Soccer Night in Korea

I went down to Suwon for a Korean soccer match last weekend (my friend, Tara, lives there and her coworkers who we went to the game with are much cooler than my coworkers). The game was between Suwon Bluewings and Seongnam, which are two teams in the K-League (the best league in Korea). The game was awesome and the fact that we were right behind a bunch of crazy fans with gigantic flags that blocked our view for most of the game only seemed to improve the experience. I'd never been to a soccer game before but I'll go back in a heartbeat. It is much more exciting than watching on TV - I guess being around all those other fans makes it better. I don't even live in Suwon and I was going crazy when they scored so I think I should stay away from British soccer where they tend to get violent...

In the end, Suwon came out victorious and won the game 3-0!

Us "whiteys" got our picture taken with a bunch of Koreans after the game (I'm in the front row on the left/centre):

After the game we went off to a place for galbi which is basically some beef or pork strips cooked on a Korean BBQ. They make you look after cooking the meat which some people think adds to the experience but I think it is just work that I should not have to deal with :) In the end though, I guess it pays off because it is delicious and you can say to yourself "I am a good cook." Then we headed to a Noraebang, which is a Korean karaoke room. You book a certain amount of time and then you have a room to yourself where you can sing your little heart out (English music of course). The Noraebang was absolutely fantastic, with 3 minor exceptions as noted (please read with a high level of facetiousness):

A. The videos on the TV didn't match the song you were singing

B. There was a very noticeable echo, all singing therefore was incomprehensible

C. All the songs cut off when you were only half way done

For those of you who know how well I sing, you know I need all the help I can get and in that regard this place just didn't cut it....!

FOR MORE PICTURES OF THE SOCCER MATCH, click here

Kim Jung Il/The Dear Leader/The Big Kimmer

Well as you all have heard, Kim Jung Il tested his nuclear weapons a couple of days ago. We all knew he was crazy and most people expected it to happen sooner or later, I guess I was just lucky enough to be here when it happened. Whats the mood in the South???

A lot of my older students bring it up in class so I talk to them about it because it is sort of interesting to hear what kids think (you know half of it is just ad verbatim from their parents.) One girl told me that I should be worried about dying but she would be OK because she would be on a plane to America as soon as anything bad happened. I did not have the heart to tell her that my country is famous for its amazing mass evacuation abilities (think Lebanon :). Most other students just settled on telling me how they were scared and that the Big Kimmer was crazy.

As for me, I am not really worried at all. Generally, everything is the same here as it was yesterday. I have been following it all fairly closely and I think if you are informed enough you will realize that I, nor any one else in South Korea, is in any grave danger. For starters, just because they tested a weapon does not mean that they can actually use it. In fact, most people think that it will take about 10 years before the North Koreans will have the ability to use a nuclear device as a weapon. By that time I plan to be far, far away from this peninsula!!! My biggest worry is actually not Kim Jung Il but instead it is George Bush. Is this man rational enough to realize that you can't just go starting wars all over the world? If George decides to attack, I still count on having quite a bit of warning of it (remember Iraq) and will be able to get out. In the end though, I think even Bush for all his feeble-mindedness is smart enough to know better than to start another war right now. And from the way things have been going so far it is looking like Bush may actually be starting to show his first sign of human intelligence on this issue.

Chusok - Korean Thanksgiving

I finally learned how to read Korean over the last few weeks. It is actually not that hard, but you do need to try and I guess up to this point I didn't even try. For the first few days after I learned to read, whenever I walked some where I would take twice as long as usual because I would have to read every sign. That novelty has worn off now but the next step I guess will be to learn what the words actually mean. Right now, I can read but it's like Italian or Spanish- just because you can read it, doesn't mean you know what the words mean. (picture above left: The changing of the guard at Gyeongbokgung Palace)

I had most of last week off for Korean Thanksgiving which is called Chusok. Apparently this is a big time to travel to other countries and I tried last minute to get a trip to Thailand but it was not to be so I was left here in Korea.

On Wednesday I went to Gyeongbokgung Palace, which is the palace grounds for the Joseon Dynasty which ruled Korea for about 500 years until Japan took over the country in 1910. I made it just in time to catch the changing of the guard. It was a little slow so I made my way inside the grounds and toured around a bit. Pretty amazing seeing all of the old buildings and especially the paintings inside the building-amazing to think how they painted all of that stuff by hand. (picture above right: The Kings Throne at Gyeongbokgung Palace. The mats to left and right are where the workers would kneel and take notes of what the King had said. The paintings in this room were all done by hand, but you can't really appreciate this fully just from a picture)

On Thursday, I headed to Incheon, which is on the west coast and caught a ferry to Deukjeukdo which is a quiet little island about an hour away. It was nice to be away from all those people. The Koreans on the island were so friendly too. I think they were mostly farmers and then catered to the tourist business as well. Probably only about 200-300 people on the island from my guess. Originally, I was only planning to be there for a day but I found out the joys of being on an island include the fact that you can't just catch a cab back to your house. I ended up missing the last bus back to the ferry dock and had to get a hotel room. Not that I really minded. The beach, the mountains and the views were all spectacular. (picture above right: the beach on Deukjeukdo. Most Koreans beaches, including Daechon, do not have sand like this one but rather are more like mud)

The next day, was the biggest day of Chusok but I was resolved not to get trapped on this island for another day (I was supposed to meet some friends in Seoul.) I waited for the bus but it didn't appear to be coming so I made up my mind to just walk to Jinri pier. As I started walking, I noticed a sign that said it was only 8km so that was not too bad, but mostly up and down hills. On the walk there however a man stopped in his truck and I understood enough Korean to know he was headed to Jinri pier too so I hopped in. On the way he offered me some of the grapes he had in his lunch and then when we got there, he gave me the whole bunch. Considering how much fruit costs here, I thought this was really nice (plus everything was closed for the holiday so I was hungry). Some of the Koreans are so friendly! I ended up catching the ferry back and making it back before my friends showed up to my apartment so it all worked out well. (picture above left: a view from the top of Bijobong, the islands highest peak, looking down to the ocean and townsite below)

I Survived The Fandeath!!!!

I was talking to a guy the other day about all the funny t-shirts they have in Korea and he told me that he wished they had one that said "I survived The Fandeath" I had no idea what this meant so I inquired and the details that followed can only be described as pure gold.

Out of all the wild things I have heard in Korea (and possibly in my life) this one definately takes the cake. What is Fandeath??? Please read on....

Basically, it amounts to this: Koreans have a belief that if you fall asleep in a room with the doors and windows closed and an electric fan on, you will inevitably perish. This phenomenom is known as Fandeath. Koreans even claim to have scientific evidence that Fandeath is real. Apparently the fan will suck all of the oxygen right out of your body and you will become just another statistic....literally. Korean newspapers actually report on the amount of "Fandeaths" in a given year. Apparently just last year, 83 people succumbed to Fandeath and as such they have that listed as the Cause of Death on their Death Certificates.

Isn't it alarming that in this day and age, with all our modern conveniences, people are still dying due to something as reckless and careless as Fandeath? I for one am outraged. I feel like starting a petition or holding a protest or something..."Stop Fandeath Now!!!" If you are interested in helping out, I hope you will support my yet to be created internet campaign to force all fan manufacturers to apply warning labels to their fans. It's only the right thing to do. Let's seize the day. Think of all the lives we could save!

Speaking of warnings, I was out for breakfast with a few people this morning and one of the girls mentioned that her boss had warned her about the dangers of the Fan. I was a little hurt and somewhat upset to think that my boss was not even decent enough to warn me about this serious threat to my existence. Thank god, for my sake, I now know what can happen.

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OK seriously now....if you don't believe me on all this, check out http://www.fandeath.net/ Here are some funny quotes on the internet from other foreign teachers:

" Fandeath is hilarious. it was getting hot in one of the class-rooms yesterday and i asked one of the kids to open the door. he ignored me. i saw the fan on in the corner of the room and i said, "quick! open the door, the fan is on! look!" three kids jumped out of their seats to open the door while the others yelled at them panic-stricken."

"The evil fan is monstrously running rampant in korea, ever ready to prey upon the unsuspecting victim. I arrived in my classroom just in time last week to resuscitate a near-comatose middle schooler, dozing off in front of one of these malevolent devices. I darted over and switched off the deadly device before administering first aid."

pretty funny stuff eh?

clark