Gambe!

Before coming to Korea, I read in my travel book that drinking alcohol with your co-workers is a very important part of the business culture here in Korea. The book didn't really describe it properly. It is not just your typical happy hour and go home sort of a deal. These people are all out to get drunk - very, very drunk. And they are also out to get everyone else drunk. Needless to say, when I found myself in the middle of just such an occasion, I fit right in.

The semester at my new job just kicked off, so the President of our company wanted to celebrate with all the new faculty members so he could properly welcome us to the school. So I joined 7 other new faculty members along with some of the more seasoned professors, and we went to this Korean barbecue place. I was pretty stoked about that, because I love Korean barbecue - the tables have big grills in the middle, and they essentially bring you a plate of raw meet that you cook yourself - very fun, and very delicious. Anyway, when I sat down (on the floor), I immediately knew I was in for a bit of trouble, because every place setting had two glasses - a beer glass, and a shot glass. You all know I love my beer, but shots? Not so much.

We were all sitting around just chatting when someone ran upstairs to warn us that the President was coming. So, we all stood up to greet him properly. The president came in and greeted every person in the room. We all waited for him to then sit, then we could all sit. Once he got there, the drinking began. It started with some Maekju, which is Korean for beer. Beer here is very light - like Miller. Everyone's glass was filled with beer, the President made a toast, we all yelled "A-hi-ya" or something like that, and the dinner had begun. Quickly after the beer, the waitresses began bringing in the soju. Soju is a rice wine, and it is essentially the national drink of Korea. It tastes a bit like vodka, but it isn't quite as strong. I don't particularly care for the stuff, but somehow I find it very difficult to say no to these people.

In Korea, they are very formal about how they drink. One is never supposed to fill his own glass. If you see your neighbor's glass is empty, you should offer to fill it for him or her. This approach pretty much makes the whole event about making sure your buddies are constantly drinking. The funniest part about it is that everyone is so into it. It seemed like they all wanted to just get obliterated, and they wanted to take me along with them.

The President of the company was especially interested in making sure I was taken care of. Twice in the evening, he offered me his shot glass. At first, I wasn't sure what to do about it. I thought he was asking me to fill it up for him, but it turned out that he was asking me to take his glass and drink from it - a gesture of friendship. So I took his empty shot glass, he filled it up with soju, I shot it, and then I handed it back to him and filled it back up for him. Then he shot his. And everyone cheered.

At another point in the evening, they decided it was time to do beer bombs. Typically in Korea, a beer bomb is a glass of beer with a shot of soju in it. That was too low class for us, though, so instead they bought a bottle of 17 year old single malt scotch, and mixed that with the beers. Kind of a shame that they'd do that to scotch, but who am I to judge? Again, the President was especially interested in promoting my alcoholism. So he had them mix me up a special one, and he handed it to me. Before I drank it, he said "We have rule! You must drink! One breath! If no drink in one breath, you total failure." I know a challenge when I hear it. I slammed my beer/whiskey, and they all proclaimed me a true Korean.

I was really starting to like this President. He seemed like such a good guy. Then, this guy who was sitting next to me leaned over, pointed to the President and said to me, "He is my boss. I don't like him." He thought he was whispering, but everyone heard him and busted up laughing. One of the many dangers of soju, I guess.

So the dinner went on like this. Just when I thought things were winding down, the waitresses would bring more food and more booze. We ate and drank until about 9:30. It seemed like things were wrapping up. Everyone stood up and started making their way to the exit. I figured the evening was over. I was wrong. The drunk who publicly announced his dislike for his boss grabbed my hand and started pulling me. "Round 2!" he said. "Round 2!" After all the drinking we had done for dinner, it was more like round 15, but who's counting, really?

In round 2, everyone but the president moved to a new bar where we sat and had beers. I guess that's normal for round 2. This is the round where people can complain about work. But mostly people were just having fun. Several were getting up and making toasts. We'd all yell, "Gambe!" and throw back our drinks. I even gave a toast. That went over quite well. At the end, this one woman says, "I'm so impressed. You speak English so well." And then she just busted up laughing at herself.

We stayed there for about another hour. They tried to talk me into joining them for round 3, but I just couldn't do it. I was already completely blitzed. I had mixed beer, whiskey, and soju - i knew if I had much more, it was not going to be a pretty seen. So I backed out. I wasn't the only one, though. It looked like only the hardest of the hard core boozers made it to round 3.

All in all, it was a very cool experience. I felt a little wrecked the morning after, but I recovered soon enough. I made some new friends out of the deal. And the best part - it was all on the company dime. I think I could get used to this.

That's all for now. We miss you all!

Gambe!

Godfrey

Feelin' oh so clean

Even before arriving in Korea, I had heard about the bathhouses. In the past, and perhaps even today, many homes didn't have baths so people really used the bathhouse as a place to wash. In any case, going to the bathhouse is very much a part of Korean culture and, according to Lonely Planets, there are still over 2000 bathhouses in Seoul alone. Even the basic bathhouses have hot and cold tubs, a sauna, and offer massages and "scrub down" treatments. So, when we found our apartment I was excited to learn that Mrs. Ko, our landlady, also owned the bathhouse on the first floor of our building.

After being here for a couple of weeks, I decided that I needed to immerse myself into this Korean tradition and check out the bathhouse for myself. I went downstairs hoping Mrs. Ko would be there to help me out but she happened to be away so Mr. Ko gently pushed me into the women's side. I was a bit nervous since I had read that there were certain "rules" and an order in which things should be done.

After a quick glance around, I quickly determined that I needed to strip, seat myself down on one of the stools, and begin to wash myself. The stools were tiny and each one faced a mirror and a hand held shower hose, a sort of "personal" washing space so to speak. Women of all ages, shapes, and sizes were washing and scrubbing while chatting and laughing. As I was rinsing, Mrs. Ko showed up - yes my landlady has seen me in the buff - and asked me if I wanted a "scrub scrub". Of course I wasn't going to miss out on the best part of the bathhouse so I nodded in agreement. She told me that I should wait my turn in the hot tub to get my skin soft.

Soon enough, I was called over to the massage table and Mrs. Ko came over to talk to the "scrub scrub" lady. I assume she was telling her that it was my first time and that she should be nice to me but really, who knows. My lack of Korean language skills leaves me making up conversations quite often. And sometimes, it's perhaps better that way! Anyways, the "scrub scrub" began when the lady, who was in her undies by the way, put on her scrubbing mitts and went to town. The pile of dead skin (i.e. my summer tan) was growing high as I was flipped around on the table and scrubbed all over, I mean all over! (Shannon, are you ready for this?) The first round of scrubbing was soap free but then I had two more rounds with different soaps and then was rubbed down with lotion and oils. Along the way, I also got a short head and face massage. 45 minutes and $15 later, I felt like a whole new person. I was so clean, I squeaked, seriously. And my skin was incredibly soft. After feeling a bit grimy from sweating so much and walking around in the pollution of a big city, I felt so great!

I must admit that at first the whole experience was a bit strange and awkward. But during my "scrub scrub" I looked over and the woman next to me was getting the same treatment. I then realized that to everyone else this was all very normal and I decided that things are only as weird as you let them be. When in Rome ....

Mrs. Ko came back to check on me and see how I liked the scrub. She was so happy when I said that I would come back again. And while I'll definitely go back to her quaint little no-frills place, I'm really looking forward to going to one of the big spas that have co-ed (not co-ed naked) indoor/outdoor pools of all temperatures and stuff. Some even have fish that come and eat the dead skin cells which I hear this is gaining popularity in the US too. We'll keep you posted on that and the men's side of Mrs. Ko's bath house.

Hugs to you all,
- Bergie

Up and Down Bukansan's Juan-Bong Peak

If you haven't heard, Seoul is full of people - over 10 million they say. And you feel that 10 million every day. From the hoards of people crammed into the subway during rush hour (I had to suck in my gut yesterday just to get on), to the dodging of mopeds while you walk on the sidewalks, to just the constant hum of traffic at all hours of the day - this place is bustling. We knew that was going to be the case - we read about it, but the reality of it is something different. So, after our first 3 weeks, we thought we'd do something to "get away" from it all.

Back home, hiking is always a good way to escape, so we read about a cool national park that isn't too far away and we thought we'd go check it out. We figured a nice hike out in the woods would be the perfect way to escape and relax. Little did we know that thousands of other people had the exact same plans. I'm quickly realizing that escaping in Korea is going to require a little more than simply taking an hour train ride to a national park. As we took the train out to the park, more and more hikers boarded the train. I knew they were hikers because these people were all outfitted from head to toe in some serious hiking gear. I was wearing a sporty shirt and some khaki shorts, and I sort of laughed at these Koreans assuming that they we a little over-dressed. I quickly learned, however, that it was I who was not fully prepared for the hike.

When we finally reached our stop, all us hikers unloaded from the train and started making our way to the entrance of the park. The entrance to the park is about a half-mile from the train station, and the road there is lined with an endless supply restaurants, vendors, and hiking supply stores. The picture on the left is a stand selling chicken feet - just what one needs on a hike. There were lots of other options as well - including some sort of roasted larvae we keep seeing all over the place. It smells a little off, and I've never actually seen anyone buy or eat them, but it is an option.

Finally the hike began. It started of well enough. It was a bit uphill, but the scenery was cool. We were walking alongside a stream for a while. It was nice to be in the woods. And as we ascended, the air started to cool as well. (It has been hot as all hell here lately.) After walking for about a half an hour, we hit a fork in the path. One led to the top of Juan-bong peak. The other somewhere else. Bergie, being Bergie, wanted to take the longer route, so Juan-bong it was. At that point, the hike changed considerably. It went from being a pretty decent uphill, to pretty much straight up for 2 miles. I might be exaggerating just a little, but it was seriously steep. But there were a couple decent rest stops on our way up. The first was this Buddhist Temple. I've included a couple pics from there. There was actually a service going on at the temple, and it seemed as if a lot of people had gone on this hike specifically to go to the service - makes all my complaining about going to church seem pretty weak considering all I had to do was pile in the car and drive 10 minutes. These people had to scale a mountain to get to church. Of course, they looked as bored at church as the rest of us do, so go figure. I digress.



The next stop was simply named the Rock. It was this big exposed section of limestone on which people were sitting. At this point, I was getting a bit exhausted. Getting to the rock was a very steady climb, and I had already sweat so much that my clothes were completely drenched. To the right is a picture of me trying to rest. Do I look tired? Bergie, my marathon running wife, is bouncing around ready to run up to the top of the mountain, and I'm thinking, "You go on ahead. I'm just going to catch my breath for an hour or so."

Well, that didn't really work out. So we started out again. Next official stop - Juan-Bong Peak. I thought the climb up to the Rock was difficult, but that had nothing on the rest of the ascent. At many points, we really felt like were doing more climbing than hiking. And when you finally reach the very last portion, you essentially have to pull yourself up to the top using this metal railing they have installed. Without that, it'd be too steep and slippery to climb without equipment.

We finally made it to the top. And while the trip up completely wore me out, it was definitely worth it. The view from up there was amazing. This mountain is actually still inside Seoul. So when you reach the top, you can see the entire enormous city sprawled out below. And the view of the rest of the park is also quite amazing.

Of course, that still left getting back down. That also proved a challenge. Luckily in Korea, if you just stand around looking confused for long enough, someone will eventually offer to help you. And that's what happened to us. A nice Korean man named Kwon offered to be our guide back down. Well, actually, he offered to let us join him on his hike, which meant we didn't go directly back down. At this point, we had met this nice British couple named David and Julia - they were equally perplexed about getting down, so we all decided to follow Kwon together. Kwon took us up and down and all around that mountain. There were spots where we had to go single-file down a steep section of rock, lowering ourselves down backwards while gripping a rope or a metal railing. There were more steep climbs and some serious rugged terrain.

Three hours later, (after six hours in total) we finally made it to the end. I was absolutely wrecked, which is pretty embarrassing considering that the whole time we were being passed up by old ladies and old men. The worst part is that I had sweat so much that it looked as if I had been swimming in my clothes. One Korean woman who was walking alongside us for a bit thought that was the funniest thing she had ever seen (Koreans don't tend to sweat so much). She kept pointing at me, saying something to her friends, and cracking up laughing. I can only assume she was saying "Look at the sweaty American. He's so sweaty. Ha. Ha. Ha." It was funny at first, but she kept talking about it for like 15 minutes. I kept thinking, "Go away, you extremely fit and healthy old lady."

So that was our trip. It was a pretty amazing hike. I'm glad we did it. I'll even probably try to do it again someday. And I know that Bergie is ready to do it again. Maybe, if you come visit, we'll take one of you.

Hugs to all,
The Godfreys

A place to call home

We've been in our apartment now for about two and a half weeks and it's really starting to feel like home. We live on the fourth floor - no elevator - of a pretty nice apartment building. We've heard that the other tenants are mostly military or military contractors though, we don't see too many people around. We are upstairs from a bath house/sauna, which I plan to check out soon. I'll report about that adventure. Here are some pictures of our little pad - keep in mind the place came furnished so the teal leather couches, while pretty cool, were not our choice.

The kitchen is working out ok. It's not nearly as well equipped as we've grown accustomed to. But, we're slowly gathering some necessities. We love that we have a washer/dryer combo so don't have to do 4 flights of stairs each time we need to do laundry.

Our bedroom has a nice view of our neighborhood, or "dong" as they say in Korean. And now that the insane heat seems to have gone we can keep the doors and windows open and we get a nice breeze throughout the place.

The neighborhood is really great. We've got everything we need within a 10 minute walk. We've got a little outdoor market in the back alley, a fish stand, a flower shop, a pharmacy, many Korean restaurants, several foreign restaurants (spanish, mexican, thai, japanese, italian, chinese, french and more), bakeries, a tailor, a barber shop and so much more. It's really great and it's a fun to see the mix of foreigners who also live nearby. And for as complicated as adjusting to a new life in a country where you don't speak the language can be, in someways it's a lot simpler.

Favorite Sights Thus Far

While there are many cool things to see and do in Korea, my favorite sights are by far all the cool signs, products, and just different things we run into on a daily basis. Click the link on the right titled signs and products to see what I'm talking about. I'll be adding to that on a regular basis.

This awning is my latest favorite. I think it is a bar, which makes sense. The more you drink, the more fucking lovely you make yourself.

A rough start

Hi All,

Well, things in Korea got off to a pretty rough start - so much so that we both seriously considered just packing up our bags and coming back home. But, we are learning much can change in a few days, and we're both back on board with this grand adventure.

The first big issue we faced was related to my job. As many of you know, I got this job by essentially cold calling the Director, telling her who I am and what I do, and asking if she might need someone with my skills on her team. After much back and forth, she finally agreed that it might be a good idea, so she made me an offer. There were a few issues I still needed to clarify with them before I signed the contract, but she was gone on business, so were weren't able to clarify those items before I arrived in Seoul. Many would say that I'm crazy for going without a contract, but the fact is we were going whether I had a job immediately lined up or not, and I'm glad that I didn't sign a contract from the states, because when I did finally meet this woman in person, see my working environment, and learn more of the specific details of the contract, I immediately got this sick-to-my-stomach feeling that this job was not going to be nearly as cool as I thought it was going to be. I won't go into specifics about why, but that night I came home, discussed my concerns with Bergie, and we decided that I should trust my gut. The Director is very angry with me - saying I have embarassed her greatly with my decision. I feel really bad about it, because this woman did essentially create this position for me, but we're talking a year of my life here. I had to be selfish about it. So that really threw a wrench into our plans. I'm now scrambling to find something else.

So that caused some serious stress. The second issue was related to our apartment. When we arrived in Seoul, Bergie's school had arranged for us to stay in the VIP room near the school. VIP in Seoul has a different meaning. It was essentially a large dorm room, and we had to pay 66 bucks a night. Because of that, we wanted to get out of that situation and find ourselves an apartment ASAP. So, we were referred to an English speaking realtor in the Itaewon neighborhood, and we started looking for apartments. We quickly found a place we like, so we signed the papers. The day we moved in, however, we started noticing all these little things that we hadn't noticed when we initially visited the place. First of all, the refrigerator door wouldn't close. Then, the hot water to the shower didn't work properly. All of a sudden ants appeared in our bedroom. And at one point, when I was brushing my teeth, the pipes from beneath the bathroom sink just fell off, and water started flowing directly from the faucet onto the floor. We were both just exhausted and quickly sinking into a depression wondering what the hell we would do. I had no job. And our great apartment was turning out to be a hell hole. The weather down here has been oppressively hot and humid. It seemed like the world was against us. We seriously considered just cutting our losses, packing our bags, and moving back home. Of course, we knew we couldn't give up that easily, and the next day, things immediately started looking up.

Our landlady, Mrs. Cho, is a cute little old Korean woman, and she speaks some pretty decent English. We told her about our problems, and she showed up the next day with her husband. Within minutes he replaced the pipe beneath the sink and he fixed the hot water in the shower. Now our shower is even better than the one we have on Nicollet. On top of that, Mrs. Cho bought us a new fridge. We should have internet in the place soon, and our apartment is actually starting to feel like a home. (I'll post pictures soon.) We've begun exploring our neighborhood, and it is really great. We live in an area with a lot of other expats, so many of the locals speak at least some English. Some would say that we aren't getting the full Korean experience this way, but considering how difficult our first week has been, I am extremely thankful for our location. We live very close to Namsan mountain, which has all sorts of great walking paths. We also have a ton of restaurants and bars near us - many of which are foreign, so when we get our fill of bi bim bap, we can switch things up and grab some tacos, thai, italian, etc... - all within a few blocks of our pad.

And Bergie's job is going quite well. She loves the classes she is teaching, and she loves her students. Her colleagues are really great, too. We've already made some decent friends out of that bunch.

And I actually had a job interview yesterday with another online school. For this position, I would be teaching online. It went pretty well I think. After the interview, they invited me to go out to lunch with them. I had another appointment, so I couldn't, but they said I could do it next time (a good sign, no?) The funniest part of that experience was at the end, the admin brought me into this room and presented a sheet to me that had my name on it and next to my name was a field that said 30,000 won and then next to that was a signature field. She pointed at that and said "Interview Fee." I replied, "What? Interview fee? What are you talking about?" To which she replied, "Interview Fee." So, I reluctantly started reaching for my wallet to get the 30k when she said, "No! We pay you!" So that was pretty sweet. I got 30 bucks just for sitting for an interview. Maybe I should just go around interviewing the whole time I'm here.

Anyway - that's the latest. Once we get our internet installed at home, I'll upload more pics. I'm posting this from a PC lounge called e-Nature, the Natural Internet Park. Their motto is "Become Delightful Time."

And that's what we're slowly starting to do.

Hugs to all.

The Godfreys

Our New Gym

The parks we've found here in Seoul are very cool - they all seem to have beautiful walking paths, cool statues or monuments, and a wide variety different activities you can do. There is one near Bergie's school called Hyochang Park. We've gone there every day so far, because it has a great walking path, and it has an outdoor gym that is free for the public to use. This gym has several different stations, each designed to either help you work a specific muscle, simply get your blood moving, or help you stretch out. One of the cooler elements is this small walking path. You take off your shoes and walk slowly over rocks of varying sizes - it is supposed to help you work different pressure points on your feet. I did it, and it hurt like hell walking over those rocks, but the old ladies who were doing it seemed to love it. Check out this set of pictures to see Bergie try out all the different stations.