tea diaries ~~~~~ groooooovy

Liaison at the 포장마차 / bOtTLe caFé, Gwangju, Korea

2011-09-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

Liaison at the 포장마차 (street food cart)

The man was short, his white cap matched his scuffed white track jacket, I think, though I didn’t get a good look at either. He was already done with one stick of 오댕 (processed fish cake) when I turned to look at the couple; his thin lips were chewing, smacking, stuffing the stuff past his teeth. The 오댕 stick was marked on the end with red paint, and it had flaked a bit on the tips of his fingers. He grabbed another stick and I stole a look at his companion. Her hair was dyed a shade of brown/red, the same shade I find my college freshmen favor, finally freed from 6 years of forced middle and high school dress code conformity. She was maybe 42, or perhaps 34, not any older than 45 and certainly not 29. Her shirt was unbuttoned one too many, not totally obvious but certainly adding to a general sort of atmosphere about her. Her hair stood out, mostly tucked behind ears, a few strands escaping at the temples; here in Korea, it stood out in much the same way a belly button ring would stand out on a mom-aged woman back in the States. Her glasses were framed with an ornate, spidery kind of wire that looked like it might frame the borders of the diary of a teenage vampire wannabe. She was the sort of person who you could tell was wearing a lot of makeup from say, 50 feet away, at a glance. The possibility of high boots disappeared under the sheen of gray business pants, and the frills of her white blouse contributed to the overall impression that she was just off work. She seemed simultaneously too well poised and too much sex for this man in the ratty white track jacket, loose khakis and blown out sneakers.

They spoke to each other in clips of sentences. I caught “one more?” as they reached into the bubbling broth for more fish on sticks, piling up spent sticks like kindling in front of them, fueling up for some ferocious activity or perhaps refueling after the same. I noticed the way they conjucated verbs - he spoke in 반말 (informally) and she in 존댓말 (respectfully). The woman at the cart blithely stirred the two vats of 떡볶이, and I munched on my 순대; we all ate around the 포장마차, brought together by the food there glistening, propped up on metal trays or laid out resplendent and magnificent, sugar glazed and spicy and marvelous, a cornucopia of Korean fast food. 닭꼬치 (chicken on a stick) sat lined up like matchsticks, and at their stick/feet sat hard boiled eggs, looking oddly and intensely fertile and glaringly unpeeled and white against the glazed brown of the chicken on their sticks. The man nudged his companion, he was ready to go and started walking, strutting and stretching his legs an impatient 10 feet from the truck; she looked back at him and asked “국물?” (broth?), and she ladled some of the 오댕국물 into a paper cup and he stuck his hand out and had at it, in the same way I imagine a hawk might approach a paper cup filled with broth, if gripping a paper cup was ever a possibility for a bird of prey. She handed the vendor a fiver and grabbed her change over the nubs and nodules of steaming food, and they clipped and scuffed their way down the street behind me.

As they left and I sighed and I took it all in, at all this food filling every possible surface of the transformed rear of this woman’s truck (it was indeed just an elaborately unfolded truck, blocking the end of a pedestrian street in Gwangju downtown), an end of a toilet paper roll serving as napkin/papertowel/whatever else, unfurled a little too much and blowing in the wind, the edge of chill in the late September air breathing a growing reminder of fall weather, and the street itself, this truck food cart in the middle of sidewalk and street with cars rumbling past, neon lights of cafes and banks and shops pulsing and situating the stroller or the street cart eater in the exact center of Korean society, at the epicenter and the keystone of it all, happening all around, as said eater munches on sugary/spicy fare in lieu of dinner. I had a little more broth in a paper cup, paid my 4,000 won (a little less than $4) and kept walking.

bOtTLe caFé, Gwangju, Korea

I was a little hesitant to go in, alone, but something about the gray painted steps and the Spanish music enticed me. The decision was made for me, thankfully, my feet dropped, one in front of the other, all the way up the steps. I nearly don’t remember the decision to just, enter. The music was loud upstairs in the restaurant, it was some sort of Spanish rhythm with instruments I can’t name but would like to. The lights were incandescent and you could tell – the light reminded me of an artist’s loft in a warehouse, or an Ikea, or a Home Depot with smooth painted concrete floors with snaking white cracks built right in, smooth and imperceptible to a finger’s touch (though I didn’t touch the floor, I’m guessing). The clientele was entirely, 100%, Korean girls in their 20s gesturing gently to each other and smiling.

I was greeted by half a dozen servers in white chef’s aprons, befuddled that I was alone but happy to see me. I indicated I wanted to sit at the front, on one of the two chairs conspiring with a couch around a coffeetable in front of a screen projecting some sort of movie featuring an Orthodox Jew shoveling his sidewalk. The sound was off (Spanish music had changed to something reminiscent of snake charmers and woven baskets).

I sat down in one of the chairs, which looked like it might be more comfortable on a porch somewhere tropical, and instantly felt like I was on safari, and knowing that this reaction was very misplaced, I continued to relentlessly believe it. The feeling was intensified by a very odd plant/tree – with a stick of a palm tree’s trunk and what looked like a tiny aloe vera cluster of fronds at the top, the palm-like trunk veering sharply to the right at the top, as if swaying to a windy day in a Dr. Seuss book.

Each and every table and chair in this café is different, and it's intentional. Curved back wooden chairs sneer across a white table at their straight backed metal counterparts. The center cushion of the couch opposite me is a different brown than the others. A leopard-ish print pillow sits against one side of the couch, waiting.

A menu arrives, and I order a glass of house red, and it comes in a kiddie swimming pool a couple of minutes later. I open my laptop to write something else, and then I started writing a sentence or two about this café, and then I couldn’t stop.

This place gives you an entire repurposed wine bottle full of water and a glass to start, and I had slurped ¾ of the way through mine before I even realized it. I guess I’d been thirsty.

P.S. They just gave me free nachos.

Wild Swimming Inspiration - Tad Alang

2011-07-13T00:30:00.002-07:00

My good friend Katy over at Wild Swimming New England has asked for submissions from other wild swimmers worldwide to showcase their favorite natural swimming holes, so although it's been a few months since I was in Laos, I thought I'd blog in more detail about the best wild swimming I've ever done.

The story of my wild swimming experience began with an idea - my buddy Forest and I decided that we'd hire motorbikes and explore around the Bolaven Plateau in southern Laos, since that's what all the backpackers we met in that area seemed to recommend. We had one waterfall picked out, Tad Lo a bit north of the plateau, but as for the rest of the trip we figured we'd head to the city in the middle of plateau, and just ask people what's up.

The "city" of Pakxong was basically one main road with a couple of hotels, a marketplace, and a coffeeshop called simply "COFFEE" in block letters. The Bolaven Plateau, being of higher altitude than the rest of Laos, has a perfect climate for coffee and numerous plantations; the coffeeshop was run by a Dutch expat who hand wok-roasted his own beans. At the shop we found a hand-drawn map to a secret waterfall with a new homestay opened just a month before, plus a few favorable traveler reviews of the place. I took a picture of the map and we headed out immediately. Though to be honest, the "71 km dusty trail" didn't look too appealing.

The road ended up being under construction (in the process of being paved) which was even worse, we were thundering down the shoulder the whole time, sometimes in dust halfway up to our knees. The real fun came though when we came to a series of forks in the road that weren't on the map, I was dizzy with hunger since we had skipped lunch (no villages on the way and we hadn't eaten packed any snacks). We backtracked a bunch of times, and took a road that pointed toward a dam, and finally stumbled upon it.

View Larger Map

To follow where Forest and I traveled, find Pakxong and the three roads leading east. Tad Alang (the waterfall) and the adjoining homestay are somewhere along the middle road, most likely between Ban Latassassine and the edge of the green conservation area.

We knocked on the door of the homestay hut and met a group of French travelers who had arrived a short while before. The homestay owner had apparently driven off to a village to buy ingredients to make them dinner, so there was nothing to eat. Never having in my memory as a child or adult ever skipped a meal, in desperation I went out to the fields around the homestay with my Lonely Planet phrasebook and begged them for rice, but didn't get any offers. Below is me, dirty from the road, in the homestay, and a view from the exterior.

Sugar-high from candy from kind French folk we all decided to hike down to the waterfall while we waited for dinner. It was only a maybe 15 minute hike downhill, through bamboo and banana groves, and then we saw this:

A waterfall probably a little over 100 m tall. For a better perspective, check out this video I shot as we headed back up after swimming.

Following the format of Katy's blog, I'll include some wild swimming details here:

Wild Swim Type: freshwater river / waterfall.
Convenience: 4 hours from a major city by motorbike, 30 confusing minutes from a village with gas for said bike, an easy hike from the homestay, a dangerous scramble over sharp rocks to get to the waterfall itself.
What to Expect: A handful of backpackers, a friendly homestay owner, a somewhat jealous wife when she sees said homestay owner talking with foreign backpackers, various dogs, gorgeous purple flowers everywhere due to constant mist from the falls, in Forest's words, "speechlessness".
Amenities: warm beer a 15 minute motorbike away, homestay bamboo hut, possibly food poisonous salty dinners, no running water, no bathrooms (be prepared to do your duty in nature).
Swim level: advanced due to currents and sharp rocks underwater. Best to swim with your legs in front of you so that if you do get scraped up, it'll be feet instead of stomach. Water though is clear. Resist the urge to get as close as possible to the falls, or if you can't resist, fight that current!!
When to visit: Winter, as that tends to be the most comfortable season in Southeast Asia, though since the Plateau gets colder layers are advised for a good night's sleep.
Why to visit: There's nothing more stunning than a secret enormous waterfall in the jungle.

When I finally got dinner, it was blissfully delicious: cabbage and pork cooked in what we all guessed was pure MSG sauce. I ate about twice the amount that everyone else did, and gobbled up clumps of sticky rice by the handful. That night we drank warm beer we bought from the back of a woman's house in a neighboring village, I pored over my Lao phrasebook with the owner, and we strummed ukulele and sang songs. In the middle of the night I woke up all kinds of sick, possibly food poisoning, and ended up bailing alone at 6 AM to bomb it back 4 hours across the plateau and into Pakse before I was too weak to ride on dusty / muddy (it was raining) roads. Made it back and had the best Indian food of my life for lunch.

If you haven't checked out Katy's Wild Swimming New England blog, and especially if you live in and around the Boston area, you should give it a read!

Lapis Lazuli by W. B. Yeats

2011-07-03T04:25:00.000-07:00

I have heard that hysterical women say
They are sick of the palette and fiddle-bow.
Of poets that are always gay,
For everybody knows or else should know
That if nothing drastic is done
Aeroplane and Zeppelin will come out.
Pitch like King Billy bomb-balls in
Until the town lie beaten flat.

All perform their tragic play,
There struts Hamlet, there is Lear,
That's Ophelia, that Cordelia;
Yet they, should the last scene be there,
The great stage curtain about to drop,
If worthy their prominent part in the play,
Do not break up their lines to weep.
They know that Hamlet and Lear are gay;
Gaiety transfiguring all that dread.
All men have aimed at, found and lost;
Black out; Heaven blazing into the head:
Tragedy wrought to its uttermost.
Though Hamlet rambles and Lear rages,
And all the drop-scenes drop at once
Upon a hundred thousand stages,
It cannot grow by an inch or an ounce.

On their own feet they came, or On shipboard,'
Camel-back; horse-back, ass-back, mule-back,
Old civilisations put to the sword.
Then they and their wisdom went to rack:
No handiwork of Callimachus,
Who handled marble as if it were bronze,
Made draperies that seemed to rise
When sea-wind swept the corner, stands;
His long lamp-chimney shaped like the stem
Of a slender palm, stood but a day;
All things fall and are built again,
And those that build them again are gay.

Two Chinamen, behind them a third,
Are carved in lapis lazuli,
Over them flies a long-legged bird,
A symbol of longevity;
The third, doubtless a serving-man,
Carries a musical instrument.

Every discoloration of the stone,
Every accidental crack or dent,
Seems a water-course or an avalanche,
Or lofty slope where it still snows
Though doubtless plum or cherry-branch
Sweetens the little half-way house
Those Chinamen climb towards, and I
Delight to imagine them seated there;
There, on the mountain and the sky,
On all the tragic scene they stare.
One asks for mournful melodies;
Accomplished fingers begin to play.
Their eyes mid many wrinkles, their eyes,
Their ancient, glittering eyes, are gay.

Dunkin' Donuts, Korean style

2011-04-29T01:15:00.000-07:00

Carrot donuts, spinach donuts, glazed tofu, and broccoli. Boston, are you ready for all that??

Engagement rings

2011-04-28T05:01:00.001-07:00

Our engagement rings are in! We ordered them a little while ago, and they just came in. Perfect.

So, how did I pop the big question to Hanna? Here's what happened. Ages ago when I was visiting this beautiful girl on Jeju Island, I was just hanging out for the summer but Hanna was working hard hours at an after-school academy (학원). On a particularly rough day, we went out for a drink afterwards, and I happened to tie a napkin around her finger to cheer her up. She loved her napkin ring so much that she ended up saving it, I think she even has it in a box somewhere back in Jeju.

So April 10th was her birthday, the day I had been waiting weeks for - I'd made the decision to ask her quite some time before, but I was nervous as all hell, of course. It was a Sunday, but I woke up at 5 AM and and couldn't fall asleep, I read a book in bed and watched the skyline slowly brighten. Around 6 I got out of the little napkin I had stolen from the university dining hall, and tied it around Hanna's finger as she slept. I had meant for her to keep sleeping and for her to ask me about it when she awoke, but I guess she could sense something, and she sat up and looked at me. It was now or never. I got on one knee, asked her, and ... well you know the rest. She said yes. :)

That night we went into the city and picked out rings together - Korean style. I wanted to get her one with a stone, and I didn't want a stone in mine, though all of the Korean "couple rings" were bejeweled even for the men. Finally found a little shop with a couple of real nice ladies who gave us a discount for the two we ended up with. This will be my wedding ring, and Hanna's is an engagement ring (I'm sure she'll get a wedding ring as well too^^). I think Hanna has pictures of the napkin ring on her phone, I'll ask her to upload them when she gets a chance. The band-aid has no romantic story attached, just the unfortunate consequence of early morning veggie chopping.

Spring days

2011-04-19T21:53:00.001-07:00

Today Hanna asked me, where in the world is the weather like this all year long? I said maybe southern China? Ahh to live in a land of eternal spring!

An unexpected hike

2011-04-19T07:58:00.001-07:00

Last week, I went on a run toward a spot on Google Maps where a road disappeared into the foothills of Mudeung Mountain. My plan: go for a quick hike after the run, and if I was too tired to run back to take a taxi.

Here's the very edge of the paved road, disappearing into meadows with burial mounds in the valley.

Since I was planning on running for only about an hour, I didn't think I'd need any water, and I had my wallet just in case. But there were no convenience stores out here, only farms. I almost turned back when I stumbled upon this 약수 (literally medicine water, basically fresh stream water) at a tiny temple, which was just a shack on the side of the road.

Close-up picture of the shrine outside the temple, the red ladle is what you use to drink the water, I just scooped it with my hands right out of the stone bowl. The mat is for your knees as you do the traditional 108 bows.

After drinking I walked up the dirt path you can see in the above pictures to find a hidden lake in the meadow with a bold "NO SWIMMING" sign. I was hot enough that I almost disobeyed, but I ran into some fishermen there so I decided not to. I ended up chatting with them for a little while after asking them how the day's catch was going (not well). One of the fisherman's daughters is a student at Gwangju University where I teach. Drank some beer and ate some snacks with them, and then, properly refreshed, continued on the path up to higher ground.

I could see on my GPS that if I walked for about 30 min or so and cleared the next ridge, I'd be at a bigger lake with another temple and a road back to civilization, so I decided to follow the mountain paths in that direction. As I reached the top of the ridge, caught a glimpse of Mudeung Mountain with some wild flowers.

The white spots in this picture are wild cherry blossom trees in the hillside.

As I came down the other side of the ridge I could see a large lake, dammed on one side. On the bottom left of the picture you can see a cliff, this was a stunning vantage point and a great view of Mudeung Mountain, and the valley below. Wonder why more people don't hike this way? Probably because of the "산입금지" (don't enter the mountain) sign posted near the dam in this valley. In my defense there wasn't a sign on the valley where I came in! ^^

As I hiked back toward the road in the second valley, came across this female Buddha statue at a small temple. Hanna looked at this picture and said 무섭다 - scary!! By this time I really needed another drink of water, but had to walk another 30 minutes on a lonely village road until I found - huzzah! - a tiny convenience store, and a main road where I could flag down a taxi. An hour's run turned into a 3 hour adventure, totally worth it.

New glasses

2011-04-05T05:30:00.001-07:00

Sweet frames, sweet lenses. Never, never underestimate Korean fashion.

The Road

2011-04-03T17:52:00.001-07:00

Hanna kickin off her boOts with joy in the middle of the road! Or, maybe she had a pebble problem.

hiking a mountain in our backyard

2011-04-03T06:24:00.001-07:00

This Saturday Hanna and I hiked 금당산 (Gemdang mtn), one of the local giants that watches over our campus.

We used the GPS on my phone to find a path behind an elementary school leading up into the hills. There's something about encountering a trail with no signs, just a path leading into the forest - exhilarating.

Beautiful, tall purple flowers mingled with the trees.

The view from a bench on the path of part of 남구 (the south section) of Gwangju city, my neighborhood.

When we reached the top we could see right down to Gwangju University campus. The tallest building there toward the center of the picture, with the white towers on the roof, is the classroom building. My office is on the 17th floor, facing this side. With good enough 'nocs, you could see all the papers on my messy desk from where I stood to take that shot.

Whenever I gaze out my window at all these gently rolling hills, I get the urge to pack a couple rolls of kimbap and some makkoli in my backpack and just start walking ...

The official school picture

2011-03-27T21:56:00.001-07:00

Posing outside the 호심관 (ho shim gwan) classroom building, standing on the astroturf soccer field that separates the dorm from the classrooms. My office is on the 17th floor, classrooms on the 8th and 16th. Hanna bought me that bag, with it I am without a doubt the coolest prof in school.

Hanna's happy moments

2011-03-26T23:10:00.001-07:00

Hanna had a tough day at work, it was raining, and all she wanted was a beer. One Hoegarden left in the fridge! Beer tastes better at the end of a long day. So does a cute baby - thats my friend Lucas's baby San.

만만치않았던 하루! 비도오고해서 맥주로 마무리~ㅋㅋ그래,인생 뭐 있어?이렇게 잊는거지뭐♥산이도 나를 행복하게해~^^

19 hours in New York City

2010-01-03T12:39:00.000-08:00

Back in December, I thought it might be fun to spend New Year's with Hanna in New York City, watch the ball drop in Times Square, all that great stuff. But the one thing we didn't want to do was pay New Year's Eve prices at a hotel. The solution? Bolt Bus early in the morning on the 31st, and back to Boston at 7 AM on New Year's Day. Total roundtrip cost each: $30. Good idea? Well, let's see how it all played out.

The fated e-tickets. Don't have a working printer, so I just showed the guy my camera. Hooray for technology.

That bus was sweet. Even had outlets for charging our iPods and wifi ~ lap of luxury!

The bus dropped us off near Penn Station in Manhattan. Hanna was impressed with the size of all the buildings ...

... then we walked up to Central Park.

We didn't know that they had an ice rink in Central Park - nice surprise! We rented skates and Hanna tried skating for the first time (she's really good).

We made it back to the Times Square area around 7:30 and stood for about a half hour at 54th and 7th streets with this mass of people. Those lights down the hill is Times Square, 12 blocks away (42nd street).

Realizing we still had 4 hours to go, we decided the rules of standing and waiting didn't apply to us, and ducked into a bar across the street "for one drink". 3 hours and 45 minutes later, we came out and rejoined the cold and bored masses, and during the last couple of minutes jumped over the police barrier and saw the ball drop. Huzzah for cheating!

The zoom couldn't zoom 12 blocks, but believe me, we saw it.

After the ball drop, we went to a nightclub, hung out and slept in cafes, hunted for Koreatown and finally found it at 5 AM, slept in hotel lobbies, and made it finally to our bus at 7 AM. Tragically, we took no pictures, so these 7 hours will remain a mystery.

Oh and somewhere along the line we saw the Statue of Liberty. Twice!

Thanks Boltbus !!

uke envy

2009-11-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

I saw these guys a couple years ago in Boston, they were brilliant. Who's for me growing a mustache?? ^^

grad schoool.

2009-11-15T18:12:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I posted here, it's been an adjustment settling into life in America but since I moved into my new place in sunny ALLSTON!, it's been nice to walk instead of commute in the mornings. Amidst frantic reading, papers, and general learning-about-linguistics-ness (which has been brilliant!), I've managed to get out into the world a little bit and catch up with old friends.

Stu, Dawn-Marie and I at King Richard's Faire.

A normal day at work, socializing with students before class starts.

Students show their (Halloween) school spirit.

Me and my buddy Suzanne wait for the Public Library to open in Copley. Love that place.

The trees on my street in Allston are gorgeous.

It's been hard work, but I really love my program at UMass Boston, the readings are all things that I would have loved to explore on my own, but let's face it - didn't have the self-motivation to ever do so. Life is busy but fulfilling. Honestly, my biggest fear in coming back to Boston and diving back into a more normal (less travel-centered) life is that I'll lose sight of the little things in life that make me smile - changing seasons, a quiet cup of tea, blue skies - I don't want to become one of those busy busy people who's so buried in a schedule that he can't see the world around him. I ever get like that, you've all got permission to kick me in the shins till I wake up. :)

SNSD!

2009-09-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

소녀시대, "Girl's Generation" ~

Tell me your wish
Tell me that small dream you have inside of your heart
Draw that ideal person you have inside of your head
I'm your genie,
I'm your dream,
I'm your genie
Let's go, riding in the dream car
Sit next to me
Throw everything into my guidance
Even if your heart beat explodes
Even if you fly away with the wind
Right now, this moment, the world is yours
Yes, I love you
Always believe in me
My dreams,
My passion
I want to give them all
I want to answer your wishes
I'm the goddess of your fortunes
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for you boy)
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for your wish)
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for your dream)
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for your dream)
Tell me your wish
Don't the boring days bother you?
Have you become buried by your ordinary life?
Now stop and wake up
You are my superstar, shining star, super star
Release your body into the trembling beating of your heart like a Harley
Now this world is simply your stage
The waves of cheers
In my heart, your body temperature is my path
Forever your Biggest Fan
Yes, I love you
Always believe in me
My dreams,
My passion I want to give them all
I want to answer your wishes
I'm the goddess of your fortunes
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for you boy)
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for your wish)
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for your dream)
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for your dream)
DJ Put it back on
Yes, I love you
Always believe in me
My dreams,
My passion I want to give them all
I want to answer your wishes
I'm the goddess of your fortunes
Tell me your wish!
Yes, I love you
You are my Music
I love you
You are my joy
I love you
I want to be your fortune
(Tell me your fantasy, without holding back
I'll show you the genie's path
Tell me your wish, without holding back
Your genie, I will grant them)
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for you boy)
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for your wish)
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for your dream)
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for your dream)
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for you boy)
Tell me your wish (I'm genie for your wish)

the highest good

2009-09-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

The highest good is like water.
Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive.
It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.
In dwelling, be close to the land.
In meditation, go deep in the heart.
In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.
In speech, be true.
In ruling, be just.
In business, be competent.
In action, watch the timing.

Tao Te Ching

what is enlightenment?

2009-09-04T05:58:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking about this question for a few years now, and whenever I'm struck by something I read or experience, I try to somehow add it to my own unwieldy definition. I know others have said it more simply, but I see the journey to enlightenment more as an unfolding mental process, and I've liked developing this more lengthy version which works for me whenever I find myself heading off track. Wondering what you guys think, here's what I've landed on so far:

Enlightenment begins with the sharp perception and experience of present moment awareness and thankfulness and the wonder of being human, builds with education and the broadening and refining of a sense of culture and the world and the good life, an unattachment to results, the realization that everyone (including ourselves) is Buddha/Jesus/insert_deity_here (perfect, just as we are), the nonjudgmental acceptance of and celebration of everything, the oneness/nonduality of everything - and ends with effortless compassionate actions to empower others.

go down from the mountain!

2009-09-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

Hanna taught me a fascinating Korean idiom today. 하산해 - "ha san hey" - which literally means "go down from the mountain", in common speech is used by a teacher when a student has mastered something. In ages past, it was common for the old masters to live on mountains, and the students would come up to visit and learn from them for a while. When the master had nothing left to teach, he would say "go down from the mountain, go back to society!" Such a great image, in just three syllables! It comes from:
the Chinese 下, which in Korean is 하 (ha), meaning down,
Chinese 山, Korean 산 (san), meaning mountain,
and the Korean imperative verb ending 해 (hey) meaning to go, do, etc.

ugly baby

2009-08-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: "That's the ugliest baby that I've ever seen. Ugh!" The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: "The driver just insulted me!" The man says: "You go right up there and tell him off – go ahead, I'll hold your monkey for you."

how's the tom sawyer in you? 너의 마음속 톰 소여는 잘 있니?

2009-08-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hanna gave me a book in Japan called "Love and Free" - a photo/poetry diary of a Japanese couple as they traveled around the world.

"As a kid, I got a bicycle
and the entire town became my playground
As a teenage-punk, I got a motorcycle
and the entire prefecture became my playground
And now, I got time
and am trying to make the entire world my playground

I've always been really good at thinking up new ways
to play in new playgrounds
My style hasn't changed at all
The tools have changed with age
my playground just keeps expanding

"Hey, what do you wanna play?"
There aren't any words that could stimulate
my creativity more than this question does.

"Hey, what are you playing?"
"어이, 뭐하고 놀고 있어?"

- Ayumu Takahashi

Hurricane Bill is coming on Sunday, and creating some beautiful dark cloud / sun patterns in the sky.

Today I went swimming in the sun, while it rained!

MUD!

2009-07-30T03:16:00.000-07:00

At 대천 (Daecheon) Beach in 보령 (Boryeong) in Korea, there's a whole lot of mud.

last days in jeju, 2009

2009-07-09T00:26:00.001-07:00

I'm really going to miss it here in Jeju.

The other day Hanna and I went to a coffeeshop and played Jenga ~

We've climbed the misty mountains,

and made friends with fat fat Buddhas.

Last weekend we went to Udo Island, a small island off the east coast of Jeju. We camped right on the white coral beach, here's our tent!

We could see the sunset from the beach every night.

On the second night we climbed a small volcanic hill in one corner of the island, where they let the horses graze w/ no fences or ropes to restrict them - true island life!

... and of course ramen for breakfast on the beach!

Until we meet again, Jeju Island ... it's getting harder and harder to leave you!

Xi'an, China - snake wine, warriors, Muslims

2009-06-18T23:23:00.000-07:00

Xi'an, near the center of China, is steeped in history as well as, at least when I was visiting, near monsoon-caliber rains. Though of course, I did get out to see the Terra Cotta Warriors.

It's very difficult to capture in a picture the size and grandeur of this place. You can walk around the outside of the complex, which resembles a giant stadium, and look down on the the warriors inside. There are some places where you can get a closer look.

The Emperor Qin Shi Huang (around 210 BCE) constructed these warriors and had them placed in his future tomb, so that he'd have an army even in the afterlife. Quite soon after they were built, the emperor who ordered their construction died. Not surprisingly, the peasants soon revolted and ended up looting the tombs and smashing all the Terra Cotta Warriors they could find. Some survived, most did not, and almost all that are on display now had to be pieced together from parts.

Not all the warriors were locked up in pits, however. Some had made it out to local bars and hostels in Xi'an - there was one Terra Cotta head in our hostel bar, who gratefully accepted a beer when I offered it. He must have been thirsty surviving for over 2,000 years (not to mention being made of dirt).

Also in that hostel bar was a very interesting jug of ... pickled animals?? Upon closer inspection:

There was a very visible turtle in there as well, don't know why it wasn't mentioned on the list. :P The bartender told us it was medicinal baiju (Chinese liquor). What with the rainy weather, a few guys and I thought it would be a good idea, for the sake of our health, to take a shot. Mmmm ... just what the doctor ordered!

The next day, all rested from my medicine the night before, headed out to explore the Muslim quarter of Xi'an. It was my first visit ever to a mosque.

This one was, to be expected, very Chinese in style - it was very interesting to see the juxtaposition of Muslim and Chinese architecture, Muslim and Chinese writing everywhere.

Also in the mosque, saw an amazing tree!

Next stop - Beijing!

Tiger Leaping Gorge

2009-06-18T02:41:00.000-07:00

I know this might seem a little out of order, but I'm doing a little retrospective of my Chinese trip, since I didn't have the bandwidth to blog about it in China.

Tiger Leaping Gorge! The place is as cool as the name sounds. The Yangtze River flows at the base of the gorge, which is the third longest in the world and spills out eventually into the Pacific at Shanghai. According to local legend, there's a rock in the gorge which sticks out over the river, and long long ago a tiger once jumped from one side of the river to the other, from that rock. Didn't see the rock, but I see a whole lot of other breathtaking sights.

Right after I started the hike I was closely followed by a man on a ... is that a mule? I think so. He didn't say much, and my little attempts at Chinese conversation were just met with a smile. It was creepy how close he stayed behind me, stopping when I stopped, but talking with other travelers I discovered that these locals are eager to step in and offer assistance to weary / injured travelers on the trail (for a price of course). They're not highway robbers.

Huzzah! Note to self - leave the heavy bag at the hostel at the trail head next time, and take a day pack.

I met up with a couple of Koreans on the trail who were great company (and I got to practice my Korean!) They told me w/ some guilt about how they lied to their children and left them w/ grandparents before coming on this trip to China. Hey, you gotta get out of the house somehow! Here they are looking out on the gorge.

This was the place I stayed at, close to the half-way point on the trek - 茶馬 "cha-ma" meaning "tea horse". It was amazing, I've never stayed at a guest house on a mountain before. We all ate together - the trekkers who crashed there that night - and I felt bad that I was feeling so sick, it was hard to leave the good conversation.

Sunrise at the guesthouse was glorious but late (maybe 9:00?), since the sun was behind the mountains.

Found a Tibetan temple close to the end of the hike (Tiger Leaping Gorge is fairly close to the Tibetan border and there are a lot of ethnic Tibetans in the area).

Definitely one of the highlights of my trip, maybe someday I can go back when I'm in better health!

down to 서귀포 for the weekend

2009-06-14T22:58:00.000-07:00

Sum up Korea in three things, you ask? Easy - kimchi, hanging out at Family Mart, and lots of green green money. ^^

Hanna and I went down south to Seogwipo this weekend, to walk along the newly built Olle coast road and visit my homestay family.

I realized how much I miss Kyeong-hwan, every time I see him he's taller, but he's still got the same enthusiasm and happy go lucky nature he's always had. I first met him in elementary school and now he's a freshman in high school!

Also, Jeju flowers are glorious. I love this island!

so what have I been doing in Jeju?

2009-06-12T18:03:00.000-07:00

Hanna's got a new way to seduce a man ~ tattoos!

(made from shaving cream)

arrived in jeju & busy & lazy

2009-06-02T00:33:00.000-07:00

Well I've arrived here in Jeju, South Korea, it's been ages since I updated things here on Teadiaries, mostly because I was busy trying to fit as much tourist-time as I could in Beijing and Tianjin and then when I arrived in Jeju I've just been - lazy. Yep, no excuses. :-D

I took a lot of pictures in China, over 1600 it looks like, I'll be going through them in the next week or so. And I've got almost as many stories to tell, I think. I went through a notebook and a half of journaling, jotting down Chinese phrases, shopping lists, random stuff on the street - all kinds of junk. I can't wait to go through it, and put some of it up here. But for now, let me start where I left off ...

From Dali I journeyed north to Lijiang, the "must-see backpacker mecca" of Yunnan Province. Lijiang is a difficult city to describe, probably because I didn't see too much of the modern city. The "old city" of Lijiang is a maze of cobbled streets, incomprehensible maps, and absolutely no cars. It's glorious and strange at the same time. My first morning in Lijiang I suddenly couldn't eat anything (and for those of you who know me, you know how out of character THAT is. ^^ In this tourist, no car dreamworld, there were no pharmacies, no convenience stores, and a 15 minute walk to a taxi to take me to any of those places. And considering that I didn't know what was wrong with me, or how to explain it in Chinese, I mostly stayed within my cobblestoned paradise. The picture below is from the main square in the Old Town, it was so hard to navigate around, but I DID know that the street which lay between the "Octopus Pill" shop and the "Dried Meat Yak" shop (zoom into the pic to see the names) was my way back to the hostel. Before you say "oh hey look there's a car" - that was a police van, he was seriously the only one I swear. :)

Met a Korean couple and two Korean students on a hike and we roamed all over together (and they actually gave me some medicine as well!).

At one point I got trapped down a well.

Lijiang is famous for its water canals, running all over the Old City. On the restaurant boulevard, I met a very photogenic cat.

And of course I had a cup of tea (ginseng), at a tea shop which overlooks the traditional roofs of the Old City.

My last night in Lijiang, weak from not eating, I realized as I stepped out of the internet cafe that it was in fact Friday night, and the city was alive. Sick as I was, I pulled out my camera and lurched around the streets, feeling like Hunter S Thompson in Fear and Loathing, caught up in the carnival of lights and sounds.

Despite my sickness, whatever it was, while I was in Lijiang I took the bus out to Tiger Leaping Gorge and did an overnight trek - more on that next time!

head west, young man - Dali, Yunnan Province

2009-04-28T01:59:00.001-07:00

I took the train from Guilin to Kunming, then a bus northwest to DALI! But first, the last night I was in Yangshuo I went cormorant fishing - and I guess the old bird took a liking to me.

Dali is famous for its Bai people (one of the minority cultures in China), there are about 1.3 million of them living in the Dali area. I had the good fortune to attend a renactment of a Bai wedding, so much fun!

Apparently they have a tradition of ass-pinching the bride throughout the ceremony!

The Bai tea is amazing, we got to taste three cups at the ceremony - the first is bitter because when you're young you have to work hard, the second is sweet because after working you can enjoy the fruits of your labor, and the third is flavorful (like chai actually) because old age is full of memories. I bought some of each to bring home. This picture is the sweet one, there's milk and a bit of almond in it.

A giant medallion of TEA!!

In one of the Bai towns, you could walk around and poke your head into families' houses, which felt really weird, but we did it anyway.

These noodles were the best I've EVER had, hands down. There's actually 4 or 5 different types of noodles mixed in there, and the sauce is soy/chili. That's my second bowl.

They cut the yellow noodles from this big block which looks like cheese.

Silk worms sitting (festering?) in a basket in front of someone's house.

Couldn't wait to eat me some crayfish and bullfrog! Yep, they put them on skewers. there's grasshoppers there too if you zoom in.

On every street corner, in every park, behind every cash register people are playing Chinese chess or card games. There's a wonderful laid-back energy here, people don't feel like they have to pretend to be professional at all - though sometimes you do have to wake people up to pay for something.

And lastly - colorful chicks!!

head west, young man - Dali, Yunnan Province

2009-04-28T01:59:00.000-07:00

I took the train from Guilin to Kunming, then a bus northwest to DALI! But first, the last night I was in Yangshuo I went cormorant fishing - and I guess the old bird took a liking to me.

Dali is famous for its Bai people (one of the minority cultures in China), there are about 1.3 million of them living in the Dali area. I had the good fortune to attend a renactment of a Bai wedding, so much fun!

Apparently they have a tradition of ass-pinching the bride throughout the ceremony!

The Bai tea is amazing, we got to taste three cups at the ceremony - the first is bitter because when you're young you have to work hard, the second is sweet because after working you can enjoy the fruits of your labor, and the third is flavorful (like chai actually) because old age is full of memories. I bought some of each to bring home. This picture is the sweet one, there's milk and a bit of almond in it.

A giant medallion of TEA!!

In one of the Bai towns, you could walk around and poke your head into families' houses, which felt really weird, but we did it anyway.

These noodles were the best I've EVER had, hands down. There's actually 4 or 5 different types of noodles mixed in there, and the sauce is soy/chili. That's my second bowl.

They cut the yellow noodles from this big block which looks like cheese.

Silk worms sitting (festering?) in a basket in front of someone's house.

Couldn't wait to eat me some crayfish and bullfrog! Yep, they put them on skewers. There's grasshoppers there too if you zoom in.

On every street corner, in every park, behind every cash register people are playing Chinese chess or card games. There's a wonderful laid-back energy here, people don't feel like they have to pretend to be professional at all - though sometimes you do have to wake people up to pay for something.

And lastly - colorful chicks!!

lost in the mountains of Yangshuo

2009-04-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

I've left the cities of Hong Kong and Guangzhou behind and traveled west to Guilin and down the Li River to YANGSHUO!, a little backpacker town with dozens of bike trails and villages in the surrounding countryside.

Buddhist carvings and a fisherman on a bamboo raft, in Guilin.

On the Li River cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo.

Hanging out with some Japanese moms on tour! They loved to hear me practice my terrible Japanese.

At the exact spot on the Li River that inspired the back of the 20 yuan bill (Chinese currency).

Biking in the countryside outside of Yangshuo, rice paddies and karst mountains.

My bike crosses the Yulong River, shut up, I know it's a girl's bike, it was cheaper. :P

I got a little lost on the wrong side amongst little village roads in the afternoon, and then I turned a corner and instead of just saying a friendly "ni hao" to me, the villagers started saying "Hello, bamboo boat!!" trying to sell me passage across the river, and lemme tell you, I've never been so happy to be pressured by touts. :) Thought I might not be able to reach Yangshuo in time for the night show, but this raftsman saved me.

That night I went to the Impressions Yangshuo night show, which is a music, dance, and light show performed right on the Li River in bamboo boats - absolutely stunning. The director also did the Beijing 2008 opening show for the Olympic games.

I met a professor at a local university who was interested in practicing his English and hung out with him and his friend and climbed one of the local mountains. And we umm ... pretended we were King Kong?

They were amazing ... and they treated me to "beer fish", a local specialty.

It's weird not to see a convenience store. Even in the most rural parts I traveled to in Korea or Japan there was always a 7-11 or a FamilyMart nearby - here, they still have them, but they're small family-run stores (one was actually called "Small Store") and you have to act horrified when they overcharge you for a bottle of water so they'll lower the price. Ohhh how they love fleecing tourists.

I'm really used to uploading all my pictures all at once to Flickr and it's strange to have to choose the best ones. I'm uploading 24 right now, and it looks like it's going to take about an hour or so. Hope you guys enjoy them, more to come! Tonight I'm going to join some fishermen on a cormorant fishing tour (the cormorant birds actually go underwater and catch the fish and bring them back to the boat!) and then tomorrow night I'll be taking the overnight train to Kunming in Yunnan province, then onward to Dali City and Lijiang in the foothills of Tibet.

fast times at the Guangzhou train station

2009-04-19T01:59:00.000-07:00

Lonely Planet China describes the main train station in Guangzhou as anarchic, seething mass of humanity, so on my way I prepared myself for the worst. What greeted me when I arrived was not what I expected. I expected a train station - seething or not, I expected it to be ... indoors. As I walked up the stairs from the subway station, the first thing I saw was people just sitting around everywhere, with their bags all around them. And then I turned the corner, and saw that an entire football field size square was filled with people. They appeared to be forming long lines, just to get in the station. I got in one of them, but after a few minutes I got close enough to see that the main at the front of the line was checking tickets. Which I didn't have. My plan was to get to the station and try to figure out how to buy a ticket, but now it appeared that I couldn't enter the station without a ticket?! The old Catch-22. I started looking around for clues.

A large neon sign in Chinese pointed further down the road. I wondered if it meant "tickets thataway"? I looked up the word for tickets in the Lonely Planet book and sure enough, one of the symbols matched up - piao! It's pyo in Korean, easy to remember. Got on over there - it was a separate building entirely - only to be greeting with about 30 lines of people, each about 30 people deep. I got in one. And it was at that moment that I realized that out of all the people waiting to buy tickets, all the people getting on their trains or waiting outside, I was the ONLY foreigner. Well, well.

Long lines can be frustrating I guess, but they are a truly wonderful thing for a person who has been in China for just a little over an hour, and has no idea what he's going to say when he gets to the front of that line. I thumbed through my Lonely Planet's phrase section, trying to think of possible lines of conversation. My previous strategy of opening up the book to a page where Guilin - my destination city - was writting in large enough print in Chinese to be read over a ticket counter, wasn't going to cut it here. I tried that first at an information desk before I got up to the train station / giant square / picnic area, and sensing my weakness, a Chinese man pushed past me, completely INTO the little window in the glass separating us from the info guy, and shoved money at the ticket man for Lord knows what purpose. No, I needed to control this conversation. So I practiced. "Wo yao qu Guilin", I want to go to Guilin, under my breathe, over and over again. I memorized it. Okay what could go wrong? What if the train's booked for today? I looked up the word for today and tomorrow. The guy behind me was already fidgeting his bags and making little frustrated snorting noises, no doubt anticipating the avalanche of awkwardness the foreigner ahead of him was bound to unleash. As I mouthed phrases, I imagined he was mentally preparing his best money shove maneuvers. But I was gonna be ready for this guy.

Just then, the line surged ahead as a family of six got their tickets, and I was close enough to hear bits of the conversation with the customer just ahead of me. I couldn't hear what he said, but I could make out the ticket lady say "may-oh" which I remembered from my Mandarin podcasts as the absolute kiss of death. "There isn't any", or "I don't have any" is basically what it means. And it hit me - not surprising, right? There were easily over 500 people getting tickets with me RIGHT NOW, and that was just this instant. Was it always like this? Had I stumbled in during ticket rush hour? How were we all going to fit on trains together? Who knows. But the guy in front of me got some kind of ticket at any rate, and it was finally my turn. What was the word for "tomorrow" again??

Time slowed down. Control the conversation!

"Wo yao qu Guilin."
"Jintian?"
I know that one, it means today! I nodded and she pointed at the computer screen which showed the time of the train's departure at 18:04, the overnight train which I wanted, and the price of 215 yuan (380 was the price a ticket agency had tried to rip me off with early that day!). I gave her the money, she gave me the ticket. No problem! I turned around and headed out of the building, past the lines and people who looked a little surprised that they didn't get to see a funny foreigner show. Thanks Lonely Planet!! I realize all of that could have been a very long Lonely Planet commercial. :)

I expected China to be pretty much what I encountered at the train station - disorganized, dissheveled, out of control and reined in by the authorities (those lines outside were bordered by fences and patrolled by policemen), and smelly. Public toilets are often just ditches built into the floor overflowing with - well you get the idea, they don't look or smell like they're EVER cleaned. But that's where the "backwards" China ends. Walking around the streets, I see nothing but people with expensive looking handbags, fashionable clothes, fast food restaurants, ice cream shops, everything you'd expect to see anywhere in the developed world. The internet cafe I'm sitting in right now has a lightning fast computer w/ webcam, big red executive chairs, and everyone's playing Counterstrike and World of Warcraft around me and watching pirated movies while Chinese hiphop and American dance music plays in the background. But then again, people spit out food right onto the table while they're eating (nope, no napkins). They throw boiled eggs at monkeys at the zoo (saw that today - so sad!! the monkey was happy though) and they throw their trash on the ground EVERYwhere. As an American, its so strange that these two kinds of things exist together - but hey, that's just my perspective I guess. People say that China's going to be modern in the next couple of years, but - disregarding those things I mentioned - China is modern RIGHT NOW.

Pictures will follow - the computer I was using in Hong Kong was super slow and crashed in the middle of a picture upload, and this one won't recognize my camera for some reason. Tomorrow I'm taking a riverboat cruise down the river Li and staying in Yangshuo for a few days, hopefully I'll find a better computer there.

off to China

2009-04-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I'll be gathering my things and heading out to Boston, to the airport, for a flight to Hong Kong and then onward to southern China. To say that I'm excited would be like giving a little kid a hundred extra Christmas presents one year, and saying that he was 'pretty happy'. I'm speechless.

This past weekend was my last weekend in Boston for a little while. Since it was almost Lauren's birthday as well, we had a little pre-birthday dinner for her at Fajitas and Ritas in Boston.

The "Ritas" stands for .... margaritas. :-D

In accordance with the prophecy, we also made it down to Hong Kong (the bar in Boston, not the city...)

Totem pole!

Suzanne and Andrea invented some new kinds of dance ...

And the dancing lasted all the way to the subway station. I'll miss you guys. <3

I'll be back in Boston on August 14th, but expect quite a few posts here in the meantime. My first mission - spicy Southern Chinese cuisine! I hear they eat snake??

boogie out in Iowa

2009-04-06T20:18:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to Iowa to visit my grandmother, my aunt and uncle, and my cousin. I took the Greyhound bus, which ended up being about two days' journey each way, but it wasn't all that bad. Most of the way I got my own seat. Ended up learning some Chinese from a guy heading out to Chicago, and played some chess in the bus station in Pittsburgh. Plus, I got to see the sunrise.

I stayed at my grandma's place, where she fed me home-made granola and all kinds of delicious things. Hung out a lot with my little cousin J.D., who is one of the coolest guys I've met in a while. Played Settlers of Catan, he showed me some crazy computer games, a very sweet time.

We all went out for Japanese/Korean.

SPICY !!

So good to see family, I'm really going to miss them.

back in Franklin !

2009-03-23T18:46:00.001-07:00

Well, I've actually been back in Franklin for a long while now. And it's been great! Right before I arrived, my aunt spelled out something in the snow in the front yard ...

I have quite an amazing family!

I couldn't believe all that crazy snow...

Boston was just as beautiful as I remember it. Looking forward to maybe getting out on those Community Boating sailboats this fall!

Got to hang out with a lot of good friends I haven't seen in ages.

And - hell yea!! - finally got to play some great games w/ my best buddy Stu. I really miss gaming overseas.

I bought my ticket for China - I leave on April 15th. Between now and then I'll be traveling out to Iowa to visit family, planning and packing for the trip, etc etc - but ... not gonna lie, it feels very strange to be without a job right now. I'm being pretty careful with money since none is coming in right now, but still, I have this subtle underlying feeling of - guilt? Maybe it's guilt. Humans were meant to work, I think. I miss teaching a lot. Anyone want to hire a mercenary teacher for 2 weeks in Boston? :D

Last Days at YCC

2009-02-26T23:26:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this from my office in YCC (Yokohama College of Commerce), in my last hour of work here. It's been a great experience, I learned a lot, but I'm excited to be flying home to Boston on Tuesday!

Above is Jacqui, Ross, Stu and I on my birthday, in the skyscaper district of Shinjuku. Below -- YCC !!

Me, in a manga cafe, playing some crazy and delightfully incomprehensible Playstation game.

And here's a little something I took on Carrie and my last day teaching - a little incognito train footage (I had the hanging camera around my neck but left it filming). This is what our morning commute looks like, taking the 7:56 train from Naruse station ...

I've lived and traveled in a lot of different countries in the past five years, but it never gets hard to leave. We've had some great times, Japan, I'll miss you !!

Doraemon

2009-02-22T00:43:00.001-08:00

Who is Doraemon? Doraemon is a "gadget cat from the future". According to Wikipedia, in March 2008, Japan's Foreign Ministry appointed Doraemon as the nation's first "anime ambassador." I'm not sure what that means, but he certainly is ubiquitous throughout Japan.

I was recently in a small English section of a bookstore and to my delight I found volume one of the Doraemon manga, translated into English! (with Japanese as well). So now I'm reading about how this little robot cat comes to save the comic's hero from a lifetime of loser-dom. It's very cute.

Here's a scan of one of the first panels, again courtesy of Wikipedia:

This is where Nobita, the main character, first meets Doraemon as he comes out of a desk drawer. Doraemon's first words are: "It's me. Did I upset you?" Nobita, being something of a spazz, is indeed pretty upset to see robot cats coming out of drawers.

Doraemon, you are a cool cat.

I often find my students doodling Doraemon on their English papers - Doraemon, and for some reason, a very gentlemanly looking frog with a necktie.

Stu in Japan

2009-02-19T18:36:00.000-08:00

This morning as I raced out the door at 7:47 to catch my 7:51 bus down the road, I bid a sleepy and sad farewell to my good buddy Stu. We had some sweet times in Japan - so glad he could make it!!

Here's Stu at an Okinawa themed bar the other night, with smooth beer and Okinawa tempura vegetables (ゴーヤ - go-ya, kind of like eggplant, and some beans). And of course, Japanese reggae and groovy times. The bartender even gave Stu a free shot of Okinawa whiskey since it was his first time in Japan! What a night ~ safe flights my friend!

the four winds

2009-02-17T22:03:00.000-08:00

One of the Japanese kanji symbols I always see, especially on the subway, are the four directions. In kanji, here they are:

北 - きた - kita - north
南 -　みなみ - minami - south
東 -　ひがし - higashi - east
西 -　にし - nishi - west

In kanji, you can often find pictures in the radicals (components of the compounded symbol) to help you remember. I really like these four, because they're rich in imagery. 北 looks like two people back to back to keep warm in the cold (north can be a cold place!). 南 looks like it has the yen symbol inside (¥) - maybe the south is rich?東 has the kanji for tree (木) and the one for sun (日) because the sun rises in the east. This is also the kanji in Tokyo (東京) which means "east capital". 西 looks like it has the kanji for the number "four" in it 四 - why? I'm not sure, any ideas?

anatomy of a manga cafe

2009-02-17T03:11:00.000-08:00

Stu is in Japan !!!

At long last my good friend Stu has crossed the Great Ocean, the Pacific one that is! And he's here exploring Tokyo with me. Today we went to a 'mangakissa' or manga cafe, after work.

Manga cafes are more than just places to read manga, though there's always a huge manga library with aisles and stacks upon stacks of books to read. Also: magazines, books, DVDs, PS2 games. Our room had a two seater couch, this computer that I'm typing on, ambient lighting and music, and a nice big TV to play Playstation (we've been playing Guilty Gear, he's owning me) - basically a sweet place to crash with your friends for a few hours and treat like your living room at home.

And the single rooms have massage chairs! Way back in 2006, my friend Rachael and I stayed in one of these manga cafes for the night in Kyoto when we couldn't find a hotel. Some even have showers, didn't see that here, but we got a hamburger and curry delivered right to our little cubicle.

For me, this is one of the iconic places that makes Japan, though it might seem at first very similar, very different than America.

me gustas tu

2009-02-11T18:10:00.000-08:00

This song has been in my head all day:

Me gustas Japón, me gustas tu. (that's Japan in Spanish!)

Today is Carrie and Ross's last day here in Yokohama College of Commerce, it's a beautiful cloudless sunny blue blue day, but man - a sad one. I've been carrying my camera around and filming at random moments, within the next few days I'll throw some of them up here so you guys can see what it's like to walk around my school. Two more weeks of makeup classes for me (for students who failed the term) and then -- back to Boston !!! :) I'm getting excited.

Today's Japanese word - いろいろ　-　iro-iro - means varieties. The word is two repeating syllables, and individually いろ (iro) means color. "Color-color" brings to mind a whole bunch of colorful things - a variety. Apparently Japanese has a lot of these double repeating syllable words, anyone know any more?

Coffee Cup

2009-02-10T18:17:00.000-08:00

"Coffee Cup"

Wake up in the morning
Stretch your arms towards the sun
Say something in Chinese
And go to Paris…
Every minute, somewhere in the world there is morning
Somewhere, people stretch their arms towards the sun
They speak new languages, fly from Cairo to Warsaw
They smile and drink coffee together.

-Anastasia Baburova

Last month, in daylight in the middle of Moscow, journalist and intellectual Anastasia Baburova was shot and killed. She was born the same year as me - 1983 - yet it seems almost like she lived in different times. Her life story, her brilliant ideas, her tragic death, had me breathless.

I listened to the article while on the Economist's podcast while I was jogging this morning. You can also read the story at the Economist here.

on English

2009-02-09T00:04:00.000-08:00

Some languages borrow words from others. English chases them down dark alleyways, coshes them, and goes through their pockets for spare grammar.

a sunny afternoon

2009-02-08T04:40:00.000-08:00

One of the wonderful things about living in a foreign country is the little surprises you can encounter on a daily basis. Today I spent a nice sunny Sunday walking around my neighborhood. On the way to a coffeeshop, I found this - a dark den of delights. Or actually, a vending den of delights. A large beer vending machine sat in the front (note the "cameras are watching you" sign - they were watching ...).

Behind that was a ... wine bottle vending machine? Is that cooking wine?

Plus some vaguely pornographic electronic slot machines, I'm not sure Blogger would approve of me putting those up, but that's what's all the way back there, on the left.

In the coffeeshop, a red panic button in an otherwise country home-style bathroom.

My darling Hanna sent me sweet Korean-style shirts for my birthday - also, I got new glasses.

And here's me snowboarding last weekend ~

Today's Japanese word - お土産　-　おみやげ　ー　omiyage - it means gift. I think the second character 土　- mi - is the same character in 土曜日 - douyobi, which means Saturday. The character itself means earth. Very interesting that "earth" would be in the kanji for "gift".

Haikus at Yokohama College of Commerce

2009-01-22T23:40:00.000-08:00

I think teaching Japanese students how to write haikus in English is a little bit like teaching Americans how to compose a sonnet in Japanese. Mixed, mangled, and amazing. Here's what some of my students came up with:

"baked sweet potato
autumnal tints beautiful
looking in the park"

"Yoshimasa stands
beside blooms the sunflower
sunflower higher than he"

I told them that they might focus on traditional themes like the four seasons (to keep them from just staring at the page and claiming that they couldn't come up with any ideas) - but of course some were a lot more creative.

"the snowman is cold
he plays soccer very hard
snowman is water"

And my favorite:

"YES WE CAN for change
barak hussein obama
snowboarding is great"

That's what's hip right now at my school, in a nutshell - Obama and snowboarding.

More updates to come soon - I promise! School has been super busy lately, but I'll have more free time in the next couple weeks I think.

winter vacation

2009-01-21T04:53:00.000-08:00

So much time has past since a picture update! So here we go -->

My very good friend Hanna came to visit me over winter break from Korea, and we went all sorts of places together.

Christmas party at Ross's house! Sarah and Ross really know how to get a good ol stew going. Also, there was silly string.

I attacked Carrie on the balcony with fake snow. It's the Christmas spirit!

Hanna and I went to Hakone, a resort town south of Yokohama where you can get a great view of Mt. Fuji. The day we went, it was stunning.

Fun in Yoyogi Park ! The days were sunny and gorgeous, and we just ran around outside and climbed trees.

Extreme closeup!! :-D

As always, Japan has been informative. This vacation, I learned how to wash my bottom. Look closely, there's actually a button that plays a flushing sound through the - yes, you guessed it - the toilet's speakers. Mind you, this has nothing to do with the actual flushing of a toilet. It's just the sound. For atmosphere?

Well that's about all the learning I can take - it's time to get back in the classroom and start teaching. Only a couple more weeks left in the term, finals are next week, then I'll be teaching a make-up class for a couple of weeks, and then back to America on March 2nd!

a weekend with Sir Bennett Baldwin

2008-12-15T00:12:00.000-08:00

A couple weekends ago, my good buddy Ben came over from South Korea for a weekend in Japan.

We learned several important things.

1) Ben is capable of eating a helluva lot of sushi.

2) Hot dog sushi is delicious.

3) The ancient city of Kamakura (capital of Japan from 1185–1333) has a very large Buddha.

4) According to the fortune I bought at Hase-dera Temple, now is a fortuitous time to buy armor, a harness, a cow and a horse.

5) Even halfway around the world, you can still meet cool people from Boston like Mandy.

6) There is apparently a "party train". This will remain forever a mystery, we didn't board it.

Speaking of mysteries, Ben and I also went clubbing and stayed out at Roppongi all night. But we didn't bring cameras, so that story will live on only in the tales we tell our children in the years to come ... Ben, come back to Japan again soon.

trash in Japan

2008-12-01T22:16:00.000-08:00

Yep - this is a blog entry about trash.

If I had a 100 yen coin for every time I thought to myself, "Henry, you should blog about trash in Japan", I would probably have enough to hire my own personal Trash Consultant. But that is, unfortunately, not the case. A quick primer on trash - in kanji it's 護美(ゴミ) - "go-mi" which according to my coworker means "protect beauty". And actually she also said it's an old word - it's always meant "protect beauty", it's not just part of some recent government green campaign, it's a deep feature of the language itself. 　Pretty amazing, huh?

I really respect the Japanese attitude toward trash. Unfortunately, I find myself consistently rebelling against it. Click on the picture below and zoom in (all sizes button in Flickr just above the picture) to see what I mean.

That's the trash spot right in front of the entrance to my apartment. The green mesh is to keep out birds/bears, I'm guessing. Up at the top centerish of the picture, zoomed in, you'll see a sign that outlines which day each type of trash item is picked up - but I've got an English spreadsheet at home which translates it as well. Yes - spreadsheet. Officially, each item is supposed to be not only separated, but placed in a different colored bag (which must be purchased at participating supermarkets located in the area). The yellow one right there is my "combustibles" trash - meaning paper, food, etc. which can be burned. If the trash is not accurately and thusly labeled, the trashmen will leave a sticker on the bag which is covered in very difficult Japanese and they'll check off a few options, which probably translate as:

Bag was:
(yes) improperly labeled.
(yes) improperly sealed.
(yes) a bit scuffed up on the bottom, which is completely unacceptable.
(yes) emitting odors above acceptable trash processing levels.

Tenant is:
(yes) a terrible person who hates our Mother Earth.
(yes) clearly a foreign buffoon.

The pickup days and organization scheme require a great deal of effort and perhaps 4 or 5 more trash cans than I currently own in my apartment (I own one). Such things as plastic convenience store trays, every kind of bottle material, different metals - and it's all on a very complicated pickup scheme. I think non-burnable, non-convenience store plastics (type 2) are picked up every second Tuesday. Most of the people in my apartment complex, I've heard, simply put everything in the yellow burnable bags and call it a day.

While you're out and about in Tokyo, the situation is even worse. The only trash cans you can consistently count on are the ones for recycleable plastic bottles, which are found next to vending machines (which are EVERYwhere). Apart from that, you won't find any trash cans on street corners, in parks, in bathrooms (also: no paper towels), and in most stores. Sometimes you'll see them in convenience stores, sometimes not. I wandered around Shibuya for 45 minutes dragging a trash bag with me, I only lost it because I asked an information booth lady if she had one, and she took it (I think she was just being polite).

At my school there are trash cans in the bathroom, but no hand towels, and you're not allowed to throw anything in the trash can which is not already contained in a plastic bag.

So you can imagine how this is all very alien and very limiting, especially when you find yourself with something messy on your hands. But hey - protecting the beauty of the Earth is worth something too.

just something interesting I just read

2008-11-23T20:21:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm reading Sake and Satori: Asian Journals - Japan by Joseph Campbell. From page 100: "The distinguishing characteristic of one who has attained awakening and lives in it is: gratefulness to the world- to the tea, the teacup, the table, everything - which has made and makes existence and enlightenment possible. The idea of religion as gratefulness permeated Japan".

Two Eyes in Tokyo

2008-11-15T23:20:00.000-08:00

So I was walking to a cafe the other day with my Japanese friend and all of a sudden we came upon these two fellows in suits wearing strange, huge masks. We couldn't figure out what they were until we walked around the other side - two giant eyeballs being guided by a Santa's elf girl. A true WTF?! moment, even my Japanese friend had no clue what was going on. Merry Christmas, super early, Tokyo style! This picture doesn't do just to the bizarreness of the situation, and the creepy way they just sort of shuffled along the road. Very ironic to be dressed up as a giant eye and be completely blind.

i made a joke!

2008-11-13T23:10:00.000-08:00

So, I'm not sure if I've ever made up a joke in my life. But today, I was just thinking about my friend Ben who's coming to visit me in a couple of weeks here in Japan, he's in the US Army and I believe he's a lieutenant. So that word was just floating around in my head, and this joke just popped right in after it. It's terrible, but I'm going to share it with you anyway. Here goes:

Q: What do you call an army officer who takes up residence in a bathroom?
A: A loo tenant!

The Scottish guy I work with here gave me a chuckle, though I'm not sure if it was out of pity or not. Seriously though, I think this joke is gold. I'm gonna be famous!

Meiji Jingu 50th anniversary

2008-11-11T23:54:00.000-08:00

Recently the biggest Shinto shrine in Tokyo, the Meiji Jingu, held its 50th anniversary celebration. The Meiji Shrine was built in the early 1900s to enshrine the spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife - it was destroyed in the bombings during World War II, but was rebuilt in 1958, making this the 50th year since its restoration.

As I walked through the park in the dark, candles lit the path toward the shrine.

The torii which mark the entrance to the shrine, lit up in the dark.

A priest (or king?) and a young disciple maybe, talked to each other in a strange sing-songy voice - my friend said it reminded her of Noh theater, something I'm hoping to see in Tokyo soon.

The priest, at times, cried.

We left around the time when a scary-looking white-masked robed figure entered, slowly walked around menacingly, and finally sat next to the priest and a young cherry blossom tree.

Good times!

File Under: Awesome Engrish

2008-11-10T19:11:00.000-08:00

Usually, I'll model dialogue for my students, and then have them use substitution from their own lives to build understanding.

My dialogue model for today:
"Yesterday I ate sushi. It was so delicious."

One of my student's substitution:
"Yesterday I made love to my girlfriend. It was so delicious."

A+ !!

Japanese food

2008-11-10T17:21:00.001-08:00

Those of you who know me, know that I love Asian food. So coming here to Japan, one of my most important missions has been to make friends with the native food, then devour it. Here are some of the things I've been eating.

I was on my way to hike Mitake mountain and I had to change trains to a local line on the same platform. So, I had 20 minutes to kill and I was hungry, but I didn't want to leave the station ... no problem! The Japanese have thought about this problem, they have ramen shops right in the middle of the train platform. I had soba (buckwheat noodles) with fried vegetables mixed in ... mmm. It's a surprisingly dark taste - hard to describe. Definitely not sweet or even salty.

The rotating sushi bars are the best. You just sit down, get free unlimited tea from a spigot, all the wasabi and pickled ginger you want, and just pull down plates from the conveyor belt to eat. You get to make a sweet tower that tells your dining neighbors exactly how much of a sushi pig you are. :D

Speaking of pigs .......

And finally, a Japanese take on a Korean restaurant. the prices are heartbreaking, but even more disturbing ... I don't recall ever seeing a floating poopie sausage on the menu in Korea?!

The good news, tea report: in the teacher's room of my school, there is a machine which dispenses two things - hot water, and loose leaf green tea, at the touch of a button. Most days, I just don't stop drinking it.

Tokyo Design Festa

2008-11-09T18:43:00.001-08:00

This weekend, Ross Ilana and I went to Tokyo Design Festa, a once-a-year independent art festival held in a massive convention center called Tokyo Big Sight. In some cases you could even watch the art as it happened - this woman was body-painting a ... tiger man?

This little boy fell in love with a new robot friend - which clapped symbols and whistled to advertise the booth's art.

There was a ninja dance show!!

Children could learn how to weave at looms.

There was a teepee village.

Some sensual dance body painting ...

... and some people just sat around with animal heads on.

Just simply amazing to be able to see new, original artwork even few feet, turn a corner, and see tons more -- I believe there were between 2,000 to 3,000 artists at the show.

And oh yeah - they crowned me their mushroom king! They just pulled me into this display, I had no idea what was going on ...

o b a m a 2 0 0 8 !!!!

2008-11-06T06:19:00.000-08:00

It's been too long since I've last posted here, but a long time between posts usually means I'm having too much fun to sit down and write something, and that's definitely the case lately. Just some bits and pieces of life here in Japan ...

I mentioned the election in all of my classes today (I teach college freshmen, mostly boys), and the reactions were so varied. Usually I started it out like this:

Henry: "Something happened yesterday, in America. It was a special day. What happened?" (yay for simple English!)
((silence, students process it and scratch their heads ... then, one of two things))
Random student: Obama!
OR
Random student: (Incomprehensible Japanese, and laughter)
Henry (both situations): "Yes! And now for today's lesson ..."

In some classes where I thought they might be able to handle it I pushed the "conversation" a little further.

Henry: "Why is Obama special? He's the first ... what?" I was looking for - the first black/African American President. What I got, in one class, was a kid who yelled out the "n" word.

You can guess from this the level of most of the students in my class - sometimes worse English than my 4 weeks of Japanese. ;)

And now a couple of pictures ...

A wolf god dances at an autumn festival in Kawagoe, north of Tokyo.

An old bell-tower, Kawagoe.

A noodle sandwich in the 7-Eleven near my house. Mmm ... carbs!

tokyo a go go

2008-10-07T22:34:00.000-07:00

Days are rushing by.

Last weekend, I took the train out to Mitake-san, a small mountain close to Tokyo which has a town and a Shinto shrine at its peak. Above is one of the huge guard dog statues at the foot of the shrine, with a sunset over Tokyo in the distance.

The zigzag papers below are hung on a rope to show the boundary of the sacred space. They're origami, made by Shinto priests from a single sheet of square paper.

I really like seeing the more traditional/early pictograms of kanji - Chinese characters. They mean giving something to someone higher than you.

This is a fox god, which according to one of my co-teachers here at the university is "one of the most popular gods". Go fox! There were two of them in a quiet little shrine off the main shrine area, their stares were stunning.

More zigzag papers; they're called "o-shide".

Sunset, mist, and trees.

On Friday night after work, Carrie, Ross and I went out and had a beer in an izakaya (traditional Japanese bar), and they had these giant beers that made us feel like hobbits. First week of work ... kam-pai!!

I moved to Japan!!

2008-09-25T16:21:00.001-07:00

Hello from JAPAN!! I still can't believe I'm here, honestly. :P

Flight was great, made friends with a couple of college kids who were part of a Philipino dance troupe (though they were Japanese) on tour in America, and they helped me practice my terrible Japanese - it's a little less terrible now! After the flight, my company helped me navigate the intense mesh network of trains that is the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, and after a short walk from the train station, I arrived at my apartment.

That's the entrance-way, with a little galley kitchen. I sleep directly above the entrance-way, if you can believe it.

This is the main room of my place, with mid-afternoon light. The computer-looking screen is actually my TV, which has all kinds of special features which I have no idea how to use. Exciting to look at though.

From the other direction. The first time I saw the loft I jumped with glee, no kiddin.

On the ladder, which is a scary place to be half-awake from jet-lag in the middle of the night, heading to the bathroom. No injuries, so far so good.

The crowning prize - a toilet that squirts your butt with water. What else could I need? Maybe an air dry button, I'm still trying to figure out if it has one ...

Right now I'm heading off to downtown Tokyo, all the teachers hired this semester with my company have a seminar for the next two days to get to know each other and the company curriculum, will post more when I get back. :) Miss you guys

I moved to Japan!!

2008-09-25T16:04:00.000-07:00

vermont, new york, boston, franklin

2008-09-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in my kitchen in Franklin, sipping on some 설록차 (Jeju Sulloc Plantation green tea), and I'm realizing I only have a little more than a week left here in the States. September 22nd - Yokohama!!

I'm way behind on uploading pictures, those will hopefully be up in the next few days. I bought a Canon G9 and I couldn't be happier.

A noiseless, patient spider,
I mark'd, where, on a little promontory, it stood, isolated;
Mark'd how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding,
It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself;
Ever unreeling them--ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you, O my Soul, where you stand,
Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing,--seeking the spheres, to connect them;
Till the bridge you will need, be form'd--till the ductile anchor hold;
Till the gossamer thread you fling, catch somewhere, O my Soul. ~Whitman

microwaves

2008-06-16T23:50:00.000-07:00

Ahh, microwaves. Those magical devices whose delicate "whhrrrrr"ing sound gently transform your cold spaghetti and meatballs from last night into a deliciously warm breakfast of champions. I was looking closer at the microwave in our dormitory and here's what I found on the pre-sets:

1) Reheat rice
2) Reheat stew
3) Reheat milk
4) Frozen pizza
5) Frozen dumplings
6) Steam egg
7) Ramen
8) Cook potatoes
9) Sterilize a nursing bottle

Glorious mix of east and west. Also seen recently - Konglish t-shirts:

Brilliant flowers on the edge of campus:

And ... my students threw me a party for teacher's day!

My camera is currently broken, which is why all of these were taken with my cell phone. I'm thinking about a Nikon or a Canon dSLR - any suggestions?

bike trip

2008-05-25T23:20:00.000-07:00

I love the joys of the mountains,
wandering completely free,
feeding a crippled body another day,
thinking thoughts that go nowhere.
Sometimes I open an old sutra,
more often I climb a stone tower
and peer down a thousand-foot cliff
or up where clouds curl around
where the windblown winter moon
looks like a lone-flying crane.

- Hanshan (Cold Mountain 寒山)

Ready to start!

I ended up joining the army!

At Hwasun Beach where we spent our first night, with a great view of Sanbangsan.

I met some squid on the coast!

This is how much money I had when I was finished. I made it!

Fear is the mindkiller.

2008-05-25T06:11:00.000-07:00

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

Anyone else a Dune fan? I'm reading Heretics of Dune right now, it's blowing me away.

weekends

2008-05-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

It's Spring! And weekends lately have been memorable.

A few weeks ago I played frisbee with the Jeju C team. It was so good to run around in the sun with other good people from the island - plus all over Korea, China, and Taiwan.

We had a sports day for the little kids who take afternoon classes at the university.

Don't let their cuteness fool you! These kids are vicious tug-of-war monsters ...

Oh! And went shopping the other day and found this new summer fashion must-have:

I'm now taking shipping requests for bizzare Konglish shirts. ;)

real fight clubs

2008-05-12T17:26:00.000-07:00

1999 was a great year for movies - American Beauty, The Matrix, and of course Fight Club. As some of you know, my senior thesis partly on Buddhist themes in Fight Club, so I was really excited to watch this:

Aren't sports supposed to be substitutions for the old hunting/male dominance instincts? Sports aren't enough? I dunno though, beating each other with keyboards looks pretty sweet.

Life! Is! Wonder! Ful!

2008-04-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

The other day, after raining in the morning, the sky cleared up dramatically and I could see that the western horizon would be almost completely clear.

So I climbed up the small mountain in the back of the university and I took some pictures of the setting sun.

I've seen the sunset on the beach a couple of times - but never from a mountain halfway across an island. Life is just astonishing sometimes.

life in korea

2008-04-20T03:02:00.001-07:00

Have you guys ever seen SNL's classic Chronicles of Narnia rap?

This is the same idea, Korea-style. Just watch it - hilarious. So many inside jokes - the visors and the gloves in the beginning are all the rage here for ajjumas (middle aged married women) to wear walking about town, to avoid the sun.

april showers

2008-04-09T00:09:00.000-07:00

Today is Voting Day! While Korea elects a new parliament, I've been going through some of the pictures I took in the past few weeks.

I went hiking on some back trails and ran into a Jeju deer.

They have these amazing board game cafes here in Korea, and I found out I can still play a mean game of Jenga. Cathy kicked my ass though in Rummikub (that game is amazing!!).

It's cherry blossom season here on Jeju Island. Everywhere you go, is gorgeous.

This pretty much sums up my kids' class.

We went out for my friend Mano's birthday and found this great restaurant - "boned rid - a specialty store" - Engrish!

Then we went and got something in our teeths.

And - my computer's been overheating, so I decided to put it in the fridge to cool off for a while (didn't help).

Today has been wet and gloomy but we had a few nice days this week. At the north gate of campus, we've got a little village of restaurants, and they've got their outdoor patio tables out now, and it's been great to just put my feet up down there, take a stack of quizes and homeworks to correct, and have a bowl of gelato. Yes - gelato! in Korea! Small miracles.

Halla-san!

2008-03-27T04:53:00.001-07:00

Last Monday was a beautiful sunny day, so we thought we'd take the time I had between classes (9-4, split shifts like whoa!) to go up Mount Halla, the volcanic center of Jeju Island. We took the Yeongsil course, which is the shortest and perhaps the most beautiful. Here's the Yeongsil rocks between trees:

The path up the mountain (and you can almost see the ocean in the distance...):

There were ice crystals on the vegetation as we climbed to higher altitudes:

Me at the top! This course doesn't lead up to the very top of the mountain (it's closed off), so this is as far as you can get. And there's the peak, just taunting you:

Oh - and here's one from last week, frog's eggs and tiny tadpoles in a local stream. I've never seen anything like this before!

Even though these past couple of weeks have been great, I've been missing home a lot lately. Thinking of you guys!

scuba diving video!

2008-03-19T06:42:00.001-07:00

After a bit of tinkering I edited together a few bits of the scuba diving video my class received at the end of our Open Water Certificate dives. That's me doing the peace sign by the camera in the beginning ... yup. That's me. :) Enjoy!

back from Thailand!

2008-03-08T22:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm back in Korea! We arrived last Sunday night and collapsed at our local pub and ordered a big pot of bu-dae-chigae, a kimchi soup with all kinds of things like dumplings and sausages mixed in, and chilled out after about 24 hours of flights and waiting. Wow, I'm realizing as I re-read what I just wrote that it might not seem to appealing to you, but believe me, that soup is AMAZING.

But before there was the weariness of returning from a long trip there was ... THAILAND!!

Suzanne came down from Chiang Mai and hung out for a few days on the beach in Koh Phangan and played frisbee with us. Oh yeah, and we got some killer beachside massages.

Then we headed north on the ferry to a little island called Koh Tao, which has one of the best reputations for scuba diving schools in the world. Plus - beautiful sunsets.

Here's one of me right before suiting up for a dive! They gave us a DVD to take home with footage from one of our dives, I'll try and edit it and put some clips on Youtube a little later. The waters were crystal clear, I couldn't believe the colors of the coral and anenomes down there.

Back in Bangkok on our way out, we made friends with one of the ladies running the street food carts. Those three piles of food in the background are different types of noodles - Thai and Chinese. Man, I really love food. That's all for now, more to come! The school year just started here and I've been busy making lesson plans - I'm teaching my first credit classes this semester! Wish me luck ...

bangkok to koh phangan!

2008-02-20T04:33:00.000-08:00

I'm in Koh Phangan! We made it yesterday afternoon, after being crammed on a ferry with hundreds of other backpackers and their backpacks. I wish I had pictures to show you - unfortunately I haven't yet found a place that can read my camera's SIM card, but here are a few highlights of our trip so far ...

- Finding a temple in a side street in Bangkok's Chinatown where the men were playing volleyball with a wicker ball ... but with their feet (though there was a volleyball net) ... and the women were on the sidelines, drinking beer.
- "Ten baht! Anywhere in bangkok, one hour!" "Sir, are you going to take us to tailors and jewelry stores and make us buy things?" "You just look, no buy, it's okay!" "No thanks." "Okay, five baht, anywhere, one hour!"
- Street Pad Thai in Bangkok, geren curry everywhere.
- Watching the sun set over the sea at our resort beach.

Oh and one more - as I'm typing this, a little lizard is running along the wall, heading for the power cables, I hope this post is autosaving because I think maybe the power will jus

Thailand, Flickr gallery

2008-02-15T04:53:00.000-08:00

We're going to Thailand tomorrow!! It feels really surreal, but getting realer by the moment, our bags are packed and sitting ready by the sofa, we'll just grab them and go tomorrow morning. I refuse to bring shoes, so I'll be wearing 4 socks and sandals on the way to the airport in this cold mountain weather. Foolish! :)

I've been trying to dig through all of my pictures over the last few years to find the best ones, and to put them together in one set on Flickr. Here's what I've got so far, I'll be adding more when I get back from Thailand. Enjoy!

Flickr gallery set

back from the dead!

2008-02-07T05:22:00.000-08:00

Well I haven't posted in a long while - almost 2 months, I guess. January ate me, unfortunately. I got food poisoning, then feverish bronchitis, all while our intensive English camps at the university were in full swing. But now I've bundled up the remaining bits of my body, sold them on eBay, and bought that brand new body I've always wanted. I'm back in action! :) Here's some other stuff that's been going on:

Nightly, Cathy transforms herself into a delightful ogress, much like Princess Fiona of Shrek fame:

We went on a little field trip to the site of Tae-wang-sa-shin-gi, a historical drama filmed on Jeju Island. Unfortunately, the rice wine had runneth dry.

Plus, I almost got bagged in a basket and sent to Marrakesh! Narrow escape.

Cathy and Mano and sparklers, New Year's 2008.

English camp dramas sometimes (often?) involve pirates, sailors, Pikachu (sans head) and dressing in drag.

Going to Thailand in 8 days!! More pictures to follow ...

2008: Year of the Robot

2007-12-12T17:42:00.000-08:00

I slept exactly seven hours last night, and whenever I sleep exactly 7 hours, I wake up in the middle of a dream. I've started scheduling my sleep time around this, because they're usually pretty interesting.

Last night I dreamt I was witnessing, from the air, a sea of scrambling people, running away (or toward?) some kind of creature - at first I thought it was a robot, and then I thought it was a dragon, and then I thought it was some sort of robotic dragon, and then (of course this is fanciful dream logic) - I KNEW that this was the incarnation of Year of the Dragon, the Chinese New Year that's coming up in 2008. And then of course I looked it up and this next year is actually the year of the Rat. Robot rat?

On a completely unrelated note: If you're like most people, you've seen a Ron Paul video or two on the internet, or read about his amazing fundraising day on Nov. 5th. I have no idea what the buzz is on American TV or off-line in America, but all I can say is ... wow! Wow. I watched this video the other day:

The music sounds like I'm watching the cathartic ending of some big-budget action film, and then of course the Simon & Garfunkel - classic hippie nostalgia. It all sounds great - limit our military overseas, get back to the constitution, cutting our bureaucracy and our spending - but then I checked out Ron Paul on this:

http://www.2decide.com/table.htm

Sure, small government works for issues when I want small government. But what about environmental and oil industry regulations? Help for illegal immigrants to achieve citizenship? A woman's right to abortion? (This one seems opposite, but take a look at his voting record - I remember from the Rep. debate he wanted to leave it to the States.) Suddenly, I want government back - but only for those issues? Suddenly, it's not so simple anymore. But hell, the simplicity of his position sure is seductive.

At the same time, I agree with Paul that we are acting more like an empire than a republic. And maybe electing someone this radical would be the only way to make even minimal steps in cleaning the mess from the past 8 years. So, what do you think? Discussion welcome.

2007-12-10T20:29:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I forgot to post this before - the night I finished the first draft of my novel, I had a little party downtown.

Good friends, good times.

Me and Chang-Hun had an epic battle to see who could drink the most soju. We both won!

There was many a tender conversation over a bubbling pot of 만두국 (dumpling soup).

Oh oh! Cute.

And then I flew away. The end! ^^

2007-12-08T20:54:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been almost a month! I think I have trouble focusing on more than one thing at a time. Well, my novel is done, I finished it in the afternoon of November 30th - I'm not saying it's good or anything, but it's DONE. That's what I signed up for. I think it's okay for a first draft, it definitely needs a lot of editing before I can think about submitting it anywhere, but it feels so good to complete what I started. Did I think I'd actually write a novel when I started it on November 1st? Well -- no. I think I thought I'd have some decent excuse - maybe my job would give me another class to teach, or I'd down with a bad case of the mumps or something - and it would have to be put on hold. The cold weather here made going outside so unattractive that it wasn't hard to just sit in the library and in cafes and let it write itself. :)

I'm on another little semi-vacation right now for a week - the CAMPS start this Friday, during which I've been warned that we'll be working weekends, evenings, weekend evenings, and perhaps new hours will be added to the original 24 just so we can work a little bit more. It's the calm before the storm. So in the spirit of togetherness and bravery, our department took us all out for a hike on one of the oreums (small mountains) of Jeju.

Being December, it was a little cold, but the views were still beautiful.

When we came down from the mountain it was still morning - amazing! I'm not used to waking up early for these kinds of adventures. We went to this horse and pork restaurant which was filled with these little cartoon pictures of horses and pigs frolicking together and raising hoofs in cheery, smiling hellos. I love horse - I've had it before - the best part being raw horse meat with sliced pieces of pears. Ohh ... I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

2007-11-12T00:04:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, it's been a long time since I've posted. It's getting colder on Jeju Island and I haven't had many adventures around the island ... a few! But not many. Mostly I've been writing - I'm working on a novel right now, for the month of November, and it's coming along well. I've been hanging out in every coffeeshop in scooter-able vicinity to write it. Let's see, what else is new? Been hanging out with these guys a lot, Mano and Jay (he nearly always looks this demonic).

Had a Halloween party for the kids. We made toilet paper mummies!

The leaves look pretty.

And Cathy got her shoes shined by a robot!!

That's pretty much what's going on out here lately. If you'd like a copy of the novel to date, drop me an email.

2007-10-28T06:34:00.000-07:00

Well, my vacation's over. I caught a cold through most of it, but I've rested up and I'm feeling great now.

I saw a lot of cows today. This one seemed to like me.

I took the scooter to the east side of Halla Mountain today and just road around, stopping to check out beautiful views. It's a shame it'll soon be a little too cold to do this.

The foliage was nice but nothing like home -- I miss New England!

I found this path through an evergreen forest on one of the small hills here on Jeju ... it seemed almost like something out of a fairy tale -- or a horror movie??

Well I've been telling everyone I know, so I might as well post it here - I've decided to try the National Novel Writing Month contest! Yes, this gives you permission to heckle me and ask me how many words I've written so far. I start at 12:00 AM on November 1st, and I have till 11:59 PM on November 30th to write a 50,000 word novel. I'm thinking about posting chapters as I finish them here - good idea? Wish me luck!

2007-10-20T23:20:00.000-07:00

Well it's been hot and humid since I arrived here in Korea, but this past week the weather took an abrupt nose-dive into almost visible-breath, winter-coat conditions. And unfortunately I caught a little sniffle as well. I had the week off from Uni classes, and spent most of the time hanging out at cafes, reading, and working on my little pet project lately ~ putting ALL of my photos online. I think I've got about 10,000 on my computer, and right now I'm uploading what I have to Flickr and sorting through them. You can't see them yet, but in a week's time they should be all public, check them out. Here's a few recent ones:

One of my best students, Geonbeom, tries a fruity cocktail at a bar renowned for it's homebrewed beer. I guess just to be different?

Minbeom shows off his book balancing talents.

One day 3 out of the 5 students in my Level 2 class decided to wear brownish bluish plaid shirts:

The view of Jeju City from Dodu Oreum (near the airport).

I feel like I'm really settling in here at Cheju University, which is I guess somewhat strange to say. I've been traveling and moving around since last May, and the prospect of staying in the same place for a while has seemed almost alien. Until now. I'm happy here, my job is fun and fulfilling, and I can see my progress in the Korean language. Well, I guess I'm jinxing myself, but -- life's been good. :)

2007-10-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

I'm on vacation! Well, sort of. I'm teaching only one class per day (kids' class at 4) for the next two weeks. Any recommendations on how I should fill my time? I've been doing a lot of hiking lately, and I plan to do more in the mornings this week. Below is from a hike I took last Friday to the oreum (volcanic hill / mountain) right behind the University. It was really hard to find the path up the mountain, I had to go through an army target shooting field. You can actually see my dormitory, its one of the buildings with a reddish roof in the middle to the far right. In the distance you can see Jeju City, on the sea.

The view of Mount Halla from the same oreum.

Butterflies were everywhere.

Easily the winner of this year's "slug on a mushroom" picture award:

Hillside gravesites.

On another oreum, tall grass and Mount Halla:

2007-10-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

MOUNT HALLA!

This past weekend was pretty dismal and rainy and dull, but last week we had a day off on Wednesday for Korea's foundation day, and my friend Cathy and I decided we'd climb Mount Halla, the volcanic peak in the center of Jeju Island.

Halla Mountain is home to all kinds of exotic wildlife. We were continually divebombed by these cute (but deadly??) hummingbirds attracted to the yellow in Cathy's hat - they tried to suck her head nectar on more than one occasion. I caught a picture of one next to a legit yellow flower.

Also, the toilets smelled.

But of course the views were beautiful.

On the way home we passed a horse in the middle of the road. So we tried to creep toward it, but it was wise to us and kept moving away -- this was as close as we got. I think this pic would make a great album cover?!

2007-09-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

CHUSEOK ADVENTURES

So this past weekend was Chuseok, a kind of Korean Thanksgiving celebration in which extended families get together and eat a lot of great food and give homage to ancestors. For us foreign teachers this year, it means - vacation! Chuseok is a lunar (full moon actually) holiday, so it falls on a different day every year. This year it fell on a Tuesday, and since the days before and after are travel days, we had a 5 day weekend! Roadtrip?? Yes sir.

Dolharubangs (literally: stone grandfathers) are ubiquitous in Jeju Island, originally they were symbolic guardians and stood at the village gates. Now you see them in front of hotels, restaurants etc. -- or in parks, playing the ocarina:

After finishing the puzzle at Kimnyeong Maze Park (it was hard!!):

With a Buddha-friend, at a very Muslim-looking temple.

My intrepid wheeled traveling companion, and Seungsan mountain at the edge of the east coast.

Moments before sunset on the way home.

2007-09-21T22:38:00.000-07:00

So we had a typhoon here on Jeju Island last weekend. I'm okay, but unfortunately one of the professors here at Cheju Uni died while driving ~ the roads were like rivers. The island is still cleaning itself up. Here's the view from my dormitory balcony.

2007-09-20T01:13:00.000-07:00

In my kids' class ~~

I'm teaching first graders English. Sorry, that's not exactly true. I'm babysitting a wild bunch of first graders, and I happen to sometimes speak English near them. We were learning "I want" today.

Me: "I want candy!"
Kids: "I want candy!"
Me: "I want a banana!"
Kids: "I want a banana!"
Me: "I want an apple!"
Kids: "I want an apple!"
Me: "I want world peace!"
Kids: ((confused looks))
Me: "..."
One student, his face brightening: "I want pizza!!"

Yep, it's close. ;)

2007-09-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

Fukuoka, Japan was brilliant - even though I was only there about 24 hours, it felt just like a regular holiday.

I gave my approval to a number of things in Japan. Me and my friend Ben whom I met on the boat hung out for a bit with some Japanese tourists and we all did crazy pictures. It wasn't my idea, I swear.

Look closely and you'll see a motorbike balanced on a pipe near the roof.

I stayed in a capsule hotel - it might look like a row of laundry drying machines, but they're actually coffin-sized rooms with tiny tvs and very very low ceilings. Super comfy though.

Beer's-eye view of a bar in Japan.

Right now I'm exploring the campus, getting ready for classes (tomorrow -- eeekk!) and enjoying the fact that I have a (semi-)permanent home for the first time since early July.

My new address (send me Reese's Peanut Butter Cups pleeaassee??):
Henry Gerlits
Foreign Language Institute, Cheju National University
66 Jejudaehakno
Jeju City, Jeju-do
South Korea 690-756

And my new phone is:
(from Korea) 010-2062-8664
(from abroad) 82-10-2062-8664

I should be updating this a lot more often now that I'm settled in. I promise. Miss you all!

2007-08-14T04:40:00.001-07:00

So we sing these songs at camp. They're super cheesy, and we have these choreographed dances to them, but I realized as I was dancing and laughing with the kids tonight that I actually *like* all of this campy silliness. Shhh ... don't tell anyone. ;) Our dances are way better, but check out these videos and you'll get the idea. Imagine these blaring out of huge speakers at 7:30 AM as the kids line up outside in Korean monsoon rains to eat rice and kimchi for breakfast. Worlds collide.

2007-08-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

Phew. I'm finally in a room with internet. It's been a while since my last post, and in that while I've finished up with Camp Fulbright, done a short weekend camp, and just started another week-long camp in 여주 (Yeoju), a town outside Seoul.

I've learned a few things at camp. Sometimes, without prompting, kids will make paper mache masks of your face.

Nothing really gets down at staff meetings.

"Henry" sounds like "hungry" and apparently that's hilarious.

And not only is my arm hair made of gold, it's "very expensive". I was assured of this by one bright child, nearly twice a day. I heart camp. ^^

2007-07-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

Being Activities Director, I've found, is more fun than I expected. Today we did a blindfold obstacle course.

And then, we tied groups of campers together and had them run around. Please note if you try this at home: the little ones fall out! But they're doing it with smiles on their faces. ^^

I never knew there was so much time, I swear. At night, listening to music in my room, songs seem to gain a dimension. I feel like I hear them slower. Maybe I'm just tired. But hell, what a great day.

2007-07-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

So one of the camp teachers just knocked on my door. I opened it, and she said, "Henry, there's a big problem at the office. Only you can fix this. We need you right now." A rush of pride filled me. I was needed! My authority was required! I could do this, I could help whoever required my assistance. So I stepped out of my room to follow her, and ... was soundly whacked on the head with an inflatable hammer.

And with that, camp has begun!! The kids arrived today. They're amazing. The end.

One is never too busy to pose with a purple fan.

2007-07-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

Camp Fulbright gets weirder.

Camp hasn't started officially started yet, the kids don't arrive till tomorrow, but we're campifying the building quite nicely.

Camp just isn't camp unless you shove the director out the window!

In other news, this game is an interesting exploration of the Korean obsession with "dong-chim" (jabbing your two index fingers up your friend's butt, in the most affectionate way possible). Um, enjoy!!

2007-07-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

It's the calm before the storm.

In a day and a half, the students will arrive here at Camp Fulbright, and everything will begin. I feel kind of like a grandmother waiting to hear the pitter-patter of little feet on her doorstep. Here's what we look like, unpacking boxes. Exciting, no?

Vinnie, our fearless Camp Director, gets way into this.

Before I left Seoul, I went out with Jin, one of my students from Boston, and his friend Nuri.

Jin is, by all accounts, adorable.

Now as some of you know, I pride myself on being able to eat spicy food. In fact, I never want to eat anything but. BUT! On this particular occasion, we went out for some beer and ordered "bul-tak" or fire chicken. Let me tell you, whatever they put in this stuff, it made my mouth turn to molten lava for a good 15 minutes with just one bite. We all tried to be macho, but it sat on the table virtually untouched. I have been defeated!!

2007-07-16T17:35:00.000-07:00

I'm sipping on a little cup of nok-cha (that's green tea) in my hotel room, Insadong, Seoul, South Korea.

Well, well. I'm back.

I flew out of Boston on Thursday morning and arrived in Seoul on Friday night, a little tired but eyes the size of saucers, of course. Korea, I missed you. My saucer-eyes have been drinking it all in, and it feels almost like the first time I came to Korea. Differences have been jumping out at me these past few days. Like:

- little delights tucked into pub menus (bottled beer, chicken wings, popcorn, dried salted fish strips, whiskey...)

- 50-year-old businessmen holding hands

- handbag shops open past midnight (drunken shopping?)

- a mandatory 15-20 noraebang (karaoke rooms) per city block

The TV in my room is a flat-screen and mounted right on the wall, and it's - get this - approximately 41.5 inches diagonally. I didn't have a ruler, but I used an 8.5x11 notebook thrice on the long side, and once on the short. Mathgenuity. At any rate, it's big. I won't be enjoying it too much longer though, tonight I ship out from Seoul to Chuncheon, the site of Camp Fulbright! I'll be directing activities for a little over 80 middle school campers. Super cute camp pics to follow.

I went on a little hike on Sunday with Forest and Ben ('05 Fulbrighters).

With Seoul between my legs, I went umm ... that way!!

When we got to the top, a black squirrel kept trying to steal our lunch. We only put up with him because well, he's a squirrel. They're hard to refuse.

We found a waterfall on the way down and swam like river nymphs. The end!

One more time --- I'M IN KOREA!! I just had to get that out of my system. :)

2007-02-27T11:44:00.000-08:00

I've moved! I will now be updating my blog here:

http://deepochre.livejournal.com

Please update your bookmarks.

2007-01-01T20:31:00.000-08:00

THE NEW YEAR

Happy new year everyone!

It's been a great year - the best. I've been awful at keeping up with this blog, I'm planning to start posting again this year. 2007! You know how when the year changes like this, it feels really wrong when you say it, or write it? Well, somehow 2007 seems right. Like I've experienced it before, or something. Omens for a good year.

I'm drinking jasmine green tea right now, freshly bought from Peet's Coffee and Tea down the road from our apartment. Have I mentioned I love Boston? I really do.

I just started a new job last week at CIEE (Council for International Educational Exchange), and this week I'll have access to the databases and I'll start my training. Henceforth, you may refer to me as "Employer Vetting Coordinator". Don't worry, I had no idea what it was either until I looked it up. Basically, I evaluate companies to make sure they are suitable to hire Work and Travel students from other countries. The people are amazing, and it's exactly what I want - a job in the non-profit and international sector. But yeah, I miss teaching. Wish it could have been full-time!

Let's see ... what else? Recently Taehwa and Stu got into a fight, but she totally kicked his ass.

Details to follow. It's good to be back!

2006-07-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

EGG GHOSTS

I'm full swing in Camp Fulbright. It's funny how when you have literally no time at all, you find more time to do the things you never get to normally. I like when things fall into different persepctives like that. Today was day one of classes, I'm teaching the second from the highest level, and I only have seven kids in my class. It's ... beautiful, in a word. But I haven't been without a needy child on my arm since 8:00 AM, 15 hours ago, so it's nice to get some alone time. Earlier tonight I took a group on a little walk around campus, and I had a little conversation with one of my tiny new friends. It was really dark out. That should quite nicely to:

Me: Are you afraid of ghosts?
Student: No.
Me: Really? Have you ever seen a ghost?
Student: Yes.
Me: A real ghost? Like ... woooooo? (at this point I'm, I guess, walking around like a ghost and making scary sounds)
Student: No, not person ghost.
Me: Oh, like ... an animal?
Student: No, egg.
Me: An egg ghost?
Student: Yes, egg ghost.
Me: What ... what did it do?
Student: (making egg-rolling-around-motions) It went shing-shing-shing.
Me: And you weren't scared?
Student: I catch that. Then break, and fry, and eat!
Me: Did you like it?
Student: Egg ghost was delicious!

In 40 minutes: officially 2 weeks till I'm back in the States. But maybe, I want to take some of these kids with me?? :)

2006-07-11T20:27:00.000-07:00

THE COMEBACK

August 8th, 2006.

But first:

-finish two week lesson plan for Camp Fulbright
-write final report for Fulbright to release my plane tickets
-resist the temptation to watch new eps of Samurai Champloo whilst doing the above
-close out bank accounts, transfer money to my account in the States, transfer money to Stu for the new apartment, cancel cell phone
-goodbye dinner with the teachers
-goodbye noraebangin' (karaoke) with the teachers
-attempt to stay relatively not-passed-out without offending a highly intricate array of alcohol-pouring customs
-pass out
-wake up
-pass out teachers' gifts (vitamin drinks and Kit-Kat bars, a snack made in heaven?) at Thursday's morning meeting
-last classes on Thursday
-clean office
-make CD with teaching materials for new ETA's reference
-PACK. and back up my computer files.
-wake up early
-try not to cry
-kiss the dogs goodbye
-drive to the aiport with SooHee and Mr. Oh
-deliver my luggage to the Fulbright building
-luncheon with Jacob
-find my way to the Lotus Lantern Meditation Center
-4 day meditation retreat
-buy all manner of Korean giftables in Insadong in Seoul
-buy a new suit in Itaewon?
-last night in a jimjillbang
-wake up and pick up my luggage from Fulbright
-train to Chuncheon
-hang out with the orientation kids and the new ETAs?
-start camp prep
-2 week camp with my 13-kid class!! :)
-postcamp madness on the streets of Chuncheon
-wake up, pack up, train to Seoul, bus to Incheon
-1:50 PM August 8th: flight departs from Incheon
-8:30 AM August 8th: flight arrives in San Francisco ... yes, in the PAST!
-7:54 PM August 8th: flight arrives in Boston. Give up trying not to cry.

I don't know how much I'll be blogging. I have so many pictures to show you guys, but they may have to wait till I'm Stateside. Until then! Miss you all, and see you soon. :D

2006-06-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

I'm in the Jeju newspaper today! Check it out:
http://www.jemin.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=153010

2006-05-26T01:39:00.000-07:00

THE RAINY DAY WONKTA BLUES

I've made it no secret that I've been extra homesick lately. I'm almost rounding out a year, and the constant pandering to Confucianism, fake smiles and exasperating language mishaps can be just plain exhausting. Skyping and letters to home at times can make you feel FURTHER away I think - it's like letting a hungry person smell a big ol cinnabon but not letting him actually get a taste, and thinking that somehow the smell satisfies almost as well. Yes, to all my family and friends out there reading this: I want to taste your cinnabons.

Anyway. Today was no different, and with the rain and the clouds and the fact that I'm still recovering from mild food poisoning from my trip to the mainland, I wasn't exactly pickin' daisies. But I decided to get on up'n'out of this funk, and took a walk down to the cinema to check on the times for the Da Vinci Code tonight.

First though, let me give you guys a little background on the word "wonkta". I don't know very much Korean, but from what I do know, a wonkta at least in the classroom setting is nothing short of a pariah. There are a couple of wonktas at my school, and they sit alone in the cafeteria, have the saddest expressions on their faces, never speak a word at any time, and I've actually been prevented by my coteachers from including them in the activities. I was a little mad at first at such blatant discrimination, but I guess it was done with the kindest of intentions, to shield them from further attacks from the students. Though if they're never called upon in class, they'll never have a chance to prove themselves, or to climb out of their wonkta status through academic recognition from their peers. It's a tricky issue. The very fact though that Korean has a word that fully encompasses the concept seems to me to be a tacit approval of the wonkta's place (or lack thereof) in society. We have the terms "outcast" or "social reject" but those terms can mean other things - we can refer to an entire group of people as being outcasts in society, or we can refer to a lone wolf as being an outcast in wolf society, or we can use reject as a verb in other situations. As far as I know, wonkta only refers to people, and only in the situation of extreme aloneness.

One of my friends over here was trying to explain the Columbine shootings to her advanced class last fall, and to try to deliver her point mentioned that the gunmen were wonkta. She was chilled when the class said "no no teacher, there were two of them! they had a friend!" Wonktas are totally and completely isolated. And unlike America with its almost limitless youth sub and countercultures (particularly in this case, goth), the kids don't have any identity to turn to when mainstream society spurns them. Even Japan has seen the rise of weekend cosplay displays, popular mostly with high school girls who are taunted during the week. Without a subculture to identify with, the wonkta is left utterly alone.

It was in that state that I, turning a corner, passed one of our Daesin Middle School students. She was standing on a corner waiting to cross, and she was crying. It wasn't just tears - this was full-on, shoulder-heaving ... sobs. It was a singular moment - my mind had been flitting back and forth through all the things that I had to complain about - missing family and friends, feeling constrained in a homestay, feeling like an alien in Korea. But I'm a traveller in another country, all of that is understandable. Here was a girl whose own culture had bitterly rejected her. Lord knows she had everything in the world to sob about.

What was I going to do? Our eyes never met, I don't know if she saw me. I wanted to hug her, I wanted to tell her it would be alright, I wanted to do something - but honestly if I had approached her she would have run away in shame. And things won't be alright for her. She's going to have to wake up tomorrow and deal with it all again. I truly do not understand how this goes on in Korea. In Korean society, wonkta might be treated as less than human - but I think this girl's weeping was the most singularly human act I've witnessed all year.

2006-05-18T02:59:00.000-07:00

FAIRY TALES: ALIVE AND WELL IN KOREA

So my homestay mom made homemade jam yesterday. The jar is now sitting on top of the kitchen table. I'm fixing myself a snack and my homestay brother comes in and wraps his arms around it. "It's my jam!" (He likes to claim things. Everything.)
"Oh yeah?" I say. "Yeah!" he replies. "His name is James." I laugh. "James, can I eat you?" I laugh harder as he puts his ear to the jar. "He says yes! I will drink your blood! James, you are so kind!"

I was in the cafeteria when I noticed one of my students had a name written on her gym uniform sweatshirt that wasn't hers. I point it out and ask, "who's that?" She replies, beaming, "my boyfriend!" Me: "Yeah? Wow! How long have you been dating?" "Two days!"
"Oh, so short! When did you meet him?"
"Once upon a time!" :)