B in Korea

Moving to Tumblr

2010-08-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

So i've been really bad about updating on here. I've been playing around with tumblr and I think I will be using that from now on. It's much quicker for posting pictures and easier to update through my ipod during my lunch break. I've been giving it a test run to see that I actually use it.

Here's the link:

http://fleetingbeat.tumblr.com/

Boracay

2010-04-23T00:55:00.001-07:00

Thailand-scuba diving

2010-02-10T04:25:00.000-08:00

I just realized that I never posted photos from Thailand. We stayed at Koh Tao and got our Advanced Open Water Certification. It was a great time. We rented a camera one day for our photography course. Unfortunately we did not see sharks that day, but we saw some pretty cool things. It was tricky getting used to the camera and not moving while taking photos.

Behind me is what Em and I called little Korea. There were tons of Korean couples with matching outfits that got off the ferry there.

Top deck of our dive boat.

A boat similar to ours with the gear on bottom.

Underwater prance..

Hangeul - Learning Korean

2010-02-10T04:05:00.000-08:00

Long time no update.... sorry! Life's been a bit busy. Grad class just finished so I have some more time. A few friends and I just started taking Korean lessons. I love taking Korean lessons. Our tutor is pretty awesome and life is becoming easier. I mean I might be on a kindergarten to pre-school level, but at least we get some credit for trying. The reaction from my students is really interesting too. "Why do you want to learn Korean?" "Read this", "Your Korean is really good." or "Hahaha miguk saram." (the last meaning American)

I'll make a mini dictionary for you all:

안녕하세요? hello an-yong- ha-say-yo

미안해요 sorry mi-an-hae-yo

감사합니다 thank you kam-sa- nida

선생님 teacher sun-saeng-nim

미국 America mi-gook

한국 Korea han-gook

킴밥 kimbap

밥 rice bap- I first wrote bap just thinking that everyone knew what it was

하나 one hana

식당 restaurant sik dang

버스 bus bus- uh

서울 Seoul

정자 Jeongja

커피 coffee co- pee

There is actually an english way to write Korean, but I just kind of make up my own pronounciation. I will try to update with pictures soon. We just got back from snowboarding this weekend.

Snowstorm in Korea

2010-01-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of snow yesterday that caused school to be closed early. We actually opened for about an hour and had maybe a dozen kids. Seoul ended up getting about 10-12 inches of snow. It was pretty hilarious to watch the snow removal process.

To begin with our school had "heated" sidewalks and roads installed. Apparently last year one of the guards decided to remove the snow the only rational way possible was by hosing it with water. Yes it did turn to ice. So naturally the next step was to install the heated road. Being from the midwest I knew any substantial amount of snow would not melt. Yesterday it failed. We didn't even make it half way up the smaller hill to get to school.

As for snow removal around town. Brooms- like halloween witch style, rakes, and pieces of wood nailed together were used. I did see a few shovels. The competitive Koreans were of course concerned about themselves and cleaned off the side walk in front of their business by pushing all the snow into the road. This caused cars and delivery trucks to get stuck. Fortunately for me I live a block from the subway so I only have to deal with that being a bit more crowded.

Unfortunately I left my camera at school. So you'll have to check out this NPR article for some quality photos.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122206774

FYI Heels are still worn in snow and umbrellas are a substitute for hats, gloves, and mitts..... can't compromise the look!

Beijing....Panda Adventures in the Forbidden City

2009-12-09T04:56:00.001-08:00

Outside the Forbidden City... I would guestimate that it is bigger than my home town. The weather was a bit chilly on the trip, but this day was gorgeous. I just selected a few photos. We might have gone a bit overboard with Em's camera and using the timer. I guess Korea got to us.

I think this was on the South/East side. I think Chairman Li said this was part of the moat.

Commie hats...which we completely forgot to get at the market

In between two of the gates there was a pretty section with the water and many bridges. Be prepare for my excellent and informed guidance. Next time I will either read up on the Forbidden City more or get a guide, but it was awesome to wander.

Enormous!

Details on a pot that was used to burn something for something...

Lots of doorways, lots of tourists.

Love the red doors.

One of the more intimate courtyards by the "treasure rooms."

Going inside the gardens. I want to come back in the summer.

Outside by the north gate.

Artsy market "Sunday Market" I got some awesome original artwork. I could have spent all day here. A lot of the paintings are copies, but there are some very good originals. I feel bad for how little I paid for an excellent oil painting.

A Tiny Bit of Korean History

2009-11-02T00:52:00.000-08:00

Gyeongbokgung 경븍궁

I decided it was about time to get out of the concrete jungle and check out some of Korea's history. So I braved the subway and all of its Ajummas and headed to Gyeongbokgung. The subway was actually pretty entertaining. For one I finally go to watch Glee, which I am not addicted to. For another I got to people watch. There was a mom and 3 kids that sat down next to me for a few stops. They had their little dog in a dog bag. The kids started eating oreo like cookies and the boy got some on his sleeve. It was pretty hilarious watching the dog try to eat it off his sleeve. The dog was trying it's best to get out of the bag. Naturally for a normal person I laughed. Nobody laughs in the subway unless you are an annoying teenager or an Ajeoshi drunk off soju. After that the sister tried talking to me, unfortunately in Korean. The kids were really cute though and said bye when they got off. The mother of course avoided any interaction. Thankfully there are cute kids in Korea. Anyways.....

Gyeongbokgung is the oldest palace from the Joseon Dynasty. It is considered the most beautiful out of 5. It was built in 1394, but much of it was damaged by the Japanese. I read somewhere that only 40% of it has been restored. If that is true, it must have been truly impressive.

When I first got off the subway at the palace I ran into a performing arts festival. The palace is literally right off the subway, similar to the colliseum in Rome. This particular dance is the Daegu Nalmoe Drum Dance.

This was part of a sword dance. At least that was according to the sign in english.

Surprisingly it was mostly Koreans at the palace and show. I did run into a few Korean Americans that didn't speak korean though. That always throws me off. The performance took place in front of what I understand to be Gwanghwamun Gate.

Inside the palace walls.

Geunjeongjeon 근정전

the main hall used by the king. His throne is very ornate, but there were hoards of Koreans at the door which means don't bother :)

This is opposite of Geunjeongjeon- maybe this is the gate, I'm not sure to be honest. There weren't many signs up and I would suggest a tour.

These are closeups of inside Geunjeongjeon- the throne hall.

Lion/Dragon on bridge to Geunjeongjeon

I think this may have been the housing and living area of the king. I will update once I do some research.

I loved this building! Gyeonghoeru (Pavillion) This is a two story open pavillion where the king held his banquets. I imagine that would be a pretty amazing setting on the water with the mountains in the background. I think I read that originally, before it was burned down, one had to reach it by boat.

Here there's a brige.

Hyangwonjeong Pavillion in the pond. A beautiful building and interesting contrast of old and new Korea.

The fall colors were beautiful and these photos don't really do it justice.

I think this area is the Amisan Garden where the Queen lived.

The National Folk Museum

Residential Area

Korean houses had and have ondol heating. Which is radiant heating (heat rises from the floor). People slept on mats on the floor instead of beds. I think there are some people that still do that, since I've seen it on modern K-drama.

Bridge to Hyangwonjeong pavillion.

View looking towards the National Folk Museum.

Wonderful day, a bit cold. However it was nice to learn a little history and take some photographs.

Sports in Seoul

2009-10-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

One of the first weekends in Seoul I joined Jen to play in an ultimate frisbee tournament. It was intense. The heat was insane and the players were pretty hardcore. This is us hours later at the FC Seoul soccer game.

Loving the Korean soccer players.

The little kids were so cute. Korean kids actually come to school dressed in their full on soccer gear. Cleats, socks, matching shorts. It doesn't even have to be game day.
The fans are intense. The Koreans are paranoid about germs yet they sell fireworks- Roman candles /sparklers in the kids aisle at Emart. They also use them in places that would be banned in the states.

Here's a clip from the soccer game. Not the greatest, but a little taste of Korean soccer.

Doosan!! We're at the Doosan Bear's game here. They have these awesome sticks for cheering.

It's a week night so pretty small crowd. The weekends get pretty packed...or so my taxi ride showed me.
The crew at the baseball game. We got scared away from our GS 25 table by the wacko hogwon teacher that kept creeping around.

The Olympics were also in Seoul in 1988. There are a lot of really nice parks and concert venues because of it.

These videos are of the "cheer leaders" of Korean baseball. There are 2 girls that do K-pop dances from music videos. The guy in white, with of course gloves is the director. It's a pretty funny combo. Forgive the shaky filming.

Living the tropical Dream

2009-10-04T05:54:00.000-07:00

I'm finally updating!! Malaysia and relaxing... slightly reminiscent of Zoolander. Eleven of us spent our fall Chuseok break in Malaysia. I got certified to dive and had a lot of fun with the crew. It went pretty amazingly considering there were 11 of us. Lots of photos to follow.. duh I'm a visual kind of person :)

We're so touristy. Registering for frequent flyer miles. We'll be collecting a lot of these the next two years.
Liz helping me take a picture of the Korean Air stewardess's bow. Their uniforms are immaculate.
Watching the Liverpool game with the local Malaysians.
Hanging out in our courtyard at Tune hotel near the airport. A great place to drink fourties and practice our thumper moves. This place was great, despite the fact that we had a foot of walking space around the bed.

We took a jetty to the island. I love boat rides so it was great. A bit choppy at one point.

This is the view down the island from our resort. We walked that way every morning for our scuba lessons. The restaurants are all also down that way. Restaurant in the island sense. They're a bit rustic, but the seafood was really good.
Mornings were beautiful!
Boat ride to dinner one night. It was unbelievably choppy later at night.

Flora Bay Divers. I highly recommend. Ask for Zamani, he was amazing, even though he said he would take holiday next time we came back. He's like a yoga master of diving, very chill.

"Class" We're reviewing the dive site before we head out. Yay open water!
Gearing up. Zamani guessed all our sizes and weight belts, dead on too.

p.s. we were all taller than him, even Em & I

We spent most of our time underwater. I saw a shark, turtles, nemo's family, bumphead parrot fish, and lots of little guys.
We also perfected our underwater dance moves. Dunk tried to kill us all by making us laugh and choke on water. Thought I might have to pull out an emergency ascent.
Oceans 11 hitting the water
This was what our dive boats were like. We even got to do the backward roll off. It looks pretty bad ass.

I stole these pics from Stools because she has an underwater camera. She took these snorkeling, but we saw them diving.
I kind of chased a porcupine fish, I tried the turtle too, but it was too speedy. And I got the finger wag from our leader. It was wierd to hear noises in the water. I sounded like vader. My jaw actually got tired from death gripping my respirator in my mouth. No way that guy was coming out. We did have to practice loosing our respirator. So like throwing it over our shoulder and reaching around for it. One of the fun dangers of diving is remembering to not hold air in your lungs, so you have to continue blowing the entire time you don't have the respirator in.

We also practiced an emergency descent, where you make an ahhh.... noise the whole time. I'm pretty sure Dunk sang for his. I thought I might run out of air before I got to the top, but I made it. Zamani tapped me on the nose to remind me that I was blowing air out too fast.

Zamani also tortured us by making us do mask clearing. So this means blowing the air out of our mask. He also made us take off our mask completely and put it back on. Definitely not my favorite, however I will be sure to make sure that sucker never comes off.

It was fun to maneuver around the coral. I had no idea how much your breathing affected your buoyancy. Also did you know that canadians call buoys, boy, not booey. Wierd I know.
We had an amazing storm one night. It took out one of our generators, which ironically I had just asked about the day before. Thanks dad! Of course I had to ask. The storm kept us on the island and at our resort. It was a grand ol time of cards and catch phrase. Also the only time we ate dinner at our resort.
Stools befriended this little monkey Ori. I think he had a thing against girls, since he bit two of us. Cute little rascal though.
The view of our dock or pier.

The crew riding back home.

Camp Arwana we'll hold you in our hearts....

Hanging out at the bar. We pretty much dominated the resort as it was the off season, right before the rainy season. We kept Jim the bar keep busy.

This is the dancing crew. Maureen could have outlasted us all our final night. Us young pups had to make her end the night early.

My beloved Red Bull, or Bulleh! exists in Malaysia. Boo Korea... It is actually cheaper than soda in the states at $0.75. The island and rural areas of Malaysia are so cheap. Our lunches were about $2-3 for a plate of pasta that was really good. Kuala Lumpur (KL) was a bit different, but more about KL later.

Sorry Sorry

2009-09-07T05:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry Sorry 수리 수리 by Super Junior

Love Love this video!! Thanks to the subs you can now understand as well.

Oh one day I played this in class. The kids went nuts, the boys more so then the girls. They know all the words and the dance moves. Hilarious!

Notice my awesome Korean writing? I even learned my name, thanks to my business card:

브리 아나

K-Style

2009-09-07T05:05:00.000-07:00

I really need to do a whole post on the Korean culture. It's interesting, frustrating, and hilarious. There are so many things here that are opposite of how it seems things should be. I'll start out with a list of random things, but pictures are really needed for some of it.

Interesting facts/observations about Korea:

1. Men carry purses- there is nothing man bag about their gucci purses. I saw a guy with a green clutch the other day. At first I thought guys were just carrying them for girls, nope. I've seen a few that were pretty cute and I want. That goes for guys and their bags.

2. Koreans are brand whores- They are obsessed with designer labels. I think Koreans are even better dressed than the Italians or Brits.

Korean men's casual uniform-Polo brand polo, True Religion jeans or khakis rolled into capris, and Chucks/Havaianas.

Girls uniform- must must wear heels. Could be with a dress or athletic pants. Worn with a designer handbag or knock off.

FYI- it more than ok to wear socks with sandals, strappy heels, or any other footwear that they should not be worn with.

3. Walking-Koreans do not walk on the right side. They do not walk on the left side. They walk where ever they please. This also applies to bikes and shopping carts. You should have seen costco.

4. Kimchi & rice are served with every meal. I had thought it was an exaggeration.

5. Family mart's outdoor picnic tables is the best neighborhood bar- convience stores that have outdoor tables for drinking cheap beer at. Lil old men in hiking garb can be found here at night. As can teachers just getting off work :)

6. Beer-Korean beer has a lot of sugar in it guaranteeing the worst hangover of your life. You can have a headache off 2 cans of the stuff.

7. The kids are adorable here and a lot more likely to come up and say hello.

8. Korea is like a humid jungle in the summer.

I actually have these brilliant little containers with some kind of chalky rock in it that absorb some of the moisture. After having one open for 2 weeks, I have about an inch of water in it.

9. the Korean food is amazing! I have liked everything I've tried so far. It's also much healthier.

10. Plastic surgery- Koreans are obsessed with it here. About 30% of our high school girls have had some kind of surgery. There are ads in the subways and on the streets for it.

11.Bugs- the kids are scared shitless of bugs, actually the adults are too. they freak out when they see one. It may be the worst thing that could happen during class.

12. English-There are a lot of Koreans that can speak english and a lot that can not. They are very sneaky about letting you know they speak fluently. The korean goal is to get an education at an American university- so many have lived abroad. I've had a few people apologize for not knowing english. No, I'm pretty sure it's my fault I have to point and grunt out jibberish when ordering.

13. Diapers- apparently the koreans don't believe in them, because twice now I've seen mom's whipping their kids pants down and holding them to pee in the street. Yea...

I will try to take some photos of some of these spectacles. You really have to see it to get it.

My Neighborhood

2009-09-07T04:07:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos from my neighborhood. I have a pretty nice neighborhood. It's a mix of tall buildings and trees. Subway stop a block away doesn't hurt either. In my block I have a Quiznos, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks,

This is directly across from my apartment building. There's 2 towers of my building. This building has a bunch of buisnesses, restaurants, hagwons, etc.

This is to the left of the last picture. Again right across the road. If I walk to the left through the bottom of the paragon building is my grocery store. To the right at the end of the block is a street with really nice expensive restaurants.

Looking at my building. There's the Quiznos, sadly I've been there once.

This is going through the other Paragon building near my grocery store.

This is the street with all the restaurants. This is from the quieter end. I wasn't about to be korean and snap photos of people eating, so you'll have to use your imagination. We usually go further away from here to eat, there's a lot of cool Korean restaurants across the river.

Here's a video of the river next to my apartment. When I turn my apartment is on the right. The water is a little noisy in the background.

Singing in Korean

2009-08-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

I was catching up on my Colbert Report one day and I found these videos. Love the k-pop dancing. They take their dancing and karaoke pretty seriously here. Rain is a huge star here, so this is hilarious.

Stephen Colbert singing in Korean

The Challenge

The Dance Off, red pants and all!

Catching Up

2009-08-26T01:22:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in awhile, but I'm not in the mood to write much, so here's some pics :)

Friday night social with the school peeps, at of course WA Bar. Good times, we even went dancing later :)

It was kinda cute, so I could only chew on it's legs.

Staff hike that Sunday.

Seoul Art Center- we saw Pinocchio here.. it's my least favorite Disney, but it was free.

Out to eat before Chong Dong Theater.

For a mere 5 won we could try on the costumes.. ah delightful touristy fun.

Elise, Beth, & Jess rocking the awesome hair.

We've gotten into the bad habit of doing the asian peace sign pose.

River walk

2009-08-06T06:38:00.001-07:00

Yet another post. I seem to take quite a few pictures. Fortunately the Koreans also take a lot of pictures. Unfortunately I completely stand out. If I'm not with one of my friends I hardly ever see another westerner. Oh along with the picture taking the koreans always do this backward peace sign pose. I have no idea what it means. I'll have to take a pic of it.

This is where I go walking or running at night. Paths go on both sides of the river and they are amazingly busy. There a few cute little dogs that remind me of Nala. Everyone has small dogs here since they have apartments. They're not mean like Chicagoians keeping the big guys locked up all day.
I get stared down easily a few dozen times walking the path. When I run it's even more. Apparently girls don't run often in public or break a sweat. The Koreans have there little matching cute workout outfits.

My apartment building on the far right.

This is a waterpark that they drain at night.

My block at night. Lots of lights.

I finally got to the water park during the day when the kids were swimming. They have tents set up that families picnic under. There's a section thats kind of like a non-moving lazy river.

Walk home- if only you could see the little old lady's mask. It's pretty common for a few people to be walking around wearing a construction worker style dust mask.

Checking out Insadong

2009-08-06T05:29:00.003-07:00

We walked from Seoul tower over to Insadong. Hitting up Myeong-dong on the way

Shopping fanatics. Pictures don't do this street justice. Almost every chain possible had a store here. Not to mention the dozen make up and beauty supply stores.

Guys and gal getting their nails done on the street. Korea is full of random oddities.

Shoe shopping at 1opm

Buddhist souvenir shops on the way to Jogyesa Temple. There were even "designer" monk clothes.

Gate into Jogyesa-this is one of my favorite places thus far.

The monk was chanting and even late at night people kept dropping in to pray.

Jogyesa Temple- morning pray was going on. A monk was chanting and the visitors prayed along with. It sounded amazing. There are 3 massive Buddha statues inside.

Happy lil Buddha I wasn't supposed to take a picture of. Yes, play the dumb tourist.

Monk peeing, couldn't read, but I thought it meant no peeing on the wall. Turns out it was the bathrooms.

Discovering random alleyways

Mandu from a little alley way restaurant we went to.

Lot's of pottery shops in Insadong. Actually lots of artisty-touristy shops in Insadong.

Celadon!

While in Insadong we got caught in the rain. We stopped under the trees of this park, but decided to look for a tea/coffee shop, a non-starbucks or dunkin donuts one. We found the Travel Cafe Bula. It was a great relaxing place. There was a mural on the wall in the same style as the drawing in Seoul tower. Not the same artist however.

We had Korean style green tea. We only soaked the leaves in the teapot for about 10 seconds, but it was really good.

The decor of the travel cafe was very eclectic/ kitschy. It kind of reminded me of a few coffee shops in Madison. I'll be going back here.

Seoul Venture

2009-08-04T02:48:00.001-07:00

Seoul Tower- We got to ride a cable car up!! FYI It's on a mountain in the middle of Seoul.

Crammed on the cable car

Love this drawing on the window. Mmm paint marker

Some where out there....

I don't think you really get the true size of Seoul unless you go up the tower. Literally the city as far as you can see. Granted there is some smoggy haze, but it's huge.

Inside the tower is a great place for:

getting your fortune told. Seriously they are everywhere.

Going out and about

2009-07-30T05:32:00.000-07:00

Seohyeon Station ends at this complex. Our administrators took a few of us out here. There are tons of shops and restaurants. Koreans are very competitive and have huge signs everywhere. Also every floor is used for something. We went to one bar that had 2 other bars on the same floor.

The mall at Seohyeon station...can't remember the name, but I think every Italian designer has a store there.

This is the dish that we ate with the admins & teachers (duk golgbi- i think). They cook it right in front of you and in the mean time you drink beer and soju. Like almost every Korean meal they also serve it with a bunch of little side dishes for everyone to share.

This poor puppers had to stand and show off some hideous dog garments at a street stand. It fared better than the dog that had all of its nails painted a different color.

There are lots of little alleys off the main shopping district & lots of street food stands.

My amazing classroom

2009-07-30T05:18:00.001-07:00

I have a massive storage room. It's about twice the size of my apartment and even has windows. If I wasn't convinced that KIS is phenomenal this would do it.

This is my view from my dictator's desk looking over the room. Yes a CD player! hopefully it works better than BD's

My supplies, half of them are in Korean and look like some cheap buy from the dollar store....

Where the children work. Note the digital projector and windows- clearly I am not in America

My room has a view of the soccer field. In the distance on the left is another school that has instruction in english.

My Hood

2009-07-30T04:58:00.000-07:00

This is the view from my apartment, the mountains in the background are the same that my school is on.

My living room

the bedroom....so a korean twin is more like a double. FYI the sheets are really wierd, they're like a textured mattress pad, sick.

Kitchen: note the clothes washer in place of the dishwasher, naturally under the stove. I bought a coffee maker too :)

A normal bathroom. Some of my co-workers have the shady italia style hose coming from the wall over the toliet and no curtain.

The building on the left-center is my apartment building. Whoo hoo high rise! It's pretty great. So apparently I live in the wealthiest neighborhood of the wealthiest suburb of Seoul. I haven't gone out in my hood, but a few of my peeps have and it's pretty expensive. Fortunately the subway is literally a block away.

Bundang

2009-07-29T01:01:00.001-07:00

This is just a pic from the ride from Incheon Airport to Bundang.

Love Asian Air!!

I made it to Bundang early this morning. There were 4 of us on the flight from Chicago to Seoul & another couple we met up at the airport. The school picked us up and took us to our school, which by the way is much bigger than the pictures give the impression. We were then dropped off at our apartments for about an hour & then back again to school for a tour. This school is awesome!! Kicks Beaver Dams ass any day. The classrooms are newer and much bigger. The admin is very friendly and laid back. Yes, that patio off the school was built for BBQs. KIS is actually on a mountain/large hill range and there are nature trails and soon to be a disc golf course (frolfing to BD)

My apartment is just a little guy, but it's very nice. I have a view of some apt buildings and some of the mountains. I'm on the 16th floor so down below I can see hundreds of signs that I can't read. The koreans seem to love advertising... signs, girls in skimpy clothes giving samples, video ads in the grocery aisle, yes I saw it all today.

After our school tour we went to E-mart aka korean Walmart. The difference being that it is numerous levels and they sell Chanel sunglasses. I got a hair dryer, fan, and straightener amoung other things. Oh they also have Miller Lite and for some awful reason Carlo Rossi. Well I better get going, I got to meet a group for dinner and take my first subway ride. I have to figure out how to post photos, because I'm already putting my asian skills to the test.

Moving to Bundang

2009-05-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

In July I will be moving to Bundang, South Korea to teach at an international school. I will be living in a suburb of Seoul, the nations capital and largest city. I will try to post some images of Seoul & Bundang that I can find on flickr. Seeing that I'm not there yet to post my own.

So far I'm applying for my visa and trying to learn as much as I can about Korea. I am really excited for the move and my new school.