Korea Life Blog - Update

Nothing new here to report. Another day, another dollar. I just watched American Splendor which I downloaded off Overnet. I liked it a lot. Living abroad, Overnet is a real treat. I can watch good movies which almost never make it to Korean theaters. Now I'm drinking a beer, relaxing and watching Rocky 1 on DVD for the 10000th time. I love this movie and it never fails to inspire me. You should check it out if you never have, or if you haven't in a long time. It's not what you think or how you remembered it, I assure you. It's by far my favorite. If you give it a shot, I think you'll be surprised by how symbolic it is. Only Rocky 1, though, the rest of the series stinks.

By the way, I'm going to Taiwan for three days beginning Friday morning. I'm eager to check out the other country popular with foreign teachers. I'll be back in Korea Sunday night, and of course I will have loads of pics and stories to share here. I hope you're as excited as me.

I added the next section to the Geoje-do story. Sorry for the delay.

Korea Life Blog - Around My Home

I thought I'd take some pics around my building to give you a better idea of the area that I live in. I moved here 7 months ago from Hongdae in Seoul where I lived for two months after coming back to Korea. (Before that I lived in Ulsan for well over a year and before that Busan and before that Geoje-do.) It's quite different from Hongdae, that's for sure. Even though I live close to Suwon and about 40 minutes from Seoul by bus, it feels like I'm in the middle of nowhere, hence why I call it Nowhere-dong. At first I hated this place, but now it's really grown on me. I like the small town/country side feel. It's very quiet here, peaceful. Take a look:



This hill is directly behind my home and part of what I'd see if they put the window in my room instead of the kitchen which overlooks a bunch of buildings. Oh, well. It probably won't be long before they build something up there. I envision highrise apartments, a mini-mart, a chicken and hoff restaurant, a PC bang, and 4 hagwons.



This is what I see through the hallway window when I open my door. I like the little woods. I wish they'd take down that ugly fence back there though.






Another little woods back behind the building. The sky was very pretty today.



This is a shot outside the front entrance to the building. It's a two minute walk to everything I need.



Back behind the building again. This roads winds up the hill and into a small university grounds.



I'm not sure what's going on with this building. That's the first graffiti I've ever seen in Korea. It must be some kind of art project from the uni. Up on the right, I think that's supposed to be Guss Hiddink, the Korean soccer coach before/during the world cup as everyone knows. On the far left it says "virus in here." Hmm...



A zoomed shot of one of the main buildings of the uni. It sits way up on a big hill. I'd hate to have to walk to it as a student in the cold and windy winter, or sweating to death in the hot and humid summer.


Well, there you go. I hope you enjoyed the scenery that I see everyday. It's not that exciting but I like it. The best part is the quiet. I never wake up to people arguing, banging, horns blasting, dogs barking, etc. I don't miss that from living in the city.

Korea Life Blog - Jangan College

I thought I was through with Jangan College. I sent them a letter turning them down because the pay is below average and they don't offer housing. This morning Professor "G" called me. I should have hung up.

"This is Professor G calling from Jangan College, may I speak with Shawn?"
I was outside, on my way to meet someone. "Can I call you back?"
"You were supposed to sign contract last week. Why didn't you?"
"I sent you a letter. Did you get it?"
"Anyway, are you ready to sign now? We can offer a little more money. 26,000,000 won."
That was less than 100,000/month more. "That's very kind, but an apartment costs more than that. Do you cover the initial deposit?"
"I'm sorry? I want to know. Do you want to work at Jangan College?"
"I want to. But like I told you - I can't because there's no housing. If I work there, I have to move out of my apartment."
"But that's no problem. All our teachers have apartment."
"But they had to pay a deposit and rent, right?"
"I don't know. You have no money for deposit?"
"Well, I might, but right now my apartment is free and my pay is almost the same as what you are offering."
"Anyway, we can help you. So do you want to work at Jangan college? We need an answer by today."
"Once again I want to, but there's no housing. I'm sorry to waste your time. Good luck."
"But housing is not a problem. Call one of our foreign professors. Tom. He can help you."
She started to give me the number. "Listen, I'm outside now so I have to call you back."
"OK. Call back."

Later I called and got the foreign professor's number. I decided to see if maybe the job was worth taking. Maybe he could also tell me about apartment prices. I called him but the connection was bad. He had to call me back 6 times. Finally:

"This is Shawn. I applied to Jangan college..."
"The apartment's been taken, sorry."
"What apartment?"
"It's taken."
"I didn't know you had an apartment for rent."
"Then why are you calling?"
"Actually, I'm not sure. Jangan college wants to hire me. Professor G told me to call and ask you about renting an apartment."
"I don't have anything to do with the hiring process."
"Can you tell me about the job?"
"It's OK."
"Well, how long have you worked there?"
"A few years."
"Do you like it?"
"It's not bad."
"Can you tell me anything else?"
"It's a decent gig. You'll have a lot of free time."
"But the pay is so-so considering there's no housing allowance, right?"
"Right."
"How do I go about renting an apartment. What kind of deposit would I have to put down around here?"
"Listen, I have to run."

I hung up, frustrated. An hour later Professor G called.

"This is Professor G calling from Jangan College, may I speak with Shawn?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"Did you speak with Tom?"
"Yes."
"Did he solution for your problem?"
"Not really. He sounded busy and he didn't know what to tell me."
"Are you ready to sign the contract now?"
"I'm sorry. Look - I'm making a big problem for you. I understand you need to to hire someone soon and you have no time."
"That's right."
"Well, good luck."
"What time will you be here?"
"I can't work there without housing - as I said, three times or more. If you can arrange an apartment, I'll gladly take it. I have no idea how to rent an apartment and neither of us have enough time. Also, won't I have to pay a big deposit? I don't really know the system in Korea."
"Maybe. You have to visit real estate agent. That's easy. Go to real estate agent and call me back."
"Well, where is it? I don't think they can speak English around here anyway. Can you call one?"
"You have to go. Maybe they have special arrangement for foreigners."
"OK, I will try tomorrow morning. I have to work now."
"Yes, make a decison by tomorrow morning. Hurry, please. I have to submit the teacher to adminstration right away."

At 4:30 she called yet again:

"This is Professor G calling from Jangan College, may I speak with Shawn?"
"Yes, I know who you are. This is Shawn. This is my handphone. Nobody else ever answers it." I was teaching and starting to get annoyed. "Can I call you back?"
"Did you go real estate agent?"
"I said I'd go in the morning."
"Anyway, I called one for you. You don't have money for deposit, is it right?"
"Well, I'm not sure. It depends -"
"She said you can pay 6 months rent in advance then. Total: 1,900,000."
"Not bad. What kind of apartment?"
"One room."
"Where is it?"
"Around our college."
"Well, where? I live nearby too. I'd like to see it. What's the name?"
"I don't know. Anyway, will you take the apartment and sign contract our college?"
"But I just said I don't know anything about the apartment. Is it new?"
"I don't know."
"If I'm going pay for it and live there for one year, don't you think I should at least see it?" The students were watching and laughing. The whole situation was aggravating. "I mean, I don't know what you expect. Can you tell me anything about it? How big is it? Is it clean? Is it furnished? Did you get any information at all beside 'one room' and price? Can you take me there?"
"You have to go to the real estate agent. They help you."
"Well where is that?"
"I don't know. I didn't get details. But tell me. How long have you lived in Korea?"
"Almost three years."
She laughed loudly. "Then how come you don't know about renting an apartment."
"Because I've never had to. Every apartment I lived in has been given for free with my jobs."
"But Jangan college has a different system," she said in a tone that implied I was an idiot.
"Yeah, I know that now. That's what the whole problem is. Hello?"
"Anyway, I want to know are you interested in working at Jangan College? Are you going to sign the contract today?"
That did it. I felt myself turning red. I was ready to tell her what's what, but being in the classroom, I was forced to control myself.
"No, I don't want the job. I'm sorry. Goodbye." I hung up. A minute later the phone rang again. I turned it off.

Korea Life Blog - New Poll (6)


There's a new and exciting poll to vote on. Here are the results of the previous exciting poll:


favorite korean food

kimchi chigae 40 (19%)
dwen jang chigae 20 (9%)
bulgogi 27 (13%)
sam gyeop sal 23 (11%)
mandu 7 (3%)
bimim bap 15 (7%)
garbi 34 (16%)
garbi tang 11 (5%)
kim bap 11 (5%)
korean chinese food 13 (6%)

201 Total votes


In a surprise upset over garbi, kimchi chigae takes the top spot for favorite korean food. However, if you were to combine the votes from garbi with bulgogi, fairly similar meals, the chigae wouldn't compete. I personally voted for sam gyeop sal, but of course everything on this list is delicious.

Korea Life Blog - Frozen Pipes and More Gripes


My three day holiday has been marred by frozen pipes and no water. Julie called the landlord for me, and he wanted nothing to do with it. He claimed no one else complained and it must just be my problem. It turns out everyone had been complaining in this building and the next. After a lot of pressure he came by and checked everyone's apartment and said he'd have it fixed by this morning. It's 7:00 PM and there's still no water. I have to wait until tomorrow morning, Sunday, the last day of my holiday.

I just checked with my neighbor. Turns out they came to fix it today but it's a bigger problem than anyone thought. They have to come back tomorrow and dig underground. Maybe there's a ruptured pipe or it's frozen down deeply. I hope they can have it fixed soon!



The dishes are piling up. The cockroaches are moving back in. It's funny how you take running water for granted. Life without it is sure different. Especially when it's time for number 2 and you have to run off somewhere to find a public toilet - which in this small town are squatters. As for bathing, yesterday we went to a jimjil bag public shower/sauna/hangout place. It was nice, but too many people were there - too many kids running around screaming and yelling. I don't know why families hang out there really. Especially I can't understand why they sleep there. It's too hot and noisy. Anyway, that was two days ago and I'm starting to smell. Time go fill up some more bottles of water at the pizza shop and wash as best I can.

Korea Life Blog - Tattoo Removal (1)

I was fourteen. Three of us were at my best friend's house. His parents were at camp for the night. We snuck into the liquor cabinet and got drunk. In our drunken teenage maniacal metal-head wisdom we decided to get some Indian Ink and cement our friendship with tattoos of a cross - something that for years would become a source of embarrassment for us, a cruel reminder of our dubious past.


Well, I always wanted to get it removed, but I put it off and off and off, not really sure how to go about getting it done, denying the fact that it even existed, hiding my head in shame whenever taking my shirt off. Then one day, I found an ad in the Korea Herald for a skin clinic in Seoul that offers tattoo removal. After 15 long years, the time had finally come.


Here it is. I took this picture in the bathroom shortly before visiting with the doctor. While I figured a laser would be involved I had no idea really what to expect. I hoped it wouldn't cost too much being as small as it is. There was a 30,000 won consultation fee (consultation: 2.5 minutes). Then the cost of the laser would be 100,000 won won, but since I'm a poor English teacher, as he said, he gave me a 20,000 won discount.

Not too bad overall, and I was excited until he told me it would take 5 visits, one every 6 weeks, to remove it fully. However, each time the cost of the laser will get cheaper, since there will be less to remove. I can't imagine how much and how long it must take to remove big tattoos.


I paid and the nurse applied some anesthetic cream and I was told I'd have to wait one hour for it to take affect. Poor Julie was stuck with me. One hour ended up being 90 minutes as the place was really crowded that day with various other skin treatments. Finally my turn came. I laid down in a chair and closed my eyes. The laser sparked my skin for less than 2 minutes and the doctor was finished. I looked at the tattoo. All that reaminded was the shape of the cross, completely white with specs of blood on it. The doctor said as it healed the pigment would come back again, hence the need for five treatments.



OK, here it is 4 days after the laser treatment. It actually looks better than in this picture. I can't imagine it will take 4 more visits. It's looking pretty good already, but we'll see as time goes on. I'll do an update later on it.

Korea Life Blog - Yongsan

Sit back and relax and enjoy pics from Saturday in the electronic-dong: Yongsan. There's pretty much every electronic you could ever want available in Yongsan at the cheapest prices in the country. The difference in price between here and in departments stores is amazing, leaving me to wonder why anyone buys anything at a department store. I've seen computers and TV's over 500,000 won cheaper here.



Here's a shot of Yongsan from the new subway station. Notice the building there with a huge robot on it. Wait - is that my old hero, Voltron, Defender of the Universe?




Another shot off to the side. Looks like the end of the line for subways, a lonely site indeed.




OK, you come out of the tunnel from the station into this long shopping corridor. There's electronics everywhere. As with anywhere in Korea, if you stop to look at anything, you will be bombarded by salespeople.




Lots of music and DVD shops as well as digital cameras and handphones. You can see that guy there under the MP3 sign. He's yelling at people to look at his goods. They all seem pretty desperate, probably because there's a lot of competition. There must be a hundred places here to buy the same exact things. Profits must be really slim.



Outside you come across the arcade alleys full of more handphone and electronic shops. I can't figure out why there are KTF and SK handphone shops literally everywhere. You can walk by one SK and then see another 3 shops down. It's ridiculous. Can't they combine shops and lower costs?




Upstairs in one of the main shopping buildings is the video game floor. If you like video games, this is the place to come. It's a gamer's heaven. I felt like a little kid again. Here's the display room for Nintendo Game Cube. There's 6 or 7 TVs set up with games and all the extra gadgets to try out. And nobody bothers you in here. In the Xbox room I beat Julie in a fighting game at least 5 times.



The whole reason I came to Yongsan was to check on prices of Playstation and Xbox. A Playstation near my home will cost 250,000 won bare bones. Here you get one for just around 200,000 if you barter. I bet you could get a few extras thrown in as well. You can also find any game you could want ever want. I'm not exactly this applies to games in stock, but if they don't have one in stock (shh!) buy burned copies for around 12,000 won.
Like at the pirated CD stands, some shops have huge booklets of games to thumb through.


I didn't actually buy anything. Like I said, I was just gauging the prices. I'm trying to decide between the Playstation and the Xbox. I want to play some games like Rocky and Tiger Woods Golf as well as use the system as a DVD player. The Xbox is 50,000 won cheaper, but it's not very popular in Korea and it could likely fail. In that case, games and/or service would become hard to find. The Playstation is becoming more and more popular. I read that 700,000 units were sold last month alone (compared to 60,000 Xbox's). That's pretty amazing for a population of around 40,000,000. If anybody owns both systems and could give me some advice, please do so.

Korea Life Blog - Dubu Date


Here's the rest of the shots I took on Saturday. Julie and I had a wonderful dinner at a small traditional style dubu (tofu) restaurant on the outskirts of Nowhere-dong. It was a beautiful, snowy day, perfect for some hot dubu dishes.



And here they are. Yum. I totally forgot the names of these soups. The one Julie is eating smells exactly like stinky feet, but it tastes delicious, similar to dwenjang chigae but thicker, stronger. Both of them tastes absolutely wonderful. Especially on such a cold day and we were both very hungry.




Julie was practically in Heaven. I've never seen her so happy. Hmm, I thought the quickest way to a man's heart was through his stomach, but maybe it's the other way around with her.




A closeup shot of the smelly feet soup. It tastes much better than it smells, but it really does stink.




This is something I don't get. Here is a cozy, quaint, traditional restaurant, and they hang up stupid modern promotional posters - something that is totally tacky and takes away from the atmosphere. Also, outside there is a big ugly vending machine right next to the entrance. (I took a picture of it, but it didn't come out right). Meanwhile, the ajummas look like human soju bottles in their soju promotional aprons.




Here's some of what they call Korean pizza. It's made from some sort of expensive bean, though tastes more like potato to me. Supposedly this is really good for your health, though I'm not so sure why. But they certainly are delicious! They should be at 10,000 won for three.

I hope you enjoyed the meal as much as I did. Stay tuned for some pics from my short trip to the electronics markets in Yongsan.

Korea Life Blog - Busy Thinking

I've been really busy this weekend. I had an interview with a University nearby on Saturday and they called me today to offer me the job. Now I have to decide if I want it.I don't really know much about but the college but it could be the beginning of a career. The pay is decent and I would only be working 4 days/week, 15 teaching hours, and I would get 6-10 weeks vacation. On the other hand, I'd have to pay my own housing, so I'm confused.

For now, here are a few pics from Nowhere-dong.



This was taken outside the Dubu restaurant Julie and I went to today. We had a wonderful lunch, and I'll show you all about it later. The scenery today made me a little homesick. It looks like some backroad place in New York State. All that's missing is a little diner. However, the little Dubu place was much healthier.



It snowed a lot today. When I went out to feed the cats, I saw some kids making snowmen and sledding down the small hill. Notice the snowmen in Korea only have two parts, not three. I guess that's because there is less snow. It was a beautiful day and again, felt almost like home. Maybe that's because this is my home now...

Korea Life Blog - Musicians Market in Jongro


If you play an instrument, this place is for you. Specifically if you play the guitar/bass, but other instruments are included such as the piano and drums. Also, PA systems and a world of recording equipment can be found here. I play the guitar and was lured by a website to one of the shops. If you look online in Korea for guitars, there are many websites for the shops here.



It's in Jongro and it's the Technomart of the musicians' world. Four floors of musical gear and, of course, a movie theater. As you can see, if you read Korean, the name of the place is Nak-won Akki Sang-ga. There's the Heo-ri-oo-du guk-jang (Hollywood Theater) on top.


Here's a shot of the second floor. The place is huge. It's a musician's heaven. The day we went it was a little slow, near closing time on a Sunday. If I even stopped for a second, the shop owners will start pitching a sale. That's the norm in Korea but it never fails to annoy me.



I didn't get any good shots of the little guitar shops because of the reason above. However, I got this one out in the main walkway. You can get a taste of what the place is like. They all have practice amps, electric and acoustic guitars, accessories, effects peddles, etc.

I came prepared to buy a specific guitar. A Weston, like the one I have back in NY. I played that guitar for almost 10 years and never once had a problem with it. I love it. My mother refused to let me bring it to Korea for sentimental reasons (her mother, my beloved grandmother who has since died, bought it for me). Anyway, the brand, based in the US, was more popular overseas and eventually bought out by a Japanese company. Sadly, they pretty much stopped selling them in the states. So I was surprised to see a model similar to mine on the Korean site. Also, the price: 145,000 won, about $120, threw me into a fit of excitement.

Well, I should have figured. The guitar was an imitation Weston. A fake. The guy even told me it was and the guitar had a made in Korea sticker on it. The quality was awful. One chord would sound in tune, another way off - caused by a crooked neck. Unfortunately many people just starting off probably wouldn't notice. The shops must get a lot of suckers who buy online as well.

I don't want to put out the wrong idea. Some of the Korean brand guitars are really good, especially the semi-acoustics, and the prices are great. However, I'd stay away from the imitation name brands. You can tell by the prices which ones are real. I checked out a few Fender strats and the difference is easy to detect...price and quality wise.

I ended up going home without a guitar. I should have known 145,000 won was too good to be true. I did see some decent Peavey models for around 200,000, but I've decided to save up a little more until I can buy the accessories I want as well, such as an effects processor or sound card for the computer.

Korea Life Blog - Raelians are Invading Korea


Poor misguided Julie. She was on the train the other day and saw a foreigner playing a saxophone while his partner collected donations. She doesn't usually give money to beggars but since the performance was so good, she decided to give 1,000 won. In return they gave her their pamplet:



Seems Julie contributed to the Raelian foundation. The one time she gives and it's to a band of cookoos out to get cash from suckers. (Meanwhile, the poor blind woman, the guy with no legs, and the helpless old man got nothing).



Supposedly mankind was created by Alien scientists and now they are requesting we build them an embassy and invite them to our planet. The alien race are known as the Elohim. This strikes me as funny because that's the name of my health club. I always wondered what it meant. Could it be a coincidence, or is the owner of my Gym in on this bizarre movement? Perhaps he's even one of the aliens himself! I'd better keep a close eye on him.

Good job, Julie. Hopefully, with more contributions like yours, they will finish the embassy soon and you can get a chance to meet the aliens firsthand. :P

Korea Life Blog - Korea Times

The Korea Times has run an article about Korean blogs. Mine is mentioned with a screenshot. If you pick up a copy, please save it for me. I'd like to see it and I'm too far away from the nearest newsstand. I'm confused though as to whether it's in today's paper or tomorrow's. The writer told me on e-mail that it would be in tomorrow's paper but the article is already online here: The Medium Is the Message in K-Blogs.

I just read it, and all I can say is it's boring. Especially the first two paragraphs. The article doesn't do anything to make anyone interested in Korean blogs or what they are like. It's basically a run down on what blogs are. It reminds me of exactly why I started this website. When I first decided to come to Korea, I did a lot of searching on the web. I found a lot of mundane information about Korea but hardly anything about everyday life and what it was really like to live here day to day. I decided I wanted to make a site that could bring the experience to life.

However, that's a pretty funny screenshot taken from this section, I must say. And I just checked my stats. Over 1200 hits today, 500 more than usual, so I guess people some people did get interested. Must have been the funny screenshot that did it. I just think the article could have been livelier.

Korea Life Blog - Geoje-do Part 5


I finished Geoje-do (Part 5) - A Memorable trip to Japan.

There's a lot to come in the next part, but I'm not sure if I'll continue it online because I'm not sure anyone is still following it.

Korea Life Blog - Playstation Bang in Nowon



This is the best Playstation bang we've been to yet. It's in Nowon-dong nearby Julie's chib. I can't see how they can possibly make enough money to profit by charging only 2,000 won per hour. The place is very big and there are lots of brand new TVs including several expensive Flastscreen Plasmas. When we went, the place was empty - albeit it was early in the afternoon on a Sunday.




Here's the the clerk setting us set up to play our first game. We get this DVD bang size screen and section all to ourselves. That's the same speaker set I got for my computer at Technomart. Too bad I don't have the same TV.



OK, Julie. Get ready for an ass whooping. I really hate WWF wrestling, but the video games are pretty cool. Check this out. We're chicks in a Bra and Panties tournament. If you grab the players clothes and tap a button quickly you can rip off their shirts and shorts. Needless to say I became an expert at this move in less than 3 minutes.

Korea Life Blog - Zen



After anju at and beer at the The Oregon Trail, we headed here to Zen, a small little club next to Dunkin Donuts on a main drag in Sinchon. It's early yet but the hiphop music is already blasting.



It's early yet but the hiphop music is already blasting. This is what is scary about bars. Those two girls across the way didn't look so bad at the time. I told Julie the girl with the long hair looked like the famous (in Korea/Japan) and pretty singer BOA. Keep in mind I drank all but a few gulps of that big pitcher of beer at The Oregon Trail. Looking at this pic now, I must have been out of my mind. Oh well, it wouldn't be the first time. Judging by the enormous amount of KGB (a sweet, vodka based wine cooler-like drink) bottles, I think this place is frequented by young female customers. To balance it out, later they played an uncensored Ice Cube/Eminem concert which showed girls stripping to fully nude in the audience and backstage. That was a surprise.



Here's Julie. She rarely drinks so after just a few gulps of beer and 1/4 of a KGB she's already half drunk. That must be nice. I have to drink jugs of beer to feel the same then end up going to the bathroom every 5 minutes. There were several US soldiers in the place and whenever I went to the bathroom they would squeeze in and pee in the sink and/or the drain hole in the floor rather than wait a minute. It's no they have a reputation of fighting. One guy stood right behind me and kept telling me to "hurry it up, buddy."



As the night went on the place got very busy. We actually ended up having a great time. After 3 or 4 more Coronas and Julie drinking another 1/4 of her KGB, we hit the dance floor for a couple of hours. You can see a Korean guy wearing glasses. He spoke perfect English to me while taking a leak. (Why is it that guys don't talk to you in the bar, but the second you're in a bathroom together they strike up a conversation?) Turns out he's American and in the army. That must be weird, being Korean by blood and serving in Korea in the American army.


It's not really a dance club, and there's no cover charge to get in. The place is pretty small but it attracts a decent crowd. If you want to get a seat, you'd better go a little early. Most importantly, the music is good if that's your style. I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but after for drinking and dancing with girls it's perfect. And outside the bathroom the atmosphere wasnt bad at all - certainly better than a place like Stompers in Hongdae or anywhere in Itaewon.