Seoul Asylum

My Apologies....

2008-10-08T05:33:00.000-07:00

....for the recent lack of posting. The past few weeks have seen a pretty brutal schedule in terms of both work (Monday - Friday, 9:30 - 7:00) and weekend activities. However, the next chance I get at some serious down time I hope to do a few solid entries complete with photos and rich commentary.

Please be patient.....

Dukjukdo Weekend.....

2008-09-17T04:21:00.000-07:00

Because this past week was Chuseok, our school enjoyed a 3-day weekend and having not yet taken any trips outside of Seoul, I saw this as my first opportunity to do a bit of traveling. After being invited by Rod and Crystal (one of the couples working at LCI) to join them and a few other teachers from various schools, some of whom I had and had not yet met, for a weekend excursion, there was little hesitation.

We packed up our things and set out early Saturday morning for the island of Dukjukdo, just off the western coast of South Korea. A quick taxi ride to the ferries at Incheon and we were off....

Here are some of the gang bright and early (perhaps a bit too early for some....) on the ferry Saturday morning....

About 20 minutes into the ferry ride, we came upon a bridge nearing completion. It was a massive bridge, not dissimilar to the length and size of about the Bay Bridge, but with the center portion of the bridge yet to be completed, it was quite a spectacle.

After about an hour or so, through the early morning haze, the island crept into view.....

We began our approach to the dock.....

....and unloaded our belongings.

A short busride to the other side of the island brought us to our "Minbok" which is a particular style of lodging where there are multiple, ultra minimal rooms that everyone shares by sleeping directly on the floor.....

We were lucky enough to get a nice patio on the 2nd floor that everyone could share. Here's the view of our portion of the island from our patio...

Here is our room (and when I say "room", I mean our "The length of Taylor's body-sized box"). Quite literally, it was four walls and a floor, about 6 feet 4 inches in length and width. Though I dont mean to complain as we spent little, if any at all time in our room outside of when we were sleeping.

After unloading our gear into the room, we all changed and hit the surf.....

The majority of Saturday was spent at the beach, soaking up rays, tossing a frisbee or two and wading in the bath-like water.

So Sunday we decided to change geography and headed into the mountains. Everyone who had been here before had mentioned a great hike up to a temple at the peak of the highest mountain on the island. We awoke early Saturday morning (Rod, Crystal, myself and two newly acquired friends), walked down to the beach for a quick dip, and headed out on our hike.

Here is a map of the island with numerous hiking trails....

A bit of an ominous entry point into the jungle-like terrain.....

A small deserted hut towards the base of the mountain, enclosed by a bamboo fortress....

A nicely carved out trail here, though not always the case. There certainly were moments where you were fighting off brush and trees to continue on.....

A welcomed break about halfway up the mountain, overlooking our portion of the island......

There were a few different paths up the hill, some of which led to particular lookouts. Though we were headed for the top.....

Rod and Crystal fighting their way through the landscape. Again, the path was not always so defined.....

After about an hour and a half or so of hiking, the temple was in site.....

A view from the top!!

Can't get much higher than this (unless you are hanging out with Corey! HAR HAR HAR!!!)

Here's a video from the Temple.....

A first of hopefully many incredible journeys to come!!

CHUSEOK!! (Korean Thanksgiving)....

2008-09-15T03:43:00.001-07:00

So this weekend in Korea was the three-day holiday known as "Chuseok". Chuseok is more or less equivalent to our Thanksgiving in the US. As part of the celebration, at school all the kids and teachers dress up in traditional "hanboks", play folk-games and make traditional foods such as "songpyeon" (rice cakes). Here's a look into the celebrations that took place on Friday.....

MORNING FESTIVITIES:

Making songpyeon...

Dow enjoying his rice cake!

Shane fixing Alex's hanbok....

Thom looking sharp is his hanbok....

Doggy bag for the leftover cakes....

Claire throwin' up the peace.....

Brandon's Brown class keeping it classy!

Alex striking a pose....

Jane showing off the pearly whites....

None of this peace sign nonsense for us; Brandon and me throwin' up our respective coasts.....

Danielle with one her little ones...

Jason (head teacher) looking good in his hanbok!

Dave's got the peace fever.....

Rod and Crystal showing off they aren't scared of a little carnation.....

Gotta say, I was a little jealous of Brandon's hanbok.....

AFTERNOON FESTIVITIES:

After lunch, we took all the students outside to play some traditional Chuseok folk-games:

"LINE UP! STRAIGHT LINE!!"

The highlight of the afternoon was the garbage-can dart throw contest. Earlier in the morning we had made some darts out of styrofoam, clay and strips of colored tissue paper. All the classes would line up and a trash can was placed about 5 feet from the children for each class. Each kid got a total of 10 shots, and the two best students from each class would advance to a throw off, with the winner advancing to the finals.

Here I am giving Green Class a pep talk as we are getting ready for some action.

Students getting ready to take their shots.....

ACTIONS SHOTS!!!

Kebin with the one legged toss (sidenote, Kebin took 2nd place overall!!!)....

Lily showing some nice form.....

Ryan with a clean follow-through:

Leo with good arc on his toss!

Ben (who just joined Kids Club this past week) needed a little coaching...

After a few helpful hints from Coach T.....

ACE!!!!!!!

Jane, a regular accessory on my leg most of the time, not really feeling the dart throw....

Green Class after an exiting day of food, fun and costumes! If it looks like I am cracking up, it's because I am. Right before the picture was taken, Dow (to my immediate right), who is one of the more, if not the most, talkative kids in my class shouted, "OHHHH, MONEY!!!!" which he had overheard me saying during the dart toss. As much as these kids test my patience, moments like that make it all worth it....

All in all, a very fun day......

Peter Green

2008-09-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to a lot of early Fleetwood Mac, Bluesbreakers and solo stuff by Peter Green and have a new nagging desire to pick up a guitar. Tomorrow might just be the first day of my future long and illustrious career of bad acoustic jams! I will keep you updated.....

Apartment Make(screw)-Over.......

2008-09-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

So it's been a bit of a disappointing week. I had been promised a particular apartment when two of our teachers contracts end (which is at the end of the month) and they move out. I just found out, however, that they are now giving the apartment to two girls who are replacing the current teachers starting next month. Keep in mind, this is a one bedroom apartment, so I really don't know how they think they are going to live together, but apparently they agreed that that wouldn't be a problem. This is frustrating on a number of levels, not least of which being that for the past month I have been pestering (in an appropriate fashion) the school to make sure that they would follow through on their verbal agreement of me taking this apartment, only to now find out that they are backing out (likely because it is saving them the money of having to get these girls two apartments as opposed to just one). Again, this is only a one bedroom apartment for two grown women. I have a sneaking suspicion that after living there for a brief period without the privacy or space of their own bedroom, one or both of them will decide it won't work at which point one will move out and the other will get to keep the apartment. If it sounds like I'm being pessimistic, it's probably because I am.

However, with all of that being said, I am currently posting this from a PC Bang (pronounced "bong," which is basically an internet cafe where people come and play PC games) because workers are in my apartment right now putting up new wallpaper and flooring. I guess this is a nice gesture on the part of the school since they just reneged on our agreement, but again the pessimist in me is thinking "are the guys who hang the wallpaper also able to change the lighting, get me a working oven and microwave, knock out the wall between the "kitchen" and 10ftx10ft living/dining/bed-room, fix the drain in my sink, etc....".

To be honest, the studio isn't that bad. I'm just a little bitter at the moment because the apartment into which I was all set to move is such a fantastic place. It's not 100% out of the realm of possibility that I could still move in there, but it's not looking good. Anyway, we'll see in a few hours what this little mini-makeover in my current studio looks like and go from there. I might stop being such a pushover though, and start making some requests (first of which being either a microwave or oven).

Deoksugung Park and Seoul Museum of Art.....

2008-08-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I finally got to see a bit of the traditional ancient Asian architecture at the Deoksugung Park outside of the Seoul Museum of Art. Saturday might not have been the best day to go, as it was quite busy with tourists (am I allowed to call others tourists since I actually live here now?). Anyway, despite the crowd, it was an enjoyable day of sightseeing. Here are a few of the photos I took while walking around:

Entrance into the park....:

Inside one of the temples:

Here are some photos of the Museum itself.....

This Guy....

2008-08-29T02:47:00.000-07:00

I was out walking around Hongdae the other night and came to a little park with an amphitheater where this guy was pumping out some tasty acoustic covers. Lots of British stuff; Oasis, Blur, Smiths, etc... but my favorite was his rendition of "Creep" by Radiohead. A somewhat sad song already, this dude made it devastating!! Despite the fact that he didn't really know the lyrics all that well and the only lyrics he did know clearly, he would proclaim, "What the hell am I doing here? I don't beRong here," it was still moving. This was just a random Tuesday evening. This is why, thus far, I am loving this city....

Mad For Garlic = New Favorite Restaurant!!!

2008-08-21T03:35:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago while Shane (one of my fellow teachers) and I were strolling through Mok-Dong (one of the city's many suburbs) looking for one of the infamous bootleg dvd salesman (there are 2 or 3 in the city who apparently have the best bootleg dvds/cds for incredibly cheap), we stumbled upon the restaurant "Mad for Garlic". Mad for Garlic is a group of restaurants here in Seoul (there are a total of 5 in the city, I believe) about whom I had read many positive things. Shane had eaten there once or twice and confirmed its deliciousness. So, with some money in our pockets, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. I had no idea that I was in for perhaps easily one of the top 15, potentially top 10, meals I have EVER had in my life. Everything on the menu looked so good that we couldn't decide on any one particular dish. So we agreed to split as many things as we thought we could eat (and yes, we did eat everything). Here is a brief picture documentary of our meal.

*apologies for some of the dark photos. I didnt want to use my flash inside of the restaurant.

Classy entrance with nice outdoor patio seating.....

As you walk in you are greeted with literally a barrel of garlic cloves and some of the night's featured wine....

Very rustic, European middle-age/medieval inspired interior decor....

Obviously you can see they specialize in wine.....

So, of course we had to order a bottle (Vintage 2002 Casa Silva Merlot, Angostura, Chile)....

Here is Shane enjoying our selection.....

For our first course, we ordered steamed mussels in a garlic and red chile pepper sauce...

Here is the sauce, post-mussel consumption.....

Here are the huge chunks of fresh garlic and red chiles nestled on the bottom.....

We saved the sauce and used it as a dip for our "Garlic Snowing Pizza" which consisted of sweet garlic, shrimp and pineapple. Those big pepperoni looking objects are shaved garlic flakes that have been seasoned and then toasted. Underneath the mozzarella cheese is a sweet pineapple sauce and on top is fresh shaved parmesan.

Our first entree was the mushroom risotto which had spinach, mushrooms, a roasted garlic puree sauce and topped with roasted chicken.

Our other entree was a crab and lobster meat linguine in, of course, a garlic cream sauce topped with fresh rosemary. Arguably one of the best pastas I've ever had.

Here is the end result:

I am a little disappointed to find out, however, that Mad for Garlic (though not quite yet) is in the process of franchising itself internationally after it was recently purchased by Sun@Foods, which here in Korea owns the Tony Roma's franchises. I suppose it's nice that more people will be able to have this sort of dining experience, but it seemed a little more special thinking these restaurants were unique to Seoul. In the end though, I was basically blown away by both the atmosphere and food, and certainly plan on making Mad for Garlic my mainstay for special occasions.

(yikes, that last sentence sounds like a magazine review...). I wonder if MfG will give me a free meal if I send them a link to this post......

Long Days....

2008-08-18T16:38:00.001-07:00

It's not always a vacation here, as I sometimes make it out to be.

Yesterday (Monday), I worked from 9am to 8pm (classes from 9-6, then a 2-hour staff meeting).

Today I have a similar schedule: classes from 9 to 7 then phone teaching (which is basically just calling your older elementary grade students and asking them questions over the phone) from 7-8pm).

Tomorrow is back to the 9-5 schedule, but man, these 12-hour days get to you. Especially when your at it non-stop trying to both educate and entertain children. Holding the attention of a 5 year old who doesn't really speak your language is harder than it sounds.

POOL PARTY!!!

2008-08-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

On Friday we all packed our trunks (and swimming caps) and headed out to the pool (as you'll recall, we have a pool in our playground!!).

Here are the results:

Mountainous Forrest Wonderland!!!

2008-08-11T04:49:00.000-07:00

So, literally not more than 20 feet from my apartment sits a single lane road and running/bicycle trail (the running trail shown in red, is the type of rocky mat material that is found on most tracks). Here is a picture of the start of the road/running trail, with my apartment building pictured on the right. I didn't really realize this trail was here, as you have to either walk around a few blocks to get to the start of it bushes are blocking it off. Or, as I later discovered, can cut through a little pathway about 15 yards up from my apartment building and find yourself right on the track about where those people in the photo are located.

Now, what with it being a beautiful Sunday, and not having much else to do, I decided to go for a little walk along the trail........

I followed the trail for about half a mile, discovering that it is quite a nicely kept route (the hedges along the side are all well trimmed, there are beautiful lamp posts along the side marking distance, clean wood benches, etc.)

Not only that, the scenery wass fantastic. As I continued to walk up the trail (up being the key word, as I was beginning a slow but steady ascent), I realized that the geography was becoming more and more wooded......

At about one mile, I came upon an entrance to a hiking trail.....

The jogging track continued on, but I decided to take a detour up into the forrest along the hiking trail.

The trail, marked clearly by ropes, was your average hiking trail, meandering through wooded areas.....

....often changing elevation.

After about 10 minutes of hiking, I came upon a playground/workout facility on one of the plateaus of the hiking trail. Again, incredibly clean and well kept, this little outdoor gymnasium was a hidden gem. At the time, occupied by no one and it being a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I can't imagine this playground gets a lot of use.....

.....So, I did a few pull ups, maxed out on the bench press, and was on my way. (It is important to note that at least until it becomes too cold to want to go outside, I wont have to join a gym. This is much nicer!!)

I continued along the trail, stopping often to take notice of the beautifully hand-carved wooden signs that marked the hiking path. Unfortunately, they were marked in Korean, and I was not able to understand what they were saying.

The forrest started to become much more dense.....

....but as I continued my ascent, I saw an opening ahead and assumed I was near the top. I had to break off from the trail a bit, but when I came through the clearing there was a beautiful, 180 degree, hundred mile view of most of western Seoul. You could see some of the high rises in the distance, mountains beyond that. This photo does not do the view justice.... (again, you can click on the photos to get a bigger image).

After enjoying the view for awhile, I started my descent down the opposite side of the mountain. The path basically loops you up one side of the hill and then loops you down the backside. Coming down the opposite side of the hill, there were a lot of forks, again marked by hand-carved wooden signs written in Korean (likely informing your decision as to which routh to take). Not really knowing (or caring) which way I was going, I just continued down the hill, randomly choosing right or left.

As I neared the bottom of the hill, I could begin to see the forest density lighten, and the road/jogging trail became apparent. However, beyond that I thought I could see a field of some sort......

....and indeed at the bottom of this side of the hill was a magnificent soccer field, in as immaculate and pristine shape as I'm sure anything short of a professional field could offer. Not only that, the field was nestled into the side of the hill, so beyond you could still see all the high rise apartments and mountain ranges further in the distance.

I entered through the top of the bleachers and realized an actual game was going on. Though no one was in the stands.....

I took a seat relatively close to the field and watched the game......

......more or less, by myself.

All in all, some pretty fantastic discoveries that I full intend on exploring more. I'm also quite sure that the field is public as there are no gates blocking it off so I might have to dust off the ol' soccer cleats.

Meet the kids of Green Class

2008-08-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

He we all are for Lily's B-Day. I feel like I shouldn't be the only one this excited, especially with that delicious chocolate cake sitting in front of us (although Jane, in the upper right hand corner, seems to be eyeballing it pretty good....)

MEET GREEN CLASS:

Kebin: Kebin is one of the top two students in class. Very vocal, very intelligent, always trying to make the best effort to express himself in english. He's very active and seems to really enjoy learning. Certainly he's one of the easier students to teach.

Irene: Not the best picture of Irene here, but it's the only solo picture of her I had. She is an incredibly cute little girl with the sweetest little voice. She is very bright, but a bit shy about talking. When we do workbooks, she usually can figure them out on her own. Irene is probably the friendliest, most mild-mannered student in the class. She never gets upset, never gets too excited. She is also very artistic.

Dow: Dow is a very smart young boy, but a bit of a challenge. He is very moody, easily becoming upset when something does not go his way. He does, however, always express himself in english, whether he is mad or happy. He seems to have learned the phrase "NO GOOD" and will use it whenever possible. "Today, NO GOOD!! Break time, NO GOOD!!" and so on. On his good days, however, he is very funny and great to have in class.

Ryan: Ryan is a very handsome young kid (though you couldn't quite tell from this picture), and I think he's had a lot of things just handed to him in life. He doesn't always put forth the best effort, and as a result, his english is not quite where some of the other students' is. He's also a bit of a troublemaker but always sincerely apologetic when he knows he's made a mistake. He will take some work, but I can see some potential in Ryan.

Ellen: Ellen is a very sweet little girl. She is very artistic and musical. She always seems to be humming or singing a song. Her coloring skills are easily the best in class, as well. She is a bit shy about speaking english, but always finishes her workbooks by herself, so I know she is very bright.

Lily: I think it would be agreed that Lily is probably the most beautiful little girl at Kids Club. But not only that, she is also one of the sweetest. She is very friendly to all the other children and very eager to please all the teachers and staff. She is constantly seeking attention (in a good way), asking for hugs, or piggy-back rides, etc. She is a bit hard to understand when she speaks, but always tries to express herself in english, and is always able to complete her work with little help. She also has an uncontrollable laugh, which makes up about 77% of her vocalization and when she is not laughing it's rare to see her not smiling.

Jane: Jane is very shy, but seems to be opening up to me. Some of the other teachers have said that this is big progress, as she is typically very shy with everyone she meets. Jane is also one of the slower children in the class, but if you can get her to stay on task, she will make an effort.

Mabe: Yes, her name is Mabe, pronounced like the word "maybe". Mabe is more than likely the smartest kid in Green Class. Not only is she the smartest, however, she also is the most motivated to learn. She is always taking the initiative to do her work and eager to learn new things at all times. In addition, Mabe is quite athletic and very active. When I lift all the kids up by their arms (they love it, by the way), they all seem to just dangle and laugh; however Maybe learned to tuck up her legs and do a backflip. In PE, she is always the first to finish races, and during swim time she is the best swimmer. It's hard not have Mabe as my "favorite student". I mean come on, her name is "MABE!"

Leo: Leo is pictured here behind Dow, in the red shirt. Leo, like myself, is new to the class. He joined just a day after I started. He doesn't have a lot of experience with english, but seems to be learning very quickly. He is very small, and perhaps a little younger than the rest of the kids (I think he is 4, while the rest are 5). He is making friends very quickly and is already making progress speaking english.

Overall, they are a great group of kids, and I am very excited to have them for the rest of the school year!!

LCI Kids Club!

2008-08-05T04:47:00.001-07:00

So here's my school. This is where I mold the young minds of future generations....

Yellow School bus (Korean style).....

Jungle Gym, obviously.....

What's that?? Yeah, thats right, we have a SWIMMING POOL!!!!! (so maybe, it's more like a waiting pool, but whatevs....)

Come inside, will you?

Front desk..... (equipped w/cameras surveying every square foot of the building!)

Welcome to "Taylor Teacher's Class" aka "GREEN CLASS".....

Desk/Centerpiece.....

Some fine student artwork....

....and my desk (which is already messy!)

There's about 8 other classrooms and a total of 4 floors (computer rooms, P.E. room, teachers lounge (sort of...), etc. There are a total of 10 native English speaking teachers at the school (ranging in age from 24 to 32), mostly hailing from north-eastern Canada (yep, really thick accents!!). One of the teachers, the kid my age, just graduated from Northeastern University in Boston. Really cool guy, into sports, good books, sort of nerdy (in a good way). The other teachers are all super nice too, and I've already been asked to join their Dungeons and Dragons* club that meets once a week (thats right, they play Dungeons and Dragons), and you're goddamned right that I will be joining. So far i've just been observing/helping out and starting to get to know the kids. They are the sweetest, most well behaved kids you can ask for. From 9am until about 2pm, I have my kindergarten class, aka GREEN CLASS! Love them!! from 2 until 5, I have an assortment of classes w/students ranging in age from 6 to about 9. They are great as well and a little easier to teach because they have a better working knowledge of English, but I am pretty fond of my kindergardeners. I really don't think I've ever seen a group of cuter children in my life. Asian children are really far and away more adorable than western children. I started taking photos today of my students and will post some in the coming days. Today was Lily's birthday and we had a little celebration. Here's a little taste of what I mean when I tell you how cute these kids are.....

....more party pictures and info/updates to come in the following days.

*Mom, Dad, Thom, Ginger, etc... please consult Google, Wikipedia or ask Kelly what Dungeons and Dragons is, in case you don't know.

-Also, remember that you can click on any of the photos to see an enlarged version.-

welcome to 73-65 Hangok...something or other (i dont actually know what my address is).

2008-08-05T04:28:00.000-07:00

As you enter through my front door, you'll notice my quaint kitchen on the right....

Entrance (from the kitchen) into the living/tv/bedroom.........

My delightfully firm bed (and window w/view of jail-cell bars.....)

My tv (that doesnt work) and fan + air conditioner (not pictured, above fan)....

My dining room table and armoire (which is actually quite a beautiful piece)......

....and bathroom (which is a bit too small to get any legitimate photos, so this was the best I could get).

All things considered, it's not that bad of a place. However, come December I could be "movin' on up!" as one of the teachers is leaving and I could be getting his apartment (which I have seen in person, and is really nice).

photos of my 'hood!

2008-08-03T01:59:00.001-07:00

I live towards the western edge of Seoul in an area called Gangseo-gu. It's mostly a residential area, but certainly has it's fair share of commerce. My particular neighborhood is a cluster of brick houses/apartments interspersed within a few high-rise apartment buildings. The buildings were all built into the landscape, so the elevation changes quite dramatically from one house/apartment to the next. Aside from the cicada (which are officially the loudest, most obnoxious (though subsequently, most delicious) insect ever), it's a really quiet, quaint neighborhood. Lots of children running around; old ladies going for walks, etc...

Here's a few pictures to get a sense of the area:

some of the more commercial areas of Gangseo....

Nice tree lined streets (though it's also a curse because those trees are filled with cicada).....

You can get a sense of the elevation changes in the landscape.....

....street leading to my apartment (around the corner at the end of this street).

Nice park at the end of my block.

My address.....

Neighbor's entryway....

My building (on the left.....)

I'm in ASIA!!! (not the band)

2008-08-03T01:41:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Seoul on Friday and I'm starting to get settled in to my apartment. Just got the internet up and working so this marks the start of what hopefully is an ongoing account of both my time here in South Korea and travels throughout the rest of this part of the world.