Merry Christmas!

...eve. Well, it's close enough.

I'm sitting in the teacher's workroom on Christmas Eve. I should be grading the dozens of workbooks causing some pretty sever avalanche conditions on my desk, but I just can't make myself care. Maybe it's the 104 degree fever I was rocking a few days ago still lingering, maybe it's the bitter cold that doesn't show any signs of leaving, but mostly I suspect that this just doesn't feel like Christmas.

How ironic is that? I'm seeing my very first cold Christmas- there's even a decent chance of snow- and I've never been less excited to see 'ol Santa Clause. It's not a surprise to those of us who watch Christmas movies that it's all about who you spend your holidays with that make all the difference, but living this part of it out sucks.

But fret not, oh enjoyers of a warmer Christmas season. We'll be fine. We have made some wonderful friends out here, and if we're a little homesick on Christmas, we couldn't be homesick with better people. We decided on a ridiculous change of pace and spend Christmas Eve and Day at Rocky Mountain Tavern, along with a few brief stops to say hi at a few other friend's parties. Jen and I have a tree, stockings, and just to make it feel like home we bought a bunch of lights that I never put up....

Good Lord, we miss you guys. I knew when I planned this trip that this would be the hardest part. For both of us. But we've got each other, and that is a ridiculous amount. Hoist a glass of Christmas cheer for your favorite folks in the Far East- and, if necessary, an extra one for Jen and I. We miss you, we love you, and rest assured we're hoisting a glass and a prayer to each and every one of you.

All the love,

-Al & Jen

Merry Christmas.

Winter Sucks, Except When It Snows.

Ok, so I'm sick. That part sucks. But the snow thing was pretty cool. We'd seen a few flurries, but never enough to actually cover the ground. Then, one random Sunday, it actually starts snowing in earnest. I was pretty freakin' excited. And by that I mean I danced around like a 6 year old.







I was out with our friend Claire (read: wife #2) when it started. Angel (wife #3) and Jen (wife #1... for now, anyway...) were back at the apartment. Claire is from Rochester, New York, and was not impressed at any point. But she was indulgent enough at first, which was all I could ask. I tried to hurry her home, but I kept stopping to touch it, or watch it fall, or try to catch it on my tongue... I got pretty good at that, actually.




I'll just post a few other snow pics, because I was that happy about it. Then we'll talk about why Claire is now wife #3. Maybe 4.

This whole "new fallen snow" thing... I now understand why it's often used as a metaphor for purity or innocence. It was really remarkable to see this. I mean, this section of town that is know for the exact opposite of innocence now seemed to be one of the purest places on earth. It's probably the Floridian in me, but still...

Another pretty little walkway.

Now Angel, unlike Claire, had never seen snow before. She was thrilled and excited by it. That put her and Claire neck and neck...



Awww... yeah... we were pretty happy with everything about then.



Here's Jen and Angel together, we're all excited and happy and planning on hitting up some Shabu Shabu. (Shah-boo shah-boo)

Ok, first the people. From left to right are Cassidy and Zach, two new teachers (they replace Jessica and Mark, aka "Johnny Bravo"), then that's Angel on the end, Claire opposite her, and then Sam, and of course Minoriteam (That was for you, Jose). Anyway, shabu shabu is a little difficult to explain, despite being a LOT of fun to say. (Try it. Say "shabu shabu" 3 times, and tell me you're not at least a little happier than you were before.) You get a ton of veggies and meet, all of which you cook in a hot broth, then you pick it out of the broth and eat it. The meat is really really thin, and cooks in about 10 - 15 seconds. Really good food, though not as good as galbi (the Korean BBQ thing), and is GREAT on a cold night, like when it's snowing outside. Sam, by the way, is from Minnesota, and Zach and Cassidy are out of some weird place in the mid-west where it's cold a lot.

See this? That's why that matters. After dinner we got into a snowball fight. That part was awesome. The part that sucked was the 5 "Freaks Who Love Winter" versus the 3 "Hey, We Like To Live Where It's Warm. We Don't Need 10 Minutes To Get Dressed To Go Get The Mail For 5 Months Out Of The Year." The big thing was that Claire betrayed us. She's wife #6 now. I don't even HAVE wives 3-5. Doesn't matter.





Of course, even if you are from New York and you insist that this "isn't snow. Wait until you can't open your front door. That's snow," well, that makes very little difference when my Puerto Rican wife comes up from behind and tosses you on your bum like a sack of rice (We are still in Korea... seems only fair). See? THAT'S why I married her. THAT'S why she's wife #1. All these other wives exist only because she gets bored and wants to take someone shopping...

Furthermore, who in the hell wants to live somewhere where the elements stop you from opening your door? You know what we do when that kind of weather comes? We leave! Because we get several days warning. And we NAME a storm that does that kind of thing. Yankees...




Ok, this picture gets to be all big and centered and alone because I love it that much. This was during the snowball fight. Jen and I helped make the smaller snowman, the big one was there already. We were under assault, and realized that we needed something big. So Snowman Jr. had to die. I grabbed that little guy and charged the line. It was awesome.

Snowman Jr., you died...

you died a...

...a

...a hero. Rest in Peace.



Ok, I'm spent. How about some Snow-themed SIGN TIME!!!!





If you don't get it, I'm not going to tell you.


-Al

A Little Late: Thanksgiving!

There's just too much to cover. We had our first real snowfall, which was pretty huge. So was Thanksgiving, mom and Dart visiting, not to mention stuff about Plus Academy... this may take more than one blog.

Here, let's start with Thanksgiving.




Here's a shot of most of the crowd. All told we probably had about 45-50 people show up, and at least 6 were attending their very first Thanksgiving. That was, for me, probably the coolest part of the whole thing.





Here's one of the buffet tables. There were about two and a half of them. I was really impressed with some of the stuff folks came up with. We did it pot luck style, which was good, and then bought some fully cooked turkeys. Bonus: we totally swiped that orange bowl.




Speaking of turkey, here's Dart and I tackling one of the birds. That big bag on the right is the other one. We didn't know it at the time, but the birds were fried. It made sense, seeing as we bought the turkeys from a Popeye's Fried Chicken on the military base. I love fried turkeys, by the way. The white meat stays so juicy, it's amazing. I've never been particularly skilled in the turkey carving, though, so Dart had to give me a hand. FYI: A fried turkey is still really really hot.




This is me with Corey, one of the owners of RMT. You can't tell it from this picture, but he can be one intimidating guy. Something about the eyes... anyway, he's normally really a nice guy, and, as I think I mentioned before, gave us the room to use for free.




Here's one more group shot. Jesse, on my mom's left, and Angel, on her right, are both from South Africa. Marika, holding the turkey wing, is from Australia. They were some of the Thanksgiving rookies. Marika, by the way, ate that wing. Needless to say, she's awesome.

I'll toss in a slide show, cause I'm just that nice of a guy. All told, it was an amazing success. It lasted 6 or 7 hours, and I took home tons of leftovers, including a huge bag of leftover turkey and an entire apple pie. It's amazing how much I rule.


Ok, even out the good stuff and the bad stuff. We'll knock out Plus Academy stuff next, then we'll see if I have time to move on.

Things are going from bad to worse from a job standpoint. Here's a pretty good example.

Jen got a really bad sore throat, to the point where she was so swollen she woke up unable to breathe for a moment. She was ok, but went to the hospital the next morning. She called in and told Yoon (the manager that deals with all of the foreign teachers for all Plus branches) and Yoon asked her to still teach her first two classes. Jen agreed. Yoon thanked her, and told her she'd contact our supervisor, Sonny, and let her know. So, Jen taught the two classes, and went home.

Two classes after that I walked into the teachers workroom. This room is shared by the foreign teachers and the Korean teachers, and there are often at least a half dozen students coming and going as well. As I walked in Sonny was talking with 4 little Korean students. Sonny looked up, saw me, and proceeded to start reaming me out demanding to know where Jen was. I mean raised voice and everyone staring.

Personally, I was baffled. I've been here for over 7 months, coming up on 8. After all that time, how can this woman not know who I am? Doesn't she know I'm Al Sterling?

Anyway, I somehow not only managed to restrain the urge to help her exit the office via the window, but kept my voice down as I said, "Not in front of the students," It may have lacked Sonny's volume, but the intensity seemed to get my point across.

Fast forward to the end of the day- Sonny meets with me privately to discuss Jen. I take the opportunity to explain that if she ever yells at me like that again, I will yell back.

For the record, no one ever called Jen. At any point.

There are a few other instances like this beginning to creep up, and the next semester is shaping up to be an ugly one. Luckily, at that point we've only got 4 months left.

Our travel plans have adjusted as well. Instead of flying from Beijing down to Sydney we're going to just backpack from Seoul to Sydney. Has a nice ring to it, dontchathink?

Anyway, the other idea tossed into the mix is this whole "work" thing. I'm keeping an eye out on what is happening in the world of Youth Ministry, and there is a church or two that I might even apply to. Trouble will start when they want me to start before I'm planning on being inside of 4 or 5 time zones- then the question becomes what to do. Cut short the contract? All told, it'd cost us almost $7k to leave even a day early. Cut short the travel? It's a once in a lifetime chance, not bloody likely. Have to pass on the job? There is a finite number of jobs that will work, and the process to get hired is measured in months. Oftentimes, like 6 of them. But that's what would likely give if I couldn't talk them into giving me some more time.

This is all a snapshot, of course. Jen and I discuss it constantly, exploring the different angles and debating the pluses and minuses of each approach and idea. Mostly, though, I figure God will handle it. He seems to have most of this stuff figured out, so I'll assume he can handle this too.

Ok, it's getting late, I'm gonna wrap up. I'll try to get another blog up before the end of the week, but no promises.

-Al & Jen (But mostly Al)

My mom's coming. Also, I can hit stuff real hard.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!

I hope Turkey Day finds all of you well. It's sad to think we won't get to join you guys, but we are doing the next best thing.

I'm doing an American Thanksgiving in a Canadian Bar in the middle of Seoul. Also, my mom is coming.

We've got Koreans, Americans, Canadians, South Africans, a few British, and I think a Dane or two, along with a smattering of others. All told we're talking about over 50 people from all over the world sitting down to a huge pot luck dinner.

Sounds pretty American to me.

My mom and Dart will be flying out on Thursday as well, and should arrive Friday night, for me. To say we're excited is an understatement. Seeing a face from home will be so amazing for us right now, I really don't think I can express it.

But enough about that, let's talk about hitting stuff.

Muay Thai is going amazing. I'm going as often as I can, usually 3-4 times a week. I've been going for a little less than a month, and I've learned some basic kicks and now I'm working on some punches. My first test will happen in a few weeks, I think. But most exciting of all:
I got my wraps today.

The wraps are about 2 yards of 2 inch black fabric, used to wrap up the knuckles and help brace the wrist. But to me they're a lot more. Ya see, I earned these. I am sore beyond belief, but I can pop out 100 sit ups after the most exhausting workout I could have imagined. I practiced and practiced and I finally progressed to the point where I have received something to mark my progress. It's pretty huge for me. It's, really and truly, the fulfillment of a life long dream. I'm learning a martial art, and a pretty hardcore one at that. Wow...

As long as I'm bragging (and really, when am I not?) here's what I spend my weekends with.


Now the one on the end should look pretty familiar. The other brunette is Claire, and the one in the middle is Angel. The past few weekends Hotel Sterling has been in full effect. The subways out here shut down a little after midnight, and the four of us are usually out a wee bit later than that. As a result, we all end up at my place.

As awesome as this sounds, I would like to take a moment and reiterate something I have said before: polygamy, from a man's point of view, is a horrible idea. Angel and Claire are sweethearts, don't get me wrong, but the novelty of this little experience wears off, and does so pretty quickly. Then you're just stuck listening to a ceaseless tirade of shopping escapades, makeup tips, and Gossip Girls on TV. Not to mention that instead of having half a vote, like I usually do in my marriage (I had a full vote, but Jen says I only get half until I can learn to make better decisions. She has a point.), I now get an eighth. (I won't share how long it took me to do the math.) I am lost amid a sea of estrogen, and the sharks smell blood in the water.

I really don't have much more to add here, folks. So you get off easy this week. I don't know that I'll get one out while my mom's in town, but this makes 7 for November, so I feel like I'm doing pretty well. If you get depressed, just go back and reread one of the old ones. You'll be ok...


Once more, much love and happy Thanksgiving. We miss you all.

-Al (& Jen!)

What A Difference A Day Makes

Yesterday, about this time, I was getting pretty sick of all this.

Today, well, I feel better.

Could it be the amazing impromptu dinner party Jen and I had last night? Perhaps. Baked potatoes had been a very rare thing, and the BBQ sauce I whipped up would make my dad awfully proud. Add in some good company and the world seems to make a bit more sense.



Those veggies on the end were amazing too, by the way. And no one complained about the mismatched silverware and plates. Thank goodness... I'd have been so embarrassed.


The next morning I ventured off into the great unknown. I was a hunter, and I knew my prey. I knew the grounds where my quarry dwelt. I had stalked, sulked, and occasionally even slinked. Here's my first kill:


This is the 3rd pair of headphones I've purchased since coming to Korea. I'm afraid I'm a little rough on them, and they get a heck of a lot more use than they ever did back home. I got a little crazy with this latest pair, though... it just seemed really American.

After that I went into a section of town known as Namdaemun. This fertile hunting ground has just about everything you could imagine- from raw fish to high end electronics, from clothes to stuff that I'm pretty sure is illegal, it's all there. I went hunting for vanilla extract, chocolate chips, and a carton of Camels.

Now, before you get upset, I haven't taken up smoking. Neither has Jen. But I have a few friends who really wanted some, and I have developed a knack for finding things out here. And so I went into the grounds. How'd I do? Here's how I did.


I descended into a market that is several square miles in size and emerged with all 3 items. Including the extra stop for the headphones it took me right at one hour. OH MY GOODNESS, I AM AMAZING.










Of course, then I got lost. I had to call Jen, and she helped talk me back to the subway.

What can I say? I'm a hunter... not a... returner?

OH!! Did you notice the oven? We're SO freakin excited. It arrived a few days ago. We've rocked baked potatoes, one killer meatloaf, and the aforementioned BBQ chicken. We are very pleased.

And then, after returning victorious from the hunting fields, my wife and I set to making some chocolate chip cookies. With Christmas music in the background and us just about to put the first batch in the oven Jen glances out the window and says... you guessed it...

"Is that snow?"


This is about the best picture we could get. It's really a shame, too. It was just a flurry, we're told, and it all melted the second it hit the ground, but for a little bit it was actually coming down!! It was very exciting. We ran outside, enjoyed the moment together, then went back inside and finished off our first batch of Christmas cookies.

All told, I kinda felt the Good Lord's hand patting me on the shoulder, as if to say gently to me, "Al. Seriously. Chill out. I got this. And let's face it, you're not that bright."

So I thought I'd pass on some good cheer, oh friends and family of ours. Yeah, they're going to try to screw us. But we'll be fine.

Heck, we always are.

Here, by the way, is my wife making cookies.



She is, as always, the very picture of home, hearth, and beauty.


Here's her husband....



I couldn't decide on a caption. Here were my favorites...

Whats that? You need this cookie dough mixed without an electric beater? I'll just use my GUNS!

or...

I bake. You gotta problem with that?

or...

Cookies or DEATH?!

or...

Terrorist? Maybe. But don't judge me until you've tried my chocolate chip cookies. Just sayin...

Much love folks.

-Al & Jen

This One Ain't Happy.

Ya know, people ask me all the time...


So we just had a big meeting where they announced a huge overhaul of our schedule. More stuff coming down from our new parent company.

Here's the dilemma I'm facing.

I have a contract. I have obligations under this contract. However, I was lied to prior to signing the contract, and my employer has not always done their part of the deal. However, they corrected the problems, albeit only after being caught and chaos erupting. Now they're staying within the bounds of the contract, but it's possible (read: definitely) going to end with us getting some less than ideal treatment.

How obligated am I to follow keep up my end of the bargain?

Normally, I'd say quit, then the contract doesn't matter. Not that easy out here, however. We're in the home stretch, and if we can put up with this for 5 months we'll be netting a sizable amount of scratch for our considerable trouble...

I'm frustrated because I know what's going to happen, and no one, not the Koreans, not the foreign teachers, no one, will listen to a damn word I've got to say. Since being here I've been stabbed in the back multiple times, and left swinging in the wind more than once as well. This place has managed to surpass the YMCA as of this afternoon.

Scratch that: My amazing wife, of course, listens to me. But that doesn't really count since she knew it too. And no, they don't listen to her either. Morons.

But back to the contract: I'm betting most of you would say that I wasn't obligated to follow a contract I signed under false pretenses that my employer already broke. However, Jen and I seem to be the only ones out here who feel this way. The other foreign teachers don't see a problem. They're actually getting a little annoyed that I do have a problem with it. But Jen and I trying to fight this battle solo is a lost cause.

The other option is to just start doing a half-assed job. It's what several of my nearest and dearest friends would do. I'm leaning that way, but my folks instilled this "work ethic" thing in me, and I can only slack so far.

Where's my Johnny Paycheck CD?

I love Korea. I love a lot of the people I've met. But good Lord almighty, I'm hating this job....

In the end, we'll have to wait until the 1st of the year (when all the changes take effect) and see how it looks. I could be wrong. It could all work out. It could also start raining $100 bills. I could also decide I could do better than Jen. All of these things have an equal chance of happening. Brad told me it was called 'Relative Zero'

NOTE: If it does work out, I'm still staying with Jen. Mom, calm down. Boys, sit down. She's still mine.

Sorry it wasn't a happy blog. But I've been saving a very special

SIGN TIME!!!

for just such an occasion.


No, I don't have any freakin' idea.

-Al

Q: What Does Korea and Al Have In Common?

A: Both are cold and bitter.

It's officially freezing here in South Korea. I'm so confused.

It's the logistics off all this that keeps throwing me off. For example, when it's freezing outside you have to put on a bunch of clothes. But then you get to where you're going, you're hot. So then you start to take off the extra clothes. When you layer, doesn't this get awkward? I mean, it's one thing to take off a jacket. But what about the jacket and the sweatshirt? And the legs is just weird. I mean, is it kosher to take off extra sweatpants?

And what happens when it snows? I know enough to realize that stuff is wet, so I have to, I assume, wear an outer later of nylon or something. But then what do I do? Do I sit in wet pants, or can I peel those suckers off? And then there's the 15 minute walk to the dojang (Korean word for dojo) I do every morning. How the heck does that fit in? And then, afterwards I'm all sweaty and that really sucks when it's cold out...

In Florida, you just wear jeans. Grab a jacket, everyone knows you won't need it after 11:30am. But you can leave it in your car!!

In other news, we got a big meeting on Wednesday. Since we've been bought by this bigger company they're saying that they'll be changing our class structure. To say I'm suspicious is to say that the Miami Dolphins are amazing. Both are obvious understatements.

I gotta tell ya, I had one fantastic weekend. We spent time with wonderful people, I blew the doors off the bar I volunteer at (Not literally, Jose. Calm down. Oh, my friend Jose, not my father-in-law Jose...) and in general just owned this town. Then came Monday...

I'm close to hating this job. It's not as bad as Fazoli's was at the end, that job I hated. But PLUS and the YMCA are just about tied. I don't trust them, and there isn't much to redeem it. But hey, we've only got 5 1/2 months left until we're finished, and knowing me, I'll check out all but physically in another 4 months. Ok, ok... 3 months. 2 1/2. FINE!! I've got 2 weeks until I reach the summit of Apathy Mountain.

The date is significant, by the by, because that's when my mom and Dart arrive. WOO HOO!! The only thing that could possibly be better than faces from home is new underwear.

I'm not kidding. For some reason my washer has a razorblade spin cycle. I don't even know why they have that option, but my clothes keep coming out looking like they were used for a katana demonstration, and the whole damn washer is in Korean, so I've got no clue how to make it play nice...

Ok, I'm going to eat hot soup. Much love, folks. Letcha know when it snows...

-Al

Halloween- Better Late Than Never?

Well, this is ridiculously late.

Nevertheless, here are the pictures from Halloween. Jen was an entirely overly attractive witch, and yours truly was a creepy clown. I was hosting the Acoustic Showdown at Rocky Mountain Tavern, my home away from home away from home. It was great times...

Ok, it's Friday night and I'm getting ready to go out. Not far, mind you. My legs aren't working since my Muay Thai training has left walking just this side of impossible. So enjoy your weekend, folks. I'm going to crawl to a corner and cry.

Muay Thai and Hallmark

Greetings;

Ok, so the last blog was pretty heavy, I know. But this one has a lot more pictures, and should be a little more entertaining. After all, Barack Obama is president. The world's problems now have an expiration date.

I know, I know, I promised to stay out of politics in here. And this isn't about politics. It is about the reaction. It was borderline scary. There were literally dozens of Obama Parties across the city. I was told that I (meaning America) was forgiven, and several folks, American, Korean, Canadian, what have you, seem to think Obama can walk on water. I don't care who we elected, I just don't have the much faith in elected officials. But they're happy, so who am I to judge?

I went to an Obama party, by the way. The food was good, and the company was very polite. After giving my last post another read I want to make sure I don't let the handful of wackos spoil it for all the amazing folks I've met.

So let's talk about Pepero.

Peperos are chopstick-shaped pretzel things, with one end usually dipped in chocolate. They're not bad, but nothing worth blogging about. Until, that is, it became November 11th. You see, November 11th (11/11... get it? 'Cause of the shape...) is Pepero day in Korea. The idea is that you buy Pepero and give it as a gift to friends and family. The 70 cent box jumps up to an even $1, and these things fly off the shelves like PS2 copies of Rock Band. Not only that, around this time of year you can find rare types of Pepero that is only released in honor of this "holiday". The variety is enough to make an American proud. You can buy these suckers in every way imaginable. And yes, Pepero is a brand name.

Hallmark ain't got nuthin' on these folks.





The other news of note is I finally started taking a martial art. A couple of the other foreign teachers started Muay Thai a few months back not far from where I live, and the timing was perfect. So, I started up about a week ago.

The gym is on the second floor of an unassuming building near a local women's university. What you're looking at in the picture is just about all of it. Forget the professional offices and large training areas tucked into pretty strip malls. This place is small, kinda dirty, and the office is an old desktop stuck in a corner. I love it. Oh, take special note of the girl on the right of the picture. See her? She can kill you. I don't care who is reading this, if you're initials aren't N.A., she can kill you. Even if they are, I wouldn't bet on it. She is one of the two females who train there. They are friendly, even if their English isn't all that good. They stand every bit of 5 foot flat, and weigh about 100 pounds soaking wet. But I watched that little girl jump 3 or 4 feet in the air and snap off two kicks, on either side of the bag. One of those would have knocked this much larger man on his butt. Two would have resulted in some kind of permanent damage.


This is Master Kim. Despite the unoriginal naming of an Asian martial artist, Master Kim is built a bit like Eli, only skinnier. Once, during a practice, he caught my buddy on the shin. It hurt like a sonofagun. My buddy limped away for a minute, trying to work it out. Master Kim laughed at him, walked over to a metal pole, and smashed his shin against it. Then he walked over and showed my friend his shin. Let's just say it isn't perfectly straight. But there is no doubt that this guy is the real deal. He offhandedly throws hits that I'm pretty sure would go straight through me. At the moment, though, I'm snapping off about 200 kicks a day, and then spending the rest of the day crying silently to myself during class. The thing is I'm just not far enough along to learn anything cool, which is fine. But he doesn't do the warm ups or cool downs with the class. He's usually wandering around cleaning up, or on his computer. The stretches are pretty freaking painful, and I'm grateful he doesn't speak much English, because I have rarely sworn as often as I do during these torture sessions. I mean, honestly, after 7 minutes rolled onto my shoulders doing random leg movements straight up into the air he still hadn't stopped hanging up the extra towels. And this other thing we do- we squat, knees to our chest, and bounce 3 times, then jump up just a little bit, and spin 90 degrees. We do this maybe 10 or 12 times, then crank out 20 or 30 push ups, then 60 or 70 situps.

I'm starting to think I don't need to be this bad-ass. My friends insist I'll be excited about it after a little longer. All I can think is how much I want to crawl inside a giant meat calzone and eat until I pass out... I'm considering Tai-Chi.

Seriously, though, it's really amazing. This has been a life long goal for me, and it's so unreal to actually be doing it. And when it gets to be too much, I just think about one thing.


I'm going to have a jacket and pants from the gym, with this on the back. And it won't be because I bought it at a flea market.











Random note for those of you out there who also do/did this kind of self-imposed torture- turns out I'm a southpaw in the ring, and I'm being trained as such. I'd love to hear any thoughts/advice on that front.

If your really bored, you can find more info on Muay Thai here.

Ok, I'm outta time. Much love folks, I'll write again soon.

-Al

Thoughts At Six Months

I tried to get it out earlier, really truly I did. But alas, twas of no avail.

We hit the 6 month mark at the end of October, and while I'm a little behind in writing, I want to share some thoughts I had at this point. Like you care...

On City Life
I am a man for the burbs. Say what you like about city vs. country living, but I gotta tell ya, I prefer the suburbs. Central Floridian suburbs, to be precise. Orlando isn't a city- it's a town with some big buildings. And I love that about it. Seoul, even with one amazing mass transit system, still is a nightmare to navigate. In the time it takes me to cross the city by subway I could actually drive to Daytona, including a stop for Combos. But the hustle and bustle just ain't my style. I don't like having to step around God-knows-what, I don't like rats, and I miss trees and sky.

That being said, Seoul is a remarkable city. Crime, especially considering the number of people living here, is almost non-existent. The majority of the people are friendly, and all in all it's kinda cool to live in a place with a real skyline.

On Travel
Small world my ass. I flew 22 hours to get to Seoul. And it's still another 9 hours from Seoul to Sydney. I always understood the rough dimensions of earth, but to travel it is mind boggling. I just keep looking at all the people, listening to their stories, and sharing a small part of my life with them, and the enormity of the whole thing is overwhelming. It really is.

Korea vs. America
America, hands down. But that's not really what I meant. Let's see...

Students:
Korean schools are pretty much only academic. Motorcycle mechanics, Home Ec, and Yearbook just aren't on the menu. They supplement that with academies, just like mine, which offer a wide range of activities. You can find academies for music, English, art... you name it. Most kids seem to end up reinforcing the academic- so English, Math, and Science get the lion's share of the students. The kids end up with pretty long days, and a little stunted socially, at least by American standards. I've always felt the thing I learned best in high school is how to deal with people from all over- another bonus of Central Florida. The fact of the matter is that the social lessons are what makes public schools back home so useful. These kids are exhausted, stressed, and don't even understand the concept of dating.

The reason behind all of this is that there just isn't enough room at colleges for all the students. Every Korean student takes a College Entrance Exam, and that determines what college they can get into. Think of it like the S.A.T.s, but 100x more intense. Their entire professional lives, their range on the social and economic ladder, rests on one standardized test. In contrast, American colleges are easier to get into, but are more difficult to graduate from. In Korea, if you make the test score then the hard part's over.

Work Ethic:
Here's a place where Korea and I part ways.
In Korea, it's about the number of hours worked. These people are expected to work 10 or 11 hour days. The thing is, there isn't always 10 or 11 hours of work. So they spend a lot of time doing... well, nothing. It's not uncommon to find people sleeping at their desks. But the idea of leaving before your boss, or not being at work before your boss, is just no good. I have to be at work at 2:30pm, and my first class is at 3:40pm. I can plan my day in about 10 minutes. On Wednesdays I actually don't have class until 6:20pm, but that doesn't change anything. I know a lot of jobs back home are similar, but Korea is much worse about it. Most employees are also expected to do other stuff for "the good of the company," namely coming for free on Saturdays. Now, that may not be everywhere, but our Korean teachers do. Can you say, "Not a chance?"

It does start to cause a riff between the Korean teachers and ourselves when we have disagreements over contract stuff, or the way we're treated. We make more than them, work less hours, and get free rent. I'd be a little bitter too.

Manners:
Here I'm not sure. The staring is starting to wear me down, especially the outright unabashed practically open-mouthed staring we get on the subway at times. They also don't actually have a word for "please" or "I'm sorry". It's about Confucianism. Instead of "please" there is a specific conjugation that is formal, and is suppose to be used when speaking to those who stand higher than you in a society. The only word that actually means please is a pleading, almost begging, word.
The strange thing is that these folks have no idea what Confucianism is. It shaped their entire society, but now it's almost completely unknown. It just sort of 'pops up' in areas like language. It's also still acceptable to completely jump to the head of a line. This is infuriating. I don't see it often, and there appears to be some sort of pecking order to it, but it's hard to say. It's critical to keep this in mind when trying to decide how polite or rude a society is. People bump into me all the time, but without a word for 'excuse me' they just keep on going without even thinking about it. You can't judge a society fairly with your society's values. So I have no definitive answer.

On the Korean People:
These folks are a trip. They are friendly, very expressive, and at times a walking contradiction. The bathhouses are gender separated and mostly nude (Lord knows how the staring will go for me there...), and they are completely fine with laughing, talking, cooking, watching TV, etc. Men hold hands with other men walking around without giving it a second thought. There's even softcore porn on regular TV almost every night. But try to talk to a Korean about anything remotely sexual and they will ignore you completely. Illegal prostitution thrives 100 yards from my apartment, but you won't find a single strip joint. It's not just about sex, either. They will tell you that they understand the need for an American military presence, many will even say they're happy about it. But then the same person will tell you they blame America for the death of Koreans- namely the North Koreans we killed in the Korean War. They desperately want to be a unified Korea, and are upset at anything that hinders it, but also believe that North Korea would nuke them if given the chance.

On Other Foreigners:
I haven't said anything about the election, or anything other than my experiences here in Korea, in this blog. And I will keep it that way. But I'm afraid this does directly involve the election.

You would be shocked at the number of foreigners, mostly from Europe, South Africa, or Australia and the surrounding areas, that believe they should have a vote in American elections. Namely, of course, the presidential election. Obama's face is plastered up and down the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa, advertising for a cable company. It's the top news story the world over. And their feeling is that, since the USA is leading everyone then they should all get a vote. I've asked if we, as Americans, should get a vote in their elections, and the answer is no.

It's a very difficult experience. On one hand, it is amazing to sit and talk with someone from Ireland, Australia, and South Africa all at once. It is crazy to hear their stories, their take on life, the whole thing. But none of them seem to feel any need to be respectful in the areas of the US or Christianity. Both are freely ridiculed and insulted, the US much more so than Christianity. Now, most of you should know that confrontation is not something I have an issue with. But oftentimes I'm so surprised to hear these things that I just am left more confused than anything else. Growing irate and arguing just reinforces their preconceived notions, and calmer attempts are treated the same way you treat a child who claims they can fly- a patronizing smile, and a change of topic. To be honest, I avoid the subjects. When it's forced I remind them I'm what they're making fun of and make it clear I'll be happy to reinforce those notions. That and a fresh round tend to be enough. But it does sadden me a little, for their sakes, not mine. The only thing to truly earn my ire are Americans who casually insult the same things...

One last note- the rest of the world finds this "Asian-American, African-American, I'm 25% Irish" thing completely hilarious. It only exists in America. My white South African friend has a handful of stories of black Americans coming to Africa- they are funny and very politically incorrect. We, ladies and gentlemen, are Americans. Neither Germany, Ireland, Africa, or the rest of the planet is going to claim you. Sorry.

Travel Plans After Korea:
These plans still change pretty regularly, but here's what we got.

The plan is to catch a boat ride from Seoul to Qingdao, in China. From there we'll catch a train into Beijing to see the Great Wall and after a week or two we'll fly from Beijing down to Sydney. We'll wander up the Eastern coast of Australia, while still making it to see Ayers Rock, and then from either Cairns or Darwin we'll make our way into Indonesia, and from their into the Philippines and/or Malaysia. The goal is to land in Vietnam, and begin making our way west until we run out of cash. The expensive parts are the plane ride to Sydney and the time in Australia it self- we're still considering looking for some odd jobs to help cover some of the costs. Any job will probably involve me sweating a lot, but that's ok. Once we're in Southeast Asia we can travel overland, or by boat, and that is all pretty cheap. Even the short island to island flying can be very cheap, but we'll see. We're estimating getting back to home by late August on the early end, first week of October on the very late end.


A couple things to close with:

We really are a blessed group of people. The people I am lucky enough to call my friends and family are some of the best folks in the world. Honest guys, I haven't seen our ilk anywhere else. Please know that Jen and I love you all dearly, and we miss you terribly. We both find ourselves a little homesick with the holidays fast approaching, but we're doing great. I can't say it enough- we love you all, and miss you so so much.

Ok, two more things. First, I found a classic, yet short, example of the writing I correct everyday. This is it, exactly.

My is very sick
I'm very sick and cool but I'm happy and sad. My friend and my is Sam sam (This was good enough to get a score of 91...)


And, since I know it's been a lot of my rambling without any pictures...

SIGN TIME!!



Nope. I got nothing to add.


Love Always,
Al & Jen

He's A Big Pig (Yup Yup) You Can Be A Big Pig Too. OI!!

That was a lot of freakin' pig.

But I'll get to that in a moment. First, I have been posting tons of blogs lately, so if you have too much time on your hands check some of the previous blogs. I got a big 6-month wrap up I'll have piping hot by Halloween. Second, I have big news for all of you. I have decided to post pictures here first, and then to MySpace/Facebook. That will ensure timely blogs, as well as giving my dear dear readers first glance at our misadventures. I know, I know... feel free to send thank you cards and notes of adoration.

So I am bothered. Our school has been doing a fairly major job of filming a new commercial. They've had film crews running around, bosses wagging fingers, the whole deal. They used one of our teachers in it, and then another. And today they pulled in the third. They got absolutely no warning. And it's pretty obvious that Jen and I are being left out of this on purpose.

Now, I hate to play the race card. Well, let's be honest. I love to play it. I think it's hilarious. But I hate to play it in a situation like this. But when they pull a teacher who has a history of saying offensive things to students (You will work at a 7-11. Do you understand? You. Will. Work...) and is clearly scrubbed out (jeans with holes, 3 day beard) rather than a well dressed very well liked teacher (Jen, not me. Don't be ridiculous.) then you have to start to wonder...

We've seen it several times out here. Anytime we do anything out in public (handing out flyers, a few other random things) Jen and I are always put to the side. Today it finally got to me.

To be fair, xenophobia runs pretty rampant out here as it is. Several of the other teachers have stories of pretty offensive run ins. One had a story of a mother who, upon seeing him in a major department store, actually screamed and clutched her children to her chest. And he was a six foot white Canadian. It's disappointing.

Mostly, though, on an individual level they're wonderful. I've made some wonderful Korean friends. The little old ladies who live in my apartment building always smile when I say hello, and sometimes they try to shake hands. Not much else to say about it.

Know what would make me happy again? Let's see those pigs again.

A friend of ours, Sean, organized this adventure. This is the second one he's done. He found a restaurant outside the city that provides all the fixins, and a beautiful facility, and all you do is pay and show up. The crowd was wonderful, the food was AMAZING, and all in all it was a wonderful time. Jen and I got another chance to see some folks we hadn't seen in a few months, and met some new people who live right around the corner. All in all, good times. I've got a few other shots to share.











This is Sean with Jen and I (he's the black guy in the middle). He really did a great job on the whole event. We had something around 75 people out there, all foreigners living in Korea. He's a popular guy. Problem was, there was suppose to be 97 people there. With about 25 people bailing out inside of 24 hours, Sean was left with some very nice Korean very seriously looking for another $250. Sean, sap that he is, was ready to foot the bill.




Did I mention I offered to help Sean out with this undertaking? I offered as soon as he told me about it, and I helped a little with some of the prep, and then went out to the site in the first van to make sure everything was clear at the facility while Sean waited back at the meeting spot. Ya'll woulda been proud of me too. I only offered to help. I kept my opinions all to myself. Until the matter of the $250.

See, I've organized an event or two. It SUCKS when folks bail last minute. It sucks bad. But not nearly as bad as having to eat their costs. First, I tried to convince Sean to give me their names and phone numbers so I could go collect the money. He didn't go for that idea. So, instead, I convinced him to let me take up a collection from the folks there.


I raised $350 in about 20 minutes. What can I say? I'm persuasive. And for those of you concerned about what I did with the leftovers, fear not. We just bought more drinks. $33 got us all the pig (and sides) we could eat, and enough beer, soda, and Soju to last us quite a while. Good times were had by all. Here's a few more quick pics.







They had a bunch of animals in cages for you to look at and harass unnecessarily. Here are some rabbits. Also out there were some deer, a chipmunk, and 2 cats on chains. No, I have no idea.




And here we have a Christmas tree, some guitars, a few speakers, and a sombrero all encased in glass. Why? To keep them from escaping! Duh!! Also, to preserve them for future generations. This stuff doesn't grow on trees. Wait...





Here's Jen out on the grounds. Beautiful, right? The grounds aren't bad either. (AHH! See what I did there?)



Elsewhere there were a couple picnic tables in a stream, covered by a tarp. Why the tarp? To keep them dry. Wow, not to swift today, are we?




Here's me in love with meat.


Sunday was also a good day. We toured a palace with Mike and Claire, and then we stumbled across an International Food Festival. Here's some more pictures.


Here's the tour guide. Her English was good, but that outfit looked awfully hot...




In the palace's private garden there was this pavilion, where the king would fish. Every time he caught a fish ceremonial music played. I'm trying to sell Jen on this idea, but she doesn't seem to think finishing a can of coke warrants music. I disagree.




This is a dramatic "East meets West" "Past and Present" picture. Contemplate how you personally destroyed culture all over the world, then scroll down to the pictures of food.





Believe it or not, this was not the American pavilion. There wasn't one, actually. There was a Costco pavilion, but they closed up shop before I could snap a pic. Sorry Dave. I actually can't remember which country this was, but they had fried eggs, french fries, and some kind of meat. They slapped it on toast and sold it for $5. I love this country. But I didn't get that.






I got this. This was at the Uzbekistan tent. And let me tell you, those Uzbekistanis know how to cook some lamb. It was amazing. They served it with onions and some surprisingly good yellow... stuff... Mmmmmmmmmm.....






Also, here's Claire eating nachos with chopsticks.


Ok, I'm spent. I've still got the six month post I'm trying to do. Someone had better be reading these damn things....


I'm not doing slideshows tonight. If you'd like to see more photos of the Pig Roast, click here.

For more pictures of the Palace tour, click here.

Much love folks. Jen and I think of you guys often. And by often, I mean always.

-Al

Top Ten Things Al Misses From Home

Ok, so let's be clear. It's obvious I miss my friends and family more than everything else combined. Ya'll are beyond amazing, and I can't stress enough how much I love all of you.

Mushy crap aside, here's what I'm craving. This is only things that I haven't found at all, or are so difficult to get it's just not worth it.

10. Milk (Yes, they have it, but it sure doesn't taste like TG Lee.)
9. "Dirty" apple juice
8. Central air
7. Soft beds (as opposed to the box spring I've been sleeping on for 6 months)
6. Real NY style pizza (Why does a pepperoni pizza have corn on it? Why?)
5. "American" sized underwear (Keep the comments clean...)
4. My car
3. A clothes dryer
2. The beach
1. Garbage disposal

You thought I'd cop out and do the whole "Friends and family" thing at #1, didn't you? Well, then you underestimated me.

If you didn't see garbage disposal coming, though, don't feel bad. Recycling is required by law, which is cool, but it only comes once a week, and they don't exactly provide bins. Also, you have to sort all the trash between the six or seven different categories. The rest of it has to be put into specially marked bags and disposed of elsewhere. Food waste can be disposed of any time, but ONLY food stuff, not in a bag or anything. I HATE cleaning the trap under the sink. I'm sick of trying to sort out only the food waste into this little red bucket, which starts to REEK. I was prepared for most of this stuff, and I know I'm spoiled to have had a garbage disposal for most of my life. If I didn't have to always separate it, maybe I wouldn't be so close to violence. Maybe.

Anyway, there it is. I know there's been a lot of blogs being spit out, but fear not. I'm a blogging machine. I've got another blog for your Wednesday morning, plus a 6 month wrap up before Halloween.

Much love,
Al

At Least It's Over

Good Lord, what a long freakin' week.

I've got no clue if I have my pension money, but it appears that I have health insurance, which is the more important of the two. But I swear this work week had at least eight days, and 5 of them sure felt like Mondays.

To be fair, it hasn't been all bad. On Wednesday night Jen had a little girls night, so Mike and I went to a party that a friend of mine was throwing. One thing I do like about cities: rooftop parties. This was the second one I've been to, and it's pretty cool. This one was mostly European students at Korea University, right around the corner from me. Not only was it great fun, but it left me with a great quote to share. Mike stayed the night at my apartment, and the next morning, as we're just waking up, Mike says:

"You know what Germans don't like to talk about? Hitler."
He seemed genuinely surprised by his revelation.

Last night Jen and I went to a good-bye dinner for Claire, one of our Korean teachers. She has been an absolute sweetheart, and she'll be missed dearly. Ironically enough, she's leaving Korea to go do nursing in the US. Poor girl is headed for Minnesota. I love the U.S., but if I had a choice between the two, I'd probably take Seoul over St. Paul. Just sayin'.

These two bright spots are what kept our sanity for what was otherwise one crappy crappy week. And tonight we're going out to dinner with one of the PLUS managers, and we don't exactly know why. Best theories put it as an olive branch to try to avoid having the teachers at my branch start rioting. Which, to be fair, is a valid concern.

Ya know, I hear foreigners here complain about getting stared at all the time. While it's true that Koreans stare at us a lot, after six months of being here I'd stare at a blond haired person too.

English is an obnoxious language. My students constantly ask me why we have one rule or another, and ya know what? There isn't a good reason. Do we really need articles? Really? (a, an, the) I'd say Korean is an easier language, but they have a considerable Chinese influence, and anything with Mandarin involved instantly becomes 3 times more difficult. Let no one tell you Chinese will be the world's language. It's only spoken by the largest number of people because there's so many of them. But even the Chinese are learning English by the boatload.

I know this hasn't been my best blog, but it's an honest one. This weekend should be a lot of fun- we've got a pig roast with 97 other people on Saturday, and my boss at RMT just got engaged, so we'll be partying with him Saturday night before work. I'll have something happy and picture filled soon, I promise.

Much love,
Al

Money? Naw, We Do This For The Children...

I gotta tell ya, I don't feel like blogging today.

It's been one helluva week for it only being Wednesday. After the health insurance issues, Jen and I became a little suspicious, and decided to double check our pensions. The way it works is the Korean government takes about $100 out of our checks each month for what is basically Social Security. Our boss has to match it. Once we've got a plane ticket, the Korean government gives it all back to us. It'll end up being about $2,000 a piece, after it's all said and done. So, after several phone calls we were right again. They stopped paying into the pensions as well. Here was my favorite part:

Jessica, one of our coworkers, was the first to talk to our Korean supervisor (Sunny) about this. Sunny calls the main office, and comes back and tells us that what she was told was that this was a simple typo- Jessica's name was down as "Jessie", and so the money didn't get where it was suppose to.

I gotta pause a minute and share a little bit about growing up in the Sterling Household. With kids like my brother and I things like breaking, slacking, wandering off, and losing tempers were just a normal part of the day. And when you made a mistake, there was a good chance sitting down was going to be less comfortable for a while. But when it was over, it was over.

I share that because while that could suck, it was tolerable. You just sucked it up, and moved on. What was NOT kosher was lying. Lying put you in a whole different kind of trouble. Like minimum security rich people jail to maximum "Don't Ask What He Did" jail.

So I'll tolerate the screw ups. I'll stay pleasant, as long as it's fixed in a timely way. But then they lied about it. And they didn't just lie to us, they lied to their own staff. Maybe Sunny knew it was a lie, and maybe she didn't. But it seems pretty obvious that since the Koreans use a different ALPHABET that they'd probably just use the Alien ID number like every other agency in Korea.

I mean, they didn't even come up with a good lie. They didn't even try. Really? Really, PLUS? Is that the best you could do? I mean, I know the language barrier makes it a little trickier, but come on. At least put in a little effort.

It went downhill from there. Jessica walked out of work and refused to teach. Her boyfriend almost put Sunny in tears, and we didn't see much of her after that.

Us? We're fine. I'm heading down to the Pension Office to become an expert on how the system works here in Korea. Then I'm going to make them give all of it back. PLUS keeps taking money from us, they just never put it where it should go. There's also an Office for Foreign Workers that will end up hearing from me soon if things don't improve. My gut is telling me that going there is kind of like dropping the word "lawyer". Ya don't toss it about if you aren't ready to go to the wall, and we're not there yet. I've put a few other more complicated and less interesting things in motion as well, but the end result is the same- can't nobody take my pride. Can't nobody hold me down. Oh no. Yeah, you guessed it. I gots ta keep on movin.

The whole thing has left me drained and frustrated, though. I got my little self back to the hospital today to get my refund, and make certain we now had health insurance, and it turns out today was a big anniversary for the Seoul International Healthcare Hospital Thing-Place, and so no one was there. Of course. Why wouldn't that happen?

On a related note, I put my "Bad Day" playlist back together. Gotta love Billy Joel. And Queen.

UPDATE: It's now Thursday night, and things have smoothed out. I want to get this one up, so I'll save the details for later....

-Al

Al Sterling: Union Boss

So I'm making a concerted effort to blog more often this month, and we're starting with a Monday morning special.

I mentioned last time that we were having some insurance issues. Well, turns out it's a little bigger than I thought. Korea has nationalized health care, and it works pretty well when your whole country is roughly the size of Indiana. But that's not the point.

The point is we haven't had insurance since September. Turns out several of our teachers were lied to about it being fixed, and everything came to a head today when two of the teachers here (not us) refused to work until the insurance issue was resolved. PLUS had it fixed pretty quick after that. But they also took money from us for September insurance, which we didn't have. Now have insurance, and they are basically telling us that they can't give back the September money because it has been used to buy September insurance retroactively, which I almost follow since PLUS was bought another bigger company, and that went into effect on September 1st. Also, we had teachers who visited the hospital for a few minor things, all were reimbursed. The whole thing smells fishy, obviously, but I'm not thinking we'll see the money they took last month...

The thing is, another teacher (not at PLUS) about a year ago was told he had insurance. His apartment caught fire, and he was very badly burned. It was then revealed his school had lied, and he didn't have any insurance. The hospitals went looking for their money, while his family was trying to fly him home. Foreign teachers across the country raised tons of money to try to fly him home (it requires quite a lot to get a medical transport that far), but in the end he died. It was a tragic case, and one that made a lot of teachers out here very jumpy about this kinda thing. But fear not, loved ones, we're fine. PLUS is a big school, and can't afford to be violating federal laws like that. And even though I went to the hospital and had to pay the entire thing out of pocket, I've been told that I can go back to the hospital and all of my $35 back tomorrow. I'm not sure if the $17 worth of meds is covered yet...

We're feeling much better, by the way. The doc gave me some good stuff for the stomach cramps, and said I just had to wait it out. No worries. Of course, Jen came down with a cold this morning. Which means I should have it by tomorrow. I'm not sure how we'll survive the winter- it hasn't even hit the 50's yet and Jen and I have been sick all of October.

But the Union Boss part- well, obviously that's a bit of an overstatement. But Jen and I were trying to get the other teachers here to see the necessity of collective bargaining a while ago, and we were ignored. Now PLUS has done away with the Head Teacher position, and our coworkers are having issues left and right- everything from a lack of furniture, door locks being broken, cell phones not being replaced, and now insurance. And for the most part they're left twisting in the wind. Now folks are making noise about working together.

People ask me (Ok, us...) all the time 'Al, is it hard to always be right?' and I say, 'No, not really. You just start being right over and over again, and eventually..."

Personally, I'm still not worried about any of this. I'm double checking to make sure the insurance thing is settled, though I'm sure it is at this point. But these guys can't hold a candle to some of my previous employers. Jen and I will get everything we're suppose to (though, thankfully, not what we deserve). And if they get difficult, so will I...

Much love,
Al

Al and Jen Join Hell's Angels

Hey guys!

I know I'm being a very bad person and not keeping up with the blogs like I should. This stomach bug still has a hold on me and is making it difficult to be creative. Or positive. Mostly, it just makes me look at each meal and cry a little. Jen's got it too, albeit a slightly kinder version.

We did not, however, let that stop us from taking advantage of our 3 day weekend. Jen and I took a trip out of the city with some friends of ours. Here's the highlights:


What you're feeling right now is a little intimidation, and likely some desire. That's perfectly normal. Jen and I do look pretty amazing with our hardcore gang of misfits on our incredibly powerful hogs. Dangerous? Obviously. But that's the way it is with a lifestyle like ours. And no, a cheap straw fedora in no way takes away from the amount of pure hardcoreness that emanates from us in overwhelming waves. That's just how it is. We rented these bad boys for an hour for just $10. They probably got 15mph with a full charge on the battery, and we tore apart that quiet beach side town with our lawlessness and disregard for authority. James Dean ain't got nuthin' on us. Nuthin'.

Oh, yeah, we did some other stuff too. Saw some mountains, something about a temple... there's a slideshow after I'm done rambling. But this part was interesting:

These guys were at the entrance to the palace inside Seoraksan National Park. It's the biggest national park in Seoul, and borders North Korea on the north, and the Pacific Ocean on the east. There were four of them, total. Each was holding something different. The temple was Buddhist, and four were clearly guardians. But this was the interesting part.

This was their feet. All four of the guardians had at one or two unfortunate souls at their feet, furthering the "guardian" idea. The thing is pure Buddhism doesn't believe in any higher powers. There is no heaven, or hell. We live in a world of suffering, and we must break our ties to all earthly things in order to achieve Nirvana, which is thankfully a higher state of existence and not an obnoxious 90's grunge band. Unfortunately, no one there could explain in English this contradiction. I couldn't even find something to tell me when the temple was built, so this is going to have to be yet another unanswered question... well, for me. Most people couldn't care less, and those that do care probably did the extra leg work to find an answer. Nuts to that.


This is our little group. From left top: Tianne, Mike, Claire, Jen, Angel, Marika, and Yours Truly

And this is a giant mushroom man holding a smaller mushroom while giving the town of Sokcho a big thumbs up. I'm sorry if the picture is a little blurry, but the bus driver didn't seem likely to stop for us to snag a picture. I'm actually quite proud of us for this little adventure. Jen and I made all the arrangements on our own- choosing a location, transportation, lodging, activities, etc. We obviously had some help in the translations, but the bulk of the legwork we did ourselves. It went really really well, and everyone had a great time on the trip. If only our stomachs had cooperated...

To be fair, Jen and I are feeling better, if certainly not back to 100%. We've had stomach pains every day for quite a while. We've made some diet changes (not easy out here), and taken some meds. A trip to the doctor is the next step, but I'm a little concerned. The hospitals out here are top notch, there just isn't the same emphasis on things like cleanliness and privacy. It'll be an uncomfortable experience at best. My appointment is Saturday at 10:30am. Jen is planning on just swiping some of my meds, which is for the best, seeing as our school forgot to renew our health insurance. I'm trying to be more upset, but a straight trip to see a specialist, without going to a PCP first, is costing me a whopping $35. Since that's cheaper than most co-pays back home, I'll deal with it. All told, we'll just have to see how it goes. Say a prayer, Ill blog all about it, fret not.


So the 6 month mark is fast approaching and Jen and I are feeling good, all told. I can say that personally I'll be glad to have cleared the halfway point. This place is fun, don't get me wrong, but the dew is off the rose.

Thing is, I miss youth ministry. Constantly. They talk about it being a calling, not a career. I hadn't really understood that until I got out here. I'm excited about being here, and trying all sorts of new things, and all that jazz. But there is nothing like the feeling of standing in a parking lot at 6am going over how to fit 2 tons of gear and 17 youth into a 20 passenger bus. So many things constantly remind me of it, there's just no way around it. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?

Jen and I have figured out our rough travel plans following our time here in Korea, and we're ironing out the kinks over the next few weeks. The hope is to have decided on a plan by the end of October, and start making arrangements by the end of November. A lot of it will have to be decided as we go, but flying is cheaper if you buy tickets earlier, so that's what we're doing. As soon as Jen and I get something we feel is final(ish), I'll pass it along.


Hey Dad! Look at this! Needless to say, if Korea loses power it'll be months before we get it back. This one isn't even one of the really bad ones, it just happens to be one we saw when the camera was handy. It gets much worse the more residential the area, but the whole thing makes me a tad nervous. I remember watching some of the Progress Energy folks in cherry picker trucks fixing lines to a hospital during a hurricane. I couldn't imagine trying out this bad boy...





Alright, lets get to some SIGN TIME!!

I had been worried about running out of material, but not anymore. Holy cow, I got tons. So much, today you get a twofer.

I know, I know... you're welcome.



Claire used to work at a Starbucks in New York (knew Eddie Whitewolf- how random is that?). She was pissed, not because of copyright, but because they weren't open until 5:30pm.



Aside from being a little morbid, don't you think it looks like the little guy just pushed his pops over the edge then went for the "look cute" defense?


Here's your slideshow. Enjoy!