My Friends, the Visitors

(September 2009)
Back to back visitors coming to Korea to visit me! This is great! Friday afternoon I take the bus from Busan back to Seoul. I'm worried I'm going to be late to meet my first visitor, Desta. This would be the same Desta from Istanbul that took CELTA with me, though this time she is visiting from Manila, Philippines. Desta booked the lovely Bebop Guesthouse, and I'm so glad she did. Definitely a place worth staying at if you are ever in Seoul. Because her flight was delayed, we were forced to eat dinner a bit late. I'll never forget this meal, and to this day I still don't (and don't want to) know what I ate. Fortunately, it was really the only bad meal I had while there, bad first meal for Desta though!

After backpacking through Korea for almost two weeks, and Desta having just completed a whirlwind Japanese trip, neither of us were anxious to go out and explore. Every morning consisted of toast, eggs, and coffee at Bebop accompanied with sitting on the couch and good conversation. The afternoons are when we actually explored, but often included more coffee breaks at random coffee houses.
We did successfully visit:

Gyeongbok Palace and witnessed the changing of the guards (I think)

Cheonggyecheon Stream (which is a stream they unearthed smack in the middle of Seoul)






Ate Korean BBQ many times, including one time where we befriended three Korean girls in their early 30's who were so excited it was Friday and they were free of their children and husbands that they consumed entirely too much soju, and one girl ended up on the floor. If I only had snapped a photo!

Met the famous Hongdae Makgeolli Man

Discovered mural alley, with new friends, through pure happenstance

We also visited Bukchon Hanok village, the open air market, the National Museum of Korea (where Desta was thought to be a gypsy by an old Korean woman), ate dak galbi in Gangnam, did a lot of perusing, more coffee, and meeting lots of other random travelers at Bebop including an Italian guy bouncing around the world, an American girl teaching English in Japan, two Canadians girls teaching here, a Mexican girl visiting here, and some US military boys enjoying their weekend off. Thanks for visiting Desta et à bientôt! Worth noting that Desta almost couldn't make it back to Manila since they had their huge flood as soon as she had left the Philippines, but fortunately she did!

Busan Blunder

I failed to mention one somewhat humorous event that happened while in Busan. In an attempt to do some hiking around the hills of Busan, though I was actually seeking out the famous yeomso gogi (grilled goat meat) in Sanseong Village, I got lost. I read my guide book's directions pretty well, but watching some other foreign foreigners (that means they were European) that looked like they knew what they were doing, I followed them off the bus in the middle of nowhere. Once I realized they were lost, I pretended to know what I was doing (I mean, who wants to admit they are lost, right?) and walk up some random hill only to find the hill keeps going and going and going and leading to a temple. I did get some funny looks from people who were probably wondering, "What is this strange guy doing walking up a hill that leads to nowhere?" So, tired and without having tried the famous goat or mountain rice wine, I trek down the hill, catch the bus back to my hosts place, only to eat Ramen noodles! Still an enjoyable day, but no pictures to remember it by, only this story!

Braving Beautiful Busan

In the afternoon, I headed to Busan, Korea's second largest city, to continue couchsurfing the country. My hostess, Marisa, was an ESL teacher from the US. She was a great hostess and had a real shower instead of one of the combined toilet/sink/shower rooms. I visited Haeundae Beach (there is Korean blockbuster movie about this place) and Jagalchi Fish Market nearby,

ate a "real" hamburger with Australian beef (they won't import from the US after Mad Cow), saw yet another temple, went to Taejongdae

partook in Busan expat nightlife, got lost around downtown, attempted to buy knockoff CK underwear, ate Mexican food, and perhaps one of my most gratifying experiences (thanks to Ann, my second Busan CS host)--went to a jimjilbang. If you are in Korea, you should go. They are in inexpensive spa like experiences with hot tubs of varying temperatures (including cold) and mixes (water, mineral, essential oil) and hot and cold saunas. You do have to be in the buff in the hot tubs and shower areas (same gender, of course) but they have co-ed (if you like) sauna areas you can relax in. You can also sleep overnight in a jimjilbang. I believe the cost to enter this one was about 10,000KRW or about 8USD. Oh yeah, Ann also had a washing machine that doubled as a dryer. I've never seen that before, and I was impressed! FYI: All my CS hosts receive lovely gifts from me that include chocolate digestive cookies and regular chocolate and sometimes wine or sansachun. I'm a great guest, aren't I? Pay no attention to the fact, that I also enjoy these items and have been known to consume them with my hosts!

Going Good in Gyeongju

I caught a bus from Andong to Gyeongju where a professor responded to a post I put in the CS forum. He teaches English and Tourism at Gyeongju University and encourages his students to host CSers to learn about other cultures and practice their English. In all, I was indirectly hosted by 4 or 5 students. The first student that hosted me was Lu, a Chinese international student studying in Korea. He picked me up from the bus station and we headed back to his dormitory for dinner. I did feel a bit bad since in order to host me, he booted his roommate out to give me a place to stay.

The next day I made my way to Gyeongju University to meet Professor Chay and his students. It was actually a great experience as everyone was eager to meet the "foreigner" (in more ways than one, right?). Professor Chay and his students were wonderful. Professor Chay told me I could couchsurf at his flat. He would stay somewhere else with some friends, and two of his students would stay with me to host and have a cultural exchange.

Over the next couple of days, I visited the Royal Tomb Complex (which consists of a boatload of things to see)

Anapji Pond, which seemed very peaceful and relaxing

Bulgoksa Temple and the good luck magic rat, and

Seokguram Grotto, but you cannot take a picture inside of the Buddha

I walked a fair bit and even visited a Korean all you can eat joint. Not surprisingly, I ate too much, I have a habit of that!

All Aboard for Andong

(Date refresher: This is still circa September 2009)

In the morning, Chris dropped me off at the bus stop and told the driver in Korean where I needed to go. Even though he also explained it to me, it was a bit confusing since I had no bearings. An older Korean woman who had heard Chris speak to the driver, and noticed I was clueless, frantically waved her hands for me to get off a few stops after I had just gotten on. How nice of her, I had absolutely no idea this was my stop. Yet another example of Korean kindness.

During the couple days I was in Andong, I visited the Hahoe (pronounced ha-hwo) Folk Village (Queen Elizabeth II planted a tree there),

sampled the Andong Soju (which didn't taste all that great but was an experience),


walked around a lot, drank tea at a traditional tea house, and visited some other places that I unfortunately can't remember anymore (must have been the Andong Soju, just kidding).

Another great example of Korean hospitality was during the afternoon, I had gotten lost somewhat but was in the process of getting back on track. I walked by two older Korean ladies that were cleaning a park. I must have caught their eye, because they immediately started speaking to me . . . in Korean. While I could not understand most of what they were saying, I managed to understand their offer for bottled water, coffee, and to sit down with them. I obliged and in my limited Korean, communicated to them that I was from the US, my parents were Indian, I was an English teacher, and the coffee they gave me was delicious. This was easily one of my favorite memories of Andong. I also had the privilege of notifying a dak galbi restaurant owner, where I ate lunch,  that his shop was in the Moon Guide. That most certainly made his week! I even wrote him a note that he could post on his restaurant door "As Featured in Moon Guide: South Korea." No discount for my services, though!

Korea Backpacking Begins: Andong

It's no secret, I'm a terrible planner! It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I don't ever really feel like it. It was Sunday evening, and I was staying at Karina's (the Couchsurfing friend that took pity on me) apartment trying to decide where to visit. I had her Lonely Planet, my Moon Guide, and random suggestions people had given me since my arrival. Because I really had no preference, I decided I would go to Andong to try the famous (though it shouldn't be) Andong Soju. I did have the foresight to make a couple Couchsurfing (or CS) requests along my way, and would loosely base my itinerary on that.

I took the bus from Cheonan to Andong arriving two hours before my CS host could scoop me up from the bus stop. One of the many things I have to give Korea credit for is that they have tourist offices in almost every city with a population over 1000. They always speak English, offer plenty of free maps, and have free internet. I grabbed a few maps, checked my email, and was approached by an older Korean man that began talking my ear off. I think it was a mixture of him being excited to meet a foreigner and the chance to practice his English. Our conversation lasted almost two hours, and he wanted to buy me dinner as a Korean welcome. While it sounds a bit strange, it wasn't at all. I would have graciously accepted his offer, but it was right around the time I was to meet my CS host, Chris, at the bus stop. With neither of us having phones, I was nervous that if I missed him, I would be out of luck.

Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes passed. Was I getting CS stood up? Fortunately, he was just running behind. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at one of his favorite Korean BBQ joints. Chris and I got along real well from the start. Hailing from Manchester, UK and teaching English here, he was impressive and inspiring with his language ability. He already reads, writes, and speaks Korean very well and was in the process of teaching himself Mandarin. It ended up being a pretty quiet night, and I met another English teacher, Nate, who had just arrived from Taiwan. The floor was calling my name, and we hit the hay.

Continuing Cheonan

I didn't spend much time at "home" (for obvious reasons) since I taught during the day and did some sightseeing with Mi-Suk during the afternoon and weekend. This was my first introduction to a Korean Buddhist Temple. While very pretty, I am comfortable saying that if you've seen one, you've seen them all. Unfortunately, I will have seen at least ten others in the future since every Korean city wants you to see one of their numerous "famous" temples. This one, however, was particularly cool because it was my first and it has one of the largest sitting Buddhas in the world.

I also saw the Independence Museum which documents much of Korea's Japanese occupation. It is an interesting place to visit.

Another first for me was visiting a Korean traditional village. Much like the temples, if you've seen one traditional Korean village, you've seen them all. I will have also seen at least ten more during my time in Korea. They are quaint places that are wonderful for walking around, taking photos, and doing some personal reflecting. It was also my first time trying sikhye, a sweet rice drink that is typically served chilled (the older lady who served me took a liking to me ;).

During my week in Cheonan I had a series of great lunches (being with a local always helps), though I only photo documented one (I guess this one is only great if you like fish):

Through the Couchsurfing community, I met up with other English teachers living around Cheonan. One teacher took pity on me and my lodging and offered her place to surf for the weekend (the whole point of couchsurfing, I suppose). Consequently, another first in Cheonan, my first couchsurfing experience! My hostess was wonderful and even cooked up a West Indian dinner for Mi-Suk and I. With my last teaching job (for now) coming to an end, my backpacking of Korea was about to begin.

Cheonan Love . . . Motel!

Sunday morning I was off to my next job teaching English at Sangmyung University in Cheonan, South Korea. My former boss and friend, Mi-Suk, was the one that put me in touch with this job, and yet again she was going to be my supervisor. My role was to substitute for another teacher who had to do a last minute visa run to Japan. There was a small chance that his paperwork would not be ready and that I would be expected to teach for the whole semester. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, though!

Initially, I was to stay at the other teacher's flat for the whole week, but due to a communication gap and a pit stop by him to his apartment, I only crashed there one night. The place was nice, quaint, and above a noodle shop, though I didn't snap any pictures of the interior (I thought I'd have a whole week to). This was also my first introduction to the keypad entrance of residences. You don't need a key to enter, just enter the code on the keypad and voila, you are in your unit!

Once I discovered the schedule of this job, I quickly began to think to myself how I could certainly get used to this. First class was either 10 or 11 depending on the day, lunch at noon, and the last class ended at 5. Sometimes, no students would show up and no class had to be taught. Friday was just one class. However, I really enjoyed teaching the classes when students came. Since these were optional classes, the only students that showed up were the ones that were motivated to learn.

My new lodging had a much better location in downtown Cheonan, but was, um, a bit seedier to say the least. It was a "love motel" (very common in Korea, ask me about them sometime) complete with mood lighting.

Goodbye Olympic Parktel and the Best Job I'll Probably Ever Have!

The two weeks working at the Olympic Parktel camp went by very quickly! On my one day off, I was able to visit Hongdae with one of the TA's, Raven. We took Raven's car (Hyundai, big surprise) to the area, and at the end of the night we hired a driver to drive Raven's car home effectively parking the car at the hotel, giving us the keys, and walking off to drive the next person. The service only cost about 15000 KRW (about $11 to $12), but the experience is one I will never forget. The driver coasted from Hongdae back to the Jamsil area at a measly 150 to 160 kph (93-100 mph). Sure, on the interstate of the United States, this isn't that big of a deal, but around the crowded streets of Seoul, South Korea, this was a huge deal. I couldn't find the backseat belt buckle (the thing that offers the gratifying click) so I, instead, wrapped myself around the strap, literally!

The Karaoke Fiends!

On the last day of our camp, we had our farewell staff dinner, which is always fun and sad, but I had to duck out early. I had a date with my previous Chosun camp colleagues around the Hongdae area. It was great to catch up and sing karaoke with Jonny, Jessi, Misuk, and Sora after not seeing them for two weeks. At the end of the night, we parted ways agreeing to have a UK reunion at some point, but the subway was already shut down for the night. One thing that I think Korea has a bit backwards is that on weekdays the subway runs later (to cater to people who work late, very late), but on weekends it closes early (so revelers are not able to use it). In all honesty, it's probably more intelligent but a bit frustrating. Instead of cabbing it, I made a few new random friends outside the subway entrance near a convenience store, while we sipped beer, munched on snacks, and exchanged stories. I boarded the subway at 5:30am to arrive at Olympic Parktel just in time to say bye to Lauren who was heading for the airport to go back to the US. A fruitful evening/night/morning indeed!

A Trip Back In Time, First Stop Seoul

So my last Korea post had me leaving Gwangju heading for my next camp in Seoul. Let's resume from there. The date would be early September 2009.

Quite possibly the best job I ever had in the history of my life was THIS camp job in Seoul. Let me break it down. The camp was two weeks long for a total of 6 days working, 1 day off, 6 days working, then end of camp. The hours had the potential to be long, but it wasn't that bad, the Teaching Assistants (TA's) got the brunt of the long days. We had three meals provided per day, AND, I forgot to mention, we were housed at the Olympic Parktel Hotel in Seoul near Jamsil. It was supposed to be 2 people sharing each room, but my roommate was married and lived in Seoul and would often just go home after the camp was finished! This left me with my own room, sort of!

There were five native teachers, four from the US: me, Erin, Lauren, and Stanley, and one from South Africa, Richard. In reality, we had four different camps that lasted for 3 days each, but the first day of each camp didn't start till 1pm and the last day of the camp ended around noon. Anyway, I'm complicating things. Bottom line is, life was good. The first day of each camp we'd play games then teach them for one hour, the second day was the long day which included athletic competitions, ice cream, museums, baseball, pizza, ice cream, then late night drinks for staff! Third day was tying up loose ends, then students leaving. Sometimes, naps (for the English teachers) were part of the day to day activities. The poor TA's had to wake up early in the morning and take the students for morning exercise. I tried to get up and go six different times, but I just couldn't make myself roll out of bed. What further complicated issues (for the TA's) was that my room became a sort of late night hang out complete with food, drink, and conversation until 3 or 4 am. Not that big of a deal when you had to report to the camp at 10am, but a bit of an issue when you (the TA's) had to report in at 7am.

My TA and I with one of my classes

At one of the four baseball games we went to over the course of two weeks!

Piggyback racing was a normal daily activity!

By the end, we had been to 3 different museums, a baseball game, and an outdoor sculpture park four different times (one time for each camp)! Nevertheless, the fact that you can get paid to live in a hotel, have all your meals provided, and your work entailing 1-2 hours of teaching English and playing games with kids is just plain awesome!

More photos available at
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2559099&id=14815291&l=5121acb2c9