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!

48 Hour Film Contest

It is 11:53 am Sunday morning. I have wrapped up shooting and editing a short film and now sit on my bed after having a shower. I must say that I am quite exhausted, but I hope that I am coherent enough to tell you of the journey that was the 48 Hour Film Contest.

Well, my day started around 8:30 on Friday morning. I woke up and got ready for my day. I was excited to be working with a camera and doing a project. However, I was also a little nervous and was not sure how it would all turn out. From the previous meetings, I came to realize that I might be the only person on the team with any technical background for film. This had me very worried. It meant that I would be working with people who may not understand the process of film making. But, I put my worries aside and moved on. I went to work and waited with anticipation for the contest to start. I got off work and rushed to Seoul to meet a few team members at the camera rental store. We looked over the camera and the rest of the gear, then headed to my friend's apartment where the rest of the group were located.

When we arrived at the house, it seemed a little chaotic. People were playing a video game while others were talking about the story. My friend Sun-ho began to tell me about the story. "Oh no!" My head began to scream as I am sure that tiny smirk appeared on my face that often shows up in these types of situations. I began to discuss what would work and what wouldn't work. What followed was about an hour or so of arguments. It was clear the "technical" and the "creatives" were not seeing eye to eye. This was when I was introduced to Sarah, who thankfully also had a background in film. We began to explain why some things would work and why some things simply would not be able to be done. I think we wasted a good portion of our time on these meaningless arguments.

Finally, a story was produced and Sarah and I began the hard task of trying to make sense of the story and come up with a shooting schedule. We knew in order for the story to make any sense, things were going to be added. Well, the "creatives" didn't like us tampering with their work. However, we talked them into it and proceeded. About 6 am we got the camera gear and looked for a place to shoot. We found a bus stop that would be the ending of our short. We got the shots we needed and headed back to the apartment. Not too much happened other than a tiny old Korean man began watching us and ate a banana with some of the others on the team.

We arrived back at the apartment around 9:30 am and rounded everyone up. We knew our next location and headed off to the cafe. Suddenly, things took a turn for the worst. The director and I were not seeing eye to eye. People were sitting around and nothing was happening. People were tired and hungry. The director and I began talking about the shooting and it seemed we couldn't come to any agreement. He then took the camera and began filming. At this point, I haven't slept in 24 hours and wasn't too keen on someone doing the job I was supposed to do. We began to argue where I told him we need to stick with our jobs, but this didn't go well. It ended with me walking outside to take a few minutes and pray. I began to ask God what I should do. I wanted to just grab my bags, go home, and call it quits. Just before 1 pm, the director called me and asked me to come back. I did so, only to find out they were all thinking of quitting. They had found out, this idea wasn't working. Then people were thinking we could just write something new and shoot that.

At this point, that was out of the question. Sarah and I told them, if we were to continue shooting, we needed to stick with what we have. Otherwise, I was out of there. We got back to the apartment around 2 pm where they began discussing what should be done. Sarah and I went to get some food. When we came back, they had made the decision to press forward with what we had. We found our next location and began shooting right away. I think my favorite shot was of a friend named Donny Yoo. He is a really funny guy and a good actor. Look him up and check out his commercials. They are funny.

Night was upon us and we had a few scenes to shoot. I was tired and knew that edited was right around the corner. We began shooting the last shot and it ended with a lady cheering out her window, quite sarcastically, I must add. We moved to a different area shot the scene and went back to the apartment. It was around 10 pm on Saturday when we began uploading the footage to the computer. Sarah and I were to begin editing. We went through the scenes shot by shot and then another confrontation. We had to tell everyone in the room that we were the editors and everyone must leave. This wasn't exactly heard too well, but eventually happened and editing was underway. At this point I have not slept, other than the 5 minutes in the cab, for over 48 hours. I let Sarah take the helm and trusted she could do it. Sarah tried a few times to keep me awake, but my body wanted some sleep. I ended up getting about 6 hours of sleep and woke up to a somewhat finished product. The editing was done. All that remains was for some music and touch ups on audio and transitions. At least my part was over and I could go home.

After all of this, what have I learned?

1. Make sure the team is well balanced with a technical team. Having 2 or 3 people do everything is not a good idea.

2. Make jobs for everyone and everyone MUST stay in that job.

3. Do not allow too many people offer advice. It causes too much confusion and wastes way too much time.

4. Sometimes we have to put our foot down and simply say no.

Was this a total failure, by all means no. Was it a success, I would have to also say no. But it depends on how you look at it. Did we make a short film? Yes. Will people understand it? I'm not sure. However, I did learn a lot from this experience and will be able to use that in the future.

Scenario with Scientists

Apparently the moon is being bombed today, Oct. 9th. I am still wondering how this idea came about and who would ever think bombing the moon could possibly have any good outcome. Here is the scenario I came up with.

INT. Board Room

Group of scientists are sitting around a large table discussing matters of how to cure serious illnesses, space exploration, sea exploration, and the moon. All dressed in white lab coats.

Scientist 1 pushes his glasses up on his nose

Scientist 1

Okay, I think the answer is simple. We have been thinking

about it the wrong way.

Scientist 2 leans forward, placing his hands together.

Scientist 2

We are talking about the moon. Water is underneath the

surface. There is no simple way of proving this fact.

Scientist 1

Bomb it.

Scientist 3 rubs his eyes as if he were just awakened from a nap.

Scientist 3

Pardon?

Scientist 1

Bomb it.

Scientist 3

And how would that solve anything.

Scientist 1

Think about it. If we were to send a rocket to the moon

attached with a bomb, followed by another rocket with a

camera, we would be able to cause enough destruction to

cause a cloud of debris. With the second rocket having a

camera on board, we could take photos of the debris, thus

proving water exists on the moon.

Scientist 2

You know, that isn't a bad idea.

Scientist 3

It could work.

Scientist 1

Like I said. Simple. Bomb it. All in favor?

All Scientist

Aye.

Fade to Black

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.

The Past Remembered Part I

Before you start, I want to let you know this will be split up into parts. I wasn't exactly planning on doing another series like I did in the past with my trips, but as I began writing I quickly found out there is too much to cover in one post. Here is part 1 of... well we will just have to wait and see how many parts there end up being. I mean, I am covering a whole year.

Well, it is almost 추석 (pronounced Chuseok) here and I thought I would recap this past year. And why would I be doing this because it is almost 추석? Well, that is because it is a kind of Korean thanksgiving therefore, I want to take some time to reflect what has been happening and give thanks to all the friends I have met here. Hope you enjoy this "look back" at my stay in Korea thus far.

I can still remember the first day I came to Korea. I remember the 14 hour flight and which the lady next to me kept asking about the time we would land and how to calculate how much time we had left. I got the feeling she didn't understand the concept of time change and even though we were changing time zones, the flight would still be 14 hours long. (It would also be good to point out that on the monitor in front of us was a counter where it told you exactly how much time we had left.) I remember how uncomfortable I felt sitting in the thin rows of chairs on the plane and how I couldn't really sleep. I think it was a mixture of excitement and being completely uncomfortable. I remember landing on the ground and remembering I had no clue who would be meeting me at the airport. Well, no one met me at the airport. After buying a calling card and making a phone call to my school, I was told to get on a bus and head for 서현(pronounced Seohyeon.) When I got there, it was around 8 at night and I had no clue where I was. A few foreigners passed me, at which point I asked if I could borrow a phone so I could call my school again. They allowed me too (almost unwillingly, which really surprised me. Here I am with luggage, which was a good indication that I was new and had no clue where I was, and they didn't really want to help. First sign of many about what to expect from foreigners here.) Anyway, I was finally picked up and checked into a hotel. The place I would be staying wouldn't be ready for a few days.

This was the weekend in which I met my first friend in Korea. His name is 정길(pronounced Jeong-gil, kind of like jungle) and has been a great friend in Korea. We met at a church neither one of us actually attend anymore. I guess you could call it fate. Well, the following Monday was my first day at work. I was picked up from my hotel and driven to where I would be working for the next year. Simon was the first co-worker I would meet and the one who showed me my apartment. I then met my boss and other co-workers: Karl, Jenny, Mrs. Kang, Ryan, Kathy, Travis, Sally, and Sunny. All of which have been great to work with. At the end of the week, I was taken out to dinner with my co-workers. I was told as a new employee I would have to try 소주 (pronounced Soju.) Let me go ahead and state that I absolutely do not like 소주. But as it was a kind of Korean tradition, I drank it. It is a very strong drink and later found out that Koreans love to drink it.

Well, I moved in December which meant I would have to spend Christmas and New Year's alone. At least that is what I thought. I ended up working on Christmas day, which didn't exactly bother me. It was also nice to not have all of the annoying Christmas songs that you would normally hear in every store you walked into back in the States. For Christmas, 정길 invited me out to dinner and introduced me to two new friends, 유정 and 은진. We met at a nice restaurant and had some sort of spicy chicken. As for New Year's, my co-worker Karl came over to my place along with 유정 and her cousin. We ate dinner and watched the festivities on TV. I actually came down with a pretty bad cold (I actually got a shot in the rear region for the first and second time that I can actually remember. A few days later, it was gone.) and that was the reason we stayed at my place instead of going out. I was afraid I would get worse being out in the freezing, Korean winter. One in which I was not well equipped for living in FL for the previous 2 or so years. However, I made it through my first month in Korea and loved every bit of it.

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.