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Saturday, 26 April 2008

My post in the summer in Seoul, Korea 6/25/07 - 8/25/07...
Happy 4th of July! In Korea it's actually July 5th.
Today, the weather is back to normal. But yesterday, I woke up to loud thunder and pouring rain trinkling down the sides of my window. The monsoon season has started so it should be pouring rain on & off throughout the whole Summer (July & August).
Life is good in the motherland. But there are 4 major adjustments I'm still struggling with including the weather (humidity & rainy season - I always have to carry an umbrella), smoke FILLED bars/clubs(eeks!), blistering mosquito bites(yikes!), & navigating through un-named streets(even in the Westernized parts of Seoul). Instead of providing names of cross streets like we do back in the states, people seem to use a combination of major landmarks/buildings associated with the neighborhood as a means to provide directions. For example, I would have to tell a taxi driver to take me near the "Ahn-Sae Hospital" in Apgujeong(a neighborhood in Gangnam) rather than 4th Street & Manchester. For a foreigner who doesn't know all the major landmarks/buildings in the nearby area, it becomes a bit difficult at times.

One thing for sure that is OUT-OF-CONTROL, is the mosquito bites...oh, the mosquito bites! My skin is acting very adversely to their poisonous bites. My bites are not the usual bumps that come and go. My bites are literally swelling, blistering, & bruising.  One good thing is my apartment is free of them especially because I have a plug in device that repels them away. It is only when I am out in public in the night time when they attack without being seen. Dangerous to go out in a dress at night here.

I have made a few friends through the program. They are the other teachers that teach at the same academy (ha-kywon). I found on the weekends, the teachers who live next to each other regularly hang out at the local park/playground. They have explained this is called "park"ing it...ha...cause they all "park" it at the park/playground and shoot the shit by drinking beers all night long. ;] It's like a bonfire without the fire. ;]

On Saturday, I got the chance to visit "Itaewon", which is the neighborhood where all the foreigners frequent. It is similarly like the neighborhood, "Ropongi" in Japan. Unfortunately, I didn't find it too appealing because it feels like the foreigners are prowling after the local girls there. This neighborhood can be fun as long as you go with a set group like I did and know what to expect. I would never think of going there by myself alone at night. Many of the Americans I've met there were either there to teach English for the year or they were stationed there at the U.S. military base just 20-30 minutes away. I was informed that there are approximately 40,000 U.S. soldiers stationed at this base.

"Dong-dae" was another neighborhood we bar hopped to on Saturday. I liked this area much better because it felt like a neighborhood frequented by the locals & not just by foreigners. We ended up going to Tin Pan 1, Tin Pan 2, and Mountain Bar. (these bars are concentrated with foreigners too but it seems only a partial of the same crowd make the effort to come all the way out to this neighborhood.)

On Sunday, I met my 3 month old nephew for the first time. He is simply adorable! It is so nice to be surrounded with family I haven't seen in years. What a delightful treat to finally reacquaint myself around my extended family again. I can't wait to meet the rest.

The street food is the bomb in Korea! It is stinking cheap and filling for a quick snack on the way to work, home, in between shopping. There are stands that sell Odang(fish cakes on a stick) that you can pick out & dip into their big pot of soup broth in the center of the booth. Other stands specialize in deep fried meats on a stick; others sell Kim-Bomp(Korean sushi made with ground beef) & Soon-Dae (I'd rather not explain what this is. It is freaking delish if you like eating this kind of stuff. It is one of the few things that is adventurous enough for me to eat. It isn't as big of a deal for me because I grew up eating it. I'm accustomed to the taste rather than thinking about what it is.) Highly recommend at least trying it once!

My biggest money guzzler is from feeding my Starbucks coffee addiction. In order to get my usual fix of Starbucks coffee, I have to pay a whopping 6,850won which is equivalent to $6,85. (This is an approximation & not the exact conversion) Wowsers! It cost this much for their Tall Green Tea Frappucino(5,850won = $5.85) with 2 shops of espresso(1,000won = $1.00). But I need my coffee. The local Korean coffee is weaksauce compared to Starbucks or Coffee Bean that is on almost every corner.

When I first got here TIME seemed to be going in super slow mode. Back at home, I'm so used to filling my time of every second of every day with random ish to fill the inevitable void. With just a phone call away I can easily chat off a few hours with family & friends, seek company from pets (Bailey & Whisky), drain hours watching recorded TV on DVR, go for a drive, etc...When all of that seizes to exist it feels like the world is coming to a halting stop.  Well, that's how it felt the first half of the week. Starting over takes time to reinvent the wheel, especially when you are recreating your schedule with new friends, new hobbies, new work responsibilities, new ways to interact with people.

I see this trip as a rare lifetime experience to reinvent, redevelop, culturalize a newer better me...I am also doing it without drinking a lick of alcohol.  I am focusing a lot of time trying to meet up with family/relatives, *reconnecting with God*, & working out a lot.  I was able to extend my membership at Bally's Total Fitness from the states to Korea shortly after arrival. Sweet!

I rode the subway by myself yesterday. It was very liberating to do it alone. It was just me, the travel guide, & the unexplored land in every direction I could see.

Anyways, I recently got my address translated in English so here it is in case any of you want to snail mail me old school style:

Shoot me an email if you would like my address.

I also decided that it'd be better not to harass you working folks with mass emails about Seoul, Korea. So I will be posting my misadventures on a website. www.xanga.com/SeoulKorea2007   . What better time to bring back Xanga.com than over Summer break in Seoul, Korea.    ;]

Please, keep me in your prayers.

Jennifer
"Look to Christ for it is written. I could do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Thursday, 03 April 2008

I'm bringing Xanga back - drop a comment if you're with me!

Thursday, 10 November 2005

Thanks for the ride
it's been fun while it lasted.
Now, it's time to close shop.

Last advice from me to you,
"Live with intention."

Saturday, 08 October 2005

The Rules of Fight Club:

1st RULE: You do not talk about FIGHT CLUB.

2nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about FIGHT CLUB.

3rd RULE: If someone says "stop" or goes limp, taps out the fight is over.

4th RULE: Only two guys to a fight.

5th RULE: One fight at a time.

6th RULE: No shirts, no shoes.

7th RULE: Fights will go on as long as they have to.

8th RULE: If this is your first night at FIGHT CLUB, you HAVE to fight.

... another new fight club rule is that fight club will always be free. It will never cost to get in. "We want you, not your money. As long as you're in fight club, you're not how much money you've got in the bank. You're not your job. You're not your family, and you're not who you tell yourself. You're not your name. You're not your problems. You're not your age. You are not your hopes..."

After a night at fight club, everything in the real world gets the volumn turned down. Nothing can piss you off, your word is law, and if other people break the law or question you, even that doesn't piss you off.

Nothing is static. Even the Mona Lisa is falling apart. Since fight club, I can wiggle half the teeth in my jaw. Maybe self-improvement isn't the answer.

Last week I tapped a guy and he and I got on the list for a fight. This guy must've had a bad week, got both my arms behind my head in a full nelson and rammed my face into the concrete floor until my teeth bit open the inside of my cheek and my eye was swollen shut and was bleeding, and after I said, stop, I could look down and there was a print of half my face in blood on the floor.

I shake the guy's hand and say, good fight.
This guy, he says, "How about next week?"
I try to smile against all the swelling, and I say, look at me, How about next month?

"I want you to do me a favor. I want you to hit me as hard as you can.

I looked around and said, okay. Okay, I say, but outside in the parking lot.
So we went outside, and I asked if Tyler wanted it in the face or in the stomach.
Tyler said, "Surprise me."
I said I had never hit anybody.
Tyle said, "So go crazy, man."
I said, close your eye.
Tyler said, "No."
Like every guy on his first night at fight club, I breathed in and swung my fist in a roundhouse at Tyler's jaw like in every cowboy movie we'd ever seen, and me, my fist connect with the side of Tyler's neck.

Only after disaster can we be resurrected.

"It's only after you've lost everything," Tyler says, "that you're free to do anything."

"Getting fired," Tyler says, "is the best thing that could happen to any of us. That way, we'd quit treading water and do something with our lives."

"The liberator who destroys my property," Tyler said, "is fighting to save my spirit. The teacher who clears all possessions from my path will set me free."

Sometimes you do something, and you get screwed. Sometimes it's the things you don't do, and you get screwed.
"Breakdown"

I hope this old train breaks down
Then I could take a walk around
And, see what there is to see
And time is just a melody
All the people in the street
Walk as fast as their feet can take them
I just roam through town
And though my windows got a view
The frame im looking through
Seems to have no concern for me now
So for now

I need this here
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown

This engine screams out loud
Sayin the beat gunna crawl westbound
So I dont even make a sound
Cause its gunna sting me when I leave this town
All the people in the street
That i'll never get to meet
If these dont bend somehow
And I got no time
That I got to get to
Where I dont need to be
So I

I need this here
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown
I need this here
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown
I wanna break on down
But I cant stop now
Let me break on down

But you cant stop nothing
If you got no control
Of the thoughts in your mind
That you kept in, you know
You dont know nothing
But you dont need to know
The wisdoms in the trees
Not the glass windows
You cant stop wishing
If you dont let go
But things that you find
And you lose, and you know
You keep on rolling
Put the moment on hold
The frames too bright
So put the blinds down low

I need this here
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown
I need this here
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown
I wanna break on down
But I cant stop now

The greatest advice is sometimes right in front of you...
The brilliant words of Mr. Jackie Johnson