First weekend in Korea!

Well, my first weekend in Korea is drawing near its end and what an awesome weekend it’s been. (*We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a newsflash! Check out the last picture on this blog entry and guess what it is*) On Friday after school my co-teacher took me into Masan to get the results of my medical test (got thumbs up across the board) and apply for my Alien Registration Card. The office where I had to apply for the card was right next to the water...was awesome to hear waves and smell the ocean again...I really miss it. After, instead of coming home, I asked him to drop me off in the Hapsungdong area of Masan, where I was going to meet another English teacher named Ryan for dinner. Hapsungdong is a really happening area on a Friday night, full of young people, street vendors and an awesome lively atmosphere. Ryan’s friend Scott (they’re both Americans) and Scott’s girlfriend Soon (I think I got her name right) met us and we got bibimbap for dinner. Bimbimbap is awesome...it was a big bowl of hot rice, a bunch of shredded veggies and a fried egg on top...you put some hot sauce on it, mix it all together and enjoy! Healthy, delicious and cheap (cost me about $4.50). Bibimbap:

After dinner Ryan (who is a thoroughly awesome guy!) and I went for a walk around Masan...he showed me the underground mall (again, full of life and a million little shops) which apparently doubles as a shelter in case our neighbours to the north decide to go on a bit of an adventure.

Then, we went on a walk around the area and Ryan gave me a ton of tips and advice...oh and he helped me buy (as in did all the talking haha) a bus pass. Buses are stupid cheap, about $1 without a pass and about 90 cents with a pass, even as far as what would be two or three zones back in Canada.

Then I came home and watched the last of my Futurama. On Saturday morning I decided to head into Changwon. I found a bus and got off at the train station, which turned out to be nowhere close to where I wanted to be. I asked a few teens who spoke about 6 words of English how to get downtown. It turned out their 6 words were enough for them to tell me to go with them, and they led me to where I needed to go. Then I spent the next 9 hours wandering around Changwon, did everything from going to my first Buddhist temple to finally buying a frying pan so I can start making fried egg sandwiches and scrambled eggs. I spent most of the time going up and down streets in Changwon, aimlessly wandering and taking in the sights. The temple was simply amazing. So much detail and artwork. Anyway, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Then I walked back up the hill and caught the train back home! (I know this is going to make my dad jealous). My train was kind of old, but I saw a bullet train, which apparently goes to Seoul, so definitely planning on taking that. My train only runs a couple of times a day, but costs the equivalent of about $2.20 and takes less than 25 minutes to get home from Changwon. Most train rides from home to within an hour or two are in the $3-5 range...even Seoul is about $25 each way. Not bad. My first Korean train!

Then I came home and for the first time turned on my TV and wow...as much as I’m not a fan of TV/cable, it was kind of nice to listen to English after spending a day not understanding a word I’m hearing or reading. I might actually get cable for the first (and only) time in my life if they make me pay for it (though right now I’m hoping they’ll forget the fact that it’s still on in my place).

Sorry, this is getting long...on to Sunday. Woke up, made awesome-tastic fried egg sandwiches and watched a little TV (tons of stuff in English, since most movies and even some shows are imported from America and they’re subtitled, but not dubbed) while it rained and headed out as soon as it stopped.

And then...it happened. I fell in love. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t leave home thinking “today, I will find my soulmate.” But I did. Sigh. Isn’t that how it always is? She’s sleek, slim and beautiful. Like me, she’s a foreigner.  I bumped into her in the back of a bike shop.

She is a...Moots YBB-SL. The next sentence may be boring for those who are not into bikes, but those who are will understand: titanium frame, handlebar and seat post. Beautiful Magura MM85XC front shocks with lockout, Avid Ultimate hydraulic disc brakes, Shimano XTR front derailleur, SRAM X.0 rear derailleur. Since titanium is incredibly malleable (bends easily), it’s a full-suspension bike WITHOUT a rear pivot. It has a YBB 1-inch rear shock...pretty sweet stuff. I want it. Bad. The shopkeep said it’s 500,000 won (about $450), which is a screaming deal, since everything on that bike is top-shelf stuff. I’m pretty sure I could buy it, ride it here, take it back home and make money on it. Anyway, I’m thinking of offering the guy 300k won (about $270) and seeing what happens. The thing is, that for this much money I could get a small scooter...or for twice as much 800k-1 million won I could buy a car...the teacher whose job and house I took over left her Hyundai Avante here and apparently she’s getting desperate to sell it...hmmm, decisions, decisions.

Anyhoo...after the bike shop I headed south and found a wicked new area with tons of shops and stuff. Also bumped into another English teacher (it’s really easy to find them...see a white guy? Yeah, he’s probably an English teacher...it’s funny, whenever I see another white person, we nod to each other. Heck, the other day at a store a couple of brown dudes smiled and nodded at me...it was pretty funny). Aaaaaanyway, so I bumped into Tom, who is a nice Brit dude on his second year in this area. He and his girlfriend teach at an after-school private academy (called hagwon). Super nice guy, we chatted for probably close to half an hour and he told me that there’s a weekly English teacher get-together at a pub a block or so away from my place! Stoked to go to that...apparently there are around 60-70 English teachers just in my little area of Naeseo/Hogye/Jung-ri/whatever else is around here. After that I went for a walk for a few hours and bumped into another Buddhist temple, this time pretty far up a mountain...I love these places. They’re usually in nice areas that look like they must have been very remote when the temples were built. This one was up a mountain with a small stream coming down and a great view of Samgye (I think that’s how they spell it). Then I got more groceries and headed home. Tomorrow morning I’m back to work. I was asked to start teaching, but considering I just got the books late Friday and have been given no direction, I told them I’ll do introduction classes until the department meeting at lunch. But, I think I’ll give actual teaching a shot...worst case scenario, I’ll bomb and do it again next class when I know what they want from me. Best case scenario, it’ll go well and I impress the hell out of them by teaching a class with nothing to go on when they’re not expecting me to.

Okay...thanks for reading this, I promise my next blog entry won’t be this long. Here is the mystery object as promised...guess what it is! (Boys and girls who are/have been in Korea, you’re not eligible haha...also, please don’t Google it...just take an honest guess) :D  I’ll reveal it in a day or two! (Also to my dear friends with dirty minds...Jon, Nick, Jimbo, Mark...I'm looking at you...it's not a sex toy of any sort haha)

Cheers,

T.