Visa Trip to Osaka, Japan (May 25, 2006)

So after a long time of waiting, and only a few days before I would have been an illegal alien, I finally got to take my visa trip to Osaka Japan. The visa is so that I can stay in Korea for a year and work there legally. It was a three-day trip that started off badly. The morning I was supposed to fly, I woke up really sick. I was coughing, had a sore throat, and I had to blow my nose constantly.
But I got to the airport, flew to Osaka, and after being lost of a while, finally finding the Korean consulate. After filling out a bunch of forms I finally found a hotel for the first night. Although I didn’t feel like doing much, I still wandered around looking at all the shops, eating some food, and sitting in a few bars.
The next day was pretty much the same; I found a new hotel, picked up my visa and wandered the streets looking for something to buy. But all the clothes are way too small for me, or too skimpy. The fashion is extreme, and most of the things people are wearing, you wouldn’t get away with anywhere else, without being offered money.
Unfortunately I didn’t do a whole lot because of being so sick, but I still managed to take a few pictures and buy a few souvenirs.
After flying back on Friday, and taking a few busses back to school, I was told I had to go straight to work. I arrived about a half hour before my first class, totally exhausted and feeling really bad, but there really wasn’t anyone to take over, so I sucked it up and went to work. It was a very stressful few days, and I’m really glad it is the weekend, so I get to relax and recover from this cold.

Muuido (May 13&14, 2006)

One of the first trips that I took away from Seoul was to Muuido Beach. It’s a beach on an island near Incheon (north of Seoul). Mel had set up the trip with a few of the friends she’s met while in Korea. The trip took about four hours on a few different busses to get to the beach, and I don’t know if I could make it back there by myself. The beach was really nice, even though it was pretty cold outside.
There were about 15 foreign teachers there, and we all stayed in a few little one-room huts with no furniture, but they had heated floors. The one thing that makes this island famous, is that there is a house on it that is used in a Korean soap opera. Other than that there isn’t much except a few restaurants and a convenience store. The toilets were squatters and smelled like piss. Not to mention there was no soap around. The restaurant we ate at was really nice. We grilled fresh shellfish on table grills. It was all really fresh and delicious, although I couldn’t make myself swallow the large lams and conch.
Other than that there wasn’t much to do, so we made a bon fire, set off some fireworks and drank soju (cheap rice liquor). Overall it was a really great time, and I met a lot of nice people.

Buddhas Birthday

Buddhas Birthday is one of the largest festivals in Seoul, held on April 30th. I think there were as many foreigners as Koreans there. During the festival there are many booths set up where you can make lanterns for free, paint and dress up in traditional garments (I hope Im not insulting their tradition by doing so). I got so many random pictures taken of myself, just as everyone did.But it was fun, with a long parade of illuminated floats and thousands of people, all carrying lanterns. In the end we even go to take some of the lanterns home. It was a great beginning to my trip.

Introducing...

So far life in Korea has been hectic. Everything moves very fast and there is always something to do whether its a festival, national holiday or drinking with co-workers. I guess I havent mentioned yet that Korea is seen as the Irish of Asia. Teaching has also been a lot of fun, but also stressful since kids all over the world act fairly similar, which is to say crazy. But I have been really enjoying the experience. Its quite a bit different than the line of work I had previously been in.
My room mate is from Canada and her name is Mel (Melissa). We live in an okay sized apartment (although my room is tiny), which has ondu floors, which means they can be heated. The shower is just a showerhead in the bathroom, and there is no oven or microwave, just two burners. But the only thing that I have found to be a problem is the washer that stretches out your clothes and then having to hang them up to dry which makes them stiff. But that is only a minor annoyance that I will get used to over time.
My other co-workers are also really nice. Arriving just a day before me was a guy from England named Antony. Its nice to have someone else around that doesnt know anything about anything. He lives in the apartment across the hall with another guy named Rob. Rob has been here for a few years now and is the kindergarten supervisor. Hes from Canada and was an English major at a Christian University. Antony, Rob and I get along well since we have similar tastes in some music and movies.
The picture is of Mel (right), Antony (center), and Jared (left, the teacher I replaced).