The Ramblings of Loren Christopher

Here we go, an entry just about what’s been going on in my life lately.  Sorry folks, no insider tips about Korea or its culture this time.

So I had my birthday party in Hongdae with a big group of friends, we all ended up having SOOO much fun.  It had been a while since I’d been out (or at least it felt like it), and everyone was in such a good mood I couldn’t have asked for a better party.  You can see a cool video of the evening if you click here.

It’s a nice feeling to look around you on an evening like your birthday, and be surrounded by people who love you and care about you….even if they are relatively new people in your life (all but one of them I’ve met over the past year).  So I had a warm and fuzzy feeling inside all night.  Unfortuntely it didn’t last the rest of the week.

I’m moving into a new apartment tomorrow.  The place I’m in now is ok, I have no complaints…..except one.  The air conditioner is temperature controlled throughout the entire building, and since it’s an office building….it shuts off after 6pm or so in the summer.  I am left sweltering, trying to crack open my small window and blast the fan on high in hopes that I won’t pass out.  I do not like the heat, and the summers here can get hot….Florida hot.

So, I complained to my boss and she said they would indeed move me into a newer and nicer apartment when I renewed my contract (they were willing to move me right then and there, but I declined and said I’d rather just wait it out).  I’m moving four subway stops closer to Seoul (which isn’t a lot), meaning I’ll now be a 10-15 minute ride to and from work, as opposed to the 1-minute walking distance I’ve enjoyed this past year.

The plus side is that my new apartment is evidently VERY new, has all the modern amenities, it’s bigger, and is located in a much more bustling area.  This is good.  I’m just anxious to see the place and get settled into it already.  (The picture here is of my new building, although it is actually surrounded by many other buildings….this is a promo shot I guess so they photoshopped them out.)  It has been stressful this week trying to deal with my boss and get things ready for the move.  I send an e-mail asking one question, and a day later I get a response totally unrelated to what I had asked.

Somehow I am not worried in the least….I chuck it up as a ‘weird Korean thing’ and just trust that everything will work out ok.  It always seems to.  Packing has been stressful though, and I’m still not even totally finished.  It’s really amazing how much stuff a person can acquire over the period of just a year!  I plan on being here for the long haul though so I wanted to get settled in nicely and have everything I need/want.  Indeed I do.

So, this weekend I’ll be nesting in my nice new place.  Since its my second year with the school, the real estate market isn’t doing well, and the school feels bad about the A/C issue, I’m hoping/thinking that they went in for an even nicer place than normal.  I have high hopes of a Penthouse Suite overlooking the river, but I should probably be aiming a bit lower, haha.

Anyway, all else is well.  I’ve been working out a lot lately and eating super healthy, visibly lost my belly fat and am putting on muscle.  Must keep it up!  Until next time….much love.

Oh, I also posted another video on teaching in Korea because I’ve gotten ridiculous amounts of emails and questions for more information.  If you want to see that video, it’s here.

Originally, a few friends and I had planned on heading down to Icheon for a day of pottery-making on Saturday.  As the week drew to a close, and the more we researched it, we decided to post-pone it a bit and just have a fun weekend in Seoul instead.

Now, I don’t know if I’ve written about the woes of shopping as a taller man of Western size here in Korea, but there are woes my friends.  Korea is a fashion-forward place, the people are an image-obsessed society and you find cool trendy fashion around almost every corner, and cheap too.

My excitement quickly turned to disappointment after trying on jackets where the sleeves went down just above my wrists, shirts that cut off just below my belly button, pants that stopped around my ankles, etc.  It’s not THAT drastic….but being almost 6′3″ (189 cm), I notice it.  There’s no point in buying clothing even if it’s slightly too small, because I won’t feel comfortable in it.  Shoes are entirely the same story.

Soooo, long story short, I bought lots of stuff when I went back to the states for Christmas.  This weekend though, we went to Myeongdong to check out the new Forever 21 store.  It’s an American company and I’d heard great things about their men’s clothing, so I was hoping for Western sizes and Korean prices.

It was….awesome.  I picked up a few things, all of which fit perfectly and are stylish.  Will be going back on a weekday this week when the crowds are more manageable.

So we just walked around Myeongdong and Namdaemun a bit….enjoyed the crowds and shopping.  Then we were headed off to Hongdae to meet up with some other friends.  Hongdae is one my favorite places to go out in Seoul.  The nightlife is great and it’s located right next to a couple big Universities so there are a lot of trendy younger people there.

I’ve posted a little about this area before, but it just bears repeating that Hongdae is FUN.  So many different people, scenes, things to do, etc.  We went to a couple different bars, saw a couple bands play live music, ate some delicious (albeit VERY spicy) tteokbokki on the street, and at some point in the morning we called it a night.

This weekend has been nice and relaxing…..no trips out of town, just hanging out in Seoul with friends, catching up on some work and reading.  There has also been a lot of smog in the city lately I’ve noticed, more than usual at least.  Anyway, Seoul is a city where you can find lots of random things to do to suit whatever mood you happen to be in on that given day.  That’s one of the things I like about this city so much is that you can never really get bored….and I suppose if you do then you only have yourself to blame for it.

One such strange and interesting excursion (that I’d been wanting to try for quite a while now) is a visit to Dr. Fish.  This isn’t a real doctor, it’s a nice little cafe with books and a cozy interior, but they also have a foot spa area.  The fun thing to do at Dr. Fish is to actually have your feet eaten by a big group of a special kind of fish.

You go in and take off your shoes and socks, wash your feet off, and then plop them into one of these tiny pools filled with hungry little fishies just waiting to bite off all the dead skin from your feet!  We went to the one in Gangnam (it’s right across the street from CGV) and everyone was really nice.  We were ushered around instantly by this Korean guy who works there.  After we had something to drink, we went over and washed our feet and he asks us, “Which fish would you like?” (pointing to two of these little pools)  ”Big fish, or small fish?”

Now we are all of the spirit that if you’re going to try something new, you may as well dive right into it, so we chose the “big” fish….which, to be fair, weren’t really TOO big, just bigger than the other minnow-sized ones.  Nothing could have prepared me for the bizarre feeling that I was about to endure.  Immediately after I stuck my feet in, the fish came swarming up to me and attacking, so I jerked them out of the water.  These things take time to get used to.  I had to dip my feet in for a few seconds at a time and then pull them out.  Gradually I got more and more used to the feeling of all these sandpaper-like mouths chomping away at my dead skin, that I was able to relax a bit.

Conversation was difficult though, as I would randomly interject my sentences with a loud “WOOAH!!”  or an “EEEK!”  I must have looked like I was having seizures because my body would jerk into different directions periodically.  Especially when they got up under my toes, that really sent me into convulsions!  For twenty minutes though, and at just 2,000 won ($2), it was an experience that was well worth it.  And my feet do feel really soft now thanks to all the “food” I gave those little guys!  I will definitely go back sometime.

We headed down the street to Dos Tacos for some Mexican food and margaritas, a nice way to relax after Dr. Fish.  Then we headed over to a board game cafe.  They have these randomly throughout the city and I think it’s such a fun idea.  You go in, and they’re set up like little coffee shops.  After you order something to drink and look at the “game menu”, you just order whichever board game you’d all like to play and they bring it to your table.  We ended up playing Clue: the Simpsons version and had a lot of fun.  I hadn’t played Clue since I was little, and even then I only played a couple times I think….so we were all a bit “clueless” (har har har) as to what the rules were, but we quickly got the hang of it.

Gangnam is a really fun area of Seoul….it’s one of the biggest areas actually and the one where most Koreans want to live.  So there are lots of things to do there as you could imagine.  Unfortunately like I said it has been really smoggy lately, so I didn’t take any pictures of the street because you wouldn’t be able to see a whole lot.  I frequent Gangnam though so I’ll be sure to post some another time.  For now though, I need to do a little more work and get to bed.

I had the wonderful privilege last week of hosting one of my best friends in his visit to Seoul.  His name is Jesse (on the left in the picture), and we used to be coworkers and roommates back in the days when I lived in Orlando.  His good friend Colin works for AirCanada and received free tickets direct to Seoul, so he decided to bring Jesse along and visit me here.  Colin is a really nice guy and I’d met him a couple times before.

To be honest (and I don’t think he’d mind me saying it), Jesse was a little apprehensive about coming.  He had the usual concerns about people staring, not being able to find his way around, what there is to eat here, etc.  So I was very glad to show him what Korea is really like and how it’s not actually some scary or strange place where he will feel like an outsider, haha.

It’s a little difficult to sum up their trip here, because they really did a lot of stuff.  I think the highlight would be visiting the noraebangs here.  Noraebang literally translates to “singing room”, and I’m sure those of you who are familiar with the movie “Lost in Translation” have heard of them before.  They are everywhere in Korea.  You go in and are escorted to your own private room where you can order drink and food to be brought up in a cart.  Then you and your friends proceed to have your own karaoke show.

I took them to a nicer one where the walls and furniture is all a tacky Barbie Doll them, and we had a window room where we could dance and sing while people walking around on the streets below could watch us, haha.  As foreigners, there were a few moments when we had a crowd of smiling onlookers down below.

Our room actually had a loft that you could climb up by a ladder and chill up there if you wanted.  It proved to be the ideal spot for Colin and Sandra to pass out near the end of the evening, haha.  One of the first things we all said the next morning was how much FUN we had at the noraebang the night before!

Well, they enjoyed the palace, went shopping in the fashion district of Dongdaemun, went to the big touristy markets in Insadong, all of which probably wouldn’t mean much to you unless you’re familiar with Seoul.  One of my favorite things we all did together was head up to the Seoul Tower at night and have dinner at an Italian restaurant on the top.  I had been up the tower before, but only during the day.  It proved to be much more spectacular at night as you can view the sea of lights below you that go back miles and miles until they reach the mountains.  It was a full moon and couldn’t have been more perfect.

Playing host to these guys was really enjoyable, as it was when Aubrey came to visit me in March.  The more I get to know this city and country, the more I fall in love with it and want to share that passion with other people.  I know they both left Seoul wishing they had more time to spend here, and they mentioned quite a few times how badly they want to come back.  Mission accomplished, haha.  I wonder who my next visitor will be?  Hmmmm….

It’s a Saturday morning, just video-skyped with my folks and I figured I would tackle the task of giving the long-awaited update.

Korea feels like home now….that transition is always amazing to me because I’m never quite sure when or how it happens, but before you know it, it already has. Just walking around my little community during the day I find myself in these moments where I think to myself, “This is MY street. This is my home, etc.” I can’t really describe that feeling, but those of you who have lived abroad for an extended amount of time will certainly know what I’m talking about. It’s a good feeling though.

On the other hand, some days as I’m bussling through the crowded subway stations or streets, towering over a sea of shorter people, all with jet black hair….I think to myself, “Holy crap, I’m in ASIA!!” Those moments are by far the most sureal ones, albeit they are also good. It is rewarding though, to finally have discovered so much of this place that before was always a big mystery to me. The far East…the Orient….Asia. Now that I’m so comfortable here it seems almost silly to think of it as such a great mystery.

Life is good though. Work had me stressed out for the first few months until I finally resigned myself to the fact that I’m not really here to teach English. I’m mainly a status symbol for the parents, and seeing as how I only see my kids once a week….I am supposed to have fun with them and play games, etc. So, my teaching, or “edutaining” as it’s often called in Korea, has reached a very satisfying point now that the pressure is off. I’m enjoying my kids a LOT more now and actually look forward to going to work each day. Here’s a little comic strip one of my classes made (with the help of my macbook):

The boys are just a tad bit obsessed with fighting and killing. All those video games they play I guess. And there is certainly much to do around Korea. I took a trip to a small island with some friends not too long ago, and my summer break is on the 26th. I’ll be going to China for 10 days!! My co-worker Ben and I are visiting Beijing and Shanghai and we could not be more excited! It’s fascinating to me to discover the differences between the Asian cultures, and how different they actually are. It will be cool to be there so close to the Olympic games also….I’ve read that Chinese university students are hanging around the McDonald’s in Beijing just waiting for a foreigner to come in so they can practice their English, haha.

Some people have asked me about what it’s like to live as a foreigner here….and I have to say it’s not as difficult as I imagined it to be. Not sure what it is I imagined exactly, people running up to me as though I were an alien from another planet? Perhaps. Nowadays in Korea a foreigner doesn’t draw THAT much attention, although I can assure you I don’t go anywhere unnoticed. Occassionally I will hear someone shout “Wae-gookin!!” (foreigner), but it’s mostly younger people or kids.

My favorite instances of “foreigner shock” are with really little kids on the subway. The family gets on the subway, and the only empty seat is the one next to me. Now, in Korea people will let really young chidren take the seat….so naturally the parents start directing the child over towards me and that empty seat. At this point the kid hasn’t seen me yet. Finally, the moment is about to come….so I get a big smile on my face and try to look as disarming as I possibly can. “Sit down in that seat” the parent says (in Korean) while pointing next to me. The child whips around happily, ready to hop into the seat and then upon seeing me…..BAAAM. Frozen. Eye contact. Jaw drop. Can’t move.

It almost never fails, hehe.

Well anyway, I will write more later about my trip to the DMZ and other things you’ve missed out on and so desperately want to know about my fascinating life here. In the meantime I will leave you with a few more pictures.

Well I’ve been having a blast here in the city! Went to the DMZ this past weekend and it was quite a sobering experience. I’ll write more about that later as I have lots of pictures and a lot I want to say about it. My apartment has no more free wireless from my neighbor so it’s been touch and go with the updates. In other news…it is spring here in the city and I LOVE the warmer weather!

I went out around the city with some friends recently and took some video to show you, so enjoy!

So Aubrey came in town to visit me this weekend, and we had a blast! I finally got a new charger for my camera battery (still have no idea what happened to my old one), so I took lots of pictures!!When I first arrived in Seoul there was so much to take care of. As much as I WANTED to sightsee and enjoy my new home, I really needed to secure a job and apartment. Then I had to establish credibility at my new job, and get settled into my apartment, etc….all of which I have done.

So these past couple of weeks I’ve really been getting to know Seoul, and the more I discover about it, the more I love it here.So needless to say, Aubrey’s visit gave me a much needed excuse to get my apartment in tip-top shape and to play tourist for a bit. We went to Gyeongbokgung Palace:

We had a wonderful time here….but I couldn’t help imagining how much better it must look in the spring!

After that we went to a traditional Korean dance and music show, which was really interesting! I learned (and saw firsthand) about some of the ancient dance and musical rituals of Korean history….really cool! Unfortunately cameras were not allowed, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Anyway, it was a great weekend in the city….as I’ve been having lately. Hope you all enjoy the rest of the pictures. I’ll update again soon I promise! Keep the comments coming…
Much love!