Ah, F this...

Found in Seoul's Itaewon international tourist area:


Ah, F this S...

Merry Christmas

Memories of yesteryear, and that's the bottom line, cuz Stone Cold said so...

Why did it take me this long to find out that one hot topic of discussion among my senior-grade middle school students is... WWE pro wrestling?

I should've seen this coming, because back when I was their age, I was a fan of the (then) World Wrestling Federation as well. I've even met John Cena in person at an autograph session, before he became a household name in sports entertainment.

I was going down the hallway en route to the English classroom and a few students were playfighting, as is common at all-boys' schools here. One of them performed a pretend-wrestling move on another, and as I passed by, I gave the student a small tap on the shoulder and casually said, "No Rock Bottoms in the school, please." Both of them stopped in their tracks and went like, "OHHHHHHhhhhhh, Mr. Cheng knows WWE! Oh my God!"

After lunch, a bunch of students cornered me in the hallway and we had a nice little discussion about WWE -- and they actually used English and tried to use it to discuss pro wrestling! It was incredible how so many of those students who normally didn't participate in class are now eagerly displaying their English skills so we could both share our knowledge about the "Sport" That Vince McMahon Revolutionized.

I amazed them with my knowledge about the Radicalz (Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn and Chris Benoit), the Dudley Boyz (Bubba-Ray and D-Von), the Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy), Edge & Christian, Degeneration-X, the WCW/ECW Alliance, nWo, and others. I impressed them with first-hand memories of the Brock Lesnar superplex on Big Show that broke the ring in an old episode of Smackdown. I wow'd them with the tales of the Triple H vs. Mick Foley Hell-in-a-Cell match at No Way Out.

And all this time, I've been trying to find culturally relevant names to use in my lessons that students would know and be interested in. I can't believe all this time, it was right under my nose in the form of World Wrestling Entertainment.

If you smell what the Hermit is cookin'.

Can't wait

This week, I booked my trip to Hong Kong -- the first visit to my birthplace since 1995. In fact, it's been so long that the last time I was there, it was still the territory of the United Kingdom.

About two months ago, I talked with a British guy at an English bookstore about Hong Kong (random conversations with other expats tend to happen quite frequently, I find). He told me that Hong Kong has changed a lot since its colonial days. I guess I'll finally see how much it has changed.

Above: Seoul's Incheon International Airport. I'll be seeing this place again in February as I leave South Korea for vacation.

I'll actually be leaving the same day as a fellow Vancouverite who's also stationed here in Seoul as a native English teacher, so that should be fun. I also have a Vancouver friend who's going to be in Hong Kong during the second half of my stay; there'll be no shortage of Vancouver representation this coming February, that's for sure.

I'm actually a bit excited about the trip. I've missed being in a place where I actually speak the language and where I'm close to people I know (besides the people I may have met during teacher orientation here in Seoul). I miss going out for dinner and not having to get Korean food all the time. It's interesting how at home, you don't realize that you're taking something for granted until it's no longer available. Some of you might know, but Vancouver is like a big Chinatown; visiting Hong Kong feels like visiting Vancouver in a way.

I was in Itaewon (Seoul's international district) last night to get a T-shirt printed, and there was a family there. They were obviously tourists, and were having a blast. But then came the moment where they had to ask someone to take a picture for them. Unfortunately, their English wasn't all that great and they couldn't speak Korean. However, they spoke a language that I understood -- Cantonese, the language of Hong Kong. So I offered (in Cantonese) to take the picture for them. They looked so relieved that someone actually understood what they wanted.

That look really reminded me of my first day in Seoul, before orientation started. That day, I was lucky enough to need help at Yongsan Station, which is one of Seoul's foreigner magnets (due to the nearby electronics market and US army base).

The Hong Kong trip will last for a while -- almost the entire month of February. The reason for that is because my school wanted me to shift some of my summer vacation days to winter. I get 21 days of vacation, and they wanted me to take 16 of them this winter (leaving 5 for summer). The winter breaks for schools are typically longer, and they didn't want to have to keep me around for such a long time in winter, deskwarming or "work from home" or otherwise. That allowed me to book a flight leaving on February 5 and a return trip on February 28.

I have no problem with that, because I need to get my Hong Kong ID anyway (since I was born there) and the processing takes weeks. And I think being in Hong Kong during the brutal winter months in Seoul could be a blessing. It'll certainly be a big savings in utilities, since I'll be unplugging everything and leaving the tap dripping (to prevent freezing) before I leave.

Six and a half weeks to go.

They just don't care

My third grade classes don't care anymore.

The third grade of middle school in South Korea is roughly equivalent to ninth grade back in North America. They are the seniors of middle school. A few weeks ago, they finished their final exams, leaving me over a month to teach them... whatever. And because they already finished their exams, anything that is taught from now until the end of the year isn't being tested on, and is basically meaningless.

So as a result, they don't really care if they do well now. And as a teacher, it's hard to teach a class where the lack of enthusiasm is that big of a problem. Sure, you are still obligated to cover the rest of the textbook, but no matter how interesting you try to make the material, it's probably not going to fly. It's frustrating.

(The reason why their exams are so early is because they have to have the grades determined before they apply for their high schools, which can get quite competitive.)

For the next week and a half, I was told to pretty much do anything. I think it's obvious, but when you don't have any new material to teach and the students don't really give a damn anymore, 45 minutes of class time can feel like 45 hours.

I can fill the class up with games (as most other native English teachers are doing, from what I've gathered), but my co-teacher is often saying that the games may not be age-appropriate and often ends the game much earlier than anticipated, catching me off-guard.

One and a half weeks of pure torment. Fun.

Aww, poor student

Sometimes I have great classes. Sometimes I have bad classes. But to simply label a class as completely good or completely bad would be simplistic and inaccurate. I found that out yesterday.

Usually, Mondays are lax in terms of classes but they are also a train wreck. My first class is so smart that they understand every concept right away, and I often end up blowing through the material with lots of time left over. Otherwise, they'd get bored. This earned me a comment from my co-teacher that I seem a little "disorganized" lately.

It also doesn't help that they are the senior grade, and the seniors have already written their final exams, which means that they're not really interested in learning anymore (since the time between now and the end of the year no longer matters) which, in turn, makes the whole teaching experience monotonous.

In contrast, my final senior grade class for Mondays is usually unattentive and more interested in talking with their friends. Yesterday, they paid no attention to most of my lesson, and even the co-teacher (who is different from my first class) didn't really care.

However, there was one student from the latter class who paid attention to everything I taught, and when I asked for an answer for a question after giving an example, he would often get the answer right; if not, at least he gave a shot at it.

Sometimes it's hard to keep tabs on all your students, especially when you have more classes than any Korean English teacher in the school, with over 30 students in most classes. However, that doesn't mean that good students aren't noticed. (On the flip side, if you're a bad and disruptive student, you tend to be noticed too.)

I actually owed this student a Choco Pie from winning a class game last week, and that nearly slipped my mind. He reminded me at the end of class, and I asked him to come with me to my office to get his reward. On the way, I told him that I really appreciated how attentive he was despite all the shenanigans going on around him, and how I really enjoyed seeing him give an effort even when his answer is incorrect. And to show my appreciation, he got TWO Choco Pies instead of the one that I promised him.

I could tell he was a bit frustrated with the other students' behavior in the class, and to be recognized really made his eyes light up. Sometimes it's a bit nice to see that even in the crappiest classes, there are a few good apples out there. Perhaps they feel lost in the hooligan crowd sometimes, so recognizing them for their efforts really does make a difference.

Sometimes I miss it all...

One of the guilty pleasures that is readily available here in Seoul is English DVDs. Recently, I bought some of them and among the new DVDs I now own is Jennifer's Body. That movie holds a special place in my heart because it is the last movie I ever worked on.

Some of those who know me are already aware that I was a movie and TV show extra back in Vancouver, as my part-time job while I was in university. Sometimes watching some of the movies and shows I took part in, I almost start missing being part of the Vancouver film industry. Almost.

There are many pros and cons of being an extra. The biggest pro is obvious -- you get to be in a movie, and sometimes with big-name stars. Also, you get a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day when the movie or show finally comes out. It's not like other jobs where your work is quickly forgotten or sometimes ignored. In the film industry, it doesn't matter whether a film bombs or becomes a hit -- your work is immortalized in some way or another.

After thinking of those fond memories, the cons start streaming in, and there are many. One of the biggest issues with the job is that you have no idea when (and often no idea where) you're supposed to report for work the next day. It is normal for your agent to tell you, at 11:00pm, to report at 6:00am in the middle of nowhere. And the agent often can't be blamed for the timing, because they are kept in the dark by the productions as well (and, indeed, it is also common for crew members to be in the dark). I remember such a situation for Hot Rod, when we had to report to Cloverdale, a largely rural area quite a ways from the city, by 6:00am (and often, you're expected to be there around a half hour before the call time).

Also, there are often some pretty nasty clique-ish behavior that goes on among the extras. A lot of people find that amusing, but it's true. A lot of extras, especially those who are unionized, have a tendency to act like they are above everyone else. They often form their own little social circles where they try to walk all over everyone else, flaunting their "higher" status as much as possible. There was a unionized extra I had a nice chat with once who was actually ashamed of his fellow unionized extras, and in fact didn't reveal himself as one until almost halfway into the work day.

And there are also a lot of extras who try to rely on movie extra work as a primary source of income, which is always a bad idea. Being a film extra is not full-time work. I don't think it's even part-time work. Relying on the job for a steady stream of income is very dangerous, given the constant "busy" and "quiet" periods in the film industry. There have been times when my phone was ringing off the hook, but also times when there was no work for months at a time. Relying on this pattern to sustain you financially is a suicide mission.

Of course, there are some good memories. Among them:

• the 7:00pm-to-7:00am overnight shoot at BC Place with Pierce Brosnan (Butterfly on a Wheel)
  
• the awesomeness of George Takei (season 1 episode of Psych)
  
• finding out that Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) and Megan Fox (Jennifer's Body) aren't really friendly people
  
• that Adam Brody is actually a nice guy (Jennifer's Body)
  
• my first film extra job (season 2 episode of The 4400)
  
• coincidentally, being part of the last scene EVER for the The 4400 before it was cancelled
  
• my last film extra job (Jennifer's Body)
  
• how we magically and instinctively turned a simple concert scene into a chorus scene (Jennifer's Body)... that gave me chills at the time and still does
  
• the cool riot scene in Hot Rod
  
• the 1200-extra scene in Hot Rod's school bus jump scene
  
• being named by the assistant director as one of her favorite extras, resulting in actual RECOGNITION by the cast and crew, despite being a lowly extra (Aliens in America)
  
• dressing as a communist soldier, only to be rained out on the shooting day (Watchmen)
  

And then there are the things like the call time issues that I stated before, there are also issues that suck, such as with wardrobe (which may be just as annoying as the call times), productions that may delay or screw up the payroll, the strange ups and downs in the number of movies being filmed, the long work hours (my average was 10 hours per work day, and it was normal to go above 12 hours per day), the poor work conditions (such as really cold extras tents and some safety issues on set), the clique-ish extras on set, and the mind-killing boredom during the long wait times (such as the 7-hour wait time for The Invisible).

So every time I start missing being part of the film industry as an extra, I remember the problems that came along with the job. Suddenly, I remember why I decided to get out of that job in the first place.

It was nice to have a job that pays you for nearly doing nothing, but it's by no means an easy job. There's a reason why the turnover rate was rather high, and by my 4th year in, I was already considered a grizzled veteran in the movie extra industry.

My newest love-hate relationship with Miley Cyrus

Recently, I got an iPod dock that also has an alarm clock radio function. I took advantage of that, so now I wake up for work to the American Forces Network Korea (AFN Korea) radio station -- one of the two English stations in town.

As you can expect, they play a lot of rock music, similar to the music that I usually listen to back home in Vancouver (on 99.3 The Fox). So I thought to myself, "Cool." But AFN Korea keeps playing this really "bubble-gum style" pop song. And the thing is that it's such a catchy song! I found myself humming along to it, and started to wonder who the singer was.

And then I found out that it was Miley Cyrus. I was thinking, "So... I, a grown man, was singing along to a Miley Cyrus song? Wow... that's... awkward."

I guess as a fan of One Tree Hill and 90210 (not to mention Degrassi: The Next Generation, and experimenting with the new Melrose Place), I shouldn't be surprised that I fell into this trap. Why is it that I always end up being attracted to weird songs and shows that 12-year-old girls like? It's amazing how often that happens.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to a party in the USA...

Lest we forget

Above: The poppy I placed on the Canadian plaque for soldiers killed in action during the Korean War, at the War Memorial of Korea.

South Korea: the land of technological shortfalls?

It's no secret that South Korea is known as one of the premier technology hubs in the world. Its high-speed internet network is the envy of the world, and the country is also among the front-runners of robotics and genetic research. However, beneath this rosy image is a major contradiction of what one would normally expect -- specifically in terms of internet technology.

South Korea is known as the world's most wired country, with over 90% of the country equipped with broadband connections. However, while the hardware and speed are incredible, the software has a lot of catching up to do. When I say that this country's software usage is decades old, I mean it almost literally.

An article in the Korea Times today outlined the shortcomings of this country's technology. While the internet speeds here are tops in the world, 99% of the population still uses Internet Explorer as their web browser of choice. Not only that, but they're not using the current version (IE version 8) -- they are still using IE version 6, which was released around 2001. Yes, 2001. That's 8 years ago.

Why are they still using this outdated technology? It's because of ActiveX, a component that came in IE 6. As with the case so often with Internet Explorer, it turned out that ActiveX had some major security vulnerabilities. Despite this, many South Korean websites, such as banking websites, not only decided to continue to base their websites on ActiveX controls, but actually increased its usage over the years. The security problems got so bad that even Microsoft is trying to abandon ActiveX; when the mother of a software wants to abandon it so soon, you know that there are major problems with it.

There is also a dependency on Windows operating systems due to this issue -- the websites based on ActiveX also depend on Windows. That means those buying Apple products are at a serious disadvantage, which leads to Apple's failure to hold any significant market share in South Korea (along with high import fees, which are likely in this country -- just look at the automotive market). In addition, Windows Vista reduced support for ActiveX, leading many people in South Korea to continue using Windows XP.When I first arrived in this country and saw the technology, I was so surprised to see that most people were still using Windows XP. As much as I have an issue with Windows Vista, it was a shock to me that a country this technologically advanced is still using ancient software.

Above: An abandoned computer monitor back home at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, with the prophetic message next to it, reading, "Evolve for the future, today."

ActiveX is so overused that it's preventing users from upgrading their browsers and operating systems. As a Mozilla Firefox user and fan of Apple products, I really hope the South Korean companies wake up and realize that if they want to catch up to the current online technology (such as CSS), they need to ditch ActiveX and allow for more browser and operating system diversity.

This reminds me of a situation at my school. I was having some connectivity issues with my computer, and a Korean teacher was looking at my computer trying to figure out if there was a program messing up something. He almost uninstalled Mozilla Firefox because he thought it was a virus! He was so surprised when I informed him that it was an internet browser, because he was not aware of another way to go on the internet besides Internet Explorer.

Another situation involves the computer in the English classroom. The computer was attacked by some nasty spyware and worms lately, and it appears to have originated from a security vulnerability caused by Internet Explorer usage. Yet, what happened when the computer was finally fixed? Yep, they continued to insist on relying on Internet Explorer and refusing to use Mozilla Firefox or other browsers. They don't seem to learn from their mistakes. The good news is that I've convinced the head English teacher to try to get school funding to get a Mac computer in the future for that classroom (primarily due to multimedia purposes).

Until the situation changes, I'll probably be one of the 10 Firefox-using people in South Korea within a 1-mile radius.

For once, I have school and don't want it to be canceled

(Warning: this post contains "Wikipedism.")

"Snow day." "Teachers' strike." "School shooting threat." Every kid dreams to hear these words. (Okay, maybe not the last one, but it did happen to me once back in Canada.) Why? Because that means one thing -- school is canceled!

My brand-new alarm clock radio (which also has an iPod dock... I love it!) awoke me yesterday. It was tuned to TBS eFM, one of the two English-language radio stations here in Seoul, and the morning news was on. The newscaster informed me that the South Korean government officials were meeting this week to discuss whether to raise the H1N1 alert level to "red" -- the highest possible level.

Sure. Okay. Even though I was a bit concerned, I didn't think too much of it. And then this morning, they repeated this information but said that the meeting has been pushed up to THIS MORNING (as opposed to tomorrow, as originally planned). If they decided to raise the level, it could mean nation-wide school closures. Okay, now this was serious business, even though I knew that students were scheduled to get vaccinated on November 20.

Apparently this country has been nearing 10,000 H1N1 infections per day, which led to this sudden urgency. As it turned out, the alert level was indeed raised to "red," which means schools and other public institutions and places may close. While I don't know if anything will happen at this point, it feels like school closures are imminent. For example, since September, my school had been checking everyone's temperatures before entering the school. Today, that didn't happen for some reason. It was as if they were expecting something to happen soon.

While students are probably praying for a "swine flu holiday," I really hope we don't get one. For the holidays, I have a vacation planned and I think if school was canceled, we might have to sacrifice some of the winter holidays to make up for the canceled classes. (The vacation is very important because it also doubles as an "ID card run" -- I need to apply in person for an ID card in that vacation spot because I was born there. This is the first real chance I've had to apply for it.) Also, the senior grades' final exams are next week, which complicates things.

But as I said, it feels like a closure is imminent. After work today, I stocked up on essentials such as extremely nutritious food. My monthly grocery budget has gone down the drain, but if the H1N1 danger is really getting worse this rapidly in this country, I might as well prepare myself to stay inside as much as possible until this thing blows over.

On the plus side, if this swine flu thing doesn't materialize but Kim Jong Il decides to invade instead, I now have decent survival materials.

Oh, Korea. Sometimes you're just silly.

Yesterday, I posted a rant about how we English speakers tend to take English for granted. I also said:

In a way, it isn't for lack of trying, because many places and chains here have English names and no Korean names. But simply naming places with English doesn't always result in language proficiency. Sure, many businesses (both Korean-owned and Western-owned) have English names, but once you see their marketing slogans -- when they're forced to string English words together rather than using them autonomously from one another -- you suddenly realize that South Korea has a long way to go because the slogan is often non-sensical or grammatically incorrect. You know your standards for Koreans using correct English have lowered when you don't wince at Lotteria's Borat-like "Happy Time!" slogan anymore.

So, naturally, I had to come across this gem near my apartment and adjacent to Sookmyung Women's University:

Above: "Timeless Time The of Coffee Tree." Whoa, dude. Deeeeeeep...

Oh, Korea.

Korea, Korea, Korea...

We are very damn lucky

Sometimes, as English speakers, we take our ability to read and speak English completely for granted. We make fun of people for spelling it "alot" and people who type "should of." But after spending time in a country where the English proficiency level seems to be quite low, you start to realize that there are really times when we don't appreciate English's importance in the world.

When I was flying over to Seoul from Vancouver, I did a layover at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport. One of the main concerns prior to leaving was whether I'd be able to find my way around to ge to my connecting flight -- will my lack of (written) Chinese knowledge and Mandarin skills come to bite me in the ass? Will I miss my flight because I saw a sign that I thought said "International departures" but actually said "Turnips for sale"? Will I even understand any of the stuff coming from the plane's speakers during the flight?

Those fears turned out to be completely unfounded due to the intense power that English has.

At the airports, there were obviously signs written in the local language -- Chinese for Shanghai and Korean for Seoul. But those two places' signs also shared a common language. You guessed it, it was English. Not French. Not Spanish. Not Klingon. Not Newspeak. English.

On the flight from Shanghai to Seoul, I was wondering whether language was going to be a problem again. Again, those fears were unfounded -- the plane's announcements were in Mandarin Chinese, Korean and -- you guessed it -- English.

It was at that time (well, and after seeing that even North Korea's airport uses English despite being so outspoken against American "imperialists" in Korea) that I realized that if you have a working knowledge of English, you are more or less capable of navigating through almost every major airport in the world. That means your travel horizons have broadened a lot simply because you can read English.

Further evidence can be seen in Seoul. On the subways, the stop announcements will always be in Korean and English. Some stops also have Japanese and Mandarin Chinese announcements, but they will always have English.

Also, in the international district of Itaewon, guess what the common language is (besides Korean) for all the businesses, regardless of whether it's Turkish style, Indian style, or whatever nationality's style. That's right -- English. I got my cell phone set up at a Turkish dealer in Itaewon and the store had English and Korean signs, but no Turkish signs. In Itaewon, regardless of what nationality's flavors or stylings you're going for, Korean and English will always be spoken.

I think that speaks volumes about the power of English in a world where the United States is decreasing in importance and where China is stepping up. Despite this shift of power, even a place that's an hour out from China is still adopting English as the "international" language.

That leads me to my job as a native English teacher in Seoul. A lot of my students are very good at English and have an interest in studying it. There are also a lot who have no interest in English whatsoever and don't even try. I feel sorry for the latter because they're the ones who are going to be dazed and confused when they go traveling. They're the ones who will not get business opportunities abroad (regardless of whether the job is in an English-speaking country or not, especially for international firms). They're going to be more or less stuck in their little Korean cocoon and will not dare to venture outside the country even for a vacation, simply because the common international language out there is English. As far as I know, the only country where Korean is widely spoken across the people is, indeed, Korea.

Of course, part of that reason might be because there seems to be a mentality here that English is just a subject in school and nothing more. Let's compare Korea to a place like my birthplace, Hong Kong, where the English ability level is significantly higher. According to my dad, in the schools, they keep hammering home the idea that if you want to get any kind of decent job, English is a must. They tell you that if you don't know English, you're going to get a crappy job and won't get anywhere. Sure, they're a former British colony so this isn't all that surprising, but the fact is that English is also treated more than merely a letter grade or percentage on your report card.

In South Korea, this is definitely turning out to be a reality. The Chosun Ilbo is reporting what we all know -- in a country that handles international business like South Korea, knowing English will take you a long way. However, the general tone I got from that article is that the people surveyed weren't aware of this until they were out in the workforce and their lack of English ability bit them in the ass.

In a way, it isn't for lack of trying, because many places and chains here have English names and no Korean names. But simply naming places with English doesn't always result in language proficiency. Sure, many businesses (both Korean-owned and Western-owned) have English names, but once you see their marketing slogans -- when they're forced to string English words together rather than using them autonomously from one another -- you suddenly realize that South Korea has a long way to go because the slogan is often non-sensical or grammatically incorrect. You know your standards for Koreans using correct English have lowered when you don't wince at Lotteria's Borat-like "Happy Time!" slogan anymore.

It also doesn't help that English seems to be seen as a "foreigner's language" (rather than a business or world language), because of South Korea's anti-foreigner sentiment that seems to arise from time to time. There is a big "us vs. them" mentality in this country, so much so that Edward Said would go absolutely insane if he saw what was happening over here.

It's so often that we hear about people back home in Canada or the United States complaining about their local shopowner or neighbor not knowing how to speak perfect English. But after seeing a place like South Korea, I think we should really appreciate the fact that so many people back home can at least communicate in English, regardless of whether it's perfect English or not. We've taken English for granted for so long that we've forgotten just how much power English has, and how much power for a person can be limited if he or she does not speak English.

South Korea Sights: Cheonggyecheon

Above: Cheonggyecheon in its modern form, as seen from its starting point.

When South Korea began its rapid industrialization after the Korean War, there were some sacrifices that had to be made, especially in Seoul. One of them involved the environmental and aural aspects of the city itself. Cheonggyecheon was originally a natural stream that went through most of central Seoul, and emptied into the Han River (which then in turn emptied into the Yellow Sea).

During the Japanese occupation, the colonial government intended to cover up the stream numerous times. After the Korean War, the stream attracted people who eventually made the side of the stream their home. The living conditions around it soon went downhill, and this drastically affected Seoul's image in a negative way. Along with the demands of rapid industrialization and modernization, the South Korean government decided to go through with what the Japanese colonial government wanted to do, and covered it up to make way for a highway in 1976.

Above: The giant cone (and water source) marking the starting point of Cheonggyecheon.

This came at an environmental price though -- because of what was done, the stream completely dried up and ceased to resemble anything like its original form. In 2003, the Seoul mayor at the time (and current president of South Korea) Lee Myung-bak announced plans to restore the stream. The plan was ambitious from the start, because the stream would have to be artificially re-created and the water pumped in (rather than relying on natural water sources). It also promised to drastically change the transportation infrastructure of the city.

The stream re-opened in 2005 and proved to be a dramatic success. The stream, which stretches for about 6 kilometers, also provides a greenbelt for pedestrians and is currently a popular tourist attraction.

Earthquakes can never prepare you for thunder and lightning

These past couple of weeks have been full of unstable weather here in Seoul. Every day, I would look out the window and try to predict whether it will be raining or not. At least back in Vancouver, you could tell -- if it's cloudy there, it'll likely remain cloudy for much of the day (or the week, for that matter). Here, it can change in an instant.

So imagine how I felt when I went to bed and it was still relatively clear, only to be awakened at around 3am by lightning and thunder. I stirred, looked around and went like, "Oh. It's thundering and lightning(ing?). Great." And then I buried my head back in the pillow again.

And then...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

I've been through earthquakes before, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened. The whole room shook and the boom was deafening. I nearly fell out of bed in surprise. "What the bloody hell?" I thought. I had a tough time sleeping after that.

This morning, as I was brushing my teeth, I wondered if that boom and the shaking came from a direct lightning strike. I wonder if my poor little apartment was struck by lightning. The power was fine but even if there was a surge, the lights were off (obviously, since I was sleeping) so I couldn't tell anyway. But either my apartment got a direct hit, or a neighboring unit or building did (since my windows are about a foot away from the neighboring buildings).

Scary.

What happens in Korea stays in Korea...

After being in Korea for a little over a month, there are certain things that are guaranteed to happen. Here are some things that become a way life after a while.

• from your obscured view of Seoul Tower on your way to work, you can differentiate between mist, fog, smog and just plain airborne crap.
• you hear "T-Money" and don't instinctively think it's a name of a rapper.
• motorcycles nearly running you down on the sidewalk no longer faze you.
• you learn to ignore the people selling their homemade CDs on the subways.
• your local supermarket chain (Lotte Mart, E-Mart, etc.) has some of their employees dressed either in traditional Korean hanbok (한복, dress) or dressed like female anime characters. And then you see one of them on break at the food court... so imagine a tired-looking Sailor Moon at a food court slurping back some noodles.
  
• the local supermarket chain has greeters like Wal-Mart, but not only do they "bow" welcome to you, they also wipe down the push handle of your shopping cart on your way in.
• your neighborhood has crappy sanitation and power lines tangled all over the place above you as you go down the street, yet you consider the international district of Itaewon (이태원) to be much seedier and more of a slum.
• you see South Korean soldiers out on the streets in full garb on a daily basis.
• you can differentiate between the "good" and "bad/hooligan" US soldiers.
• you see more Dunkin' Donuts locations in Seoul than any major city on the west coast of the United States.
• every car you see is either a Hyundai, Kia, Renault/Samsung, Daewoo or Ssangyong. The other day, I saw a Ford and a Honda next to each other near Seoul Station, and nearly had a heart attack due to the surprise.
• you find out about Dokdo (독도).
• you know how to avoid discussing Dokdo.
• you know not to call Dokdo "Takeshima."
• you know how not to display any affection for Japan, regardless of whether you have any or not.
• you start thinking that 20 MB per second is a "slow internet connection."
• on your way to work, there'd be at least one convenience store.
• on your way to work, there'd be at least one hagwon (학원, private education academy).
• on your way to work, there'd be at least one PC bang (PC방, internet cafe).
• on your way to work, there'd be at least one "budongsan" (부동산, real estate office).
• you avoid looking inside the wastebasket next to toilets in the public washrooms. (Those in South Korea will know exactly why.)
• an address means diddly squat when you're actually on the streets trying to look for it.
• seeing two men on the streets with their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders doesn't draw any assumptions of homosexuality.
• being drunk in public is acceptable (and sometimes encouraged).
• you see cabinets full of gas masks on the platforms of subway stations.
• avoiding flying blobs of spit and phlegm while on the street becomes a life skill.
• the word "dong" (동, neighborhood) stops having sexual connotations, once you realize that you live in one.
• the subway train losing power between Seoul Station and Namyeong Station no longer alarms you.
• a phrase like "I'm not going to drive... I'm in a hurry, so I'll take public transit" makes perfect logical sense.
• you know that "b" is actually pronounced like "p," and "j" is actually pronounced like "ch," and "g" is actually pronounced like "k," and so on.
• when you order something from a Korean restaurant, you'll get more than what you order; in particular, you'll probably get kimchi and salad.
• being a millionaire is nothing to brag about, since 1 million KRW is only something like $940 CAD.
• you find out why there's a "Don't throw your key away" sign at the "love lock fence" at the foot of Seoul Tower.
• you know that takeout delivery will likely provide you with real (non-paper) plates and utensils, and you know what to do with them afterwards.

What is that in your mouth?

Sometimes after work, I get the munchies. I'm lucky that it happens here because South Korea has street food everywhere you look. So sometimes I go to a vendor across the street from the school to buy a bite to eat. I have a favorite, and it costs me 500 won (which is about 45 cents Canadian).

Basically, most of the deep fried stuff you see from street food vendors need to be re-fried when you want it. So you pick one, give it to the vendor and he/she will deep fry it for you and put either sweet sauce or hot sauce on top after it's re-fried. My favorite snack has sweet sauce.

Since it's across from the school after classes have ended, some students have inevitably spotted me buying a snack once in a while. A few of them were amazed. "Teacher, do you know what's in that?" (quotes have been edited for grammar and clarity ;) )

I shrugged. "I don't know. But it's yummy, and that's all that matters."

The students then informed me that it was sticky rice mixed with pig's blood and cow lungs and intestines, all deep fried and put on a stick.

I shrugged again. "Oh well."

The students gaped at me. "I just told you what it's made of. Aren't you afraid?"

I looked at the students for the longest time. "Well... no."

"Why?"

I paused. "Well, first of all, I'm Chinese..."

I'm wired again

It sounds so weird, but I was without internet for about 4 days.

Yes. No internet. In South Korea. Holy crappola! Arrest that man -- he has no internet in the most wired country in the world!

But now I'm back with my new (non-free) internet connection, which gives me speeds of about 20 MB per second for about $17 per month. Well, technically it's $30 but they have a weird rebate system over here. Instead of rebating money, they give you money when you sign a contract with them. Once you factor that in and subtract that from the actual monthly fee, it's closer to $17 per month. Bless you, South Korea!

I also got a wifi router so that I can finally use my iPod Touch at home again, and also for use when/if someone (like family members) visit. That way, they won't have to share my computer to get online and have to dig through all my crap just to launch Firefox. But the damned wifi router's instructions and setup program are in Korean. Like, 99% is in Korean, except for random abbreviations like "ADSL" and stuff. So I'd like to password-protect my wifi but can't figure it out because, well, I don't understand Korean besides basic place names and "hello" and "thank you."

In a weird twist, my old internet connection got cut on the same night that I finally got a phone number. It was like sacrificing one form of communication for another. The best thing about South Korean cellphone service compared to Canadian service is that incoming calls are free. That suits me perfectly, because I tend to have a lot more incoming calls that outgoing calls. The only bad part is that my cellphone gets really hot when I use it for more than 15 minutes. Hopefully I won't have a big burn on my face after talking for a long time.

When the new internet was installed, the installation guy had to come into the apartment and poke his head out the window to check for something. I never had reason to do so, so I had no idea what it looked like outside. So after he went back to his truck to get something, I did the same thing... and apparently the network wire that connects into my apartment through a drilled hole near the windowsill leads directly to a power line. I was like, "Holy shit." I mean, it's not unusual to see a huge mess/tangle of wires above the side streets of Seoul, but now I realize that a huge fraction of those lines leads directly into apartments through windows and stuff. This city would be so screwed if it was in an earthquake zone, because the wires would come tumbling down together and the whole city would be electrocuted. Man.

Work is going a lot smoother now... I'm starting to figure out what works and what doesn't, and the students are getting more accustomed to me. At first they were a bit terrified. They still are terrified but at least they feel more comfortable with me now. There's a funny story with that, involving street food and the students, which I'll post later this week.

Oh, and I've fallen in love with Ellie Nash again. More on that later.

It's been one month

Well, it's been exactly one month since I landed here in South Korea. In some ways, the month flew by quite quickly, but in other ways, it seemed like a slow crawl.

It feels like a long time since I stepped off the plane at Incheon International Airport, but it's been only about four weeks. In those four weeks, I've spent time in orientation and training, moved from a hotel to the orientation venue to an apartment, went through the motions of worrying about whether I will get a shoebox or a love motel or a proper apartment, figured out how much things cost around here, and so on. It felt like a Jack Bauer day in 24.

There are some aspects of the culture that I'm getting used to, but there are still some days when the smallest tendencies annoy me. For example, a lot of people here seem to have no sense of direction. Yesterday, I was standing at the edge of an aisle at the supermarket. Nobody was around me except for a woman pushing a shopping cart. She is looking right in my direction and rams the cart into me. Then she looked all confused and surprised, as if to say, "Holy crap, where did YOU come from? I never saw you coming." I was looking at her, like, "Dude... I've been standing here for well over a minute. I'm wearing a bright orange shirt. How can you not see me?" But anyways...

My internet at the apartment has finally been cut off (as I was using a rather, ahem, free way of surfing the web until now, using a combination of VPN and a password-protected connection), so I'll be offline from home for a while. But I should be back up in a few days.

I also have a cell phone (finally). Those who want the number can send me a message and I'll give it to you. (If you are phoning from North America, you must pay for long distance charges, obviously.)

But there are good aspects too. My school has been spoiling me for the most part, and treating me like a king. I've heard some nightmare stories from Dave's ESL. I'm aware that negativity reigns supreme there, but I wanted to be cautious. My experience has been almost the opposite of every negative thing posted there. Case in point: Instead of trying to eek their way out of my contract's terms (as some schools try to do), my school actually looked over the contract a week in and realized that they neglected to provide me with some of the apartment furnishings mentioned in it. So with that, I got a microwave and TV for my place. As Borat would say: "Very niiiice."

And finally, the KFC here in Seoul tastes a lot better than the KFC in Canada, despite being around the same price. KFC in Canada sucks.

SMOE's teacher hiring chaos

A lot of native English teachers are already aware of the 100 people that were told by SMOE that they no longer had a job with them -- AFTER they signed the contract, AFTER they got their visas, and 24 HOURS before their (non-refundable) flight to Seoul.

Well, from the same author as that blog link comes the best editorial about the issue I've read so far; it appeared in the Korea Herald today. It's quite a good read, and hits the nail on the head. It really does make me feel lucky that I wasn't one of the 100 who lost their jobs at the last minute (although since I was officially with EPIK and not SMOE, it was possible that they could've just placed me elsewhere in the country if this actually happened to me).

But I really do feel for the 100 who did get dropped. I was actually already in contact with someone on the same boat as me (recruited by EPIK and transferred to SMOE) and we were talking about how we were finally going to meet each other in person -- and then SMOE informed him that they weren't hiring him after all.

Luckily, he wasn't one of the poor guys who were told 24 hours before the flight (he was told about a week before, I think), but the way it all unraveled is pretty scary. Because of that, I did not relax when I got my NOA. Nor did I relax when I stepped foot at Incheon International Airport. Nor did I relax when I was waiting for the shuttle bus to orientation. I relaxed a little at the orientation venue, but not completely. I didn't completely relax until I finally had some alone time in my new apartment (mostly due to the Dongdaemun Stadium co-op worries).

Welcome to Korea. Come for the job, stay for the mind games. Hopefully this is a one-time thing, but prepare yourself in case it isn't.

You'd think Hyundai would've learned...

When I left the Vancouver area, a new subway line called the Canada Line was opening on the same day; it connects my hometown of Richmond to downtown Vancouver and Vancouver International Airport.

The trains are made by Hyundai Rotem, the EXACT SAME company that makes subway trains here in Seoul (and also in Incheon). One issue that the subway trains have here is the amount of heat generated by the machinery under the train's floor. Because of this, the air conditioning on board many Seoul subway trains can prove quite futile (unless the train isn't crowded).

It turns out that despite the response I got from one of the Canada Line open house events, this problem wasn't rectified; I've been told by friends back home that the air conditioning on the Canada Line trains is equally futile, and it looks like it's because of the exact same reason as the Seoul trains.

I'm slightly surprised that they didn't fix this problem. The Seoul trains weren't built yesterday, so they would've known about this issue already. There was plenty of time, even before the Canada Line started construction, to look into this problem. Instead, we now have a bunch of trains with the same drawback as their older model counterparts. It doesn't seem quite progressive, does it?

South Korea Sights: Yongsan Electronics Market

South Korea has a reputation for being a tech geek's paradise. The Yongsan Electronics Market is a pretty good metaphor for that. The name suggests something small, but the YEM is nothing small at all. It consists of several large malls where they sell almost nothing but electronics -- camera gear, video games, computers, TVs, etc.



What makes it cooler is that a large portion of the storeowners there also speak English, so it's great for tourists as well. Some prices are a bit higher than elsewhere, but there are also incredible bargains here and there, such as desktop computers for $200.

There are also some stands on the streets that sell pirated DVDs, so if you're not worried about legality, there's a possibility there.

For people like me, it's like dying and going to heaven, only to find out that heaven is in central Seoul and accessible from Yongsan Station on the subway.

South Korea is not full of Nazis

One of the most common symbols you'll see in parts of Seoul:

Meeting your other half

I met my other half a few days ago. By "other half," I mean my counterpart at the high school that adjoins my middle school. My middle school's building is actually attached to the high school -- I'm the native English teacher for the middle school and the high school has its own native English teacher as well.

I knew it was a possibility that we would bump into each other at one point, but it was interesting that he sought me out specifically. I was busy planning my Alien Registration Card (the foreigners' ID card here in South Korea) stuff with one of my co-teachers when he came in.

He's a fellow Canadian, and a fellow western Canadian (from Saskatoon) to boot. Take that, Ontario. My guess is that the high school principal told him about me, because that morning, I had to arrive an hour early for a formal introduction to the adjoining high school's faculty. (The Koreans seem to be big on formally introducing people like that. They'll ask you to attend a meeting, and will ask you to go to the front and take a bow in front of the whole faculty.)

Coincidentally, I recognized him. A few days prior, as I was walking home, I saw a very lost-looking Caucasian guy at the corner of the street near the elementary school. I'm quite positive I was him, especially when he said something along the lines of, "Yeah, I'm usually the Westerner who's always looking lost."

I actually feel that this is a pretty lucky situation. Even if we don't see each other often outside of lunchtime, it can really give a great psychological boost to know that there's another "one of me" literally in the next door building. It's like the effect of me living only 4 subway stops from Itaewon, the international district in Seoul -- with Itaewon, I know if I'm craving some international flair or a taste of home (ie. Canadian brands), it's only a short ride away. It's a comforting feeling. (My other comfort is listening to my favorite radio station back in Vancouver, via the internet.)

This Would Never Happen in Canada: motorcycles

Along with South Korea Sights, I will also start a semi-regular feature called This Would Never Happen in Canada. The title was inspired by the catchphrase, "This would never happen in Japan" from a message board I frequent.

The segment will be very short and will talk about... well, I think the title is self-explanatory.

---

This would never happen in Canada: motorcycles regularly using sidewalks.

Here in Seoul, sidewalks are for pedestrians and motorcycles. Sometimes the sidewalks are wide enough for this to happen, but sometimes not. Once, I was on a sidewalk in Yongsan less than a meter wide, and a scooter decided to squeeze by me. This is not only normal, but expected. It's never a bad idea to be overly paranoid while navigating the sidewalks of Seoul. Sidewalks also double as motorcycle parking lots sometimes.

Similarly, motorcycles often use pedestrian crosswalks. It is not unusual to be standing there waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green, and looking next to you and seeing a motorcycle rider doing the same thing.

Motorcycles are also used as delivery trucks. We do this in Canada for stuff like pizza deliveries, I know. But here, they do it for anything from pizza to huge rolls of carpet. It's amazing how big a load they can add to a motorcycle without losing balance. And some of these guys drive the motorcycle with only one hand on the handlebars and often without helmets!

Seeing the traffic in Seoul (and its side streets), it's often understandable why a motorcycle would look like a wiser choice. I'm now trying to imagine how UBC would look if students used motorcycles instead of regular bikes to get from class to class...

Living quarters

When housing is provided for you, you can't really complain -- especially if you're in a major city in Asia, where housing can be notoriously cramped. While there are situations where there would be cause to complain about housing, generally it's a good perk to have your rent paid for you.

With that said, I was not only pleasantly surprised that I didn't end up at the infamous Dongdaemun Stadium housing co-op, but also surprised that my place actually has wiggle room (if you don't think about the washroom). It's located near where Jung-gu, Yongsan-gu and Mapo-gu meet up, and close to the international district of Itaewon (a major meeting place for us teachers who got to know each other during orientation).



As you can see, there's a bit of room. Since this video was made, a new desk and chair were moved in (and I got the internet working). While the desk is rather large, there's still enough wiggle room. While it isn't exactly a penthouse, it's not a shoebox either.

The washroom is a bit amusing though:

Above: My cramped washroom.

The commute from my place to work is about a 7-minute stroll:



But this can be effectively cut down to 5-6 minutes if you take a shortcut (as I discovered by following some students the other day). This shortcut has a gentler slope and fewer cars, and features this fantastic view of the city:

Above: The view of Seoul and Namsan (with its famous Seoul Tower overlooking the city) from my new shortcut to work.

I wonder how that view would look like in snow.

I can also get this view from the cafeteria of the school I work at. It's nothing like the view from my apartment. My two windows open up to reveal the neighbor's roof or attic windows.

One of the cons about this apartment is that it has a slight ant problem. It's nowhere as bad as the problem my sister had at her place in California, but it's noticeable. Another issue is that the rooms aren't very noiseproof; if I play my radio too loud, you can hear it in the hallway. Likewise, I can usually hear whenever returns to their apartment because the doors in this building have very noisy locks.

Internet also requires a Megapass account but due to some holes in their authentication system (ie. you can use MSN Messenger and Vuze without a password), I managed to get around it using my still-active VPN account from my old university back home. So basically, I'm using high-speed internet for free. As another plus, because I'm using a Canadian-based VPN, websites are reading me as visiting from Canada instead of South Korea; this can be useful because I wouldn't have to repeatedly change some sites' default language from Korean to English. (Sites like Google, YouTube, Blogger, and Hotmail use your IP addresses to determine the default language.) Good times.

Lucky streak in Seoul

I swear, I'm on a lucky streak with this Korea thing. I hoped to get Incheon or Seoul, and got Seoul. I read up on all the crap that other people have to deal with (granted, it's Dave's ESL Cafe, which is infamous for people with negative attitudes) and "what could've been" with the housing situation, and ended up getting a decent non-hotel place. I read about the evil co-teachers that are out there, and ended up with pretty cool co-teachers so far (as far as I can tell). While things could be better (*shakes fist*), it could've been a lot worse as well (like poor Eric with his shoebox).

In this entry, I'll talk mostly about the school. I'll get into the living quarters later.

Basically, my place is near Seoul Station (about a 15-minute walk) and the geographical center of the city, and about a 7-minute walk from the school (which is all boys). I'm their first-ever native English teacher. Something I was wondering was how the students will react to an Asian who is also a native English teacher; even if you're not the type of person to look into race, you have to admit this is an interesting predicament for a country that is largely homogenous (and prides itself in its homogenuity).

The result surprised me. At first, the students weren't sure who this new teacher-looking person was doing in the school. I was invited to observe a regular English class, and was introduced to the students. After that, word spread much quicker than I expected. Suddenly, students were bowing to me in the hallways and stuff. (Stewie: "You will BOW to me." One of my best friends told me on MSN that I'm going to let this bowing go to my head, haha.) A few students actually went up to me just to say "HI!!!" or "Hello!!!" just like what the Caucasian teachers described. I guess race doesn't factor in as much as I expected.

The school facilities are interesting. When they were giving me a tour of the school, I was wondering if I will have my own classroom and what it'd look like. The school looks quite old and is peeling a bit, so I was like, "Hmm. I guess I'm not getting my own classroom."

Boy, was I wrong.

Not only did I get a classroom, but it is the NICEST classroom in the school. I'm not even remotely exaggerating about that. As I said before, the school looks aged and peeling. However, the English room is spanking new and looks like it was renovated lately. It has a smartboard (a touch-screen computer on the board), new tables and chairs, its own library/reading room, a computer with new software, a webcam, and so on. I swear, my jaw dropped majorly when I saw it, because it was such a drastic difference compared to the rest of the school. Even the doors were high and made of glass (while the other rooms' doors are about 5 feet tall and are old sliding doors made of aging aluminum).

The co-teachers are also pretty incredible so far. One of them speaks English pretty well for the most part, one seems okay when teaching but has difficulty in producing speech in an actual conversation, and one is having no difficulty in producing speech but is good for the most part.

I also have to teach other teachers, and from what I can tell, they're not in it because the principal forced them to do it or anything. I may be wrong, but I think it was a voluntary thing and quite a number of teachers signed up. I wish we covered how to teach other teachers during the orientation, because I'm not sure what to do for it.

The dress code for the school is slightly bizarre as well. I was told to wear a neat shirt, dress pants and... slippers. Yes, you read that right. Slippers. Both teachers and students wear slippers in the school. I have to find myself a pair in the right size (since the North American shoe sizes are different and many slippers on sale on the streets are packaged).

Today, I mostly did lesson planning. A lot of time was wasted while I tried to figure out the Korean version of Windows, but it's going smoother now. I still need to pick up the pace for one class' lesson plan tomorrow though. Tomorrow is my first day of teaching. Originally I was told that I won't teach until after the first week, but they changed it on me today. First taste of the Koreans' "last-minute culture," I guess.

That's pretty much my school in a nutshell right now. I'll talk about the living quarters later.

The stages of dawning

Well... the teachers' orientation is over and now I'm at my new place in central Seoul (which I mean in the literal sense -- I'm in the geographical center of the city). After settling in and sitting down to the quiet of an apartment by myself, it finally dawned on me that I'm finally here and this is the real stuff.

Strangely enough, it isn't the first time that it's dawned on me. Nor is it the second time. Or the third. It seems that like grieving, there are always stages. Unlike the stages of grieving, I don't know how to characterize the stages of "dawning," exactly.

The first time that it dawned on me that this is the real thing came when I picked up my E-2 visa from the South Korean consulate in downtown Vancouver. Holding the passport with a newly-minted visa in my hand was my first realization that I was really leaving. I was so used to seeing nothing but US Homeland Security stamps in my passport (from the back-and-forth between Vancouver and California or Washington state) that a big honking visa seemed quite odd.

The second dawning came right before I left. I was all packed and was doing one last checkover to make sure I didn't leave anything behind. I was satisfied. I turned around, and my dog was sitting there in the doorway. I went down to pet him and give him a little hug. He's normally not a nice dog (quite a snooty dog, actually) but at that moment, he looked up at me with the saddest eyes I've ever seen from him. He's 15 years old, so that's saying a lot. I broke down right there and then, and just hugged him and had a nice cry/bawl for a few minutes. He normally doesn't let people hug him at all, but he actually let me hug him for the first time in his life; he just let me hug him and cry for a while. I actually still cry a bit thinking about it (like right now as I type this). That was the second time that it dawned on me that I was leaving a lot behind, and probably remains the strongest among my "stages of dawning." It's currently one of the two things (that's NOT from a movie) that can make me cry every time -- the other thing is memories of the Anaheim Ducks' Stanley Cup championship win.

The third time probably came during my stay at a hotel in nearby Incheon, where Seoul's airport is located. Just walking about and seeing everything written in Korean was quite a jolting shift, and the day trip to central Seoul was a further shock. Just seeing that made me realize that I'm in a new world now.

And yesterday was probably the fourth dawning. After seeing people I got to know during orientation get shipped off one by one to their respective schools and apartments, it finally dawned on me that we're all leaving the safe English-speaking confines of the orientation venue and heading out into the non-English speaking world. It was quite a scary feeling but not unprecedented; I guess the orientation reduced some of the scariness but it's impossible for it to remove ALL the scariness.

And now here I am, using a combo of a security-enabled network and my old VPN connection from my alma mater (which is still working) to access the internet, which will be installed later. I'm not sure whether this stage of dawning has ended yet... I guess we'll see. And I'm sure there might be another stage of dawning during my first day of actual teaching.

Tomorrow is my first day at work, although it'll mostly be prep work. If I have time, I'll write an entry about the school and the living quarters.

South Korea Sights: Dongdaemun Gate

I'm going to start a semi-regular segment called South Korea Sights to show off any interesting places I see.



Just one subway station away from the orientation venue is a place called Dongdaemun (동대문 / 東大門). It is basically the old eastern city gate of Seoul for the wall that surrounded the city during the Joseon Dynasty. The original gate was built in 1396; it was renovated in 1453 and rebuilt in 1869.

It is probably one of the key places to see the old and new structures of Seoul side by side. Around Dongdaemun Gate is a bunch of shopping centers, both above and below ground. There is also a market called Dongdaemun Market just around the corner, which I didn't visit.

It's also at a very busy intersection in the Jongno distruct of Seoul so the large traffic volume further contrasts old and new. It is served by Dongdaemun Station of the Seoul subway.

More photos:

Settling in (sort of)...

I'm now out of the hotel and at the training and orientation venue in Jongno-gu in central Seoul. It's nice to finally have a place to settle down (the hotel in Incheon doesn't count). It's also nice to have English spoken around me that doesn't come from a TV, haha.

A lot of other people just arrived and want to check out the area. I've already been here for two days, so I'm one of the few who opted to stay in tonight instead. I think I've seen enough to satisfy me for the time being.

My roommate is a guy from Ireland, who I was coincidentally chatting with at Incheon International Airport prior to boarding the shuttle bus, so we were already acquainted. He previously worked for a hagwon (private tutoring center) in Jeju and this is his first time with the public school system, so he's done this before.

Anyways, I'm finally going to settle down for a while and enjoy the temporary (but more permanent than before) stability in location.

You know you're in South Korea when...

...when there's a channel completely dedicated to gaming.

In Korea

I waited a bit to post this because there's a lot of meat in this one -- no pun intended (you'll see what I mean later).

Well, there went the longest flight I've taken since I was a small kid. My plan to sleep during the flight didn't exactly pan out but the plane got upgraded to one with laptop plugs, so I kept myself entertained, at least. Plus, the guy sitting next to me was a Chinese student who was visiting Vancouver for an engineers' symposium at UBC, so we had quite a lot to discuss (including why Wreck Beach is so famous).

The Shanghai airport's customs system is kind of wacky. It was actually posible to leave the airport during the flight connection. It was 33 degrees Celsius plus humidity. As soon as I stepped out, I either started sweating or everything attached me started to become wet -- one of the two. In any case, I decided that 30 seconds was enough.

Above: Shanghai's Budong Airport's terminal is large and spacious, but doesn't seem to have air conditioning, which made for a stuffy wait. That didn't stop me from conquering the place in the name of the Anaheim Ducks.

Another weird part about that is between being let out and going back in (I needed to clear customs twice -- once for entering the arrivals terminal and once again for getting back into the secured area as a passenger for the second leg of the journey) -- they had me under medical quarantine for a while. Apparently all the people on board our plane with connecting flights had to get our temperatures taken. They kept me longer than the others, but apparently it was due to a thermometer malfunction; it gave me a temperature reading that was so low that I should be dead by now. But it got resolved easily.

The second leg of the journey from Shanghai to Seoul was less interesting. The guy next to me was a Korean who didn't speak much English at all but his son is learning it in school and practiced some phrases with me. In return, the Korean dad helped me with nailing down the pronunciations of certain key Korean phrases like "kamsa hamnida" ("thank you") and "annyeong haseo" ("hello"). Apparently I wasn't that far off, despite learning only through text; the only problems I had involved stressing the correct syllables.

However, the most interesting part of that flight came during the landing process. You know the NASA world map of the earth's lights at night? Notice how North Korea is all dark and South Korea is all bright. Well, since Incheon and Seoul are about an hour's drive away from the border with North Korea, I got to see the difference with my own two eyes that night -- that NASA pic shows the truth. Yikes.

The customs in South Korea is, as someone I know put it so elegantly, a complete joke for a country that's still technically at war (with North Korea, obviously). There were no questions asked, and apparently that is close to the norm. The only difference is that my passport visa explains my purpose in South Korea, while other people need to be asked about that.

I spent an overnighter at Incheon International Airport (which serves Seoul). It wasn't comfortable but not uncomfortable either. It was eerily quiet. And over here, airport security must march down the hallways back and forth, in pairs always next to each other. And their dress is similar to a soldier's (there might be a reason for that), so it felt like a neverending army march while you try to sleep.

Above: Late night at Incheon International Airport. They actually turn off a lot of lights as midnight approaches, and then like this around 3:30am. And then the lights start coming back on again.

Finally checked into the hotel this morning. It was freaking sweltering today... I knew this ahead of time, but I arrived in the middle of a little heat wave. I tried to nap but anything more than one hour proved futile, so I took the subway ride out to Seoul. Coincidentally, when my card made a weird hiccup and I asked the only white person around if they knew what the error meant (since nobody else spoke English), he happened to ask me where I'm from -- and he's from Richmond too! Small world.

Seoul traffic is insane. I thought Richmond was bad, but Richmond drivers are now angelic by comparison. Here, it doesn't matter whether the traffic light is red or green -- if the drivers don't see anyone crossing, they'll just shoot ahead. And this doesn't happen with only one driver, but almost always several at a time. In other words, multiple red light dashers in a row.

There were also more close calls in today's journey than I've seen all year in Richmond. It's amazing that so many of them don't result in accidents, but I happened to see two incidents that DID turn into accidents -- and both were hit-and-run. One of them took off while the other is left staring at the damage and trying to get witnesses (and none of the other drivers were willing to be one). It makes me feel really self-conscious about even going out on the streets. I got off at Yongsan Station (where I met the fellow Richmonder) and made it to Samgakji Station somehow, someway.

It was during that short stretch that I saw all the craziness. That was enough for me... I decided to get the heck out of dodge and get back to the hotel in Incheon, where I showered off all the sweat that came from the humidity (or maybe I was washing off the humidity itself, I don't know) and relaxed in some air conditioning for a bit while sorting photos.

(If you feel like making an offensive "Asians can't drive" joke at this point, I don't blame you. I would.)

It's been pretty humid and hot today... I landed right in a heat wave and lingering summer storm (typical Asian weather pattern in summer). Temps are in the 30s Celsius right now and it's almost 9pm. It's supposed to drop to the low 20s Celsius by the end of the week.

And tonight for dinner, I forgot how much the South Korea won is and how much you can get for it. I did something stupid and ordered 32,000 won of food, which turned out to be enough to feed a whole family. I guess that's a lesson learned -- if it's slightly less than 10,000 won, then it's more than enough. I'm so used to the small servings at home, while here they give you HUGE servings! Lesson learned... next time, spend as little as possible on food because there's a chance that they'll give you more than enough.

The bad thing about everything in terms of keeping touch with the outside world is that my cellphone doesn't work here because it's a GSM phone on prepaid, and the hotel doesn't have wifi (they only offer internet on a shared computer in the lobby). I'm writing this post at the arrivals level of the Incheon airport, where I spent the night about 24 hours ago, because they have free wifi with a very strong signal and also a power outlet nearby. The hotel's only two subway stations away from the airport (one if you don't count the airport's cargo terminal).

I'll be off to the teacher orientation tomorrow. There were some coming in today (for the non-Seoul EPIK teachers) and I had a nice chat with someone who came in from Los Angeles before I left for the hotel. Seems that for their group, they were overloaded to the point where people can't bring more than one suitcase into the dorm rooms; all other luggage was to be locked up. I didn't hear anything about this for my EPIK-Seoul orientation, but we're guaranteed to have a smaller group (since there are only 100 of us, as opposed to the huge biker gang-like group for today's group).

Well, here I go...

My plane leaves in less than 11 hours. It's hard to believe that in less than two days, I will be on my own in a odd mystery land called "Daehan minguk." It's kind of surreal at this point, and scary. I don't even know if it's sunk in yet; it feels like it has but I think there's still a bit more sinking to go.

It won't be a "jump in right away" kind of deal. During my plane ticket preparations, I was preparing to arrive for the EPIK orientation but apparently there's a difference between the EPIK orientation and the EPIK-Seoul orientation (which I'm part of). The latter starts a day later, so I will have a day to kill; during that time, I'll be rooming in a hotel in Incheon, which is the city west of Seoul and home to Seoul's airport.

And even then, I still don't "jump in right away" because I have a layover in Shanghai before arriving in Incheon. I heard that Blogger is blocked over there and that my purchase of a domain name (and use of Photobucket instead of Picasa for my blog pics) successfully circumvented the Great Firewall of China. However, posting is still under Blogger.com so I'll have to find another way around it. Fortunately, my VPL account at my alma mater still seems to be functional. I'll see if I can get around the Firewall that way.

Well. Here goes nothing. And quite frankly, if nothing out of the ordinary happens for the next while (Kim Jong Il not invading would be a huge help), I'd be completely happy. Better than something going horribly wrong...

Suggestive-looking fish in Korea

I'm not sure if eating one of these for dinner would make me look... um... Well, I'll let you decide.

Seen in Busan, South Korea:

Gotta love map inaccuracies

Sometimes it's fine to be a little off with maps. It's inevitable -- most public-use maps out there are approximations. For example, just because a street map shows that a street is a straight line doesn't mean that it really is. (Richmond's No. 3 Road is a great example -- the maps show it as a straight road but the satellite photos show that it's actually quite a crooked line.)

But sometimes the inaccuracies are just so bad that they're laughable. The airline that I'm taking en route to Seoul has one of the worst airline route maps I've seen in recent memory.

Among the errors:

• Beijing is in the middle of Mongolia
• Seoul is in the northern part of North Korea (or even in Russia)
• Frankfurt is just around the corner from Paris
• Hong Kong is next to Vietnam
• Seattle is in the Pacific Ocean

Oh boy. Hopefully their planes' navigational equipment is more accurate.

What have I gotten myself into?

Well. I'm 10 days away from lifting off from the familiar comforts of Vancouver, entering the temporary comforts of Shanghai's airport and starting my year-long trek in the unfamiliar comforts of Seoul.

I received my NOA and, along with it, submitted my visa application on Wednesday. The visa should be ready for me by this coming Thursday. The NOA is pretty much confirmation that you've been hired to work as a foreign English teacher in South Korea and the one document that completes the visa process. This is pretty much the finishing touch on the long and complex monster that is international bureaucracy.

Which brings me to one thought -- what have I gotten myself into?

Above: The flags of Canada and South Korea side by side outside the South Korean consulate on West Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver.

Just a few months ago, in February, I was contemplating my life after graduating from university. I was already considering going into teaching (well... tutoring, at least) in some of those after-school learning centers. I mean, why not? It would be a good first job in the "real world" and would give me an idea of whether or not I want to pursue teaching as a profession.

And then the economy spiralled downhill and the jobs dried up.

Maybe that was a bit too over-dramatic, but suddenly a lot of those jobs were snatched up (no surprise) at the same time as everyone stopped hiring and started cutting back everything -- budgets, spending, etc. Canada, which was priding itself in how it has managed to dodge the recession bullet so far, has finally been hit. Man down!

Obviously, I started worrying. And then at the university, there was a career fair-like thing where employers are searching for university graduates or students who want to work starting this summer. Among them was EPIK.

While I had my eye on several other employers, there was a problem with a lot of them. Either I wasn't qualified (such as for jobs in accounting or financial institutions) or the jobs were short-term and temporary (such as summer camp jobs or jobs with NBC for the 2010 Winter Olympics here in Vancouver).

EPIK caught my eye but it wasn't because of something special they did, but it was because it was for a job that I would be at least half-qualified for (as an English major) and also because Korea has fascinated me since high school, especially the fact that it still exists. I've always been intrigued by how Korea has been able to keep existing for so many years because you'd think that with the uneasy truce between North Korea and South Korea, something would've happened by now (especially with Kim Jong Il in the picture) no matter how stupid or reckless it would be for one to attack the other.

As a result, there was a trend in my university career in which I would write at least one research paper about Korea per school year. Somehow, someway, that monster kept butting its ugly head above the surface. The ironic thing is that despite all the research and fascination, I've never been to Korea. I've never even been near Korea. The closest I've been was when I was about 9 years old when we switched flights at Tokyo's Narita Airport en route to and from Hong Kong.

As for the career part, it would give me an idea of whether teaching is something I want to do. If not, then at least I have one year of work experience under my belt and some international experience that I can put on a resume (in case I apply for a position that would require doing business internationally). After doing some research and finding out that the costs of living are much lower than Vancouver's (which actually isn't saying too much) and asking around about how much money can be spent and saved, it also seemed to be a great way to pay off some student loans without worrying about getting laid off admidst this stupid recession.

In addition, EPIK is reimbursing airfare to and from Korea and providing housing, so my only expenses would be utilities, food, transportation and entertainment (which isn't likely going to be a big expense, considering my lifestyle and what I consider "entertainment"). It seemed like a logical first step, and would serve to keep my "travel the world" itch under control for a while.

But now I'm only 10 days from actually taking this first step, and I am scared to death and wondering what I've gotten myself into. I was nervous enough about leaving university and entering the workforce when I assumed I'd be staying here in Vancouver, but now the situation involves a new city, a new country, a new language and a new culture to go along with the new job.

If someone told me back in February that this is what I'd be doing in less than half a year, I would've responded with, "Holy crap."