Morning blues

I've got a solid morning routine. Every morning I wake up, brew myself a cup of red tea and enjoy it while doing some light reading. After that, I take a quick shower and start getting ready for my day. I've a got a small medicine cabinet that contains my vitamins, razor and shaving cream, deodorant, toothbrush, and so on. The medicine cabinet, is not so strategically placed though. It is right above my toilet.

Now just imagine all the possibilities here. You're opening a bottle of vitamins and trying to segregate the day's pill...above the toilet. You're taking the cap off of your deodorant...above the toilet. Your taking out your toothbrush and toothpaste...above the toilet.

I've been keeping track of the things I've lost to my thoughtlessly designed bathroom. So far I've lost 7 allergy pills, 3 centrum vitamins, and 1 medium bristled oral b toothbrush. I've dropped other things in as well. Things that couldn't be replaced so were quickly fished out and thoroughly sanitized.

I know what your next thought is, "Why don't you just learn to put the toilet lid down?". Well, that's a good thought, but learning to put the seat down took me 3 years, learning to put the lid down. I don't know if I'll ever learn to do that.

• Life Lesson #11: Some lessons are never learned.

Welcome to the gun show!

Well, I finally broke down and got a gym membership. Running and exercising at the park next to my place was becoming too difficult in the winter weather. The gym is really small but It has all the basic things I need to stay fit so I'm happy with it. Gyms in Korea are really expensive. This was by far the cheapest one I could find at 99,000 won/3 months (about 27.ooUS). I've seen other places that are around 80,000/mo. And with a name like Rodeo Gym, how could I pass it up?

My official membership card.

• Life Lesson #10: There are no cowgirls at Rodeo Fitness Club.

Going Up?

During my breaks between classes I like to read the news on bbc.com. It seems like every week there's something new concerning North Korea. Recently there was an article about the US going to N. Korea for some high level talks. The idea of which are to convince the North to return to disarmament. Fearing this recent contact with the North is going to set them on a war rampage, I've found myself staring up at the sky on my walks to and from school. Kim Jong Il isn't going to catch this guy unaware of a sneak attack!

While looking for enemy aircraft I've noticed something about Korea that I haven't gotten used to yet: Businesses in Korea aren't all on the first and second floors. In the spirit of adventure I've been checking some of these places out. Sometimes by going into the lobby and checking out the list of businesses on the wall, and sometimes by just blindly taking an elevator to a random floor that looks interesting. I'm not particularly searching for anything, I just want to know what I've been missing. So far I've found a couple of good restaurants and a few gyms!

As I'm approaching the end of my second month here, Im starting to have an expanded view of Korea. Learning a little Korean, meeting new people and finding new places has all played a significant part in this. The biggest part though, has been taking the time to look up.

• Life Lesson #9: Keeping your eyes peeled for the enemy can have more than one benefit.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my little sister! I decided to be the first one to write "Happy Birthday!" on her Facebook wall so I waited until 12:01am on 11/30 Korean time to post it. Looking at her wall later today, I think this may have lead to others not in my time zone to prematurely send birthday wishes. Ooooopppps!

• Life Lesson #8: Being first isn't always best.

Thanksgiving...Korean Style

It was Thanksgiving yesterday. It wasn't the first time I spent a major holiday overseas and so I knew the hurdles that were before me. The first of which was the issue of not being with my family. Many foreigners here though, knowing they are a minority and thousands of miles away from home, form a bond that feels like family. Having each other is many times the closest thing to home we have. So of course, friends were a must.

The second hurdle involved my stomach. Turkey is a rare delicacy in these parts. And stuffing?Cranberry sauce? Green bean casserole? Forget it! I decided I would prepare for the worst; no turkey. But hope for the best; a full spread.

I don't live in an area with a lot of other Americans and couldn't find any restaurants that had a Thanksgiving dinner so a friend and I decided we would go to this really nice sushi restaurant near my house. Not only is the sushi great, but they serve it to you with about 10 different side dishes. That's Thanksgivingish right? Lots of side dishes?

Anyway, the food was wonderful, the service was excellent and we had a great time!

My 2009 Thanksgiving spread

• Lesson #7: Raw fish tastes nothing like a Gray family turkey.

Insadong

On Saturday I headed out to Insadong in Seoul. Insadong reminded me of the NW district of Portland, Oregon. The tree-lined streets were narrow and lined with small, various shops. This area is most famous for its traditional style housing accompanied by an ultramodern downtown.

After having tea at a shop that had live birds inside, my friends and I walked through a market area. I stopped at one stall and looked into a boiling pot of some brown substance. I was told it was bandaegi or, boiled silkworm larvae. I paid a woman 2000 won for a small cup filled with the small bugs and quickly popped one in my mouth. My first impression was that it had a pleasant nutty flavor with a paperish texture on the outside and a bean like texture on the inside. On my second piece, my thoughts on bandaegi did I complete 180. The smell was overwhelming, the taste was, well, something I never want to experience again, and the texture was grainy.

This wasn’t the first time I’ve eaten an insect though. A couple years ago my dad and I tried grasshoppers in Beijing. Now, I wouldn’t normally try to convince someone that one bug is better than another, but just so you know, grasshopper legs taste like french-fries and bandaegi tastes like crap.

• Life Lesson #6: Some bugs taste better than others.

Clean Bill of Health

Last week I took my mandatory health check at the local hospital. It was a very basic physical check that included a drug test, STD test and more. I got my results back and my letter grade for my test was an "A"!

What does this mean? It means I can get my Alien Registration Card (Foreign ID) and I'm eligible for healthcare. While this may not be a big deal to some, it's a big deal to me. I had health insurance in the US but I never used it. I was paying about 120/month and had a 2500 deductible. Most of the time I avoided going to the doctor because until I met my deductible, everything was out of pocket. I was making about 38k/year and couldn't afford the healthcare I needed.

If I wasn't able to do it on 38k/year, how in the world can insurers expect those making less or those with families to pay for the necessary and basic healthcare they need? While there are a lot of negative aspects to having nationalized healthcare, the US must understand that the health of it's people is it's greatest asset. If a country who is still at war with their neighbor can find a way to provide coverage for it's citizens, surely the US can too.

• Life Lesson #5: American expats have access to cheaper healthcare working in Korea than in their own country.

Let's Kick It!

The other weekend I ventured into Seoul for the first since being in Korea. Heading out to Itaewan for a friends birthday, I hopped on the subway in Bucheon with a couple friends. We had to transfer trains a couple times and on our last transfer our train was delayed for about 10 minutes. We took our seats next to a laid out, sleeping Korean man who looked like he had one to many earlier that night.

Being a brave soul, I sat closest to him and continued a conversation I was having with my friends. Suddenly, I was hit in the leg by something. I turned toward our sleeping friend and saw that he was still sound asleep, but his foot was awfully close to my leg. I was sure he didn't mean any harm and turned my attention back to my friends.

Seconds later, I was hit again! I looked at the guy and saw he was still in his inebriated state of slumber. Turning toward my friends I said, "This guy just kicked me twice! If it happens again, I'm going to have to move to another seat." We all were having a good laugh about it and then whack! I was hit again.

I grabbed my jacket and moved to the other side of the train. Not before taking this sweet pic though.

• Life Lesson #4: Seat selection is extremely important!

Things Left Behind

The other day I was walking home with a coworker and came across a leather couch on the sidewalk. Having heard that it's common for Koreans to leave unwanted furniture on the side of the road I gave the couch a quick look over and carried it home with a little help from my friend.

the new addition

This got me thinking a little bit about the circumstances behind the couch being left on the sidewalk. The most probable reason being that the owner was replacing the older couch for something new and removed the old couch to make room.

Not too long ago I was sitting in a cubicle, working at a job that gave me no sense of satisfaction and very little sense of self worth. It was a decent paying job and offered great benefits, but everyday I questioned the sacrifice I was making by being employed at such a place. I wasn't made to work at a boring cubicle job 40 hours a week like some sort of machine. I needed a new vision, a new adventure. It was time for something new.

And so, saying goodbye to family, friends, and a mind-numbing job, I left for Korea. A place where I am challenged and stretched each day. A place where adventures are experienced around every corner. A place where I feel alive again.

• Life Lesson #3: Making room for something new often means leaving something behind.

Monster Within Redux

After a couple weeks without doing any laundry, I was in desperate need of some clean business casual cloths. I went downstairs to the minimart and bought a bottle of non-assuming pink laundry soap and went back upstairs to my 11th story abode. I put my dirty laundry in the machine along with the pink soap, closed the door, pushed a couple buttons and stepped back. Within a few seconds, I was staring in amazement as my first load of laundry began to spin in a soapy froth.

A little lcd screen on the front of the washer showed 125 minutes so I decided to step out for a quick bit. I found a small ramen restaurant, slurped up my simple meal and went on my merry way back home.

Arriving back home, I stuck my magnetic key in its slot, opened my door and was greeted by a rush of water from my flooded apartment. It wasn't the type of rush of water that hits you chest high and pushes you against the wall behind you, but it was the type of flooded where a good inch or two covered the entire floor. Now, this may not sound like a lot of water, but trust me, its a lot of water!

I called my landlord and began cleaning up. A few hours later a repair guy came by and took a look at the monster. He took out a grey seal that went around the door and put in a new one. He showed my the cracks in the old seal, then pointed to the new seal and gave me the thumbs up.

I was happy the repair was made so quickly, but come on! It took the guy 3 seconds to finish. I timed him. 3 seconds.

• Life Lesson #2: 3 seconds of maintenance can save you 2 hours of mopping.

Arrival

After 19 hours of travel I have finally arrived in Korea! I flew from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco to Incheon, South Korea. After going through immigration I found a nice seat at the airport and waited for my ride.

It's a weird feeling being in a new country waiting for someone you've never met to find you. I'm a bit of anxious person and being in a crowded airport with everything you own and not much info on who's meeting you or who to contact if something were to go wrong was a bit overwhelming. I took a deep breath and began to process my surroundings. The airport was modern and clean. Korean writing with an English translation below was the norm on most signage. People rushed past carrying their belongings, speaking in languages I didn't understand. This was the moment I had been waiting months for, I was finally back in Asia.

I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder and a Korean man asked in hesitant, slightly broken English, "Are you Justin?". He lead me to his car, helped me load my luggage in his trunk and off we went. My driver immediately switched on a large GPS navigation unit in the center of his dash and pressed a few buttons. A map came up on the giant LCD screen showing our projected path with arrows pointing the way. He pointed to the screen and said, "We go here."

We were headed to Bundang, a lovely satellite city Southeast of Seoul. I would spend a week there for training and then be moved to the C2 branch in Bucheon where I will teach for the remainder of my contract. I noticed as we made the hour and a half journey from the airport that a majority of the vehicles we passed also had large GPS units installed in their dash or affixed to their windshield.

A few days later I was sitting with my trainer in Bundang going over the curriculum used by C2. I asked him about the abundance of vehicles with navigation systems and if Seoul was a difficult city to drive in. His response was, "If you don't use GPS in Seoul, you will die." I don't plan on doing much driving while I'm here but I'll be sure to pick one up before I do.

• Life Lesson #1: Use GPS when driving in Seoul.