Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Bulgogi place
Hunh, I just found out one of the first restaurants I was introduced to is closing. It's too bad. The lady (Jung Hee Chung sp?) was really nice, and you could get a plate of bulgogi, including panch'an of course, for like $3.50(!). I'm sure I'll find a replacement, but the guy I replaced used to go there so much, the lady called him her "vitamin." When he left, she had her picture taken with him and gave him some magnets of little Korean people that had been on her fridge for something like ten years. So, it was kind of a homey, nice place to get a large warm lunch/dinner.
Sober blogging
So, my girlfriend asked me if I was blogging drunk because my posts were so strangely written. Like I said, I jotted down some notes and posted them, but they were kind of rough. When I get the chance, I'll go back and fix them up.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Blog mess
Okay, I wrote down a few things over the past few days, and a bunch of stuff Sunday. It's still in rough form, but I went ahead and imported it. CAN NOT wait to have my own connection at home....
Things I'd recommend
- Cargo pants. Extra pockets are huge, esp. since there's a thing about not putting anything in back pockets.
- A pair of flip-flops in your size. You'll want this for your bathroom, the complimentary ones are about 8's in men's sizes.
- Maybe a big towel. I haven't really seen any yet.
- Other than that, there's really not much. I thought this list would grow, but most things you need are already here...and not always particularly expensive.
Flight
When I left off in my last blog, I had either just completed the St. Louis to Minneapolis leg, or the Minneapolis to Seattle leg of my journey. Earlier that morning my girlfriend and I had arrived at Lambert around 6:00AM, about an hour earlier than necessary because I’d though my flight left at 8:05AM not 8:50AM. I had stayed up the entire night finishing packing, and I had gotten very little sleep over the previous few days. So, when I arrived at my gate I was one of the only people waiting for my flight. I read a little, tried to find wi-fi access (there is still none at Lambert), and played a little Gameboy. I didn’t feel tired, but at one point, my head snapped up, and I realized I’d taken a little micro-nap, just a fraction of a second. Again, I didn’t feel tired so I sat there waiting for other folks to show up and for the plane to arrive. Suddenly, my head snaps up, and the gate is empty. Immediately I’m wondering if I’ve been asleep for hours, and what would I do? I look over to the , . “Are you Mr. …?” “Yes,” I said. You’re the last one.
He was very nice, didn’t even make me get out my boarding pass (he could see the number), and everything went smoothly on that flight from there.
After landing, then, in Minneapolis, we had an hour layover (which went by rather quickly), and we were off to Seattle. This was almost the longest leg of the flight for me. The approximately 3.5 hours to Seattle seemed to take an eternity. It didn’t help that this seating was much tighter and more uncomfortable than the St. Louis to Minneapolis leg – my optimism
Finally, we landed in Seattle. We had another one hour layover, but this one was even shorter as they started boarding my plane to Tokyo immediately. After getting on, and waiting for other passengers to arrive, I realized I could have finished my last American burger , but oh well.
This plane was a little roomier than the last. The seats were 2-4-2, and we all had little TVs embedded in the seats in front of us like my flight to Beijing two years ago. This flight, about 10.5 hours, went relatively well. I read, played Game Boy, watched King Kong (much improved over the original IMHO). I slept a little, but planes just aren’t comfortable for me to sleep well. I did get up to move around several times, and I think my deep vein thrombosis risk is
When we got to Tokyo things went smoothly. There was only one way to go really, and after passing through an x-ray check, we gathered in an area to await a bus to take us to the plane to Seoul. As we waited a sumo match played on on a good-sized TV in the waiting area.
The bus arrived and took us to our plane. It was an identical model to the one we had flown over the Pacific in. Maybe it was even the same plane. This flight was the only one that looked like there may have been some empty seats, but even this one was mostly full.
After a brief 2.5-3 hours, I finally arrived in Korea. I was a little nervous because my director had instructed me to call him if there was a problem, but I had foolishly left his number in my email, and my laptop by this time was long dead. I initially did not see my friend who was meeting me at the airport, but after a little walking (no mean feat considering the 130+ pounds of luggage I was hauling around)
Miraculously my luggage had survived every layover, and was there to greet me
Though the Internet café was closed, from the second floor, I could see another arrival gate. I looked for a moment, and then noted the only person in white socks, shorts, and a t-shirt. This could only be an American, and my friend.
I made my way back down to the first floor. Indeed, it was my friend. I snuck up behind him, and muttered, “Damn Yank.” Success! I had flown to Korea, and located my ride. The director’s sister and her boyfriend drove us in their new SUV (which I would classify as a compact SUV) on to Daejeon, about an hour and forty-five minutes, I’d say.
It was dark, so there wasn’t much to see. The road-system looked identical to ones in America. About the only notable thing was that every now and then we would pass through a town/city, and among the apartment high-rises and lower buildings were scatterings of neon-red crosses. My friend explained to me that while there are a lot of Christian congregations, each one is very small, something like a dozen people or so. The books say the Christianity is , but there are still a lot of Buddhists, Confucists, Shamanists, and probably most Koreans are a mix.
I’d found out a day or two previous that the fellow
So they were putting me up in a hotel the first three nights. The hotel room was nice.
Love motel
No drawers
First direct experience with a Korean shower
Also, foyer for shoes
We ate at the restaurant next door where among the panch’an (several small side dishes that accompany most Korean meals) I experienced my first taste of silk worm larvae, which taste about as good as they sound, not impossible to keep in your mouth, but similar in taste to what cockroaches smell like.
We drank Cass, and then some soju (I think the same brand I had in St. Louis)
Next day, my friend, who for reasons known to some shall be referred as "Tremendous," came and got me around 11:00. We took a taxi about two miles down to where the school was. I met
Vice Director
Director
He was very nice, didn’t even make me get out my boarding pass (he could see the number), and everything went smoothly on that flight from there.
After landing, then, in Minneapolis, we had an hour layover (which went by rather quickly), and we were off to Seattle. This was almost the longest leg of the flight for me. The approximately 3.5 hours to Seattle seemed to take an eternity. It didn’t help that this seating was much tighter and more uncomfortable than the St. Louis to Minneapolis leg – my optimism
Finally, we landed in Seattle. We had another one hour layover, but this one was even shorter as they started boarding my plane to Tokyo immediately. After getting on, and waiting for other passengers to arrive, I realized I could have finished my last American burger , but oh well.
This plane was a little roomier than the last. The seats were 2-4-2, and we all had little TVs embedded in the seats in front of us like my flight to Beijing two years ago. This flight, about 10.5 hours, went relatively well. I read, played Game Boy, watched King Kong (much improved over the original IMHO). I slept a little, but planes just aren’t comfortable for me to sleep well. I did get up to move around several times, and I think my deep vein thrombosis risk is
When we got to Tokyo things went smoothly. There was only one way to go really, and after passing through an x-ray check, we gathered in an area to await a bus to take us to the plane to Seoul. As we waited a sumo match played on on a good-sized TV in the waiting area.
The bus arrived and took us to our plane. It was an identical model to the one we had flown over the Pacific in. Maybe it was even the same plane. This flight was the only one that looked like there may have been some empty seats, but even this one was mostly full.
After a brief 2.5-3 hours, I finally arrived in Korea. I was a little nervous because my director had instructed me to call him if there was a problem, but I had foolishly left his number in my email, and my laptop by this time was long dead. I initially did not see my friend who was meeting me at the airport, but after a little walking (no mean feat considering the 130+ pounds of luggage I was hauling around)
Miraculously my luggage had survived every layover, and was there to greet me
Though the Internet café was closed, from the second floor, I could see another arrival gate. I looked for a moment, and then noted the only person in white socks, shorts, and a t-shirt. This could only be an American, and my friend.
I made my way back down to the first floor. Indeed, it was my friend. I snuck up behind him, and muttered, “Damn Yank.” Success! I had flown to Korea, and located my ride. The director’s sister and her boyfriend drove us in their new SUV (which I would classify as a compact SUV) on to Daejeon, about an hour and forty-five minutes, I’d say.
It was dark, so there wasn’t much to see. The road-system looked identical to ones in America. About the only notable thing was that every now and then we would pass through a town/city, and among the apartment high-rises and lower buildings were scatterings of neon-red crosses. My friend explained to me that while there are a lot of Christian congregations, each one is very small, something like a dozen people or so. The books say the Christianity is , but there are still a lot of Buddhists, Confucists, Shamanists, and probably most Koreans are a mix.
I’d found out a day or two previous that the fellow
So they were putting me up in a hotel the first three nights. The hotel room was nice.
Love motel
No drawers
First direct experience with a Korean shower
Also, foyer for shoes
We ate at the restaurant next door where among the panch’an (several small side dishes that accompany most Korean meals) I experienced my first taste of silk worm larvae, which taste about as good as they sound, not impossible to keep in your mouth, but similar in taste to what cockroaches smell like.
We drank Cass, and then some soju (I think the same brand I had in St. Louis)
Next day, my friend, who for reasons known to some shall be referred as "Tremendous," came and got me around 11:00. We took a taxi about two miles down to where the school was. I met
Vice Director
Director
Re-Cap
There are a few things from my last blog that I just wanted to mention. One was the Washington University Travel Clinic. The Travel Clinic carries unusual things like Japanese Encephalitus, and Typhoid vaccines - a helpful resource if you're at all concerned about exotic diseases during your travels. The only hang-up is you have to pay out-of-pocket and then submit your claim to your insurance provider. This could run you as much as $500-600 (mine was $505) depending on your insurance (or lack of).
The other thing I wanted to mention is that the paperwork for working in Korea is not exactly trivial (or inexpensive), though many sites/schools/recruiters/blogs make it out to be. In my case, I had to renew a passport, and then send a copy of my passport, my actual diploma, unopened transcripts to my school in Daejeon. What I didn’t know is that I would then have to mail my actual passport along with a number provided to me by my school to the Korean Consulate in Chicago. This is where the actual visa sticker gets placed in your passport. All told, I spent a few hundred dollars expediting all of these materials, plus a small portion of my nerves hoping everything would come though alright and on time.
That said, late in the process I discovered a very useful site that outlines exactly what a person needs to do in applying for work, and working in Korea as a teacher of English. Even if you’re not pursuing this line of work, this site is very informative and interesting: http://www.asia-pacific-connections.com/.
The other thing I wanted to mention is that the paperwork for working in Korea is not exactly trivial (or inexpensive), though many sites/schools/recruiters/blogs make it out to be. In my case, I had to renew a passport, and then send a copy of my passport, my actual diploma, unopened transcripts to my school in Daejeon. What I didn’t know is that I would then have to mail my actual passport along with a number provided to me by my school to the Korean Consulate in Chicago. This is where the actual visa sticker gets placed in your passport. All told, I spent a few hundred dollars expediting all of these materials, plus a small portion of my nerves hoping everything would come though alright and on time.
That said, late in the process I discovered a very useful site that outlines exactly what a person needs to do in applying for work, and working in Korea as a teacher of English. Even if you’re not pursuing this line of work, this site is very informative and interesting: http://www.asia-pacific-connections.com/.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Sunday
Mostly a bed day (I don’t have a chair to sit in). Preparing for classes tomorrow, and the new semester/term. I want to rearrange the apartment so the bed’s not in the way of the kitchen doorway, and the TV and DVD player can both be plugged in at the same time, but I may not have the time today. Tremendous should call me soon so we can do some household shopping.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Restarting
I can't believe this...I just deleted my blog. I'm on a Korean computer, and can't read the button labels. I will try to scrape together some time over the weekend, and see if I can recreate what I had. I hope everyone will provide comments soon to keep me going.
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