Mid-February

There is still absolutely nothing for me to do at work. Factor in a complete absence of English conversation, the Neil Young discography, and an entire pot of coffee and you have a recipe for introspection. As soon as wandering around in my own thoughts gets claustrophobic I'm switching over to King Crimson and Nightquil. I'm not even exaggerating about having no work to do. The past two days I started the morning hanging out with the janitors, cranking K-Pop, drinking soju, and smoking cigarettes. I'm not even a fan of drinking before noon and I hate cigarettes but it's better than eight hours of YouTube and my boss actually approves. Do Korean tax payers realize that this is where their hard earned money is going?

Lunch today was a pleasant surprise. Lately it's been spicy fish-soup by delivery, but today one of the secretaries interrupted the janitors and I in the middle of a paper-airplane contest and asked if we wanted to join the "special lunch plans." Was I in a position to say no? After a half hour ride in a fleet of those micro-buses the thirty or forty of us in attendance arrived at a spacious raw-fish restaurant. Lunch must have been about seven courses and included oysters, mussels, pajeon, baked corn, kimchi, two large trays of raw sashimi, tessa, shark, halibut, live octopus, eel, several other types of delicious yet unidentifiable fish, budae jjigae, and this wonderful bamboo liquor that tastes just like apple juice. I remember only months ago when I'd hesitate to dine on such fare but now I salivate over it.

My buddy Mike scored a motorcycle a few weeks ago for about $200.  It's a Daelim Magma 125cc.  At first it wouldn't start because it needed a new battery.  On Monday night we got the idea that we could push it up to speed in the parking garage and then pop the clutch to make the motor turn over.  It didn't work so Mike just bought a battery on Tuesday and we spent the afternoon cruising it around the neighborhood.  I have to admit that he got his money's worth of fun out of the thing.  It's a completely awesome bike with a surprising amount of get-up-and-go for the amount of engine displacement.  Here's a little clip so you can see what passes for a hog here in the ROK.


Cool Thing About Korea #46:

The Juan T. Trippe which was the second Boeing 747 ever made and the first to be flown commercially is now a rundown restaurant in a random Korean suburb.  I've been meaning to go track it down and take pictures for sometime now but lately I get the feeling that its just not going to happen.  Still, you can see a ton more pictures here.

Early February

I suffered some rather nasty abrasions to my left foot while I was in Thailand.  After the incident, due to innumerable distractions and a temporary lapse in judgment, I decided against seeking medical attention, instead settling on a few generic band-aids slapped carelessly over the pink, gaping wounds.  For one reason or another I thought walking around a sanitation-challenged third world country in nothing but leather flip-flops, after an impressive chunk of epidermis had been sheared from my metatarsals would yield no negative consequences.  Unsurprisingly, I developed quite a petri-dish of infection which soon spread to my calf and then knee in the form of swollen, black lesions.  By the time I took myself to a clinic in Korea the doctor on staff could only look at me with unamused condescension while stumbling through a limited English vocabulary for phrases like "stupid", "moronic," and "you could have died."  He cleaned me up pretty well and proceeded to write me a prescription for some hardcore antibiotics.  Then a Korean nurse injected three 4" needles of god-knows-what into my rear end.  She must have had magic fingers because the only sensation I can recall was not the prick of the needles, but the firm caress of her experienced hand slapping my taught buttocks.  So did I learn something?  Two things actually.  Blatantly ignoring obvious medical hazards in a humid cesspool of a country can develop into a fantastic story and, thanks to socialized medicine, the extensive treatment and antibiotics that I'm receiving on a daily basis over the next two weeks only costs me about $14.  At these prices how can you afford not to get sick in Korea?

Managed to get some skiing in last weekend.  The mountain we went to was pretty awesome based solely on my novice standards.  Couple good black diamonds that were challenging, yet approachable.  Not like some of the sheer drops I've stared down on Whiteface of Killington that only cause me laugh at the prospect of descending them with anything short of climbing gear and ice shoes.  There were, predictably, a ton of Korean's littering the intermediate trails, and while some would complain about the crowding, I found dodging the human obstacles to be satisfying unto itself.  Here's a group shot with some of the alpha snow-boarders I hit the slopes with.

Slushy snow falling from the sky today.  Nothing like the blizzard I keep hearing about back home in PA.  Also there is talk going around about an earthquake in Seoul yesterday but I didn't feel anything.  Students have been in the building all week because the third graders graduate to high school tomorrow.  I had about five classes over the course of the week and I was actually thrilled to interact with the kids again.  It's been too dull around here lately.  Played a cool auction game that was inspired by Mary-Beth.  Props MB!  You'd be surprised how crazy 12-year-olds go for fake paper money.  Well, I got a five day weekend starting in a few hours.  Here's hoping that whoever you are, wherever you are, your life is as enjoyable as mine.

Cool Thing About Korea #45:  Canadians:  I meet more Canadians in one month in Korea than I ever did my whole life in the States...and let me tell you that they are a charming, intelligent, and sexy group of people.  Here's a slew of funny Molson commercials passed on to me by my stunningly attractive Canadian valentine and in honor of all my fantastic Canadian friends. 

What I'm Watching at Work Today

Lots of reasons to be happy this week but the one that most directly influences my future state of affairs is the fact that I've been accepted to engineering school. Up until a few days ago I had no post-Korea plans. I thought I might hang out back home all summer and then split to California or the South Pacific until I ran out of money. Now, instead of squandering my savings as a nomadic vagabond I'll get to squander it as a fun-loving college student. Who said the party is over?! It's nice to have direction in life once again. I'll get to put those student-loans back on deferment, move back in with my buddies, and get a dollar off at the movie theatre, all while developing the technical skills that will ultimately propel me towards being a captain of American industry.

Work is great here in Korea. There are no classes until March so I'm getting paid to sit at my desk and surf the Internet. That's right, 40 hours a week of selective mind-numbing brain-fodder via inorganic, electronic over-stimulation. Try not to be too jealous. Here's what I've been viewing today:

The Most Informative Site For Those New to Korea  

Engrish.com 

Secret Government UFO  

Shamwow Guy in Jail

Sh*t My Dad Says 

Ground Effect Vehicles  

Quantum Mechanics  

Family Guy 

Video Game Console Library 

Weird Al Interviews Eminem 

CIA Careers 

V-22 Osprey 

How to Fly a Helicopter 

Godzilla: Countdown to Extinction 

And the list goes on, but that's what I manged to get in before 10 a.m.  Well, got a hot date tonight.  Here's hoping that your day was as productive as mine.