Korea Life Blog - Construction Blues


I've been re-realizing the downside of living in the city. For the past two days, starting at the crack of dawn, there's been horrific construction going on right outside my motel. Take a look:








Bang! bang! crunch! blast! whack! whack! whack!....I've had next to no sleep and I'm cranky. Wait a minute, I have no job, what am I complaining about? Speaking of jobs, things haven't been going so well in that department. As far as I can tell, I was turned down for the hagwon job I mentioned before, if you can believe it. That was a shock. I'm not sure to laugh or cry. They gave me an excuse, but I'm pretty sure it was because I asked for more money than the bare minimum, come on! - and more than the bare minimum for rent, and at least standard vacation time...after all, he wasn't going to have to pay a recruiter or my airfare.

The boss there would rather take someone unqualified and cheaper, I assume. He may be lucky or he may be in for a shock later when he can't find anyone. Oh well, it's not a big deal and I wasn't totally sure I wanted to take it anyway as it's on the other side of the city in a rundown, lame area. I'm also not sure if I want to work in a Hagwon for a penny pinching boss again either - no matter how nice he is or how good the schedule was...my last job was like that and look how it turned out, though admittedly I had an easy year. The problem I've been having with hagwons is that they start off good, then usually go sour near the end and then I'm left with no reference again. It's not that you really need one here though. Hell, as you know if you've been following my blog for some time, I was hired at a University before based on my English Education Degree (and stunning charm) only. Still, maybe I should be more selective and try to work somewhere more reliable, somewhere where it's not all about making money for the boss.

The very next job I looked at seemed decent. I would teach at the new after school programs in public schools, around 40,000 won/hour ($35), choose how many hours I'd want to work, and full visa sponsered by the government (though how incredibly stupid that I'd still have to leave the country to the Korean embassy in Japan to pick up the visa again). Apparently the government has created these programs as an alternative to expensive hagwons. The woman in charge said since I have a degree in English Education that I am a perfect candidate. She wasn't exactly sure of all the details though and she'd get back to me. It's Wednesday now and she hasn't called or e-mailed back. I'm getting the feeling the program isn't very well organized yet. Anyway, it sounded good and I hope it pans out. If not, I guess I'll actually have to start trying a little, damn. This is my third week off. I really needed this break after a year of teaching little runts but it's time to get on the ball again before I get too comfortable.

[Update]The woman called and I'll be going to meet the principal of the school tomorrow. 9-15 hours a week at my discretion and she has private students for me in my area. Before that I was sitting here sending out my resume again. I sent it to 3 people, all about public schools, and within minutes was receiving phone calls and e-mail replies. I guess I have nothing to worry about...

Korea Life Blog - Weekend Update


We ended up having a great time at the clubs on Club Day, Friday. We spent most of the night at Ohoo (Matmata and Hodge Podge). I didn't bring my camera, but James did. I'm not sure if he'll do yet another update with shots of us dancing and acting stupid or not. I don't even want to see my pictures. People kept putting drinks in my hand all night.

Julie and I left around 6AM. James and his friends stayed. I kind of wish I brought my camera to photograph the crowds of people outside in the early morning still going in and out of clubs and 24-hour restaurants, the drunk people stumbling to the subway stations, the vomit all over the streets, etc. It's quite a site. The first subway on a Saturday is very funny. You see all these sickly looking young people in club clothes mixed with unfortunate business-persons going to work and old people off to go hiking/fishing and enjoy the day. As for Julie and I, we slept until 4PM...

When we woke up, we went looking at a few apartments in the area but they were too small and far from the subway. We did however find an amazing little video shop. I'll get a shot of it next time I go. Though you'd never expect it from the outside, inside they have the largest collection of videos we've been able to find. That's because the shop has been there ten years and there's no big rental franchises in Korea to knock out them out, thankfully. In the states, places like Hollywood Video and Blockbuster would come in like Walmart (by the way Walmart, the evil empire, has quite a few shopping centers in Korea but they don't compete nearly as well here) in a town, charge a little lower than the competition, knock all the little guys out, then after practically monopolizing the area, raise all the prices and late fees, etc...

Here in Korea, a new video release, American or Korean (Korean films on DVD have English subtitles) will set you back 1,000 - 1,500 won (aprox. 80 cents - $1.20). An older release is half price. We were lazy and in the mood to watch older movies. Within a minute we picked out four and ended up watching three: Big Momma's House, Kindergarten Cop and Junior...classics. All four movies anyway were only 2,000 won (about $1.60) and due back in 3 days.

Last night we looked at a brand new office-tel apartment for only 375,000/ month around $325) in a brand new section of the city right next to a huge new Hyundai Department store - and a Walmart, great. It's a beautiful apartment, not even finished yet, 12th floor, with gigantic windows overlooking the city. Since the building is so new and they need people to move in, they were pretty flexible about the rent, hence the cheap price. I think the deal is if we pay the rent for a year up front, they'll wave the deposit too. The only problem for me was the building is a little far from the subway. They're planning to route a subway station there, but that does little good for me now. I'd have to take a bus and then the subway to work, unless I can get a job in the area...a possibility as there's a new English school on ever corner it seemed.

Later we ordered BBQ Fried Chicken and watched back to back episodes of Cheaters. We both agreed the show is getting pretty repepitive. But that's what happens when you can watch it 7 days a week without commercials. That's about it...hope you enjoyed this update. Have a nice day.

Korea Life Blog - Korea Blogs Blocked in Korea


Though I can log into Blogger and update, Blogspot websites are currently inaccessible in Korea. According to this thread, Korea blogs using Blogger and other services such as Typepad have been blocked. Apparently someone posted on their blog the beheading footage of Kim Sun Il in Iraq. That's a shame and it shows very poor taste on the part of whoever posted the footage, but I don't see why my website has to be blocked too. I guess they can't seperate the blog ISPs, so when they block a Blogger blog, all Blogger blogs are then blocked. (at least that's a great sentence)

I hope this is temporary. For now I'll keep checking my website through unipeak for now, a wonderful proxy service that allows you to see blocked websites but with an advertising frame.

unipeak view of KLB

Korea Life Blog - Bargains, Dinner, and Frozen Yogurt


I've stopped to the PC bang again to bring you this exciting update. I met James and his friend Sam yesterday in Hongdae. We had spicy Thai food for dinner at Khaosan restauran, frozen yogurt to cool off, then a few beers at a hip little bar with a huge selection of music played by request. It was a fun evening. Why I forgot to take more photos, I'm not sure.



The only time I took out my camera was at the extremely popular frozen yogurt shop in Hongdae called Red Mango. The place was packed.



One of these costs about $5 and is enough for two people. You get 5 toppings.



Here's the one Julie and I had. It was fantastic and "only 25 calories" according to James who likes to make up numbers to look smart.


The previous day:


Julie and I met up for dinner in Songnae and since the weather was perfect, we decided to eat Saeng Kalbi (strips of beef without the regular kalbi marinate) outside. We chose a place that was crowded - a sure sign in Korea that the food is great. And it was. Everything here was just fantastic and we really had a nice time. Julie can't believe Americans don't eat like this at restaurants back home. I agreed, why don't we? I guess it's because Americans don't like to cook their own food at a restaurant and they don't like sharing their food with each other. (I still remember my mother's look of shock when I started eating off her plate when I went home last time). I like that part. It's very sociable. Not once have I ever gotten sick off food in Korea at all, much less by just sharing a meal with my friends...I'd much rather eat like this than at a steak restaurant like Outback Steakhouse...but the again, maybe I've just lived here too long.



I think I mentioned before about the bargain shop outside my motel. They have pretty much every brand name you could want. Every shirt here was 5,000 won (about $4). The LA shorts were 8,000. The likeness and quality is perfect. It just goes to show you how much the sporting companies rip you off. At the Nike store here, the same T-shirt will cost around $25 or more. Yes, they spend a ton on marketing and making sports figures more rich, etc. Yet I think the owner of Nike made a billion dollars in profit last year, but not a single Nike shoe was made in the US - meaning no jobs for American people. Blah, blah, blah, life isn't fair, and more hum drum glum drum ruin...



Here's Julie sporting her new 5,000 won Nike shirt.



Thanks to James, I found these nice Birkenstock clones in Hongdae last night too for 30,000 won ($24). It's hard to tell if they're real or not, they look and feel pretty damn good. The only thing that's different, it seems, is the price.

Being able to get things like clothes so cheap makes it easier to enjoy a styling dinner and a night out with friends. We'll be meeting up with James and Sam again tonight for Club Day...the last Friday of the month in which you can get a wristband for 15,000 won ($12) and get into all the popular clubs. I've got a few new dance moves I've been working on on. (Shuck, jive, touch toes, round about, head bob and repeat).

Korea Life Blog - Getting Lazy


I went to bed at 5:00AM last night. I was working a bit on my book then watching one of the many Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes I downloaded before the move - what a great show that is. I wonder who thought up the concept and who approved it. For anyone who doesnt know, here's the premise of the show.


In the not-too-distant future-
Next Sunday A.D.-
There was a guy named Joel,
Not too different from you or me.
He worked at Gizmonic Institute,
Just another face in a red jumpsuit.
He did a good job cleaning up the place,
But his bosses didn't like him
So they shot him into space.

We'll send him cheesy movies,
The worst we can find (la-la-la).
He'll have to sit and watch them all,
And we'll monitor his mind (la-la-la).
Now keep in mind Joel can't control
Where the movies begin or end (la-la-la)
Because he used those special parts
To make his robot friends.

Robot Roll Call: (All right, let's go!)
Cambot! (Pan left!)
Gypsy! (Hi, girl!)
Tom Servo! (What a cool guy!)
Croooow! (He's a wisecracker.)

If you're wondering how he eats and breathes
and other science facts (la la la),
Then repeat to yourself, "It's just a show,
I should really just relax
For Mystery Science Theater 3000!"


Basically they play an old and really bad science fiction movie and this guy and a couple of robots make fun of it.


Anyway, I woke up at 1:30PM today. Since there's no light in my cave, I had no idea what time it was. When I looked at my watch, I shrugged and fell back to sleep for another half hour. Out of bed, threw a bunch of trash in some shopping bags and set them outside the door for the maid. Next, a shower, some tuna kimbap for lunch and here I am at the PC bang. I'll meet Julie a while later for dinner and a movie or a game of pool. Then back to my cave for some exercise, writing, an Episode of Cheaters and more MST3K. May as well enjoy my free time while I have it, though I'd like to get up in the morning and go out and do something. Won't be long before I'm back to work. I have a meeting tomorrow with the school I mentioned yesterday.

Korea Life Blog - Miscellaneous


I've been sitting here in the PC bang for at least 2 hours trying to get through all my e-mail, paying my student loan online (payments due until the end of time), trying to sort out a discrepancy in my balance (those bastards!) All the while I've been subjected to a steady stream of smoke and loud Korean ballads that really get under your skin.

Technically I'm sitting in the non-smoking section. At least there's a sign above that says so. Out of about 100 computers, there are 8 in this section. However, it doesn't make any difference. The PC bang is a big cloud of smoke and there's no escape. I need one of those doctor's face masks and an oxygen tank. How can anyone work here 10-12 hours a day as they do? It must be the most unhealthy job in Korea.

One of my long time readers contacted me about a laid back job opening at his school. The other teacher is leaving next month. It's basically 5 classes in a block schedule from 3:30-7:30 or 8:15 depending on the day. Nothing like a part time schedule with full time pay and all the benefits (visa run, health insurance, vacation, bonus pay, apartment rent, etc). The pay is around 2,000,000/ month but is somewhat negotiable. That's around $1800-1900/month (depending on negotiation) for less than 5 hours/day of work. Now that may not sound like a lot of money to anyone who has never been here. But when you consider these points, you'll understand better:

1. Your apartment is free. Either provided by the school, or you have your own place and the school pays your rent. Obviously having free housing saves you a lot of money.

2. Tax. If they even deduct it (my last 3 jobs haven't), it's only 3.5%...compare that to something like 30% in the US.

3. National health (and dental) insurance. Last I knew it was around 50,000/ month ($42). Americans can appreciate how good that is. Imagine walking into a hospital, paying just 2,000 won ($1.80), and getting treatment and medication. Dental insurance is under the same system.

4. Transportation. There is no need for a car here. Public transportation is cheap and extremely convenient. Subways and busses to just about anywhere come every 5 minutes or less. A short ride in a taxi is only a few bucks as well. Back in America a car is a necessity. Public transportation is not nearly as convenient, especially if you live outside a city. Also, you just look like a dumbnut without a car unlike here where nobody cares. If your school is near your apartment here, and it usually is, you have no transportation cost to and from work.

5. Cost of living is much cheaper here. DSL cost me 30,000 ($25) a month, cable TV is something like 10,000 won ($8) depending on your package. My total monthly bills (not including cell phone) averaged about 100,000 won ($80) last year in the winter and 40-50,000 the rest of the year. Food is also much cheaper (and much healthier) than back home. Sales tax, included in the prices, is barely noticeable, and no tipping.

Many people have asked me why, since I'm qualified with an Education degree, I teach here rather than America. Money is one reason. As you can see, almost $2000/month is a lot of more than you think. It is not unreasonable to be able to save 2/3 of that and still live well. Now imagine if your sig. other is making the same as you. Together, you could save about $3000/month and still live very well. And that's working just 4-5 hours a day! Now imagine having another part time job in the morning or whatever, at the going rate of 30-40,000 won/hour ($25-$35)...even just one extra hour/day could mean an extra 600 bucks/month per person. It's all up to how motivated you are.

I should point out that there is a downside. You don't have money deducted for things like a pension or whatever saving system as would be standard back home. You have to be responsible in saving your money and investing it, which isn't all that bad. There is also no job security, in a tenure like sense. However, jobs are a dime a dozen around here and I like it better this way. If I were a tenured English teacher back home, seeing as jobs aren't nearly as easy to come by, I'd probably be unlikely to quit and give that up - even if I was miserable. I guess it depends on how you look at it. For most people it may give a strong sense of security, after all we were raised to believe that, but for me it would feel like just another thing holding me in place, free yet not really free as I feel here, and this is a good feeling to have.

Back to the job at hand. My reader has been working there for 7 months (and may stay on another year) and insures me the boss is very kind and doesn't bother anyone. I'll be happy to work there and not having to deal with a recruiter and schools I know nothing about. It's always good to have someone on the inside like this. Also, the job doesn't star until the end of July, so I'll have another month to lounge around like a bum and work on my Geoje-do story (coming along well, 175 pages and a lot of editing). I need to get down to the island to get photos too.

That reminds me. Julie had contacted a publisher for the book. They seemed interested at first anyway. The problem they wrote back today is the target audience. Since the company doesn't normally publish in English, they're a little unsure of who will be reading it and hence the risk. They were unable to give an answer or advice.

I had also wondered about my audience and if I'd have to have it translated or not. The ideal: have it published in English for foreigners and fluent Koreans. If, and that's a big if, it were to show signs of becoming popular, have it translated. It's not like it's Dostoevsky or anything though. It's written in pretty simple English. I just worried a lot of the humor would be lost in a translation but I have no idea really. I know Brenda used to say she couldn't understand American sense of humor. Also, translating it may be confusing at times. For example, when a Korean person in the story is speaking in English, is that translated into Korean? I'm not sure how that works.

If anyone has any suggestions or leads, send me an email. If it's a good one, I'll give you a G-mail account invite. I have a bunch more to give away. If any gyopo-type fluent person would like to volunteer translating a chapter, that would be great too. I could use it as a sample chapter for the publisher. Don't use the chapters from the website, though, much of that has been edited. I'll send you one on e-mail. I guess it would be about 10 pages or a little more.

Finally, here are a few photos for your enjoyment.



This meal is bo ssam, one of Julie's favorites. Like with Kalbi, you mix pieces of the meat and kimchi and whatever else and wrap it in the lettuce leaves and chomp away, enjoying the volcanic eruption of taste. I liked it, but not as much as her. Since it's similar in price, I'd rather just have Kalbi. However, that was some damn good kimchi. Wow.



It sure is nice to be back in Seoul. I picked all this up at E-mart yesterday. Crackers, Australian cheese, a bottle of Charddonay, olives. Mmm...can't wait to enjoy these.

Korea Life Blog - Korea Headlines


Awhile back I started cutting out some odd snippets from the Korea Herald. Similar to Jay Leno's headlines, there is something peculiar, something just a little off about each one. Well I finally had a chance to get them scanned, (thanks to Julie who has a scanner now in her office). Have a look at the first series of Korea Headlines.



Urgent! Wanted for Assistant Director: 0 person! Nobody need apply! Notice what the applicant has to include: a 3 page essay on how to promote sales and license in the world. What the hell does "promoting license mean?" Ok, here I go. Double space, BIG FONT: "Promoting license in the world is important. Very important. Very, very, very important. License is something people need to drive a car and it's very important but it's also necessary for sales and..." Though they require qualified English for the job, apparently it wasn't a requirement for writing the job ad.



Are there that many foreigners in Seoul familiar with great Italian wines? What the hell is Pasqua Valpolicella Classico Sup. DOC. That and Pasqua Sove Classico DOC? - The prices are unbelievable and so are the names!



Apparently they don't think to highly of their applicants. Hey, who you calling "it?"



OK, I'm sure the food here is good, but isn't this just a bit of an exaggeration? The sea...the sun...la Provence in your plate! Just who do they have there cooking the food? "Ok, Jesus, one order of the sea and sun, table 7."



I had no idea there were so many awards for the international moving industry. I don't know, though. "The First Accredited ISO 9002 of Internation Moving in Korea"? - "The Quality Worldwide Door-to-Door moving under FIDI Network"? - "The Fist FAIM/ISO Quality Standard in Korea"? Just whose giving out these awards anyway?



I'm not even going say anything about this article. You just read it for yourself. Shocking, truly shocking...especially the last paragraph in the center column.



This one cracked me up. Here is some event by humanitarians calling on the government to help the poor. I think the camera man is missing the point. "What's going on here? Oh, I see. Cabbage! Wow! What a story!"



Another one that made me laugh. (Click on the picture to see it full size). Here we are at Ewha Womans University. Wait a minute, that female student there in the circle looks a little odd. Hey, isn't that Charles Barkley, the basketball star? What's he doing there? Security!



Here's an ad for another moving company. I love this: you'll have your own supervisor during moving - he remind you of every work process from start to end. "OK, Mr.Smith. Now you wrap all your dishes in newspaper. After that, carry the sofa onto the truck. Don't forget to pack your toothbrush. Come on now, hurry up, move! move! move!" Also, I think they had a little too much space to fill in this ad. Golden Black Box! Professionally made, unlike those other boxes made by unprofessionals. And wow, they come in various sizes! Whoo hoo! Their company provides their own skilled staffs! No wonder they are members of HHAFFA, KIFFA & CBAFF.



I don't mean to belittle the seriousness of the crime, but this just sounds ridiculous: "...the policeman shot the man because of his lack of hospitality." "What? No tea? Why, you...blam blam blam!" I might expect that to happen in England, but here in Korea?





The Oakwood Premier - This place delivers everything you'd expect of a 5 star hotel...including Pizza Hut pizzas! Wow! - now that's fancy. Notice who they're quoting, by the way. It's Mr. In Soo Cho, that's right managing director of Pizza Hut!



Now this has to be the most tasteless concept I've ever seen in my life. Sexy porcelain? That's just plain disgusting. Hmm, wait a minute. Maybe I'll get a set and surprise Julie with a romantic dinner.


Well, there you have it, Korea Headlines. Many thanks go out to Konglish and the Korea Herald..also to Julie for scanning these for me.

Korea Life Blog - Barbecue Chicken in Song Nae

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Americans love fried chicken. Americans also love beer. I don't know why simple chicken and beer restaurants aren't popular there (though I'm not sure if they are or not in the southern states). They certainly are popular in Korea with one on every other corner practically. They're so much fun and a lot better than any KFC or Popeyes, in my opinion. I just think it's fun to eat fried chicken and drink beer, especially outside on a nice summer evening. I say fried because up until we found this place in Song nae, I usually didn't like the yang yeom barbecued chicken. But that has since changed. Check out this extremely popular restaurant.



Here it is, in the heart of Song Nae. We first found it about a month ago at night. As we were standing around scratching our heads and trying to decide what to eat, Julie suggested the McDonald's next door. Meanwhile this restaurant was jam packed. I convinced her to give it a shot. Everyone was ordering the barbecue chicken, which we couldn't figure out. We decided to order half and half (half fried, half bbq). That's when we discovered the fried chicken was terrible but that the barbecued chicken was absolutely fantastic, unlike any kind we'd had before.



As you can see, even before evening the place is bustling. In fact, eveytime we go by here the place is full. It must be the most popular restaurant in the area.



Another reason I love it here: 1000cc (1 liter - yes, how kind of me to translate the metric system into the metric system) draft beers. One of these goes perfect with the meal. At first I felt a little embarrassed by the size. I was the only one I could see with one. Julie couldn't stop laughing. Everyone else was downing 500cc glasses, though, one after another, or glass after glass from huge pitchers, so what's the difference? I just like the big size because it makes me feel like a bad-ass barbarian from medieval times. (I'm writing all this in hopes my readers focus on the huge beer, not on the less than flattering hair cut, thanks Julie).

It looks even bigger in comparison with Julie (had a picture here but she made me delete the picture probably because she was wearing her glasses). She couldn't even lift the glass with one hand. Though I can drink all of it and feel pretty much nothing but a long belch, Julie would probably die. I've only seen her drink a few times. I gave her a small glass of wine way back when and a few minutes after drinking it she turned red, started to rock back and forth, then fell fast asleep until morning. Needless to say, she prefers cola.



Here it is, the main dish. Like I said, the chicken at this restaurant is unique, though it's hard to tell exactly from this picture. It tastes a lot better than it looks anyway. The sauce is delicious, rich but not too thick, hot and spicy. Ah, what a great time. Hanging out drinking beer and eating delicious barbecue chicken, relaxing after a long day of lounging around in my yeogwan watching movies and writing, listening to music, etc...



Bonus picture! Look closely at the table (not at the cute little girl that would make Coca Cola executives swell with pride). That boy was eating dokbokki with his fried chicken! Wahahah!

Korea Life Blog - A Tough Man


Julie got a love letter a few days ago from one of her Kindergarten students. Needless to say it didn't bother me. Have a look:



If you can't read Korean, it says on the outside: Julie, I love you, letter.



Now on the inside: Julie, thank you for teaching me English. Julie, very pretty.



I don't care. It's just a love letter from some little punk kindergarten kid. I'm not jealous at all, I swear. Nope not me. So what if he's so damn cute, and he's a perfect student, and she utterly adores him...he better watch his back on the playground, that's all I know.

Korea Life Blog - PC Bang Woes


I came to update my blog today and had a floppy disk with several pictures on it. For some reason the pics didn't save right and they won't transfer to the PC. I tried on several computers. I'd better invest in a CD-RW disk if I can find a place around here to get one. I noticed before that at the PC bangs the floppy drives are often broken. The CD drives always work though, thanks to Star Craft and company.

I guess I'll have to save that update for tomorrow. I should start doing something with my time off, though. Part of me wants to travel but part of me wants to sit around and do absolutely nothing. What a great feeling that is, though I learned when I broke my arm that lounging around day in and day out can make it very hard to get motivated again. I guess I should also look for a job, hurray. Looking for a job is overwhelming here because there are just too many choices and almost every one seems dubious in one way or another.

Up until the end of it, I had a pretty decent job for the last year and am hoping to find something like that again. A good schedule, small class sizes, etc. Having now 6 years of teaching experiences between here and America, and having a BA in English Education you'd think I could find something decent but it's not easy. Hagwons are all kind of hit or miss. If anyone knows of an exceptionally good one please send me an e-mail with a description. Maybe I should just apply to another University. Hell, I got hired at Jang An Univeristy after just a ten minute interview. I kind of wonder what my life would be like had I taken that. It just didn't feel right at the time. Oh well, I don't really regret that. Maybe I should just start a taco stand and hang out in Hongdae. Or get the Geoje-do book translated and sell it to ajummas on the train. Or use the guitar to make a hit song about deokboki. Oh the endless possibilites.

For now I guess I'll head back to the cave-won, I mean yeogwan, and watch Seabiscuit. Julie and I spent about an hour trying to decide what movie to rent last night, then we got that and didn't have chance to see it. Instead we watched Cheaters again and then she made me endure 2 episodes of Sex and the City (Season 5 - what an awful torture). The best part about watching TV here is the commercial ratio. I hate to rub it in to anyone living in the states, but here these shows come without them here, or a very short break once during the show. Most of the commercials come before and after programming. Back in the states there's at least 3-4 minutes for every 10-15 minutes of showtime.

Well, I decided instead to go meet Julie again. She's going to regret finding me a place so close to her, hehe. If all goes well I will use her roommates scanner. If so, prepare for a funny update tomorrow.

Korea Life Blog - Yeogwan


I thought I'd stop off quickly to check my e-mail and post a few shots of the yeogwan I'm staying in for the next month. It's really not a bad deal at 350,000 won (about $275) for a month. It's small but has an ice cold Samsung air conditioner and new TV/VCR. There is a downside though. Because they built the motels on this street so close together, there is no view and actually no sunlight. The window opens to the concrete of the next building. I feel like I'm living in a cave, or some kind of weird time warp. The first time I realized it was Saturday. I called James to see what he was up to. I thought it was dark and rainy outside. He told me it was a beautiful sunny day. Today I woke up at noon but I thought it was 3 or 4 in the morning.



Here's Julie hanging out and watching an extremely old episode of America's Funniest Home Videos. I never could figure out how the host of that show made the big time. What a stupid geek! Anyway, Julie has me hooked on some show called Cheaters. It's an American reality show, but I had never seen it before. Some guy helps people find out if they're being cheated on (they always are), then they confront the cheater in the act. My favorite one was when they caught this woman's husband in a hotel room being whipped by a black transvestite. Ah, what a great impression we must be making on the world with these shows.



A decent size bed. There's my guitar in the case over there to the right for quick access. Never know when I'll need to set things straight with a quick G-Am-C chord progression and apologetic verse.



The bathroom. Nothing special. No bathtub, but that's OK. I'm usually too tall to fit into any Korean bathtub anyway.



One last shot. You can see I have my weights there for my exercises. There's just about enough room to do pushups on the floor. Notice I have my own water cooler too. It's like my own personal office and Julie's my secretary. Speaking of that, did you see the movie, Secretary? Hmm...

If you notice, Julie's wearing a Levi's shirt. There's a stand right near the motel with a load of imitation t-shirs like that. We got 4 of them for 15,000 won ($12). I considered doing the old "freeze, FBI" gag while flashing my wallet, but decided against it.

Korea Life Blog - Seoul Shawn


Well, here I am back in Seoul. The guy to my left is chain smoking and playing Star Craft. The guy to my right is asleep, a cigarette burning in his ashtray. Yay! Sure is good to be back at the ole PC bangs.

I left Nowhere-dong for a few reasons. The first was that the town is extremely boring, of course. The second, though my job was laid back, my boss was a real scrooge. About a month before my contract was to finish, I tried to schedule a meeting with him about my severance pay and to see if he wanted me to stay on. Since the Korean English teachers at the school couldn't speak English well, I was to have Julie translate. Well he gave us the run-around for the next 2 weeks or more. Finally he called Julie. When she asked him to verify the bonus pay, the boss began his worm routine, crying poverty. Julie lit into him for it, saying he had been damn lucky to have me without having to give the usual benefits and that he promised the bonus pay and better come through on it. He called her back a few days later. If I could move out of my apartment he could get his deposit back, pay my bonus, and then I should get my own place and he would pay some of the rent (350,000 /month).

Even though I wanted to move anyway, it made me angry I had to keep asking him to get what he promised in the first place. However, the job wasn't bad, my co-workers were pretty nice, and I had a pretty good relationship with the students. I did want to stay for a while longer.

I got my bonus and pay but he subtracted 150,000 won for "etc expenditures" which is a load of crap. He also failed to give me a month's rent on a new place. I was not about to ask him for another meeting about it. Despite the fact HE was the one being greedy, it would only appear that I was so. Then came the final blow. I had to be out of my apartment on Saturday. Since I had only missed one day of work during the past year (and only had 3 days vacation), I decided I would take Friday off to find a place to stay for a month and start moving. Julie called him to let him know why I wouldn't be in. He flipped his lid and started yelling at her about it. In return she yelled at him for shorting me on my pay and never giving me any benefits, kicking me out of my apartment, not even trying to offer to help me find a place or help move my stuff, etc etc. After the conversation though, I knew I would never work for him again.

He came to my home later and tried to be angry again about me missing work. Then he tried to play it down, likely sensing he was going to lose his teacher and have to pay real money for a new one, and said I could stay in the apartment for another year. His main concern however was the DSL modem which he asked about several times. By this point all my stuff was packed and I had already paid for a yeogwan. I told him I'd think it over, about staying...just to avoid trying to explain everything in Konglish. (A little while later he came back, not to see what my decision was, but to let me know someone would be picking up the modem at 10AM.)

Now instead of having just paid me what he said he would and not raised a fuss over one day, he is out a teacher and will likely have to pay a recruiter and full time benefits.

For me it worked out pretty good anyway. I am positive I wouldn't have gotten the bonus had he not thought I would stay another year. Now I have no job, but I am lucky. I am really happy to be back in Seoul. I am also free for the moment to do whatever I want, and that's a great feeling. I think I'll head off now and get an ice cream and take a walk. It's a beautiful afternoon.

Korea Life Blog - Leaving Nowhere-dong


I'm getting my stuff together for the big move tomorrow. I'm going to be staying in a yeogwan (small motel) for the next month. The good news is I'll be living in Seoul again and therefore I should have a lot more to post about. To be honest, things couldn't have gotten much duller around Nowhere-dong. For now, here's a pic at the mess I'm working on...



Not too bad. Julie's coming now to help me pack, the doll. We're using a "Call Van" service tomorrow. Only 45,000 won for the move from the country side into Seoul! Pretty cheap. They even load and unload the truck for you.



A huge bag full of word search puzzles, etc., by the kids from the last few months. I have brainswashed every kid in that school with only 1 or 2 exceptions that word search puzzles are sooooo much fun (and first kid to finish gets a sticker). They totally love them. Our school has no recycling system, so I bring home my papers and then leave them for the recycling haroboji (grandfather). Whether he gets a few bucks or curses and burns them, I don't know.



My last month's salary and bonus pay. Whoo hoo! Most of this, unfortunately, will likely be spent on traveling and/or an apartment deposit in the future. Most decent one room apartments require a 5,000,000 (about $4250) deposit, though you get it back and rent isn't too much. The thing is, even though it's free, I no longer want my boss to own the place I live. As much as I enjoy calling in to miss work and then having the boss bang on the door later asking a million questions, I'd rather have my own pad and have the boss pay me the rent money.



I was pretty well happy with getting that money (to be honest, even though I was entitled, I was really uncertain I'd actually get it) but have a look at the circled item from my pay receipt... "etc. Expenditure: 150,000 won"($125)? I have no idea what that is all about but it's typical penny pinching BS that unfortunately is all too common here. Due to the nature of my working status over the past year though, I won't be taking issue with it. I'm going to count my blessings and leave it at that.


Keep checking back for updates tonight. I'll be taking more pictures....



Mmmm...goodbye 10,000 won pizza. Not just that it's cheap, this place is right next to my home. I taught the guy's son for a year. He made me the best pizzas. Julie and I almost cried eating this last one.






Well, the cats ate all their food again today. I'll bet they'll miss me more than anyone else will.



Well, maybe this poor gal is gonna miss me too. I've been going out there almost every night for the past few months petting her and feeding her treats.



Tonight I'll go all out and make sure she gets her fill. Lots of hot dog/sausage snacks.



A couple more shots. I'm still sorely tempted to cut that strap off her neck, but I guess there's no winning situation for her. I wish I had my own house; I'd surely steal her and make her a good home. Sigh. Looking at her miserbale existence is heart breaking. Look at all the garbage. The owner burns his trash right in front there - you can see the big pile of ashes. Nothing like sitting downwind of a hot fire and smoke tied to short chain...



Bye bye, poor dog. I hope somehow your existence gets a little more exciting. Maybe you can work on getting your collar off instead of taking your house down...