Kota Kinabalu

Well, it's been three weeks since I returned from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia and I'm finally getting around to writing about it!  Part of the delay was that there wasn't too much to say about the trip.  Kota Kinabalu is part of Borneo.  Borneo is part of the Malaysian peninsula (it's actually an island).  It's about a five hour flight almost due south of Korea. If you look at a map, you can almost draw a line straight down and you hit Kota Kinabalu.  

On the plane ride, I rode with many of my colleagues from other international schools in South Korea.  We joked that if the plane crashed, Seoul would lose the majority of its school administrators!  We were all attending a conference for international school leaders that is held yearly in Southeast Asia.  Last year that same conference was  held in Bangkok - my first of many trips to a city that I think will eventually become my new home.  

The flight didn't arrive to the airport until 12:20 AM and by the time we got to the hotel, it was 1:30 in the morning.  My first workshop started at 8:30 in the morning!  Needless to say I didn't stay up very long.  The next morning I pulled back the drapes and was greeted by a beautiful vista of the mountains, sea, and a rolling golf course.  It was a crystal clear morning.  I made my way down to breakfast and enjoyed the full buffet offering of curries, fruits, and baked goods.

My first day there I spent trapped in a  room until 4:30 in the afternoon - so I didn't see much.  The hotel where we were staying was charming though.  It had a large pool connected to a small beach.  The best part was the outdoor bar with tables that faced west - allowing for stunning sunset photos.  Actually, the best part was sitting outside and having wi-fi access!  I know, rather sad, but when your phone is in airplane mode and you're relying on the wi-fi for communication, it's quite a surprise to be able to access it while sitting outside.  

The rest of the conference was pretty uneventful - workshop after workshop, some good, some bad.  The food was good - Malaysian cuisine is delicious - lot of curries with coconut milk which always makes me happy.  

One night I did get to leave the hotel. I met a local fellow who agreed to show me around town.  I took a cab to downtown Kota Kinabalu.  On the ride there, I saw a ton of construction happening.  Apartments and hotels were going up at an amazing rate.  What was once a quiet fishing village has become a major tourist destination.  His hotel was right next to the fishing pier and other attractions.  We went to a local restaurant and he ordered a series of small dishes.  I thought we were eating traditional Malaysian cuisine until he mentioned that the restaurant was actually Indonesian.  It was good nonetheless.  

Since that night was Halloween, the local gay bar (there was actually two), was having a Halloween drag show, so we decided to check it out.  The bar was quite nice and friendly.  The show, though, was supposed to start at 10 PM.  By 11 PM we were still sitting there waiting - which only proved to me that drag queens around the world are all perpetually late.  Since I had to get up again the next morning and work, we decided to leave early.  Plus, I caught of glimpses of the performers and decided I wasn't missing much.

 The rest of the conference went well.  On the final night, they ended the event with a big gala dinner.  My colleagues from work and I ended up crashing another event and got some free wine.  Then when we entered the banquet hall, and more wine was offered.  By the time dinner was finished, I was feeling no pain.  Our flight was scheduled to leave Kota Kinabalu at 1:00 AM!  We had decided to leave the hotel around 10:30.  We left the banquet and headed up to the one room we kept so we could change.  As I sat on the bed, my stomach began to cramp and I felt a wave of nausea.  I thought it was from the alcohol, but wasn't sure.  By the time I was in the lobby, my nausea increased and I told my colleagues I wasn't feeling very well.  In the taxi, I almost lost it.  I came dangerously close to asking the driver to pull over.  I still had to check my bags and go through customs.  I took slow, deep breaths and prayed.  I managed to make it through customs before racing to the bathroom. All that wine and rich food came up in massive waves.  The stall had no toilet tissue, so I step out with nothing to wipe my face with.  The few people in the bathroom back away from me as if I had ebola.  That was just the start to several more trips back to the bathroom.  I honestly can't remember the last time I vomited that much.  My complexion was grey and my face was greasy and wet.  And I smelled.  I thought there was no way I could fly hours feeling the way I did.  

Fortunately, by the time we boarded the vomiting seem to have stopped.  I managed to get through take off when the other symptom often associated with food poisoning decided to strike.  My saving grace was that the flight was a red eye.  As soon as it took off, people put on their headphones, eye masks, and blankets and went to sleep.  There was never a line at the bathroom, which was a blessing since I was in it every twenty minutes for about three hours.  I was finally able to fall asleep for about an hour.   

I dragged my way through baggage, customs, and the long taxi ride back to the apartment.  As soon as I entered my apartment, I dropped my bag, stripped off my clothes, and fell into bed for hours.  I woke, drank some water, and went back to sleep.  This pattern continued into the next day.  Finally, by the the second evening I felt like I was normal again.  The irony of this story is that on the very day I got sick I was bragging to someone at lunch that I had never gotten food poisoning while traveling. 

Lesson learned.  

Korean Weddings

A few weeks ago I was invited to my first Korean wedding.  I had heard a little bit about Korean weddings beforehand from my colleagues so I wasn't too surprised by the series of events, but it was still interesting to experience.  

To begin, I received the invitation from Mr. Kim, a young guy who works down in the IT office.  Mr. Kim is a nice man, but I've probably spoken to him about five times over the past year.  But, since I'm part of the administrative team at the school Korean staff are obligated to invite you.  There is no RSVP on the invitation - if you want to come, you come.  I wasn't sure how they knew how many people to expect, but it occurred to me that as the guests arrived to the venue, they were asked to sign in so the staff probably knew how many places to set by the number of people who signed the roster.  After you sign in, you also give the staff your gift.

Being my first wedding in Korea, I had no idea how much money to give.  I had to ask one of the secretaries who blushed and covered her mouth when I asked.  Apparently these sort of things aren't discussed openly in Korea.  Eventually she told me that it depends on where you fall on the hierarchy with the person whom invited you.   If you are a fellow employee but not really a close friend, it's about 30,000 won.  If you're a good friend, the amount goes higher.  If you're a supervisor it's even higher.  Since I'm an administrator, my expectation was higher than 30,000 won, but since I wasn't a good friend, it's not the highest it could've been.  It was all very confusing. 

Korean weddings are rarely held in churches.  Instead, most weddings occur at wedding venues.  These venues are all over Seoul and they're a big business.  Frequently they are located on the top floors of department stores, office building, hotels, etc.  It's rare to see a stand alone wedding venue.  

This wedding was no different; it was held at a venue nearby at the local college.  Since so many staff members were invited, the school provided a bus.  We arrived to the event where everything became a well-oiled machine.  People immediately started to direct us on where to go.  The first thing I did was stand in line and sign the wedding book.  I then presented my card or gift and that is carefully recorded in the book. Then I was given a food ticket and escorted into the venue.  The staff  brings you to your table and you're told to sit where they bring you.  The room was huge, and all draped in heavy black curtains. Everything was black except the table cloths and the alter.  Down the middle of the room was this long, raised runway.  This runway effectively divided the room in half with the bride's family on one side, and the groom's on the other.  There were no windows or outside light.  It was like stepping into a black box theater.  There were bright spotlights shining down on the tables, and huge speakers and video screens flanking the alter.  It was all very set-like and quite dramatic.  

As it turned out, our school's headmaster, Dr. Kim, was ask to officiate the wedding.  Apparently it's customary to ask one's boss to marry you (I'm assuming they were legally married at the courthouse, but I'm not sure).  As in many Asian societies, the boss politely declines the offer to officiate, and so then one must ask repeatedly until he agrees.  Dr. Kim is a lovely man, but very long-winded and probably wouldn't be anyone's first choice in officiating.  But, tradition is strong in Korea.

The service starts with a wedding announcer who comes over the very loud PA system and welcomes the bride's parents.  The doors open and out walks both mothers dressed in traditional Korean garb.  They walk down the aisle arm-in-arm.  Their husbands await them at the end of the aisle to escort them down the steps and to their respective chairs located near the alter.  There are no bridesmaids or grooms in Korean weddings.  Suddenly a song comes over the PA and the spotlight shines on an upper balcony and the bride appears.  She walks down the steps, onto the platform, and then down the aisle. What's strange is the husband comes last!  The music starts again, the rear doors open, and out walks the groom to join his bride at the end of the runway.  Together, they walk up to the altar.  Being that Korea is a patriarchal society, it doesn't surprise me that the groom gets the higher honor.

Once the bride and groom are on the altar, Dr. Kim begins.  All of his speech was in Korean.  One of the staff nicely translated for us until another staff member asked him to stop since no one really cared what was being said.  Apparently, though, Dr. Kim spent about 10 minutes telling a story about why he wasn't willing to officiate the ceremony.  Thirty minutes later he was done, and so was the audience.  

What comes next is a little strange.  Friends of the bride and groom come onstage and sing a song to the newly married couple.  This wouldn't be so bad if your friends were members of the Tabernacle choir, but these friends couldn't sing.  The first song they sang as a group and it was painful.  The fantastic PA system  perfectly carried every wrong note, missed lyric, and nervous giggle.  I winced throughout the song. When it was done, I breathed a sigh of relief until another guy came up on stage.  This man was obviously a frustrated performer.  He grabbed the mic and launched into his very dramatic song.  He walked all through the venue, singing to both sets of parents at the top of his voice.  All these theatrics didn't improve the quality of his singing, but it did make for a more entertaining performance. 

Next the bridge and groom must present themselves before each set of parents.  This groom actually got on the floor and bowed before his bride's parents.  He shouted something in Korean and I was told he was thanking the parents for allowing him to marry their daughter.  The bride must then present herself before the groom's parents and say something similar.  After that, the ceremony is over.  

At this point, all the family members make their way to the stage and take a group photo with the bridge and groom.  Then, the friends go up on stage and take a picture.  Then, all the people who work at the school had to go up on stage and take a picture.  After that, we were free to go up to the reception.  

Two floors up was the dining room.  You arrive to the entrance and turn in your ticket.  You're then shown to your table.  At the table, all the food is already laid out.  It is served family style, in which everyone helps him or herself.  There is also one bottle of beer, and one bottle of soju per four people (turns out you could ask for more, but I didn't learn this until afterward).  As soon as you're seated, everyone starts eating as fast as possible.  The Koreans inhaled their food.  Since the school staff was late in arriving because we had to wait to take pictures, some tables were already finished and leaving!  At one point towards the end of the meal (about 20 minutes later), the bride and groom walk to each table and bow.  Since we were eating with our headmaster, none of the staff could leave until Dr. Kim, the senior member of the staff, left.  As soon as he was done, the rest of the staff got up and left.  The western staff were the last people to leave since we were still enjoying the food.  The whole reception from start to finish was 30 minutes long.  No speeches, no toasts, no dancing, no music.  The staff was already cleaning up and setting the tables for the next ceremony!  If it weren't for the overly long officiating, the entire wedding from start to finish would've been one hour.  

And that my friends is a Korean wedding.

Taipei Delights

Taipei has been a pleasant surprise.  For this Chuseok vacation (Korean Thanksgiving), I went to Taipei with a friend from work.  We arrived on a Saturday evening and easily made our way from the airport to our hotel.  Neither of us had really prepared much for the trip, just sort of trusted our instincts that we would find everything we would need.  I did research how to get from the airport into the city, but that was about it.  

The first thing I noticed in Taipei was the heat and the humidity.  Being south of Seoul and an island, Taiwan is hot.  It's about Bangkok hot.  Seoul has been cool this September, so it was surprising to be slapped in the face with such heat.  The hotel I chose is actually quite nice for the price range.  And it's in a great location called Ximen.  Ximen is one of the gay areas of Taipei and it's ironic that Ximen (pronounced She Men) sounds remarkably like semen.  Many of the guys I have met in Taipei all think it's funny.  

After getting settled, I headed to the The Red House (pictured above). The Red House is over 100 years old and started out as a market place back during the Japanese colonization of Taipei.  It then became a movie theater and a performing arts center.  In the 1990s it fell into disrepair and was abandoned until a cultural arts center decided to save and renovate it in 2002. Today, it's the center of the gay neighborhood.  It's surrounding by gay bars, clothing stores, and restaurants.  On the weekend, the plaza behind the building is filled with outside seating and men.  Rainbow flags fly everywhere.  After living in repressive Seoul for the past year, it was so refreshing to be able to sit outside in such an environment.  Of course if this were mainland China, this openness would never happened, but Taiwan is not China, as one resident curtly pointed out to me.  

The Taiwanese are incredibly friendly people, and the city is very easy to navigate.  English is spoken much more readily making it far better for communication than Seoul. Within hours of arrival, I was sitting outside enjoying a drink when someone I met online joined me.  He brought a friend, who in turn brought a friend.  Soon there were five of us enjoying drinks on the warm and humid night.  After drinks the gents took us on a short tour of Ximen, but it was pretty late at this point, and not much was open.  

On Sunday, we went out to dinner with the guys we met the night before.  They took us to a great local restaurant and we just let them order what they wanted.  The food in Taipei is delicious.  It's much more simple yet flavorful than Korean food.  They love their ramen of course, as well as dumplings, fried rice, grilled meats, stinky tofu, bubble tea, and fruit teas.  Unbeknownst to us, this was a holiday weekend. Monday was a lunar holiday (as in Korea) but they celebrate the moon festival by eating moon cakes.  Since Monday was a holiday, many people were out Sunday night.  I joined the three guys for a drink after dinner and then we went to an organized dance party, or circuit party.  I haven't been to a circuit party since my early 20s, and even then I didn't enjoy them much.  They're usually filled with muscled boys who live to take their shirts off and take drugs like crystal meth and ecstasy.  Turns out, not much has changed in 25 years.  Still, the club was beautiful, with amazing lasers, strobe lighting, and music.  We arrived about 11:30 and danced for a couple of hours.  By 2:30 I was ready for bed so I said goodbye and made my way back to the hotel.

The next morning was a lazy day.  John and I went to the movies and that was about it.  In the evening, we did make it to a night market.  Night markets are everyone in Asia, and they're all pretty much the same -- crowded venues lined with stores selling their wares.  This market was actually nicer than most.  The stores that lined the lanes were air-conditioned, so the air temperature was cooler even when walking outside.  It was crowded, though, given the holiday weekend.  We came to the market not for the shopping but for the food.  There was a list of things we were told to try, including papaya milk, watermelon juice, and stinky tofu. Along the way we discovered many delicious delicacies such as grilled beef, stir fried mushrooms, congealed pig's blood on a stick (this was actually tasty - like a savory Gummy Bear), fried prawns, and grilled steak and eggs.  We eventually found the stinky tofu, and it is stinky.  I personally can't get past the smell, but my friend like it.  I tried it, but it has a lingering flavor of sweat that I didn't like.  On the other hand, the papaya milk was yummy.  It's basically just fresh papaya blended up with milk.  After gorging ourselves on food we headed back to the hotel.

On Tuesday we ventured out of the city on a bus and went to the see these geological rock formations at a beach north of Taipei.  The bus ride was over an hour, and then we had to walk about 20 minutes to get to the beach, but it was worth it.  Apparently the tide over the years had worn away the sandstone to create these otherworldly sculptures that looked like giant mushrooms.  You're able to walk among them as they tower above your head. It feels as if you're walking on Mars. One is shaped like the head of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti and is called The Queen's Head.  It's actually not the most impressive sculpture there, but as with the Mona Lisa, people line up to get close to it.  We stood in the blazing sun to have our picture taken with the queen.  My friend wanted to look as if he were kissing the queen, and it took some careful coordination to get the angle right.  And considering there was a long line and the guard was rushing people through, we didn't have much time to play around. At first I didn't think it would work, but as my friend got closer to the sculpture, I could see it was going to happen.  I snapped a picture, and the crowd burst into laughter and applause behind us. We had done it!  At that point, I was sweltering and felt as if I had had enough sun.  My friend wanted to climb to the top of this nearby cliff face, so I let him trek away while I stayed in the shade. Getting back onto the air-conditioned bus never felt so good in my life.  

It's only Wednesday right now, and we have a couple of more days to explore.  I'm sure Taipei will continue to open its arm to us.  For now, all I can say is that I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to see and experience such different cultures.  

What a Difference a Year Makes.

It's time to start blogging again after my five-week break in the States.  It is hard to believe I've been back in Seoul for four weeks already.  Everyone told us "first timers" that the second year at an international school would be much easier, and how right they were.  I slipped back into Seoul like my favorite pair of jeans.  Arriving at Incheon Airport felt so easy.  Even with the jet lag I was able to easily navigate myself through what has now become very familiar surroundings.  It was also wonderful to arrive back to my apartment and have it cleaned and fully decorated.  Last year I entered a stark, barren dorm room and was surrounded by boxes and luggage.  This year I entered home.

The day after I arrived, I was driving to the airport by myself to pick up the first of the new teachers.  The day after that, I did it again.  And then a third and fourth time.  Seeing the excitement and anxiety of the new teachers made me realized how we must've looked to the staff when we arrived last August.  As they adjust to their surroundings, now I'm the guy they go to for answers to questions.  I even led part of the Life in Seoul introduction for the staff.  

Work has improved as well and I'm doing things so much better than last year.  I realized that so much of what was happening in my personal life was impacting my job performance.  How could it not with everything being so foreign and new?  The first couple of weeks at work were so busy that the time flew by.  

Slipping back into my routine felt great.  I no longer have this sense of urgency to see and do things.  I've found a good mix of socializing with friends, enjoying my alone time, and venturing out into the city.  Knowing where everything is makes life so much easier, and not having to focus on obtaining things I need for the apartment has eliminated that feeling of displacement.

The weather since returning has been so much better than last August.  Cooler and far less humid.  Yes, we just came off a week of rain, but the rain was good - it kept the temperatures down and surprisingly did not increase the humidity.  We even had some days that were almost chilly.  These days did not happen until almost October last year.  The air quality has also been wonderful (for a large urban city that is).  

I've dedicated myself to get more fit and active.  I go to my personal trainer three days a week.  It's quite a time commitment (at least four hours with the commute and training), and at times it can interfere with my after school life, but I've finally made the commitment, and don't want to back away from it.  It's amazing that even at age 50 I can obtain great results in the gym.  It just takes time, effort, and commitment.  

In two weeks, I travel to Taipei, Taiwan for a week.  Koreans have a holiday in September called Chuseok.  They get three days off, so our school chooses to give us the whole week off.  It's a great time to travel.  At the end of October I travel to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia for a conference.  For Thanksgiving, it's off to Hong Kong.  Then a short four weeks later, I'm traveling to Bali, Bangkok, and Cambodia (Angkor Wat). At the end of January I think it will be Beijing.  Spring break will probably be the Philippines.  And in May I asked permission to go to Tuscany to celebrate my brother's 60th birthday!  Quite a lot of traveling this year.  The big exception is that this year I won't be traveling by myself.  I discovered last year I didn't enjoy it that much.  So I made an effort to find someone to join me for each of these trips.  As much fun as traveling can be, doing it by oneself makes is hard.  

Anyway, not the most exciting blog entry, but I wanted to get back into posting since I took such a long hiatus.  I think my goal this year is to write shorter entries about small things I've discovered while traveling around Seoul and other parts of the world.  I hope my readers will be patient with me and keep checking periodically.  

Thanks all.  

Repatriating

It's been five days since I returned to the USA, and I knew even before landing that it would be a strange experience.  Eleven months was the longest I was ever away from the country, and by far the longest I was away from family and friends.  It's hard to say if some of what I experienced was due to repatriation or from jet lag, but it was a bit surreal coming back.  Here's a list of observations in no particular order of importance:

1. Americans are fat.  There is no other way to sugar-coat this statement.  As a nation, we're fat. In Seoul, it's so unusual to see someone overweight that when you do you can't help but note it.  I remember driving once with a colleague and an overweight Korean girl walked in front of the car and we both turned to each other and nodded, thinking "what happen?" I'm not telling you anything that as a nation we don't already know.  According to the latest statistics 65% of American are classified as overweight. This problem is never more apparent then when you've been away from it for a while.
2. Along with being fat, Americans wear clothes that are too big for them.  I'm not suggesting switching to jeans so tight you can tell whether one is circumcised or not (as with many Korean boys), but at least wear something that doesn't make you look as if you're swimming in fabric. I'm going to channel my inner Clinton Kelly from What Not To Wear and say that your best friend is a local tailor.  People would actually look less fat if they wore better fitting clothes. I'm not suggesting paying for custom fitting garments, but have the legs tapered a bit, or go down a size or two so that the clothes aren't so baggy. And stop wearing clothes that belong in the gym.  I don't think I've ever seen a Korean wearing sneakers outside of the gym.  
3. American supermarkets are like a trip to mecca.  My first trip to Hannaford's was surreal.  To walk into the produce section and see every available product out there was awe-inspiring.  As I noted in many past blogs, grocery shopping in Seoul is frustrating.  Finding herbs, certain vegetables, spices, cheeses, and fruits is difficult.  In Seoul, you buy what is seasonable.  When strawberries are out of season, that's it.  No more strawberries.  Products not grown in Korea are rarely brought in, such as limes.  Koreans make do with what they raise.  There's no lack of ginseng or bok choy, but finding green beans is not possible. 
4. Not understanding the language can be a blessing.  As with text that cannot help but be read upon looking at, conversations cannot helped but be heard.  Since I do not speak Korean, conversations that occur around me are incomprehensible, and hence dialogue becomes background noise.  I never realized how much I appreciated not having to listen to conversations until I arrived home.  Granted, sometimes what other people say can be quite amusing, but listening to two men in McDonald's talk about how Obama is a Muslim and Hillary is card-carrying dyke isn't the most conducive to one's inner peace.
5. Trees are great.  It's so wonderful to see so much greenery again.  Seoul is  the proverbial concrete jungle.  Where we live in Seongnam isn't so bad because we have a great park near us where one can commune with nature, but inside the city limits, it's rare to see trees.  Unlike Japanese cities, the Koreans haven't mastered the art of tranquil public spaces.  
6. Bread is everywhere.  Before arriving home, I rarely ate bread.  I never bought it, and when I went out to eat, it was never offered.  The first thing they give you in a restaurant in the US is a basket of bread.  Most menu options for lunch include sandwiches.  We're a bread culture (refer back to #1) and it's difficult to avoid eating it.  Don't get me wrong.  I love bread.  LOVE IT. But it does make me feel bloated and my system right now is having a hard time adjusting to American food.
7. I have to tip?  Wow, I don't miss that in Seoul.
8. I miss walking.  Though it's a pleasure driving around in Maine, I realized that I haven't walked more than hundred feet at any given stretch since arriving home.  In Seoul, I walk everywhere.  It's a 10-minute walk just to the metro, and then once inside, you walk long corridors, and up and down hundreds of stairs.  
9. I can make phone calls.  This thought didn't occur to me until last night when I was sitting out on the deck and realized I can just call people I haven't spoken to in ages.  In Seoul, everyone texts.  I don't call home at all because of the cost, so I usually Skype or use FaceTime.  In Seoul, everyone uses an app called Kakao.  I text everyone, even people who live right above me!  
10. I can say "Excuse me" and people get out of my way - they even apologize and smile. In Seoul I could scream and maybe someone would look up, but they certainly wouldn't move. If you want to pass someone in Seoul, you just push by them.  I'm not used to that notion nor will I ever get used to that notion. 

Ten is a nice round number so I'll stop here, but one final note.  Breathe deep, Americans.  The air quality here, especially in Maine, is so wonderful it cannot be put into words.  Seoul is far from awful, but on bad days, it's terrible. It can get so bad you can feel the yellow dust on your teeth.  The cobalt blue skies here in Maine are rare days in Seoul.  Take a moment to appreciate them. Go outside - take a walk, say excuse me, and eat less bread.

11 Months Later

On this Sunday afternoon I can't help but be reflective as the school year ends and many good friends leave for the summer or for other parts of the world.  For those who have lived the international school life for years, they have grown accustomed to the constant coming and goings of teachers, but this is the first time for me.  The quad feels empty and lonely.  For the past two days taxis have pulled up and taken people away, leaving behind administrators (who work a week longer than everyone else) and those few teachers who will stay the summer.  

This year has felt both long and amazingly short at the same time.  The first couple of months felt endless but the last several months flew by.  I attribute this difference to becoming acclimated to Seoul.  It was hard to leave Maine and my friends.  As exciting as August, September and October were, those months dragged by as I still missed home.  But after Christmas break, and my comfort level and love of Seoul grew, the days flew by.  

The things I most worried about prior to coming to Seoul did not really happen.  I was fearful of living in such close proximity to my co-workers. That fear turned out to be a blessing. As a single guy it's comforting to have people around you when you're feeling lonely.  I can choose to participate in the gatherings at the quad or not.  Sure, the noise level sometimes gets loud, but as someone who has contributed to that noise on occasion, it's part of living communally.  

The language problem was another worry - especially at restaurants, but that fear has faded completely.  Yes, at times the language problem can be frustrating, but with patience and your iPhone, any transaction can take place. Also, knowing just a few key words or phrases can make a huge difference.  I now walk into establishments without hesitation, and no longer worry that I will not be able to order something I don't want to eat.  There isn't much of Korean cuisine that I won't eat (except that live octopus and fried silk worms).  

Speaking of Korean food, I was worried it would be too spicy or I wouldn't like it.  Neither fear has turned out to be true.  At times it can get a bit repetitive.  Koreans have this red sauce made out of what I assume is peppers and other spices, and it is pervasive in their cooking.  It's in the kimchee, the stews, the bibimbap, the tofu.  Often one longs for a simple steak, potatoes, and green beans, but those are hard to find.  If I want western food, I know where to get it.  When I return, though, I am more determine to cook at home.  Now that I know where to shop, and my kitchen is better provisioned, cooking will be easier.  Also, working out with my trainer has inspired me to change my diet slightly so I can lose the fat around my waist.  That means eating less fried food.  Koreans love things fried - chicken, pork, tofu. It's delicious, but I hate to think about the fat.  Supposedly the kimchee helps to eliminate that fat, but I have my doubts.

During my time here, I have grown to love many things.  Seoul is a vibrant, ever-changing city.  As its economy booms, so does the construction.  The neighborhood around our school is a sea of scaffolding and cranes.  Apartment buildings arise at a surprising rate.  Stores and restaurants can open over night (and close equally as fast).  I can walk down the street in Itaewon one week, and the following week, three new restaurants have opened.  The subway system is a marvel and probably the best in the world.  Clean, efficient, safe.  In the States, I would never consider using a public bathroom in the subway.  Here, I have no problem with using public facilities (even when the old cleaning lady comes into the bathroom and mops the floor directly in front of me while I'm urinating).  In fact, finding a bathroom in Seoul is remarkably easy.  Why is it so difficult in cities like New York where you must buy something to use the bathroom?

Driving in Seoul, even with the traffic, is a thrill.  Granted, it's difficult and without my GPS I probably wouldn't venture out as much as I do, but I do enjoy being on the road.  I have frequently made the wrong turn.  The reason being is that the roads intersect and merge so frequently that it's hard to distinguish which way to go.  To imagine it, take both hands, splay them open, and imagine each finger is a lane or road.  Then, imagine looking at this image on a small screen while driving 60 miles an hour and watching out for the erratic driving behavior of the Koreans.  I have to watch the kilometers click down, make sure I'm in the right lane, and keep my eye on the screen because the image changes right before I'm supposed to make the turn.  It's multi-tasking at its best.  Still, getting lost is part of the experience, and usually correcting one's course is pretty easy (with the exception of the time I missed one exit and that resulted in an additional 45-minute course correction).

Koreans are equally friendly and distant.  The older Koreans (who are referred to as ajummas and ajeossis) are quite curious about you.  They will openly stare at you, touch you, and speak to  you (even when you don't understand a word they are saying).  I've had my arm petted, my hair stroked, and comments made about my body while showering.  The young Koreans are vain, fashion conscious, and frequently oblivious.  They live in their phones. The other day I watched a young girl take about thirty self-portraits while riding the subway.  She would purse her lips, tilt her head to the left, then to the right, and snap, snap, snap.  She did this for 30 minutes.  Boys will take every opportunity to straighten their hair in any reflection they can find.  The style of dress is tight, colorful, and tailored.  Girls use whitening creams, and cake on the white foundation so much they look dead.  Boys use foundation as well, but insist that it is not make-up.  Many young Asians have double-lid surgery by the time they graduate high school.  Double-lid eye surgery adds a flap or crease to both the upper and lower lid of the eye.  It widens the eye and makes it look more western.  It also sometimes widens it so much that they look perpetually surprised - like a mock up of Betty Boop. Nose jobs, chin implants, breast enhancements, and botox are prevalent.  Beauty reigns in Seoul, and there are many beautiful people here.  

All in all, it's been a transformative year for me.  I'm feeling happy again.  The guilt of feeling happy again has also begun to fade (those of whom have lost someone dear will understand that feeling).  It doesn't mean I miss Martin any less.  I think about him every day.  It just means I've moved past the pain and have begun to think about future.  I fly home in one week and I will be thrilled to see everyone again.  I just wonder how long it will take, though, before I start wanting to come home - to Seoul.

Mastering the Metro

Now that I commute to my gym three times a week, and after ten months of living in Seoul, I have finally mastered the Seoul Subway System.  Now don't get me wrong.  The subway in Seoul is very easy to use and is by far the best subway system I've ever used, but there are additional tricks one needs to learn in order to avoid the added hassles that can come from living in a city of 27 million people.  

I'm skipping Seoul Subway 101 and going right to the 300 level class.  Step One:  Learn which subway car will deposit you closest to your intended exit.  This takes some practice, but the easiest way is to look at the numbers written on the floor of the station.  If you can remember the number you will save yourself the hassle of having to fight through throngs of people to get to the closest exit.  This technique is especially important when changing lines at stations such as Wangsimni.  From the Bundang line, you want the car that will place you directly opposite the escalator leading down to the other lines.  Otherwise, you're stuck in a terrible traffic jam as people elbow their way towards the escalator.  

Step Two: Upon entering the car, position yourself quickly to allow easy access to the exit.  If you're only going two stops, enter the car, grab the nearest pole, twist yourself about and stand there.  Depending on the crowd behind you, increase your grip on the pole.  Sometimes the sea of people behind you can cause tremendous pressure.  Hold on tight or risk being swept deeper into the car.  You never want to be stuck in the middle of the car without anything to grab onto other than your fellow passengers.  

Step Three:  Two stops before your intended station, head towards the door as if you're about to exit.  Right before leaving the car, stop.  This move will ensure that you're closest to the door and have effectively blocked the ajummas (old ladies) from getting in front of you.  Never get stuck behind an ajumma.  They will prevent you from trying to pass them.  They will also try very hard to get in front of you.  Note:  Don't fuck with ajummas.  These are women to reckon with and they fight dirty.  I have been pushed, poked, pinched, and hit by them.  Their sense of entitlement is unlimited, and all sense of decorum vanishes around them.  Don't be fooled! These are not the blue-haired women of the States, but short, stout linebackers with permed, dyed hair and gigantic visors used as a means to better scope out their prey.  They're loud, aggressive, and basically don't give a shit.  Stand strong!

Step Four:  Look down as you walk through the subway stations.  I used to think that Koreans had no sense of spatial awareness, or "spider sense" as I coined it, but I have changed my opinion on this matter.  They actually have an incredibly acute sense of spatial awareness given that the majority of them walk around with their heads down staring at their phones.  If you walk with your head up and try to map your course, they view this as a challenge, and will not get out of your way.  Instead, keep your head down and trust in the fact that people will move.  To borrow from Star Wars "Use the Force, Luke."  This method takes effort because you're  sure someone is going to slam into you, but if you don't look where you're going, the crowds will part for you.  This trick is especially helpful when walking up subway steps since the unwritten rule of walking up the right side of the staircase goes out the window during rush hour.  During rush hour, Koreans will flood down the stairwells, filling all available space.  If you're unfortunate enough to be going up, it can feel as if you're a salmon forcing itself upstream.  Again, look down and push forward.  The tide will part as effectively as Mose's parting the Red Sea.  

Step 5:  Exiting the station.  Upon approaching the turnstiles, have your subway card at ready.  Do not pause when approaching.  Any sign of hesitation is an opening for someone to jump ahead of you.  Koreans view this as a sign of weakness.  Ajummas are always looking for openings, or it may be a young girl wearing headphones who is trying to text on her phone while also trying to swipe it against the sensor pad.  Invariably this moves fails and the girl will stop dead as she continues to rub her phone against the pad until the amount registers. To avoid these sudden stops, walk confidently toward the turnstiles, and pretend as if no one is trying to cut ahead of you.  Just plow forward until you meet your goal. Keep in mind, you won't make anyone angry by cutting them off since everyone around you would do the same thing given the opportunity.  

Step 6:  Getting a seat.  If you have a long subway ride ahead of you, the best place to stand for getting one is by the doors.  It seems that the seats which open more frequently are those closest to the door.  The middle seats tend to stay filled. Also, watch the body language of your fellow passengers.  When someone looks up from his or her phone as the train comes into the station, that's a good indication he or she is about to get up since not much else causes a Seoul subway rider to look up. When you see that sign, move towards them.  9 times out 10, it works.   

These six simple steps will eliminate some of frustration that can come from riding the Seoul metro.  

Forgotten Tale

January 31st, 2013 - Rocky Horror Picture Show

As I was reviewing past blog posts, I realized I had to forgotten to write about my favorite event of my whole Australian adventure - Rocky Horror!  Before even setting foot in Australia, I had struck up an online friendship with Steve (the guy in the blond wig).  We had spoken off and on for almost a year.  When I was planning my trip to Melbourne, he told me about his New Year's Eve plans and how a group of his friends were taking a limo to see Rocky Horror.  He asked if I'd be interested.  Now I hadn't seen the Rocky Horror Show since the early 80s.  They used to show it on Long Island, and I went several times with my then girlfriend, Donna.  I had gone enough times that I knew when to throw out the best lines, when to toss rice, and when to hide under newspapers.  I figured what the heck, and said yes.

After arriving to Melbourne and meeting Steve for drinks, then dinner, then more drinks, I realized I had to decide on a costume.  The easy way out was to go as Brad Majors, the geeky male lead.  Many people have actually told me I look like the actor who played Brad, so I figured how hard would it be to get a lab coat?  I discovered a costume rental store in Melbourne and made my way there.  The young lady who greeted me was fabulous.  I told her about my plans.  She asked if I would go as Brad from the beginning of the movie or Brad at the end.  I sheepishly said the beginning (when Brad simply wears chinos, a white shirt, and a jacket).  She said that was out of the question. I could not travel to Melbourne for a New Year's Eve party and not live it to the fullest.  Before I knew it, she had a corset, fishnets, boas, hot pants, and garters out.  She pushed me into a changing room and said try them on.  It was a struggle to put on those objects (believe it or not, I had never done drag before).  At one point she pulled open the curtain just as a group of high school girls were walking by.  They burst out laughing and the sales clerks chiding them, saying "Girls, eyes forward please."  After a few adjustments, she declared me complete.  What else could I do but say yes?  The only issues were shoes.  They didn't have a size 12 that fit me comfortably.  She recommended Target.  

As luck would have it, my dear friend John from SIS was visiting Melbourne at the same time.  He graciously agreed to accompany me to Target to help buy shoes since I was very nervous.  When we arrived, I think I told everyone I came across in the store that I was buying shoes for a costume party and not for myself.  John immediately began picking out size 12 shoes, but it was hard to squeeze my wide foot into close-toed shoes.  There weren't many size 12s and I was beginning to despair that I might have to wear flats. Suddenly this husky voice woman strolled by, dropped a pair of wedges at my feet, and said, "This is what you're looking for honey."  I looked up and thanked her.  I realized almost immediately that she was a transexual.  As soon as I slipped my feet into the shoes, I knew she was right.  They were open-toed and fit like flip-flops.  No pinching.  Still, the heel was quite steep and took some practice to walk in them.  

That evening I went to Steve's apartment and his friend, a professional drag queen, put on my make-up.  He had me turn away from the mirror as he applied the make-up.  When I turned around, I gasped.  I could not believe how different I looked.  It was quite surreal to see oneself  look so different.  I kept starting in disbelief.  It wasn't long after that it was time to put the full outfit on. In no time I was prancing around the apartment in full drag.  The boa was itchy and I felt unsteady on the heels, but I was ready.

Fortunately the van met us right at the door, but the driver certainly gave us a few strange looks. We arrived to the theater and once inside I felt perfectly at home.  Many people were in costume.  In classic Rocky Horror, before the movie began, they have a Best Costume nomination.  They called all of us up onto the stage.  There must've been forty people dressed in full Rocky Horror garb.  Steve went as Rocky in a gold speedo and blond wig (and killer body).  I was Brad, and Steve's friend Simon (the make-up artist) was a version of Brad and Janet.  Well, out of the 40 or so people, all three of us made the top 5!  To determine the winner, each person had to sing part of the song "Time Warp."  Now I hadn't seen the movie in over 20 years, so I barely remembered the lyrics.  When it came to my turn, I fully bungled it, but I had a loyal following in the audience.  It turned out that the young kid playing Riff Raff won, as he should've because his costume was great and he nailed the lip synching.  He was so sweet.  He came up to me afterwards and complimented me on my costume, as did several young ladies.  These same ladies kept pulling me up to the front of the theater to dance during the musical numbers.  After a few hours in those heels, though, my feet were killing me.  

After the movie, we hung out in the lobby for a while, snapping photos.  The van arrived, and we all piled inside for the ride back to Steve's place.  I wasn't in the apartment more than five minutes before I took of that outfit and make-up.  People I had met after the make-up couldn't believe the difference in appearance!  The rest of the night was spent drinking champagne and celebrating New Year's.  In Melbourne, they launch fireworks from the top of the buildings.  Steve's balcony overlooks the downtown and we had a beautiful view of the fireworks.  It was a magical moment.  After the New Year's kissing and fireworks, Steve put on a beautiful rendition of Au Lang Syne.  That song is a killer and always sad and of course I thought of Martin.  I grew a little emotional, but tried to hide it.  One of the guests and Rocky Horror participants noticed and came over to ask if I were OK.  I told him why and he gave me a big hug.  It was very sweet and comforting.  The whole evening was memorable and one of the multiple reasons why I fell in love with Melbourne.  It's a magical city filled with wonderful people.  

Koh Samui, Thailand

Beach in front of my hotel.  

Getting to Koh Samui proved pretty easy.  Bangkok Air has a huge operation at the airport.  They even have their own free airport lounge (which I sort of resented because I couldn't use my Priority Pass and had to sit with everyone else - yes, I've become spoiled).  I arrived in plenty of time since I had to leave my hotel room at noon.  The flight to the island was about an hour and ten minutes.  I knew the plane would be a prop plane, and I was correct.  I actually don't mind prop planes.  Martin used to tell me that they're much safer then jets because even if the engines failed, you could still have some control over the plane.  I'm not sure if this were true or not, but I chose to believe him.  

They managed to serve a meal on this flight and I must say it was better than what they served on Jin Air from Seoul to Bangkok.  Of course that isn't saying much because that meal on Jin Air is pretty disgusting.  That's what you get for flying a budget airline.  Upon arrival, the terminal was just a series of huts connected by walkways.  My luggage came pretty quickly.  I had called ahead for a taxi but when I got to the meeting place there was no taxi. I called and they said they'd call me back.  Twenty minutes later the taxi drives up. The driver asked how long I had been waiting and I said twenty minutes and he said, "Great!"  I think that was the wrong response.  

What killed me is they have a set taxi fee of 440 baht, which is about $13 dollars.  I can go from Bangkok Airport to any downtown hotel (which is a 30 minute ride on the highway) for about 300 baht.  I was OK with the 440 because I had read that was the average cost, but the driver drove about 5 minutes and I was at the hotel.  I said to him - 440 baht for that trip?  He said, "Great!"  I realized I wasn't going to win this battle.

I was definitely on island time.  Check-in took forever.  First off, they had me leave my bag at the bottom of the steps with about 20 other bags.  I told the guy I didn't want to leave my bag there because it was going to go with the other bags.  He said, "no problem. It will be fine."  At the registration desk, they sit you down and give you a cool drink, which was nice since I was still fuming about the taxi.  Ten minutes later someone comes over to explain how the room key works, as if I've never used a slot key before.  15 minutes later someone comes by to show me my room.  When we go down the stairs she asks which bag is mine, I told her none of them.  As I suspected, my bag went with the other bags.  She says, "no worries, we will find it!"  She didn't even know what it looked like, nor did she ask.  This did not add to my good mood.

My room was located at the top of a mountain.  You had to take a golf cart up this 45 degree hill. Sitting on the back of the cart, I had to hold on for dear life for fear of slipping off the back.  The room itself wasn't as nice as it looked on the website, but the view was spectacular.  And actually, after I cooled off, the room looked better.  The bathroom was actually very cool - all colored concrete and tile.  The vanity, though, was up-lighted with yellow lights - not very flattering.  It made one look like Jack Nicholson from The Shining.  

After unpacking I went to explore.  The hotel has two pools - one on the hillside and one by the beach.  The one on the hillside is quite pretty.  It has two levels, a built-in bar, and a beautiful view of the sea.  The one by the ocean is quite nice as well, but smaller and not nearly as many places to lay down.  The beach is isolated, but a bit rough.  I went swimming in the ocean yesterday and the bottom was covered with sharp rocks and coral.  I now understood why no one was swimming there.  

View from my room.

Since I didn't arrive to the hotel until 5 PM, I didn't do much other than eat dinner and relax.  The next morning I took the shuttle into Chweng, the big beach area.  Prior to going to Chweng I was a little annoyed that  my hotel was so far away.  After arriving to Chweng, I was grateful that my hotel was so far away.  Though Chweng beach is pretty, it's jammed packed with beach resorts.  The town itself is one long road filled with touristy shops.  The bus actually dropped me off in town and I had no idea where the beach was.  You cannot see the beach from the main strip.  I had to ask a shop owner where the beach was located.  In order to access the beach, you had to walk through one of the many resorts since they took up all the prime real estate.  This walking enabled me to see places I had scoped out online and realized I made the right choice.  My pools were much nicer than what I was seeing.  And unlike my resort where no one uses the pools, here they were packed.  I strolled along the beach and took some photos.

Chweng Beach

I then headed back to the main drag to tour the shops and find some lunch.  Off the beach, the main strip was baking hot.  The merchants all try to lure you into their shops, and they are even more persistent than in Bangkok, especially the suit makers.  I sometimes have to physically pull away from the them.  On my walk, I came across a photo gallery with beautiful shots of temples in Cambodia.  One picture had this amazing temple with one lone monk walking.  The temple was all grey and twisted looking and the monk's robe was a bright orange.  I knew I was going to buy it.  For a print the size of my sofa at the apartment, and for a limited edition that was signed, it was quite reasonably priced.  And since it came rolled up in a tube, it would be easy to transport.  

After my purchase I had a great Thai lunch.  As I noted on Facebook, all the Thai restaurants I passed were empty, and this was lunch time, but the one lone British pub was packed with white tourists.  I looked at the menu, and saw fish and chips, shepherd's pie, etc and was amazed people would come to Thailand and eat that over the fresh fish, delicious fruit, and great flavors of Thailand. One of my sole reasons for travel is to try the food in other countries.  Why people would limit themselves to what they know best I have no idea.

After lunch I took a taxi back and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the pool and sitting at the pool bar.  I love being able to sit in the water and order my drinks.  As mentioned earlier, I did try the ocean.  The water was warmer than the water in my shower, and I would've stayed in longer, but the bottom was filled with coral I was afraid it would cut my feet.  I remember my brother Joe once got an infection in his foot from coral and I didn't want that to happen. 

Right now, it's Wednesday morning and I'm sitting on my deck typing my blog.  It's a bit more humid today than yesterday, so I think my day will consist of the pool, the pool, and yes, probably the pool.  As I told my friends at work, this vacation is very unusual for me.  I usually like to go to places and tour around.  I rarely just sit in one spot and do nothing.  But on an island what else is there to do?  I might head into town later for dinner.  Who knows?

Spring Break

I haven't posted since February 9th!  God, I'm losing all my readership.  It's hard to maintain a blog, but I am going to do a better a job about it.  First, I weaning myself off of Facebook - which I found has taken over my life.  I hope with the added time, I'll be able to write more in the blog.  Part of the problem is that these entries take a long time, so I think I'll write shorter ones that don't focus on so much detail.   Of course, occasionally I'll throw in a really long entry!

Well, I promised in my last entry I would talk about the Reclining Buddha, but it's been so long, I almost forget.  I'll give you the 2 cents version:  We decided to leave the third day of the conference mid-way through the day since it was basically a repeat of what we had learned the first two days.  We made our way down to the ferry terminal and hoped aboard a riverboat.  This was my first time on the river.  Unlike the Han River in Seoul, the river through Bangkok is quite busy.  Boats are everywhere.  The ferry pulls up to the dock and everyone jumps aboard. It was a beautiful day for Bangkok - sunny and not too hot.  The trip took only about 20 minutes, which if I had known this a few days before, I would've avoided that scary motorcycle trip I took.  When we docked, we were right next to the restaurant where I had dined the night before.  We easily found our way to the Reclining Buddha.  What an amazing place.  First off, the Buddha is huge.  Like a three story building laying on its side. When we entered, an employee offered to take us around on a tour.  My friends were suspicious and didn't want to have anything to do with him.  He was charging 500 baht, which is like 2 dollars!  I said I would pay, and I'm glad I did.  He  gave a great tour, and told us things we would never had learned without him.  I found out in Thailand there is a different Buddha for the day of the week. Since I was born on a Friday, my Buddha is the one sitting up with this hands clasped before him. 

The place was huge.  There were over 327 gold-covered Buddhas positioned around the grounds.  We spent over an hour just wandering through the buildings.  At the end of the tour, our guide took us to the gift shop.  Inside, a man was reading palms.  I decided to get my palm read.  He was amazingly accurate.  He told me lots of great things which at the time I remembered, but a month later I don't remember much.  He did say that as I have aged, I have learned patience, and this has made me a better person.  After the age of 50, he said, this trait will reward me handsomely and my future from 50 onwards is very bright.  Once again, like another psychic told me, I'm not destined to have another relationship.  Hmmm.  

After the tour, we went across the street and enjoyed beers while waiting for dinner.  We ended up eating dinner at the same restaurant I ate in the night before.  Which was fine since the food was delicious. Today was our final day in Bangkok and it was a nice way to end a great conference and trip with friends.

Jump ahead to now!  Yes, folks once again I'm in Thailand.  I had decided to take this trip, though, months before I knew I would end up visiting Bangkok two more times (I was just here two weeks ago for a school accreditation visit.  Not much to tell about that trip since it was all work).  I arrived late Friday evening and since this was now my fourth trip to Bangkok, I navigated the airport and taxi service with ease.  At the hotel, they upgraded my suite to a two-bedroom palace.  I have 2.5 bathrooms, a kitchen with its own washer and dryer, two separate living rooms, two huge balconies.  All for the amazing rate of $134 dollars a night.  Bangkok has had a rough several months with the Red Shirts protesting the current president.  Riots and protests have kept the tourists down.  I think since the hotel was so empty, they decided to impress me.  They certainly did.

Saturday morning I was determined to see more of Bangkok, but I woke to cloudy skies.  Soon after, it began to pour.  Which was fine since I didn't need any excuse to just laze around the hotel room. I had a great breakfast, and since my trainer is counting on me, I even worked out for an hour.  Then I came back, and went out for lunch.  The hotel recommended this nice thai restaurant, which it was, but I was the only person eating there.  Still, I had delicious Tom Ka Gai (my favorite soup) and a nice shrimp salad.  At this point, I was sleepy, so I went back to the room and took a nap.  When I woke up, I started to get ready for the evening.  I took the Sky Train over to Nana, a region known for its restaurants and bars, had a thai massage, and then went to dinner.  I hopped on my new favorite mode of transportation, the motorbike, and off we went. The driver didn't really know where the restaurant was located, so we had to ask several times.  We finally made it.  As it turns out, the owner of the restaurant is gay and the restaurant was very gay.  I ate at the bar, which I actually prefer to do at fancy restaurants, and had a great meal, though rather expensive for Thailand.  The guy behind the bar lived in NYC for 8 years and we had a lot to talk about.  

After dinner, I strolled the streets of Bangkok as women tried to lure me into bars, merchants tried to sell me fake Rolexes, and tourists bumped into me as they gaped with amazement.  With this being my fourth time here, I've grown very fond of the night markets. They don't shock me . Once you relax, you can just enjoy the spectacle of it.  The merchants can tell the suckers from the experienced people, and I guess I now have that experienced look so they rarely solicit me.  I didn't stay out long.  I was in bed by 11 PM.

It's now Sunday morning and I am determined to leave the hotel!  Tomorrow I fly to Koh Samui, an island off the coast of Thailand.  I'm excited to see the beach.  I'll write more when I arrive.

Bangkok Again!

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of returning to Bangkok.  Once again I was attending another conference -- this time with two friends/colleagues, neither of whom had been to Bangkok before.  Having been there only once I now considered myself an expert on everything Bangkok.  We arrived around 9:30 PM on an uneventful flight.  Customs was a breeze and it wasn't long before we were in our separate taxis.  David and Peter were staying at the Conrad Hotel where the conference was being held, but I chose to stay at a cheaper hotel since the expense of this trip was coming out of my own professional development fund. I opted for the Pullman, a 5-star hotel that only cost $90 dollars a night.  It's a very sleek, fashionable hotel very much in the W style.  You know the type, the one with elevators so dark you can't see the numbers?  All the staff walked around in jeans with cuffs, and tight white t-shirts.  I had to say they actually looked pretty hot.  My room was stark white.  White wood floors, white furniture, walls, duvet cover, and black and white art on the wall.  It appealed to my new found modern aesthetic.   

My hotel wasn't particularly close to the conference hotel.  I had to take the Sky Train (the monorail system used in Bangkok).  I rode the Sky Train the last time I was there, so that experience made it much easier to navigate.  The weather this time was not nearly as oppressive as it was in November.  Don't get me wrong, it was still hot, but not so humid.  I navigated to the correct stop, but then got off at the wrong exit and ended up walking 15-minutes in the wrong direction (this was a recurring habit throughout the trip).  Which meant walking back 15 minutes in the right direction and then another 10 minutes to the hotel.  I was drenched by the time I arrived.  The Conrad is a beautiful hotel - it's supposedly rated one of the best hotels in Bangkok.  It had one of the few conferences rooms that I've been in which was not hideously decorated.  David and Peter joined me shortly and we spent the day at the conference.  We agreed to meet up again around 5:30 to go to dinner.  We were going to eat at Cabbages and Condoms, a well-known institute for tourists.  It was started as a means of promoting awareness and educating folks about the importance of safe sex.  Much of the proceeds from the restaurant go to support AIDS awareness.  

I went for a thai massage before meeting my friends.  Thai massages are famous throughout Bangkok.  They supposedly use a form of pressure points to relieve stress.  They tend to use too much oil for my liking.  Plus "massage" is really only a euphemism for other things.  Enough on that topic.

After meeting up with David and Peter we hopped on the SkyTrain and found the restaurant without any problem.  As you enter the restaurant, you stroll down this covered walkway in which water mists down around you (as if the air in Bangkok weren't humid enough).  There were several cardboard cut-outs shaped like condoms in which you could poke your head through for a photo, but none of us wanted those pictures to end up on Facebook.  The restaurant has a beautiful outside seating area filled with trees, lush plants, and twinkling lights.  There is also a giant Santa Claus and a couple of reindeers made from colored condoms.  The menu was typical Thai and since this was my first real Thai meal in Thailand I opted for the pad thai.  It tasted remarkably the same as pad thai in the states.  I didn't know if this meant that pad thai is easily reproduced in the states, or that this was just mediocre pad thai.  The food was good, but nothing to write home about (though I guess I just did).  Sitting in the courtyard enjoying the sights was what made the experience worthwhile.  

After dinner I went to visit the Soi Cowboy region of Bangkok, otherwise known as the Land of Strip Clubs for Horny Foreigners.  I had already seen it during my last trip to Bangkok but I didn't go into any of the establishments because this wasn't my neck of the woods.  The male strip clubs are actually closer to my hotel (hence my choice of location).  In Soi Cowboy, there are so many places to choose from I didn't know which ones were best. Imagine walking down the Strip in Las Vegas and you get a sense of what the place looks like.  I went up to some lady boys (who were prettier than most of the working girls we saw - Bangkok is filled with lady boys and part of the fun is trying to guess whether someone you pass is a girl or a boy) and I asked them which bar was best.  They pointed across the street and that's the one I went too.  Bars in Bangkok are quite different than your image of strip clubs in the USA.  Inside, there is a center dance floor surrounded by upholstered banquettes.  You choose a sofa and a waitress will take your order for drinks.  The dance floor is filled with women who simply stand there and sway a bit to the music.  They all wear badges with numbers on them.  These numbers are used to "order" which girl you want to come over and sit with you.  The big difference in Bangkok is that the girls don't really do anything on stage.  There are poles and such, but they mostly just stand around and look bored.  And there isn't just one girl on stage performing, but about 15. They also arrive in shifts.  After ten minutes of anemic, zombie-like movements, the whole group exits and another fresh crop of lethargic ladies enter.  On the first floor all the girls remained clothed.  I learned from the lady boys to go to the second floor, which I promptly did.  Up there, it was a similar setting with the exception that these ladies took their tops off.  This change of scenery did nothing for me and I spent much of my time playing with my phone. Suddenly a girl arrived and plopped herself next to me.   She wasn't working that night, but I assumed she was working.  She wanted me to buy her a drink.   She was very chatty and kind of dumb.  But funny in Betty Boop sort of way.  She answered many of of my questions, including something I already knew - that any of the girls on the floor would happily go back to your hotel room for cost of only a few drinks.  The girl seemed to take a shine to me and tried to use her wily feminine ways on me.  When I didn't respond, she asked me if I found her attractive.  I politely told her she was the wrong gender.  Wrong thing to say.  She squealed in delight and said she loved gay boys, and that she would make me straight.  This proclamation was followed by her pushing my face against her chest.  Not once, but several times throughout the course of the evening.  I put up with it for a while, but it soon grew annoying.  I left the club shortly after and headed back to the hotel.

The next evening I went to meet three former teachers from my teaching days in Silver Spring, Maryland.  They are all retired now and were on a cruise with their significant others.  As luck would have it, we were in Bangkok at the same time!  I made reservations at a restaurant a colleague recommended.  It had an incredible view overlooking the river and the Temple of the Dog.  It was a beautiful spot, but having never been there before, I had no idea how far it was from my hotel.  I took the Sky Train to the ferry terminal and was going to take a river boat to the restaurant.  I wasn't sure how long the trip would take, and I was already running late.  I decided to risk it and instead jumped on the back of one of the motorcycle taxis.  These motor bikes are rampant in Bangkok.  They don't obey any traffic laws.  Instead they wend their way through traffic, narrowly avoiding scraping the sides of cars. Given the standstill nature of traffic, the bikes are the only way to get through congested areas.  If the road is blocked, no problem, they just leap the curb and drive on the sidewalk. The passengers hold on for dear life.  I negotiated a fee with the driver (a whopping 200 baht - about $6 dollars).  He gave me a helmet, which I never see passengers use, and told me to hang on.  I must say that was the scariest and most exhilarating ride of my life.  The bike zoomed down the road.  When we hit traffic, he wove his way between cars, searching for gaps.  After my initial fear I began to anticipate where he would go next and I would lean with him.  Our route took us through China Town, and it was Chinese New Year!  You could imagine how crowded that area was.  No problem, weaving between people is no different then cars.  After that, the crowds died down and we found ourselves on wide open road.  The driver floored it, racing over bumps that nearly tossed me from the bike.  He thought that was funny and laughed gleefully.  Twenty minutes later I arrived.  I was only ten minutes late!  After that ride I was addicted and only used motorbikes for transportation!

The next day was a special day but I'll save that for another entry.  

Melbourne Mash-Up

Hello again.  I'm now home in Seoul and really behind in my blogs so dates, times, events - throw them out the window since I have no memory of specific events.  Still a lot of things happened to me in Melbourne and I want to share them.

First off, I haven't really spoken much about the city of Melbourne.  Melbourne is a truly lovely city, planned and maintained to perfection.  There are beautiful parks throughout, and the architecture is a lovely blend of colonial and Victorian.  The area in which I stayed is called East Melbourne.  It feels as if you're walking through Savannah, Georgia as you stroll down the streets.  The lattice work, sweeping porches, beautiful front gardens all contribute to its charming, historic past.  Plus East Melbourne is in walking distance to the CBD (Central Business District) - a term I did not know prior to coming to Australia.  The CBD is very well organised considering that the city was planned.  Collins Street is the main thoroughfare and that's bisected by several other main streets.  The City Hall and other government buildings are beautiful.  The city has shopping arcades very much like Paris.  You enter through an archway and you're inside a covered courtyard and high end stores.  You can walk blocks through these arcades.  

The only weird thing about Melbourne is the weather.  The temperatures can fluctuate to extremes.  Many mornings I was walking with a coat on, but by mid-day it's in the 90s, then at night it can plummet to the 50s.  It was almost guaranteed that one day I would be freezing, and the next day roasting.  The Australian sun is particularly strong.  The natives say it's because of a hole in the ozone layer.  Given how fast and easily I burned, I have no doubt this is true.  Also, Melbourne is very windy.  If the wind comes down from the continent, it's warm and windy.  If the wind comes up from the ocean, it's freezing and windy.  Still, despite the weather, I fell completely in love with this city.  A lot of thought has gone into maintaining the antiquity of the buildings, creating public spaces that are inviting, and making sure that the gardens and green spaces are lush and vibrant.  

One day I took a bus tour to the wineries.  The tour started off a little lame.  We went to this nature preserve and stopped for tea.  There was a section where you can feed the cockatoos.  I had heard that cockatoos were wild in Australia, but didn't expect hundreds of them to be flying around.  There was an area roped off for the feeding.  The guide gives you food on a giant metal plate (it looked like a chip and salsa dish) and as soon as you leave the building ten birds swoop down onto the plate and you're left struggling trying to hold it up.  Cockatoos are not light birds.  One bird landed on my shoulder and decided he liked it up there just fine.  He wouldn't get off.  I tried offering him food, offering him other people's food, but to no avail.  So for 20 minutes I walked around with a bird on my shoulder.  I finally asked the bird keeper to take it off.  This wasn't the lame part of the morning.  That came with the ride of Puffing Billy - the steam train.

I like steam trains and I rode a great one in Durango Colorado.  I had high expectations for Puffing Billy.  As it turns out, they were too high.  The train was rather small, and the cars were filled with overly pushy Asian tourists.  They swept down into the cars and before you knew it were sitting on the window ledges hanging their feet over the side of the train, effectively blocking the view of anyone who chose to sit in the seats (like me).  They didn't seem to mind at all that they were completely blocking the view of the other passengers.  Everyone was taking pictures flashing the victory sign.  When the train finally started moving, it crawled along. I could've walked faster then the train was going.  It climbed a steep hill, but there really wasn't much to see besides vegetation.  Which was good because really all you could see were the asses of the Asian tourist hanging over the sides taking pictures of really nothing at all.  I think the ride lasted 30-minutes and we traveled the distance of perhaps one mile.  I was happy to get off and get back on the bus.

The trip to the wineries was through some beautiful countryside.  Everywhere you drive in that part of Australia, though, you see evidence of bush fires.  These bush fires devastate the land almost every year.  Because Australia is so dry, and that part of the continent is so windy, bush fires are inevitable.  It's hard to find  a tree that isn't blackened by fire.  The first winery we visited was very large.  It had its only helicopter pad, a four star restaurant and a giant stage where they hosted big name acts.  The wine was actually pretty good.  Australia produces some great wine, but many of the good wines aren't exported to the US.  Apparently the US hits them with a 45% tax!  That's unfortunate because the wines I sampled were very good.  At the second winery we went too, we had lunch.  The lunch was buffet style but really good.  The wines were even better here than at the first winery.  After lunch we stopped at a chocolate factory and sampled free chocolate.  Two more wineries afterwards and we headed back into Melbourne.  Once again we drove through beautiful farmland and countryside.  Victoria is a lovely part of the country.  

Melbourne Part II

Great Ocean Road

Ok, two weeks into my Aussie vacation and my lackadaisical blog entries have resulted in me blurring all the events together.  I usually pride myself on my memory of events, but I can't even  remember what day I did things.  So instead, you're getting the greatest hits version of Melbourne.  I do remember my trip to the Great Ocean Road very well.  It was one the highlights of my trip.  To begin, I had to board the bus at 7:15 AM.  It was great that they picked me up at my hotel.  I was exhausted from the night before and so as soon as I was on the bus, I was asleep pretty quickly.  Fortunately the trip down to the Great Ocean Road took about two hours, so I was able to get a few winks in before I needed to see anything.  Our first stop was really not very interesting.  It was more of a pee break than anything else, but the driver did make some billy tea.  Billy tea is tea brewed in buckets.  He also served Vegamite on crackers which I avoided like the plague.  Vegamite tastes like tar.  Fortunately he had something called Lanny cakes that were little tea cakes with coconut.  Since I didn't have time for breakfast I scarfed a few of them down.

After tea we entered the Great Ocean Road.  The road was built by soldiers in the earlier twenties and took years to build.  It wraps the coastline and offers spectacular views.  We were on a double-decker bus, and since the driver who picked us up told the early bird passengers to sit on the left-hand side of the bus, I had a prime viewing spot.  It was also a scary spot because as the road twisted upwards, the bus clung precariously to the edge.  I grasped the seat in front of me on several occasions as I saw the terrifying abyss below us.  The weather that day wasn't great, so the ocean wasn't as brilliant as it should've been.  The driver insisted that the weather would clear, but I was doubtful.  Fortunately, as we pulled into the parking lot to view The Twelve Apostles, the clouds parted and the sun came out.  The Twelve Apostles are a series of twelve rocks that were part of  cliff face, but then the sea eroded the land around them, so that they now stand like sentinels along the coast.  And unfortunately there are no longer twelve of them.  Four have since dropped into the ocean.  You can't really see the Apostles from the road.   You have to park and walk under the highway, and then along a path that leads to the cliff's edge. Suddenly they come into frame and they are breathtaking.  Massive red rocks rising up from the sea.  I believe it was one of the greatest of views.  There is a path that runs the length of the cliff face and you can get amazing views of the sea, the Apostles, and the cliff face.  

Our next stop took us to a set of stairs that were carved into the cliff face.  There were 104 steps leading down to the sand.  I braved the steps and walked down to the ocean.  When you get to the bottom, the cliffs tower over you.  The different colored striations of rock were beautiful.  Walking back up the 104 steps wasn't easy.  The steps were high and uneven.  Also, it was very hard to pass people coming down since the steps were so narrow.  I made it up ok, though quite out of breath.

After the steps, we went to a gorge (pictured above) as well as a natural stone bridge that has also collapsed. The views from the gorge were even more spectacular than the Twelve Apostles.  I was able to walk down more steps to a private cove and view the narrow opening that led out to the sea. The driver told us a story about a ship that wrecked in this gorge and only two survived the wreck.  They had to climb out of the gorge to get to safety.  Not quite sure how they achieved that feat since the walls rose to scary heights.

The gorge was the last stop on our trip.  We then had a three hour ride to get back to Melbourne.  We had left the city at 8 AM and we wouldn't return until 8 PM - a long time to be on the bus.  And the driver talked the entire time.  The only time he didn't talk was on the drive back as he showed this dreadful movie filmed in Australia.  I thought I'd sleep immediately, but no such luck.  I ended up watching that terrible film.  

Overall it was an amazing trip and one I would recommend to anyone visiting Melbourne.

"…from a land down under where the beer does flow and men chunder"

I have been woefully lax in my blog.  I'd be fired if I were being paid for these entries!  Part of the problem when I'm in Seoul is that I only write when I've done something interesting.  Well, I've been there five months and experienced many interesting things, but most weeks are now pretty routine and dull.  But, here I am in Australia officially one week and I'm just now getting to my first entry.  Events are already beginning to blur (I'm sure alcohol has contributed a bit to that problem).  So my readers, here's the first of probably several long blogs from The Land Down Under.

I left frigid Seoul on a Friday night for the ten hour flight to Sydney.  My plane was over an hour late in taking off, and I knew that delay was going to present a problem with my connecting flight to Melbourne, and it did. Overnight flights are great because I stayed awake about one hour then popped an Ambien and slept pretty well most of the night.  I woke hoping we had made up some time while flying, but no such luck.  To make matters worse we sat on the runway while another plane left the gate.  I was chewing my fingers in anxiety.  I finally reached customs at 9 AM and my connecting flight to Melbourne was 10:25.  I had to first go through customs, retrieve my bag, then check-in with my next airline.  When I saw the line at customs, I knew I was doomed.  Fortunately, I ran into an agent who said I didn't have to stand in that line because my passport was accepted at a kiosk - some sort of Aussie/American agreement, so I skipped all those folks, used the kiosk and flew through customs, where I waited and waited for my bag to come out.  When I finally retrieved my bag it turned out that the domestic terminal is no where near the international terminal.  I had to board a bus (and pay for it mind you) to take me to the domestic terminal.  I arrived at the ticket counter at 10 AM sweating and out of breath.  The line there was massive, but a nice lady directed me to an agent who politely said "I'm sorry, but I just made the last call for that flight, why didn't you come when I called?"  Maybe because I was on a freaking bus you dumb twit!  But I didn't say that - I just begged.  No go.  Off to the Service Desk where the Aussie hospitality really did begin to shine through.  The poor girl took pity on me and called up Qantas, a totally different airline mind you, and got me another flight that left 90 minutes later.  Travesty diverted, I headed over to the Qantas terminal, had some breakfast, and relaxed.

I arrive to Melbourne only 90 minutes after I was scheduled to arrive, and the bus into the city couldn't have been easier.  At Southern Cross Station I was met by a guy whom I had met online prior to coming to Oz.  He was very sweet and gave me a brief tour of the city before dropping me off at the hotel.  We made plans to go out that night.  The hotel is slightly run-down and my room is a bit monastic in size and scope, but it's cheap for Melbourne.  Melbourne, and Australia in general, is very expensive.  Bottles of water cost $3, drinks in bars can run up to $18 dollars, restaurants are very pricey.  I would spend the next several days amazed at the cost differences in this country.

Anyway, after a couple hours of napping and a long awaited hot shower, John came back to the hotel with a friend to pick me up.  We first stopped for dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant.  After that he took me to a party that his friend was hosting.  I arrived into a room of strangers who were all very welcoming.  Copious amounts of wine, Jell-O shots, and other items were consumed.  We left the party and went to a bar called DT's.  They were having a Christmas drag show and it was a rather grim show at that.  Remember Terrence Stamp in Priscilla?  He looked better in drag than these poor ladies.  Still, it was fun.  More alcohol ensued.  While at the bar, another online friend Steve came to see me.  I've been talking with Steve online for almost a year.  We have shared many long conversations, but other than a few pics I had never seen or talked to him in person.  Well, his arrival was wonderful and I fell into a very comfortable conversation with him. Anyway, his arrival came with several bottles of wine and this point of the night, the evening became rather fuzzy.  I do know that I was the last one to shut the door of the bar.  Fade to black.

Fade up to John's apartment the next morning and the mother of all hangovers.  After showering I laid on John's sofa and slept another hour.  At some point coffee was placed in my hand and I began to think I would live.  I offered to take John and his friend who was visiting out to brunch.  We drove down to the St. Kilda area of Melbourne, which is near the bay and found a small little restaurant that made great eggs benedict.  Eggs benedict is wonderful hangover food.  After brunch John drove me back to the hotel and I slept some more, vowing to never drink again.  That vow lasted a couple of hours until I found myself back at DTs with John and friends for afternoon drinks. To my credit, I only had one small glass of wine.  Maybe two.  John and I grabbed some dinner, then he went back to his apartment after dropping me off at the hotel.  That night we agreed to meet at another club that was also hosting a drag show.  John promised me that this one would be better.  I didn't want to stay out late because I had a 7:15 am pick up for a tour of the Great Ocean Road.  John was right, the show was great, but by this time it was 11 PM and I had already past my bed time, so I left early and made it back by 11:30.  

All this happened in about a 48-hour period of arriving to Melbourne.  It was a whirlwind experience.  In my next entry, I'll actually talk about touristy stuff!  

Grocery Shopping - Efforts in Frustration

Though I'm adapting to Korean lifestyle pretty well, I'm entering that fifteen to twenty-four week stage that all expats go through.  This is the time when the excitement has worn off, and all the things you miss about home begin to fill your thoughts.  The biggest area of frustration for me continues to be the supermarket.  Though I'm doing much better than I did before, I still have a long way to go.  

Let's start in the produce section.  Yes, you can get produce, but a limited selection of produce.  They always have bananas, oranges, apples, potatoes, broccoli, bok choy, ginger, and green onions.  The rest is sporadic.  The only fresh herbs I've seen are parsley and occasionally basil.  You want fresh rosemary?  Good luck.  Don't even think about tarragon, cilantro, thyme, bay leaves. Only need one onion?  Nope, you must buy a bag of twenty.  Same with potatoes, apples, and most produce.  Everything is pre-package in huge quantities.  Now there are farmer's markets, but they're not much better.  They have a better selection, granted, but they too sell everything in bulk.  One green pepper?  No, you must by fifteen. What most people do is shop together and split the product, but I'm frequently shopping by myself and don't have this luxury.  When at the supermarket, any product that isn't pre packaged has to be weighed.  Good luck.  If you're fortunate the person working the scale is nearby.  If you're not, you better be familiar with Korean characters to read the different items on the scale.  Alas, no pictures.

Next comes the meat section.  That's a bit easier.  They actually have smaller portions than American meat sections, so it's great for a single guy to get two chicken breast, or a small steak.  My only problem is if you want a particular cut of meat.  Everything is usually diced into stir-fried portions.  Also, Koreans eat a lot of pork.  A LOT OF PORK.  The pork section dominates the meat department.  Beef is really expensive.  How expensive you say?  Well a four-ounce strip steak is probably $15 dollars.  Hence I don't eat a lot of beef.  Chicken isn't badly priced.  Lamb is non-existent.  And despite the proliferation of pig, they don't really have bacon the way we have bacon.  They sell this thick slab stuff that doesn't really crisp.  I tried making it once like bacon and it just turned into this soupy, slimy mess.  

The fish section is great!  But I rarely cook fish.  I never did at home, and I won't here.  They also have all this dried fish that I have no idea what to do with or how to prepare.  They do have great salmon and tuna steaks.  

Now, the frustrating part:  The dry goods section.  Unless you can read Korean, it's a huge guessing game to figure out what you are buying.  Pictures on the boxes, help, but say I wanted to buy a cake mix?  Sure, I can figure out which box that is, but can I read the directions?  No.  I remember I was shopping for vinegar the other day.  I wanted red wine vinegar.  Well, they had a large section of vinegar, but I couldn't tell which one was the red wine vinegar.  And this time pictures didn't help.  In addition to not being able to read the boxes, the portion sizes are ridiculous.  You want a box of chocolate chip cookies?  Sure you can get them.  Each box has about 8 cookies, all individually wrapped.  It explains why Koreans are so skinny, but if you want cookies to last longer than one sitting, you better buy four boxes.  Cereal is also a challenge.  If you love Special K or Frosted Flakes you're golden.  Anything a bit healthier you're out of luck.  I so miss my Kashi cereal.  

The dairy section is equally frustrating. I figured out the skim milk pretty quickly, but if you want cream, or heavy cream that's a bit more difficult to find.  As is yogurt that comes in packaging bigger than 3 ounces.  And the yogurt is much sweeter here and you have two choices - strawberry or blueberry.  Cheese is also not readily available. You can get Kraft slices, and processed cheese, but any French brie, parmesan, or hard cheese is much harder to get.  

And finally, the household section.  By far the thing I miss most in the US is CVS or Walgreens.  In Korea you cannot buy aspirin, bandaids, antacids, acne medicine, peroxide, eye drops, or any of the thousand things that CVS carries in the supermarket.  If you need over the counter medicine like cough syrup or cold and flu medicine, you must go to the pharmacy.  And in the pharmacy you must ask the pharmacist.  None of that stuff is on the shelf.  NONE OF IT.  I've gone weeks without aspirin in the house because I haven't gone down to the pharmacy to ask for some.  It is so freaking inconvenient!  And pharmacies are not in the supermarket.  They are separate stores, and few and far between.  

There are some plusses.  Nuts, especially walnuts, are really cheap here.  Actually most nuts are available and cheaper, such as pistachios.  Beer and soju (rice vodka) are also really cheaper here as well.  Hmmm, that's about it.

So there's my rant against Korean grocery stores.  So for my Maine friends -- next time you go to Shaw's and complain about their crappy produce section, just know it's infinitely better stocked than your average Korean grocery store.

Busan Bound

This weekend I took the bullet train down to Busan to meet a new friend of mine.  He lives in a nearby city and wanted to show me Busan.  Busan is South Korea's second largest city.  It's located on the Southeast side of Korea, about halfway down the length of the country.  It's where many Koreans go in the summer when they head to the beach since Busan has two beautiful beach areas - Haeundae Beach and Gwangalli Beach.  The hotel was located near Gwangalli Beach.  This beach overlooks the Diamond Bridge and all the restaurants and bars are right off the beach, making for easy access.  

The KTX bullet train takes two hours and 45 minutes and costs about $50 dollars.  I upgraded to First Class on the way down because I wanted to sleep and be more comfortable.  I arrived to Busan around 10 PM and took the cab to the hotel where I met my friend. After dropping off my stuff, we walked down to beach and strolled along the boardwalk.  It was a beautiful night.  We headed to a restaurant and had dinner and some beers.  Since we had a busy day the next day, we went back to hotel around midnight.

The following morning we took the subway to Haeundae Beach.  This beach is much larger than Gwangalli and stunningly beautiful.  It's shaped like a giant C and backed by gigantic glass enclosed towers that I assumed were apartment buildings.  Many of the skyscrapers are very modern looking with amazing architectural style.  We strolled along the boardwalk just soaking in the sun and the sound of the waves.  We found a place to have breakfast and we were able to eat outside in the warm sun, albeit with heavy coats on.  Afterwards, we thought about going to the aquarium, but realised it was way too nice to stay inside, so we opted on a boat ride that took us around the harbour and out past several small islands.  Fortunately there weren't many people on the boat and so we had lots of room. As the boat pulled out, a flock of gulls (at least I think they were gulls.  They might have been turns - some sort of white bird) follows behind the ferry and wait for people to toss them food.  Which the Koreans apparently knew all about since they had bags of crispy treats that the birds loved.  As we got further into open water, you could hold up your hand with a treat and the birds would swoop down and take the food right from your hand.  It's little scary because you think they're going to bite you, but they're very gentle and expert in both taking food from your hand as well as catching it when tossed.

We didn't have any treats, but a sweet little Korean kid came up to us and in perfect English asked if we would like some treats for the birds.  We both took a turn at feeding the birds.  Once all the food was gone, the birds disappeared.  The rest of the ferry ride took us past beautiful cliffs, dramatic rock formations, and an incredible lighthouse.  After about 30 minutes outside, though, we were both freezing and went down below to try and stay warm.  It was a great experience.

After the ferry ride, we went in search of a famous tattoo artist.  My friend has a tattoo that he hates and this man said he could fix it (there actually wasn't anything wrong with his tattoo, but...).  My tattoo is over 15 years old and really needed some updating.  I also wanted him to make it more substantial.  So we took a subway and then a cab to this man's apartment.  We were greeted by his apprentice who was from Spain.  Pedro (yeah, Peter and Pedro) started speaking to her in Spanish.  Fortunately my six years of Spanish enabled me to understand them.  

The tattooist  was working on another client so we had to wait about twenty minutes.  I showed him my tattoo and asked what he would do.  He said he'd clean up the lines and then add a background pattern of a ying/yang with fire and water.  That's almost exactly what I was thinking of doing and he came up with this idea on his own! He also said that he could fix Pedro's tattoo, after telling him that the art work was fine. We made an appointment for two weeks later.  

Afterwards, the sun and cold air had made us both sleepy so we went back to the hotel for a nap, knowing we would have a late night.  Around six we left for dinner.  We both wanted sushi and I remember researching a place over by the university.  Pedro said that that area was young and hip and very close to where we were planning on going.  We found the sushi place without any difficulty and had halfway decent sushi, though way too much - we left quite a lot on the plate.  After dinner we went to a bar for drinks and played a game of darts.  Pedro then suggested going to a hookah bar.  I discovered I loved hookahs this past August when one of the teachers in the quad would bring out his hookah, so I was game. We got a mango flavoured hookah.  The bar was filled with expats and we stayed there a while as we finished the hookah.  It was now late enough to go to the club.  

We took the subway there and found it pretty easily.  By the time we arrived to the dance club it was 1 AM and it was empty!  Completely empty on a Saturday night.  Pedro said this was normal, that it didn't get started until late.  Well how late is late?!  Within 30 minutes people started showing up.  This was my first experience in a  Korean dance club and it was a little like attending a middle school dance.  Most of the guys just lined the walls and the few that were dancing danced as awkwardly with each other as two 12-year olds do at their first dance.  I had to admit I was very nervous at the prospect of dancing as well.  Pedro is much younger and Hispanic and I'm a dorky white guy in his late forties.  Watching the other Koreans dance, though, made we feel much better.  I think by far we were the two best dancers on the dance floor.  Around 2:15 we had had enough and took a cab back to the hotel. I remember crashing onto the bed and awoke in sunlight in almost exactly the same position as I was when I laid down!  

Needless to say I didn't move very fast the next morning.  We checked out around 11 and walked down to a coffee shop on the beach.  We sat on the balcony in the warm sun and watched the ocean while nursing our hangovers.  Around 1 PM I jumped in a cab for the train station.  On the train ride back, I opted for the movie car.  I had no idea what this would entail.  The car was decorated in the Lotte Cinema colours and had a movie screen in the middle of the car, with projectors on both sides showing each half of the car the film.  There were built-in speakers that provided excellent sound.  I intended to sleep on the train, but the movie was pretty good.  It was Safe Haven, the movie based on one of Nicholas Spark's sappy novels.  It was thoroughly predictable but I still ended up crying at the end.  What was great was that as soon as the movie ended, we pulled into the station. It really made the time fly by.  

I entered Seoul Station into pandemonium.  After the peaceful and much more tranquil city of Busan, it was an assault on my senses.  It was also pouring rain outside.  The metro was packed and with my bag I was pushed in every direction.  When I got back to my station, I had to walk in the pouring rain without an umbrella.  Welcome home!  It made me long to be back in Busan.  That is a city I could easily live in.  Fortunately I get to go back in two weeks.  

Korean Bureaucracy at its Best

As many of my loyal readers know, I've been driving in Seoul for a couple of months now technically without a license.  I've been using my International Driver's Permit, which is a pretty lame excuse for a license.  It' s basically a document that validates that you have a license in the States.  South Korea accepts it but for only one year, and they really recommend that you get a Korean license.  Prior to January 2013, getting a Korean license was pretty easy.  Many people at my school told me stories about how they went to the DMV, showed them their American license, did a few deep knee bends, blinked a few times, opened and close their hands and lo and behold they got a license.  Things aren't so easy now.  

To begin, I needed an apostille letter from the Secretary of State of Maine verifying that my license was valid.  This rule is new to Korea.  Prior to the new rule, an American could go to the embassy in Seoul and they would stamp a form saying that one has a valid license.  Getting a certified letter from the Secretary of State is a cumbersome process in most states, but in Maine I found a wonderful woman who contacted the DMV for me, got the right forms, had the Secretary of State sign it, and then mailed it to me in Korea!  How amazing is that for a state government? I owe her some roses when I get home next June.

So, I finally had all the necessary ingredients - my passport, my alien registration card, my certified letter, three passport photos, and my current license. I took the subway to the DMV and found the building without any problems.  Inside, everything was clearly labeled.  A big green signed said Foreign Driver's License Exchange.  There was no one in line, so I walked up to the counter and handed the woman all my documents. She was actually quite efficient and I thought to myself that this process would be painless.  Thats when she handed me three forms and said to go fill them out and to attach the pictures to them.  I left thinking how was I supposed to attach the pictures.  I didn't have any tape.

The three forms had exactly the same information on them.  There was one that asked the funniest questions.  Are you schizophrenic, an alcoholic, suffering from a mental disability, hearing impaired, blind?  I'm serious.  It asked if I were blind.  I think they meant visually impaired.  So after writing exactly the same information down (on both sides), I had to attach the three pictures.  I looked around for tape, then saw that one station had glue sticks on strings.  The pictures I brought were too big for the space on the forms, so I had to use scissors to cut them down to size then used the glue stick to attach them.

With the forms complete I went back to the counter and expected to get my license.  Instead she said I had to go downstairs and get my eyes examined.  What?!  I didn't think about that part.  Since my LASIK surgery, my eyes haven't been 100%.  The doctor is hoping that after a year my vision will be 20/20, but for now it's about 20/40.  I have trouble seeing small print with fluorescent lighting.  I have prescription sunglasses for when I drive, as well as a prescription glasses for fine details, but I forgot to bring them.  I was nervous.

Downstairs I gave my form to another woman and she charged me 14,000 won for the exam (13 bucks).  The line for the exam was huge.  They lined us up along this long corridor and we shuffled forward like workers on a prison gang.   I couldn't see what was going on until I turned the corner into the room.  There I saw the eye chart.  It used letters and numbers.  You walk up to the line, pick up a paddle, cover one eye, then another and read what the letters were that the woman pointed out.  I tried to memorize what letters I could see before it was my turn.  I got more and more nervous, which didn't help because it dried my eyes even worse than before.  When I got up there I covered my right eye.  I could see the first couple of letters but when she got to the lower letters I couldn't tell the difference between the O and the C or the 2 and the 3.  I had my prescription sunglasses with me and I asked through gestures if I could wear them.  She reluctantly nodded, thinking I was Ray Charles or something.  The glasses helped, but it was hard to see until my eyes adjusted to the dimmer levels.  She told me to take them off.  At this point, I was growing desperate, so when she turned around, I lowered the paddle and cheated.  I saw the letters much better with both eyes. At one point she turned around too quickly and caught me. I had already stood there twice as long as everyone else.  I could tell she was growing frustrated with me, so I pretended not to understand.  I just smiled.  She made this huffing noise, took the stamp and just stamped the hell out of my form and tossed it to the next lady.  I obviously didn't pass but she couldn't explain that to me nor did she care.  God bless DMV offices.  They're the same around the world!

So, back upstairs I went again and when I arrive back to the counter the phone rang.  I felt sure it was the woman from downstairs telling the girl not to give me my license, that I was blind.  It didn't help when she looked up at me and kept talking.  Fortunately, that wasn't the case.  She took my forms and asked for another 10,000 won. She also took my license.  I knew that they took my Maine driver's license.  You can get it back if you present your airline tickets home, but it's just easier to get a new license when I return.  She said to come back in 45 minutes and the license would be ready.  So, since there is a coffee shop on every corner in Seoul, I went and had a cup of coffee.  Forty-five minutes later I had my license.  Overall, it was easier than expected.  I didn't have do any knee bends or blink my eyes, though I did have to cheat on the eye exam. 

Bangkok Got Me.

The following morning was basically a repeat of the day before.  I got up, showered, and went back to the continental breakfast.  This time I chose to walk to the hotel since I now knew where it was located.  Bangkok doesn't have many crossing lights.  They have crosswalks, but they might as well be invisible. Cars just whiz right by you.  One thing I did not know was that they drive on the left-hand side of the road in Thailand.  If I had remembered my history lessons, I should've remembered that Thailand was under  British monarchy, but I didn't.  So on top of not having crossing lights, I had to remember to look right before crossing the road.  The walk to the hotel only required crossing one road, but it was a treacherous one.  I waited at the crosswalk with other Thai folks thinking I'd follow them, but after five minutes I realised there was never going to be a time when the cars stopped completely.  You just have to find a moment when there is a slight opening in traffic and go for it.  I felt as if I were trapped in a live version of Frogger (80's video game reference for my younger readers).  You just step out and pray, actually pray, that the cars will stop, or at least slow down long enough to allow you to cross to the other side.  I had that intersection crossing to look forward to twice a day.  

My second day at the conference found me in a smaller, more intimate conference room.  I sat at the same table as the presenters, hence I could not text or search the web as much as I wanted to due to the tedium of the workshop.  Fortunately, the day was over at 2:30.  The lunches at the conference were amazing. For having to serve over 800 people, the hotel did a good job.  On top of that, there was always coffee, chocolates, pastries and fruit out in the hallways.  One could gain five pounds at this conference.  

After my workshop, I went back to the hotel to rest up a bit.  I had made arrangements the day before to go out with the elementary school principal.  He knew where to go, and which bars I would like, so I figured I would rely on his expertise.  I only had a couple of hours to spare before heading back to the tailor.   For the return trip to the tailor, I didn't do as well.  I ended up going in the wrong direction twice.  These mistakes happened mostly when trains were pulling into the station as I arrived and I didn't take the time to ensure that I was going in the right direction.  Also, as with most systems, you have to know the name of the final stop in order to check if you're on the right line.  I learned my lesson.  When I was on the train, I memorized the names of the final stops and now knew what to look for when transferring cars.  I didn't make this mistake again for the rest of the trip.

At the tailor, they had my suit mostly constructed.  The jacket didn't have sleeves on it yet, and it was laced with white threads, but it was good enough to try on, the same with the pants.  The tailor pulled the pants in around my thighs, waist and calves.  I could tell that the pants would be rather form-fitting (much more so than a suit off-the-rack).  The jacket looked great.  The cute British guy came in to give his opinion, and then I was done.  I had to come back the next day for a third fitting.  If I had known how many times I needed to come back, I might have searched for a tailor closer to the hotel.  Still, I was very impressed by their workmanship.  

So, another trip back to the hotel through the oppressive heat.  As I walked to the sky train, I came across a dog.  I thought he was just sleeping, but upon closer examination I saw that he was dead.  He was laying at the entrance to the sky train but people just stepped over him.  Bangkok also has a lot of very sad homeless people, mostly women with babies in their laps.  There were also old men with missing limps wearing nothing more than a ripped pair of shorts.  If I lived here, I think I would have to pick a day, fill my pocket with a hundred dollars worth of change, and just walk around giving it out. Otherwise I couldn't live with myself walking passed these scenes every day. 

Back at the room, a quick shower (I showered at least three times a day), and I was ready to go out.  I met Garth (the elementary school teacher) in the lobby and off we went.  We walked a really long time.  We finally stopped at a brightly lit bar for a drink.  He ordered a Long Island ice tea, I asked for a martini, straight up with olives.  When the drinks came I had a martini on the rocks with a lemon.  The waitress, mind you, was American.  I went to the bar and asked for the drink straight up with olives.  It came back still on the rocks, with a lemon AND olives.  I just drank it.  After that, though, I switched to what Garth was drinking.  I haven't had a Long Island ice tea since college.  Fortunately these were very weak (which was a godsend because I think we ordered three more).  I knew I needed some food so I ordered a flank steak salad.  It was awful, but I ate it anyway.

Next we walked down to the section where the gay bars were located.  Before we got there, you walk past vendors selling clothes, DVDs, and sex toys. The vendors are located on both sides of the sidewalk, so it makes for narrow little openings where you have to squeeze past people.  For a fast walker like me, it drives me crazy having to slow down.  Of course, in the hideous heat, walking slower was probably a good idea.  The vendors are quite aggressive and try to lure into their stands.  It was a bit surprising to see condoms, Viagra, lube, and other more graphic toys being sold right on the street, but this is Bangkok, baby.  We came to an alleyway and turned into it.  All the bars in Bangkok tend to be tucked away in back alleys.  Where we turned, the alleyway opened up onto a kaleidoscope of colored lights, blaring music, and very aggressive servers trying to invite you into their establishments.  Well, they don't try - they grab your arms and lead you towards the door.  You actually have to get quite direct and rude to make them leave you alone.  We found a seat and ordered more Long Island ice teas.  At this point I was feeling no pain.  Garth was a great conversationalist, and I wasn't really paying much attention to my surroundings.  Keep in mind, this was Halloween night.  There were a lot of people wearing costumes (though not as many as in Seoul the weekend before).

Things started to get a little fuzzy at this point.  I know we went to another bar, paid to get in, had a couple of more drinks, and stood around and talked some more.  At some point we left and I guess walked home.  We ended up at the Breeze bar in my hotel where I eat breakfast.  They weren't going to let Garth in because he was wearing a sleeveless shirt and he had a big argument with the manager over it.  This led us to have a big discussion over whether establishments had the right to enforce dress codes.  It was the type of argument that only made sense amongst drunk people.  At least I had a decent manhattan.  When I checked out a few days later, I know why.  Those two drinks at that bar cost $51 dollars!  

I think around 1:30 I made my way back to the room and crashed.  I knew the next morning was not going to be pretty. 

Bangkok got me. 

One Night in Bangkok (Part I)

Actually, I spent five nights in Bangkok, but the lyrics from that well-known song from the musical Chess are actually very applicable to my experiences in Bangkok.   

The flight to Bangkok takes about 5 1/2 hours from Seoul.  I left at 6:30 PM and arrived around 10 PM (there is a two-hour time difference).  Getting through customs at the airport was a breeze.  As I walked toward the line, they opened up a new line and I was the first one through it.  They barely glanced at my passport.  The problem of getting through customs quickly is that you have to wait longer for your bag.  Bags kept coming out, but there was no sight of mine. Finally on the display it said "Last Bags" and there was still no sight of mine.  Suddenly the conveyor belt started again, and there was my bag.  I was one of thirty people still left standing there.  You can't win.

The best way from the airport to the hotel is taxi.  I had studied up on how to get a taxi, and I'm glad I did.  It said do not use the taxi service within the airport, but go down one level and use the public taxi service.  You come to a stand and tell the attendant which hotel you're going to and he writes out the instructions to the driver.  That all went fine, but then I stood there as taxis waited beside me.  After about 10 minutes I finally asked the attendant what I was waiting for?  Within seconds of asking a driver then appeared and took my bags.  

The drive from the airport to the hotel is about 30 minutes.  Taxis are incredibly cheap in Thailand.  For a thirty-minute ride it cost me $9 dollars!  This doesn't include the airport tax or tolls that you have to pay along the way, but those amounted to $3 dollars.   Much of the drive was on the highway and at night, so I couldn't get a good look at Bangkok.  As you approach the downtown area, though, the buildings get taller and brighter.  The one thing you can't help but notice is the heat.  At 10 PM it was 85 degrees and humid.  After coming from cool Seoul, I couldn't believe the difference.

When I arrived to the hotel, I checked in without any problem.  My room was located on the 57th floor and you needed to use your key card in the elevator, which presented me with problems later in the week.  My room was gorgeous.  It was by far the nicest and largest hotel room I've ever stayed in.  There was a kitchen/dining area, a full size living room, a hallway that led to a sink and mirror, a huge bathroom with a whirlpool tub and stand-in marble shower, and a giant bedroom.  Both the living room and bedroom had separate balconies.  The above picture was taken from my balcony.  At this point it was midnight so I didn't do more than just fall into bed.

The next morning I really had no idea what time the conference began.  I checked the website and saw that most events seemed to start at 8:30, so I figured I could sleep to 7 AM.  There was both a complimentary continental or full serve breakfast.  I figured I'd try the continental because there's usually so much food at conferences.  The continental breakfast was served on the 52nd floor and that restaurant had a sky bridge and waterfalls.  It was beautiful.  I am also so thoroughly spoiled that I will never look at a continental breakfast again without thinking of the Hotel Lebua.  This was no ordinary continental breakfast.  There was fresh marinated salmon, various types of sushi rolls, four or five types of cheese, ham, salami, turkey.  Also, fresh fruit cut into beautiful shapes, home-made yogurt, and the best pastries I've had outside of France.  In addition, they served delicious rich coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice.  I had forgotten what good coffee tasted like.  Even though the Koreans are obsessed by coffee shops, the coffee they serve is frequently terrible and weak.  Thai coffee was like heaven on earth.

After breakfast I headed over to the Shangri-La Hotel where the conference was located.  I stepped outside into a wall of heat and humidity.  I could not believe how hot it was.  I wasn't even sure where the Shangri-La was located, so as I was asking for directions, a woman behind me said she was going to the hotel and that a van was on its way.  This woman, as it turned out, would be in the same training as me the entire day.  She was a pastor who opened her own school in Shanghai.  More about her later.   

Turns out the hotel was only a five-minute walk and that the van was really stupid, but I didn't know any better.  The Shangri-La is an older hotel located on the banks of the river.  It has a beautiful lobby (unlike my hotel where the lobby is quite ugly and small).  I quickly registered and found my conference room.  I was actually attending the conference two days earlier than my colleagues because I was being trained on the accreditation process that our school uses to remain an accredited high school.  I got to spend two-days in a really boring training session, but it was a necessary evil.  At my table, though, I sat with the woman pastor, and met another guy from Vietnam.  He was an elementary school principal, and I could tell right away that he was "family."  His buffed, manicured nails gave it away for me. Our table actually bonded quite well and that made a long day feel shorter.  As we got to know each other, I mentioned that I was going to dine at the restaurant on the top of the hotel (the bar was featured in The Hangover 2).  It's on the 64th floor and is located outside with these amazing views.  It turns out the female pastor was also dining there alone and at the same time, so we thought it was stupid to sit by ourselves so we decided to join each other for dinner.  I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive because I didn't know how open-minded she would be and I certainly couldn't sit through an entire dinner and not talk about my life.  

When the day ended, I quickly changed and went in search of this tailor I was told about in order to have a suit made.  From the hotel I took a cab because again I didn't know any better.  The traffic in Bangkok is unbelievable.  Seoul doesn't even come close in comparison.  The cab was literally surrounded by cars and stuck at traffic lights for 10 to 15 minutes.  In addition, motor bikes raced all around us.  They weaved between the cars, just missing fenders and doors.  It was like being surrounding by a swarm of bees.  Fortunately, taxis don't charge while standing still, since it took almost one hour to go about 4 miles.  

The tailor was on a back street in a very fancy part of town.  I saw a lot of ex-pats as I was walking down the street.  It was started by a couple of Brits and they've done a nice job.  Having never had a suit made, I didn't quite know the process.  All over Bangkok you see signs in windows advertising two suits, three shirts, and three ties for $199 dollars.  I knew this couldn't be true, but it's hard to rid yourself of that number.  The cute British man came over with different fabrics, starting with the cheapest and working his way up to the Saville Row fabrics that cost a fortune.  The difference in fabrics was amazing.  I had gone in with the decision to do a pin stripe, and that reduced my number of options down to several.  I didn't choose the top fabric, but a nice wool/silk blend.  The cost of the suit would be $530 dollars.  I expected to pay this much, but those thoughts of $199 kept coming back.  Next you get measured everywhere (those in-seam measurements are always quite intimate).  After measuring, there are a lot of decisions to make.  What type of flap in the back, how do you want the pockets, how wide of a label, do you want a button hole, how many buttons on the sleeve, what type of stitching, what lining, etc.  It gets overwhelming, but they are patient and make good recommendations.  I was scheduled to come back the next day for second fitting.  There are three fittings altogether.  I couldn't believe they'd have the suit ready in 24-hours, but that's the beauty of sweat shops :-)  That was a joke.  At least I hoped they didn't have a sweatshop.  

When I told the nice British man that I had taken a cab there, he said to take the Sky Train back.  This is Bangkok's elevated train system.  I was a bit apprehensive, but he gave me very clear directions.  The station was located at the end of the block (a rather long block - even longer in the now 95 degree heat).  You walk up a lot of stairs and then have to wait in line to purchase your ticket.  I had no idea how much the ticket was, nor did I ever figure out how you find out other than going to the woman behind the glass.  I told her the station, she said the cost, then she gave me change to go back to the other line to buy my tickets.  Really?  She couldn't just give me a ticket.  This system seem highly inefficient to me.  A ride on the Sky Train for me cost $1.30.  If you know any subway system, you can manage OK in a new system, but still I struggled in knowing which direction to head.  I did well for my first time.  I took the train three stops to a major hub, walked down a set of steps and managed to transfer to the correct line in the correct direction.  The only problem was I had no idea where the station was near my hotel.  I didn't know which exit to use or where my hotel was located.  Fortunately the hotel is rather tall, and being on an elevated train I could see it in the general direction.  The walk back, though, took me through narrow streets lined with stalls selling all sorts of weird food concoctions.  Some smelled quite delicious.  By the time I found the main entrance I was drenched and running late for dinner.  

A quick shower later I head to the 64th floor.  You leave the elevator bank and head out to a wide veranda.  There you are greeted with grand vista of Bangkok.  You come to a set of steps that lead down.  From the top it looks as if you're going to walk right off the side of the building.  I stopped dead and backed up.  I didn't think I'd be able to do it.   The attendant at the top must be used to this reaction because he told me to take hold of the rail and to look down at the steps.  He said it's better once you're down below.  I had to believe him.  Unfortunately you cannot take pictures from this vantage point.  I'm not sure why.

I took his advice and made my way down the steps.  My "date" was waiting for me, despite my being 25 minutes late.  With her being a pastor, she didn't drink, but that didn't stop me from ordering some wine.  I needed it!  As it turned out, I had a delightful evening with her.  She was an amazing woman.  She met her husband at 16 and was married at 18.  She and her husband moved to Shanghai and she wasn't satisfied with the level of schooling her children were getting so she first home schooled, then started her own school!  Within four years the school now has 250 students and she came to Bangkok to seek accreditation.  She doesn't know a thing about education, but she is savvy and determined.  I was able to talk about my life openly and she was a wonderful listener.  We even talked about religion a bit.  We managed to have a great conversation and it never got too serious or heavy.  Meanwhile, I ordered some foie gras, sea bass, and two more glasses of wine.  Since I was the one predominantly eating and drinking, I bought her dinner.  I probably wouldn't have been so cavalier if I knew the price, but after three drinks at the most amazingly beautiful location with a great dinner guest I just signed my name and room number.  What's $250 dollars anyway?

And that my friends is only the first day! 

86:20:32:20 (days, hours, minutes, seconds)

My friend David Coleman from Maine has been keeping a running clock of how long it has been since we boarded the plane at Portland for Seoul (hence the title of this blog).  I have been here for 85 days so far.  At times it seems like an incredibly short period, and other times it seems as if time is dragging a bit.  Part of the reason for the drag is all my pending trips coming up.  I'm really excited about going to Bangkok this week for a conference, but I'm even more excited for Australia over Christmas.  And after that a trip to Japan to see the cherry blossoms and spend a week at Japanese hot springs (if this trip comes together -- still very preliminary).  

As I think about those first few days it seems almost dreamlike.  Everything was so new and different.  It was also scary and lonely.  Now, three months later, I am growing very fond of Seoul.  A lot of that fondness has to do with the weather.  We have had a splendid fall.  The temps have been warmish for a typical Seoul fall, around 75, but the skies have been clear blue, and a refreshing crisp chill has entered the air.  The leaves are just now beginning to change.  I've also settled into a routine.  I know where to go for good Chinese, Italian, and French food.  Entering a restaurant is no longer scary because I know that I'll be able to communicate what I want to order.  Going to the supermarket is so much easier, as is shopping in general.  I must say that my Survival Korean class has proven very useful.  At first it seemed impossible. I couldn't remember anything that I was learning.  I just found memorizing Korean words impossible.  But as I am placed in real life situations, such as taxis, the words come back to me.  Last night I came back from Itaewon by taxi and knew where I was because I had driven the same route.  I was able, in Korean, to tell the taxi driver where to go.  In restaurants, I can order a bottle of beer, ask for water, order my meal, and ask for the check.  That's a huge change from when I first arrived.  And even when the language barrier is so huge,  both parties can usually figure out what the other wants.  It just takes a little patience.  

The subway no longer seems like an endless maze.  I can now navigate it with only a quick glance at my cellphone app.  I transfer at stations without even thinking about it.  Driving has proven much easier as well.  Today I went into Itaewon for a massage and to have some lunch.  It takes about 30-minutes to drive (without traffic) and on Sundays it's a breeze.  Sunday has quickly become my favorite day of the week because I'm able to tool around in the car and not worry about congestion.  Since I'm not so distracted by the roads, I can now look for parking lots and garages, so my worries of parking no longer prevent me from venturing into the city.   

Speaking of Itaewon, I went there last night (Saturday) to experience the Halloween spectacle.  Halloween isn't really celebrated in Korea, meaning kids don't trick or treat, but the young people have certainly latched onto the whole costume thing.  Itaewon, in case you didn't know, is the area of Seoul located near Yongsan Military Base.  Consequently, it caters to foreigners.  It's also close to Homo Hill and Hooker Hill and so as a result it has a rather seedy reputation.  Old citizens of Seoul still sniff in disgust when you say you're going to Itaewon. It's only recently (2003) that a subway even went to Itaewon, so since the accessibility has increased, it's grown in leaps and bounds.  At first I didn't like it.  It's not true Seoul, more of Seoul-Lite.  The restaurants are not Korean, and the ones that are Korean are expensive.  Since Itaewon is so popular, restaurants can jack up the prices.  There is one street that is lined with high class bars and restaurants and on the weekends these places are packed.  Last night I knew it was going to be crowded, but it even surprised this native New Yorker. If you've been to  The Village in NYC during Halloween, you get the sense of what it was like.  The only difference (and frustration) was that the Koreans walked around with their giant Samsung phones taking pictures of everyone in a costume, even ones that really didn't warrant a picture (like the lame ass cowboy).  Hence, they frequently stopped and this made getting around them almost impossible.  One highlight was a young boy dancing with a chicken.  Yes, a live chicken.  The chicken looked so much like the stereotypical image of what a chicken is supposed to look like that I thought the chicken was in a costume as well.  Obviously this spectacle warranted tons of Samsung pictures. I was even tempted to take out my much smaller iPhone and take a shot.  I stopped by my favorite bar Proust but there wasn't a space anywhere to sit.  It was only 10 o'clock and an hour too early to head to Homo Hill.  Those guys don't show their faces until promptly at 11.  So I just plopped myself on a set of steps and watched the action.  It was quite amazing.

Anyway, back on topic.  Three months later my apartment is finally coming together.  I never realized how much I missed dressers until I finally found a set and bought them.  I have drawers built into my closest, but they are narrow and down on ground level.  You have to open both sets of doors to pull out the drawer.  Now I have a six-drawer dresser and it seems like a miracle.  I can now see my clothes and everything is once again neat and orderly.  I also have end tables, lamps, a coffee table, and a living room rug.  All these things make the apartment more comfortable.  The last item on my must-have list is a desk with drawers and a chair for the guest bedroom. I'm tired of using the kitchen table as my computer work station.  After that I can relax a bit. I still need things on the walls, but I'm going to be rather selective about those choices, especially considering I have a whole storeroom at home filled with artwork.  

Of course there are things I miss and that still annoy me, but that isn't anyone's fault.  It's just life in another country.  I miss American supermarkets where you can buy any ingredient, regardless if it's out-of-season. In Korea you buy only what's available and in season.  Of course, this makes for very fresh produce, but nearly impossible if you're cooking a recipe from The Silver Palate.  I miss American pharmacies.  At CVS if you need Preparation H, or Imodium, or antacids, or jock itch spray or any of the countless embarrassing items our bodies need to remain healthy, you can simply walk down the aisle and pick them off the shelf.  In Seoul, all those items are in the back and you must ask the pharmacist for them.  Try describing a hemorrhoid to someone who doesn't speak English.  You get the picture.

I miss some of my favorite products, like my hair gel, toothpaste, moisturizer.  You just can't get some items here.  But the things you miss are replaced by things you can't get in the states.  It's all about adjusting your expectations, and packing better.  Next summer my suitcase is going to be filled with a year's supply of hair gel.   

I apologize for the sporadic posting, but I only write when I have things to say.  The past couple of weeks have been rather mundane.  Next week is Bangkok, and I'm sure I'll have a ton of cultural experiences to write about.  As they sing in the musical Chess:  "One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster.  The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free.  You'll find a god in every golden cloister, and if you're lucky then god's a she.  I can feel an angel sliding up to me."  

Until then...