One Year in Korea

Since it is January 1st, I thought I would try and recap the past year. (I will try to keep it short.)

I began my new adventure living in a new country. (Technically, I moved here in November of 2008, but who's counting?)

I met my first friend in Korea, 정길. (Jeonggil) He introduced me to many others.

I participated in my first "big bow" with 정길의 엄마. (Jeonggil's mom.) This is done at New Year's. You stand in front of your elder and bow all the way to the ground. (They usually give you "pocket money."

I went to 거제도(Geoje Island) with 정길, Amy, and my 선생님 배소영(Teacher Bae So-young.) It was a beautiful place. If you ever get a chance, visit.

I worked and met many more friends. (Sorry, not too sure what I did between 거재도 and Japan.)

Well, I guess that brings me to Japan. It was my second country to visit outside of Korea. I would like to go back and experience more of it. My goal is to visit an onsen, but because I have tattoos, most will not let me enter. **Background Info** Korea and Japan both have ideas of people with tattoos being yakuza(Japan) or 깡패, 조폭(kkangpae, jopok, Korea) which are gangsters or mafia. Therefore, in Japan, if you have tattoos, you aren't allowed into their onsen. What is an onsen? It is a natural bathhouse. Because Japan has so much volcanic activity, its springs are naturally heated. These are used in bathhouses. Just something I would like to try one of these days. If you are Japanese and reading this, maybe you can help me!

I got back from Japan and met some more friends. I met these cool kids who are part of an English study group. They are a lot of fun and we have traveled around together. They say they enjoy my cooking, haha.

I got to enjoy my first ever mud festival. I went with a few friends to Korea's annual mud festival and got well, muddy. I had to walk around all day without my glasses which is partly the reason I ended up buying contacts a little bit later. I can't stand not being able to see clearly.

Around September, I had to start deciding what I wanted to do at the end of my contract. I didn't feel, I was done with Korea so I had to figure out what to do. I knew I wanted to really dive into Korean since I had only been studying it here and there with my private teacher. I applied to Seoul National University for their language program. Then, I actually got accepted. A friend introduced me to a kindergarten school that would allow me to work in the mornings and go to school in the afternoon. I guess you could say it worked out perfectly.

I went to move into the dorms, but found them completely disgusting. I don't think I would have been clean even if I showered. Luckily, my friend 정우(Jeong-woo's) family said I could live with them for the semester!!

Now, I am working with Kinder Schule and love "my" children and going to school in the afternoon. I have a midterm next week and will hopefully do well on it. So far, I haven't done too bad. Currently, I am looking for a new place to live and trying to listen to God for where to go to next.

Well, I guess that will be all down memory lane. Hopefully I didn't forget anything too important.

Life: Past, Present, Future

Okay, so I think a few of my friends have begun to wonder, "What's going on with Johnny?" Well, I am here to give you the scoop.

Last year about this time, I was preparing for my big move to Korea. I had no idea what would be in store for me. I had never traveled before other than to Mexico when I was a child, so I really didn't know what to expect. I knew that the transition wouldn't be easy. Not only would I be moving to another country, but also to a country where most of the people speak a different language. However, even knowing all of this, I had a peace with me the whole time. There was never any doubt or fear. I knew where I was going was the direction I was suppose to go in. (Quite possibly for the first time in my life.)

Then, I got to Korea. I immediately fell in love with the place and the people. Korea is beautiful and hopefully my photos are able to show just a little bit of that. (Which I have a ton I need to edit. Hopefully, real soon.) Anyway, since I have been here, I have done some traveling around Korea and was also able to go to Japan. It has all been quite exciting. As my year was beginning to end, I began to wonder what my next step was. I had begun to learn Korean, but I wanted to know more. I also began to feel that I wasn't done with Korea yet. I believed and still believe that I have more to do here in Korea.

Currently, I am still working. I have about 3 more weeks before my contract is up. I have decided not to extend my contract with my school and have given them my notification. However, I still had this desire to live in Korea. I have prayed about it for awhile now and I finally decided to apply for 서울대(Seoul National University.) Well, I was accepted and will start class on December 7th. I will study Korean 4 hours a day for 5 days a week. This will hopefully go on for the next year and a half. My contract with my school now will end at the end of the month. From there, I will go straight to school.

Which brings me to the future. I will not be able to come back to the States this year. I would not have the time to visit nor the resources to do so. I have been saving up for my school and housing. I am hoping that this allows me more opportunities to speak to those whom I think God would like me to. I have also found out that teaching is not something I would like to do for the rest of my life. I studied film and would like to pursue something in that field. My hope is that when I finish school, I will be able to speak enough Korean and get a job here in the film industry. It is really growing here and there is progress being made in expanding to do more overseas. I hope I will be able to contribute to that some day.

So, my dear friends, I am sorry to tell you that I will not be coming the States this year. However, I am happy to say that I am completely happen with where I am and who I am. God has huge things in store and I ask that you would keep me in your prayers. A lot has happened with me over the past year, some of which happened overseas, and at times things can seem difficult. Know, that I constantly think of you and pray for you as well.

Heres to another year in Korea!

추석 (Chuseok)

I know I should be writing about what I have been doing in the past, but then I thought about this weekend and wanted to go ahead and write about my first 추석 in Korea. I am sure you understand.

Well, I am sitting on the floor of my church and just thinking about the past weekend. It was 추석 which I have already mentioned is like Korea's thanksgiving. It has been a good relaxing weekend. I have been able to hang out with some old friends and met some new ones. Thursday, I met with 정길 who introduced me to 김다헤 (Kim Ta-hae.) We met up for dinner and then tried to get coffee. We walked into a Coffee Bean, but it was too crowded so we decided to head over to the Dunkin' Donuts because it had less people and comfy couches. However, when we arrived, we were informed the second floor (the floor with the comfy couches) was closed. We decided to leave and look for another place. We found a coffee shop that I think was open 24 hours. We chatted for 30 minutes or so and then headed to our homes.

On Friday, I slept in which apparently means sleeping till 8 or a little after. I didn't do too much. I wanted a few days to just relax and that is what I did. I made some sandwiches and had some coffee. Afterward, I met up with my friend 동주. We met up in 건대 for some chicken. After dinner, we did the Korean thing and went to a second place. He suggested a bar, so we went there. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was a lot of fun. We played darts and then began to have fun bets with the bartenders there who began playing with us. Before we left, they put on a little show where they made some drinks and set part of the bar on fire (completely intentional.) Afterwards, we began to leave, at which point one of the bartenders stood in the doorway and told us we couldn't leave. After joking around for a little bit, my friend and I left. When I find out the name of the bar, I will write that in. It will be a place I will visit again. It was just a fun atmosphere.

Saturday came around and again I slept in. (8 am) I again just rested around my apartment, made food and what not. I met up with some friends to discuss the 48 hour film competition we are entering. We discussed things we should be aware of and some things we shouldn't do. As long as we stay focused, I believe we have a good chance to put something good together. After the meeting, I met up with my friend 바우 for dinner. We ended up meeting around 8:30 pm and had my favorite Korean meal. We went to this little place in 서현 that I have been to several times. Also, I think every time I have gone, I have been with different people which the waiter pointed out to us last night. It's a good place. Look forward to many more meals there. After dinner, we decided to go watch a movie. We went to 죽전 and watched "Surrogates." It was an okay movie. The story was okay and acting was decent. I didn't think it was anything too special. It was also really weird to see Bruce Willis airbrushed.

And now I sit at church waiting for the service to begin. After church, I will probably go home and cook some lunch. Then, I will meet with 다혜 and try some traditional rice cake that is eaten on 추석. I am kind of excited about that.

강화도 (Ganghwa Island)

This past weekend some friends and I went to 강화도 for an outing. My friend 바우 is the leader of an English study group and we have been planning a trip for a few weeks now for the group. Everyone finally made a decision to go to this island. It was about 2 hours away from where we live... without traffic. A little longer if there is some unexpected traffic. However, we made.

Our trip started around 10 A.M., I say around, because we were all late. We met at a Home Plus which is kind of like a Wal-Mart. We bought all the food and what not we would need for the weekend and headed off. Three of us went in the first car and it was our job to find a place to stay at a cheap price. Once we got to 강화도, we drove around for a few hours calling different places until we found one that slept 9 people for 100,000 won. We put our stuff and the room and checked out the surroundings.

We saw a mud flat about 5 minutes away from the room and decided to head there. It was nice to walk around in mud and try to keep your balance. We even "threaded" through a little stream to try and walk to a small island. Well, we didn't make it to the island, but we had fun anyway. I think we spent about an hour walking around in the mud (sometimes up to our knees.) Afterwards, we headed back to our room and decided to prepare the food for when the others arrived, it would be ready to cook.

Well, while waiting, I developed a headache which turned into a migraine. I decided to sleep it off while waiting for the others. Our friends arrived and I woke up... in more pain then when I went to sleep. I tried to eat but moving around just made me feel sick. I laid back down and slept some more. All the while, my friends ate and played games. I woke up again around 2 A.M. and my headache was gone. A friend asked if I was hungry to which I said yes. We cooked some chicken and played more games. I think I went to sleep around 3 or 4 in the morning. Some went to bed shortly after. The room we all slept in was a decent size room where a blanket was shared by two people. We sort of looked like Tetris, the way we organized ourselves.

The next morning we all woke up and got dressed. One of the members had to send off a resume so we had to find a PC 방 (a room where you can play games and get on the Internet.) We went in and she filled out her resume. Oh! Apparently, there is only 1 PC 방 on the entire island. I think we drove 20 minutes to find one. Once she finished, we went out to find this burial site. It was created by 3 stones to mark the grave. We found it. I guess we all were expecting something a bit more. We walked around and saw "Stonehenge" and some other "stone" that were of some significance in one way or the other. 바우 touched one and it sounded like it was made of styrofoam. We made some jokes about it and headed home.

Once we got home, we decided to have some dinner. We ended up trying a new 닭갈비 restaurant. It was good food to which we ate way more than we should. But I just can't pass up the rice you get after eating the main meal. I should learn how to make it myself. After dinner, we all went home. Even with the massive headache, it was a great trip. Tomorrow starts a new week.

Oh and I keep getting reminded of why I really enjoy living here. Korea is quite the beautiful place.

Night Club (Very different from a club.)

So, I have said that I would like to experience all of Korea, get to know the culture, the language, and things of that sort. Well, this past weekend, I got to see a different side of Korea. I have been to shows, bars, and clubs here and well, this one takes the cake. It is simply called a "night club."

When my friend and I walked it, we were greeted by a doorman asking us what we were doing. My friend 바우 형 told them we were meeting friends and they already had a table/room for us. He walked us through another set of doors and were greeted by another person in a suit. The scene was quite unbelievable. I thought I just walked onto the set of "Casino" where men in vests holding trays, were rushing around and sometimes holding the hand of a girl. (I will get to this later.) The scene was surreal. We were led to a table where we sat down. My friend said he had to check on something and he would be right back. While I waited, some girls began singing on stage and dancing. The room was very dark and noisy. Almost too much to take in. But there is more.

바우 comes back and says his friends have rented a room. This is a place where guys can hang out with each other in a much, much quieter setting. When I enter the room, there are about 5 guys sitting around a table. Next to one guy is a girl whom I have never met. The guys, I had only met about 30 minutes prior to showing up here. The table had fruits, sodas, and some other drinks. There was a karaoke machine set up in case someone felt the urge to sing. I sat down next to my friend and began chatting. Then, the door opened and a host pulled a girl in and had her sit next to me. He actually made me stand up so she could sit in between my friend and I. (This is why the waiters were holding girls hands. They bring them to the tables of guys.) Now, if you know me at all, at this point I am feeling quite awkward. I had no idea what was going on. A stranger was just sat next to me and now I am suppose to talk to her. (Remember, I live in Korea and know very little Korean.) We talk briefly, then she gets up and walks out.

A few minutes later, the waiter walks in with another girl. This whole scene continues on for the rest of the night. I enjoy meeting people just as much as the next person, but this seemed a little to awkward for me. Everything was forced. I was glad when one of the guys asked if I wanted to go out to the dance floor. I thought this would take me away from all the awkwardness in the room. It did, for about 4 songs at which point the DJ ended the dancing.

Despite all the awkwardness, it was a fun experience. Would I ever do this again? Probably not. It just isn't my thing. What did I learn from it? Not sure. Maybe, I learned that I really do like the idea of respect for women. This place put women at the same level of cattle or sushi at a sushi bar where you can pick and choose what you want. Also, if you are sitting by a crazy girl, be careful. If you have to use the restroom, let her know before you get up. Otherwise, she might grab your arm (in the process scratch you) and yell at you in Korean. (I actually understood what she said, but pretending like I didn't.)

My friend and I ended up getting home after the sun had risen. I was completely exhausted on Sat. and my friend 화선 told me I was acting weird. It was a mixture of not getting enough sleep and I was starving when we hung out. I finally got some food and she said I was normal again.

Dancing, Movie, and a Valley

The weekend as I remember it.

After work on Friday, my friend 바우 형 and I met up and decided to head to 강남. Another friend was supposed to meet with us at this point, but was out with his co-workers and said he would meet with us later. We arrived in 강남 and decided to get some food while we waited on our friend, JK. This led to some pretty good conversations all the while having some Korean girls eavesdrop on us the whole time. I still wonder if they understood what we said. At one point, I made direct eye contact with one of them at which point she smiled quite big, so I returned the favor.

Our friend arrived and we headed out. We wanted to go dancing. Now, some people go out to meet girls or whatever, I on the other hand, simply want to goof off and have a good time. We got to one place that pretty much played rap. If you know me, then you know I am not the biggest fan of rap. It was also very crowded... too crowded for me. We decided to leave and go to another place. This place was a bit better. The music was a mixture of Rap, Korean Pop, and some Indie Pop from the States. At one point, I was feeling the groove (so to speak) and had a blast. Afterward, 바우 said my dancing was quite different from the way Koreans dance. Maybe I will start a trend, haha. (I did get a thumbs up and a pat on the back from some guy wearing sunglasses.)

Saturday, I slept in since we were out pretty late the night before. I ate lunch around 1 PM, then met with my friend 은진. I wanted to buy a derby hat but I am apparently too tall or too small for anything in Korea to fit me. The lady selling the hat pulled the hat over my ears and said, "It fits!" This was of course in Korean to which I said, "No, it doesn't. I want it above my ears." (I pulled the hat up demonstrating how I wanted it. She said she could fix that by putting sizing tape on the inside. I said it would still be too big and left.

Afterward, we went to eat my favorite Korean dish, 닭갈비. During this time my friend, 바우 and I were planning on watching Public Enemies. We found a time and a way back home. Most buses stop around 12, but there are a few that will go until 1 or 2 AM. 은진 was acting silly and kept asking to see my text. I told her no and that she was being nosey. (All in good fun.) We met my friend and watched Public Enemies. Maybe I will write a review for it in my next post. Parts were good, some not so much.

Then on Sunday, I went to church in the morning. I met again with 형 so we could go food shopping for our afternoon in a valley. I am not sure the name and will hopefully add it soon. We met with a few other friends, found a nice spot to lay everything out, and began preparing out food. I cooked chicken while my friends cooked pork. Well, they guys cooked and the girls washed the vegetables and pots once we were done with them. We sat next to a few older ladies and an older man who were quite nice. They wanted to trade us an apple for some mushrooms but we had just used the last of our mushrooms for our chicken. They insisted we take the apple anyway. We ate, played Go-Stop and Dutch Blitz. Also, I was able to have another great conversation with 형. We packed everything up and left. On our way out, we stopped at this bridge in the mountain where you could see the city of Seoul. The sun was setting and made the site really beautiful.

This was a great weekend with good friends. Now if I could only stop being lazy and work on my photos.

From July to August

Well, it has been awhile since I have posted anything on my travels in Korea. I have been quite busy with working and doing some traveling. I have been thinking about my future in Korea as well, but that is another subject for another time. Where to begin?

Well, the last place I left off was my trip to the Mud Festival. Since then, I have traveled to 궝주 to visit my friend Wes. He moved here from FL as well and this was the first time I have been able to visit him. While here I was able to visit a bamboo forest and a bamboo museum.

The day we went to the bamboo forest was probably the hottest day in Korea. I don't really know if that is true or not, but it definitely felt that way. But once you got into the forest the temperature dropped to a reasonably temperature. To get there, we took a bus for about 45 minutes which dropped us off at a small station. We decided to get a taxi to drive us to the forest. As my Korean is not very good, I tried the best I could to tell the driver where we wanted to go. After a few minutes and some conversing with other drivers, we were finally on our way. We began our drive on a nice paved road which turned into a long, wavy dirt road that eventually dropped us off in the middle of nowhere. However, we got out of the cab and enjoyed our time there.

Afterwards, we got another cab and headed towards the bamboo museum. It was neat to see the different things you can do with bamboo. We walked around the shops and left to head home. Also, while in 궝주 we went to a baseball game. We actually got the crowd to do the wave which went around the entire stadium around 3 or 4 times. I guess you can say we were proud of ourselves, haha.

I also met a girl who I thought was cute. Found out her name, that she lives in Seoul, is an actress, and a Christian. However, I failed to get any sort of contact information. I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Then there was 가평. A few weeks ago, I was asked if I would go with a group of kids. They said it would only cost about 50,000 won. I thought that was a good deal to venture around Korea some more. We all met at a subway station in Seoul and headed towards the train. When we got to the train station, the train we were supposed to take was leaving. Therefore, we had to wait about 2 hours for the next train. This is also when I found out we would have to stand for the whole hour and a half train ride. (Was not a fan of this. But it only cost about 3,000 won, so who cares right?) We made it to our destination and unloaded our things. We jumped into a van and headed to the river. Once there, we began riding on a banana boat and some other floatation devices. It was definitely a good experience. We also went swimming which had a small slide. We played around trying to knock each other off some floating objects you would see in a game show like "Wipeout."

We left to head to our pension. Once there, we showered and begin preparation for our dinner. We began cooking and they began watching me as I began grilling the chicken we had brought. It is funny how grilled chicken is such an oddity here. But once they ate it, they loved it. It is such a good feeling to have someone appreciate something you have done (even if it is something as simple as grilling chicken.) We all hung out chatting until we fell asleep. The next day, we woke up quite sore from our day at the lake. We cleaned up the place and put our things together. We jumped into another van and headed to the train station. Again, we had to stand on the train. Well, we eventually just sat on the ground. I guess we were too exhausted from our trip to care.

Now, I think this has caught you up to where I am. Korea has been a blast. I have been meeting so many people lately. I thank God for every day I am here. This will be an adventure to remember and one that I think will continue for quite awhile. My promise is to keep you updated as much as possible.

A Korean Church

This past week, I was invited to my friend 창선's church. I accepted and went. The church was inside a building next to some retail stores and restaurants. We walked into a hallway and to an elevator. My friend punched the number 7 and we began upwards. At this moment, I didn't really know what to expect. I was a little nervous. I was going to be the only foreigner.

We walked out of the elevator and walked over to some of his friends. We introduced ourselves in some Korean and some English. It seems most of the conversations that would occur would be in both languages as I only speak a little Korean. Sometimes, a person would find out I spoke a little Korean and would begin to speak to me as if I was going to know everything they said. It usually ends with me saying I don't know in Korean.

At this point, I am beginning to expect a very traditional church. I thought the worship would be old hymns or something to that effect. After a short time of meeting new people, we went into the sanctuary. They began to practice for the service. Boy was I in for a surprise. The worship was not that of a traditional Korean church. Then, the service started. Everyone began singing, including me. I didn't know what I was singing nor do I know if it was correct. I was simply following along the words and trying to do my best.

The funny thing is, I could feel God. I wasn't worshiping in English, but in a language I didn't know very well. But God knew my heart. He understood the words. And He thought it was beautiful.

After the service, they asked everyone to come closer. My friend and I moved a little closer and after one person speaking, they asked me to come up in introduce myself. I was not prepared for this. I was extremely nervous and I am quite sure my face turned bright red. I said, "안녕하세요. 제 이름은 자니입니다." Which means, "Hello, my name is Johnny." Then my friend took the mic. and told what he knew about me.

Afterwards, his parents invited me over to their house. They greeted me and made me some plume tea. At least, that is what I think it was. We spent a few minutes at the house before we left to go have dinner. They took us to a restaurant that served mainly fish. The fish was good, but too many bones.

This was a good day. I enjoyed the people I encountered and hope to spend more time with them.