The End Is Nigh!

Just two more days of teaching left. I think I'm going to have to wrap up this blog, finally. It's been two years of every type of experience imaginable. I have made wonderful friends, and not just acquaintances. I've had the most wonderful experiences, seen some beautiful things. I've had to deal with open hostility and hatred from all sides. I've had to endure hardships and adversity. In the end, I came out of it a different kind of person.

I was just thinking yesterday about how strange life is. I never would have thought a little over two years ago that I would teach in Korea. I hadn't thought about Korea in years, it's not a country you think about a lot. And then if you go back a little over a year ago, I never would have thought I'd stay for a second year. But, the wonder of life is in those unexpected changes. If I hadn't come to Korea, I wouldn't have met my wonderful friends. If I hadn't stayed for a second year, I wouldn't have gotten closer to some friends and I wouldn't have made others. I wouldn't have gotten a tattoo. I wouldn't have gotten really familiar with the hospital or swallowing a endoscopic camera! There are so many things that I wouldn't have done.

In the end, Korea was a positive experience for me. It's been very difficult, but it's allowed me to endure and to persevere. I will look back at my time here with mixed emotions. I will always remember the difficult times when I almost left the country. I will remember the hurtful and nasty things that happened to me, and it will make me behave better towards others. Of course, I will think of the wonderful friends I made here and all of the great times and conversations we've had.

Korea is not for everyone. But that doesn't mean that everyone couldn't make it here. It just takes some determination and an open mind. As the Koreans are so fond of saying when faced with adversity... FIGHTING!!!!

Songtan Is Not Just For Drinking...

It's also for shopping! Here are some pictures I took this weekend so that I'd remember Songtan and the good times I'd had there. First of all, I love Songtan early in the morning. There is no one out yet. You can walk the streets and everything is still closed. It's really peaceful, which Songtan usually isn't. Usually it's teaming with U.S. military and Koreans selling everything you can imagine.
Here is one of the bootleg DVD stores. Any DVD, just $5. They have the latest theatrical releases. Obviously, as you can see, copyright is not such an issue here, neither is anything trademarked. I'm pretty sure that Disney and Pixar did not give permission for a "Finding Nemo" themed bootleg DVD store.Here is the Blue Opera. It's our favorite place to just sit down in Songtan. In the summer when it's ridiculously hot outside, we pop in for the AC and some ice tea. In the winter we pop in for some hot tea. Really, it's so relaxing in there. The atmosphere is great, and it's the image that most often comes to my mind when I think of Songtan. I've spent hour after hour in that place, often two or three times in one day. It's not uncommon to spend 3 or 4 hours in here throughout the day.Here are some of the crazy things for sale in Songtan. Sandra actually bought me this statue of liberty with a dragon holding a sword letter opener. She said "Now, you'll never find something like this again." We both appreciate the tackier things in life!Check out these pants. Now, I love this. Who believes this crap? The price tag said "MSRP $405." Ok, so the manufacturer's suggested retail price is $405. But, this store is selling it for $28. Wow!!!! That's a great discount they have here in Songtan! Yeah, I think it's a knock-off. Also, who the hell pays $405 for a pair of jeans?This is a pencil holder with a green bear/frog or something like that holding onto it. The funny thing is that to me, it looked as if the animal were vomiting into the pencil holder, as if it had been out drinking all night long before it went to work in the morning as a pencil holder.There are also a large number of foreign restaurants here. It's always worth a trip here to get some non-Korean food. The English is not always the best, even though there are tons of foreigners there.You can also get anything custom made in Songtan for you. Almost anything that is. I got a leather jacket made for me. The only place in Korea that I could get clothes made for me, Songtan and Itaewon. It was a great deal. Check out the crazy lining that has this weird prisoner of war message thing. Click on the picture to get a close-up view to read it better.Here's the last picture I took in Songtan. I think it's beautiful. Why bother asking native English speakers how to translate something? Just do it and hope for the best. So, this is how they say "tow-away zone." There are literally thousands of these little bits of Engrish around. Come to Korea and see for yourself.

So Hard To Say Good-bye

Saturday was my big going away party in Songtan. It was also MJ's (the owner of the Bellagio bar) birthday. This meant it was a two for one kind of party, which meant lots of people and lots of booze, and most importantly... lots of meat off of the base! I love these bbq's that they throw for people leaving. You can eat your weight in meat and then some. So, here are a few of the pics from the weekend's festivities. By the way, Jennifer was really sick and couldn't come. So, that's why you don't see her in any of the pictures. Toni is such a lady.
The party actually was spread over two nights. The first night it was really just Toni, Jude, and I having a more relaxed evening in Songtan. Here are some pics from that night. Here's Toni and MJ doing the heart shape that friends do and that couples do when dating here in Korea. It's so cute... kind of makes you want to throw up a little bit. By the way, MJ put a picture of me up behind the bar, so I'm going to forever be a part of the Bellagio.Here's a picture of MJ eating a chicken neck. Eating the neck is such a super Korean thing to do. Here is a picture of Jude and I giving the Korean equivalent of the middle finger. It's supposed to represent a penis inside a vagina... it does give a whole new meaning to the whole "I've got your nose" game that we play with little kids. This pose was to honor Toni.Toni and I have a love hate relationship I guess. Here is the love...And here is the hate.Remember Toni's birthday party? Remember how MJ covered Toni's face with chocolate frosting? Well, Toni hoped to do the same to MJ... but MJ had other things in mind. Oh well, I guess you just can't win.There were a lot of people who came out for the party. My friend Won, who lives in Itaewon in Seoul came to Songtan, a two hour trip by subway. Mattie (remember the famous "no hands" pool game?) showed up with his wife and stayed until the wee hours of the morning. Another Aussie friend, Marlina, who used to live in Anseong even made it. It was really great to see everyone before I left.Here is a pic of Jude and Mattie, both just starting to get a little drunk. There was an insane amount of alcohol flowing that night.Here's a picture of Jude with our friend Clara. Jude always gives the thumbs up in his pictures. Seriously, every single picture of him in Korea looks like this.Here's a picture of Sandra looking beautiful. I'm going to miss her so much. By the way, she can drink anyone under the table. You don't even want to try and challenge her.Here's a picture of Sandra taking a picture of me taking a picture of her. Also, you can see Toni hitting Mattie in the head with a rose. I don't quite remember who bought me a rose, but I had two of them.This is what happens when Toni plays bartender. This is the draft beer that she poured me. I look like I'm Gulliver!There were some people at the party whom I had just met a couple of times, but would have liked to get to know better. Here is a picture of Won and Charles, who teaches at a university in Seoul somewhere. He's a super nice guy. He bought everyone some shots. I really enjoyed talking to him.Here's a picture of Marlina's friend Jess from South Africa. This was only my second time meeting her, but really, she and I had a great time. Too bad I wasn't a bit more lucid about using my camera. But by the time we were at our third or fourth bar I was forgetting to take some pictures. I can't imagine why.In the end, we made our way back to the Bellagio, after visiting more bars than I can remember. There was still plenty of bbq left over, so we started eating again. Nothing better than a cold hamburger or sausage when you're a little bit tipsy.At the end of the evening, I think almost everyone ended up looking like this. Photographic proof of the drunken debauchery.

Punished

Here is a great pic of lots of boys that got caught smoking in the school. They stood like this, hand-in-hand for over an hour while getting berated. It was pretty satisfying to watch. I love the ingenuity of punishments here in Korea!

A New Franchise Opportunity?

I don't know. What do you think? Do you think this clothing store in Itaewon could be the next big fashion chain store in the U.S.? I think we're looking at the next "Macy's." Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. The store is called "Make Yourself Fucking Lovely."
Also, while in Itaewon I took some pictures to remember everything. Here is a very famous picture that every foreigner knows. It's in the window of a photo studio. These photos of new babies are very common I guess. The thing that creeps everyone I know out about this photo is the middle-aged comb over that this baby is sporting as well as the medallion. It just screams middle-age baby. It's super creepy. I hope this guy doesn't have to walk by this photo every day and feel embarrassed.Also, in Itaewon I met up with my friend Won, remember, he drew the great anime style pic of me. We ate at a gamjatang restaurant. Gamjatang is my favorite food here. It's called potato soup, but really, it's pork backbone soup, with some potatoes thrown in. It's super spicy, and just really wonderful and flavorful. I really hope I can learn how to make this soup in the U.S.
Mmmmm.... lots of side dishes. Most of them are already gone, but you get the idea.
The aftermath of the feeding frenzy, a bowl full of back bones.