handsome.”

“Today is angry day because teeth is sick. Very sick and blood very many. I’m teeth is window is throw out. I’m sing a song.”

“Today I played with a ball. It was very fun. I like a ball. It is very softy, and very very very and very fun! Ball is my friend. I love my friend ‘Bally’ but today was not mine. Because I lose ball contest. Oh. My God. Oh. I hate ‘Bally’.”

“I got my pocket money today. I earn my own pocket money by helping my parents. I save much of my allowance. I won’t waste my money on useless things.”

“I went to dental clinic. I’m waiting for seqluent (?) but I very very sleep. Dentist called me. My face was covered in toilet paper and my mouth was very pain. My diagnosis was finished. My taste was odd.”

“Today is Korea vs Greece (I wrote when first half finish) Jung Su Lee goaled so I was happy. I want win Korea 2:0, No! 3:0!. Then I will fly sky (That means very happy)”

“To: Grandmother From Ellena (Won You Jin) Grandmother its me, You Jin. Grandmother do you know my english name? Just a six letter E,l,l,e,n,a ok? Its easy. Grandmother, now you know english name. I going to english school. My class is 2DSC.  And Grandmother. Happy Birthday.  The end. Moonsther TV.”

“Sad sad sad sad sad sad sad sad sad sad sad sad sad sad sad because my friend run away. (Steal) my pencil case. So I hit he very many time ^^. I am happy because I revenged.”

“I like TV. But I not working. Im a effort homework. But looking at TV. And listening mother is useless. I think TV is devil. I want not looking at TV.”

“My school teacher marry tomorrow. So she didn’t come to school one week. She comes next week. Teacher said “teacher will show the marry photos” But teacher said “Very shame” But I want to see her husband.”

“Today is very angry day. Because my school teacher steal my pride. Reason is girl friend cheated from my Korean book. Saw school teacher said ‘ you like girl friend?’. That time I’m very be ashamed. And I feel school teacher dislike. After that study time, teacher speech talk turn one’s face away.”

“Yerim is loves Wongi because 1. Wongi is handsome. 2. Wongi is smart. 3. Wongi is tall. So girls everyone like Wongi and I like Wongi. Hoho! Wongi is a prince? … I don’t know. Wongi is every girl hate. Yerim said ‘why you every girl hate?’Wongi said ‘I don’t know.’ Yerim doesn’ like me. I said ‘why you don’t me?’ Yerim said ‘I like you’ but Yerim hate me!!!”

“Today was very pain day. Because today physical an iron bar hang down. Next, leg fights. A side effect, an arm feels very pain. Was walking prickling. Saw school lunch time I can’t play. I’m very sad.”

“Today was a disappointment day. Because test marks is down. It is eighty-four average. But I’m not angry. Reason is mom said ‘that’s ok’. So mom no hit me. I’m very happy.

“Today I bought a chick. Chicks become chickens. Chicks have small wings. Chicks like warm places. It is cute. The chick walks around the house. I will take good care of it.”

“I’m part with my boyfriend together. I’m very sad… my sympathy is gurgling fall… I’m unavoidably…. He’s a plant…. I”m crying and wailing. I’m so bad about my destiny. I’m very very sad. (Diary 2 weeks later) have like people. I’m very happy. He is very handsome. I like he but I don’t know. He’s love who? Ouch! My feeling is very rarity. Oh my God! I want to look at the he. The he is very kind and cheerful. I want he. He is cute. I love him”

“Displeasures thing: Happy, sad, angry, pent-up, regrettable, joy, so-so, bad, gloom. Im happy today because I play much.”

“Today was vote day. My mom and dad were voted. It was very important, so my mom and dad voted seriously.”

“I am sick. I feel sick when my mom make dinner. So I eat but I’m sick about stomache, bowels. I said to mom, and run to bathroom. I go to hospital with my mom and eat the good to eat. Im not sick anymore.”

(Tracy is a Korean teacher) “Today my Tracy teacher was very angry about our class. Because we talk to alot of. When I will Tracy teacher I will do same thing. When she was very angry she talked Korean speaking. Today she was talking Korean words!! This mean teacher is angry. She throw a pen to a computer wayu. I think we’re studying manner is bad. And me too. Sorry sorry teacher. So I will doesn’t do a Korean talking teacher. Don’t throw a pen please teacher. I’m scary. Sorry sorry teacher. This is sincerely.”

“I always don’t do the games but Saturday night to Sunday early morning, I do computer games very long time. I thought it’s not good to do the computer games long time in weekend but one time long game once a week is ok. I saw it in a book.”

(Note “JLS” is the name of our English Academy)

“Today is Saturday. I love Saturday, but I don’t want to go JLS at Saturday. JLS close my special play of the hope. I want to play at Saturday. I’m angry.”

“Today is Sunday. I like Sunday. Because I want to sleep very many. I can do it Sunday! Today I sleep very many times. Up! Up! My feeling is very nice.”

“JLS is an abnormal institute because family’s day Saturday got to academy and homework is abnormal many many. So, I hate JLS. Only study. Only study come Saturday. Uhhhh. I hate JLS. I hate. I revenge!”

“Today very angry day. Because portfolio my dream write. But my dream I don’t know. I’m say “Mom, I’m dream what.’ My mom say ‘you math teacher.’ I’m math teacher draw.”

“My father didn’t have anything. My father ate like a bird. My father had light meals regularly. My father have lost weight. I hope my father won’t gain it back.”

“Jazz dance end I was hungry like a horse. I had a seasoned chicken delivered. The delivery man came fast by motorcycle. It looked delicious. The chicken tasted like heaven I had leftovers”

“Today I knead the fathers arm. Father said “I feel very good. I like you” I like my father too.”

“Today I very funny. Because, my bad friend or I don’t like friend head was very big. I thought it I’m laughed. So, I thought my bad friend’s nickname was big head devil. So, I felt pleasure. Uh. Ha~ Ha~ Ha~”

“I doing IQ test. I was feeling very good. Because I was be a PE talent. I saw my IQ feeling was good. I was shortage go the extra mile. I was from now on study hard.”

“Today I was indoor swimming pool. I can stay under water for a long time. With friend swimming game and I winner with a water fighter. I was stifle big chill. I was from now on dangerous game not.

“We take exams very often these days. I was desperate to go to the bathroom in the middle of taking an exam. I did really bad on my test.”

(written by 9 year old girl) “Today the open the flea market near apartment. Im so happily because there is very many books and many food and many clothes. But I don’t have a money. So I open the my shop. I sell the handbags and dolls and pins. The handbags very active. So I have very many money. Im so happily.”

“Today I only study. Because a little bit more come test. I don’t like test. Anyone don’t like test. But I’m not only a study robot!! I think world is very bad. Because the world is make future new world’s children all study robots!! I don’t like tests or study. So world’s children in all make study robots. World is very not fun.”

(Note: Suarez is Uruguay player who scored winning goal) “Yesterday Korea and Uruguay played the soccer. I didn’t sleep, I watch that. Korea’s players really good but 2:1. Korea lose. So sad. Suarez… Suarez… Suarez… 수아레스! Curse him”

(Note: verdict = referee) “Today is Korea vs. Uruguay soccer game. But. But. But. We’re lose. This loss is verdict’s fault!!! Evidently, Uruguay gives payoff to verdict!!! Verdict’s eyes decay! All of the people saw that, whoever saw that, certainly that was Uruguay’s foul play!!! Verdict is very very stupid, upset, crazy, idiot, lazy, blind person, low animal!!! I never forget him!!! I curse him forever, forever, forever!!!”

(More to come next month… stay tuned)

Hey loyal reader, as you can see our posts are now following the opposite pattern of your comments; coming fast, frequent and, well, existant. Please make sure you are caught up to date as we have made several posts in the last 2 weeks,  some of which are our personal faves.  Cheers.

Erin frequently gets promotional emails for travel packages and weekends away around Korea. We had a long weekend and a desire to get away but this time we would keep it local and not travel out of country in an effort to save some money. We explored many options and nothing quite fit into what were looking for. A Korean coworker found us a charming mountain town with activities, a kitshy room, and a private outddoor hot tub – SOLD!

About 2 hours after our departure, the bus pulled over the the side of the road and the driver shouted “Gangchon.”  I guess this is us.. funny we were expecting a bus station. As the bus pulled away we wondered if this was the right place. We walked across an ominous bridge towards what looked like town.

Our first stop was food. This town is famous for dalk galbi. Basically it’s chicken, cabbage and pounded rice cakes fried in spicy sauce at your table. This is a popular dish amongst foreigners but not my favourite. However I will admit this was the best tasting stuff I had ever eaten – they even gave you an apron! (We will soon do a post on our favourite foods & dishes so I will save the video for then.. instead you will have to settle for a photo and tune in again later).

We managed in mangled Korean to have the owner of our hotel/inn/B&B thing (called ‘pensions’ here) come to town and pick us up. He was a Korean hippie, long hair and track pants who clearly loved his life of living in the country and managing a humble and personable pension. 

The attraction to this particular pension is the ‘romantic getaway’ package. To impress Korean women, the room is covered in teddy bears, balloons, lights, pink nic nacs, the works. (Note: we don’t really know any Korean women who would find this appealing… but bygones). It was a bit creepy actually – I felt like I was in the bedroom of a 16-year old teenager from the 80’s after her friends threw a surprise party. You be the judge:

Please don’t get the wrong inpression – we were loving it and having a good laugh. There was wine in the fridge and we were set. As an added bonus, the owners had an adorable puppy who, probably from the heat and its excessive fur, barely moved when you touched and held it. Erin went into super cute picture happy mode.

Next stop ATVs.  I’ve only been on one once before and it was Erin’s first time. The entire town seems to serve the adventure crowd. On literally every corner are guys renting bikes, scooters and ATVs. The mainstreet through town is buzzing with passing 4-wheelers and inexperienced operators. A very reasonable $20 (20,00 won) got you an hour plus 30 minutes bonus. Sweet.

Hey man where are the videos? If you don’t eat your vegetables you can’t have any dessert. By vegetables I mean looking at our photos first and by dessert, you get the idea.  Voila:

4 weeks later we went away on a trip with some Korean friends and friends (and former co-workers of Jorkat). We happened to be staying in a town nearby and I thought while in the neighborhood, we would hop on the ATVs. Since we are still taking about Gangchon, I am not really vering to far off this post by including some additional pics from that weekend.

Okay, back to the original trip. So on our way back to the pension we shared a van with some Korean couples on the way back to neighboring pensions. Nowhere is “fashion before comfort” more prominent than in Korea. If you were literally off roading and hiking up dirty rocky trails, what shoes would you wear? 

We had some time to kill after ATVing, showering and taking a “nap”. So we hopped on some of the pension’s free bikes and rode into town. Big mistake. The bikes were falling apart and barely rideable. We had no choice – we needed to get dinner. In a small town that specializes in one dish, it’s hard to find attractive options, especially as a foreigner. Since we were in vegging mode, and after a half hour of fruitless searching, we settled for a sketchy looking pizza place. They agreed to deliver to our pension, provided we could ride back there in one piece.

We arrived back home and waited on our deck for the pizza to arrive. It was here that tragedy struck.

First some background….   When our Korean co-worker booked the hotel for us she said it would be $80 for the night. She said the hotel had a nightly barbeque for $15  per person. What would you do? Would you spend $30 on some mysterious BBQ scam at some huge resort? No! You would picture all the trips to Florida, Mexico or wherever and those resort-run events and remember how much of a disappointment and over-priced they were. Further, you would surely expect to be forced into akward socializing with other guests along with some sort of Karaoke or Merengue dance lesson. So naturally we said “No way! You are crazy.”

Unfortunately we were unaware of the small size of the pension resort – 14 rooms. In retrospect we also failed to consider many vital clues, not the least of which that This Is Korea!

It turned out the BBQ ran as follows:

The owner prepared a personal-sized Webber-like BBQ full of hot coals and delivered it to your room where you could dine on your private back patio. What followed the BBQ was a MASSIVE platter of meat (beef, pork loin and pork belly), an assortment of vegetables, and freshly prepared Korean sides. In short, it was the most delicious looking meal we never got to have. One by one we watched the BBQs and meat trays go walking by us and through the doors of neighboring rooms. You can’t imagine how tough our mistake was to swallow. About as tough as it was to swallow the rotten cardboard cheese ketchup pizza that was our dinner.  What were we thinking?

Luckily a post pizza nap made us forget about all our troubles. From there it was time to head out to our deck and private hot tub. Next to food, trains, Phish, lilacs and Erin, hot tubs are propably my favourite thing in this world. This one was a real cadillac. The features and massage angles seemed endless. The warm aroma of chlorine was a welcome mask to of the mouthwatering smell of grilled meat coming from neighbouring decks on both sides.

We awoke to a rainy-foggy affair which only seemed to enhance the beauty and mystique of our mountainous surroundings. We decided to take the train back to Seoul (both because I love trains and because we had no idea when and if a bus would pick us up at the side of the road, across the bridge). Here is what our surroundings looked like as we meandered up to the station.

One cannot be passionate about trains without being passionate about train stations. This one was certainly among the most unique I’ve seen, being carved out of the side of the mountain. That and the fact that it was almost 20 years old (60 in Korean years). As the train approached it lumbered around the mountain, over the trussle bridge and into the half tunnel station in the mountain. Drooool!

On the platform of the station itself, one was reminded of scenes from several creepy horror movies – but in a good way. Neglected merry-go-round horses, bikes and an abundance of graffiti were the perfect juxtaposition to a toothless 80-year old shopkeeper selling snacks and juice to would be passengers. Oh yeah and there were roosters for some reason.

Oh yeah… one more thing. As an encore to our T.I.K.(This Is Korea) post , check out the poignant sign at the train station in Seoul, “Warning Steps Ahead” for going UP stairs (also conveniently posted halfway up the staircase)? Huh?  T.I.K.

‘Korea! Fighting!’ is the English slogan or equivalent of “Go Leafs Go”.  Friends who post this on facebook often get concerned calls from relatives that war has broken out on the peninsula. Kids use it to provide an exclamation point to anything they really like. For example here is a recent diary entry from one of Erin’s adorable young students, “I love Erin teacher. She is beautiful and kind. Erin teacher like English. Funny Erin teacher is yellow hair. Erin teacher you love me too? I love my Erin teacher. Fighting!”

I wasn’t in Canada during the Olympics (with the exception of those in the Vancouver/Whistler area), however I would bet that the enthusiasm and country unity around this tournament is far greater.  After all, the World Cup is the greatest sports spectacle in the world. In addition, it is summertime and all games can be viewed outdoors in public spaces, stadiums and in huge gatherings in parks and plazas. Korea is modest when it comes to soccer, knowing full well they are not a superpower and even one victory is cause to celebrate throughout the night. In 2002, when hosting the World Cup, Korea went on a miracle run right to the semi-finals. There is no expectation of repeating this feat; only gratitude for thesmallest of moments where the country can stand together, cheer and cry out together, united in red. My voice has gone hoarse from hours of cheering “Dae Han Min Guk!” (Republic of Korea).

Here now are some videos and photos capturing the spirit. As foreigners cheering for Korea and donning their team jerseys, our hosts have gone even further to reach out to welcome and include us in their circles.

Game 1 Korea vs. Greece. We had plans to go to Seoul and sit outside with hundreds of thousands of people but the rain kept us at our local watering hole and outside under a sea of umbrellas. Erin captured our reaction just after Korea’s first goal 1:0

The energy was overwhelming and irrestible…  Korea’s best player, Park JiSung (of Manchester United fame), scored a brilliant goal in the second half 2:0 (final score Korea 2:0).

After the game we met up with some other friends and joined in the mass celebration. Koreans were buying us drinks, food and doling out an abundance of free hugs.

Thursday night at 8:30. Korea vs. Argentina. Argentina is a heavy favourite andexpectations were low, especially after going down 2:0 early. We were in a different part of town with about a thousand more people around us,  standing room only. The place went nuts just before the half when Korea scored making it 2:1 in favor of the Argentines (video accidentally deleted). Early in the 2nd half ,I caught what I thought was the tying goal. The breakaway shot hit the side of the net and looking briefly like a sure goal. I was so sure it was in I guessed the change in mood was an offside call. Watch the emotional roller-coaster unfold…

Even with the 4-1 loss, the spirit was high and Koreans, including us, seemed to be pleased with the opportunity to gather and feel united in purpose and experience. Here are some photos.

Now comes the big question. It was Tuesday night, technically Wednesday morning, and the 2hr ‘do or die’ game vs. Nigeria was to start at 3:30am. With a Greece loss Korea only needed a tie to advance to the next round.  Would you get up/stay up to watch the game? Of course we did. And we shouldn’t be surprised that every Korean did the same.

Much to our chagrin, and as is the way with sports, Korea fell back 1-0 early. That was not really a problem to the patrons when Korea tied it up 1-1 shortly after.. You can hear them chanting the player’s name. (Side note: Erin apologizes for the shrieking… the sound quality on our new camera is much better than before.)

Don’t you dare criticize my enthusiasm, large in relative size and obvious foreignness. You just cannot fathom the feeling of these goals. (Unless you are from and living in a country competing in the world cup of course). I love Canada and hockey more than anything; and Crosby’s overtime goal is a moment I will never forget. But the the World Cup is different, and even though I am only partly Korean (12% to be specific), I am telling you that each goal feels like an overtime gold medal goal, maybe more. Since we aren’t expected to win it makes it even more intense. Korea scores again, its 2-1!

As the sky began to brighten with the approaching morning sun, we were riding high. That is until some poor defense lead a Korean defender to foul inside the box – penalty kick Nigeria. They scored and it was 2-2. (It’s important to show both sides of the experience right?)

The second half was ticking away and the energy was still intense. As it got brighter I was thanking the stars that I didn’t have to work until 1pm. My poor Korean counterparts weren’t so lucky.

One more video to capture the surreality with the time of day and the mood. There is a moment in the video where the people start cheering and I comment that I’m not sure why. I learned later that the score of the Argentina vs. Greece game was just posted on screen. Argentina won 2-0, meaning if Korea could hold on to the tie, they would advance.

They did tie and the place went bananas. On to round 2 with a tough match against Uruguay. Anything can happen. In the end, it doesn’t really matter if the journey stops here, being able to participate in this experience in the country I love with the people I have connected to is something I will cherish always. No matter where we are in the future, whatever country we are living in, you can bet that during the next world cup we will find ourselves in a Korean restaurant, donning our red jerseys, and screaming ‘Dae Han Min Guk! Fighting!’

Regardless of the weather, we will be in Seoul for this Saturday’s game. To further my earlier point, the video below is of dedicated Koreans who had taken over the largest plaza and intersection of downtown Seoul and, despite the rain, were out in full force. Here is the first goal against Greece and the crowd reaction. It is my biggest wish to have my own video like this on Saturday and make a World Cup post part 2…

 It was a fine spring day, on a random Wednesday off, that Erin and I decided to finally visit the Seoul Wholesale Fish Market. Like most fish markets worldwide, it is a sprawling facility that sees most of its heavy commercial action in the wee hours of the morning before sunrise. The rest of the day’s action is specifically for public consumers and their appetite for fresh seafood and a good bargain.

As we stepped inside we immediately realized a huge mistake. This was not the day to start wearing our sandals. The floor is covered in water and fish guts. *Splash* “eewww”. Whatever, once wet it didn’t matter. Let’s explore….

Though one finds some familiars like salmon, tuna, swordfish and lobster, they are not very popular in Korea, whether due to price or taste and are thus only sold by a handful of vendors.

Instead, hundreds of vendors display fish that I wouldn’t have recognized before coming to Korea, and still cannot name. There’s the flat fish I see everywhere, the long silvery thing that tastes like mackerel and then there is the outright ugliest fish I have ever seen. Here are some samples:

One of the most interesting sights for me was the giant octopus tentacles. I have heard of giant squid before, but never had I imagine an octopus of this size. For the record, octopus is damn yummy. (My hand is in one of the pics so you can get an appreciation of the scale).

Of course there was king crab, snow crab and other kinds of smaller species found locally. If only we had a pot large enough to cook one up. Only $40 for a decent sized one…  heck I spend that at Jack Astor’s sometimes for a crappy chicken burger and a pint of beer (incl. tax & tip).

Another rarity here are scallops. Too bad because I would eat them every week if they were fresh and at a decent price. Check out what the look like before they are trimmed and cleaned to the shape we are familiar with.

To get a better appreciation for the size and scale of this operation, check out the view from above:

We can’t talk seafood and leave out our friendly mollusks can we? Naturally there are all kinds of clams and mussels here to consume. Almost always they are cooked in some sort of soup or stew. After our disastrous food poisoning experience in January 2007 , there has been little in the way of consumption by these authors, with the exception of some clams in our lemon pepper seafood linguine. Since the clams are alive and fresh, they are still quite active. They stick their ‘tongues’ out at patrons and will actually ’spit’ water, though obviously not meaning to be offensive.

Playing around with the camera and colour settings, Erin managed to grab this photo. This is an all time favourite and will certainly be printed and posted on a wall at home along with so many other classics from her incredible eye and skill. I just can’t figure out which of these two pics I like better. I would value your comments here.

We stepped out the door, having not even bought anything, but feeling very satisfied with our visit. In front of us was Korea’s tallest building, the not-so-cleverly named the 63 building because of the number of floors. It was still early and a beautiful day in Seoul. off to our next adventure…

Our surroundings have slightly changed with our new school and new apartment located right next to Ansan’s famous Lake Park. With the springtime acquisition of cheap used bikes, much more of the city has opened up to us and we have since spent hours touring this beautiful city. Those who designed the buildings, parks and public spaces, especially the landscapers, did a brilliant job of placing various trees and bushes that bloom at different times. For the past 8 weeks we have been treated to the arrival of one flower after another. As one abates, another opens and blooms precisely on schedule. The colours, smells and beauty have made this spring an unforgettable one. I have never seen anything like it. Here they are in order of appearance.

White and Pink Magnolias

Cherry Blossoms: What is spring time in Asia without the ‘no need to go to the festival, we got all your cherry blossom trees right here’?

Even as they ended, we could still play and dance in the falling petals that seemed to rain down like tiny pink butterflies.

Azaleas : Though the Masters is long since over, I still appreciate the namesake of my favourite golf hole at Augusta (#13). It was almost overwhelming to see these vibrant bushes on every corner. Some are as large as..  well you can see.

Tulips: As spring got into full swing, we were surprised to see huge batches of tulips the city had planted riverside. It’s not just the camera – the tulips seemed to glow. Perhaps they were pumped with radiation or some kind of chemical. I swear they were giving off their own light.

The next weekend while exploring another part of town on our bikes, we stumbled upon the tulip festival!  It was the last day of the week long festival and we just caught the last glimpse of these beautiful flowers before their demise. My favourite patches were the ones the tulips shared with daisies or posies.

Lilacs: If I were to put together a top 10 list of my favourite things in the world, lilacs would certainly be on that list. To me they are the perfect flower, abundant in appearance and fragrance. Besides my lovely wife, they are my favourite smell I have ever breathed. In previous years, I hadn’t seen them in Korea - or at least in our area. This year was a pleasant surprise. Nothing beats the feeling of sticking your face into a bunch of lilacs and taking a slow, deep breath.

The Lilacs are usually the the last to go and by now the weather is so warm, the trees and grass are so green that people are fully into summer mode have since forgotten their sorrow over the falling of petals. Same goes for life back home.

Well, Korea has a surprise for you. Along all the perimeters of schools, apartments and business complexes are endless rose bushes. The famous red flowers bloom and re-bloom for several weeks right up into August. Simply beautiful. Thank you, Korea.

Oh and what’s this? An encore of poppies popping up in mid June!

Okay enough of the flowers. More interesting and humorous posts to follow…

In an effort to squeeze in both the small odds and ends and some of the medium sized events we thought it best to put together a sort of miscellaneous post to get us up to speed. For this purpose, there will be minimal commentary beyond simple captions. Also, you will be please to find many interesting and funny videos (we hope). Foreigners here (and by that I mean we started saying it) have a saying for odd things like the following:

The real theme of this post: T.I.K. – This Is Korea.

Lets start with a business across the street from our apartment: Lourdes Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute of Los Angeles. ?

We stayed at another love motel (this time in Ansan) the week before moving into our apartment. Here are some of the complimentary toilettries they offered us. “This product does not generate dioxin when it is burnt” and “Woman Cleanser” (for those of you who can’t read the caption on the cleanser… ‘To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven. Love is stronger than pride.’)

A couple other randoms from around town. The way people accesorize their dogs here is simply ridiculous. Erin is still determined to capture some of the white dogs who have their ears dyed different shades to match the accessories of the owner. Here also is a dancing hotdog, a life-sized creepy plastic zoo in our local park, ‘Greenpeace Chicken’ restaurant, and god knows what the cat legs are.

My new #1 pic of Erin – she’s so gangsta

Korea is, by and large, an extremely homophobic country. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that anything other than heterosexuality is so behind closed doors that people don’t even talk about it or consider it to be a real issue. The shame on one’s self and family ensure thousands of Koreans are living lives where they can’t be themselves – heartbreaking. The point of this caption is how ironic it is to a foreigners eyes that in such a homophobic culture one can still find men so openly affectionate. I’m not just talking about scrubbing eachother in the bathhouse, I mean on the streets. It is very common to find men, more often than not drunk, holding hands. Strange, given the intolerance? No, T.I.K.

For fellow train lovers here is a shot of the old tracks that once ran though Ansan. To the right is its replacement, an above ground electric subway to Seoul.

Korea is a surprisingly Christian country. Moreover, the Christians here are much more evangelical than their counterparts in Canada. You often find people singing in public places, handing out flyers, knocking door to door, or walking around with megaphones and posters telling you about life in hell should you not get on board. The only time this is an issue for me is when people say I look like Jesus. To Koreans, I suppose anyone with a beard and big nose would share such a moniker.

Anyways, in an effort to promote some local church, on Easter they actually put easter eggs on your door. No not chocolate, actual eggs. Check out the pic of giant body, small head cartoon Jesus. Stairway to heaven? T.I.K.

One thing I envy about Korea (there are many) is that because the geography is so small, they are able to broadcast TV to any mobile device. On the subway, buses, and sometimes in class, Koreans are watching live TV on handheld devices or phones. At the same time navigation units are pretty much standard in all cars here, and certainly in all taxis. So how are the two related? The navigation system now doubles as a full cable TV in cars. And your driver is watching it while he drives. Crazy? Afraid for your life? Don’t be…..T.I.K.

One of my favourite things about Korea is the “sell anything, anywhere” mantra. Of course there are bylaws, but if running a red light is acceptable to police, surely selling some crap on the side of the road won’t land you in trouble. Plus, it adds to the entreprenurial spirit that truly drives this country. On virtually every corner you will find trucks selling everything from fruit, to fish, to clothes, to knock-off Louis Vitton hand bags. My favourite is the rotisserie chicken truck… surprisingly no hospital food poisoning visits resulted from that one.

Quick side bar here. You and your friends are out for some beers and walk into any local pub. With your brews come a variety of complimentary bar snacks. No, not peanuts or pretzels… you get to have styrofoam flavored green mystery bites. There are others, like the ones being sold in giant bags (pics above and below) but they literally all taste the same. All foreigners complain – but we just can’t resist eating them. How appetizing do they look? ugh…T.I.K.

Continuing with the theme of sell anything, anywhere, let’s talk about Soju tents.  I have no idea if that is what they are really called or if we made that name up, but thats exactly what you get; a tent and soju.  Actually, its’ a truck turned portable restaurant. On the back of the truck is a full kitchen with food and drinks on ice. The tent is set up with table and chairs and the menu drapes on the side of one wall. All of this on a public sidewalk. All of it packed up and gone in the morning. This is a huge T.I.K.

Some others from the Summer of 2008…

The demilitarized zone spand 2km on either side of the border between North and South Korea. Propaganda has told visistors and residents that the 2km zone is now a beautiful nature reseve. Heres a propoganda video from the archives to help me explain:

So what better place to find natural clean spring water than in the DMZ? Wait, doesn’t water travel from one place to another? Hmmmm.

“DMZ Water – 2km” - T.I.K.

There is a wonderful tradition here for any new store opening. It doesn’t matter if it is a chicken place, a shoe store or in the case below a pet/pet supply store, the same flare is unveiled at the grand opening regardless. So what is this flare? Well it seems there is some company that is hired to promote new businesses when they open and this is what they provide. 1) Large balloon archway over store entrance, 2) Creepy Korean clown man on stilts making balloon animals. 3) Large speakers with young barley dressed Korean girl repeatedly spouting the great features of this new business in a loud obnoxious voice. 4) And best of all, a second girl wearing the same outfit as the first doing a sexy, dance for several hours, while passers by offer confused and awkward looks at fruits of their labor. This is one of those unfortunate things that can never be explained properly unless you could see it for yourself. Thanks Erin for having the nerve to film these poor souls. I just had to keep walking. (Videographer’s note: the most amazing video I have of this is at home on a backup CD in Canada… argh… I promise to post it upon our return.)

On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day did you ever selfishly ask you parents, “Why is there no children’s day?” And of course they said, “Everyday is children’s day.”  Seems reasonable. Well in Korea they have one combined ”Parent’s Day” and, would you believe it, May 5th is “Children’s Day” We spent the day drinking in the park. Here is a 360 of all the action. One of the many things I respect about Korean culture, is when it’s time to play – they play hard. Try and count all the people picnicing around the fountain… on a Wednesday.

There’s only one thing to do when you are a kid with only one day a week off of school: play & chill out.

Excuse me, which way to the bus stop please?

OMG there was an airshow 1km from our apartment! Whenever I hit up a major event in Korea I always bring my famous ”외극인”   T-Shirt. For those who missed the post about it 2 years ago it translates into “Foreigner”. As if I needed to advertise that fact… but Koreans go apeshit over it. By the time one man had the courage to ask me for a photo, a line of people had formed. Here are a few from that day. One of our coworkers informed us the next week that there was a picture of Sean on her friend’s website and she couldn’t figure out why. Best T-shirt ever.

Oh yeah, there were some planes too….

Remember the robot construction worker? On a lucky bike ride we god up close and personal with one. The detail is amazing. I know there air is bad here but does he really need a breathing mask? And what exactly are his shoes for? Where is the construction for that matter? The only real answer is T.I.K.

I’m sure it’s not news to our loyal readers that Karaoke (Norebang – literally ’singing room’ in Korea) is pretty popular here. Heck these authors are converts, so long as it’s in the private company of some tone deaf drunken friends. There is never a bad time to sing, so on all chartered buses there is a Norebang! On the drive home from the ECC staff picnic, we captured some of the woman and drunk men singing away. What a great way to make the drive go by faster and with a heck of a lot more fun! 

Ah the joys of classroom teaching. Here’s a ‘note’ Erin confiscated from one of her kids during class. The translations at the top say ‘man’ and ‘woman’ and the individual drawings are labelled ‘gochu’ (Korean slang for penis named for an elongated hot pepper) and ‘hip’ (though she thought he had mislabelled that one). Hahaha.

In an attempt at some romantic pottery lessons gone awry, Erin and I found ourselves in the town of Icheon one random Saturday.  While waiting for our bus back to Ansan, we hit up the local mart for an outdoor beer.  There aren’t many foreigners here so obviously we got some attention. These 3 girls wouldn’t leave us alone.

Now the kids were cute and I was happy to make their day and have them pull on my beard, put on my sunglasses or whatever. What I didn’t appreciate is what happened when we tried to leave. Heard of Dongchim? Jorkat explains it well on their blog. Briefly, it’s a game where you put to hands together and point with both fingers (like making a gun shape) and then go up behind an unsuspecting victum and stick it up their bum! I nearly broke a student fingers when they tried it on me. My ass didn’t stop its protective clench for days..  Anyways we were looking for a cab when the 3 girls attacked! I swatted and yelled but they kept at it. Erin, seeing the first attempt coming, managed to capture this unbeleivable action shot right as she got me. OUCH! T. effin I.K.

Let’s close off gems of spring with the ubiquitous ‘neon truck’.  As mentioned in previous posts, trucks mounted with neon signs, loud speakers, and even dance platforms routinely drive around neighbourhoods blasting advertisements. This is common during election campaigns or even when promoting new night clubs (except those trucks often litter business cards on the street). We saw yet another set of mystery neon trucks driving by while having a beer at our local mart and these trucks kept driving by. At first we couldn’t figure them out… T. I.K. though. Then Erin deciphered that they were actually touring around the streets with patio bars around our apartment advertising ‘deriunjums’… services where a guy will drive you home in your own car if you’ve had too many. Love this country! T.I.K.!