Jeju + Woohoo!

I have my summer vacation this next week and will be spending part of my time at Jeju Island. It's part of South Korea just south of the mainland. I'm flying there which should be fun. I will get to lie on the beach and relax for a few days. I'm pumped.

On another note, I've lost 35lbs!!!!!

Yea I didn't believe it until I weighed myself. The fast paced culture and eating healthier really changed things. You eat a lot less over here not because there isn't food (which there is) or it isn't good (it's AMAZING). You just eat slower and better. A sort of more bang for your buck way of living. Also, the fact I walk EVERYWHERE and I'm on my feet all day as a teacher because I hate sitting down in class adds to burning off all those extra calories. Now I definitely do indulge myself with McDonalds, ice cream, pizza, etc. But even those places seem to be a little healthier in general from their US counterparts. Less Biggie sizing for the most part. Want to lose weight? Go to Korea for a bit. Everybody I talk to seems to have similar stories. I know a guy over here who got here about a month before me and has lost 85lbs!!!! He still has a bit to go but you can tell he's a lot happier now.

Anyway, I'll have a Jeju update later next week.

Back from Mudfest

It was an interesting weekend at Mudfest.

Mudfest is basically what is sounds like. It's called the Boryeong Mudfest and is held at Deachon beach on the west coast. 400,000 people over a couple of weekends flocking to the beach's mud stations to get dirty and party.

My expectations were high. I got there on Saturday afternoon and immediately found out that they were OUT OF MUD!!! Yup. Then it started raining which by 7pm was thunder and lightning on and off throughout the night. So the lot of us went back to our Minbak to eat and enjoy ourselves for the evening. A Minbak is simply a group hotel room. It usually is just an empty room. You get some blankets and that's it. Your back doesn't thank you in the morning and depending on how you have fun your head might not as well.

Out of this did come one of the better experiences I've had in Korea though. We all ate dinner just outside our Minbak on a patio of sorts. A few of the group had brought a bunch of food with them that we grilled up. It was excellent. Even had some mashed potatoes! Anyway, towards the end of the meal, a bunch of Koreans in the 40s and 50s setup their meal at the tables next to ours. After a bit of Soju and beer they started to sing and dance. We clapped along to the beat one of the men was laying down on the barbecue with his scissors and tongs. It was fantastic! This went on for the next 3-4 hours. WE pulled out some Roman candle fireworks and started shooting them up in the street. One of the Korean ladies didn't exactly know how they worked and ended up shooting one time at the another minbak's door. We laughed, she laughed and then she swung it around a few times making us all duck and run.

The next morning it was still thunder and lightning. The beaches speakers came on and they warned us not to go on the beach. Yay. Thus, we cut our day short and headed to the train station. It seems all the people had the same idea in the area. The place was packed. Luckily we were at the front of the rush and got on a train fairly quick.

All in all, good experience. Will I go back next year? It's a 50/50.

Mudfest!!!

I'm leaving to go spend the weekend covered in mud, sliding down mud slides, mud wrestling, mud massages, mud fights, mud face painting..... you get the point.

MUD MUD MUD MUD MUD MUD!!!!!

Spin and Marty

I've been spending some time watching classic shows.

This week I got my hands on Spin and Marty. As in Spin and Marty of the Triple R ranch from Disney. Mid 50s tv show. For those of you who remember it. I think it was a great show. Still is too!

Dancing Korean Style!!

So the past 2 weekends have been packed chock-full of dancing!

First I went and saw the B-Boys last weekend. For all of you who've never heard of B-Boys, it's basically break dancing. It's not a Korean things but they are pretty unbelievable at it. So what I saw was what turned out to be called Monster Jam 2009 B-Boys WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!!! Yup! That's right!! I got to see the best of the best break dancers going up against each other March Madness bracket style. It was 1v1 type battles. They drew names out of a box and then got up on stage 2 at a time and started dancing freestyle. Each guy got 3 times in the middle to show their stuff. THey had some judges up on stage who picked the winner. A white guy from Germany won the whole thing, his name is ATA. Not my favorite, I liked Street.

Here's a taste of one of the better battles of the night.
This is Street (my fav) vs Blonde.


This past weekend I went to one of my Korean co-workers', Alex, swing dancing performances. It was at a community center and it gave it a really nice swingy feel. Basically a ton of people take swing classes and every 2-3 months they have all the classes come and show off what they've learned. So I got to see 2 hours of some great swing dancing. All different styles of swing too. Alex teaches a class too so she was really excited to see them out there doing so well. She was pretty good and super excited that we showed up too. It was a ton of fun!

Plaaaaaaaay Baaaaaallllllll!

Updates have been sparse lately as you can see. I'll be getting on that from here on. Things have been a bit busy. My schedule fills up quickly these days.

Went to a baseball game today. LG Twins versus the Samsung Lions. The Twins won this one in style. A home run and some smart play led them to victory. While dismantling the Lions, LG loaded up the bases and smacked out a grand slam too! First one I've seen in a while. The crowds are great here. They have cheerleaders. Everybody knows the chants and there isn't much downtime from chanting and cheering for their teams. It is a very lively atmosphere. The games not any different than at home except that it is CHEAPER!!!! $6 for a ticket! Food is cheap too. None of that $10 bucks for a hotdog and coke. One guy broke his bat and still managed a double out of it. There was a downer moment when a foul ball caught a fan in the head. People rushed over. The game didn't even flinch at it though and kept rolling on. I'm not sure how that situation turned out.

Overall, good experience. I was a little disappointed that more people didn't come out for the game. It's hard getting some people to focus and follow through. Oh well, that's life I suppose.

Here's a link to information about the teams and league

The Popular Places - ilsan

I'm in the city of Goyang. Goyang (Pronounced "Go-yawng", the ya sound more like yaw) is comprised of two halves; Hwajeong and ilsan. I live in the Hwajeong half. ilsan is a newer half. It's the exciting half where everything is always happening. My side tends to be calmer and more laid back.

ilsan (Pictured above)

This is a common hangout. I'm here at least 2-3 times a week.

The Bar - Frog and Toad
Yes just like the children's book. In fact many pictures from it are hanging on the walls. It reminds me of the Horse Brass back home a bit I guess. It's a foreigner's bar it seems. It has the usuals of darts and live music. We usually just sit back and nock down some beers with good conversation. It's a nice relaxing environment. The owner, Steve, conveyed it to me like this (I'm fairly certain he was under the influence of something) "It's a place where you can go and feel like you are home." The bartenders are all very nice and quick to get your drinks. Jessica speaks good English while Terry isn't bad himself. They have a new guy named Kevin who is still getting the hang of mixing drinks.

The Restaurant - Club AwesomeNuke
(AwesomeNuke is 236 in Korean)
2, 3, and 6 are lucky numbers when put together in any combination. This place is fantastic. It's small and just around the corner from Frog and Toad. The owner, Dane, went to Michigan St for college. He speaks excellent English. It's absolutely normal to just talk to him like any of your friends. He knows a bunch of our names now too. It's nice to walk through the door and hear him yell form the back "Hey Dowdy! Nice to see you again!" We also know the place as "Sunday Brunch" or simply as "The Mexican Place." He serves the only genuine margaritas in Korea (don't even ask what they consider a margarita over here). On Sundays he serves a Grand Slam breakfast just like at Denny's which is what he modeled it after. He told me that every time he was traveling from city to city in the US the last thing he would do is go to Denny's for the Grand Slam. In addition to the breakfast, he makes one of the most amazing Enchiladas I've ever had the pleasure of eating. It's gynormous (yes, that's a real word) and has this sauce covering it that is simply indescribable. He makes good Quesadillas too. He's a great guy to get to know and you can always find a great conversation with him.