xteethx

Echelon…

Reporting for duty on 10/17/07 22:00 Eastern time. Comrades, it’s an honor to serve by your side. *sniffs

Top Ten

observations I made here so far:

1) Korean fried chicken places are ubiquitous.
Still have yet to try it though. Can’t wait to consume all that glorious saturated fat. yum.

2) School guys still like to hold hands.
It’s called cheong, the ever so difficult to word to translate to English. It’s that loyal, unconditional, uninhibited affection and love you have for your friends and enables guys to hug each other.

3) A lot more international people here.
And speak Korean fluently. They often make appearances in dramas, talk shows, and documentaries. It was interesting to see Europeans speaking Korean, along with Indians and Latinos. It often sounds like this guy. (Doesn’t he remind you of Bethany speaking in Korean?) Today alone I met a Pakistani student peddling necklaces and a Peruvian who spoke a good amount of Korean. (I also got a free ring from him by speaking a good amount of Spanish lol)

4) You do NOT have the right of way.
I repeat, pedestrians do not have the right of way.

5) Money bills have changed.
They’re smaller and the color changed too.

6) People don’t wash their hands after using bathroom.
Not even the women.

7) I have a small face.
It’s often the second comment I get from people I just met…and that I don’t look thirty. People also say that I look Indian (from India) and like Pocahontas. Go figure.

8) They sell a lot more stuff than candybars on the subways. Folding mesh laundry baskets, magnet hooks to hang towels or keys, flashlights, etc. And if you happen to have craving for squid, they’re still roasting them by the subway entrances too.

9) Technology is more advanced than the states.
You can chew on squid while watching TV on your PDA or cell phone while riding the subway. It’s real-time broadcasting; not downloaded videos. I’d be happy if our cell phones worked on the subways.

10) If clothes are cheaper in the US cause they’re made in Korea, then they’re that much cheaper here. I just bought a nice $5 short-sleeve turtleneck at Kangnam station and bought $15 pants at another subway station. You can’t get any cheaper or more convenient than that.

=) bday es!

More Drums

Apparently there is a holiday in Korea that celebrates the creation of the Korean language. My cousin and his Korean drumming troupe from college was invited to be part of this parade that took place last Saturday after a ceremony at some palace. Hope that is specific enough for ya.

Check out more pics here and a bad quality video here
Afterwards we went out to eat ‘dak-hanmali’ which I had for the first time. It’s basically chicken soup with some veggies, dukboki (rice cake) and dumpling in it. Everyone shares out of the same pot and you dip the chicken into a sauce that has green scallions in it. As a filler, they throw noodles in the broth afterwards and if you’re still hungry, they make excellent fried rice in the same pot. It was pretty good but if I had it my way, we would have gone to this place last after everyone got plastered because it seems like a good soup to have after a few drinks.

As it was, we hit a bar afterwards and had a few beers along with some snacks from the likes of dried squid to fruit. I was extremely tired by this time so I was surprised and agitated that we were going to another restaurant again. We had soon-deh or stuffed sausage, and a lot more soju. (korea’s most well known drink) I was trying my best to just stay awake….

Aside from construction expeditions and Korean traditional drumming performances, I’ve also gone hiking with my aunts which was fun. Afterwards we went to eat duck bbq which was really good but so heavy. You grill the duck meat and wrap it in a leaf with radish, hot pepper, fermented bean paste, garlic and onions sauteed in some sauce. At first I didn’t think it was going to taste good either but the combination of all those things went really well together.

Yeah looks like I’ll be gaining some weight here…
night y’all….

Yikes

I’ve been doing so much and so much has happened that I have little time to blog…

First off, I got a job already. My dad’s friend’s son arranged for the ‘interview’, which took less than five minutes. I’ll be starting tomorrow on Monday, (hada the mutt dog came in the room and hopped in next to me. What a cutie, except sometimes he pisses when he gets excited to see you and he’s clawing my arm to pet him. bastard.) …so I’ll be tutoring 3rd, 7th and 8th graders on their English skills, be it grammar, vocabulary or essay writing. The kids speak English and go to international schools but they still lag behind their US peers so I have to help them get up to par. The hours are light, which I like because I want spare time to study Korean or just explore Seoul.

Transitioning here is very easy as my friends and family are connecting me with people who can help me out. People I just met want to show me around, introduce me to their other friends, and hook me up with jobs so I am really thankful for them. I love being with my family; they’re eager to take me out to eat new things and show me new places. If I didn’t have family here, I know my experience would be so different. I feel like they’re giving me a genuine experience of Seoul without all the tourist traps.

Since my cousin is a civil engineer and traditional Korean drum percussionist, he’s taken me out to activities pertaining to those interests. For one we went to an excursion to the construction of the Incheon bridge:

This will be another bridge from Incheon airport that connects to the mainland. The construction of it is really impressive. It’s great that they allow you to ride a boat out to view it and they allow you to visit their construction sites. It’s like being able to walk around the construction of ground zero without being a diplomat or other high level official…bbbbbbbbbbmknm bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbhg (<--that was from the blind poodle walking on my keyboard)

If you feel like it, they’ll also let you walk around on the cement slabs that will be the roads for the bridge.

Afterwards we went out to eat ssam gyup ssal. I noticed Koreans grill their kimchi a lot when having bbq. It’s quite good. Check out the oil…

…and the size of your beer

A few of my cousin’s engineering classmates

night y’all. Much to write but will post later…

What’s going on in the US? I want to watch War sometime…any other good movies?

Party Like a Rock Star

Goodness Koreans can hang.

It’s been fun meeting my cousin’s different friends but it can be exhausting. On a weekend or holiday, you meet at 4 PM and then eat and drink until 2 or 3 AM, hitting different restaurants and bars along the way…

This past Saturday, my cousin met up with his ‘samunori’ (korean drums) club from college. We met up at his college where we ate ‘pojang macha’ food (food stalls on the street) off of newspapers on the floor along with plenty of soju. After everyone kinda got drunk, they did an impromptu performance….lol. ( This is actually impressive too though i wasn’t there.)
Anyhow my other cousin met up with us later on. She turned into a little gorgeous thing which she knows and utilizes or her charm. I can’t believe she is all grown up lol. She is really endearing, always grabbing my arm and trying to explain anything that I can’t understand.

We went to a Chinese restaurant afterwards where we had lamb skewers and I usually don’t like lamb. The dumpling soup was really good there too; the broth is clear but it was so spicy. After eating the lamb meat you can skewer the garlic cloves on the skewers to roast them. (synonym for skewer noun or verb please) They’re a lot easier to peel off and it was magically delicious.

Then we went to another friggin place to drink some more; sheesh gosh sheesh. But it was fun. It’s funny how shy koreans are to try to speak English, but after a few drinks they start yelling any English words out and start singing any American songs they know.
By the way here is what’s always to my right whenever I’m eating lunch or dinner.

hada ^

I’m Finally

in Korea, the Land of the Morning Clam. Actually, calm. It’s only my third day here but so far I have already been in a smoky PC bang with my cousins who played a FPS game, been given a haircut and cellphone, and went grocery shopping at Lotte World. Glad all the important stuff is done…

Right now i am staying at my mom’s younger sister’s place near Chamsil. It’s a pretty nice arrangement, considering that I am alone in the apartment all day since everyone is at work. I’ll look for work soon myself, once i get situated. If i do find a good gig, I think I might want to move out even though it is comfortable to stay here.

I was really sad to leave the US as I had to leave my friends and family behind, especially my dad since he’s going to be alone. I had time to reflect a lot on family and friends and I have a renewed gratitude and deeper appreciation and love for everyone. But i felt it was good that I came to the other side of the world to visit my other family. From the time my three aunts and my cousin Sungwoo picked me up from the airport, I felt completely loved and simply happy to be with them. We all manage to crack each other up through our limited shared vocabulary and have a good time together, whether laughing or crying like a good k-drama.

So it’s good to be here. I was completely wiped out when I got here since I didn’t sleep much on the plane. I slept for a solid 12 hours the first night, woke up around 11 AM to eat, and then went back to bed for another good 5 hours. (I think that’s even more than maria could sleep) Anyhow, now that I am all rested, I look forward to all the adventures ahead…

My cousin Chanmin eating green tea cereal